When I lived as a monk, my guru (Sivaya Subramuniyaswami) taught me a phrase he coined: ‘Where awareness goes, energy flows.’ It’s probably one of the most important things I’ve learned. First, we have to learn that awareness and the mind are two separate things. Second, our mind does not wander; our awareness moves within…
Read moreYour preparation for meditation is as important as your meditation practice, if not more so. The better you prepare, the better your meditation will be. Look at it this way, if someone very important was coming to your home for dinner you would prepare for this, would you not? You would clean your home, perhaps…
Read moreOne of my online course meditation students asked about the difference between awareness and consciousness. I’m glad the student posed this question. My guru answers this question in the best way possible. He says “Consciousness and awareness are the same when awareness is totally identified with and attached to that which it is aware of.”…
Read moreI’ve taken a long hiatus from blogging. My apologies. The last few months have been filled with speaking engagements around the world and working on a few important projects including the development of Siva Ashram, our retreat center in Costa Rica. I hope to update you on some of these things in the coming weeks.…
Read moreA couple of weeks ago when I was in Berlin where I gave a keynote titled “Mastering your Mind” to a group of people involved in Private Equity and Investing, an individual said to me after my talk “I really need to slow down my life. My whole family needs to slow down. It’s just…
Read moreI don’t want to sound pessimistic but the honest truth is that most people don’t want to change badly enough, and that is why they can’t sustain changes in their lives. You have to want change so badly that you are willing to do what it takes to make it happen in your life. You…
Read moreWhen you desire apples more than you do oranges is when you will start to choose apples instead of oranges. Life is the same way too. A lot of people say to me they want to have a more spiritual life. But the truth is they don’t desire it enough. It’s only when their desire…
Read moreA few days ago one of the students of my 12-week online course “Introduction to Meditation” asked the following question on our online forum. “How are memories and awareness related?” Here’s my response to him which I wanted to share with you as well. Memories are experiences that have emotion attached to them. These memories…
Read moreIt’s been a long time since I’ve done one of my photography posts. As many of you know I am passionate about photography. During a recent trip to South India in December last year I drove past a small village in Tamil Nadu, South India, where it looked like the main industry here was making…
Read moreThe subconscious is built on patterns and impressions. If the patterns within the subconscious are distracted of nature then the subconscious is naturally distracted. In order to meditate, patterns of concentration need to be created within the subconscious. Thus it can be concluded that both the subconscious and the conscious mind need to be concentrated…
Read moreEverything begins in the mental plane first before it manifests in the physical plane. You think to yourself “I would like some ice-cream” first then you get up and go and get yourself some ice-cream. But it began in your mind with a thought. Each thought has a picture, sound and color associated with it.…
Read moreIt is that time of the year when most people are absorbed in talking about and creating new year resolutions. January 1st brings with it a wave of hope to people allowing them to believe that they can create and manifest the changes they want in their life in the new year. People busy themselves…
Read more
