Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati, 12/09. Photo by Swami Karma Karuna

Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati, the great Guru, Bhakta, Disciple and humanitarian took Mahasamadhi on Dec. 5th. He left many treasures for our benefit. One of these treasures is his beautiful, poetic sankalpa.

A sankalpa is a statement of resolve and desire. You resolve to attempt and accomplish what your true heart – the heart of nondual wisdom – urges.

A sankalpa can be a small resolve to be realized in a short amount of time. One can also set a sankalpa for one’s entire life. It is this type of sankalpa that Paramahamsaji wrote. (more…)

A reader from Oregon asks:

I have been a member of several spiritual communities. Each time, I left because people were more interested in socializing and gossiping. People didn’t like me and thought I was aloof. Like if you didn’t join in their games, you weren’t accepted. I wonder if the whole idea of practicing in a community is just a kind of spiritual babysitting service.

Let’s cut to the chase. Whenever we criticize other people, we are feeling insecure and alone. I mean every time. No exceptions. (more…)

Spiritual communities are famous for clannishness, infighting, and for harshly ex-communicating those who trouble other members of the group. In some instances, it is teachers who set the tone for this kind of activity. In other cases, the teacher is not around, and the fixations of the students are free to mask themselves with egoic misapplications of the teachings. (more…)

I grew up in an environment that was often at odds with my natural orientation to life. As is true for most of us, some of the useful survival skills I learned as a child became self-defeating habit patterns when I reached maturity. One of the patterns that survived far into adulthood was my “go it alone” attitude. If my environment was not supportive, my attitude was, No Problem, I’ll Do it Myself. (more…)