Being stuck in an ego state and ignoring Spirit is the cause of all our suffering according to yogis. In this ignorance of Spirit, the ego endures endless conflicts and anxieties due to the kleshas (ignorance, egotism, immoderate liking, immoderate disliking, possessiveness).

Does your personality express your ego or your soul? Too often, our personality is a false representation of our true self — a counterfeit. When we live from the soul (the spirit of God within us), our personality becomes more thoughtful, refined and lovable.

Most of us, whether we admit it or not, are governed by our feelings. That’s why bhakti yoga, the yoga of love and devotion, can help us develop from where we are now to enjoying greater insight, compassion, inspiration and ecstatic love.

If you live from your false sense of self — your ego — you’ve forgotten who you truly are — the presence of higher consciousness, the Divine within you.

Growing in devotion is important — and so are greater peace and bliss. But, according to master yogi, Baba Hari Dass, those are not the true indicators of growth on the yoga path. The real measure of progress is a change in your samaskaras or habit patterns.

By cultivating the heart’s true feeling and allowing bhakti (flow of love for God) to develop, you can advance in yoga. If you allow bhakti to fully express, even trickles of love may mature into prema — intense, ecstatic Divine love.

Think it’s not possible to change a lifelong habit that is hurtful to others or to yourself? A revered yoga practice — tapas — can help you create a new life by enabling you to transform negative habits into positive ones.

Historians like Timothy Snyder in his book, On Tyranny, 20 Lessons from the 20th Century, say there are personal actions that can make a major impact. Standing for truth is one of them.

Some people dabble in yoga, squeezing in meditation here and there. Others do a lot of yoga practices, but don’t have character transformations. Then there are those who have the light of Spirit shining through them. What’s the difference?

How do you go about rekindling divine memory? In this series you’ll find many ways that help including how to — let go of painful memories that block soul awareness, focus on an inborn talent, aptitude or ability and open to inner goodness.