[Quick links] [Pause]    One comes across an interesting story in the Buddhist Tipitakas. Once Buddha was passing through a dense forest all alone. It was getting dark. People advised Buddha not to take such a risk since that forest was known to be inhabited by a cruel robber who almost killed any passersby. He even chopped off the fingers of his victims and wore a garland of them! People called him Angulimala – one who wears a garland of fingers.  Buddha was fearless and he ignored their advice and kept walking into the forest.

[Quick links] [Pause]  One person who came across some statements made by a well-known Hindu supporter raised this question.  Apparently, this Hindu supporter who has written tens of books on threats to Hinduism from ‘outsiders’ has objections to non-Hindu Yoga Gurus coming up with their own versions of Yoga.  According to this scholar, these non-Hindu Yoga Gurus distort Yoga by replacing some of the essential aspects of Yoga to suite their own religious affinities. One of them is the chanting of the sound OM during Yoga practice.

[Quick links] [Pause]       All of us have our own biases. We always tend to think that what we believe is the only truth.  So, some people who have their own pet theories even raise questions about Patanjali’s way of meditation.

[Quick links] [Pause]         After having defined what God is, and why idol worship is not something forbidden, Badarayana goes on to give some finer suggestions on God realization.

[Quick links] [Pause]                This is quite a tricky question. It could potentially lead to unending debates. Most Buddhists believe that Buddha did say that the soul does not exist.  And many a so-called ‘rationalist’ rally behind Buddhism because it rejects the concept of soul!

[Quick links] [Pause]  Before I get into the question answer session, let me make a quick announcement.  The fourth part of my audio book “The Ultimate book on Yoga” is now available. It is titled “Part 4 of The Ultimate Book on Yoga: How do Yoga postures work?”.  It is a one-hour long audio available in most stores and some libraries. You may not find it in amazon/audible though, since they don’t support parts.  If you have ever wondered how Yoga postures help in improvement of health, this is the book for you.  This book investigates into the reasons how Yoga postures enhance health. That would not only satisfy your curiosity but also helps you in performing these postures in the right way to reap the full potential of Yoga. So, please have a look, I mean lend an ear

[Quick links] [Pause]   We often use the word spirituality to mean some uncommon or mystic set of notions or practices. Even people who do not believe in the concept of spirit or soul use the term to mean such things. Many people talk about ‘spiritual experiences’. Most modern Gurus take subjective experience as the proof of existence of spirituality that is beyond science.

[Quick links] [Pause]   This is the question I am often asked. Many people get attracted to Yoga or meditation believing that they can attain psychic powers through these practices. Many a Gurus became well known either because of their psychic claims, or through their autobiographies in which they give a long list of mystics they have met in their lives who displayed psychic powers.  Do such powers really exist?

[Quick links] [Pause]   Before I discuss further, let me clarify that what I intend to discuss  is about Advaita and Dwaita which are often wrongly translated as Monism and Dualism respectively.

[Quick links] [Pause]      Before I take up today’s question, I have a small update.   The third part of my audio book series namely “The Ultimate Book on Yoga” is just out and is available in almost all stores and in some libraries.  It is titled “Part 3 of The Ultimate Book on Yoga: How to minimize stress?”. It is a one hour forty-five minutes long audio in which I discuss simple but effective and long-lasting Yogic techniques to minimize stress. It is almost completely explained in an anecdote driven style that should make listening interesting and convincing. As usual, the link to look for is https://books2read.com/UltimateYoga. You can choose your favorite store and search for the book using the title if it is not explicitly listed. I hope that you will find this part interesting and useful.  Now back to our regular Q n A session.  Today's question is  "Does Patanjali really teach meditation?"   Patanjali may be a puzzle to many people who dabble around in Yoga.  The person who asked me this question is under the impression that Patanjali who is often credited to be the father of Yoga does not really teach how to meditate!