As COVID-19 has prompted us to reflect on our attitudes and actions, we must remember the lessons from past eye-openers and strive to keep the resolutions we make. Swami Amritaswarupananda encourages us to remember nine principles if we wish to make lasting changes to our habits. If we can keep these resolutions alive, we will attain both external and internal wealth, and embrace the vision that the world and God are one.
Read MoreRead about how—during yoga training at the ashram—one of Amrita Yoga instructors experienced a deep inner transformation that helped her overcome a longstanding fear of public speaking. Hers is one of many examples how Amrita Yoga goes beyond physical asana practice and improves mental and spiritual wellbeing. Author: Team Amrita Yoga, Amritapuri based on the responses of the Amrita Yoga Instructor. Amrita Yoga: How has meeting Amma changed your life? Being in Amma’s presence always renders countless realizations, miracles, lessons and transformations. There is one memorable incident that occurred while I was attending the Amrita Yoga Training in Amritapuri. I had always struggled with a deep, and painful karmic wound of which I had made a concerted effort to heal, to overcome. Since early childhood I experienced a sheer terror of speaking in public. When activated it had a paralyzing and often debilitating effect. My nature is to be in the background. Added to this an overly sensitive awareness, and a history of trauma. It was while attempting to teach the students that this wound was painfully revealed. While teaching I lost the complete ability to think, speak, move; I completely fell apart. Shattered, humiliated, and embarrassed I immediately sought refuge and solace by the sea. Always, in these times, nature soothes me, always my sanctum sanctorum. While headed towards this safe haven, I encountered a sea of people....
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“The creation and the Creator are not two but One,” Amma constantly reminds us. It is this principle that informs and motivates the various environmental programs and green initiatives of Embracing the World. India’s culture is one wherein everything one sees serves as a reminder of the all-pervasive nature of the Divine. At its heart, this perspective acknowledges that all names and forms are but various manifestations of the one all-pervasive consciousness that serves as the substratum of creation. Nature is a beautiful expression of the creation, and in Nature, many people find a connection within, a space for...
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During a question-and-answer session in Amritapuri, Amma was asked about the best way to chant one’s mantra. Question: Amma, I like to chant my mantra aloud. I feel a lot of love and devotion and enthusiasm when I do that. But when I do it silently, just moving my lips, I don’t get the same concentration or feel the same love and enthusiasm. Please tell me the best way to chant my mantra. Amma: Slokas (hymns or prayers) can surely be chanted aloud, but mantras that have bijaksharas, or seed sound syllables, are best chanted silently or by merely...
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Author: Team Amrita Yoga, Amritapuri Summary: In a recent session, Amma discussed the concept of Maya, defining it not as nonexistence but as the ever-changing nature of reality. She explained that suffering arises from clinging to impermanent things and from preconceived expectations of love and happiness. Real love is obstructed by ego, leading us to misuse relationships to satisfy our desires rather than genuinely connecting with others. Amma emphasized that true happiness and love originate from within, not from external sources. By shifting our focus from expecting to giving, and recognizing the inherent nature of things and people, we...
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