Cultivate Grace, Gratitude, and Generosity: Three Essentials for a Fulfilled Life
What role do gratitude and generosity play in living a fulfilled life? Join Yogacharya O’Brian as she shares insights and practices we can use to find hope, resilience, and higher purpose in times of change or challenge.
Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian is an acclaimed teacher, award-winning author, and minister who has served seekers of spiritual enlightenment from all walks of life for over thirty years. She has published several books, including The Jewel of Abundance: Finding Prosperity Through the Ancient Wisdom of Yoga and audio programs about meditation, mindfulness and spiritual living, offering a refreshing and authentic voice that makes timeless wisdom accessible to the modern mind. As a teacher in the tradition of Kriya Yoga, Yogacharya O’Brian serves people from all faith backgrounds who are seeking what is known as Self- or God-realization, or awakening. She is the spiritual director of the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, a meditation center in San Jose, California as well as the founder and spiritual director of The Yoga Hour podcast.
WEBSITE: EllenGraceOBrian.com CSEcenter.org
SOCIAL MEDIA: @ellengraceobrian
#kriyayoga #yoga #gratitude #grace #generosity
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: This conversation was so rich. These are just a few of the many highlights for me. This seems like it is a simple topic that we hear a lot about, but the yogic teachings are very profound. Yogacharya shared that "These teachings of cultivating grace, gratitude and generosity are about helping us to awaken to what we are and aligning to the essence of all of life. The ego always wants something that we think will make us happy. Those things outside of us are all temporary and can only give temporary happiness. The yogic teachings tell us that this is about understanding the wholeness of life and that nothing is needed" I also appreciated her poem, Lark Singing Through the Night, which came from how Yogacharya realized that she had received so much from her guru, that she could never repay what she had received. I was inspired by the definition of grace that Roy Eugene Davis gave us and which Yogacharya shared: "Grace is unearned, freely supplied support. It arises from within us and is the expressive aspect of Ultimate Reality." This program is an essential teaching for those who are interested in diving deeper into the teachings of Kriya Yoga.
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: At the beginning of our conversation we discussed the restraints, or Yamas, and I enjoyed the question Yogacharya O’Brian asked: What is being restrained? She pointed out that all of yoga is for the purpose of purifying the body and mind so that the innate radiance of the soul can shine through. By practicing the restraints, we are restraining the false self, the ego. The restraint of non-stealing, which is the basis for gratitude and generosity, is truly about understanding our relationship with the infinite. As Paramahansa Yogananda wrote in the quote that I read at the beginning of the show, “You should be thankful for everything at all times. Realize that all power to think, and speak, and act comes from God, and that God is with you now, guiding and inspiring you.” When we are aware of how much grace we are given, and in touch with our innate wholeness, gratitude and generosity flow forth.