Āḷāra Kālāma
The life and story of Alara Kalama highlight the necessity of direction in spirituality
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philosophy
Shaucha | शौच | purity & cleanliness
Shaucha is the 1st Niyama of Yoga; or the restraints of behavior. This concept that is central to the Indian religion and yoga and is part of what creates a clear and focused mind. It also means a clean body and sets of actions; its implies purity and cleanliness through all of life in a … Read more
Santosha | संतोष | Contentment | Satisfaction
Santosha, the second Niyama of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is sometimes spelled Santosa, is a portmanteau in Sanskrit, derived from Saṃ-prefix (सं-, सम्-) and Tosha (तोष (from root √तुष्, √tuṣ)). SaM-, means “completely”, “altogether” or “entirely”,[5] and Tosha (from the root √tus), “contentment”, “satisfaction”, “acceptance”, “being comfortable”.[5] In modern Californian yoga culture, we say, “chillin” to express this. Contentment is the name of the … Read more
The History and Origins of Christmas
Christmas is primarily a christian holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus. However; it is speculated that the date of the 25th of December was chosen because it is exactly 9 months before the day of his conception, on March 25th which is the Spring Equinox. There is some evidence to suggest Jesus was actually born in December; however the sources aren’t very good[1]. Some believe that the celestial event of the star of Bethlehem, which could have been in June; or perhaps October[2]. The evidence isn’t clear, in my opinion. Generally Jesus is considered to have been born between 6-4 BCE because King Herod died in 4 BC.
Aristotle’s Ethics, Karma, and the Philosophy of the Good
Aristotle lived from 384 B.C.E. to 322 B.C.E. He is widely regarded as one of the best philosophers of all time; up there with Plato and Socrates of Ancient Greece. For the sake of riling you up, I’m going to say that Socrates was the best philosopher in all aspects except one; his hubris. Socrates … Read more
Socrates and the Importance of Skepticism in the Modern World
It has never been more important to question what is happening in today’s society; the news, entertainment, commercials, and the advent of A.I. is propelling us towards a world where people will believe almost anything easily and readily
Lao Tse | 李耳 – The Founder of the Philosophy of Taoism
Lao Tse, The First Taoist Lao Tse, Laozi, Lao-Tzu, Lao-Tze, or Laozi was a philosopher and poet in ancient China who is best known for founding Taoism by writing the Tao Te Ching. He is a deity in certain traditions and probably lived around 4-500 BCE, but is often dated to the time of Confucius … Read more
The True Meaning of Yoga
Yoga provides exercises and experiences that allow you to experience life more fully and vitally. This means that the breathing exercises, stretches, calisthenics, abdominals, standing poses, back-bend, inversion, spinal twists, and hip-openers that you do during a yoga class are pretty useless by themselves. The idea is that they free you up inside to be … Read more
The 5 Major Problems with Hinduism (esp. the Caste System)
Modern Hinduism As humans, we like to idealize about things that we don’t necessarily experience. The grass is always greener where you aren’t. Recently, this has occurred quite often in the way that Westerners view eastern religions in the yoga community. I definitely experienced this before I saw the religions in action when I visited southeast … Read more