The Atma Jyoti Blog

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An essential part of spirituality is conscious growth and evolution. And an important aspect of growth is the willingness, even a thirst, for learning: what works, what doesn’t work; what helps and what hinders our spiritual life. We can learn from the wise, who have cut paths through the dense forest of ignorance, or who have successfully followed those paths, and make our sojourn easier and more effective.

The Internet is a vast sea of information, and finding what you need to know can be a time-consuming project. Especially when it comes to locating spiritual resources, separating the good from the mediocre and useless can be a frustrating undertaking. So we have put together a list of what we have found to be extraordinary web sites of wisdom which will be a help to anyone striving to grow spiritually.

• The Internet Sacred Text Archive

This site is a freely available archive of electronic texts about religion, mythology, legends and folklore, and occult and esoteric topics, with over 1400 books online. You will find an impressive array of the principal text for the various religious traditions, both mainstream and obscure.

• Bhagavad Gita on Wikipedia

The External Links section for the Bhagavad Gita has links to 10 online translations of the Gita, as well as several commentaries, as well as audio versions of the Gita. There are also links to the Gita Supersite. (The External Links section at the bottom of any Wikipedia article can be a treasure trove of resource material if you are looking up a spiritual subject.)

• Celextel’s Online Spiritual Library

This extensive library contains texts of the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, Shankara’s writings and much more. There is also a considerable library of some of India’s prime religious texts.

• Advaita Vedanta Library

This site compliments the Celextel site and contains The Principal and Minor Upanishads, as well as other primal Vedantic texts.

• The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda is regarded as the chief disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, and was one of the first to make the spiritual wisdom of India well known in the West. WikiSource has now made available the ten printed volumes of Swami Vivekananda’s writings, lectures, and letters.

• Access to Insight: Readings in Theravada Buddhism

Access to Insight has English translations of many of the most important sections of the Pali Canon, as well as books, essays, sutta commentaries, and study guides to Theravada Buddhism. It includes a large section of useful writings by the Venerable Thanissaro Bhikkhu, renowned author and monk of the Thai Forest tradition, and dhamma talks by Ajaan Chah, one of the great modern saints of Thailand.

Another site with great resources Theravada Buddhism is What the Buddha Taught, with articles in English and also a good number of other languages by some of the most renowned figures in contemporary Theravada Buddhism.

• The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

This is a site dedicated to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, with multiple translations of the Sutras into English, as well as in a surprising number of other languages–a very helpful resource for serious students of yoga.

• Autobiography of a Yogi Online

Paramhansa Yogananda’s classic Autobiography has been the catalyst for spiritual awakening for tens of thousands of people. The original, unedited edition is now available online at the website of Ananda Village. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in spiritual life.

• Bible Gateway

For any student of the Bible, this is a remarkable resource: a searchable online Bible in over 50 versions in numerous languages, with both old and contemporary translatons, including both text and audio versions of some of the translations.

• Divine Life Society

The Society founded by the great Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh has a website full of useful information for spiritual aspirants. Includes spiritual instructions and discourses, as well as a large number of free eBooks by Swami Sivananda. The site also has photos, audio, and videos of this remarkable spiritual giant.

• Sanskrit Spiritual Scriptures

On this page, you can listen to Sanskrit chanting and recitation with English translations for some of the most powerful, holy, and ancient spiritual scriptures from India, including Bhagavad Gita, Shiva Sutras, Spanda Karikas, Bhaja Govindam, Pratyabhijanhrdayam, and more.

• Atma Jyoti Website

Last but not least, we have endeavored to make our own website into a spiritual resource, with features including A Brief Sanskrit Glossary , a Downloads page with a dozen PDF eBooks, and many more website articles, including commentaries on the scriptures of Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Taoism.

Alas, not all spiritual resources are on the web. To see what we consider the best spiritual reading in print, read our article, A Yogi’s Recommended Reading List.

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We highly recommend this book! Spirituality for Dummies, by Sharon Janis, is a highly readable, informative, and entertaining introduction to spirituality.

“Humorous, edgy, profound, and enlightening, Spirituality For Dummies brings modern-day spiritual seekers a view and approach to life that is universal, personal, and optimistic, with the dependable style, clarity, and friendliness of the ‘For Dummies’ series.”

Read more about this book, or purchase it at Amazon.com.

Q: Please explain how the world goes–what is the starting point and the end point?

This is best explained in Autobiography of a Yogi (first edition facsimile published by Crystal Clarity Publishers–View full text online here). Some of the major upanishads also give detailed descriptions of how the universe emanates from the Absolute–and also why. The Bhagavad Gita also deals with these matters. I recommend you get information directly from these authoritative sources rather than a synthesis from me.

Q: If we consider this world as cyclic when will Satya Yuga arrive?

This is also discussed quite completely in Autobiography of a Yogi as well as in The Holy Science by Swami Sriyukteswar Giri.

Please be aware, that Kali, Dwapara, Treta, and Satya are matters of prevailing consciousness at some point in time. But they are also indications of individual development. Therefore, we can inwardly be in Satya Yuga even when Kali Yuga prevails outside. And we can be in Kali Yuga inside even when the world in general is in Satya Yuga.

The answer to this all is meditation.

Read more about learning how to meditate.

The absolute best translation is THE SONG OF GOD: BHAGAVAD GITA, by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood. It conveys the spirit of the Gita as no other translation does. It is, though, an interpretive translation. But the interpretations are according to the great commentators such as Adi Shankaracharya. The supplementary material, including an essay by Aldous Huxley, is extremely valuable in understanding the Gita’s subtle philosophy.

However, in time you need to engage in a deeper study of the Gita, and for that you need translations that will give you the original Sanskrit text, a word-by-word translation, and some commentary. Among the best of these are the translations of Swami Sivananda, Swami Swarupananda, and Winthrop Sargeant.

All four of these translations can be bought from Amazon.com.

The Gita is a lifetime study which you will find continually reveals new insights and inspiration.

Since the Gita is a digest of the upanishads, I also recommend that you get THE UPANISHADS: BREATH OF THE ETERNAL by Swami Prabhavananda.

The following is a list of recommended books and the order in which they might be read.

First there are four books whose value cannot be estimated. They are foundation stones of understanding spiritual life and spiritual philosophy. They should be read through many times carefully and reflectively.

• The Song of God: Bhagavad Gita, translated by Swami Prabhavananda
• The Upanishads, Breath of the Eternal, translated by Swami Prabhavananda
• Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramhansa Yogananda–the first edition facsimile by Crystal Clarity Publishers (View full text online here)
• Meditation and Spiritual Life, by Swami Yatiswarananda

ON OUR WEBSITE

• Om Yoga–Its Theory and Practice (download PDF or view online)
• The Word That Is God (download PDF or view online)
• All the articles on Meditation
• All the articles on Hinduism
• The writings on other spiritual traditions that interest you (See the sidelinks bar of our Home Page)

OTHER BOOKS

• Man’s Eternal Quest, by Paramhansa Yogananda (collection of talks)
• The Divine Romance, by Paramhansa Yogananda (collection of talks)
• Journey to Self-realization, by Paramhansa Yogananda (collection of talks)
• The Science of Religion, by Paramhansa Yogananda
• Sayings of Paramahansa Yogananda (originally The Master Said)
• God Talks With Arjuna, by Paramhansa Yogananda (commentary on the Bhagavad Gita)
• The Second Coming of Christ, by Paramhansa Yogananda (commentary on the Gospels)
• The Principal Upanishads, translated by Radhakrishnan (for in-depth study, this should be read after Prabhavananda’s translation has been read)
• Vivekachudamani (Crest Jewel of Discrimination) by Shankara, translated by either Swami Madhavananda or Swami Prabhavananda
• The Science of Yoga, by I. K. Taimni (translation and commentary on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras)