Pranada Comtois on Culturing Wise-Love (#79) By Jacob Kyle Posted on November 2, 2018 #Philosophy#Traditions About the Guest Pranada Comtois is a devoted pilgrim, teacher, and award-winning author of Wise-Love: Bhakti and the Search for the Soul of Consciousness. Her writing sheds light on bhakti’s wisdom school of heartfulness with a focus on how to culture wise-love in our lives and relationships so we can experience the inherent, unbounded joy of the self. Mindfulness and meditation alone can never satisfy the self. Joy comes from an awakened heart, not from a controlled or stilled mind. At sixteen she met her teacher A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami and began her lifelong study and practice of bhakti. The wisdom of her teaching grows from living for twenty years as a contemplative in bhakti ashrams, and another twenty years raising a family and running two multi-million dollar businesses. Pranada is an activist in women’s spiritual empowerment. She has always been deeply affected when witnessing the de-humanizing of women. She was the first to speak up for gender harmony in the modern bhakti tradition and successfully organized global steps against gender injustice. Her writing has appeared in Integral Yoga, Rebelle Society, Elephant Journal, Tattooed Buddha, Urban Howl, and the books Journey of the Heart, Bhakti Blossoms, and GODDESS: When She Rules. She is a featured speaker in the film Women of Bhakti. In This Episode, We Discuss: The connection of Vedanta teachings with Bhakti teachings.What is Wise Love (Bhakti Vedanta) and the difference between the love with others? The relationships with others as a vehicle to fully express highest love with each other and as a practice for our individual relationship with the Supreme.The acknowledgment of the small self and the creation of a dynamic, magical, spiritual, irrevocable and strong connection with source.How the yoga system provides tools to control the mind and go beyond the mind to transcend the platform of self.The difference between faith and belief.The important distinction between the divine feminine and the feminine divine.Pranada’s work on gender inequality and education, the absence of gender in the concept of soul, and everyone‚Äôs equal access to the full spiritual realm, practices, and services regardless of gender.The harmonization and oneness of the head and the heart and how to transcend and become our full potential as spiritual beings. Take the podcast with you Subscribe in your favourite app Read more like this #Philosophy #Yoga Knowledge, Experience, and the Yoga Teacher with Daniel Simpson (#160) Daniel Simpson is the author of The Truth of Yoga, an accessible guide to yoga history and philosophy. This episode was previously recorded as part of the Future of the Yoga Teacher Summit and is being republished for its depth and relevance. By Jacob Kyle #Philosophy #Practice #Rasa #Traditions #Yoga Pratipakṣa Bhāvana: Cultivating the Opposite as a Celebration of Our Humanity The Oxford Dictionary defines passion as a strong and barely controllable emotion. Many so-called positive emotions fit that bill. So what happens if we experiment with touching sorrow in times when we feel the most euphoric of highs? Cultivating the opposite in all situations, even in times of elation, prepares us for the inevitability that we will at some point feel the lowest of lows. By Tara Lemerise #Traditions #Yoga Ashtanga Yoga in Sutras and the Gītā: A Comparison with Edwin Bryant (#157) Edwin Bryant is the professor of Hinduism at Rutgers University. He has published eight books, and authored a number of articles on the earliest origins of the Vedic culture, yoga philosophy, and the Krishna tradition. By Jacob Kyle #Practice #Traditions Is the West Ready for Tantra? with Andrew Holecek (#156) In this episode, author and Embodied Philosophy faculty, Andrew Holecek, is in conversation with Stephanie Corigliano and Jacob Kyle, as they discuss Andrew’s article, “Is the West Ready for Tantra?” an article released in the latest issue of Tarka. By Jacob Kyle TARKA Journal Discover our latest issues or become a monthly subscriber to access all digital and/or print content. Tarka #06: On Spiritual Citizenship Tarka #05: On Queer Dharma Tarka #04: On Death Tarka #03: On Ecology Tarka #02: On Illusion Tarka #01: On Bhakti Tarka #0: On the Scholar-Practitioner