Finding God Within - Part B

Talk given at Himalayan Institute of Chicago - Part B of two part talk
Swami Kriyananda says enlightenment (nirvana) is the “extinction” of everything that separates you from your true self—likes and dislikes, desires, karma, and all the labels you wrap around identity—like peeling an onion until nothing is left, yet you remain conscious. Swami argues that people follow a master not for sadness or judgment but for a calm, healing joy, and that yoga becomes practical and transformative when you start from the inner center through daily meditation rather than from outer forms. From that centeredness come intuition (calm feeling), love/devotion, and a kind of spiritual “magnetism” that can uplift others—because the goal is self-realization: knowing the deeper spark within that lets life fall into place.