The Atma Jyoti Blog

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Yesterday, after a brief May shower, a rainbow of exceptional beauty appeared outside our back porch.

Swami Nirmalananda points to the colorful skies while talking of different traditional beliefs about rainbows.

Swami Satyananda watches as the rainbow’s end emerges from part of the ashram property. We were not able to find the pot of gold, however.

We want to share with you a news piece we came across a last week which was so absurd that it could have been featured on a satirical news show. We found it on Tricycle.com and The China Post.

China announced last month new regulations governing Tibetan Buddhism, including a stipulation that senior monks, known as “living Buddhas,” cannot be reincarnated without government permission.

“The reincarnation of living Buddhas must undergo application and approval procedures,” the new regulations stipulate. “Living Buddha” reincarnations with a “particularly great impact,” such as presumably of the next Dalai Lama, “shall be reported to the State Council for approval.”

The new regulations, which come into effect Sept. 1, were issued by the State Religious Affairs Bureau under the State Council, which implements religious policy set by the Communist Party.

To read more, click here.

Stephen Smith of the Productivity in Context Blog has a weekly column called Friday Morning Zen. Last week he kindly hosted a guest post by Swami Nirmalananda, a commentary on a quote from Buddha in the Dhammapada:

“By resolution and attention, by discipline and self-control, a clever [wise] man may build himself an island that no flood can overthrow.”

Click here to read the commentary on this verse.

Stephen has offered to host frequent guest posts by Swamiji commenting on quotes on spiritual topics. Do you know of a good spiritual quote by someone or from spiritual writings which you would like to see explained or amplified? Contact us and we will consider using it on Stephen’s Friday Morning Zen column.

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The beginning, middle, and end of yoga texts is the Yoga Darshan (Yoga Sutras) of Patanjali. It has not only never been superseded, it has never been equalled. It stands alone as the sole authority on yoga outside the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita.

Because of the importance of Patanjali’s classic text, we have added a new section on the Yoga Sutras to our website. Included are articles by Swami Nirmalananda Giri and Raghavan Iyer on various aspects of Yoga and the Yoga Sutras. And there are two translations of the Yoga Sutras, including Dr. I. K. Taimni’s translation and masterly exposition, The Science of Yoga. These articles will help any student of yoga to gain a clear understanding of the principles which form the basis of this important subject.

Visit An Introduction to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. For more spiritual reading, we also suggest the Introduction to the Bhagavad Gita, and the Introduction to the Upanishads.