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Robbie Wood 3/1/26 Robbie Wood 3/1/26

A Tribute to Roy Eugene Davis

“An enlivening power is nurturing the universe and we can learn to cooperate with it.”

— Roy Eugene Davis

Roy Eugene Davis (March 9, 1931 – March 27, 2019) was born in a farming community in northeastern Ohio. After reading Autobiography of a Yogi in 1949, he traveled to Los Angeles, where he met Paramahansa Yogananda and was accepted for discipleship training. In late 1951, his guru ordained him to teach and initiate others into the Kriya Yoga lifestyle and meditation practices.

For more than fifty years, he taught spiritual growth processes throughout North and South America, Europe, West Africa, and India. He was the founder and director of the Center for Spiritual Awareness. His books have been published in thirteen languages and distributed in eleven countries, and he served as Editor-Publisher of Truth Journal magazine.

Roy Eugene Davis is the guru of Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian, Founder and Spiritual Director of The Yoga Hour. March is a particularly auspicious time to honor Mr. Davis, as both his birth and his mahasamadhi occurred during this month. In gratitude for his life and teachings, we offer the many episodes with and about Mr. Davis below.

Conversations with Roy Eugene Davis

Learn about superconscious states—what they are, why they are important, the various ways they can be realized, and how to overcome obstacles that may impede your progress in meditation. Roy Eugene Davis, a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda and author of The Science of Self-Realization, a commentary on the Yoga Sutra, joins Yogacharya O’Brian for a two-part series on spiritual practice for enlightened living.

Intentional living supports our complete well-being and spiritual fulfillment. Find out why self-discipline, study of higher realities, and surrender of the illusional sense of self are essential for spiritual progress and realization. Roy Eugene Davis, a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda and author of The Science of Self-Realization, a commentary on the Yoga Sutra, joins Yogacharya O’Brian for this second conversation in a two-part series on spiritual practice for enlightened living.

What was it like to study with the great yoga master Paramahansa Yogananda? Roy Eugene Davis, one of Paramahansa Yogananda’s last living direct disciples, joins Yogacharya O’Brian for an inspiring conversation about his years with his guru. Learn what Yogananda emphasized as essential for spiritual awakening, how he advised his disciples, and some of the ways he inspired others to live in the highest way. Discover why the Kriya Yoga taught by Yoganandaji is a path of Self- and God-realization especially relevant to truth seekers today.

Is it possible to quicken our spiritual awakening? What practices can help us to progress along our spiritual path? Ever since human beings began to use mental abilities thousands of years ago, their innate urge to be spiritually awake impelled them to want to know their relationship with the Infinite. Join Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian and her guru Roy Eugene Davis, a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda and internationally known spiritual teacher and author, as they discuss practices and actions that will support us in becoming spiritually awake more quickly. Tune in and find out how!

How can we experience rapid, authentic spiritual growth? How can we keep our practice steady and strong? Whether we are new to the spiritual path or are rededicating ourselves to a practice of many years duration, Kriya yoga offers practical spiritual principles, lifestyle guidelines, and meditation techniques that allow us to live a life that is of value to ourselves, to others around us, to the environment, and to the world. Join guest host Dr. Laurel Trujillo and Roy Eugene Davis, direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, as they discuss how energizing and deepening your spiritual practice allows you to live the life you were meant to live.

What does it mean to be spiritually enlightened? Join Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian and her spiritual teacher, Roy Eugene Davis, a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda and internationally known spiritual teacher and author, as they discuss how to become spiritually enlightened in this lifetime. There are six practical things we can all do that support our intention to awaken fully. Tune in and learn about, or be reminded of, these essentials for self-realization.

Spiritual teacher and author Roy Eugene Davis, one of the last living direct disciples of Paramahansa Yogananda, has been sharing the teachings of Kriya yoga for more than 65 years. Tune in as he shares stories and teachings of this great sage.

Honoring the Life and Legacy of Roy Eugene Davis

Paramahansa Yogananda’s faith, devotion, and persistence to know God propelled him to be one of the leading spiritual teachers of all time. His travels throughout India and meetings with saints and sages continue to inspire seekers today. Join Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian and Ron Lindahn, both devoted students of Roy Eugene Davis, a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, and hear stories of Ron's pilgrimage to places where Yogananda and his spiritual teachers walked. Learn little-known stories of Yogananda that will inspire your own inner pilgrimage of self-discovery.

Yogacharya O’Brian reflects on the remarkable life of Roy Eugene Davis, her teacher for 40 years. We dedicate this program to Roy's memory with deep appreciation for his more than six decades of teaching Kriya yoga.

Marty Wuttke is a long-time disciple of Roy Eugene Davis and the current spiritual director for Mr. Davis' organization, Center for Spiritual Awareness. He shares Mr. Davis’ impact of teaching Kriya Yoga, for over 60 years, to thousands of people across the world.

Roy Eugene Davis (far right) with his guru, Paramahansa Yogananda (left, at podium)

Mr. Davis as minister of the Self-Realization Fellowship center in Phoenix, Arizona

Roy Eugene Davis with Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian at an International Kriya Yoga Congress

Mr. Davis teaching at Center for Spiritual Awareness in Lakemont, GA

Roy Eugene Davis (right) with Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian (left) at Center for Spiritual Enlightenment in San Jose, CA

Mr. Davis using technology to teach across the globe

Mr. Davis at Center for Spiritual Awareness in Lakemont, GA

Robbie Wood 2/19/26 Robbie Wood 2/19/26

Embrace The Hero’s Journey Through Francis of Assisi

How did the young and privileged Francis from Assisi become one of the world's most revered saints and a heroic leader who is more relevant now than ever? Author and spiritual teacher Isha Das (Craig Bullock) shares how Francis’ heroic journey is also our heroic journey.

Isha Das is an accomplished teacher, writer, lecturer, and psychotherapist who has authored books and recorded CDs on spirituality and meditation. The former Pastoral Administrator at St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s Church, Isha Das earned graduate degrees in Religious Studies from the University of Notre Dame and in Clinical Psychology from the University of Duquesne. His broad and diverse education includes extensive study in psychology, spirituality, mysticism, world religions, and yoga.

Isha Das is the spiritual director of The Assisi Institute in Rochester, New York

This episode discusses Isha Das’ book Merchant to Mystic, The Hero's Journey of St. Francis of Assisi

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I enjoyed discussing the interface between mystical Christianity and Kriya Yoga with Isha Das, author of the book Merchant to Mystic: The Hero’s Journey of Francis of Assisi. As he points out, we become the hero that we admire, so reflecting on our heroes and heroines, and understanding more about their journey is important. Francis’ journey is an inspiring one, from being born into a wealthy family and living a worldly life through hardships that wounded him, to his time spent in silence and contemplation leading to his mission to rebuild the church. Our discussion about the householder spiritual path, the importance of silence, and the similarity between the yoga practice of self-surrender and the Christian vow of poverty was illuminating.

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: This conversation with Isha Das explores St. Franscis’ hero’s journey of self-surrender. The discussion brings into focus the essence of kriya yoga in Christianity. St. Francis’ mantra was “Who are you? And who am I?”. That is the heart of awakening. The listener can get the experience of how time in silence, listening to the still small voice within, brought St. Francis to follow his spiritual path in ever-new joy. That joy with self-surrender and Grace eventually grew into the Franciscan order. Don’t miss this heart-felt podcast.

Robbie Wood 2/12/26 Robbie Wood 2/12/26

Live Fully and Deeply From Your Soul Every Day

Catherine Duncan, author, spiritual teacher, and ordained minister, shares five simple practices that can bring more peace, love, meaning, and embodied aliveness into our lives. We can live as the spiritually awakened beings that we are, every day.

Catherine Duncan is an author, ordained minister, and integrative spiritual consultant. In her private practice, she companions individuals who are struggling with chronic illness, life transitions, grief and loss, and those searching for more meaning and purpose. Catherine is also a consultant for Minnesota Personalized Medicine, an integrative medical practice in Minneapolis.

This episode discusses Catherine’s book, Everyday Awakening: Five Practices for Living Fully, Feeling Deeply, and Coming Into Your Heart and Soul

WEBSITE: www.catherineduncan.org

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: Catherine Duncan, author of the book Everyday Awakening, and I discussed awakening as a process of waking up and living more fully from our essence, our soul nature, every day. The five practices that Catherine sets forth include bringing ourselves fully present in this moment utilizing awareness of our body and our senses, and connecting with something greater than ourselves although we don’t have to call it God. We can grow our trust, embody love, and hold openness. These five practices are simple but not easy, and can bring us more fully awake and alive.

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: I really enjoyed the conversation with Catherine Duncan today, focusing on her book Every Day Awakening: Five Practices for Living Fully, Feeling Deeply, and Coming Into Your Heart and Soul. Through her own personal experiences, her years of hospital chaplaincy as well as her experiences with spiritual direction clients Catherine has developed five practices that can support us in spiritually awakened living every day, in every moment. Dr. Trujillo also shared how Kriya Yoga and its practices are in alignment with Catherine's experiences. Ms. Duncan also offers simple exercises and techniques to easily bring these practices into our daily lives. I definitely recommend this program to all of those who want to live a spiritually deeper life every day.

Robbie Wood 2/6/26 Robbie Wood 2/6/26

Find Healing and Vitality with Traditional Chinese Medicine and Yoga

Drawing from the earth-based wisdom of Traditional Chinese Medicine, yoga, and meditation, guest Jennifer Raye offers modern insights into using yoga postures, healing foods, herbal medicine, meditation, and other practices to balance the body and mind in an accessible and holistic way.

Jennifer Raye is an internationally recognized Chinese Medicine practitioner and yoga and meditation teacher. She holds a doctorate in Traditional Chinese Medicine with professional licensure in acupuncture and herbal medicine. Her unique approach also includes integrating Ayurveda, holistic nutrition, somatic studies and therapeutic movement. She maintains a private medical practice and teaches online and in person.

This episode discusses Jennifer’s book, Wisdom of the Earth, Wisdom of the Body: wisdomofthebodybook.com

Learn more about Jennifer: jenniferraye.com

DR TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: Jennifer Raye has done a wonderful job of integrating Chinese Medicine, yoga, and Ayurveda in her book Wisdom of Earth, Wisdom of the Body, which carried into our conversation. I love the view that we are microcosms of the larger world, and that changes in the outer world such as seasons also affect us. To me, this is a demonstration of the Oneness that is at the heart of yoga philosophy. In addition to discussing basic principles such as vital energy (qi or prana) flowing through channels in the body (meridians or nadis), we discussed imbalances that might occur in winter and spring, and how to make lifestyle changes that help us return to balance.

THE YOGA HOUR LISTENER COMMENTS: If you were ever curious about Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda and Yoga this is the podcast for you! Jennifer Raye is a very well studied practitioner of these modalities and in this engaging conversation she shares her passion and knowledge for our listeners.

Laurel Trujillo 1/29/26 Laurel Trujillo 1/29/26

Cultivate Radiant Living and Nourish Your Soul

How can we empower food to work in favor of radiant living and soul nourishment? Nutritionist Sue Van Raes shares practices that can help us understand what satisfies our true hungers. We can learn to trust the wisdom of the body’s signals for self-care and building resiliency.

Sue Van Raes is a functional nutritionist, food psychology specialist, and wellness expert who is dedicated to helping women who are stressed out about food finally make peace with their plates. She is the founder of Boulder Nutrition where she offers many programs to support nutrition for the body/mind/spirit. Sue draws on her personal and professional experience providing a body, heart, mind, and soul approach to stop stressing and start living. Sue’s insight on nutrition, food psychology, and yoga has been featured in numerous publications, including People Magazine, The Chopra Center, The Sacred Science, and the Elephant Journal. She is the author of the book we are discussing today, Food and Freedom: Discover Your Personal Recipe to Eat, Think and Live Well

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: I really enjoyed this conversation between Sue Van Raes and Dr. Trujillo. They spoke about hunger in its different forms, physical, mental, heart hunger and soul hunger. Sue’s extensive knowledge of how hunger works in our bodies and her spiritual understanding supports us in being able to nourish ourselves in a healthy balanced way. Most of the program was spent on mental, heart and soul hunger. Physical hunger was described in Sue Van Rae’s previous appearance on The Yoga Hour.
I appreciate how she said that we often get these other hungers confused with physical hunger and try to satisfy these hungers with food which doesn’t address our core desires. An important piece of advice she left the listeners with is to simplify. Trying to do everything and perfectly just increases our stress levels and throws us off balance. When we feel more balanced in all ways we can make conscious choices about all areas of our lives, including food, and everyone benefits.

DR TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: This conversation with Sue Van Raes about her book Food and Freedom asks wonderful questions about how we nourish ourselves at the level of the body, the mind, the heart, and the soul. In addition to reviewing the hormones leptin and ghrelin, which control hunger and satiety in the body, I appreciated the information that Sue shared about how stress impacts our eating, along with some breathing practices that can help relieve that stress. I enjoyed our discussion of “glimmers" which are the opposite of triggers, and are something that we can look for whenever we claim a mindful moment in our day. We discussed how emotional eating can be a teacher for us, and the importance of self-compassion as we work to try to improve our diets. I highly recommend this conversation for anyone who is curious about how to better nourish themselves fully.

Laurel Trujillo 1/22/26 Laurel Trujillo 1/22/26

Mindful Democracy: Declaring Our Interdependence

Professor Jeremy David Engels, scholar, longtime student of Thich Nhat Hanh and author of On Mindful Democracy, shares how mindfulness is not only a path to personal peace, but it also opens us to vital practices for renewing interconnection and democracy itself.
#kriyayoga #mindfulness #democracy #oneness #karmayoga #interconnection #interdependence

Dr. Jeremy David Engels is Liberal Arts Professor of Communication and Ethics at Pennsylvania State University. He is also a longtime teacher of mindfulness, meditation, and yoga, having studied in both India and the United States. He is an award-winning scholar, and has published numerous books and articles about democracy, community building, deliberation, and peace, including the book we are discussing today, On Mindful Democracy: A Declaration of Interdependence to Mend a Fractured World.
WEBSITE: JeremyDavidEngels.com

THE YOGA HOUR LISTENER COMMENTS: If you are a student of "Eastern" philosophy and have wondered how the teachings of Buddhism and Kriya Yoga can guide us in maintaining a healthy democracy, you will love this discussion. As the United States celebrates 250 years of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, this is an auspicious time to remember that democracy is a practice too. I really enjoyed how Jeremy used the technique of mindfulness to help us during a time when people seem so divided.

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I found this conversation with Jeremy Engels to be very inspiring and hopeful, as is his book On Mindful Democracy. I love his definition of democracy as a practice, and one that we do together to care for each other and the life we share. Jeremy stresses the importance of an embodied experience of our interconnection, which can be accessed through many pathways including meditation, yoga, and religion. This interconnection, our recognition of our interdependence, is both the root of yoga and the basis for this new Declaration. His book includes 27 insights, including "There is no way to Democracy, Democracy is the way”, which describes democracy as a spiritual power. Another insight is “Changing your mind is not a weakness, it is the work of a brave soul”. In this, the year is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, this new declaration based on our interdependence is very needed and welcome.

Laurel Trujillo 1/16/26 Laurel Trujillo 1/16/26

Healing the Earth with Ancient Wisdom

Explore how the spiritual principles of yoga offer hope for our ecological crisis. Dr. Christopher Chapple reveals ancient wisdom for healing ourselves and our planet—inner and outer—through Earth-awareness, mindful living, and inspiring eco-activism.
#kriyayoga #ecology #yamas #niyamas #bhagavadgita

Christopher Key Chapple is Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology and founding director of the Master of Arts in Yoga Studies at Loyola Marymount University. He has written more than twenty books, including the book we are discussing today Embodied Ecology: Yoga and the Environment. He serves on the advisory boards for the Forum on Religion and Ecology (Yale), the Jaina Studies Centre (London), the Dharma Academy of North America (Berkeley), and the International School for Jain Studies (Delhi)

WEBSITE: bellarmine.lmu.edu/yoga

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: This was a delightful conversation helping the listener understand how the teachings of yoga can help us live a life that better cares for the self, the earth and all of its inhabitants. Christopher Chapple has a conversational storytelling style that you could listen to all day.

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: This discussion with Christopher Chapple about his new book Embodied Ecology encourages us all to pair our contemplative practices of yoga and meditation with action on behalf of the environment. We discussed how the yogic ethical principles of nonviolence, non-possession, and purity all lead us to concrete action in the outer world: to minimize harm to animals, to consume only necessities, and to be mindful of pollution and avoid it. This episode also includes Chris reading some passages from the Bhagavad Gita that describe the qualities of a yogi that are inspirational.

Laurel Trujillo 12/18/25 Laurel Trujillo 12/18/25

Lift Your Heart with Sacred Poetry

Ivan Granger is a poet and editor of The Longing In Between: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry from Around the World. He shares sacred poetry that can lift us up, inspire our days and take us to a deeper understanding of the Divine—a beautiful way to enter the holiday season.
#KriyaYoga #SacredPoetry #Oneness #meditiation #TurningInward
WEBSITE: Poetry-Chaikhana.com

Ivan Granger is the founder and editor of the Poetry Chaikhana, a publishing house and online resource for sacred poetry from around the world. He is the author of Real Thirst: Poetry of the Spiritual Journey and edited the book This Dance of Bliss: Ecstatic Poetry from Around the World, as well as being the editor of The Longing in Between: A Poetry Chaikhana Anthology, which we will be discussing today. His poetry and translations have been included in several magazines and anthologies.

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: This conversation with Ivan Granger beautifully highlights poems that reveal the sacred unity of human experience across cultures worldwide. A wonderful contemplation for the depths of winter.

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: As the days grow shorter, and the nights lengthen, our attention is naturally drawn inward toward the sacred. In this conversation with Ivan Granger, poet and editor of the book The Longing in Between, we shared sacred poetry from the Christian, Sufi, Hindu, and Buddhist traditions. The poems speak of gratitude, deep inner joy and love, liberation from obstructions, mindfulness and non-attachment. I found our conversation uplifting and nourishing in this holiday time of busyness. I encourage you to take time to listen and fill up your inner wellspring.