Table Of ContentSatsang
with the
Abbot
Satsang
with the
Abbot
Quest ions and Answers
About Life, Spiritual Liberty, and
the Pursuit of Ultimate Happiness
Abbot George Burke
(Swami Nirmalananda Giri)
Published by
Light of the Spirit Press
lightofthespiritpress.com
Light of the Spirit Monastery
P. O. Box 1370
Cedar Crest, New Mexico 87008
www.ocoy.org
Copyright © 2018 Light of the Spirit Monastery.
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9985998-5-4
ISBN-10: 0-9985998-5-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018936959
Light of the Spirit Press, Cedar Crest, New Mexico
1. OCC010000 BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Mindfulness & Meditation
2. OCC021000 BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Reference
3. REL062000 RELIGION / Spirituality
First edition, April 2018
iv
Contents
About the Author ...........................................................................vii
Satsang with the Abbot .....................................................................1
Did You Enjoy This Book? ...........................................................346
Get Your Free Meditation Guide ..................................................347
Glossary .......................................................................................348
Index ............................................................................................370
Light of the Spirit Monastery .......................................................377
Reading for Awakening ................................................................378
v
About the Author
Abbot George Burke (Swami
Nirmalananda Giri) is the founder
and director of the Light of the Spirit
Monastery (Atma Jyoti Ashram) in
Cedar Crest, New Mexico, USA.
In his many pilgrimages to India,
he had the opportunity of meeting
some of India’s greatest spiritual figures,
including Swami Sivananda of Rishi-
kesh and Anandamayi Ma. During
his first trip to India he was made a
member of the ancient Swami Order
by Swami Vidyananda Giri, a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda,
who had himself been given sannyas by the Shankaracharya of Puri,
Jagadguru Bharati Krishna Tirtha.
In the United States he also encountered various Christian saints,
including Saint John Maximovich of San Francisco and Saint Philaret
Voznesensky of New York. He was ordained in the Liberal Catholic
Church (International) to the priesthood on January 25, 1974, and
consecrated a bishop on August 23, 1975.
For many years Abbot George has researched the identity of Jesus
Christ and his teachings with India and Sanatana Dharma, including
Yoga. It is his conclusion that Jesus lived in India for most of his life,
vii
and was a yogi and Sanatana Dharma missionary to the West. After
his resurrection he returned to India and lived the rest of his life in the
Himalayas. He has written about this in The Christ of India.
He is the author of numerous books on practical spiritual life, includ-
ing Om Yoga Meditation: Its Theory and Practice, Dwelling In The Mirror:
A Study of Illusions Produced By Delusive Meditation And How to Be Free
from Them, and the Dharma for Awakening series, commentaries on
important spiritual writings such as the Dhammapada, the Gospel of
Thomas, the Bhagavad Gita and other scriptures.
All of his books, in addition to being available in print and as ebooks,
are also available for reading for free on our website, OCOY.org, as well
as are his other writings.
NOTE:
You can find out more about many of the books mentioned in these
questions and answers in the Reading for Awakening section at the
end of this book.
viii
Satsang
with the Abbot
One of the most valuable spiritual activities in East or West is satsang:
a gathering of spiritual aspirants for spiritual study, discussion
and inspiration. A satsang is especially beneficial when there is someone
with many years of practice and experience who answers the questions
asked by the aspirants. Over the years, and especially after the advent
of the internet, people have written to me with questions that I have
answered according to my understanding. This book is a collection of
those questions and my answers. I hope they will be interesting and
helpful to others.
3
I am interested in climbing the stairs that may lead to samadhi.
Please guide.
Samadhi is a natural consequence of meditation–in Buddhism pro-
found meditation is considered samadhi–and there need be no special
attention placed on it. Rather, your attention should be on making sure
your practice is correct, of sufficient time, and that nothing in your life
is working against it.
1
2 Satsang with the Abbot
Swami Vivekananda told M (Mahendranath Gupta) that Sri
Ramakrishna once asked him: “What do you want?” He answered, “I
want to remain absorbed in samadhi.” Whereupon Sri Ramakrishna
responded: “What a poor understanding you have! Get beyond samadhi.
Samadhi is a petty thing.”
Sri Ramakrishna also said: “The seed of his Name has great Power. It
destroys ignorance. A seed is so soft, a sprout is so soft. Yet they pierce
the hard earth. The earth cracks.” Success is assured.
3
Four years back one of my friends made the following statement:
“Nothing is Everything. Everything is Nothing and there is Noth-
ing called Nothing.” Is this is a statement to explain Brahman?
Your friend’s statement is just nonsensical gibberish by someone who
thinks he can express Advaitic ideas by spouting contradictory jargon.
The truth is expressed fully in the Bhagavad Gita. That should be your
major focus of study.
The mantra beginning “Purnamidah” is the nearest to a perfect
Advaitic statement there is:
Purnamidah, purnamidam,
purnat purnamudachyate;
Purnasya purnamadaya,
purnam ewawashishyate.
Purna means “total, full, complete,” which is what our English term
“perfect” used to mean, rather than just “without fault.” In this verse,
the word “complete” (purna) refers to God. Here, as best I can, is a
translation into English:
Description:Prayer, japa and meditation are the sure foundations of brahmacharya, and indeed of all Until humans discovered the laws of aerodynamics they could not fly–it seemed Shastra: Scripture; spiritual treatise. Shaucha: Purity
