Six Sacred Pillars
BHAKTI - Devotion
“Bhakti is love for love's sake.” ~ Sri Swami Sivananda
We believe that as bhaktas, our devotion expresses a love for God, and celebrates the Divine that exists in everything. This is our sadhana, our practice.
PREMA - Love
“It’s just love. There is nothing else. There is just love.” ~Swami Kripalu
We believe prema, love, is everything. Love is the reason for everything and the answer to every question. Love is expressed through relationship. We only exist in relationship--with God, one another, nature, music, art--and this relationship is love. Love is always present. Even when we cannot feel it, it is still there. Love in nature is expressed in its beauty and divine magnificence.
ANANDA - Bliss
“What is this bliss, this sweet intoxication known to lovers of God?" - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
We believe ananda, bliss, is a natural, heightened state of being, beyond joy that resides within each of us. We experience bliss through many different practices, observances, and creative processes. We feel it when we dissolve into the overwhelming beauty of nature, through the deep release of yoga and meditation, when we are “out of our minds” chanting mantra, and dancing at Kirtan, when we gather with others in devotional worship (Satsang), when we surrender to creative processes (art, music, cooking), when we lose our “selves” in love.
SATYA - Truth
"Appear as you are,
Be as you appear."~Rumi
We believe that satya, truth, means finding one's path amidst many possible paths and being brave enough to follow it. We believe that living our truth means being who we are. None of us can do it wrong. There is space in the universe for many truths, and our own truth can be found by sitting down and being quiet.
JNANA - Wisdom
“The spiritual seeker surrenders to the wonder." - Rumi
We believe that, jnana, wisdom, resides within us. When we are still and quiet we can hear it speak. We believe that wisdom comes from surrendering to “not knowing”, and to the mystery of life. We have found that when the student is ready a teacher will appear and may take unexpected forms. We believe that wisdom comes from the experience of living life, of saying “yes” to what life brings.
RACHNA - Creativity
“Creativity – like human life itself – begins in darkness” - Julia Cameron
We believe that rachna, creativity, is one of the most profound divine gifts: to be able to manifest something into being that has never before existed. We believe that we are the co-creators, with the Divine, of our lives, reality, and universe. We have infinite freedom and means to create our life story, to choose our role, and how we will interact with the rest of creation. We believe the creative state is a natural state of being. With intention, the willingness to dream, explore and play, and the release of judgment, we can express our true Selves.