Raja Yoga

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    Sivaratri 2016: The Meaning of Yoga

    Hinduism defined is trying to be in the highest state of consciousness you can, right now. Quieting our thoughts down to the point where there aren't any. Separate from body, ...

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    Which Yoga Should I Follow? - Publisher's Desk

    Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami reads his editorial from the Jul/Aug/Sep 2012 edition of Hinduism Today magazine. In this edition Bodhinatha focuses on the four main types of yoga,namely, Kama yoga, Bhakti ...

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    Which Yoga Should I Follow

    Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives a presentation on a topic which festured in the July/August/September 2012 Hinduism Today edition entitled "Which Yoga Should I Folow?" In this presentation, Bodhinatha outlines the nature and purpose of ...

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    The Aim of Hindu Practices - Publisher's Desk

    Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami reads his editorial from the January/February/March 2015 edition of Hinduism Today magazine. Dharma, seva, puja and raja yoga lead to purification of the mind, which is the ...

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    Path to Higher Consciousness - Publisher's Desk

    Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami reads his editorial from the Oct/Nov/Dec 2014 edition of Hinduism Today magazine. In this edition Bodhinatha outlines how virtuous living which consists of performance of dharma, selfless ...

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    Surrender is Central to All Yogas

    Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami reads his editorial from the Jul/Aug/Sep 2017 edition of Hinduism Today magazine. "Individuals who are not religious make progress toward achieving their goals in life by self-effort. Whatever they accomplish is, from their perspective, solely the result of what they do to achieve it." In order to unfold spiritually, one must relinquish his free instinctive nature and surrender ...

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    Karma Management Part 3

    Seventh principleaccelerate karma. Saivite Shastras talk about this in terms of monastic 36-year pattern for training. Within his life he goes through four lifetimes of karma. One in first 12, ...

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    Austerity Part 2

    Bodhinatha elaborates on the four-fold concept of austerity, which Gurudeva defined as sadhana, penance, tapas and sacrifice. So, why bother performing austerities? It increases our speed on the spiritual path. ...

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    Self & Samadhi

    Echoing the ultimate teachings of Hindu scripture, Gurudeva, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, spoke boldly of the Divinity within us. This book is a collection of those teachings, nine inspired talks in which ...

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    Yoga Primer

    Todays popular concept of ?yoga equates it with hatha yoga and the practice of the hatha yoga asanas, or postures. Many who practice such yoga do so solely for health ...

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    Merging with Siva

    Merging with Siva, Hinduism's Contemporary Metaphysics is a guide for one who is ready to diligently walk the spiritual path. Great new vistas open up throughout its 365 daily lessons ...

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    Verschmelzung mit Siva

    365 Lektion der Erleuchtung eines lebenden Meisters. Offenbarung der Tiefen des Raja Yogas, das klare weisse Licht und die endgltige Bestimmung eines jeden Suchenden. bersetzt von Lakshmi Hartmann Bemerkung: Dies ...

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    Effects of Self-Realization

    Bodhinatha elucidates how we can know if we have realized the Self. He describes the various experiences and results that come from Self-Realization that would make you realize that you ...

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    The Meaning of Sivaratri and Nirvikalpa Samadhi

    Mahasivaratri: A time of striving to realize Parasiva. In our teachings yoga is the restraint of mental activity (chitta vritti). Nivritti marga-the path of renunciation. Pravritti marga-the path of action ...

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    What Is Yoga?

    Gurudeva stresses the importance of cultivating devotion to Siva incorporating the yamas and the niyamas, performing atmartha puja. Through meditation and devotion, step outside of ahamkara (ego). Sit without moving ...

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    What Is Japa?

    Japa links Siddhanta with Vedanta, being a monist and a theist at the same time. Quieting the mind, Aum Saravanabhava. Repetition of the Panchakshara Mantra, Aum Namah Sivaya "...connects you with millions of Siva's devotees." Distinguish ...

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    Mahasivaratri, 2003, Part 3

    Mahasivaratri, Part 3 of 3, Being Still. Bodhinatha elucidates some wonderful quotes from Yogaswami on the theme of "summa iru," which means "be still" in Tamil, one of Yogaswami's mahavakyas, or great ...

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    Putting Gurudeva's Teachings to the Best Use, Part 1

    Bodhinatha holds a class during Gurudeva's mahasamadhi observances about Gurudeva continues to live on in all of our lives since his mahasamadhi. Part 1 is about how Gurudeva influences us ...

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    Putting Gurudeva's Teachings to the Best Use, Part 3

    Bodhinatha continues his Gurudeva mahasamadhi observances class with this part on ashtanga yoga, which is the teaching of our Nandinatha Sampradaya's Kailasa Parampara. When you go to study yoga somewhere ...

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    Breath is a Key to Meditation

    Realize the bi-directional inter-relatedness of the mind and the breathing. Practice! Regulate your breathing, it stills down the mind in a very natural way. Still down the mind, it regulates ...

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    Attenuating Obstacles, Meditation

    Understanding keys to the mind and transformation. Kriya, the yoga of action, comprised of tapas, svadhyaya and Ishvara pranayama. Living in the soul nature; attenuating the kleshas. Detaching from the ...

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    Progressive Stages of Practice

    The progressive practice of karma, bhakti and raja yogas. Suffering is caused by our own improper, unwise action, bending the rules of dharma. True wisdom, in our tradition, comes from ...

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    Bliss, Satchidananda and Samadhi

    The experience of ananda in savikalpa samadhi has to cease before you can have the deeper nirvikalpa samadhi. Agitations of the mind are released by the attainment of shanti in ...

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    Uphold Behavior Twenty-Four Hours a Day

    Don't let down. Success comes with consistency of conduct. Improve and control our mind and behavior standards twenty-four hours a day. Monistic Theism, our tradition, is a dual approach. Worshiping ...

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    Keys and Benefits of Meditation

    Meditation: Transmute the physical and emotional forces. Quiet the intellect, slow down thinking. Tune into the spiritual energy of the spine, experience intuition, answers attach to the end of each ...

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    Influences in the Conscious Mind

    On the spiritual path be careful to not let the worldly approach of others influence us. Take time each day for spiritual practice; turn off the externalizing and limiting conscious ...

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    Yoga: Restraint of Mental Activity

    Yoga is not about the body, it's about nirodhah, restraint of mental activity. When we sit to meditate we transmute force out of the physical into the mental, raising our ...

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    Separating Awareness From What It Perceives

    The preliminary practices of meditation ideally put us into a state where we are not thinking. Then there is no need to control the mind; we just remain summa. We ...

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    Patanjali's Yoga Sutras - False Knowledge

    Bodhinatha comments on Patanjali Yoga Sutras, Verses 1.5 through 1.12. The restraint of the mental activities of correct knowledge, erroneous knowledge, fantasy, sleep and memory is achieved through practice and ...

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    The Nature of Thought: Being the Watcher

    Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami reads this chapter from his book Merging with Siva ...

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    The Physical and Pranic Bodies: Experience Odic Prana

    Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami reads this chapter from his book Merging with Siva ...

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    The Physical and Pranic Bodies: Trace the Source of Prana

    Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami reads this chapter from his book Merging with Siva ...

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    The Astral Body: The Intellect, Or Outer Ego

    Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami reads this chapter from his book Merging with Siva ...

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    Makaif - The Ultimate Practice and Attainment of Siddhanta

    Makaif is the shum word defined as the ultimate attainment of Siddhanta. Using the shum language, Gurudeva describes the path to the Self-Realization. How to live a lifestyle dedicated to ...

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    True Jnana -- the Unspeakable Knowledge of Nirvikalpa Samadhi

    An important distinction between Siddhanta and Vedanta. What jnana, divine wisdom is and how we acquire it. In Siddhanta we acquire jnana by practicing charya, kriya, yoga and by doing ...

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    The Fine Art of Meditation: Meditation Is a Fine Art

    Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami reads this chapter from his book Merging with Siva ...

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    The Fine Art of Meditation: Going Into Meditation

    Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami reads this chapter from his book Merging with Siva ...

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    Attaining the Ultimate

    Hindu scripture: The knowledge God has put into all souls. In meditation go deep enough to have realization of the deepest truths. The experience of Satchidananda is available right now. ...

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    Powers of the Spine: The Spine's Central Energy

    Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami reads this chapter from his book Merging with Siva ...

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    The Making of a Master

    Master Course Recording. Chapter 2, Gurudeva describes his catalysts and the systematic process of unfoldment. Yogaswami. Initiation. Study Guide: Cultivate the great art of doing nothing. Before listening to Master, ...

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    The Donkey and the Carrot

    Master Course Recording. Chapter 5. Five states of mind. Defining conscious mind. Body of the soul.Defining subconscious mind. Programming subconscious. Attention and concentration. Mulingnishum. Study Guide: Breath is life, and ...

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    On the Brink of the Absolute

    Choose the path of the Spirit. Move from the clear white light to the brink of the Absolute. Focus on foundational studies; sustain the higher realizations. Worship Lord Ganesha to ...

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    How Can We Be Strong Saivite Hindus?

    Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami reads from Lesson 67 of the Himalayan Academy publication Path To Siva, discussing how to be a strong Saivite Hindu ...

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    Three Stages of Self Realization

    What is the Self? Parasiva the Transcendent Source of Omnipresent Consciousness. Self-realization in three stages. Realizing oneself as the Soul, realizing oneself as Satchidananda - Omnipresent Consciousness, and realizing oneself ...

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    Cultivating Will Power

    Master Course Recording. Chapter 9. Six steps to Self Realization. Gurudeva describes moving awareness from attention to samadhi. Swimming pool metaphor. Cultivate willpower. Discover willpower. Awareness = Willpower = Energy. ...

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    Chakras, Energies, Death and Reincarnation

    Master Course Recording. Chapter 10. Defines chakras and moving awareness through them. Kashumlinga, sushumna, simshumbisi. Cycles of man's life every seven years. Defining Aum. Body as temple. Muladhara and memory ...

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    The Language of Meditation

    Master Course Recording. Chapter 12. Religion is the result of evolution. Are you a Hindu soul? Saivite lifestyle, Saivite thinking. Tirukural. Summa. Kanif. Become a natye. Meditation as a fine ...

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    The River of Life

    Master Course Recording. Chapter 4. Light of spine like Christmas tree. Kundalini shakti. Life as a sacred river. Lean on own spine. Move and detach awareness. Areas of mind. Become ...

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    Bodhinatha discusses the seven chakras, the pranic body, the San Marga and the 52 character qualities

    A class given by Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami during the 2014 Mauritius Innersearch. He discusses the seven chakras, the pranic body, the San Marga and the 52 character qualities. ...

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    Performance of Japa Yoga, Outcome of Pranayama

    A cyberspace devotee from Singapore wants to know why we use the middle finger to move the beads when performing japa. Gurudeva says that we do not use the index ...

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    Performance of Japa; Pranayama

    A cyberspace devotee in Singapore wants to know why the middle finger is used to move the beads when performing japa. Gurudeva says that the index finger is not used ...

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    Gurudeva Leads Shum Meditation

    Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami leads a guided Shum meditation and towards the end speaks from the inner sky, guiding us to see ourselves as a soul that uses it's bodies as ...

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    Methods for Maintaining Inner Awareness

    When going into meditation have a destiny; find the spiritual energy, the power that's within the spine. Learn how to direct where awareness goes. Keep the awareness found in meditation, ...

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    Bhakti, the Foundation, Leads to Humility

    Attainment beyond anava marga. Acknowledging and coming closer to the Deities. True humility and devotion result from sincere temple worship. Charya involves shutting out anger with love. Dancing with Siva ...

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    Involution, Nirvikalpa Samadhi, Shum Technique

    The philosophical meaning of involution. Turning within on itself the primary constituents of nature, prakriti, until the world is gone in the state of permanent attainment, liberation, kaivalya. Then only ...

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    Intuition Requires Careful Handling of the Intellect

    Who am I? "I am my intuitive mind. I am my inner divine being." The three bodies, the five sheaths and the seven aspects of man work together. Approach the intellect as a tool, make it subservient to the intuitive ...

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    Ida Pingala; Daily Realization

    Our approach to daily realization is to balance the two forces, ida and pingala naturally, activating the kundalini power slowly, through the regularity of discipline such as hatha yoga and ...

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    The Nada Nadi Shakti, Resolve Mistakes

    Tracing the nada-nadi shakti to its source carries the seeker's awareness to the brink of the Absolute. Through Shum meditation we end up in the area of the superconscous mind ...

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    Nine Ways to Merge with Siva, Go As Deep As You Can

    Mahasivaratri, the day before the new moon. Venerating Parasiva, all energies turning within, find through multiple realizations of Parasiva over the years, that the indwelling Self is identical with God ...

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    Expanded Consciousness-Apex, the Pulse of the Universe

    Disturbance of the mind comes from unwise actions. Control the external, instinctive and intellectual mind. Meditation is man's wisdom. Remember the five steps to enlightenment: attention, concentration, meditation, contemplation to ...

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    Concentrate at the Top of Head, Going Beyond the Light

    Even with the deepest experience, the change within us is gradual until we fully understood and accept it. Experiencing something once isn't enough. Gurudeva distinguishes between devotion and emotion. There ...

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    Preparations for True Yoga

    Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami reads from lesson five of Sivaya Subramuniyaswami's book, Merging with Siva, discussing the value of theism practiced in tandem with our advaitist, meditative practices. ...

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    Steadfastness, Perservance, Dhriti - Yamas

    The Yamas focus on harnessing the tendencies of the instinctive mind. Foster steadfastness, perseverance forbearance; be firm, achieve your goals. "Siva's devotees approach each enterprise with deliberate thoughtfulness and act only after careful consideration." Expect to encounter obstacles in achieving plans; choose to ...

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    Become an Experiencer, Not "Experienced"

    Become the experiencer. At night before sleep play back the day looking for experiences reacted to yet not resolved and clear them on a daily basis. The clear white light. ...

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    The Yoga Pada: Meditation and Austerity

    Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives his weekly Upadesha in Kadavul Temple at Kauai Aadheenam. Here Satguru reads from Sivaya Subramuniyaswami's Master Course Trilogy, discussing the Yoga Pada, the stage of austerity ...

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    The "Penultimate" Talk On Yoga

    "Yoga is the process of uniting with God within oneself...Truly a living satguru is needed as a steady guide to traverse this path." Attaining equanimity, equal mindedness, balanced mindedness under all conditions. Different aspects of awareness: traveling-consciousness stationary, detached, dissolving; when awareness is aware of itself, it's abiding in it's essential form. ...

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    The Sixth Dimension and the Shum Perspective, Part 1

    Gurudeva: "Awareness in the sixth dimension has an all-knowing capacity. The sixth dimension is color, sound and vibration as well as subtle form. Temple Deities are sixth dimensional beings. Access is only gained once it is earned." Gurudeva's 1975 vision of Siva and the San Marga; the basis for Iraivan Temple. From the sixth dimension, 'ingmuhlimni' you're looking out, but into, the inner world. Yogaswami: ...

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    The Fifth Dimension and the Shum Perspective, Part 1

    It's easy to see the world as imperfect. The fifth dimension perspective means it's the way it is because of what went before. "In this state we realize a great bliss, a comprehensive, all-encompassing acceptance of the universe... the vision of perfect harmony..." In Shum. Lingingdashum: The fifth dimension, ...

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    The Fifth Dimension and the Shum Perspective, Part 2

    Over time, even short encounters of the fifth dimension change the whole subconscious structure. Before becoming involved in the ramifications of the fifth and sixth dimensions have the foundation of ...

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    The Fifth Dimension and the Shum Perspective, Part 3

    Gurudeva: "The fifth dimensional world which is a very vibrant world is the core of the body of the soul and the pivot point from which human destiny is mapped out." The fifth dimension is beyond ordinary sequential time. The past and the future exist in the present. We have an aspect of awareness, inside of everyone, that's always ...

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    Awareness and Omnipresence-Yoga Sutras, Part 2

    Patanjali: "Yoga is the restraint of mental activities. Then awareness abides in its essential nature." Awareness disunites with mental activities. Disunion also takes place in deep meditation, the sustained experience of pure awareness. Objectless samadhi-asamprajnata samadhi. Pure awareness aware only of itself; kaivalya-liberation, ...

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    Awareness and Omnipresence-Yoga, Charya, Part 3

    The practices of Saiva Siddhanta, thousands of years of teachings: The four padas of charya, kriya, yoga and jnana the natural sequence of the soul's evolutionary process to attain moksha, ...

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    Awareness and Omnipresence-Satchidananda, Part 4

    God is our dearest beloved implying transcendence of individuality and 'sayujya' union with the Divine; identification with Satchidananda. The state of living in Satchidananda is called Sivasayujya, the beyond consciousness. ...

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    Awareness and Omnipresence-Kaif, Part 5

    Gurudeva created the Shum Tyeif language to be able to have precise descriptions of the realm of meditation. Niif perspective of awareness, fourfold definition. Kaif: pure awareness aware only of ...

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    Awareness and Omnipresence-Iif, Part 6

    In Shum, Gurudeva's language of meditation, 'iif' is awareness traveling, flowing constantly in the fifth and fourth dimensions. 'Nalif' is holding the vibration continuity between meditations. 'Anif' is finding the ...

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    Awareness and Omnipresence-Niimf, Iif, Part 7

    Understanding the depths of the teachings, the superconscious mind is putting information into your subconscious mind through the flow of niimf and iif. The superconscious, through the subconscious will give ...

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    Three Points of Concentration, Samyama

    In meditation, focusing the mind on three facts or points of concentration. Its called samyama in the Yoga Sutras. Concentrate on each individually, then meditate upon them collectively. Thought, meaning ...

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    சிவபெருமானுடன் ஐக்கியமாதல்

    Merging with Siva, Hinduism's Contemporary Metaphysics is a guide for one who is ready to diligently walk the spiritual path. Great new vistas open up throughout its 365 daily lessons ...

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    Mahasivaratri, Get into Touch with Intuition

    "Siva's followers all believe that Lord Siva is God, whose Absolute Being, Parasiva, transcends time, form and Space..." Intuition, when you are awake, is 'cold and clear, direct and profound.' ...Intuitive flashes come from deep within for this is your jnana, your own wisdom breaking through. Open ...