The Mandukya Upanishad is the shortest Upanishad consisting of just 12 verses. This Upanishad is associated with the Atharva Veda and is also considered fifth among the canon of the…

When you study Sanskrit, you engage two subjects at the same time: The scholarly and the mystical. In my classes, I often share that Sanskrit is a meeting place of…

Contrary to popular understanding, karma is not a cosmic retribution scale. Karma is not you messed up and now (whatever bad there is) is comin’ for you. Karma is a…

The Kena Upanishad is called a mukhya, which means a Principle Upanishad. It centralizes around the first word in its title, ‘Kena,’ which, in Sanskrit, means ‘By Whom?’ The focus…

The Upanishads form some of the oldest Yogic teachings. Within their verses and stories, the reader will discover the vision of the Rishis. It is this vision, a kind of…

The often mis-quoted idea in Yoga is that Sanskrit is the oldest language in the world. When I ask students, “What is their understanding of Sanskrit?” Someone will often say…

The word Upanishad means to sit in proximity to. Upanishad is a Sanskrit word that derives from the elements upa + ni + sad. Upa + ni = proximity or…

What is a healthy parent? I define it as a protective force, a guide, a support, a place of profound unconditional love and nurturance. Not all people have experienced this…

There is a term that gets used when you learn Sanskrit it is called ‘The Sanskrit Tradition.’ When I first heard it, it caught me and I thought “Hmmm ‘The…

Connection with love leads to seva. Seva is the seventh Pillar in the Luminous Soul Method. It is the pillar that follows after Bhakti, devotion. To engage Seva after Bhakti is a natural…

In part 1 of the Luminous Soul Seva Series, I spoke about how you can engage seva in a variety of short ways. I shared how you can work with this Luminous Soul…

In the Luminous Soul Method, Seva is the seventh pillar and is a Sanskrit word which means selfless service. As a practice, seva nourishes and supports both the receiver, as well as the…

My teacher, Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati spoke often in his yogic lectures about what he called ‘the play between the point and the zero.’ He would draw a circle on the…

What is Śabda? Śabda means sound, word or vibration. Śabda is a tanmātra, a subtle element. Tanmātras are themselves the essence of potential. Śabda is the essential vibration that exists…

Question: Dear Manorama, Recently, a student asked me the difference between an Invocation to Lord Patanjali and a mantra like the Gayatri Mantra. Can you explain this to me? Love,…

So, what is a tanmātra? A tanmātra is a subtle element, which is itself the essence of potential. There exist five sense perceptions. For example, seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and…

The word “Rishi” means seer or sage. Rishis are those beings who have perfected their understanding and vision of all things spiritual through intense tapas, or yogic practice. Rishis are…

The Largess Over the past 20 years of teaching Sanskrit, I have discovered two distinct ways that people engage the language. Either people study Sanskrit and become more arrogant as…

Yoganonymous chatted with Manorama about what it means to be a “knower of the field,” a phrase that appears in Chapter 8 of Bhagavad Gita. Q: It is mentioned in…

In the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 69, Shri Krishna instructs Arjuna by telling him: What is the night for ordinary beings, the yogi is awake to and conversely what…