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 progression. The more you connect with your sense of love and devotion the more you will see those around you as part of your very […]
Wisdom & Strength
Seva: Healing Through Giving (Part II)
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 Pillar of seva in your daily life through quick connects or medium connects. But what about when you feel called to perform seva in a more substantial […]
Seva: Healing Through Giving (Part I)
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 one making the offering. Seva creates a healing channel of energy. Here’s how to use your Luminous Soul Practice to make these connections every day: […]
Quick & Sacred Sanskrit: Shabda Tanmatra
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 underneath manifested sound as well as the manifested sound itself. Śabda is said to be eternal. The eternal aspect of Śabda is called sphotam, which […]
What is the difference between an Invocation and a Mantra?
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, Śivā Manorama: What a lovely question. Ok let’s start with understanding a few pieces first: What is an invocation verse? An invocation verse is a […]
Quick & Sacred Sanskrit: Tanmatra
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 smelling. There are five tanmātras (śabda, rasa, gandha, rūpa, sparśa), which connect with these five sense perceptions and sense organs. The tanmātras blend together to […]
Re-Mystifying Rishi: The Seer of Light
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 considered to be channels for the intelligent spiritual light to pass through them from the Gods. When the Rishi focuses on a particular deity, that […]
Sanskrit: Elite Language or Language of the Heart?
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 a result or they connect more with their heart. The etymology of the word Sanskrit itself hints at its largess and these two ways of […]
Manorama: Knowledge in the Bhagavad Gita
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 Chapter 8 of the Bhagavad Gita that one wants to become a knower of the field. Firstly, what is the field in the Bhagavad Gita? […]
Manorama: The Universe Beyond the Mind
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 the yogi is awake to, the worldly minded beings experience that as the night. So what is the night, in yoga? The night signifies ignorance […]
Manorama: Feel the Luminous Inner Self
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna teaches Arjuna to stand in his dharma as the greatest warrior. Arjuna’s fight is our fight. It is an inner battle, and on a yogic level it is the struggle for greater self-knowledge that we all must walk through. Just like Arjuna, the student of yoga, must struggle to know […]
Good Sanskrit Pronunciation vs. Chanting from Your Heart
Good Sanskrit Pronunciation vs Chanting from Your Heart Questioner: Dear Manorama, We met in January 2015, for a Sanskrit workshop. I am teaching an “introduction to yoga” class in which I talk about mudras and mantras. I have two people who were afraid to chant mantra because they were told it is dangerous if you […]
Manorama: Awaken the Rebel Within
My Rebellion When I was a teenager, I’m sure my parents would tell you that I took rebellious to a whole new level. I was the classic youngest of three children and I bucked the system every chance I got. I thought a lot about freedom and in those days I felt my freedom in […]
Manorama: So What Actually Is Prana?
Prana means breath, life force, energy, and soul. But to truly understand prana requires that we make some clear distinctions. Prana: Sanskrit & Its Yogic Origins The word prana derives from: Sanskrit Prefix Sanskrit Root Pra √an Pra as a prefix to verbs means: forward, onward Pra as a prefix to nouns: intensifies the root, […]
How Star Wars Helps Us Understand Prana
In the Luminous Soul Method, we begin by asking the student to get curious about What is prana? Simply put prana means breath, life force and energy. But understanding prana is anything but simple. Prana is a mystical unseen force of intelligence that exists at the heart of the Yogic tradition. Modern References Harken Back […]
Where is Your Energy?
You are beautiful. You are powerful. You are free. You are a Luminous Soul. ~ Manorama Once when I was working with a private student in NYC I noticed that she was talking non-stop and her eyes were darting here and there. Her energy was wild. What I mean by wild is that she engaged her […]
The Conversation: Art & Spirituality
The Conversation is a quaterly blog series devoted to the dialog between Yogis & Artists By Manorama An interview with my brother, Artist, Carl D’Alvia, acclaimed sculptor, & Rome prize winner on Art & Spirituality. “Every beauty, which is seen here by persons of perception, resembles more than anything else that celestial source from which we all are […]
The Vibrational World of Sanskrit
There are many amazing things about Sanskrit. One beautiful aspect of the language is how many of her sounds are what is called soft. Hard and soft refer to how much a sound vibrates. When a sound is hard the vocal cords come together and release producing a less resonant sound. In a soft sound, […]
Going Out of My Mind
When I first heard about meditation, I liked the idea of it. “Feel at peace through all of your experiences” was the promise echoed on almost every flier in every yoga center. The problem was that when I actually practiced and sat still it scared me. I noticed a thought emerge… maybe enlightenment was synonymous […]
The Secret Code of the Yoga Sutra
We live in this fast world with demands on us all the time. The Yoga Sutra by Lord Patanjali teaches us how to awaken our connection to our own reverent core. Luminous Soul Definitions: Yoga; The Sanskrit root: Yuj – to unite. Yoga means the experience of union, oneness. I often tell students that the practices […]
