Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian is a meditation teacher, an award-winning poet, writer, and the spiritual director of the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment—a Kriya Yoga Meditation Center with headquarters in San Jose, California. She has taught Kriya Yoga nationally and internationally for more than three decades and has received many service awards, including the Mahatma Gandhi Award for the Promotion of Religious Pluralism. Ordained to teach in 1982 by Roy Eugene Davis, a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, her message is “engaged enlightenment” – an invitation to live an awakened, creatively inspired, and fulfilled life, now.

Along with her service as a meditation teacher and esteemed Yogacharya, Ellen Grace O’Brian is the Founder of Carry the Vision, a community nonviolence education project bringing meditation instruction to staff and children in schools, the prison population, and other segments of society. She is the founder and President of Meru Institute, providing healthy lifestyle education and leadership training in yoga studies, Ayurveda, and community service. She is host of The Yoga Hour, a weekly podcast with listeners in over 130 countries. Her latest book, The Jewel of Abundance: Finding Prosperity through the Ancient Wisdom of Yoga, was recently published by New World Library.

Other books:

The Moon Reminded Me

A Single Blade of Grass: Finding the Sacred in Everyday Life

One Heart Opening

Sanctuary of Belonging

Living for the Sake of the Soul

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.

Summary and transcript of this interview

Interview recorded January 21, 2019.

YouTube Video Chapters:

00:00:00 - Introduction and Overview of the Guest

00:03:50 - The Connection Between Material Existence and Spiritual Life

00:07:32 - Finding a Happy Medium and Being Awake in the World

00:11:24 - Living in an Ashram vs. Awakening in the World

00:15:11 - Discovering Your Unique Path

00:19:12 - Discovering a Subtle Dharma

00:23:13 - The Importance of Homo Consciousness

00:26:53 - Exploring the Goal of Artha

00:31:07 - Ethics in Spiritual Communities

00:34:42 - Ahimsa and the Journey of Non-Stealing

00:38:52 - Changing Our Mind for Abundance

00:42:44 - The Power of Speech and Thought

00:46:44 - Divine Grace and the Mechanics of Life

00:50:48 - Receptivity to Opportunities

00:55:44 - The Beauty of Life and the Nature of Reality

00:59:58 - The Importance of Enjoyment in Living a Spiritually Conscious Life

01:04:06 - Finding Happiness and Bliss

01:08:00 - Unhooking from External Sources of Happiness

01:11:27 - Living Beyond Our Means and Stealing

01:15:21 - Awakening to Higher Consciousness

01:19:34 - Stages of Life and Dharma

01:23:10 - Serving without Attachment

01:27:29 - Finding Joy in the Present Moment

01:31:42 - Being an Ocean and the Middle Way

01:36:00 - The Evolutionary Crucible of Close Relationships

01:40:17 - Awakening and Self-Reflection

01:44:43 - The Mechanics of Yoga

01:48:23 - The Body and Karma

01:52:21 - Reincarnation and the Mind

01:56:18 - The Power of Faith and Belief in the Universe

02:00:29 - Keeping Your Attention on Interview Preparation