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Invite the Light: Healing, Wholeness, and Awakened Living
Health and healing begin with a spiritual foundation. Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian explores how prayer, spiritual awareness, and divine intelligence guide the healing process, helping us move through challenges and discover the deeper wholeness already present within life.
Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian is an acclaimed Kriya Yoga teacher, award-winning author, poet and minister who has served seekers of spiritual enlightenment from all walks of life and religions for over forty years. She has published several books and programs about meditation, mindfulness, and spiritual living. Her published works include the award-winning the Jewel of Abundance, Living the Eternal Way, and Living for the Sake of the Soul, as well as a volume of spiritual poetry The Moon Reminded Me. She is the founder of The Yoga Hour podcast and also hosts Kriya Yoga Today podcast. She is the founder and spiritual director of The Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, a Kriya Yoga meditation center with world headquarters in San Jose, California.
Learn more about Yogacharya O’Brian: ellengraceobrian.com
Listen to Yogacharya O’Brian’s Satsang series: “Health, Healing, and Awakened Living” (remaining dates are April 12th, May 3rd, and June 7th)
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: My conversation with Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian about the spiritual basis of healing is wonderfully timely as there is so much need in this moment for healing ourselves, our communities, and our world. I appreciated Yogacharya’s framing that healing is returning ourselves to an awareness of our original wholeness which extends beyond the physical body to encompass mind, heart, and soul. We discussed three steps of healing: intending to heal, believing that it is possible to heal, and having a practice that quiets the mind and allows our inner light to shine. Also included is a 5 step prayer for healing that listeners will find useful for healing at all levels. I highly recommend this episode.
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: I really enjoyed the discussion Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian had with Dr. Laurel Trujillo on how health and healing begin with a spiritual foundation. The key concept that resonated with me is that having a practice that quiets the mind allows connection to intuition/discernment. Look at how nature does it. The actual guidance comes from within. It was particularly powerful to view healing not as a cure, but as bringing us into our innate wholeness. This episode is powerful, giving actual steps to take toward the healing process of self, relationships, the world. A great thanks to Yogacharya O’Brian for sharing her insights to actualize the healing process through steady spiritual practice and the belief that healing is possible.
Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian
A Tribute to Roy Eugene Davis
“An enlivening power is nurturing the universe and we can learn to cooperate with it.”
Roy Eugene Davis (March 9, 1931 – March 27, 2019) was born in a farming community in northeastern Ohio. After reading Autobiography of a Yogi in 1949, he traveled to Los Angeles, where he met Paramahansa Yogananda and was accepted for discipleship training. In late 1951, his guru ordained him to teach and initiate others into the Kriya Yoga lifestyle and meditation practices.
For more than sixty years, he taught spiritual growth processes throughout North and South America, Europe, West Africa, and India. He was the founder and director of the Center for Spiritual Awareness. His books have been published in thirteen languages and distributed in eleven countries, and he served as Editor-Publisher of Truth Journal magazine.
Roy Eugene Davis is the guru of Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian, Founder and Spiritual Director of The Yoga Hour. March is a particularly auspicious time to honor Mr. Davis, as both his birth and his mahasamadhi occurred during this month. In gratitude for his life and teachings, we offer the many episodes with and about Mr. Davis below.
Conversations with Roy Eugene Davis
Honoring the Life and Legacy of Roy Eugene Davis
Roy Eugene Davis
Roy Eugene Davis (far right) with his guru, Paramahansa Yogananda (left, at podium)
Mr. Davis as minister of the Self-Realization Fellowship center in Phoenix, Arizona
Roy Eugene Davis teaching in the 1980s
Roy Eugene Davis with Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian at an International Kriya Yoga Congress
Mr. Davis teaching at Center for Spiritual Awareness in Lakemont, GA
Roy Eugene Davis (right) with Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian (left) at Center for Spiritual Enlightenment in San Jose, CA
Mr. Davis using technology to teach across the globe
Embrace The Hero’s Journey Through Francis of Assisi
How did the young and privileged Francis from Assisi become one of the world's most revered saints and a heroic leader who is more relevant now than ever? Author and spiritual teacher Isha Das (Craig Bullock) shares how Francis’ heroic journey is also our heroic journey.
Isha Das is an accomplished teacher, writer, lecturer, and psychotherapist who has authored books and recorded CDs on spirituality and meditation. The former Pastoral Administrator at St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s Church, Isha Das earned graduate degrees in Religious Studies from the University of Notre Dame and in Clinical Psychology from the University of Duquesne. His broad and diverse education includes extensive study in psychology, spirituality, mysticism, world religions, and yoga.
Isha Das is the spiritual director of The Assisi Institute in Rochester, New York
This episode discusses Isha Das’ book Merchant to Mystic, The Hero's Journey of St. Francis of Assisi
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I enjoyed discussing the interface between mystical Christianity and Kriya Yoga with Isha Das, author of the book Merchant to Mystic: The Hero’s Journey of Francis of Assisi. As he points out, we become the hero that we admire, so reflecting on our heroes and heroines, and understanding more about their journey is important. Francis’ journey is an inspiring one, from being born into a wealthy family and living a worldly life through hardships that wounded him, to his time spent in silence and contemplation leading to his mission to rebuild the church. Our discussion about the householder spiritual path, the importance of silence, and the similarity between the yoga practice of self-surrender and the Christian vow of poverty was illuminating.
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: This conversation with Isha Das explores St. Franscis’ hero’s journey of self-surrender. The discussion brings into focus the essence of kriya yoga in Christianity. St. Francis’ mantra was “Who are you? And who am I?”. That is the heart of awakening. The listener can get the experience of how time in silence, listening to the still small voice within, brought St. Francis to follow his spiritual path in ever-new joy. That joy with self-surrender and Grace eventually grew into the Franciscan order. Don’t miss this heart-felt podcast.
Isha Das (Craig Bullock)