Balrāj is a yogin, Vedic psycho-spiritual astrologer, and professional hypnotist. He helps people transform feelings of overwhelm into inner clarity, inner calm, and spiritual self awareness.
Self-Awareness & Other People: Phenomenological Reflections
Other people are not an optional dimension of our experience.
We find ourselves as already a participant in the customs of a people. We become members of a society by attuning ourselves to the norms and customs of people who precede us. Our perspective/subjectivity becomes a determinate identity by way of these norms and customs. In other words, we obtain identities in communities—we become persons—by way of these social, cultural, familial, linguistic, etc. customs and norms.
I did not inven...
The Yoga of Yoga
What is yoga? And what are the benefits of yoga? The "inner peace" we crave is realized in relinquishing self-interested motivations, the latter which produce and re-produce suffering. The yogin recognizes that it can never be “whole” or “complete” (on its own) but rather must become a *participant in* wholeness that precedes and exceeds itself and its personal will. The yogin *participates in* wholeness. This is the yoga of yoga.
Prakṛti & Puruṣa: Phenomenological Reflections
What is the meaning of Prakriti? What is the difference between Prakriti and Purusha? In this article, we offer phenomenological reflections on the notions of Prakrti, Purusa, Yoga, and Viyoga (in Samkhya Yoga) as they pertain to our existential situation. We’re already (irrevocably) exposed to (and implicated in) a world that precedes us. Freedom is obtained by "enumerating" the various ways in which you are always already determined.
Karmayoga: The Yoga of Self-Forgetting
Phenomenological-existential reflections on the nature of karmayoga that answer the following types of questions: what exactly is karma yoga? How does karma yoga relate to "burning" the self's past karma? How does one "do" or "practice" karma yoga?
What is Phenomenology? (Part 2: Doing Phenomenology)
This article is an investigation of the method of phenomenology. Part 2 is a heuristic introduction to (the experience of) the method of phenomenology. It covers the 'reduction', the 'epoche', the 'reduction proper', and phenomenological description. It concludes by emphasizing the critical function of phenomenology (critical phenomenology).
What is Phenomenology? (Part 1: Defining Phenomenology)
This article is a heuristic introduction to phenomenology. It begins by defining phenomenology and lived experience [Erlebnis]. It then examines and the function and purpose of phenomenological description. It concludes with a discussion the critical capacity of the descriptive method of phenomenology (critical phenomenology) and a consideration of "truth" and "knowledge" in phenomenology.
The Best Astrological Remedies: A Yogic Perspective
Reflections on astrological remediation from a yogic perspective. What are the "best" astrological remedies for changing your life? The cultivation of awareness and the releasing of self-interested motivation. Any “remedy” is constructive if it is used to cultivate awareness instead of avoidance. Traditional astrological remedies are often used to avoid directly facing a problem. Our suffering comes from our craving for personal wholeness, which produces self-interested motivations.
Yoga & The Meaning of (Your) Life: Phenomenological Reflections
Phenomenological reflections on the nature of meaningful living in yoga. What problem does yoga solve? How does yoga help with personal suffering? And what might it mean to have a "meaningful life" according to yoga? Your desire to find permanent security actually reinforces the basic sense of lack/anxiety that you’re trying to eliminate. In other words, striving for permanent freedom from personal suffering might be the very thing keeping you from your deepest fulfillment.
Psychospiritual Astrology: An Introductory Outline
An introduction to psychospiritual astrology. Psychological-spiritual astrology or “psychospiritual” astrology is an approach to astrology that uses the birth chart as a pragmatic tool to address the issue of freedom from 'suffering' (and is not a problem solving tool). The only assumptions made by a psychospiritual approach can be examined and verified by looking at your own experience. The chart provides pragmatic insight into your suffering and self-defeating habits.
Yoga: A Phenomenological Approach
A heuristic introduction to a phenomenological approach to classical yoga. This is not another philosophy or alternative history or set of rules, but rather a way of looking at the teachings of yoga through your own experience. This is not about collecting new ideas. Rather, it requires your active participation: you must actively turn to face your own experience (in a non-clinical way) and be open to noticing something transformatively new about the nature of experience (and about your life).