Lesson 16

Lesson video

(Video is 1 hour 33 minutes.)

In this video:

• Discussion
  • Devotion as a shortcut that multiplies the effectiveness of everything we’ve learned.
  • Significance of true concentration.
  • How you can obtain concentration: by self-effort and skillful practice or by grace through Ishvara Pranidhana. 
  • Background on Guru Dev.
  • Learning to chant 108 names of Ishta Devata from all levels of speech.
  • How to discover your Ishta Devata.
  • How computer science has proven the existence of God.
• Meditation

Re: Initiation into advanced personal mantra

To advance your personal mantra through initiation, see my Private consultations page for more information.

Lesson audio meditation

Each lesson page includes an audio meditation for that lesson to make it more convenient to go to the guided meditation. However, it’s important to watch the video before listening to the guided meditation, as the video explains practices included in the meditation.

Additional resources

9th Mandala of Rig Veda

Ninth Mandala of Rig Veda and More

Glossary

Glossary of terms you may encounter in this course

Recommended products to facilitate your experience

I recommend the following to help deepen and smooth your experience of the powerful techniques taught in this course. I believe each of these can be helpful, though I acknowledge the vast differences between individual constitutions. I receive no referral fee or other benefit by these recommendations, except that they may facilitate your experience. The Phase II Detox is sold on my wife's website. Many supplements can have side effects and interfere with medications. For this reason, it's advisable to consult a physician before taking supplements, especially if you have autoimmune disease, high blood pressure, a weak or toxic liver, diabetes, and any number of other conditions. In any case, none of these should be taken daily for an extended period of time without breaks.

• Phase II Detox - Is purported to help detox the liver. I do have the APOE3 and APOE4 genes, which may account for why I find this amazingly effective (so says my wife, Dr. Keesha). You'll have to judge for yourself.
• Organic India Tulsi tea - I recommend two cups a day. Organic India offers a variety of Tulsi teas. (Tulsi is considered a sacred herb in India.) I've tried several and do find all to be very wonderful for meditation, though I avoid the varieties that contain caffeine, like the green tea/Tulsi blend. Caffeine is generally not great for meditation.
• CoQ10 - Here's a decent article on benefits and how much to take. Probably most beneficial for those over 50-ish.
• Some form of daily Yoga-like exercise is simply a must to supplement the advanced practices I teach in this and other courses. It is so important to balancing the prana throughout your system. A super-efficient traditional form of exercise is the 5 Tibetan Rites. I've only recently added them to my daily Yoga routine, but they are wonderfully strengthening and supportive of expanding prana throughout the system. You can do 21 repetitions of the 5 rites in just 5 minutes or so. Now that's the kind of efficiency in exercise I love! (Depending on your physical condition, it could take longer.) For a fun and interesting read about them, see Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth.

Correct pronunciation of jña in Sanskrit

If you've been with me since the Blessings of the Devas course, you know that based on my Sanskrit teacher's strong conviction, I've changed how I pronounce this Sanskrit consonant. For instance, "Brahmajñana" from Brahmagyana (pronoucing the "g" softly), to Brahmajnana, sounding out the "j" softly. I've never felt comfortable with this; it didn't feel right and it was difficult. So, from time to time I've researched, and though I've seen a lot of conflicting views online, I've finally discovered what I believe to be the authoritative view on this thorny topic. It is based on the actual structure of the Sanskrit language in relation to where sounds are made in the mouth, so there really isn't much room for argument; this is it! So here we are, many lessons in (Lesson 14 in the Brahmajnana course), and I finally refer to you this wonderful video that presents what I am confident is the correct pronunciation. I will add this video to a resource section in all previous lessons of the Brahmajnana course and the Blessings of the Devas course.