Freddie Wyndham Yoga - logophilosophy
  1. Prayer
  2. Dhyana, Jnana and Bhakti - Living the Life of a Yogi
  3. Meditation - Experiencing Your Beingness
  4. Happiness is the natural state of our Being
  5. Conscious Awareness
  6. Metaphors to illustrate the Nature of our True Self – the Soul
  7. What is the Heart?
  8. Our Soul is our true and deepest Teacher
  9. Two facets of our Spiritual Practice and Life
  10. What is Yoga?
  11. Jnanahata Yoga
  12. Our Sadhana is a process of Purification
  13. Samskaras
  14. Sanskrit and The Study of The Yoga Texts and Scriptures
  15. Yoga Sutras
  1. Patanjali's Eight Limbs of Yoga
  2. Dhyana (meditation)
  3. Samadhi
  4. The Metaphor of a Raft Flowing On a River
  5. A guided Dhyana Practice
  6. Intuition and Omniscience
  7. What is Meditation?
  8. Practicing the Presence
  9. What is Enlightenment?
  10. Chanting and Mantra
  11. Yoga and Spirituality
  12. New Years Message 2009
  13. Reawakening: Spring Message 2010
  14. How do you define Love?
  15. Christmas/New Years Prayer/Message 2011
  16. The Miracle of Yoga - New Years Message 2012
  17. Heaven of our Hearts - New Years Message 2013

Yoga and Spirituality

Near the end of my initial yoga teacher training, we were all given a 15 minute consultation with the leader of the training, to discuss any individual or personal issues that may have come up during the training that we wanted to talk about. When I met with him I said, "Yoga is a spiritual practice for me. I’m a Bhakti Yogi, and devotion and God are an important part of my practice and life. But I realize that because a yoga class is a public setting where may people from many walks of life, and many different outlooks may attend, it doesn’t seem appropriate to talk about, or even use the word God in a yoga class." The teacher then said to me, "I’m also a Bhakti Yogi, and have similar feelings about the issue as you do. And I decided, like you, that the most appropriate way to handle the issue is to respect the potential differences of everyone, and not take the chance of alienating anyone."

Therefore I made the decision not to talk about God in my public classes, and to make any references about spirituality on a more universal or philosophical level. That way it could be accepted at face value if need be, but anyone who was inclined to interpret it in a deeper way could do so within themselves. I feel it’s much better not to be overt anyway. I think that spiritual truth is conveyed much more sincerely, naturally, and effectively in the way you live your life and conduct yourself, and through your character, than in any other way. You don’t have to talk about it.

On my web site it’s a different story of course, because here it’s appropriate for me to express myself fully and to share my philosophy and thoughts. And it’s especially appropriate from the point of view of being a teacher.

I want to make a distinction between religion and spirituality. Religion is a framework that man has created to organize his beliefs, ideals, moral laws, guidelines, etc., and from one religion to another there are many differences. Spirituality, on the other hand, is the practical application of these principals in day-to-day life, to live by them and express them at all times. I believe that all religions and spiritual paths are viable and legitimate.

And this brings me to the point that I’ve been leading up to with all of this. Yoga can be viewed in three ways regarding religion and spirituality:

One: Yoga doesn’t have to be a spiritual path at all. Even if a person is very spiritual, they may not want to mix their yoga and spiritual life. It can just be a practice that enriches, improves and enhances your life on all levels; that’s fun and makes you feel good; that relieves stress; that’s great exercise; that’s therapeutic and can relieve physical discomfort; that strengthens, tones, increases flexibility to, and improves the function of the organs, the bones, the muscles and connective tissues, and all of the systems of the body, including the immune, lymph, endocrine, and circulatory systems; that improves sleep, appetite, and digestion, and can help reduce weight; that improves balance; that is detoxifying; and that cultivates calmness, peace, concentration, happiness, harmony, health and well being.

Two: All of the benefits of number one above, plus, it can be a practice that is totally compatible with, and compliments any religious or spiritual practice that you have chosen to live and practice in your life, whether it is Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, or any other.

Three: All of the benefits of number one above, plus, yoga can be a spiritual path in and of its self. It could be considered the most pure spiritual path, because in it you are experiencing God directly though, and as your Heart and Soul.

God is present within you, as you
- Muktananda

You are God’s love and joy its self
– Yogananda

Your soul is the very presence of God within you, as you
- Yogananda

Your soul is your true self, the pure manifestation of God within you
- Yogananda

You can consciously know (experience) your Soul - your true Self - by meditation. And when you know your self as Soul, you will have discovered the presence of God within you (as you)
- Paramahansa Yogananda

The kingdom of God is within you
– Lord Christ Jesus

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