The first time I enter the concert hall I am greeted by an explosion of sensory input, Indian music fills the room, hundreds of people are milling about and there is a small marketplace at the back of the hall with devotees selling a wide variety of spiritual products to eager buyers. All the activity reminds me of the fabulous chaos of India and for a moment I forget I am actually at the Manhattan Center in the middle of NYC. Everyone is gathered for one purpose, to have a chance to be...

Joan Suval is one of the main disciples of the late Guru, Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati, founder of both the Yoga Society of New York, Inc., and of Ananda Ashram, a beautiful retreat site in upstate New York. Joan divides her time between her family and teaching the universal principles of meditation, yoga and Vedanta. She regularly teaches at Ananda Ashram and once a month at the Jivamukti Yoga Center in NYC. Joan also leads a few extraordinary weekend silent retreats at the ashram...

Meditation is like a good book--like reading a good book.

The other day I was readingThink and Grow Rich. It really is an amazing book. It was written in 1937 and is basically about the power of intention, the power of our minds to create our reality. It's a yoga book written decades before most people in the US had even heard of Yoga. I highly reccommend it.

Anyway, I was reading the book in a fairly busy cafe. There was music and chatter and people walking by the...

I wanted to address this amazing work after yesterday's Oprah Show. For those of us without TV (all of my clients told me about it), Oprah had the teachers fromThe Secreton her show yesterday. I am so thrilled that this fabulous philosophy has hit the mainstream in such a big way.

I truly hope everyone who reads this seesThe Secret. I'm sure many of you already have. This entry is really for those who have seenThe Secret. If you haven't or have no idea...

Meditation music can help you find all of these benefits with calming sounds. Meditation and other anxiety reducing wellness practices are critically important in today's world. By making these healing arts easily accessible, people will attain abundant health, balance, and peace in their lives; we have developed a manifest mix of music that can help you obtain the very culminating meditative state as possible.

This unique healing, meditation music uses resonance to wash away...

These days we hear a lot of talk about the mantras used for meditation. Some people say a random word is best, others recommend the universal sound Aum or Om. But what about the mantras used in the Transcendental Meditation technique? Are they generic or special? Secular or religious? Useless or effective? And where do they come from? These are important questions so let’s find an answer for them.

The Transcendental Meditation technique is an effortless mental procedure...

Although many people are not aware of it, the connection between yoga and meditation is quite strong. Yoga is a perfect compliment to meditation, regardless of whether your goals are to reduce stress and anxiety, improve your overall heath or just become more spiritually aware. It is possible, while practicing yoga, to achieve a deep state of meditation.

Yoga and Meditation go hand in hand and will really help to accelerate your personal and spiritual growth.

Yoga...

Thinking… What is thinking?

The only way to partially answer this question is to look at ourselves and analyze our thinking. I will begin with the ordinary thinking. Ordinary everyday thinking is very chaotic. Thoughts are coming randomly without any particular pattern. They have nothing in common; they are only coming on our minds withassociation. If you really analyze the thoughts you will see that they can only be drawn from our past or they can be imaginative....

When many people think about meditation, they simply think of monks that live in caves or monasteries, spending their time sitting cross-legged on the floor. Even today, many people do not realize the benefits of meditation, so they never bother to try it out for themselves.

The fact is, meditation is not just for monks and gurus. Anyone can experience and enjoy the benefits of meditation. Both spiritual and non-spiritual people have taken advantage of meditation to improve their...

This is Muhammad School-11

The Prophet Muhammad is a clear example of humbleness and modesty.

It is well known that forbids the pride, that is the over self esteem, or the inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, or superiority, as a displayed behavior.

The following are just few out of many examples:

1) Muhammad: None shall enter Paradise with a grain of pride still in his heart

Muhammad always said in His Hadith that the one who...