Swami Sankarananda explains that everything is within us. The greatest treasure of life that everybody searches for, namely happiness, is within us, and nowhere else. And this treasure is called God. God is infinite peace, infinite bliss and infinitive knowledge. God doesn’t dwell somewhere in the sky watching over us and judging our actions as good or bad. This is a fable. It is we who first know whether we did something right or wrong. Our heart tells us right away. So Vedanta gives this knowledge of the Inner Self, the inner world. It redirects our mind to go back within instead of going out (the opposite of how the mind normally travels). Going into our Self, there we find the actual peace, the actual knowledge, the actual happiness. You cannot find things externally, they are not in the scriptures, churches, temples or mosques. It is in the realization of these things that matters. It resides within us. The biggest temple on earth is our own body, because that is where God res...

Tejomoyee Ma narrates a charming story from ancient India about a devout man who held a grand worship ceremony in his house, but then as the reception was winding down, a drunk person barged in and trashed the whole place. The man went into terrible grief, complaining how God could let this happen. Then the Lord appeared and chastised the man: "You have enjoyed so much peace, love and devotion throughout the day, but for just five minutes at the end you could not tolerate this one drunk man? I put up with him day in and day out!" The moral of the story is acceptance. We need to learn to accept all things that come our away. We apply the labels of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ to things and events purely based on our egoic desires. That which fulfills our desires - we label as “good”, and that which is contrary to them or is hurtful - we label as “bad”.  But situations vary, and what one person deems as "good" may appear as "bad" to another. It is subjective, based on...

Tejomoyee Ma says we should do a reality check on our identity when feeling overwhelmed with problems. It's so easy to get lost in grandiose ideas like: "I have a big business" or "I have a large family", or self denigrate oneself with ideas: "I am creating many problems for others," "How will I get this done and survive the situation?" But who are we really in this outside world? A mere speck compared to the large scale of the universe. Zoom out of your problems and you will see how tiny and insignificant your correction situation is. Behold this entire creation, the vastness of God; and the egoic idea of your current situation will naturally correct itself. Then joy will flow into you, loosening you from the problems' grip. "Think yourself that you are Brahman, and you are one with everything. Don't make your identity big from the outside, but think you are unlimited from inside." Biography of Tejomoyee Ma

Swami Sankarananda speaks about the existence of two worlds: 1. External world - What we see, feel and deal with in daily life. The outside objects, people, ideas, and pursuits. 2. Internal World - Something people only feel and discover at times, when for example a loved one dies, then all of a sudden we realize we feel sad inside. Then we begin to question whether the external world was all that real to begin with. But as time rolls on, we forget and move on with our lives until another shock in the future stops us. People are constantly running, we are always busy from morning to night. This run began ever since we learned to discriminate between what is good and what was better. Then we began to run after the better. But what is the goal? What do we really want?  Is it a profession? A livelihood? That cannot be it, because we need the livelihood to live, not live to get the livelihood. Actually we all want to enjoy, to be happy. But when we enter into the external world, ...

Swami Probbudhanda explains that Oneness is what allows us to love one another because we see ourselves in all and all in ourselves. The One who resides within is the same. Swamiji also cites Sri Sri Bhagavan: that the problem in the world today is not nuclear bombs, aids or cancer but a deficit of love in people’s hearts. This video was recorded on Swami's visit to Brazil in August 2018. Biography of Swami Probuddhananda

Swami Prahladananda explains that the great spiritual masters like Sri Sri Bhagavan do not insist on any particular spiritual path for their students. They fuse all the paths together - be it the path of devotion (bhakti yoga), the path of action (karma yoga), the path of knowledge (jnana yoga), or the path of yoga and meditation (raja yoga). The great masters try to bring their students to the light in a way that is best suited for the students. In IVS, Bhagavan teaches meditation, selfless service, discrimination, and devotion. An aspirant will find everything they need. Even musician devotees get to use their musical talents as a spiritual sadhana. The great thing about realization, Swami Prahladananda explains, is that when an aspirant attains it, no matter what path they originally took to get there, they will automatically come to know about all the other paths. They will get the knowledge about all of them. It all comes together at the end. Biography of Swami Prahladananda...

Raja Yoga, also called ashtanga yoga, has as its goal the attainment of liberation (moksha) through samadhi. In ancient ancient India, there was no such concept of liberation. It was a brahmanical religion with people striving to get to heaven. Then a rishi named Kapil Muni came and brought Sankhya Yoga to the people that contained the concept of liberation. After Kapil Muni, came the saint Patanjali. He codified the path to liberation through the path of Raja Yoga and called it Ashtanga Yoga because it was divided into eight-limbs, or parts. Raja Yoga is a path of self-control. It aims to bring the mind back in by meditating on the truth. But such self-control in meditation is not possible in the beginning, therefore Raja Yoga outlines eight steps to prepare the yogi for this. They are: (1) Yama (Self control), (2) Niyama (discipline), (3) Asana (postures), (4) Pranayama (controlling the breath and vital energies), (5) Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), (6) Dharana (concentrat...

Swami Sankarananda says that God is inexpressible and indescribable. “He is the expression of infinite love.” We all have love in us, of one sort or another. But it is not the same as divine love. How to recognize divine love? It can be felt when we cry for God, it can be felt when our mind is being transformed by the power of God. Transformation of the mind is the most important but hardest task. Because we cannot control our own thoughts, we cannot transform them ourselves. But Bhagavan has that power which can exert influence over our mind, our thoughts and our tendencies. Merely by His words, wish, or touch, the meanest of the mean can become a wise and holy person. The divinity is already within us, we are all potentially divine. But Bhagavan can ignite that divinity within us, and begin the process of transformation. This video was recorded during swami’s visit to devotees in Barcelona, Spain in 2012. Biography of Swami Sankarananda

Tejomoyee Ma says people should be grateful for the pain and hurt that comes their way from worldly relationships. For these experiences give rise to detachment, and detachment is necessary to discover and realize the Self, Atman, or God. Relationships in the world are all conditional to one degree or another. People typically seek relationships because they need something in return, and once they don't get it or no longer need it, they lose interest in the other person. This break in attachment causes great heartache and misery. However, from a spiritual standpoint, this is good because it helps the person realize the impermanence of the world and get detached from it. Tejomoyee Ma explains that the more attached we are to other people, the further away we actually are from the Truth, the Self, or God. And the less attached we are to worldly people and things, the closer we are to the Truth. So Bhagavan explained that being hurt in the world will actually help you go towards t...