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Essays and other writings
Prophecy of a Golden Age - By Atmananda Das
How Atma Yoga has reemerged as an ideal spiritual technology
for these times.
Overview of Yogic philosophy -
By Atmananda Das
A 33 point description of Yoga philosophy
Why ISKCON? - Atma Yoga's amazing lineage
You are a divine being - By Atmananda Das
When Yogis get Personal - By Karuna Devi Dasi
Prophecy of a Golden Age -
Ancient Prophecy of Hope
Ubiquitous in all the ancient sciences and traditions is the cyclic nature
of reality. The cycles of the moon create a rhythm easily visible in nature. The cycles of the seasons give meaning
and ritual to every civilization. The Vedas, the most ancient of all sciences, describes the four seasons of the
universe; four ages, hundreds of thousands of years long, which cycle endlessly from brightly enlightened to brutishly
dark. Kali Yuga (the Iron Age) is the darkest of these epochs. We are in Kali Yuga right now. Nonetheless, according
to an ancient Vedic prophecy, a window of opportunity exists; to create a Golden age inside of this Iron Age.
Our rampant selfishness as a society in general is evidence of this Iron Age. We are a people who put the "I"
before the "We." While self-identification is the chief characteristic of the Iron Age, selfless service
will define the Golden Age.
Tit for tat is our motivation in the Iron Age; where the adage "What will I get out of this?" holds sway.
The pleasure of doing service, for God and your fellow human, just for the sake of it, is the source of motivation
in the Golden Age. Here, "Because it is the right thing to do," is the adage of a bright future. This
creates a radically different platform for human relations. In the Golden Age relationships, are an opportunity
for unconditional acts of kindness rather than a means of self-gratification.
In other important transformations of the Golden age, being God conscious replaces being self-conscious, and where
as self-esteem or 'feeling good about you' is the prime directive of the Iron Age, humility and feeling good about
your actions, are the hallmarks of the Golden Age. Self-preservation remains, but its purpose changes from preservation
for its own sake, to preservation for the sake of helping others. Additionally, the notion that 'everyone is God'
falters and the fact that God is in every body flourishes.
In the most powerful conversion of the Golden Age, the modern concept of so-called "self-love" dissipates
in the face of God-love, a dynamic personal relationship between you and your Maker. An extraordinary new state
of self arises from God-love, described as Atma-räma in the Vedic Texts. Atma-räma means to be spiritually
self-satisfied. The Vedic texts abound with instructions and technologies for becoming spiritually self-satisfied.
They are also replete with descriptions of the inevitable misery of materialistic longing.
A Powerful Technology reemerges
In the Vedas, we find Atma Yoga, an incredibly potent tool for transformation
from materialistic longing to being spiritually self-satisfied. The spiritually self-satisfied individual is selfless,
compassionate, and disposed to service. Therefore, Atma Yoga is a technology for the Golden Age.
Atma Yoga reengineers the Yogas of physical/mystical culture, Hatha, Kundalini, and Astanga (Raja) within the context
of uncensored Vedic knowledge. Furthermore, Atma Yoga uses all the components of the physical Yogas; asana, pranayama,
meditation, and mantras. It places them, however, in a far more powerful context. Atma Yoga cannot be classified
as a physical or mystical practice; rather it is a transcendental technology. Although Atma Yoga is not new in
itself (it was originally called ätma-samädhi-yoga in the Vedas) it is being presented to the modern
world for the first time.
Most physical/mystical Yoga practices consider dissolution of the soul into pure energy as the highest level of
attainment. However, according to the original science of Yoga, the soul remains an individual for eternity, living
and enjoying in a state of full knowledge and bliss. Moreover, the highest possible goal described in the Vedas
is to be in a state of boundless and spontaneous love.
According to the Vedas-which all authoritative Yoga texts rely on, authentic Yoga technologies are those that reestablish
our true nature as spirit-souls. Accordingly,
Atma Yoga reestablishes Hatha, Kundalini, and Astanga as a technology with the power to lead you to your original
nature. In this way, Atma Yoga precipitates Spiritual Activism. Spiritual Activism means to act out of your true,
original nature. Not surprisingly, the Vedas describe your original nature as, "being in a constant state
of spontaneous love."
Because the spirit-soul is in a constant state of love, pure spiritual activism is logically about love. In fact,
another name for spiritual activism is devotional service. In the Vedas, Bhakti Yoga is the science of devotional
service.
Axis of Transformative Power
Bhakti Yoga and Atma Yoga share many components, yet they retain different
positions on the spiritual path. Bhakti Yoga is the ultimate path of total surrender all the way to the point of
transcendental self-realization. Atma Yoga involves conquering the limitations of human nature by dint of powerful
will and self-knowledge. Between the two paths lies Karma Yoga, the practical spiritualization of daily life. In
Karma Yoga, the mundane is made sacred by a shift in purpose and intent, i.e. offering your daily activities to
God instead of to your self.
What Atma, Karma, and Bhakti Yoga have in common and what this course will demonstrate is that at the foundation
of a truly complete spiritual practice are the qualities of humility and tolerance. Humility and tolerance are
the emotional heralds of the Golden Age. Atma Yoga like Bhakti teaches humility and tolerance.
Examples of humility and tolerance abound in our history of spiritual leaders; the best-known example is the carpenter's
son. The essence of Yoga is to follow in that example. Humility and tolerance lead to service and sacrifice. Service
and sacrifice are acts of love and compassion that have the power to free the soul and transform society.
Atma Yoga Teacher Training - 2 February 2003
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Overview of Yogic philosophy
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1. You are dreaming - your soul is asleep.
2. Your body, mind, identity, emotions and various states of consciousness are all part of the dream.
3. This world, the universe it resides in and various dimensions that accompany it are also part of the dream.
4. Your sleeping soul has a spiritual body (two arms, two eyes, etc.)
5. Your spiritual body lives in a spiritual place (trees, rivers, mountains, animals…)
6. When you are awake in your spiritual body you are in a state of ever fresh, knowledge and bliss.
7. Your spiritual body chose to fall asleep and dream out of desire to be like God.
8. This entire dreamscape (matrix) was created by God to give you this opportunity.
9. Leaving the matrix altogether requires reestablishing a conscious relationship with its creator.
10. The handbook for navigating the matrix and reestablishing this relationship is the Vedas.
11. The most important of these instructions is the Bhagavata Gita.
12. Those ready for the spiritual journey fall into three categories: atheist, impersonalist and personalist.
13. There are Vedic rituals, philosophies and Yogas to accommodate all these categories of people.
14. The hierarchy of these paths is toward a relationship with God as a person.
15. All Vedic and Yogic efforts will give some spiritual benefit.
16. Any bona fide means of spiritual advancement requires submission to a spiritual guide. (A spiritual guide is
1) Self-realized, 2) in a disciplic succession and 3) completely selfless.)
17. Transcendental guides, i.e. spiritual masters, fall into two categories: fully qualified and partially qualified.
18. To be fully qualified they must have the necessary knowledge and experience to lead you out of the matrix completely,
permanently, and in this lifetime. (This information will contain the full authority of the Vedas, as speculation
is unacceptable.)
19. Fully qualified teachers are always personalists and attract the same. Partially qualified teachers attract
impersonalists and atheists.
20. Personalists should practice devotional service (reestablishing their relationship with God.).
21. Impersonalists should practice seeing God everywhere.
22. Atheists should practice selfless service.
23. Atheists and impersonalists should meditate on and chant the syllable AUM.
24. The highest attribute of the Vedic paths is spontaneous and persistent love of God as the source of all.
25. The second highest is constant awareness of God in your heart.
26. And the third is realization of God's energy everywhere including as yourself.
27. People with very limited spiritual inclination should endeavor to acquire some cultural knowledge regarding
Yoga and the Vedas, i.e., attend lectures, read books, or take a Yoga class.
28. The object of the lectures, books and Yoga classes is to understand that you are not your body and that the
beginning of liberation is to know yourself and discover your original purpose.
29. The best forms of cultural knowledge are eating Maha-Prasad (food offered to God) or the association of a Vaisnava
(sincere devotee of Visnu).
30. There is a spectrum of Spiritual Activism (Devotional Service) from generalized and vague to specific and intimate.
31. As spiritual advancement is made, greater and greater specificity and intimate knowledge of the truth is obtained.
32. The more specific and intimate our experience of the absolute truth becomes the greater the likelihood that
we can wake from this dream.
33. If you are specifically and intimately conscious of God at the moment of death you can wake up altogether.
Mukti Sutra - January 2002
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