Wisdom of the Masters

This is a reading for contemplation taken from various texts written by Helen Keller on her mystical and spiritual insights. Although Helen's story is widely known, it is usually told with little reference to the deep spirituality that illumined her dark and silent world. She had profound spiritual and mystical insights and openly shared with others her joy for the spiritual reality of life. In Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda describes Helen as one of those “rare beings on this earth” who by “sheer intuitional feeling…see, hear, smell, taste, and touch.” Helen Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost her sight and her hearing after a bout of illness when she was 19 months old. She then communicated primarily using home signs until the age of seven, when she met her first teacher and life-long companion Anne Sullivan. Sullivan taught Keller language, including reading and writing. After an education at both specialist and mainstream schools, Keller attended Radcliffe College of Harvard University and became the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. 🔆 These podcasts are not monetized. If you benefit from these podcasts and would like to support our nun's hermitage, there are two options to donate - via Paypal using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPal or using this direct link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage or become at Patron at: https://www.patreon.com/jayasara 🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Father Thomas Keating, an American Catholic monk and priest, discusses the healing and transformative power of centering prayer. Topics include resting in God for radical healing, embracing divine love, living in God's presence, the power of silence, and the significance of love in spiritual practices.

Selected excerpts from the text "Atmananda Tattwa Samhita: The Direct Approach To Truth As Expounded By Sri Atmananda" on the nature and experience of suffering. Śrĩ Atmananda (8 December 1883 – 14 May 1959), also referred as Sri Atmananda Krishna Menon, was an Indian sage, guru, and philosopher. He has been described by scholars as a "neo-Hindu". His teachings have become a foundation for a spiritual method called the Direct Path. 🔆 These podcasts are not monetized. If you benefit from these podcasts and would like to support our nun's hermitage, there are two options to donate - via Paypal using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPal or using this direct link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage or become at Patron at: https://www.patreon.com/jayasara 🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

A reading for meditation of excerpts taken from the text "All Else is Bondage". Terence James Stannus Gray (14 September 1895 – 5 January 1986), better known by the pen name Wei Wu Wei, was a 20th-century Taoist philosopher, writer, Egyptologist and theatre producer.  Gray was born in Felixstowe, Suffolk, England on 14 September 1895, into a well-established Anglo-Irish family.  He was educated at numerous prestigious institutions including Eton and Oxford University.   After he left his theatrical career, his thoughts turned towards philosophy and metaphysics. This led to a period of travel throughout Asia, including time spent at Ramana Maharshi's ashram in Tiruvannamalai, India. Between the years 1958 and 1974 a series of eight books appeared attributed to the mysterious 'Wei Wu Wei'.  These works draw on a variety of sources, including Taoism, specifically the texts attributed to Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, Buddhism, especially The Heart, Diamond and Lankavatara Sutras, and Chan Buddhism as taught by Hui Neng, Huang Po, Hui Hai, etc., as well as the teachings of Padma Sambhava and Sri Ramana Maharshi, among others. 🔆 These podcasts are not monetized. If you benefit from these podcasts and would like to support our nun's hermitage, there are two options to donate - via Paypal using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPal or using this direct link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage or become at Patron at: https://www.patreon.com/jayasara 🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

A reading for meditation of excerpts from the text "To You: Zen Sayings of Kodo Sawaki".  Kodo Sawaki  沢木 興道  (1880 - 1965) was born in Ise, Japan and was a prominent Japanese Sōtō Zen teacher of the 20th century. He is considered to be one of the most significant Zen priests of his time for bringing Zen practice into the lives of laypeople. He has been stated as being "one of the most striking Zen masters of recent times." He was called  "Kodo without a home" because he refused to remain in a temple and always travelled alone. He brought with him, a breath of fresh air to the declining practices within zen, reintroducing the universal practice of zazen. 🔆 These podcasts are not monetized. If you benefit from these podcasts and would like to support our nun's hermitage, there are two options to donate - via Paypal using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPal or using this direct link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage or become at Patron at: https://www.patreon.com/jayasara 🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

His Holiness, the sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje (August 14, 1924 – November 5, 1981) was the spiritual leader of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and part of the oldest line of reincarnate lamas in Vajrayana Buddhism known as the Karmapas whose coming was predicted by the Buddha in the Samadhiraja Sutra.  The 16th Karmapa was considered to be a "living Buddha" and was deeply involved in the transmission of the Vajrayana Buddhism to Europe and North America following the Chinese invasion of Tibet. He had many monikers, including “King of the Yogis”. 🔆 These podcasts are not monetized. If you benefit from these podcasts and would like to support our nun's hermitage, there are two options to donate - via Paypal using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPal or using this direct link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage or become at Patron at: https://www.patreon.com/jayasara 🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Explore the profound teachings of Tilopa through a guided meditation centered on his Six Words of Advice. Discover techniques for achieving comfort and mindfulness, allowing for a deeper connection with the present moment. The discussion includes releasing emotional burdens, letting go of control, and embracing relaxation as a pathway to inner peace. Participants are encouraged to reflect on their past and future anxieties, cultivating acceptance in their meditation practice for a clearer, lighter state of being.

A selection of verses taken from various texts from the works of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite.  Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, (flourished c. 500), probably a Syrian monk who, known only by his pseudonym, wrote a series of Greek treatises and letters for the purpose of uniting Neoplatonic philosophy with Christian theology and mystical experience.  In the early sixth century, a series of writings of a mystical nature, known as the Corpus Areopagiticum or Corpus Dionysiacum was ascribed to the Areopagite. They have long been recognized as pseudepigrapha, and their author is now called "Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite". The author pseudepigraphically identifies himself in the corpus as "Dionysius", portraying himself as Dionysius the Areopagite, the Athenian convert of Paul the Apostle mentioned in Acts 17:34  According to Pseudo-Dionysius, God is better characterized and approached by negations than by affirmations. All names and theological representations must be negated. According to pseudo-Dionysius, when all names are negated, "divine silence, darkness, and unknowing" will follow.  The Dionysian corpus was absorbed into Greek and Eastern Christian theologies and also influenced mystics in the Western church, such as Meister Eckhart. Thomas Aquinas was among those who wrote commentaries on the works. There remains for the Christian reader no theologian or scholar quite as enigmatic as Pseudo-Dionysius. 🔆 These podcasts are not monetized. If you benefit from these podcasts and would like to support our nun's hermitage, there are two options to donate - via Paypal using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPal or using this direct link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage or become at Patron at: https://www.patreon.com/jayasara 🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Neem Karoli Baba or Neeb Karori Baba (c. 1900 -1973), known to his followers as Maharaj-ji, was a Hindu guru and a devotee of the Hindu deity Hanuman. Baba was a lifelong adept of bhakti yoga, and encouraged service to others (seva) as the highest form of unconditional devotion to God. In the book Miracle of Love, compiled by Ram Dass, a devotee named Anjani shares the following account:  "There can be no biography of him. Facts are few, stories many. He seems to have been known by different names in many parts of India, appearing and disappearing through the years. His non-Indian devotees of recent years knew him as Neem Karoli Baba, but mostly as “Maharajji”. Just as he said, he was "nobody". He gave no discourses; the briefest, simplest stories were his teachings. Usually, he sat or lay on a wooden bench wrapped in a plaid blanket while a few devotees sat around him. Visitors came and went; they were given food, a few words, a nod, a pat on the head or back, and they were sent away. Sometimes he sat in silence, absorbed in another world to which we could not follow, but bliss and peace poured down on us. Who he was was no more than the experience of him, the nectar of his presence, the totality of his absence, enveloping us now like his plaid blanket." 🔆 These podcasts are not monetized. If you benefit from these podcasts and would like to support our nun's hermitage, there are two options to donate - via Paypal using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPal or using this direct link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage or become at Patron at: https://www.patreon.com/jayasara 🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Wei Wu Wei, a 20th-century Taoist philosopher and writer, discusses non-duality, the limitations of understanding, the nature of reality, and the hindrance of self-regard. He explores the concept of being oneself and emphasizes intuitive apprehension. The podcast highlights lived reactions like laughter, tears, bliss, and universal benediction.