What is karma yoga?
Karma yoga is the first yoga or spiritual practice in the process of Self-inquiry.
top of page
Traditional Vedanta in a Non-Traditional Format
Essays
Search
What is ananda?
Because it can be interpreted in two ways, the term ananda (ānanda) can be confusing. Ananda is most commonly translated as “bliss,”...
What is moksha?
Moksha (mokṣa) equates to freedom, but freedom from what, exactly? In mythology and popular culture, moksha is synonymous with...
What is maya?
Māyā is one of the more confusing Sanskrit terms due to its diverse array of meanings and how its definition can change depending on the...
What is Ishvara?
Brahman and Ishvara are sometimes referred to as "God 1 and "God 2" or nirguna Brahman (God without attributes) and saguna Brahman (God...
What is jiva?
Two birds, bound together in a close friendship, perch on the same tree. One of them eats the sweet fruit with great pleasure, while the...
What is atma?
The word "atma" means the same as Brahman but is used in a different context. If atma is the space in a pot, then Brahman is the space...
What is Brahman?
Not to be confused with Brahma, the Hindu god of creation/manifestation, Brahman literally means "great" or "the Big." The implication is...
What is avidya?
The 8th century teacher of Advaita Vedanta, Shankaracharya, noted at the beginning of his commentary on the Brahma Sutras that avidya is...
What is karma?
Many people know 'karma' to be short-hand for "cause and effect", "the accumulation of past actions" or its biblical equivalence,...
What is sadhana?
In general, a sadhana can be any spiritual practice that helps one arrive at a goal. A sadhana can be a yoga, like raja yoga or karma...
What is samsara?
The word samsara comes from Sanskrit, meaning to “flow together” which alludes to the flux and flow of the universe and in general,...
What is dharma?
In Vedic culture, the word dharma carries many meanings. At the subjective level, it is mostly about how one conducts oneself. For the...
What is yoga?
In the West, yoga is typically associated with hatha yoga which is practiced in studios and gyms around the world using a technique that...
bottom of page