In this essay, I would like to outline five stages along the spiritual path. These are intended to serve as a contextual map which I hope can help the aspirant make sense of the major issues he will face in his spiritual growth. In writing this, I risk exacerbating a common problem — the tendency […]
Stages of Spiritual Development Read More »
The contemporary Zen Master, John Daido Lori, has said that for an aspirant to progress on the spiritual path he or she will need Great Faith, Great Doubt, and Great Determination. I capitalize these qualities in an effort to represent the magnitude of the spiritual undertaking. We are not referring to faith, doubt, or determination
When I was a teenager, I held my first job working for my father at his small auto parts store. Being exposed to the world of work and the occupations of different people somehow stirred me deeply. I became very appreciative that things do not appear out of thin air. Bridges, cars, offices, restaurants– these
Who Created The World? Read More »
Why do bad things happen to good people? To put it simply, they don’t. The reason for this is twofold. First, who is a good person and who is a bad person? In reality, each of us is such a mixed bag of personality traits and ego quirks that it is impossible to place our
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A learned professor wished to cross the river, so he engaged the services of a common ferryman. As the ferryman rowed his small craft, the professor asked his opinion on the government’s economic policy. The ferryman apologized to the professor, explaining that he was an uneducated man who had never learned the principals of economics.
Ambika and I were traveling with Shree Ma and Swami Satyananda Saraswati of the Devi Mandir in Napa, Calif. Shree Ma is one of the most amazing human beings I have ever met. She is a tiny Bengali woman who, when fully wet, hauls about 90 lbs. on a 5 ft. and not many inches
When I was younger, I was a student at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. My girlfriend at that time and I took a summer bicycle trip through New England. When we got to Vermont, I thought the State was so beautiful that I dropped out of school, waved goodbye when the girlfriend went back
Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati Read More »
Baba Hari Dass is my yoga guru, the yogi who gave me my name and permission to teach. Back when I was studying intensely with him, I only saw him once a year, at a Labor Day retreat outside of Toronto. The rest of the year I was doing my yoga and meditation on my
When Ambika and I got married, we flew to Grenada to honeymoon in the Caribbean. On the plane, a flight attendant approached me and asked if I was Prem Prakash. I told her I was, and she introduced herself as a yogini who was a devotee of Karunamayi Ma, an Indian woman that many consider
Amma Sri Karunamayi Read More »
Neem Karoli Baba was a great yogi who has had an immeasurable influence on the spread of yoga from India to the West. The extent of his influence on the Western yoga movement will never be fully known as he was so averse to fame and personal publicity. Also known as Maharaji (literally, “great king,”
