jayananda

Why sacred texts extol bhakti over advanced philosophy?             Author: Janne Kontala, PhD Teacher of Yoga Teacher Training Course Janne's personal blog: https://www.jayananda.info/ The feelings and desires of manas, and the yearning to occupy the central stage connected to ahankara often cloud the buddhi. Therefore, even sincere engagement with philosophy entails the risk of ending up at odds with the Truth. Devotion is the essence Why do the sacred texts often extol the simple devotion of a bhakti-yogi, even compared with the all-time greatest philosophers? The key to understanding this [...]

Yoga is the stilling of the mind’s changing states             Author: Janne Kontala, PhD Teacher of Yoga Teacher Training Course Janne's personal blog: https://www.jayananda.info/ Our mind is in a constant state of flux: sometimes restless, sometimes dull, yet at other times focused, calm and clear. The process of yoga is meant to gradually elevate one from dullness to activity, and then from activity to clarity. Activity is not a stable platform: it easily relapses into dullness, or if activity increases too much, one becomes restless, unable to concentrate on one thing [...]