Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian is a meditation teacher, an award-winning poet, writer, and the spiritual director of the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment—a Kriya Yoga Meditation Center with headquarters in San Jose, California. She has taught Kriya Yoga nationally and internationally for more than three decades and has received many service awards, including the Mahatma Gandhi Award for the Promotion of Religious Pluralism. Ordained to teach in 1982 by Roy Eugene Davis, a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, her message is “engaged enlightenment” – an invitation to live an awakened, creatively inspired, and fulfilled life, now.
Along with her service as a meditation teacher and esteemed Yogacharya, Ellen Grace O’Brian is the Founder of Carry the Vision, a community nonviolence education project bringing meditation instruction to staff and children in schools, the prison population, and other segments of society. She is the founder and President of Meru Institute, providing healthy lifestyle education and leadership training in yoga studies, Ayurveda, and community service. She is host of The Yoga Hour, a weekly podcast with listeners in over 130 countries. Her latest book, The Jewel of Abundance: Finding Prosperity through the Ancient Wisdom of Yoga, was recently published by New World Library.
Other books:
The Moon Reminded Me
A Single Blade of Grass: Finding the Sacred in Everyday Life
One Heart Opening
Sanctuary of Belonging
Living for the Sake of the Soul
Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.
Transcript of this interview
Interview recorded January 21, 2019.
Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
YouTube Video Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction and Overview of the Guest
00:03:50 - The Connection Between Material Existence and Spiritual Life
00:07:32 - Finding a Happy Medium and Being Awake in the World
00:11:24 - Living in an Ashram vs. Awakening in the World
00:15:11 - Discovering Your Unique Path
00:19:12 - Discovering a Subtle Dharma
00:23:13 - The Importance of Homo Consciousness
00:26:53 - Exploring the Goal of Artha
00:31:07 - Ethics in Spiritual Communities
00:34:42 - Ahimsa and the Journey of Non-Stealing
00:38:52 - Changing Our Mind for Abundance
00:42:44 - The Power of Speech and Thought
00:46:44 - Divine Grace and the Mechanics of Life
00:50:48 - Receptivity to Opportunities
00:55:44 - The Beauty of Life and the Nature of Reality
00:59:58 - The Importance of Enjoyment in Living a Spiritually Conscious Life
01:04:06 - Finding Happiness and Bliss
01:08:00 - Unhooking from External Sources of Happiness
01:11:27 - Living Beyond Our Means and Stealing
01:15:21 - Awakening to Higher Consciousness
01:19:34 - Stages of Life and Dharma
01:23:10 - Serving without Attachment
01:27:29 - Finding Joy in the Present Moment
01:31:42 - Being an Ocean and the Middle Way
01:36:00 - The Evolutionary Crucible of Close Relationships
01:40:17 - Awakening and Self-Reflection
01:44:43 - The Mechanics of Yoga
01:48:23 - The Body and Karma
01:52:21 - Reincarnation and the Mind
01:56:18 - The Power of Faith and Belief in the Universe
02:00:29 - Keeping Your Attention on Interview Preparation
