In Living Wisely, Living Well, perhaps more so than in any other of his books, we the readers feel our spirits lifting up on the waves of blessing flowing through Swami Kriyananda’s words of guidance for each day of the year.

An inspiring life lesson
The story behind the book is in itself an inspiring life lesson. Kriyananda set out to complete the first edition, titled Do It Now!, in one day, ending his labors at about three o’clock in the morning. But before he could begin editing it, he had to undergo heart surgery, and was ordered by his doctors to take the entire next year off to recuperate.

Instead, preparing this book (and others) for publication made his “year of rest” the most intensely active year of his life. Even the day of the surgery itself Kriyananda worked. The day after the surgery he, incredibly, “blew away the post-operative mists” and continued his work, staying with it until the book was ready for publication. So enthusiastic was he about the result and wanting as many people as possible, and as soon as possible, to read the book, Kriyananda gave away the first 5,000 copies without charge.

Now fourteen years later, Do It Now! has metamorphosed into Living Wisely, Living Well  — a much revised and greatly expanded new edition, the fruit of Kriyananda’s “continued growth in the insights it expresses.”

In his introduction, Kriyananda explains that the “sayings in this book consist of lessons I myself have learned in life, whether by experience or through trial and error; sometimes by deep pain or disappointment; many times through an inner joy almost unbearable.” He concludes with this exhortation: “I ask you, as a favor to yourself: Buy, beg, or borrow this collection of thoughts…..keep it on your nightstand or in your meditation room. Read from it every morning, and ponder, throughout the day, the thoughts expressed. If even one saying should spare you some of the pains I have experienced in my own life, I shall feel amply rewarded. For whatever tests you face or have faced, they will likely resemble some that I, too, have known.”

A focusing practice
My own approach has been to read the day’s selection when I first wake up in the morning – a time of great receptivity. I try to carry the thought and vibration of the reading into the ten-minute walk through a forested area of Ananda Village to Hansa Temple and our community morning meditation there. The meditation leader reads the passage at the conclusion of our time together – another very receptive time.

During the ten-minute walk home, I try to bring Kriyananda’s guidance into focus for the activity of the day. And during the day – at rest points, such as midday meditation and lunch, quiet times at work – I revisit the reading, check in on how I’m doing, and try to reconnect if activity has pulled me away from centered awareness. This focusing practice becomes the more heart-opening when I can feel, behind the words of guidance themselves, the loving presence of Swami Kriyananda, in Nayaswami Devi’s phrase, “a wise impartial friend”—one who wishes only our own joyful freedom from all darkness and delusion.

Freedom from all darkness
To a recovering English major like myself, the book’s title – Living Wisely, Living Well – recalls the tragic speech of Othello, driven by jealousy to murder his chaste and innocent wife Desdemona:

When you shall these unlucky deeds relate
Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,
Now set down aught in malice: Then must you speak
Of one that loved not wisely but too well.

The serious seeker reads such a tale and learns the price of emotional excess, of attachment and despair. He feels the tragedy of waste—human potential brought low through flawed perception.

The wonder of Kriyananda’s book is that, without denying or ignoring the reality of suffering and tragedy in human life, his real thrust is entirely practical and positive—how to find freedom from all darkness. He takes the lessons learned from a life spent in careful observation of himself and others, and extracts from them guidelines that can transform the life of anyone who will practice them faithfully and with an open heart.

A favorite spiritual memoir of mine is The Way of the Pilgrim, the personal account of an anonymous nineteenth-century Russian pilgrim, who, hearing in a Russian Orthodox church service, the text from St. Paul—“pray without ceasing”— devotes his life to understanding and practicing this simple instruction. We the readers follow his journey deeper and deeper into joy and freedom.

May it be the same for each one of us with Living Wisely, Living Well. Read and practice the daily lessons. If one strikes you deeply, as St. Paul’s words did the Russian pilgrim, stay with it, make it your spiritual practice, and follow it to the divine reward that comes with its perfection.

Lessons for the New Year
Since we are entering the season of Christmas and New Year, I wanted to share those particular readings, to whet your soul appetite for the wonderful journey that lies ahead.

For Christmas Day: “The teachings of Jesus Christ, and of every great spiritual master are as fresh, true, and alive today as when they were first declared. Truth never changes with time. Its expression may vary with fluctuations in human understanding, but love, wisdom, and joy are eternal realities. There is no need to ‘pound your pulpit,’ emotionally. All that anyone needs is the awareness that truth, as taught in all true scriptures, is forever one. Our souls come from God, and our divine assignment is to merge back at last into Him.”

And for New Year’s Day, capturing the very essence of the practice of “living wisely, living well”: “Resolve difficulties by raising your level of consciousness. Keep your mind focused at the point midway between the eyebrows: the seat of superconsciousness.”

Nayaswami Prakash is a long-time member of Ananda. He currently serves at Ananda Village doing forestry and landscaping work.

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Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, is the god of success, wisdom, learning and prosperity. He is the destroyer of obstacles, vanity and evil.

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Ganesh Chaturthi

From what I’ve seen, Ganesh Chaturthi”is the biggest yearly festival in Pune. Each year families install an image of Ganesha in their home, offering it special worship for up to ten days.

During Ganesh Chaturthi, families, neighbors, and groups gather for cultural events, reunions and special ceremonies. It’s a time of goodwill across sectarian boundaries; religious and social groups sponsor the construction of temporary pavilions where larger statues of Ganesha are installed and decorated. Some of these statues can be huge and very lavish, especially in Mumbai where they sometimes exceed 25 feet in height.

You’ll see the pavilions all along the roadways, curtained during the day to give Ganesha rest and opened in the evening, festooned with colored lights and beautiful decorations. There is a lively competition between pavilions to see which is the nicest. Banners are everywhere and, at night, the beating of drums, loud music and processions come from all directions.

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A force for Indian unity

Ganesha is honored by all sects throughout India but he is particularly loved here in Pune, probably because it was in Pune that Lokmanya Tilak, an Indian nationalist of the early twentieth century, used the Ganesh Chaturthi festival as a rallying event for Indian culture, national pride, and independence from the British. Tilak used the festival to unite Hindus across caste boundaries and was instrumental in the transformation of  Ganesh Chaturthi from a purely religious occasion into a cultural celebration of Hindu values and culture. As the freedom movement grew and spread, so did Ganesh Chaturthi.

Ganesha is the god of “beginnings.” This is why he is often seen in temples, even in those dedicated to other gods. As the keeper of the entry, he is associated with the muladhar chakra, or coccyx center, and is said to be a great yogi. You can tell by his long elephant trunk, indicating the long breath, that he is adept at pranayama (energy control). He is master of the ego, represented by the mouse, vahana (his vehicle), and his big belly is said to contain all universes.

If you know the Mahabharata, you’ll remember that it was Ganesha who acted as Byasa’s scribe when he recited the epic tale of India. It is said that Ganesha was reluctant to take on such a big task but consented on condition that Byasa recite continuously and never make him wait. Byasa agreed but extracted a condition in return from Ganesha, that he not transcribe anything until he first understood its deeper meaning completely. Thus, Ganesha was forced to pause from time to time, allowing Byasa to keep ahead of him. Naturally enough, by the end of the book, Ganesha had earned his sobriquet as the god of knowledge. Elephants, so it is said, have a long memory and never forget.

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A transient image of the Infinite

Submersion Day marks the official closing of the ten-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival. Statues of Ganesha are paraded to the Mutha River near Pune for immersion in the fast flowing water, dissolving the earthly form temporarily inhabited by the Divine and releasing Him back into the Infinite. Swami Kriyananda writes that after the great seasons of worship in India such as Ganesh Chaturthi, the various images are immersed in rivers to keep devotees aware that the forms they worship are only transient images of the Infinite, and to help people to direct their ultimate devotion to God alone.

Many come as families lovingly carrying their small household statues to the river ghats where fathers perform a puja (ceremony) before submerging it into the water. Larger groups load more elaborate Ganeshas onto trucks, trailers or wedding chariots accompanied by bands and drummers while music blasts from huge speakers. Imagine hundreds and hundreds of these trucks, trailers or wedding chariots making their way from all directions to the river ghats, each led by crowds of dancing men amidst firecrackers, loud music, and horns.

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Good will and acceptance

Throughout India you’ll see Ganesha in multiple forms, holding varying objects in his many hands, usually numbering four but sometimes more. Sometimes he dances and at other times he reclines. Each family can have its own traditions of worship and every village its own legends. The symbolic iconography associated with Ganesha and tales of how he came to have his elephant’s head are endless.

The Western mind may sometimes find Ganesha hard to grasp. But I’ve found the tendency to be overly rational and the making of too many rigid categorizations unhelpful in India and best avoided. Ganesha is lovable.  He is what you choose him to be, a personification of an abstract ideal or a wise, loving, benevolent protector.

Ganesha has come to be one of the most universally recognized images of Hinduism, a symbol of cultural identity and a force for unity in a land of disparities. Swami Kriyananda writes that even a symbol can be imbued with a certain power if, through that symbol, one invokes God, and views the symbol as a reminder of the Infinite Lord.When I meditate upon Ganesha’s picture, I feel a projection of goodwill and acceptance, two qualities I love about India.

Nayaswami Jaya is a founding member of Ananda and a Kriyacharya. Together with his wife, Nayaswami Sadhana Devi, he currently lives and serves the Ananda work in Gurgaon, India.

To learn more about Ananda’s work in India click here

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Serve, not people, but God through people.

God is happiest not in our efficiency, but in our increasingly humble attitude.

Get yourself out of the way—don’t think of yourself, but of Him.

Serve joyfully, even in obscurity. Don’t look to others for endorsement. Be content to seek the Lord’s smile in your heart.

Be centered in the inner self. Don’t let circumstances or people pull you down. Let Christ’s light fill you when you work with others.

Be an open window through which the Lord’s sunlight can flow to all.

God will support you the more you live in Him.

Let God radiate in your heart, and live by His inner inspiration. Work more listening to God inwardly.

Ask only, “Lord are you pleased? How can I please you more?” And again, “Dear God, tell me what you want. Help me to do what you want.”

You are God’s child. There is nothing that is not yours.

Be a radiant spirit—large, not small.

Greater dignity and greater strength add nicely to your childlikeness. Be joyfully courageous, majestically confident.

Be filled with the confidence that the Holy Spirit will use you. The power of the Infinite is in you.

Live more and more in that center where God dwells. Radiate this to others, and their lives, and your own, will be changed.

From a January 4, 1989 talk at Ananda Village.

A Smooth Solution

Neighbors of ours had a terrible disagreement over a patio they wanted for their backyard. The wife had rather grandiose ideas, while the husband wanted to keep costs  to a minimum. The wife won out, and the construction bill climbed higher and higher.

I dropped by one day, when the patio was near completion, and was surprised to find the husband smiling from ear to ear as the workmen smoothed over the surface. I remarked how nice it was to see a grin replace the frown he had been wearing lately.

“You see where they’re smoothing that cement?” he replied. “I just threw my wife’s credit cards in there.”

******

Smile for the Camera

I was driving when I saw the flash of a traffic camera. I figured that my picture had been taken for speeding, even though I knew I wasn’t. Just to be sure, I went around the block and passed the same spot, driving even more slowly. But again the camera flashed. Thinking this was pretty funny, I drove past even slower three more times, laughing as the camera snapped away each time while I drove by it at a snail’s pace.

Two weeks later, I got five tickets in the mail for driving without a seat belt.

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A Sermon about Lying

A minister told his congregation, “Next week I plan to preach about the sin of lying. To help you understand my sermon, I want you all to read Mark 17.”

The following Sunday, as he prepared to deliver his sermon, the minister asked how many had read Mark 17. Every hand went up. The minister smiled and said, “Mark has only sixteen chapters. He then proceeded with his sermon.

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A Timely Message

Our family took shelter in the basement after hearing a tornado warning. My husband told everyone to stay put while he got his cell phone out of the car, in case the lines went dead.

He didn’t return for the longest time, so I went looking for him. I was upstairs calling his name, when I heard our phone machine click on.

“Hi,” a voice said. “This is Dad. I’m locked out of the house.”

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Relativity

A few weeks after the death of my father-in-law, I found my seven-year-old son crying in bed. His grandmother had died the previous year, and he was taking it all very hard. “You know, Scott,” I said, “when we die, we’ll get to see Grandma and Grandpa again in heaven.”

With tears spilling down his face, Scott cried, “That’s easy for you to say. You don’t have that long!

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Good Manners
(Told by Swami Kriyananda)

A three-year-old girl was sent to stay the night with a friend of hers, also three years old. Before she left, her mother told her, “Now remember to be polite at the table.” While having dinner at her friend’s house, the little girl was asked by her friend’s mother, “Do you like spinach?” Remembering to be polite at the table, the little girl said, “Oh I love spinach.” And so she heaped her plate high with spinach.

After the meal, her friend’s mother saw that she hadn’t eaten any spinach. She said, “I thought you liked spinach?” The little girl replied, “Oh I do, but not enough to eat it.”

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Doing a Good Deed

Although John had arrived at the Pearly Gates, St. Peter explained that he had to meet certain criteria to get in.

For instance, did he attend church? No.

Was he generous? Did he give money to the poor? No.

Did he do any good deeds? Anything? No.

St. Peter, becoming concerned, said, “Look, everybody does something nice sometime. Work with me, I’m trying to help you. Now think!”

John said, “Wait, now I remember. There was this elderly woman coming out of a grocery store who found her surrounded by a dozen guys who were part of a motorcycle gang. They had taken her purse and were taunting her. I got so mad that I fought through the crowd and got her purse back. I then helped her to her feet and went up to the biggest, meanest biker in the group and told him how despicable and cowardly he was.”

“Very impressive,” said St. Peter, “When did this happen?”

“About 10 minutes ago,” replied John.

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Taxi Driver in Heaven

A preacher and a taxi driver both died and went to heaven. St. Peter was waiting for them at the Pearly Gates. He looked them over for a moment then took the taxi driver to his new home in heaven—a lavish mansion fully equipped with butlers and servants and anything else you could possibly imagine.

Then Peter led the preacher to his new home— a rustic old shack out in the woods with a bunk bed and an old black & white TV set.

“Wait,” said the preacher. “There must be a mistake. Shouldn’t I be the one who gets the mansion? After all, I’ve worked for Jesus all my life, but he didn’t”

“Yes, that’s true,” Peter responded, “but during your sermons people tended to fall asleep. But when the taxi driver drove his cab, everyone prayed.”

Clarity Magazine articles can be printed in “text only” format, using your own computer.

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When you are beset by overwhelming mental trials or worries, try to fall asleep. If you can do that, you will find on awakening that mental tension is relieved and that worry has loosened its grip on you.

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To experience complete physical relaxation, gently tense the entire body. Then relax and withdraw all energy from the body and remain relaxed, without the slightest physical motion. When you can do this, you have attained perfect muscular relaxation.

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Whenever you want to relax any body part, gently tense it, hold the tension in it counting from 1 to 3, then relax quickly and feel the energy withdraw. Keep the relaxed part still by forgetting it.

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When you wake up in the morning, don’t jump out of bed suddenly. First relax all parts and then give them a breakfast of energy by tensing your whole body slowly, then relaxing. Tense and relax gradually; do not jerk.

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Any time you are tired or worried, tense and relax the whole body, throwing your breath out with the exhalation, and you will become calm.

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People often talk of relaxation, but few know how to achieve it. Complete mental relaxation is voluntary withdrawal of consciousness and energy from the entire body and identification with one’s true nature in Spirit.

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The devotee who aspires to develop uniformly and steadily in spirituality must always keep the body quiet and not in perpetual motion and restlessness. Keep the breath quiet by proper breathing exercises, preserve the vital essence by self-control and good company, and calm the mind with the practice of concentration and meditation.

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By dispassionately watching the breath coming in and going out, one’s breathing naturally slows, calming at last the peace-disturbing activity of the heart, lungs, and diaphragm.

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By the Hong-Sau technique of meditation, one can reach the point of even relaxing the heart, and thereby rising above its compulsion to outwardness, experiencing death consciously, and eliminating one’s sense of the mystery of death and the fear of dying..

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Man lives in an atmosphere of air, which he requires even as a fish requires water. By rising above the breath in the breathless state, man can enter the celestial realms of light, where the angels dwell.

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*All quotations are from: How to Achieve Glowing Health and Vitality, by Paramhansa Yogananda, available from Crystal Clarity Publishers. This book will be available in January 2012. To pre-order click here

1.    Bethany
2.    Jericho
3.    Cana
4.    Bethlehem

In what country did Jesus speak with the woman at Jacob’s well?

1.    Judea
2.    Crete
3.    Samaria
4.    Egypt

In what city did Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead?

1.    Capernaum
2.    Jericho
3.    Bethlehem
4.    Bethany

At what river did John the Baptist baptize Jesus?

1.    Jordan
2.    Amazon
3.    Euphrates
4.    Nile

In what city did the “Last Supper” take place?

1.    Nazareth
2.    Rome
3.    Jerusalem
4.    Capernaum

Click here to view answers >>

Answers to Quiz

In what city was Jesus born?

1.    Jericho
2.   Bethany
3.    Athens
4.    Bethlehem

Answer: 4

In what country did Jesus speak with the woman at Jacob’s well?

1.    Judea
2.    Crete
3.    Samaria
4.    Egypt

Answer: 3

In what city did Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead?

1.    Capernaum
2.    Jericho
3.    Bethlehem
4.    Bethany

Answer: 4

At what river did John the Baptist baptize Jesus?

1.    Jordan
2.    Amazon
3.    Euphrates
4.    Nile

Answer: 1

In what city did the “Last Supper” take place?

1.    Nazareth
2.    Rome
3.    Jerusalem
4.    Capernaum

Answer: 3

BOOKS

Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of Buddha
by Thich Nhat Hanh

In Old Path White Clouds, Thich Nhat Hanh, a well-known Vietnamese Buddhist monk, beautifully recounts of the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha, covering a period of eighty years.  Drawing on original sources, the story is told alternately through the eyes of Svasti, the buffalo boy who provided kusha grass for the Buddha’s enlightenment cushion and the Buddha himself. A book destined to become a spiritual classic.

A Man Called Peter: The Story of Peter Marshall
by Catherine Marshall

This best-selling biography, written by Peter Marshall’s wife, has touched the hearts and minds of millions of people since first published in 1951. Peter Marshall was an immigrant from Scotland who, at a young age, felt the call of God. A Man Called Peter recounts his life and journey from a struggling young pastor to more prominent positions, including chaplain to the United States Senate.

This powerful story is filled with humor, wisdom, and loving detail. (See below for the movie based on this book.)

The Life Everlasting
by Marie Corelli

The Life Everlasting is an inspiring spiritual allegory about a woman’s search for divine love. The heroine goes through many tests to work through the inner conflicts blocking her spiritual progress, resolving each of them until she achieves the perfect peace and love of Spirit. Swami Kriyananda describes it as a “beautiful book” and the only novel Paramhansa Yogananda read to the end.

Man’s Search for Meaning
by Viktor Frankel

In Man’s Search for Meaning, internationally renowned psychiatrist, Viktor E. Frankel gives a deeply moving account of his imprisonment at Auschwitz and the horrors of life in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II. As a result of his personal struggles and those of his fellow inmates, Frankel developed a revolutionary new approach to psychotherapy known as Logo Therapy based on his belief that the basic human motivation in life is the search for meaning and purpose.

Listed by the Library of Congress as on of the ten most influential books in the United States, Man’s Search for Meaning has sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages.

The Perfect Joy of St. Francis
by Felix Timmermans

In this well-written, easy to read biographical novel, Felix Timmermans brings to life the story of St. Francis of Assisi, the great medieval saint. He gives us an inspiring portrait of Francis as a man, poet, ascetic, stigmatist, miracle worker, servant of the poor and joyous disciple of Christ. Filled with humor, pathos, and divine inspiration, this book is a “must read” for those interested in St. Francis’ life and ministry.

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MOVIES

A Man Named Pearl, 2006
This inspiring documentary tells the story of Pearl Fryar who taught himself “topiary” (the art of clipping shrubs or trees into ornamental shapes) and transformed his three and half acre yard into a wondrous garden that now draws tourists from across the country. Angered by white racist comments that he wouldn’t “keep up his yard,” Pearl Fryar taught himself topiary sculpture and became the first African-American in Bishopville, S.C. to win the coveted “yard of the month” award.

Intimate and uplifting, A Man Named Pearl offers a captivating view of the life a man who turned obstacles into breathtakingly beautiful possibilities.

Available: DVD; Rated G

The Mahabharata, 1989
This three-hour film version captures the essence of the ancient Indian epic, The Mahabharata. It is the story of two royal families, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, both vying for control of their respective kingdoms. The five Pandava brothers endure treachery, attempted murder, and 13 years of exile at the hands of the Kauravas and their leader Duryodhana, but never weaken in their determination to regain their kingdom. The international cast and simple costuming add to the timeless quality of the story.

Available: DVD; Not Rated

Groundhog Day, 1993
In this unusual and highly rated comedy, an arrogant and self-centered TV weatherman finds himself paying off some sort of karmic debt by having to relive the same day over and over again. Sent to Punxsutawney, Pa. for the fourth year in a row to cover the town’s annual Groundhog Day event, Phil Connors (Bill Murray) makes no effort to hide his frustration over this hated assignment. After grudgingly giving his report, the town is suddenly inundated by a blizzard and he is forced to stay over night. The next morning he wakes up to find himself caught up in a “time loop”— having to relive Ground Hog Day over and over again. Realizing that this may go on for eternity, he discovers that compassion, kindness, love and creativity are the way out of his dilemma.

Available: DVD & Blu-ray; Rated PG

Chariots of Fire, 1981
This internationally acclaimed Oscar-winning drama features the true life story of two very different British track athletes who compete in the 1924 Summer Olympics. Eric Liddell is a Scottish Christian whose running makes him feel closer to God. For the other athlete, Harold Abrahams, a Jew, running is a way to surmount the institutional hurdles of class prejudice and anti-Semitism. Though both men “bring home the gold,” the movie focuses on the character and integrity of these two world class athletes and the inner victories they achieve through their commitment and devotion to their ideals.

Available: DVD; Rated PG

A Man Called Peter, 1955
This movie is an adaptation of the best-selling biography, A Man Called Peter, written by his wife Catherine Marshall. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography. (See book description above)

Available: DVD; Not Rated

Haichi: A Dog’s Tale, 2009
This drama of loyalty and devotion is based on the true story of a college professor’s enduring bond with an abandoned dog.  When the professor dies unexpectedly of a heart attack, the loyal dog , which he named Haichi-ko keeps a regular vigil – for more than a decade – at the train station where he greeted the professor everyday. Uplifting and inspiring entertainment for the whole family.

Available: DVD & Blu-ray; Rated G

Buck, 2011
This award winning documentary follows the life of acclaimed “horse whisperer,” Buck Brannaman, who recovered from an abusive childhood to become a well-known expert in the interactions between horses and people. Brannaman recounts details of his troubled childhood and his dawning awareness of new ways that humans and horses might work with one another. As Buck learns more about horses, he finds that the ways we communicate with our animal companions offer lessons on how we can better relate to fellow human beings.

Available: DVD; Rated PG (a few scenes of child abuse and violence towards animals)

Come to the Stable, 1949
Come to the Stable, based on a short story by Clare Booth Luce, tells a very simple but moving story of two nuns from a French convent who arrive in a small New England town with a plan to build a children’s hospital. They enlist the help of several colorful characters including a struggling artist, a popular composer, and a renowned racketeer, who is transformed in the process. The nuns even play a little professional tennis to raise money. Come to the Stable is ideal holiday fare for the whole family.

Available: VHS Only; Not Rated

Go to sidebar below to see free gift ad from the new online cooking series.

Swami Kriyananda came into this lifetime with the desire to serve people, a desire that unfolded into a compassionate commitment to help people grow toward God. His understanding of leadership grew out of this desire, and rested on two essential, and interconnected, principles—that people are more important than things, and that, in any undertaking, worldly or spiritual, only right action (dharma) can lead to victory.

The first sentences of his book, The Art of Supportive Leadership, succinctly capture Kriyananda’s approach to leadership:

Genuine leadership is only of one type: supportive. It leads people: It doesn’t drive them. It involves them: It doesn’t coerce them. It never loses sight of the most important principle governing any project involving human beings: namely that people are more important than things.

Praise from the business community
Lecturing in Australia around 1980, Kriyananda was frequently questioned about communities, and questioned with particular skepticism about the role of leadership in communities. His answers came entirely from his own experience, and met with gratifying success, notably so in light of the initial skepticism of his audience. Out of this beneficial exchange came The Art of Supportive Leadership, first published in 1983.

Kriyananda wrote The Art of Supportive Leadership, as he did Money Magnetism, to bring Paramhansa Yogananda’s teachings into such eminently pragmatic realms as business and finance. The book’s subtitle puts the point well: “A Practical Guide for People in Positions of Responsibility.”

Not surprisingly, Kriyananda’s book has had a profound effect on the business community. In March 1995, after Kriyananda had given a lecture at a breakfast club for businessmen in Anaheim, California, but before the master of ceremonies could thank him, a member of the audience took possession of the microphone: “I’ve just realized who this speaker is,” he cried. “My work is reviving failing businesses. For several years now, I’ve been giving out this book, The Art of Supportive Leadership to everyone I work with. It’s a great book.’”

Leadership principles based on experience
What impresses me most about The Art of Supportive Leadership is that everything Kriyananda writes comes from leadership roles he himself has played—as a young monk in Yogananda’s organization, and in founding and leading Ananda from its humble beginnings to its present status as the most successful intentional community of this age, with branch communities, centers and meditation groups worldwide. Not only have I seen Kriyananda unfailingly adhere to the spiritual principles that underlie the book, but perhaps even more tellingly, I have seen generations of new members successfully practicing these same principles in their own leadership roles.

Paramhansa Yogananda placed Kriyananda, still in his early twenties, in charge of the monks, many of whom were older and resistant to his authority. Motivated by the desire to carry out his Guru’s wishes and to serve his fellow monks by organizing a strong and regular meditation routine, Kriyananda never asked obedience of the monks, but rather cooperation and a spirit of mutual surrender to Yogananda’s will. In return, Kriyananda pledged to the monks his own cooperation and willingness to support them in any undertaking that did not conflict with their shared rules. Always uppermost was the spirit of service.

Expanding Yogananda’s mission
Having begun his life of discipleship in Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), his guru’s organization, Kriyananda’s innate longing to serve people found its natural expression in service to Yogananda’s mission. Yogananda himself frequently pointed Kriyananda in the direction of expanding his mission to reach more people, to help them on the journey homeward to God.

Kriyananda’s adherence to that vision after Yogananda’s passing would ultimately bring him into conflict with the new SRF leadership and result in his separation from the organization. Throughout that long and difficult period of his life, Kriyananda dedicated himself even more determinedly to the principle, “Where there is right action, there is victory,” and transmuted his own personal suffering into a deeper understanding of the two principles that have since formed the foundation of his approach to leadership.

Reflecting on the origin of the principles that have guided his leadership of Ananda, Kriyananda writes:

I built Ananda on principles I’d learned through meditating on the life of Paramhansa Yogananda after years of working with people as head of the monks at Self-Realization Fellowship, and as director of SRF center activities throughout the world, [and] as the target of misguided attempts to suppress my expansive understanding of Yogananda’s mission to the world….

A workbook for dedicated students
The chapters of the book are each organized around a specific principle with explanations and illustrative stories in the text. (The conclusion at the end of each chapter is a review of essential points, which for the dedicated student can serve as a workbook for his own practice):

• Leadership as an art.

• Taking responsibility as a leader.

• Setting aside personal desires.

• Leadership as service.

• “People are more important than things.”

• Making decisions based on intuition guided by common sense.

• Flexibility.

• When to stop talking and start acting.

• Giving support.

• Working with people’s strengths.

• Guidelines for gauging true success in any undertaking.

Broadly applicable principles
As I read and studied the individual chapters of The Art of Supportive Leadership, memory produced, from my own thirty-seven years at Ananda, stories and images illuminating each principle. Those who have understood and practiced these principles have blossomed as devotees and have blessed those around them with their service. Those who have done less well, who have struggled and perhaps even fallen down as leaders, have also served—as models of why certain attitudes don’t work, and as mirrors to others of their need to improve in those same areas.

Those who undertake the spiritual life with serious intent, whether living in a spiritual community or fulfilling a different dharma in the world, come face to face with the principles of supportive leadership—in their own work, in their relations with friends and family, and ultimately in their own inner life. The principles apply equally well to all areas of life: to organizational settings such as the military and business, to the relation of parents and children, and to the ongoing dynamic between soul and ego.

Nayaswami Prakash is a long-time member of Ananda. He currently serves at Ananda Village doing forestry and landscaping work.

To order The Art of Supportive Leadership by Swami Kriyananda click here

Clarity Magazine articles can be printed in “text only” format, using your own computer.

Why is it that I meditate better here and feel more devotion? To locals I say, when asked how I like it here, “India is a land of extremes.” Perhaps it’s true that spiritual growth is accelerated in such environments simply because life’s challenges force us to resolve them within.

Primed for Mysticism

As a “Kriyacharya,” (someone authorized to give Kriya Yoga initiations) I hear many stories that cause me to simply shake my head in amazement. Kundalini, visions, spiraling currents, out-of-body experiences, and ecstatic states are regular fare. I don’t mean to say that these are universal or even common, but I can almost guarantee that someone in every class will come afterward to ask for help with something like this. At first I suspected overactive imaginations but I was wrong.

One woman was distressed after Kriya initiation because she was experiencing a loss of body awareness while teaching her classroom of children. The bliss she was feeling was interfering with her duties. The top of her head was very warm to touch and actually emanated an inner vibration. There have been many such accounts, all sincere. A woman from South India spoke of a local goddess who regularly appeared while she practiced Kriya. Another man wanted to know how to control the chakra awakening he was experiencing, and described it in great detail. Such stories have made me wonder, “Why don’t Westerners seem to have these experiences so frequently?” I think the answer is culture.

Westerners are trained to be skeptical by nature and to look for material, physical and tangible causes to phenomena, whereas in India the veil between the material and astral planes is thinner. I don’t like to generalize like this but I am coming to agree with others who have said that the Indian psyche is primed for mysticism whereas the Western mind is primed for practical efficiency, due to the influence of culture and training. But interestingly, if you take an Indian and put him in America or in a westernized subculture within India, he becomes highly practical and efficient within a short order, often rising to the top of his field. I’m hoping the same can be said, in reverse, for us practical Westerners who now find ourselves in mystical India.

Jugaad: India’s Secret Weapon

Jugaad is a word that characterizes an approach to life in India. Roughly translated, it means “improvisation” or “an ability to make do” in the midst of challenging circumstances. It can be thought of as the spirit that says “No problem” when the lights go out, the water tap is dry, and the roads are flooded. It’s the village entrepreneur hooking up a lawnmower engine to his bicycle rickshaw. It’s getting home alive in your space capsule using odds, ends, and duct tape as they did in the Apollo 13 movie.

With a little bit of creativity, enterprise and hustle, the average Indian gets by and prospers. I think this is why you see Indian immigrants around the world rising to the top of their fields in all countries. The hassle of life has trained them to find solutions and novel approaches because they can’t rely on things to work the way they do in the West. Some even see jugaad as India’s secret weapon for economic success in the world of international competition. As the old saying goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and in a country where “doing the needful” is a daily requirement, jugaad comes in mighty handy.

When I was working at the Ananda community outside Pune in southern India, I’d regularly encounter mechanical problems that baffled me. Something would break or we wouldn’t have the proper tools (by my Western standards) or some complication would arise. “No problem,” Hari, our labor foreman, would say. First he’d try one thing, then another and another until finally we’d find a solution and get the job done. If not, we’d sometimes take our problem to the local village and go from shop to shop seeking a solution. Locals would always offer help, taking what we brought as a personal challenge. Passers-by would join in with opinions of their own and sooner or later, an answer would come.

If you visit India and ever find yourself lost, you’ll experience the same thing. Just ask for help from anyone on the street and a crowd will gather to give you half a dozen opinions on how to get where you want to go.

Nayaswami Jaya is a founding member of Ananda and a Kriyacharya. Together with his wife, Nayaswami Sadhana Devi, he currently lives and serves the Ananda work in Gurgaon, India.

To learn more about Ananda’s work in India click here

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The first two steps to finding out how wonderful a seclusion can be are:

1) To convince yourself that you not only really need a seclusion, but that you also deserve it, and

2) To get over any fears you might have of spending time alone and in silence—especially the fear that you might fail in your efforts to meditate more deeply and be closer to God.

Most people have these feelings in the beginning. You are not alone! If you do feel this way, it might be wise to talk to someone who loves seclusion and is a “veteran” in doing it. He or she can offer you the necessary inspiration.

If you’ve never taken a seclusion before, it’s best to start slowly. Try taking just a day or two at first. Then when you are more used to short seclusions, try for a longer amount of time.

“Find a place and book your space”
Here are a few other suggestions: Carefully plan ahead of time where you are going to stay and what you are going to do. The colder months of the year are often best, as life tends to be more naturally inward at that time.

“Find a place and book your space” as far ahead as possible. Life has a way of crowding in and taking over your best made plans. Don’t let anything interfere with your intention to seclude. Your seclusion place needs to be very quiet and preferably have a retreat-like environment — where any nearby people, such as the retreat staff, will respect your need for complete silence, privacy, and for how you want to spend your time.

It is possible to seclude where you live, especially if you live alone, or if the rest of your family will be away for a time. However, most long-time “secluders” will tell you that when they have tried to seclude in their usual environment, it hasn’t worked as well. Most find they need a different environment—to get away from it all.

It’s okay to be flexible
Write out your lists and proposed daily schedule ahead of time. Decide what you want to do, then decide what to take with you to make that possible. What reading materials do you want? Highly recommended would be reading about the lives of the great saints of all religions. Here are some other things to think about: music and tapes to listen to; meditation equipment; walking shoes; food.

But also be flexible! You may get to your seclusion place and find you are very tired (as is often the case) and simply need to sleep a lot for a day or so before getting on with your seclusion plans. Starting out with a good rest is really okay!

You may think you’d like to fast, but find you are hungry! Be prepared for that. Be ready to come up with new plans on the spot, if you need to. Let God and Gurus guide you carefully in both the planning stages and during your time at your seclusion place.

Don’t be attached to what you want to have happen. Relax and just be. Begin each day by saying, “What shall we do today, Divine Mother? Guide each moment. Thank You for giving me time to be alone with You!”

The ups and downs of a seclusion
For most folks beginning a seclusion, a primary goal is to have increasing times of prayer and meditation, along with all the things related to getting ready for deep meditation, such as the Energization Exercises, yoga postures, chanting, and inspirational reading. You definitely want to see prayer and meditation as the center around which your seclusion revolves.

But if you are taking a longer time of seclusion, you may find that there are some days when you simply cannot meditate as long as you had hoped. There will be ups and downs. Go with it!  If possible, take a nice long walking meditation in nature, and be with God in that way. Or do some journal writing and write a letter to God. There are many “meditative activities” which, though they really don’t help us quite as much as silent, sitting meditation, are still very powerful ways of spending time with God. And after all, spending time with God is really what a seclusion is for.

Remember the SILENCE part of seclusion. “Silence is the altar of Spirit.” If you must be around people for any reason, have an “IN SILENCE” badge to wear and point at if someone tries to engage you. Don’t make eye-contact with others. But best of all, stay completely alone and “speak” only to God in the language of your own heart. Keep that inward conversation going strong!

When things come up
What if things come up within yourself, so that you become frightened and feel you need to talk to somebody? This does happen. First, do your best to get through the experience on your own. Do something different and pray for insight. Exercise and fresh air often help quite a bit. Or a nice long shower or bath. Write about your experience in your journal. Try sleeping on it. Sometimes that’s all you need to gain insight and a fresh perspective. If all else fails, then find someone to talk to.

Try to isolate yourself from all such distractions as cell phones or any phones (turn them off), e-mails, internet connections, TV, worldly magazines or newspapers. Resist the temptation to “check my messages.” It may feel strange at first to be cut off from the world in this way. But that’s really the idea — to give you time to look at your world in a more interiorized way. You may wonder, when you return to your daily life, why all that constant availability seemed so necessary.

Your mental clarity increases
In seclusion you begin to see that your mind is like a glass of water which is cloudy with dirt and debris. By being very quiet and still, by praying and meditating more than usual, thinking uplifting thoughts, keeping company only with the saints and our line of gurus, all the dirt and debris begin to settle out.

As your, “mental water glass” becomes clear and clean, you begin to see life as it really is. When you reach that point in your seclusion, life looks SO DIFFERENT and so much more beautiful. You can pick up an inspiring book you’ve read before and feel as though you have a different book in your hands. Each sentence is written in flames of light—their perfect wisdom meant especially for you.

Your heart also becomes more open, softer, and more in tune with devotional practices. Chanting and devotional music become much sweeter and more uplifting. You can feel yourself soaring on wings of joy! God becomes “the nearest of the near and the dearest of the dear.”

“Seclusion is the price of greatness”
As the years go by, with each seclusion you take, you’ll grow more used to the rhythms of seclusion. You’ll probably find that each one is different. Some turn out to be just as you had hoped. Some do not. Some are great learning experiences. Sometimes you may weep to think that this time has to be over for now and that you have to return to daily life.

There is no question that seclusion, as Paramhansa Yogananda says, “is the price of greatness.” Greatness of spirit comes only with an increasingly closer walk with God—with feeling God’s presence within and all around you at all times.

On a more personal note, I have made it a priority in my life, for the past 30 years, to take a longer or shorter time of seclusion at least once a year. In my early years at Ananda, I was able to dedicate one day a week to a mini-seclusion. I know several people here who are still able to do that.

Now, close to Thanksgiving, I usually take 5-7 days in a housekeeping cabin at The Ananda Meditation Retreat. I choose that time of year because of its very inward feeling, because the autumn scenery is still beautiful for my daily walks among the hills, and because it’s close enough to Christmas that I can begin the process of “preparing the cradle of my heart for the coming of the Christ (Consciousness) Child.” My Thanksgiving seclusion is definitely one of the high points of the year for me.

My husband, Sudarshan, probably holds the “Ananda Village record” for the most time spent in seclusion. He spends 4 weeks a year, usually in February, in his little seclusion trailer, parked at a secret and remote location nearby. He does Yogananda’s 9-day Cleansing and Healing Diet for the first 9 days. I re-supply him with food about halfway through. When he returns home after all that time in seclusion, his eyes look angelic and his face looks about ten years younger and filled with divine light.

Because of his excellent experience in taking longer seclusions, he has written a little self-published booklet on the subject, called, How to Take a Personal Spiritual Retreat. If you are interested in obtaining a copy, please e-mail him: Sudarshan Simpson, sudarshan108@hotmail.com

Nayaswami Savitri teaches at The Expanding Light guest retreat at Ananda Village, and is the Director of Ananda’s Meditation Teacher Training Programs. She also serves as administrative assistant to Ananda’s Spiritual Directors. A Lightbearer and 33-year resident of Ananda Village, she is married to Nayaswami Sudarshan.

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 Last Wishes

Last night I was sitting in the living room, talking to my wife about life. In-between, we also talked about the idea of living or dying.

I told her, “Darling never let me live in a vegetative state, totally dependent on machines and liquids from a bottle. If you see me in that state I want you to disconnect all the contraptions that are keeping me alive. I’d much rather die.”

My wife got up from the sofa with this real look of admiration … and proceeded to disconnect the TV, the cable, the dish, the DVD, the computer, the cell phone, the iPod, and the Xbox. Then she went to the bar and threw away all my whiskey, rum, gin, vodka, and the beer in the fridge.

I ALMOST DIED!!

*******

Moses and the Parting of the Red Sea

Nine-year-old Jimmy was asked by his mother what he had learned in Sunday school.

“Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses on a mission to rescue the Israelites out of Egypt. When they got to the Red Sea, Moses had them build a pontoon bridge so they could walk safely across, and they were saved. Then he called in his engineers to sink the pontoons and the Pharaoh drowned.

“Now, Jimmy, is that really what your teacher taught you?” his Mother asked.

“Well, no, Mom. But, if I told it the way the teacher did, you’d never believe it!”

*******

“Satan Stuff”
(Told by Anandi Cornell)

Two youngsters were on their way to Sunday school when one said to the other, “What do you think about all this Satan stuff?”

“Well, you remember Santa? This could turn out to be your dad, too.”

*******

“I Can Remember That!”

An 80-year-old couple was having problems remembering things, so they decided to go to the doctor to make sure they were okay.

After a thorough examination, the doctor said they were both fine, but that they might want to start writing things down to help them remember things. The couple thanked the doctor and went home.

Later that evening, the wife asked her husband to get her a bowl of ice cream.

Her husband said, “Sure.”

His wife then said, “Don’t you think you should write it down so you can remember it?”

“No,” he said, “I can easily remember that.”

“Well,” said his wife, “I would also like some strawberries on top and some whipped cream. I think you had better write it all down because I know you’ll forget.”

With irritation in his voice, her husband said, “I don’t need to write it down. I can remember that.” He went into the kitchen.

Twenty minutes later he returned and handed his wife a plate of scrambled eggs.

After staring at the plate for a moment, his wife said, “You forgot my toast.”

*******

Sunday Sermon

A somewhat long-winded preacher, giving a sermon one Sunday, noticed two teenage girls giggling and disturbing others in the back of the church.

He interrupted his sermon and announced sternly in a loud voice, “There are certain people here who have not heard a word I’ve said this morning.” He then resumed his sermon where he had left off.

After the service, three adults apologized for falling asleep.

*******

Wrong Message

A businessman left for a vacation in Florida. His wife, away on a business trip, planned to fly down and meet him the next day. When the man arrived in Florida, he emailed his wife to let her know that he had arrived safely, but he mis-typed her email address.

His email message went to a woman whose husband had just passed away. When the grieving widow read the email, she collapsed onto the floor.

The woman’s daughter rushed into the room to see what had happened and found the following email message on the computer screen:

“My darling wife: Just checked in. Everything is prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to being with you again. Your loving husband. P.S. Sure is hot down here!”

*******

Free Will?

After delaying for some years, a young man finally decided to get married. He and his fiancée went to the local church to sign some pre-wedding papers. While filling out the forms, the man happened to read aloud the last question: “Are you entering this marriage of your own free will?”

Hesitating for a moment, he looked at his fiancée. Emphatically she said, “Put down ‘yes!’”

*******

The Bowl of Soup

A man went into a restaurant and ordered a bowl of soup. A few minutes after the soup arrived, he called to the waiter and said, “Waiter, come, taste this soup.”

Perplexed, the waiter asked, “Is there something wrong with the soup?”

The man said, “Waiter, just taste the soup.”

The waiter replied, “Is there something wrong with the soup? Is it too hot? Is it too cold?”

Irritated, the man said, “Will you just taste the soup?”

The waiter said, “All right. I’ll taste the soup. Where is the spoon?”

The man said, “Ah-ha!!!!”

*******

The Seven Commandments

When I asked my friend if she was planning to attend church, she just shook her head. “I haven’t gone in a long time,” she said. “Besides, it’s too late for me. I’ve probably already broken all seven commandments.

Clarity Magazine articles can be printed in “text only” format, using your own computer.

*******

Cast out all negative mental habits, substituting in their place wholesome, courageous thoughts. Apply these in your daily life, with unshakable confidence.
How to Have Courage, Calmness, and Confidence by Paramhansa Yogananda.

*******

Divine courage comes from living in the awareness of God’s presence within, and the realization that He is the sole Reality. Live more in Him, for nothing and no one can touch what you really are.
Affirmations for Self-Healing by Swami Kriyananda.

*******

Fear has a very deleterious effect on the heart, nervous system, and brain. It is destructive to mental initiative, courage, judgment, common sense, and will power. Uproot fear from within by forceful concentration on courage and by shifting your consciousness to the absolute peace within.
Praecepta Lessons, 1930 by Paramhansa Yogananda.

*******

God is most pleased with courage even in the face of defeat. The true devotee is not one who cries, “Lord, please, I beg You: Please save me!” This is defeatism! We should stand lovingly before God, with the confidence a son has in his loving father.
The Promise of Immortality by Swami Kriyananda.

*******

True courage is not blind stupidity. Stupidity, for example, is jumping off a diving board without first looking to see if there’s water in the pool. True courage means facing reality, and not wishing that inconvenient facts would somehow just disappear.
Life’s Little Secrets by Swami Kriyananda.

*******

Be courageous in your decision making. Even a poor decision may be preferable to making no decision at all: At least it will keep the energy flowing, which may, in time, attract good decisions.
Do It NOW! by Swami Kriyananda.

*******

People who breathe freely sideways tend to be courageous, expansive in their outlook. A deliberate effort to breathe outward sideways can help one to develop these wholesome attitudes.
Ananda Yoga for Higher Awareness by Swami Kriyananda.

*******

Learn to perform all your duties with courageous cheerfulness welling up from within you. Then you will see a flood of vitality move through your entire body and all your daily actions.
Praecepta Lessons, 1935 by Paramhansa Yogananda.

*******

Karma is best worked out by meeting life’s tests cheerfully and courageously. Don’t try to avoid life’s tests but rise above them by dwelling in God’s joy within.
How to Have Courage, Calmness, and Confidence by Paramhansa Yogananda.

*******

To fully embrace divine love takes heroic courage. Yet only in doing so can we find the fulfillment we all seek in life.
The Promise of Immortality by Swami Kriyananda.

*******

Spiritual success comes by looking upon all things cheerfully and courageously, with the realization that everything is marching towards the highest goal. Place your absolute faith in God and always acknowledge His power working through you in everything you do.
How to Have Courage, Calmness, and Confidence by Paramhansa Yogananda.

*******

Be even-minded and walk with courage. Go forward from day to day with calm, inner faith. Eventually, you will pass beyond all tests and difficulties, and behold at last the dawn of divine fulfillment.
How to Have Courage, Calmness, and Confidence by Paramhansa Yogananda.

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The political leader who, in the face of imminent defeat, stood up to Adolf Hitler.

1) Neville Chamberlain

2) Charles de Gaulle

3) Winston Churchill

4) Franklin D. Roosevelt

A French woman of the 19th century who, as a young teenager, suffered public ridicule for her religious faith.

1) Bernadette of Lourdes

2) Saint Therese of Lisieux

3) Jeanne of Valois

4) Joan of Arc

A 16th century saint and religious reformer who successfully stood up to the Inquisition.

1) Catherine of Navarre

2) Isabella of Castile

3) Catherine of Siena

4) Theresa of Avila

An American clergyman, activist, and youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

1) Billy Graham

2) Martin Luther King, Jr.

3) Norman Vincent Peale

4) Frank Laubach

A 20th century saint who experienced lifelong attacks by Satan.

1) Saint Martin de Porres

2) Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

3) Swami Vivekananda

4) Saint Augustine

An American woman who transcended her disabilities and became an inspiration to millions.

1) Eleanor Roosevelt

2) Mother Teresa

3) Helen Keller

4) The Peace Pilgrim

Click here to view answers >>

Answers to Quiz

The political leader who, in the face of imminent defeat stood up to Adolf Hitler.

1) Neville Chamberlain

2) Charles de Gaulle

3) Winston Churchill

4) Franklin D. Roosevelt

Answer: 3

A French woman of the 19th century who, as a young teenager, suffered public ridicule for her religious faith.

1) Bernadette of Lourdes

2) Saint Therese of Lisieux

3) Jeanne of Valois

4) Joan of Arc

Answer: 1

A 16th century saint and religious reformer who successfully stood up to the Inquisition.

1) Catherine of Navarre

2) Isabella of Castile

3) Catherine of Siena

4) Theresa of Avila

Answer: 4

An American clergyman, activist, and youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

1) Billy Graham

2) Martin Luther King, Jr.

3) Norman Vincent Peale

4) Frank Laubach

Answer: 2

A 20th century saint who suffered both physically and spiritually from vicious lifelong attacks by Satan.

1) Saint Martin de Porres

2) Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

3) Swami Vivekananda

4) Saint Augustine

Answer: 2

An American woman who overcame her disabilities and became an inspiration to millions.

1) Eleanor Roosevelt

2) Mother Teresa

3) Helen Keller

4) The Peace Pilgrim

Answer: 3

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BOOKS
Invictus—Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation
by John Carlin

In 1985, Nelson Mandela, seeking a cause to unite an entire nation after fifty years of apartheid, encouraged black South Africans to support the previously hated Springboks, the national rugby team, long an embodiment of white supremacist rule. At the time, South Africa was looking forward to hosting the 1995 World Cup. The rugby team’s string of wins defied all odds and capped Mandela’s ten-year effort to bring South Africans together in an enduring bond of  racial harmony.

The Hiding Place
by Corrie Ten Boom

The unforgettable and inspiring story of Corrie Ten Boom, a devout Christian woman who, along with several family members, was confined in a concentration camp because of her work in helping Dutch Jews escape Nazi persecution during World War II. Corrie survived the horrors of concentration camp life and went on to write a book that has touched hearts and souls of millions around the world.

Tortured for Christ
by Richard Wurmbrand

Tortured for Christ is a deeply inspiring account of courage, tenacity of faith, and unbelievable endurance. The author, Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian of Jewish descent gave up atheism to embrace Christianity. He recounts his experiences as a pastor in the secret, underground church in Romania and his fourteen years in Communist prisons. Wurmbrandt’s only crime was his fervent belief in Jesus Christ and his refusal to hide the practice of his faith. While confined to prison, Wurmbrand courageously continued his ministry by awakening faith in his fellow prisoners.

Enduring Grace—Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics
by Carol Lee Flinders

This beautiful and well-written book shows how seven women not only transformed themselves into great saints but also made important contributions to the religious life of their times. Flinders gives a clear, realistic description of the life and times of these seven women, and their enduring legacy to the Christian mystical tradition.

*******

MOVIES

Random Harvest, 1942
Random Harvest, a film based on the 1941 James Hilton novel of the same name, depicts the remarkable twists and turns of fate that upset the course of true, selfless love. Set in post-WWI England, actors Ronald Coleman and Greer Garson give outstanding performances as the couple destined to fall in love but then lose one another through accidents, amnesia, and differences in upbringing. This movie, one of Swami Kriyananda’s favorites, depicts the ideals of friendship, loyalty, and mutual respect that are the foundation of every enduring relationship.

Available on DVD. Not Rated (Drama, Romance)

Pride and Prejudice, 1995
In this beautiful made-for-television adaptation of Jane Austen’s much-loved novel, sparks fly when spirited Elizabeth Bennett (Jennifer Ehle), meets the eligible, proud, rich aristocrat, Fitzwilliam Darcy (Colin Firth). Darcy, who is attracted to the witty but prejudiced Elizabeth, reluctantly finds himself falling in love with a woman he believes is beneath his class. Elizabeth, for her part, finds Darcy boorish and rude. Can they overcome their pride and prejudice?

Available on DVD. Not Rated (Romantic, Witty)

Unmistaken Child, 2008
This documentary follows the spellbinding journey of Tibetan Buddhist monk, Tenzin Zopa, and his four-year search to find the identity of the child who is the next incarnation of his deceased master, Geshe Lama Konchog, a world-renowned Tibetan master who passed away in 2001 at age 84. Acting on instructions from the Dalai Lama, the shy Zopa knows that thousands of Buddhist followers are awaiting his discovery. But he also knows that if he succeeds, he must convince the child’s parents to release the child into his care.

Available on DVD. Not Rated (Heart-felt, Understated)

A Man for All Seasons, 1966
This movie, set in 16th century England, is the story of Sir Thomas More (played by Shakespearian actor, Paul Scofield) who refused to go along with King Henry VIII’s headstrong determination to break with the Roman Catholic Church so that he could divorce his current wife, Catherine of Aragon, and marry Anne Boleyn. More resigns as Chancellor of England in the hope of living out his life as a private citizen, but Henry will settle for nothing less than More’s public approval. The film won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Paul Scofield).

Available on DVD.  Rated G (Biography, Drama)

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The yogi who feels hopelessly out of tune with money will learn much from Swami Kriyananda’s early resistance to having to think about making money, and what he gained when, out of necessity, he transcended that resistance. During the beginning years of the Ananda community, when money was clearly needed on many fronts, Kriyananda experienced the need to raise it as a “great burden on my mind.” He resisted what he perceived as becoming enmeshed in materialism.

Interestingly, many of us who came to Ananda in the formative years shared Kriyananda’s attitude toward money. I arrived in 1974 with thirty dollars—and no thought except to serve the community. My income was about four hundred dollars a year. (I had cashed in my worldly goods and my father had kindly used the proceeds to purchase public utility stocks for me.) My life was one of hard work, very simple living, gardening, and rebuilding after the fire of 1976. We lived in teepees, old trailers, and homemade shacks. It was a great day when we had spigot for water and no longer needed to carry gallon jugs over the hill from “downtown” Ananda.

Kriyananda showed the way
It was in this atmosphere of extreme “simple living” that Kriyananda undertook the considerable task of leading us to understand the world in which our service was to lie—material, money-based twentieth century America.

As always in his guidance of us, Kriyananda himself undertook the spiritual discipline required before asking it of others. He overcame his own resistance and learned how to deal with money. But by so doing, his real gain, he tells us, was in developing tremendous strength of will.

From that experience, and many others, came the central principle of Money Magnetism: How to Attract What You Need When You Need It. Money is a form of energy. In learning to attract money, to use it rightly, we learn to attract energy, and to use energy rightly. In the process, we develop will power and concentration—essential attributes not only for success in the world but also on the spiritual path.

A wonderful sadhana
Money Magnetism is of course intended for a much wider readership than only those who resist the very idea of prosperity. I have spent the last several months going through the book slowly and meditatively—taking notes not only on the principles themselves but also on the episodes in my own life that illustrate, or become clear, in light of the principles.

It has been a wonderful sadhana. A special blessing comes with such an undertaking—for we have not truly understood a teaching until we have practiced, and ultimately become that teaching. Such a practical book as Money Magnetism, Kriyananda writes, exemplifies Yogananda’s insistence that “the search for God includes uplifting one’s consciousness in whatever one is doing. As he once said to me, “You must be practical in your idealism.’” An interesting sidelight: I have noticed that my best meditations often come in the transition from active work to rest, as though the energy of work were preparing the way for a deeper, more interiorized spiritual practice.

A daily guide
In a more immediate sense, Money Magnetism can be used as a daily guide—particularly the summarizing paragraphs at the end of each chapter—each one suitable as a focus for meditation, and as a principle to be practiced in the midst of workaday activity.

In the first chapter, “What Is True Wealth?” Kriyananda lays down the foundation principle: money is energy. It is in fact an expression of our energy. If we allow this energy to flow freely, like water from a mountain spring, it will remain fresh, life-giving. If we bottle it up, it will grow stale and lifeless. That is, money can be used constructively to do wonderful things; or it can be hoarded. Hoarding, however, blocks the energy flow and warps the consciousness of the hoarder.

Energy must flow
I thought of my mother’s recent passing. She was as kind and generous a soul as I have known. She loved Ananda, and the people who lived in and visited the community quickly became her friends and extended family. And yet, after her passing, when a packet of materials relating to her estate arrived, from the pages there rose a peculiar odor— musty, moldy, decaying, and depressing. I had to keep the packet outside. When I attempted to read and understand the contents, I would feel my mind being pulled down into depression. What was this?

The moldiness could not be a reflection of my mother’s bright spirit. My sense was that the smell of these “wealth management” bank materials and their depressing effect were simply an expression of trapped energy, and the concomitant stagnation of consciousness. The answer lay clearly in the first principle of Kriyananda’s book—energy must flow. My mother had understood the teaching perfectly. What came to her she shared, as her heart guided her.

I followed her example.  Once I’d plowed through the bank documents enough to have a sense of the income, I simply added the increase to certain Ananda fundraising efforts, and to equipment for the work I do caring for the land in the community. Immediately my spirits lifted. What has happened? The “wealth management” people send statements, and checks. By redirecting those checks to ends that inspire me—the nauseating smell has disappeared.

A doorway to opportunity
Kriyananda writes in Money Magnetism: “The purpose of this book is to help you to attract money in such a way as not to make it a burden on your peace of mind, but a doorway, rather, to genuine opportunity. It is to help you to learn how to use money wisely, in such a way as to acquire the greatest possible benefits for yourself and for others.”

I have imagined myself stranded with only this one book for spiritual nourishment. There is of course much that cannot be addressed in such a book, and Kriyananda himself urges the reader to continue his study particularly with his course, The Art and Science of Raja Yoga. And yet I find all the basics present in this single book—energy, magnetism, will power, concentration, levels of consciousness, affirmation.

Someone who reads Money Magnetism to find practical help in financial matters ends up finding help that extends all the way to the search for God and inner joy. This book, like so much that Kriyananda has written, is a doorway to the ancient teachings of Sanaatan Dharma, the eternal religion at the heart of all true paths to God.

Money Magnetism – How to Attract What You Need When You Need It by Swami Kriyananda is available from Crystal Clarity Publishers. To order click here

Nayaswami Prakash is a long-time member of Ananda. He currently serves at Ananda Village doing forestry and landscaping work.

Clarity Magazine articles can be printed in “text only” format, using your own computer.

I have no habits,
In eating, thinking, behaving
I am free, I am free.

I command Thee, O Attention
To come and practice concentration
On things I do, on works I do.
I can do everything
When so I think, when so I think.

In church or temple, in prayer mood
My vagrant thoughts against me stood
And held my mind from reaching Thee
And held my mind from reaching Thee
Teach me to own again, O own again
My matter-sold mind and brain
That I may give them to Thee
In prayer and ecstasy
In meditation and reverie.

I shall worship Thee
In meditation
In the mountain breast and seclusion.
I shall feel Thy energy
Flowing through my hands in activity
Lest I lose Thee
I shall find Thee in activity.

From Scientific Healing Affirmations, 1924 edition.

Related reading: Affirmations for Self-Healing by Swami Kriyananda. To order click here

Clarity Magazine articles can be printed in “text only” format, using your own computer.

The Gutenberg Bible

A collector of rare books ran into an acquaintance of his who told him he had just thrown away an old Bible. He mentioned that he saw the name Guten-somebody-or-other inscribed on one of the pages.

“Not Gutenberg?” gasped the collector.

“Yes, that was it!”

“Don’t you know that you’ve thrown away one of the first books ever printed. It’s worth at least a half a million dollars!”

“Oh, I don’t think it would have been worth that much,” replied the man. “It was scribbled all over in the margins by some guy named Martin Luther.”

******

Who Destroyed the Walls of Jericho?

A minister who was responsible for religious education in a certain school decided to visit the classes one day, to check out the education level. He asked the students, “Please tell me, who destroyed the walls of Jericho?”

One of the students stood up and said, ” I don’t know who did it but it wasn’t me, Sir!”

The minister, thinking the students were making fun of him, turned to the teacher and asked, “Is this the way students here normally behave?”

Puzzled, the teacher replied, “I believe this student is very honest and wouldn’t do such a thing.”

Dismayed, the minister went to his assistant and explained to him what had happened. The assistant replied, “I know this student and his teacher very well, and I am absolutely sure none of them is guilty of destroying that wall.”

When the minister heard this, he made a formal complaint to the Religious Education Commission. They replied:

“Dear Sir, let us not make a big issue out of this. We will be happy to pay for the damaged walls. We can write it off as current school year repair. Our insurance will cover whatever losses we incur.”

******

Curiosity

Our six-year-old daughter seemed to have a need to ask lots of questions.

One day my wife said her in exasperation, “Have you ever heard that curiosity killed the cat?”

“No,” replied our daughter.

“Well, there was a cat, and he was very inquisitive. And one day, he looked into a big hole, fell in, and died!”

Our daughter was intrigued: “What was in the hole?”

******

The Evils of Alcohol

A certain minister one Sunday morning was giving a sermon on the evils of alcohol. With great expression he said, “If I had all the beer in the world, I’d take it and pour it into the river.”

With even greater emphasis he said, “And if I had all the wine in the world, I’d take it and pour it into the river.”

And then, finally, he said, “And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I’d take it and pour it into the river.”

At the end of the sermon, the choir master stood up and announced with a slight smile, “Let us close with hymn #365: Shall We Gather at the River?”

******

The Lincoln Memorial

When my eight-year-old nephew came to visit me in Washington DC, I took a day off from my job and showed him the Lincoln Memorial. There etched into the monument is a large block of text 273 words long. He asked, “What’s that?”

“That’s Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address,” I said.

“If that’s his address, how does he get any mail?”

******

Jesus Speaking

A painter, high up on a scaffold inside an enormous, empty cathedral, spotted an elderly woman below in fervent prayer. He decided to have some fun. In a deep eerie voice that echoed throughout the church he said, “Hellooo. This is Jesus.”

The old woman, seemingly taking no notice, kept on praying silently to herself. The painter, disappointed that there was no reaction, tried again. In a louder voice he said, “Hellooo. This is Jesus.”

Still no reaction. This time he shouted out, “Hellooo. This is Jesus.”

Without looking up, she responded sharply, “I’m talking to your Father!”

******

Harold

With great pride, a father was listening to his little 5-year-old say his bedtime prayers one night. The child began his prayer, “Dear Harold.”

Surprised, the father interrupted him and said, “Wait a minute, Jimmy, how come you called God “Harold?”

The little boy looked up and said, “That’s what they call Him in church, when we pray: “Our Father, who art in Heaven, Harold be Thy Name.”

******

Jonah and the Teacher

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales and how she had heard in Sunday School about how a whale had swallowed Jonah.

The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.

The little girl remained steadfast in her position and reiterated that indeed, a whale had swallowed Jonah.

Irritated, the teacher again stated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.

The little girl said, “I’m not sure how it happened, but when I get to heaven I will ask Jonah.

Smugly the teacher replied, “What if Jonah isn’t in heaven?”

The little girl replied, “Then you can ask him.”

Clarity Magazine articles can be printed in “text only” format, using your own computer.

The Secret of Success is:

1) Defining future goals in terms of past accomplishments

2) Seeing life as a serious but necessary undertaking.

3) Complaining loudly when faced with a difficult task but doing it anyway.

4) Enjoying, never bemoaning, whatever effort a work requires.

The Secret of Success is:

1) Always doing what your reason tells you to do.

2) Obtaining everyone’s agreement before acting.

3) A preference for the truth over mere opinion- even if the opinion be your own.

4) Never making an important decision without consulting a psychic.  

The Secret of Success is:

1) Taking weekly stock of your shortcomings.

2) The willingness to reprimand those who cause things not to turn out as you wished.

3) Blaming no one when things go wrong, but doing whatever you can to improve matters.

4) Having your astrology chart updated regularly and consulting it before making important decisions.  

The Secret of Success is:

1) Trying to change circumstances to accommodate everyone’s preferences.

2) Improving your ability to multi-task.

3) The ability to concentrate one-pointedly on whatever task you set yourself.

4) Forging ahead with dynamic will power before others can interfere.

Click here to view answers >>                                                        

Answers Answers to Quiz

The Secret of Success is:

1) Defining future goals in terms of past accomplishments

2) Seeing life as a serious but necessary undertaking.

3) Complaining loudly when faced with a difficult task but doing it anyway.

4) Enjoying, never bemoaning, whatever effort a work requires.

Answer: 4

The Secret of Success is:

1) Always doing what your reason tells you to do.

2) Obtaining everyone’s agreement before acting.

3) A preference for the truth over mere opinion — even if the opinion be your own.

4) Never making an important decision without consulting a psychic.

Answer: 3

The Secret of Success is:

1) Taking weekly stock of your shortcomings.

2) The willingness to reprimand those who cause things not to turn out as you wished.

3) Blaming no one when things go wrong, but doing whatever you can to improve matters.

4) Having your astrology chart updated regularly and consulting it before making important decisions.

Answer: 3

The Secret of Success is:

1) Trying to change circumstances to accommodate everyone’s preferences.

2) Improving your ability to multi-task.

3) The ability to concentrate one-pointedly on whatever task you set yourself.

4) Forging ahead with dynamic will power before others can interfere.

Answer: 3

Your success in life does not depend only upon natural ability; it also depends upon your determination to grasp the opportunities that are presented to you.

******

You are always demonstrating success or failure, according to the kind of thoughts that you habitually entertain. If your trend of thought is usually negative, an occasional positive thought is not enough to change the vibration to one of success.

******

Along with positive thinking, you must use will power and continuous activity in order to be successful.

******

You must train yourself to use conscious, not mechanical, will. And you must be sure that your will power is used constructively, not for harmful purposes or trifling things.

******

Even failure should act as a stimulant to your will power, and to your material and spiritual growth. Weed out the causes of failure, and with double vigor launch what you wish to accomplish.

******

Initiative is the creative faculty within you, a spark of the Infinite Creator. It may give you the power to create something no one else has ever created. It urges you to do things in new ways.

******

There are always two forces warring against each other within us. One tells us to do things we should not do, and the other urges us to do things we should do and things that are difficult. One is the voice of evil, and the other is the voice of God.

******

Until you are master of yourself and you are able to command yourself to do the things that you should do, but may not want to do, you are not a free soul.

******

Some of the attributes you must cultivate in order to achieve success are positive thoughts, dynamic will, self-analysis, initiative, and self-control — but these are only the first steps. Many popular books stress one or more of these, but do not give credit to the Power which is behind them.

******

God is the source of all mental power and prosperity. Do not will and act first, but contact God first and thus harness your will and activity to the right goal.

******

When you want to create something important, sit quietly, calm your senses and your thoughts, and meditate deeply upon what you want to do or acquire. Then you will be guided by the great creative power of Spirit.

******

To lead a successful life you must first have a dominant purpose. That purpose must be the right one for you, then all the powers of God will guide you in your plans and activities.

******

The entire purpose of life becomes futile if you cannot find happiness. Therefore, success must be measured by happiness, by your ability to remain in harmony with cosmic laws, rather than by health, wealth, or prestige.

All quotations are from How to be a Success, by Paramhansa Yogananda, Crystal Clarity Publishers.

Clarity Magazine articles can be printed in “text only” format, using your own computer.

BOOKS

Mao’s Last Dancer
by Li Cunxin

In his best selling autobiography, Mao’ s Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, (pronounced “Lee Schwin Sing”) recounts the perseverance, vision, courage, hard work, and sacred family values he learned in poverty-stricken China, which drove him to become one of one of China’s greatest dancers. In 1979 his efforts won him an opportunity to study in America. He later defected to the United States and went on to become one of the world’s greatest dancers.

First published in 2003, this autobiography has won numerous literary awards. Now in its 50th printing, the book has been translated into several foreign languages and is sold in over 30 countries worldwide. (See below for a movie based on this book)

The Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden, first published in 1911, is an inspiring classic of children’s literature and a book to be enjoyed by adults and children alike. Using the garden on a country English estate as the central motif, the book beautifully depicts the miraculous healing power inherent in Nature and in all loving, nurturing human relationships. (See below for a movie based on this book.)

My Stroke of Insight
by Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD

In My Stroke of Insight, Jill Bolte Taylor, a 37-year-old Harvard-trained brain scientist, shares her unique experience of suffering a massive stroke that shut down the left hemisphere of her brain while opening her to the joy, wonder, and sense of oneness of her right brain. Offering her first hand experience and professional insight into how the brain functions, Bolte’s remarkable story of her own eight-year recovery is a deeply inspiring confirmation of the truth that deep peace and joy are accessible to everyone.

How God Changes Your Brain
by Andrew Newberg, MD and Mark Robert Waldman

This recently published easy-to-read book explores the relationship between spirituality and neuroscience. Stimulating and provocative, the authors conclude that meditation and other spiritual practices permanently strengthen specific parts of the brain that help lower anxiety and depression, enhance social awareness and empathy, improve cognitive function, and promote the development of the spiritual qualities such as love, compassion, and deep inner peace. (See interview of Dr. Peter Van Houten based on this book in Clarity Magazine, Spring 2011.)

The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants
by Jane S. Smith

The Garden of Invention, published in 2009, is a lively and well-researched biography of Luther Burbank, the celebrated pioneer in plant cultivation, who initiated a revolution in agricultural science by developing over 800 new varieties of fruits, nuts, vegetables and flowers for home gardens and commercial farming. Colorful and engrossing in its depiction of Burbank’s long and productive life, this book is of special interest to anyone interested in gardening, science or the development of agriculture in the United States.

MOVIES

The Keys of the Kingdom, 1944
An American film based on the 1941 novel of the same name by A.J. Cronin. This is the inspiring story of a young Scottish priest, Father Chisholm, who is assigned to establish a Catholic mission in China. He encounters isolation, hostility, disease, poverty and a variety of set backs which both humble him and make him more determined than ever to succeed. Through his quiet determination, understanding, and patience, he gradually gains acceptance and a growing congregation among the Chinese. Available on DVD.

Rated PG (no gratuitous violence, sex, or profanity)

Winged Migration, 2001
This movie is a breathtakingly beautiful documentary that showcases the amazing yearly migration of several species of migratory birds including storks, pelicans, Canadian Geese and the Artic Tern. Using sweeping and often vast scenarios, the film offers a bird’s eye view of the migratory experience without resorting to “special effects.” Filmed over the course of four years on all seven continents. A birdwatchers delight!

Available on DVD & Blu-ray. Rated: G

Secretariat, 2010
Secretariat is the remarkable true story of Penny Chenery, housewife and mother, who became the unlikely owner of her ailing father’s thoroughbred racing stable. Despite her relative lack of horse-racing knowledge, Chenery manages to learn this male-dominated business and rises to prominence as the owner of Secretariat, the first Triple Crown winner in twenty-five years.  Available on DVD. Rated: PG (No sex, violence, or profanity)

The Secret Garden, 1993
This movie is an evocative adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beloved children’s novel.  (See book description above) Available: DVD; Rated G

Mao’s Last Dancer, 2009
This movie is based on the best-selling autobiography of Li Cunxin. (See book description above)  Available: DVD and Blu-ray

Rated PG (No gratuitous violence, sex or profanity)

Clarity Magazine articles can be printed in “text only” format, using your own computer.

Dedicating his book to “those sincere Christians whose faith has been shaken, ”Swami Kriyananda reaches out to those who find their Christian faith under attack from all sides—from such diverse sources as biblical scholars, advocates of a materialistic view of science, even some popular novelists.

I myself came to the book as someone who grew up in a Christian church, which, far from providing guidance on how actually to live my life, seemed fear-based and guilt- ridden. When I found Paramhansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi, I felt here, at last, I was in the presence of Truth, and of a teacher who resonated with my inner being and provided clear guidance for all areas of life.

The original teachings of Christianity
In my enthusiasm I happily set aside my religious upbringing and dove into Yogananda’s teachings, and into the expansions and applications of those teachings given by his disciple Swami Kriyananda. Imagine my surprise (and chagrin) when I realized that, in fact, Yogananda’s teachings, were not other than Christian but were the expression of a mission to bring back the original teachings of Christianity.

Central to Paramhansa Yogananda’s life’s work is The Second Coming of Christ, divinely inspired explanations of the inner meanings, from a yogic perspective, of the teachings of Jesus Christ. And central to Swami Kriyananda’s more than sixty years of discipleship to Yogananda is Revelations of Christ, the essence of Yogananda’s commentaries presented in a way to lead the sincere but doubting Christian back to true faith, based on an understanding and experience of his own religious tradition.

Here, in part, is Kriyananda’s account of the origin of Yogananda’s mission to restore “Original Christianity”:

When Christ appeared to Babaji, the great yogi-christ living high in the Himalaya, he addressed these words to him: “What has happened to my religion? My followers are doing good works, but most of them have forgotten the essence of my message…direct, inner communion with God. Let us send again to the West the secrets by which they can achieve that communion.”

Jesus Christ’s meeting with Babaji, Kriyananda further explains, is an example of “the truth that God does intervene, sometimes, in human history. Jesus Christ asked Babaji to send to the West a true master, fully qualified to fulfill the mission they envisioned together.” That “true master,” we learn from Autobiography of a Yogi, was Paramhansa Yogananda.

Stepping stones to the Christ presence within
Swami Kriyananda speaks often of the intensity of his desire to bring Yogananda’s teachings not only to committed devotees, but to sincere seekers in all walks and conditions of life. And because Yogananda’s mission was divinely intended to bring the essence of all true religions to the Christian West, Kriyananda has devoted much of his writing and lecturing to showing the harmony between the teachings of Jesus Christ and the ancient spiritual tradition of India, especially as expressed through the “Hindu Bible,” The Bhagavad Gita.

Swami Kriyananda brings his tremendous focus of mind and heart to explaining as perfectly as the English language allows the reality of Christ’s teachings. Having led us as readers to the point beyond which language can do no more, he pours such a vibration of divine love and divine realization into his words that we feel inspired to experience in our own beings the Christ presence.

A careful meditative study of Revelations can be spiritually transforming. My own experience of three months immersion in this book has been so. I have found myself reliving, on deeper and deeper levels, my own upbringing in the Christian tradition (so little appreciated at the time)—seeing key moments not just as anecdotes from the past but as stepping stones to a true understanding and experience of the Christ spirit.

The “son of man” and the “son of God”
One of the most fascinating, and important, of Paramhansa Yogananda’s insights into the Bible concerns two expressions, “son of man,” and, “son of God.” Kriyananda tells us that when Jesus spoke of the “son of man” he was referring to his own human self: to his egoic I-ness. But when he spoke of “the son of God,” he meant the Christ, the “anointed of God” —the Christ consciousness, the only reflection of the Supreme Spirit in creation.

Swami Kriyananda urges readers of the Bible to try to apply this distinction. If they do so, he writes, that will gain a much deeper insight into the true meaning of what Jesus said and taught.

As a lifelong student of English usage, I was particularly grateful to read Kriyananda’s explanation that “son of man” should have been written with a lower-case “s” to reflect the fact that when Jesus used that expression, he was speaking of his separate human expression of Divine Consciousness, and not of the Infinite Christ. That simple confusion of “Son” for “son” by the translators of the Bible had long stood in the way of my deeper appreciation of the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Two prayers: the Holy Grail and AUM
Of his commentaries on the Bible, Yogananda writes, “I prayed to Jesus for confirmation: Was what I had written true to his actual meaning? Jesus Christ then appeared to me, after which the Holy Grail also appeared, touched his lips, then descended and touched my lips. Jesus declared, ‘The cup from which I drink, thou dost drink.’ ”

Kriyananda likewise prayed deeply for divine guidance in writing Revelations. Assurance came appropriately, as the Comforter, promised by Jesus to the faithful—The Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit—called AUM in the tradition of the East: Kriyananda writes:

When one hears the AUM…he knows with utter certainty that he could never tire of it through all eternity, for it is the vibration of his very being. Many times, while writing this book, I have been entranced to hear that sound within and around me, as if in divine corroboration and approval of what I had written.

What is communion with AUM?
Kriyananda concludes Revelations with a celebration of AUM, and leaves us, the readers, eager to learn the ancient techniques of meditation, techniques that open the door to communion with AUM, and through AUM, with the Christ Consciousness. Ever- deepening communion with AUM fulfills the mission that Jesus and Babaji together entrusted to the line of great masters of yoga, and ultimately to all of us who receive and practice these sacred teachings:

Communion with the Holy Ghost is, above all, a means of entering into, and flowing with, the stream of divine love. Love God, therefore. As a true Christian, love Jesus as your divine friend, who came down to earth for your upliftment. The more you tune into his deep message, the more also you will know that only one thing matters in life: selfless, divine love, like that of an eternal child for his heavenly Father, and for his Divine Friend.

Revelations, then, is a culmination of the line of descent from the original meeting between Jesus Christ and Babaji in the Himalaya. It offers hope for a lifetime of spiritual study and practice. A short review can only suggest the breadth and depth of the spiritual teachings contained in the book. Here, following, are some of the key subjects addressed:

• Why a mission to Christians from outside Christendom?
• Father, Son, Holy Ghost.
• “What does it mean, to be ‘saved’?”
• The Crucifixion.
• What is the “Fall”?
• “The Serpent Power”—Moses in the wilderness.
• “The need for a personal Savior”—Guru.
• Jesus’ mission to Judaism.
• “God alone saves”—what is Christ Consciousness?
• “What is it to be “born again”?
• The afterlife—Heaven and Hell.

Nayaswami Prakash is a long-time member of Ananda. He currently serves at Ananda Village doing forestry and landscaping work. To order Revelations of Christ click here

Also from Crystal Clarity Publishers: The Promise of Immortality by Swami Kriyananda. To order click here

In his poem, God, God, God, which appears at the end of this article, Paramhansa Yogananda gives clear instructions on how to keep the mind more turned toward God. Yogananda tells us that in all aspects of life – in sleeping, waking, eating, working, serving, dreaming, meditating, chanting, divinely loving—the way to keep the mind focused on God is by silently repeating the mantra, “God, God, God.”

In the Ananda Purification Service, Paramhansa Yogananda says to the disciple: “Open your heart to me, and I will enter and take charge of your life.” How do you open your heart to the guru amidst all the busyness of life, or when worries howl at you?  One very important way of opening it is by chanting, “God, God, God.” You keep repeating that mantra in your mind and in your heart.

If you run into a problem or suddenly experience downward-pulling thoughts or feelings — repeat this mantra and attune to its divine vibration. Repeating the mantra will begin to purify your mind and heart until, eventually, you won’t have to have to push away those thoughts or desires. They will simply fall away; you will lose your appetite for them. But they won’t fall away unless you try constantly to purify your consciousness by chanting, “God, God, God.”

The repetition of this mantra will help drive out all other thoughts and desires, until your consciousness begins to rotate around that single phrase, “God, God, God.”  Make it a point throughout this year, 2011, to repeat the mantra constantly. Allow it to transform you.

From a January 2, 2011 Sunday Service at Ananda Village.

Sidebar:

God, God, God
by Paramhansa Yogananda

From the depths of slumber,
As I ascend the spiral stairway of wakefulness,
I will whisper:
God! God! God!

Thou art the food, and when I break my fast
Of nightly separation from Thee,
I will taste Thee, and mentally say:
God! God! God!

No matter where I go, the spotlight of my mind
Will ever keep turning on Thee;
And in the battle din of activity, my silent war-cry will be:
God! God! God!

When boisterous storms of trials shriek,
And when worries howl at me,
I will drown their noises, loudly chanting:
God! God! God!

When my mind weaves dreams
With threads of memories,
Then on that magic cloth will I emboss:
God! God! God!

Every night, in time of deepest sleep,
My peace dreams and calls, Joy! Joy! Joy!
And my joy comes singing evermore:
God! God! God!

In waking, eating, working, dreaming, sleeping,
Serving, meditating, chanting, divinely loving,
My soul will constantly hum, unheard by any:
God! God! God!

Whispers from Eternity by Paramhansa Yogananda, edited by Swami Kriyananda, Crystal Clarity Publishers. To Order click here

There is no better panacea for sorrow, no better reviving tonic, and no greater beauty than a genuine smile. ~Paramhansa Yogananda.

The Driver’s License

A young man came home and said: “Dad, I just got my driver’s license and would like to use the family car.”

His father replied: “OK son. But, first, you have to get good grades in school, keep your room clean, make sure the yard is neat, and cut your hair. Come back in a few months and then we’ll see.”

Several months later the young man came home with his report card and said, “Dad, I got great marks on my report card. I’ve been keeping my room clean, and the yard is always ship-shape. How about letting me use the car?”

His father replied: “That’s all true, but son you didn’t cut your hair.”

The son said: “But, dad, Jesus had long hair.”

The father replied: “Yes, son, you’re perfectly right, and he walked everywhere he went!”

*******

Saying Grace

A four-year-old boy was asked to say grace before dinner, one night. The family members bowed their heads in expectation.

The boy began his prayer, thanking God for all his friends, naming them one by one. Then he thanked God for mommy, daddy, brother and sister and all his family. Then he began to thank God for the food.

After a long pause, he looked up at his mother and asked, “If I thank God for the broccoli, won’t he know that I’m lying?”

*******

Voice Mail

Have you wondered what it would be like if God decided to install voice mail?  Imagine praying to God and you heard this:

“Thank you for calling My Father’s House. Please select one of the following options:

–Press 1 for Requests

–Press 2 for Thanksgiving

–Press 3 for Complaints

–Press 4 for All Other Inquiries.”

What if God used the familiar excuse:

“I’m sorry, all of our angels are busy helping other saints right now. However, your prayer is important to us and will be answered in the order it was received, so please stay on the line.”  If you would like to speak to:

–Gabriel, Press 1

–Michael, Press 2

–For a directory of other angels, Press 3

–If you’d like to hear King David sing a Psalm while you are holding, please press 4.

–To find out if a loved one has been assigned to Heaven, Press 5, enter his or her social security number, then press the pound key. (If you get a negative response, try area code 777.)

–For reservations at “My Father’s House,” please enter J-O-H-N, followed by 3-1-6.

–For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age of the earth and where Noah’s Ark is, please wait until you arrive here.

–Our computers show that you have already prayed once today. Please hang up and try again tomorrow so that others may have a chance to get through.

–This office is closed for the weekend to observe a religious holiday.

– Please pray again Monday after 9:30 am. If you need emergency assistance when this office is closed, contact your local pastor.

*******

Can It Swim?
(From Swami Kriyananda)

I once heard a story about a man who went out duck hunting on a lake. As he shot his first duck, his dog jumped out of the boat to fetch it. But instead of swimming, the dog ran across the water.

The man couldn’t believe his eyes. When his dog ran out to fetch a second duck, the man decided that perhaps his beer had been somehow “enriched.”

The next day he took along a witness. Again, as he shot his first duck, his dog jumped out of the boat to fetch it. Again it ran across the water. The man looked at his friend to catch his reaction. There was none.

“Am I losing my mind?” wondered the hunter. He shot a second duck, and again his dog ran out to fetch it. This time, too, his friend took in the scene with no sign of interest.

“D-d-did you see what my dog just did?” asked the hunter, anxiously.

“I saw,” replied his friend. “The stupid thing can’t swim.”

*******

An Important Question
(From Nayaswami Bharat)

One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed one of the little boys of the congregation staring up at a large plaque that hung in the foyer of the church. The plaque was covered with names, and small American flags were mounted on either side of it.

The seven-year old had been staring at the plaque for some time, when the pastor walked up, stood beside the boy, and said quietly, “Good morning Alex.”

“Good morning pastor,” replied the boy still focused on the plaque.

“Pastor McGhee, what is this?” Alex asked.

“Well, son, it’s a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service.”

Soberly, Pastor McGhee and Alex stood together, staring at the large plaque.

Little Alex’s voice was barely audible when he asked, “Which service, the 8:30 or the 11:00?”

*******

It’s Turtles All the Way Down!”
(From Nayaswami Jyotish)

In the early years of the twentieth century, the scientist, William James, often lectured on astronomy and the nature of the universe. He explained how the cosmic gases condensed into stars and planets, how the planets revolved around the sun, and that our planet,  Earth, revolved around the sun.

After one of his lectures a little old lady came up and said, “Mr. James, you shouldn’t talk all that nonsense about the planets and the earth revolving the sun.“

He said, “Well, what do you mean?”  “Well, don’t you know, you fool!  The earth is just dirt on the back of a giant turtle!”

And Mr. James said, “Well, if the earth is just dirt on the back of a giant turtle, what’s the turtle standing on?”

She replied,  “Well, you fool!  That’s turtle’s standing on a bigger turtle!”

And Mr. James said, “Well, yes, but what’s that bigger—“

And she cut him off and said:

“Don’t bother, Mr. James!  It’s turtles all the way down!”

Paramhansa Yogananda said which famous president of the United States, in a previous lifetime, had been a yogi in the Himalayas?

1.    John F. Kennedy

2.    Abraham Lincoln

3.    George Washington

4.    Theodore Roosevelt

Paramhansa Yogananda said that he had been William the Conqueror in a previous lifetime. Who was Sri Yukteswar in that lifetime?

1.    Archbishop Lanfranc

2.    Pope Gregory VII

3.    Anselm of Canterbury

4.    Robert, Count of Mortain

Paramhansa Yogananda said that Mary Magdalene had been reborn in the 20th century as which modern day Christian saint?

1.    Mother Theresa

2.    Padre Pio

3.    Therese Neumann

4.    Corrie Ten Boom

Paramhansa Yogananda said which 20th century political leader had been Genghis Khan in a previous lifetime?

1.    Mao Tse-tung

2.    Benito Mussolini

3.    Joseph Stalin

4.    Adolph Hitler

Paramhansa Yogananda said which 20th century political leader had been Napoleon in a previous lifetime?

1.    Charles de Gaulle

2.    Franklin Roosevelt

3.    Francisco Franco

4.    Winston Churchill

Click here to view answers >>

Answers

Paramhansa Yogananda said which famous president of the United States, in a previous lifetime, had been a yogi in the Himalayas who died with a desire to bring about racial equality.

1.    John F. Kennedy

2.    Abraham Lincoln

3.    George Washington

4.    Teddy Roosevelt

Answer: 2

Paramhansa Yogananda said that he had been William the Conqueror in a previous lifetime. Who was Sri Yukteswar in that lifetime?

1.    Archbishop LanFranc

2.    Pope Gregory VII

3.    Anselm of Canterbury

4.    Robert, Count of Mortain

Answer: 1

Paramhansa Yogananda said that Mary Magdalene had been reborn in the 20th century as which modern day Christian saint?

1.    Mother Theresa

2.    Padre Pio

3.    Therese Neumann

4.    Corrie Ten Boom

Answer: 3

Paramhansa Yogananda said which 20th century political leader had been Genghis Khan in a previous life?

1.    Mao Tse-tung

2.    Mussolini

3.    Joseph Stalin

4.    Adolph Hitler

Answer: 3

Paramhansa Yogananda said that Napoleon had been reborn as which 20th century political leader?

1.    Charles de Gaulle

2.    Franklin Roosevelt

3.    Francisco Franco

4.    Winston Churchill

Answer: 4

*******

Human suffering is not a sign of God’s anger with mankind. It is a sign, rather, of man’s ignorance of the divine law.

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Whatever we did in the past we can undo. All we need now is the right determination, born of our increasing inner freedom.

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To feel sorry for yourself is to dilute one’s inner power to overcome. Instead, affirm, There are no obstacles: There are only opportunities!

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The more we live guided from within, the greater our control over outer events in the great game of life. For when we live at our own center, in superconsciousness, we live in the only true freedom there is.

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Perfect surrender to God’s will is not in any way passive. Great will power and great concentration are needed to attune the mind perfectly.

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To do everything in the world to please God is the highest ideal. With God in your heart, let your face smile and your hands work ungrudgingly for Truth alone.

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It is best to feel by visualization and by divine contact in meditation that you are already perfect in health, wisdom and abundance, rather than to try to succeed by begging for health, prosperity, and wisdom.

*******

Once the ego has been transcended in soul-consciousness, the realm of karmic law is transcended also. The soul remains forever unaffected, for karmic consequences accrue only to the ego.

From: The Wisdom of Paramhansa Yogananda, Volume 2, Crystal Clarity Publishers. To order click here

Books

Letters by a Modern Mystic
by Frank C. Laubach, PhD.

Letters By A Modern Mystic, a spiritual classic in devotional literature, is Frank Laubach’s account of his attempt to keep God in his mind each and every moment of the day. These letters, beautifully written and deeply inspiring, are a true gem for anyone who would take up the challenge of living in a moment-to-moment relationship with God.

Available from Amazon.com To order click here

The Practice of the Presence of God
by Brother Lawrence

Through letters and conversations, Brother Lawrence, a humble 17th century monk, explains, beautifully and simply, how to live continually in God’s presence, not from the head but from the heart. His direct approach to living in God’s presence is as practical today as it was three hundred years ago.

Available from Amazon.com To order click here

Movies

The King’s Speech
2010 British historical drama

The King’s Speech, winner of four academy awards, tells the deeply moving story of King George VI and his lifelong struggle to overcome a speech impediment. Plagued by a serious stammer from early childhood, he engaged the help of an unorthodox speech therapist, who, with persistence and patience, helped him to find his voice as England was about to enter World War II.

Not recommended for children. R Rated because of profanity. (Available on DVD, April 19, 2011)

Temple Grandin

This movie tells the inspiring story of Temple Grandin, a brilliant young woman who coped successfully with the stigma of autism at a time when it was largely misunderstood. With the loving support of her family, she has led an amazing and accomplished life. Besides being a best-selling author, she is a professor at Colorado State University, a leading expert in the field of animal husbandry, as well as an advocate for families with autistic children. (Available on DVD)

And so began Swami Kriyananda’s work with Paramhansa Yogananda’s commentaries on The Rubaiyat—a work not completed until nearly 50 years later, with Crystal Clarity’s publication of Kriyananda’s edited version of Paramhansa Yogananda’s, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Explained. Kriyananda did not undertake the final editing until he felt fully ready spiritually to serve as Yogananda’s channel for this great poem that Yogananda called a “true scripture.”

“The soul of Omar Khayyam’s writings”
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Explained is organized to guide us as readers from enjoyment of the poetry itself to ever-deeper levels of understanding. In your own reading, take time to meditate on the poetry itself; especially try to tune into the joy Yogananda felt in his reading of the quatrains.

Yogananda saw that Edward Fitzgerald, in translating The Rubaiyat, “had been divinely inspired to catch exactly, in gloriously musical English, the soul of Omar Khayyam’s writings.” So moved was Yogananda by the “true soul-inspiration” of Fitzgerald’s original translation of the poem that he decided, even in preference to his own collaboration with a Persian scholar, to use Fitzgerald’s as the basis of his interpretations.

A soul-conversation between Omar and Yogananda
Each quatrain is followed by Paramhansa Yogananda’s “Paraphrase,” in which he gives his intuitive understanding of Omar’s meaning. As Kriyananda expresses it, the book is “like a meeting between old friends in God. One of them speaks; the other answers, calmly but enthusiastically, ‘Yes! Yes! And then here’s another point….’” While working on the book, Kriyananda realized that Yogananda had tuned into Omar’s consciousness and was, in his interpretations, allowing Omar Khayyam to speak through him.

In what Yogananda calls the “Expanded Meaning,” the third part of his interpretation of each quatrain, he takes his paraphrase to a deeper, more universal level of wisdom: Sanaatan Dharma, “The Eternal Religion”— as expressed in this soul conversation between a great Sufi mystic and a great master of yoga.

Next comes Yogananda’s “Keys to the Meaning”—explanations, in yogic terms, of pivotal phrases in the quatrains. The “Keys” help the dedicated reader more clearly and deeply to feel the consciousness behind each word and phrase of the quatrain.

Finally comes Swami Kriyananda’s “Editorial Comment,” in which we as readers can reap the fruit of Kriyananda’s more than half a century of careful study and practice of Yogananda’s teachings. Kriyananda’s comments take the inspiration and spiritual power of Yogananda’s interpretation, reach out to the unspoken questions of people everywhere, and provide not only answers but specific techniques to enable us to experience for ourselves the truth behind these teachings—to make them our own.

A springboard for spiritual practice
While reading The Rubaiyat, let the book serve as a focus and springboard for your spiritual practice. Read one quatrain a day. Take a moment to enjoy the imagery and musical cadences of the poetry. Pause frequently in your study to absorb in meditation what you are reading. If Kriyananda has included a specific meditation, end your practice with that meditation.

You will find that the loving clarity of the commentary will bring light to your understanding, and energy to your spiritual practice. You will feel that a stream of divine power is flowing from Omar Khayyam, through Paramhansa Yogananda and Swami Kriyananda, into your own consciousness. In Kriyananda’s words:

Every time you study this work, try to tune in more deeply to the consciousness of these two great poet-sages. Feel their silent blessings within, as you pursue the daily adventure of discovering the source of your own being.

The content of the book
To give you a feeling for the content of the book, here are a few of the practical applications contained in Kriyananda’s “Editorial Comments”:

•    The spine and nervous system: pathway to inner freedom.
•    The importance of an erect spine
•    How to be centered in the spine.
•    How to concentrate at the spiritual eye
•    Living for pleasure vs. living for eternity
•    How to overcome guilt
•    How to “be happy, now!”
•    How to relax
•    How to live in the Self
•    Meditation on freedom from the body
•    Meditation on freedom from worldly desire
•    How to “practice the presence”

In his final editorial comment, Kriyananda takes us to the very heart of the wisdom of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Explained:

The single greatest statement in this book: Yogananda describes the nervous system as, “the one and only path to spiritual enlightenment, regardless of a person’s formal religious affiliation.” This simple declaration contains the essence of true wisdom: Overcome addiction to worldly pleasures by withdrawing the life-force from the senses. Stimulate the nerves at their opposite extreme instead—at the inner source in the Self.

Bathed in the light of inner vision
In preparing to write this review, I looked up Edward Fitzgerald’s poetic translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in several standard references. Mainstream scholarship shows us that Fitzgerald’s Rubaiyat was perceived by its Victorian readership as depicting an unjust God, with man pitifully snatching what pleasure he can from a transient, doomed existence. In late nineteenth-century England, the poem became a justification for a kind of melancholy hedonism.

How far from such a reading is Yogananda’s vision of divine joy, and from his description of the poem as a “true scripture.” In Yogananda’s commentaries, the “wine” becomes the bliss of God-realization; human love becomes the divine romance of  devotee and Infinite Beloved. Yogananda’s own introduction to his interpretation of The Rubaiyat shines a brilliant light on his true way of understanding the Sufi poet:

One day, as I was deeply concentrated on the pages of Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, I suddenly beheld the walls of its outer meanings crumble away. Lo! Vast inner meanings opened like a golden treasure house before my gaze.

Yogananda’s interpretations are divinely intuitive, springing from inner vision:

As I worked on the spiritual explanation of The Rubaiyat, I found it taking me into an endless labyrinth of truth, until I was rapturously lost in wonderment. The veiling of Omar’s metaphysical and practical philosophy in these verses reminds me of “The Revelation of St. John the Divine.” Indeed, The Rubaiyat might justly be called “The Revelation of Omar Khayyam.”

Truth clothed in beauty
I grew up in a family of readers, and was myself immersed in reading great literature from an early age. I read hungrily, looking, quite literally, for guidance on “how to live.” My search for answers in literature during college and five more years of graduate school, far from illuminating my life path, left me all but incapable of discriminating.

Finding Paramhansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi placed my soul immediately in the presence of all that I had for so many years been seeking in wrong places. The book radiated light; what Yogananda was saying was simply, incontrovertibly, the truth. The same can be said for The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Explained. Both books can be described as “truth clothed in literary beauty,” what literature worth reading can (and should) be.

Nayaswami Prakash is a long-time member of Ananda. He currently serves at Ananda Village doing forestry and landscaping work.

Clarity Magazine articles can be printed in “text only” format, using your own computer.

Give to Life:
Say YES to life?
Give a proper diet to myself?:

Body: Eat good food, exercise, not too much or too little sleep?
Mind: Regularly read: spiritual literature, new ideas, humor, poetry?
Creativity: Try to do something in a new way every day?
Emotions: Stay even-minded and cheerful. Practice contentment?
Spirit: Make an effort to bring forth my soul qualities?

Expand my awareness of others’ realities?
Give to living things: pets, plants, wild birds, the environment?
Donate or tithe regularly to return a portion of what God has given me?
Consciously serve God in others?

Open My Heart:

Worship God in His creation?
Give thanks and appreciation for everything that comes to me?
Chant daily?
Practice japa?
Feel joy in meditation?

Meditation:

Establish good daily habits of meditation?
Practice daily the main techniques: Energization, Hong-Sau, Aum, and Kriya?
Try to advance my practice: Have my kriyas checked, do more, and deeper?
Deepen my practice with: A long weekly meditation, seclusion, pilgrimages?

Satsang:

Spend more time with spiritual friends and in spiritually uplifting ways?
Attend group meditations regularly?
Share deeply with one or two good friends?
Connect with the center or meditation group near me?
Visit The Expanding Light in order to recharge my spiritual batteries?

Attunement with my Guru (and my teachers):

Read his writings regularly?
Listen to tapes and try to absorb the magnetism from his voice?
Listen to/sing his music and try to feel the consciousness behind it?
Visualize his face, especially his eyes?
Pray to him?
Try to become more aware of his constant presence just behind my thoughts?

Nayaswami Jyotish, together with his wife Devi, is Spiritual Director of Ananda Worldwide.

Other Clarity articles by Nayaswami Jyotish are listed under “Jyotish Novak.”

Anger or Exasperation?
(Told by Catherine Kairavi)

A little boy came home from school with new vocabulary words that he’d been asked to study.  He worked on the assignments, and when he got to the word “exasperation” he went to his father and said, “Dad, I know the word ‘anger,’ and it seems to me like this word means the same thing as ‘exasperation.’ What’s the difference between anger and exasperation?”

His father decided to illustrate the difference in a concrete way. So he picked up the phone and dialed a number at random. A voice answered, and the father said, “Hello, is Milton there?”

The man on the line replied through gritted teeth, “No, Milton is not here. There is no Milton here, and in fact you have the wrong number.” And he hung up.

The father turned to his son and said, “Now watch.”

And he dialed the same number again. When the man answered, he said in his brightest voice, “Hi, is Milton there?”

The man barked, “No! Milton’s not here, I told you! You’ve reached the same number again. For heaven’s sake, look up the number, get it right, and don’t call me again!”  And he slammed the phone down.

The father said, “That was anger.”

Now listen again.” He picked up the phone, dialed the same number, and when the man answered he inquired innocently, “Hello, this is Milton, have there been any calls for me?”

The son listened while the poor man gurgled and spluttered with barely controlled rage. The father hung up the phone and said, “Now, that’s exasperation.”

********

True Love

Steven, age 3, hugged and kissed his Mom good night. He said, “I love you so much that when you die, I’m going to bury you outside my bedroom window.”

********

How Does It Know What You Want?
(Told by Peter Van Houten)

One of my favorite stories is about three old men who were arguing about what should rank as the most amazing discovery ever made.

The first said it was electricity and he began listing the reasons why.

The second disagreed and said it had to be the airplane.

But before he could say any more, the third old man interrupted to announce that the most amazing discovery ever made was the thermos bottle.

The first two were surprised at this and said, “That’s ridiculous! Why the thermos bottle?!!!

The third man said, “No, really, think about it! In the summer time you want the thermos bottle to keep things cold, and it keeps them cold. And in the winter you want it to keep things hot, and it keeps them hot. And the amazing thing is, how does it know what you want?”

********

“What Happened to the Flea?”

James, age 4, was listening to a Bible story. His dad read: “The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city but his wife looked back and was turned to salt.” Concerned, James asked: “What happened to the flea?”

********

Christmas Shopping

In the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping in downtown San Francisco, Moira lost her handbag.

A small boy found it and returned it to her. Looking in her bag, Moira thought, “That’s strange. When I lost my bag there was a 20-dollar bill in it.  Now there are four five-dollar bills.

“That’s right,” the boy quickly replied, “The last time I found a lady’s purse, she didn’t have any change for a reward.”

********

The Red Wagon

On the Sunday after Christmas, Father John was packing away the Church’s nativity scene when he noticed the baby Jesus was missing.

Immediately, he decided to call the police. But on his way to the rectory, he saw a neighbor boy with a new red wagon, and in it the little infant, Jesus.

Father John walked up to him and said, “Well, son, where did you get the little infant?”

The boy replied honestly, “I took him from the church, Father.”

“And why did you take him?” he asked, sternly.

“About a week before Christmas,” he said sheepishly, “I prayed to Jesus. I told him if he would bring me a red wagon for Christmas, I would give him a ride around the block.”

********

Modern Day Nativity

Did you hear about the elementary school Nativity Play?

Two children, dressed as Mary and Joseph, are on their way to the inn in Bethlehem.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the stage, a lad in a shepherd’s outfit is calling ahead on a cell phone to make a reservation.

********

Graffiti

Seen on a subway wall: “God is dead.”–Nietzsche.

Below was written: “Nietzsche is dead.”–God.

Clarity Magazine articles can be printed in “text only” format, using your own computer.

******

Our work should be a conscious, loving service to the Lord. It should be a devotional offering to Him. Letters to Truthseekers, by Swami Kriyananda.

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Whether we serve God outwardly in some way, or inwardly in meditation, we still serve Him by offering our thoughts and energy into His river of love. Both are matters of self-giving. A Place Called Ananda, by Swami Kriyananda.

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A true devotee offers up his trials bravely, even lovingly, to God. He sees every test as an opportunity for spiritual gain. Each test passed brings him an increase of inner freedom, joy, and wisdom. At last he learns to behold God’s love behind every trial. No longer do his tests, then, seem like punishment, whether karmic or divine. The Promise of Immortality, by Swami Kriyananda.

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By working on ourselves from the superconscious level, we find that it becomes actually a blessing to discover faults in ourselves. Each one gives us the joyful opportunity to offer something more to God. He can purify us, as no amount of psychological counseling and self-analysis ever will. Awaken to Superconsciousness, by Swami Kriyananda.

******

No institution can determine a person’s progress on the path to perfection, for this is determined by God alone, and consists in personal self-offering to the Creator. The Way of Ananda Sanghis, by Swami Kriyananda.

******

Perfect self-offering is possible only in deep communion with the Lord. The Promise of Immortality, by Swami Kriyananda.

Clarity Magazine articles can be printed in “text only” format, using your own computer.

1. Antihistamines
2. Toilet seat covers
3. RVs
4. All of the above

1. Korean War
2. Calvin Coolidge
3. Civil Rights Movement
4. All of the above

1. Star Trek
2. Hatha Yoga
3. Charles Atlas
4. All of the above

Click here to view answers >>

American Veda
by Philip Goldberg

In this thoroughly researched book, Philip Goldberg chronicles the influence of the spiritual teachings of India in America from the time of Emerson and Thoreau to the present, and shows how the ancient wisdom of Yoga and Vedanta is changing the face of Western culture.

Available from Amazon.com  To order click here

Soul Survivor
by Bruce and Andrea Leininger

In case you missed it, Soul Survivor is the amazing story of young boy’s (James Leininger) dramatic past life memory as a World War II fighter pilot. What makes this book unique is its compelling proof for the theory of reincarnation, including names, dates, and people that the boy knew from a previous lifetime. It will turn the most ardent skeptic into a believer.

Available from Amazon.com To order click here

To download right click here and select save file.

During my 28 years as an Ananda minister, I’ve seen that people’s life challenges generally fall into four categories: relationships, health, finances/job, and spiritual life. Of these, spiritual life is the most important. Even so, the marriage relationship is usually the focal point of the greatest tests a person faces, whether it’s wanting a relationship but not having it, or being in a relationship that’s not working out.

A handbook for relationships of all types
Self-Expansion through Marriage is very well named, because the book itself is so very…well, expansive! I describe it as a “handbook for relationships of all types, not just marriage.”

I suggest that if you are married, you get this book and read it often. If you already have the book, try to re-read it once a year at least (a perfect thing to do for your wedding anniversary). If you are contemplating marriage, then you too should read this book and insist that your fiancé read it also. And if you are in an intimate relationship that doesn’t involve marriage, the suggestions in the book are still applicable and will help you very much. (To complete the gamut of what may come along in a committed relationship, there’s even a chapter on “Expansive Child Raising.”)

Even if you are divorced, single, certain you don’t ever want to marry or re-marry, or are already happy in a marriage and don’t think you need any help — nevertheless, I still say you NEED to read this book. That’s how important it is. Relationships are God’s great gift to us. They serve as a mirror for self-improvement and help us “knock off our rough edges.” None of us is an island, disconnected from others. Relationships are how we grow and learn.

And OUCH, how that can hurt, especially in the most intimate of all relationships: marriage. A good marriage is a rare and wonderful thing. Keeping it good is HARD WORK! A bad marriage can fill your life with aching misery.

A not-so-good marriage and an excellent one
I know this from first-hand experience, because I’ve had both kinds of marriages. I met my husband of 30 years, Sudarshan, when I first moved to Ananda Village in 1978. At the time, I was separated from my first husband, and moving slowly and painfully toward a divorce.

Sudarshan and I were married in 1980 and it’s been a great blessing, though the marriage has been filled with many intense learning experiences—some of them very tough for both of us. We are both very strong-willed people!

What about that first marriage? My first husband and I married young and for all the wrong reasons. Our uneasy marriage lasted nine years. If I had read Kriyananda’s book beforehand and understood it well, we could have avoided a great deal of suffering. Nevertheless, I learned a lot from the marriage, to say the least, and he and I have been able to remain friends at a distance. He too has remarried.

One of the most important things I learned as I moved from a not-so-good marriage to an excellent one, is something Kriyananda emphasizes in the early pages of Self-Expansion through Marriage: Don’t expect marriage, or any other relationship, to fix everything in your life. It’s unfair to impose those kinds of expectations on another person; no relationship can possibly bear up under that load.

The only “ones” who can permanently change everything in your life for the better are God and Guru. If you really understand that part first, then your relationship has more chance of not just surviving, but of being filled with joy.

Why “opposites attract”
Another important point made in Self-Expansion through Marriage is that “opposites attract.” Often we feel attracted to someone who has qualities that we don’t have, or wish we had more of. Such attractions reflect an attempt to find balance and harmony in life.

Someone once asked my mother the primary reason she and my father had such a good marriage. She laughingly answered: “I think it’s because the knobs in his head fit the holes in my head.” Problems arise when we don’t appreciate the differences, even though the differences are what drew us together in the first place. Learn to appreciate those differences, or as the French say: viva l’différence! They add spice to life.

All the “big” questions
Self-Expansion through Marriage takes on all the “big” relationship questions—why marry at all, growing together spiritually, commitment on every level, sex, communication skills, intuition—and does so with grace and beauty, as well as down-to-earth practicality. At the end of each chapter are a dozen or so concise review statements, any or all of which would be great for a couple to sit and discuss together, or as an outline for a relationship seminar.

I found it interesting that Swami Kriyananda entitled the chapter discussing sexuality: “Sex in Marriage.” Immediately I wondered: is Kriyananda saying that sex should happen only within a marriage? I’ll let you read that chapter to find out the answer.

My favorite statement from this all-important chapter is one that Kriyananda often makes to couples when discussing this topic: “Let your physical union be an expression of love. To keep it that way, let it only be occasional; that is to say, let it be an occasion.” The society we live in is so confused about sexuality (due to media exploitation and other factors) that anyone would be hard-pressed to say anything about this subject in a clear and calm way. And yet Kriyananda does so gracefully and with true compassion for the wide gamut of feelings on the subject, including people’s perceptions of their individual needs.

Seek to please God first
To be able to go forward to the end of life with the love and support of a spouse is a noble goal and a worthy dream. But it’s a dream that becomes possible if our priorities are right. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God (within you)…and all these things shall be added unto you.” The “things” referred to in that Bible verse surely include joy-filled relationships!

In the chapter entitled: “For Those Who Are Seeking God,” Kriyananda comments: “The important thing in a marriage committed to spiritual development is to allot God the primary place in life…. [The spiritual seeker who is married must seek] to please God first and one’s wife or husband secondarily.” When married couples live this way, everything else falls into place.

*Self-Expansion through Marriage, by Swami Kriyananda, Crystal Clarity Publishers. Formerly entitled: Expansive Marriage.  Available 2011. You may place an advance order now.

Nayaswami Savitri is an Ananda Lightbearer and a 32-year resident of Ananda Village. She and her husband Nayaswami Sudarshan recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. Savitri is the Director of Ananda’s Meditation Teacher Training Programs. She also serves as administrative assistant to Ananda’s Spiritual Directors.

Transformation: Old concepts of marriage fail to embrace the expansive awareness of this age of energy-consciousness into which we have emerged after centuries of matter- and form-consciousness. Expansive Marriage, by Swami Kriyananda.

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The practice of keeping a journal can be very helpful to your spiritual life. Paramhansa Yogananda said that one of the most effective ways to develop will power is to engage everyday in creative writing. What could be more creative than to look at your life and extract from it the lessons and guidance that God has given you during the day?

I’ll give you the example of my own journal. To give my writing a direction, I choose a quality that I want to develop in myself, work on it, and write about it for a whole year. For example, I might select from the ten yamas and niyamas the nyama of cleanliness. First I might explore cleaning up the house, and ways to keep it clean. Then I might explore cleanliness of the heart and after that, purity of thought.

Through the year I would try to go deeper and deeper into the practice of cleanliness. Then on December 31, looking back over the year of journaling, I might think, “Just look at what I thought cleanliness was, and how much I’ve learned about what it really is!” Mahatma Gandhi said that by perfecting the single quality of nonviolence, he was able to perfect all the other spiritual qualities as well.

You could choose some other spiritual quality — loyalty, for example. Well, loyalty to what? You’d start with what’s closest: loyalty to your spouse, to your family, to your community, and expand from there to loyalty to truth, to God.

We can accomplish much more on the spiritual path when we focus our energy in a systematic way. Keeping a journal helps us to watch our lives more consciously, carefully, and deliberately.

Nayaswami Prakash:
My first year at Ananda Village I attended Shivani’s class series on Paramhansa Yogananda’s interpretations of The Bhagavad Gita. When she urged us to keep a spiritual journal, I dove right in—writing, over the next eight months, some 3,000 pages about everything that happened to me spiritually—which means, of course, everything that happened.

It was a wonderful experience. The most powerful effect that I noticed was that writing about the day’s tests and lessons cleared my mental state. I found myself going into meditation with a clear mind, free of the restlessness that is born of unresolved experiences.

My journal was essentially a letter to God, telling Him what I’d been up to, how I wished I’d acted, and how I intended to act should similar opportunities come my way again. During the day I’d jot down a few key words to trigger my memory in the evening. In time, I came to look forward to my evening journal writing time with tremendous enthusiasm. No matter what had happened, how badly things had gone, the journal was my way of giving it all to God, and, in doing so, being free of it.

The actual writing I would do in “chronological order”—following the sequence of events of the day. I quickly came to see that things happened in the order they did for a good reason.  By retracing my steps during the day, I could better see what this good—and on the deepest level, divine—reason was. I did not have set themes or topics—rather, I found that the day’s events provided an ideal testing ground for whatever attitudes or qualities I was working on anyway.

The whole experience brought God very close. I came to know Him especially as the Divine Friend, infinitely understanding, supportive, never judging, wanting only my own highest good.

While I was immersed in journal writing, I thought I would continue in the same way indefinitely. But of course journaling is only useful spiritually as long as it carries the devotee forward on the path. There came a day when my spiritual life took a dramatically different direction—a new and much more physically active form of service. Journal writing fell away. New ways of learning came to the fore. But behind the outward changes, the Divine Friend remained the unchanging reality!

An earlier version of this article appeared in Clarity Magazine in the 1970s.

Nayaswami Shivani, a Lightbearer and founding member of Ananda, lives and teaches at Ananda Europa in Assisi, Italy.

Nayaswami Prakash is a long-time member of Ananda. He currently serves at Ananda Village doing forestry and landscaping work.

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“Jesus, Please Let Him into Heaven”
(Told by Nayaswami Bharat)

In the early 1980s, just after my book Sharing Nature with Children was published, I gave a nature workshop in Pennsylvania. The sponsor of the program, with whom I stayed, was a devoted fundamentalist Christian and a very fine man.

During my stay in his home and at the workshop, he observed me blessing my food, praying before speaking, and thinking of God as much as I could during the day. The day after I finished the workshop, I was with him in his living room, waiting for my next program sponsor to pick me up. He said, “Joseph, could you come upstairs to my office?”

I had no idea what he wanted to talk about, and why we needed to go upstairs for him to tell me.

As soon as we sat down in the chairs in his office, he immediately began to pray out loud to Jesus. In his prayer, he said: “Jesus, Joseph loves God very much. He is deeply sincere. Although he isn’t a Christian, could you make an exception for him and let him into heaven?”

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A Good Idea
(Told by Swami Kriyananda)

Mahatma Gandhi was once asked what he thought of Western civilization. He replied: “I think it would be a good idea.”

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“Go Find Your Own Dirt!”
(Told by Nayaswami Parvati)

A scientist came to God and said, “You’ve supposedly created everything in the universe, but as far as I can see, I can create anything you’ve created. I challenge you to a contest. Let’s both create something. I bet I can make anything you can make and probably do it even better.”

God looked at the man and said, “All right. That sounds fine to me.” But when they both reached down to grab a handful of earth, God said, “Wait a minute, go find your own dirt!”

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Holier than Thou
(Told by Swami Kriyananda)

There was a certain cartoon that I saw many years ago: two monks, one of them looking slightly down his nose at the other, protested: “But I am holier than thou!”

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The Best Way to Pray
(Told by Nayaswami Bharat)

A telephone lineman was up on a telephone pole repairing power lines when a car pulled up underneath him. Three ministers got out to stretch their legs. They began a discussion about the best way to pray.

The first minister said, “Oh, I pray best when I kneel and bow down humbly before the Lord. This is when I feel God’s presence the most.”

The second minister said, “I pray best when I sit down and am very still.”

The third minister said, “Oh no, the best way to pray is standing up. I love to pray when I dance around in joy.”

They kept debating for awhile. Meanwhile, the telephone lineman, overhearing the conversation, interrupted and said: “Hey, you guys are all wrong. The best prayer I ever said was when I was hanging upside down on a power line!”

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Good and Bad Judgment
(Told by Nayaswami Jyotish)

Two friends, Tom and Frank, are sitting in a room, and Tom says to Frank,

“You seem to have good judgment. How did you get such good judgment?”

Tom replies, “Good judgment is born of experience.”

Frank asks, “Well, how do you get that kind of experience?”

Tom answers, “Bad judgment.”

Clarity Magazine articles can be printed in “text only” format, using your own computer.

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When one realizes that self-transformation requires time, he develops a more tolerant attitude toward himself as well as towards others. He takes his daily step at a time. One day, all in a flash, he realizes that the job really hasn’t been so difficult after all! Cities of Light, by Swami Kriyananda.

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Without inner transformation, any outer improvement in the human lot would be like trying to strengthen a termite-ridden building with a fresh coat of paint. The Path, by Swami Kriyananda.

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Self-transformation occurs, finally, when the resolution to change is charged with superconscious awareness, and thence fully absorbed into the subconscious. Meditation for Starters, by Swami Kriyananda.

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Wisdom descends from superconsciousness. It is from that level that our personalities truly become transformed, our faults eradicated, and our virtues brought to perfection. Awaken to Superconsciousness, by Swami Kriyananda.

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The validity of superconscious experience can be tested and verified by every sincere devotee. It will have transforming power over his life. Rays of the Same Light, by Swami Kriyananda.

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Once the disciple’s consciousness becomes transformed through the practice of meditation, it ranges like wind through the vast skies of Omnipresence. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Explained, by Paramhansa Yogananda.

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The more deeply a person attunes himself to God’s love and to the subtle workings of His law, the more he finds himself able to transform his life and the lives of others as if with a magic wand, awakening the world about him to divine harmony, happiness, and peace. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Explained, by Paramhansa Yogananda.

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During my college years, my friends and I were in agreement on the deficiencies of the education we were receiving. In literature, art, and philosophy, we were subjected to the pervading influence of the French writer and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, who reveled in meaninglessness. For all of us, it was agonizing to imagine a sterile world bereft of meaning and inspiration.

Years later, I was thrilled to discover Out of the Labyrinth by Swami Kriyananda. That book answered all my questions about life’s meaning, and replaced the barren ideas of Jean-Paul Sartre with a vision of hope and inspiration. Later, when Kriyananda published Education for Life: Preparing Children to Meet the Challenges, I recognized it as the “cure” for the ills of our society because it explained how teachers and parents could give children a sense of life’s joyous possibilities, starting at the earliest age.

In Education for Life, Swami Kriyananda writes:

A growing child needs faith just as urgently as he needs to breathe. When he is stripped of his last vestige of faith, his disillusionment transforms itself into a desire for vengeance against those who have deprived him of something so precious to his very existence.

That “vengeance” is evident everywhere today and especially in nihilistic music, high suicide rates among teenagers, violence, and addiction.

An expansion of consciousness
At the start of the book, Kriyananda asks a fundamental question: What do people truly want from life? And the answer he gives is irreducibly simple: the underlying motivation behind all human actions, however disguised or misguided, is that we want to experience greater happiness, and avoid sorrow.

We cannot help children learn to be happy, Kriyananda continues, if we merely cram their heads with facts. We must show them that true happiness comes by expanding our awareness. He explains:

An expansion of consciousness has always, in the long history of civilization, been associated with an expansion of such feelings as sympathy, empathy, and love. Far from setting oneself apart from, or even against, other human beings, self-expansion naturally includes a concern for the well-being of all.

How different, this, from the teaching of Sartre, who wrote: “To be conscious of another is to be conscious of what one is not.”

Children’s hearts receive “equal time”
Most schools focus on developing the students’ ability to memorize facts and use their reason. Little attention is paid other important facets of their natures, which, Kriyananda argues, are indispensable to the search for happiness and success.

In Education for Life, he issues a clarion call for a more balanced approach, in which children’s hearts receive “equal time.” Developing children’s calm, sensitive feelings, he says, is essential even for academic success, since reason is wisely guided only when it includes intuitive feeling.

Education for Life offers methods for reintroducing the heart into education, without sacrificing academic achievement. That this approach works is abundantly demonstrated in Ananda’s Living Wisdom Schools, where the students consistently score well above average on standardized national tests of academic achievement.

The “Stages of Maturity”
Swami Kriyananda points out that every child is unique, and must be guided sensitively, with respect for his or her present awareness. With the concept of six-year “Stages of Maturity” he gives us a wonderful framework for understanding children, and how their needs change over time.

In the first stage of a child’s development, from birth to about age 6, the child’s primary developmental task is to master the body and senses. From 6 to 12, feelings come to the fore – this is a time when children are receptive to learning through the “media of feeling” – stories, art, music, and dance. The “feeling phase” is, Swami Kriyananda points out, the most important phase in a child’s development, because it lays the foundation for everything that follows.

From 12 to 18, teenagers flex the muscles of their will, in preparation for independent adulthood. It’s essential that they know how to use their will expansively, with a heartfelt sense of right and wrong, and with sensitive awareness of the realities of others. Similarly, the life of the mind, which dominates the years from 18 to 24, needs to be guided by calm, intuitive feeling.

Kriyananda devotes several chapters to understanding children’s special needs during each six-year phase, and he gives many suggestions for teaching them to use the “Tools of Maturity” – body, heart, will, and mind – to achieve ever-expanding awareness, happiness, and success.

A unitive approach to school subjects
Education for Life makes a powerful case for a unitive, expansive approach to traditional academic subjects, one that gives children a picture of the world that is rich in meaningful connections. It includes, for example, assigning new names to traditional subjects – science, for example, can be called “Our Earth – Our Universe,” while “Understanding People” is the name he proposes for history, geography, and psychology. He writes:

The relevance of every subject should be seen in the context of human needs and of our own ability to understand. Every subject studied in school should be studied also for its relevance to other subjects.

Science, for example, has evolved a method that can provide a new tool for understanding in all the branches of knowledge. For these other studies, the scientific method — hypothesis tested by experiment — needs only be restated as belief tested by experience.

What of “spiritual” values?
Since the introduction of “spiritual” values into public school curriculums would unquestionably be met by vigorous protests, Swami Kriyananda suggests that the principles of Education for Life be introduced in small, independent schools. (The Ananda Living Wisdom Schools have applied these methods for more than thirty years.) But he also suggests that teachers in public schools can at least introduce principles, since at no point does Education for Life require the support of sectarian claims.

Qualities such as humility are by no means sectarian dogmas. It doesn’t take much experience of life to see that pride does in fact “go before a fall,” as the wisdom of the ages has always told us. Humility, like countless other virtues, is a practical concept. Why not teach it as such in the classroom?

Role models of the expansive life
Children, Kriyananda says, need role models who exemplify the expansive life. In the Living Wisdom Schools, children live and breathe the examples of great human beings – not by merely memorizing facts and dates, but by absorbing their qualities.

An outstanding example is the yearly play produced by the Palo Alto Living Wisdom School. Now in its 18th year, the all-school theater event draws hundreds of students, teachers, and theater-goers from the surrounding community to be inspired by the lives of great world teachers such as Buddha, Christ, Krishna, Moses, Rumi, Quan Yin, and the Dalai Lama.

No pompous moralizing
Education for Life argues that children learn values most effectively by being shown how values operate in their own lives. A well-known incident in the lore of Ananda beautifully illustrates this practice. A winter storm blanketed Ananda Village with snow, and the teachers compassionately let the children go out to play. They soon started a snowball fight, in which several younger children were hurt and began crying. Later, when the children were calmer, they built a snowman.

The teachers recognized a priceless opportunity to help the students learn from their own experience. Back in the classroom, they asked them, “Which did you enjoy more – the snowball fight, or making a snowman?” The children replied, “The snowman!” One student said, “Yeah, the little kids got hurt and were crying, and it made me feel bad.”

No pompous moralizing or dry logic is needed when teachers are able to help children understand how values “work” in the laboratory of their lives. In this case, the lesson was clear – hurting others is contractive and makes us feel unhappy, while cooperating is expansive and fun and makes us feel wonderful.

How to be successful? How to be happy? The answer is simple: by using our God-given Tools of Maturity – body, heart, will, mind, and soul – in ways that expand our awareness. If children everywhere learned these skills, the cloud of meaninglessness would disperse, and the light of wisdom would shine once again on their lives.

Tyagi Rambhakta lives in the Mountain View Ananda Community. He is the author of a book on fitness and sports training by yoga principles as taught by Paramhansa Yogananda (see www.fitnessintuition.com).

To order Education for Life from Crystal Clarity Publishers click here

Growth: “Growth must come naturally, not in violence to one’s nature.” Art & Science of Raja Yoga by Swami Kriyananda.

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The size of your garden doesn’t matter — whether it’s grand in scale or a tiny plot of land. Maybe all you have is a balcony. The spirit you instill in your garden is what counts. That spirit is what will be reflected back to you and others.

What is the spirit of gardening?
What is the spirit of gardening? When we give our love, care, and energy to a garden we experience a greater awareness of life. A garden can be a channel for our kindness, creativity, nurturing energy, and attunement to nature and the Divine behind all creation. Gardening can thus bring us to an ever-deepening respect and reverence for all life.

The long-cherished story, The Secret Garden, beautifully illustrates the spirit of gardening. In that story, a walled garden has been locked for many years, but a little girl, Mary, finds the buried key and explores the garden. After a time, Mary brings two new-found friends into the secret garden (along with the gruff old gardener). Through loving care, toil, and a spirit of discovery, they restore the garden to a state of beauty and inspiration.

Each child has a unique approach to the garden and a unique way of uncovering its beauty. Through the experience of gardening, they each learn, grow, and are deeply rejuvenated physically and emotionally. Gardening changes who they are and how they relate to all of life. Finally, as the story ends, the children’s life-changing perceptions, gained through their experiences in the garden, help them bring greater happiness to others.

Where do you begin?
How does one create a garden, and experience the spirit of gardening in real life? There is no set formula where you must begin. Simply start with WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU. Then your heart will be in what you do.

Make a list that includes all that you want in your garden. For example:

• Do you want to be surrounded by greenery, or greeted by colorful flowers?
• Are you longing for a vegetable garden, an herb bed, or an orchard?
• Is it your desire to have a garden that attracts birds or butterflies; or that has a pond for frogs, fish, or water lilies?
• Would you like trees for children or cats to climb, or to provide shade on hot summer days?
• Would you prefer a secure place for dogs to run and play, or a tree house where children can gather?
• Do you need a place to entertain friends or have family gatherings?
• Are you longing for a personal refuge, a quiet place for contemplation or meditation?

Now prioritize your list, so the most meaningful items can become your initial focus.You usually can’t bring in one item without including some of the others, but at least you will have a place to start and more clarity about the process.

The four aspects of our being
We all have four aspects to our being: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. These four aspects can be represented in the garden. I’ll give a few examples:

The physical person
A person who is very physical — plays a lot of sports, loves exercise, and always wants to be on the move — may want the garden or yard to have features that allow for physical activities or sports. What would you like to do at home? Is there room to play volleyball, croquet, basketball, or to swim? How about a workshop? The physical act of working in the garden — pruning, planting, weeding, raking, and composting — may also be very fulfilling to the physical person.

The mental or intellectual person
A mental, logical, or intellectual person may enjoy the visual lines of a garden, or features that spark curiosity or observation, more than he or she enjoys flowers. For such a person, the garden will need to appeal to the mind, to have an orderly or methodical layout, practical items, or elements that make sense.

What garden features fit in with the practical elements of your lifestyle? What interests you? Are you interested in a vegetable or herb garden, statuary or art, stonework, or organic gardening and composting? If your real thrill is in propagating plants, the perfect “garden” for you may be a greenhouse, a place where you can spend time in a controlled environment with your projects. Also, you may appreciate such practical items as an automatic watering system.

The emotional or feeling person
A feeling, emotional, or intuitive person will want to enjoy the feeling imparted by the garden: peaceful, happy, abundant, exotic, relaxing, playful —or maybe a variety of feelings.

If you have such a nature, what flowers, shrubs, or trees make you feel good, or evoke fond memories? Did your mother, father, sibling, grandparent, or friend have a favorite flower or garden feature that you would like to include around your own home? Also important, are there plants or elements with unpleasant memories that you want to avoid?

The spiritually oriented person
The spiritually oriented person will value a garden with qualities that uplift the spirit, expand the awareness, and are reminders of a higher consciousness or of the Divine—qualities such as inner peace, expansiveness, harmony, divine love, or joy.

The design of this garden could reflect simplicity and tranquil beauty, incorporate statues as reminders of the divine reality, or include an area for meditation or contemplation. Such a garden may have fluid lines, graceful trees or arches, sweeps of color in varying shapes and hues, and a soaring, expansive view.

Every person, of course, is more than a single quality — physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. The combination and strength of the qualities is what makes each person, and each garden, unique. Keep in mind, also, that if two people are creating a garden together, what is very important to one person may have little significance to another. Try to select features that will make the garden fulfilling for both of you.

Excerpted from The Spirit of Gardening,* Crystal Clarity Publishers. *The book from which this article is excerpted provides more details than could be included in the article and beautiful color illustrations of different types of gardens.

Nancy (Netri) Mair is a professional landscape designer and the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award in landscape design by the California Landscape Contractors Association. A longtime member of Ananda and the author of several books, she lives at Ananda Village.

To order The Spirit of Gardening from Crystal Clarity Publishers click here

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The Bowl of Porridge
(From Nayaswami Anandi)

Saint Francis had a brother monk, Brother Juniper, who was a rather simple brother and at times a frustration to his superiors. He once made a mistake and his superior chastised him for it at great lengths.

Brother Juniper woke up in the middle of that same night and reflected on his superior’s recent chastisement. And he thought, “You know, I think my superior strained his voice when he was yelling at me. I feel very, very bad about that, so I think I should do something to remedy it.”

So he went down to the kitchen and cooked up some porridge with lots of butter in it. He said to himself, “This will be very helpful.”

With a candle in one hand and the porridge in the other, he went upstairs and knocked on the door of his superior’s room. His superior was sound asleep and awoke with a start thinking something horrible had happened. He opened the door and said, “What is it? What is it?”

Brother Juniper said, “Well, I thought about your voice today when you were scolding me, and it sounded like it was getting a little bit weak. I thought this porridge would moisten your throat and prevent you from getting ill.”

His superior was irate. He said, “You woke me up for this! I can’t believe it!  I don’t want your porridge!”

And Brother Juniper said, “Oh well, if you don’t want the porridge, could you hold the candle while I eat it?”

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School Lunch

The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a parochial elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The teacher had posted a note on the apple tray: “Take only ONE. God is watching.” Further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table, was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had written a note: “Take all you want. God is watching the apples.”

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A Million To One

A man, trying to understand the nature of God, asked Him: “God, how long is a million years to you?” God answered, “A million years is like a minute.” Then the man asked, “God, how much is a million dollars to you?” And God replied, “A million dollars is like a penny.” Finally the man asked, “ God, could you give me a penny?” And God said, “In a minute!”

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A Prayer for the Day

Dear God, so far today, I’ve done all right. I haven’t gossiped, and I haven’t lost my temper. I haven’t been grumpy, nasty, or selfish, and I’m really glad of that! But in a few minutes, God, I’m going to get out of bed, and from then on, I’m probably going to need a lot of help. Thank you! Amen.

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The Tooth Fairy
(From Nayaswami Jyotish)

A dear friend has two daughters, one age 6 and the other age 9. The younger daughter lost a tooth and put it under her pillow when she went to bed that same night. In the morning she woke up and found a quarter where the tooth had been, and she was very happy that the tooth fairy had come.

Later, she and her older sister were in the room with their mother. After a moment, the younger sister asked her mother very tentatively, “Mommy, are you really the tooth fairy?”

The mother looked at the older daughter rather sternly and said, “Did you tell her?”

“Yeah, Mommy,” she replied somewhat sheepishly.

Without waiting for her mother’s reply, the younger daughter said, “But Mommy, how do you get to all those houses every night?”

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The sky seems bright or sad according to our own changing moods, not to its own. True growth comes first by improving our own attitudes. Eastern Thoughts—Western Thoughts by Swami Kriyananda.

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The emotions are our “demons,” for they obstruct our growth in understanding. These demons range themselves in grim determination to combat expansiveness and soul-aspiration of any kind. Out of the Labyrinth by Swami Kriyananda.

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To be a true disciple, we must be open to life, open to truth wherever we find it. In that way, we find many opportunities for growth. In that openness which is true humility, we find that we can learn from the stones, from the clouds, from everything. Lessons in Discipleship by Swami Kriyananda.

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When we try to transform ourselves by self-effort alone, we limit our potential for healing and growth. Affirmation should be lifted from the self-enclosure of the mind into the greater reality of superconsciousness. Affirmations for Self-Healing by Swami Kriyananda.

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Even failures should act as stimulants to your will power, and to your material and spiritual growth. Weed out the causes of failure and with double vigor launch what you wish to accomplish. The season of failure is the best time for sowing the seeds of success. The Attributes of Success by Paramhansa Yogananda, 1944.

Editor’s Note: Additional “growth quotations” can be found at the end of most articles.

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I was browsing in a used-book store, not intending to buy anything, when I first saw this book. I picked it up and, with what felt like only natural curiosity, started to turn to the table of contents to look up “Gemini.” Instead, the first thing that caught my eye was Kriyananda’s statement dedicating the book to the reader “patient enough” to resist the temptation to “skip back and forth,” looking up specific signs.

Laughing at myself for having been caught red-handed, I simply purchased the book and took it home to read properly.

An emphasis on self-help
Many people think of astrology as simply describing the more-or-less fixed aspects of our personality: whatever “the stars” may have decreed for us. But as devotees, we know that a wise spiritual teacher can guide us in how to use our “pre-existing tendencies” to achieve further spiritual growth.

This is exactly what Swami Kriyananda has accomplished in this book. Your Sun Sign as a Spiritual Guide gives excellent advice on what we can do, given who we are, to achieve the highest spiritual expression of each of our qualities. With all there is to learn and practice on the spiritual path, it’s very helpful to have someone with Swami Kriyananda’s insight to recommend what we might need to focus on.

No sign, Kriyananda emphasizes, is inherently more or less spiritual than any other. We all have our strengths and our weaknesses, and since we are all children of God, we will all eventually make our way back to Him. But the next step on that journey is different for each of us. This book gives us specific concepts, techniques, and practices to work with to make that next step in the most positive direction possible. 

“What’s your sign?”
The sun sign is the one most people know about, the subject of the classic question: “What’s your sign?” My own sun sign is Gemini, and Kriyananda very accurately zeroes in on many of the qualities that make us Geminis such a mentally-oriented lot. For each sun sign, however, he offers a clear perspective on how any given trait can be either positively or negatively directed.

For Geminis, for instance, he emphasizes the importance of mental detachment, which for a Gemini may make the difference between wit and wisdom, or between true understanding and mere cleverness. Similarly, a Gemini tendency towards worry, fickleness, and unreliability is really just an expression of the same qualities that can be positively developed into adaptability, creativity, and, as Kriyananda puts it, “great subtlety of thought.”

Kriyananda also discusses various yogic practices that are particularly applicable to each sign. For Sagittarius, as well as other fire element signs, he offers a fire meditation for burning away ego attachments. Addressing the discriminating, critical faculty of Virgos, he recommends the practice of neti neti — “not this, not that” — for delving into the deeper source of all desires and experiences. And for regulating the constant rising and falling of a Gemini’s restless mind, he recommends the practice of Kriya Yoga.

Your moon and rising signs
Though the book’s title refers specifically to sun signs, Kriyananda also briefly discusses the moon and rising signs. Unlike your sun sign, which is the “public facing” aspect of your personality, your moon sign describes your inner system of value and meaning—what makes things important to you. Your rising sign, on the other hand, concerns what Kriyananda calls your “basic quality of receptivity,” how you form initial reactions and impressions.

If you know your moon and rising signs (or other components of your horoscope), you can simply read the analyses of the appropriate sun signs with a view to applying them to specific aspects of your personality. For example, my moon and rising signs both happen to be Scorpio, which adds a significant shading to my Gemini characteristics.

The moon in Scorpio gives me a strong sense within myself of what is right and important, and a disinclination to try to conform to other standards. Contrary to the talkative extroversion of a Gemini, this Scorpio influence will often have me behaving in a more introverted way. My Scorpio rising sign reinforces this introverted tendency, directing my initial reactions in an inward direction, particularly in new or unfamiliar situations.

Knowing this about myself, I find a great deal of helpful practical advice in the Scorpio chapter, particularly about balancing aspects of my nature. Since a Gemini can be prone to living too much in the mind, the intensity and control of Scorpio can be a powerful aid to focusing my thoughts and turning them into actual accomplishments.

An interconnected whole
Kriyananda does an excellent job throughout the book of presenting the entire zodiac as an interconnected whole. He shows how the different signs can be related to each other by season, by planet, or by element (earth, air, fire, or water). This gives us a variety of perspectives from which to understand any quality.

Gemini, for example, is one of three Spring signs, and therefore has a connection with the two other Spring signs, Taurus and Aries. Each of these signs manifests the Spring-like energy of new beginnings and growth in a different way, and each is necessary for success in any venture. Tuning into this overall flow of energy helps me carry my ideas forward, beyond the purely mental stage. I am able to see the subsequent steps in the process not as foreign to my nature but as an actual extension of it. 

Universal characteristics
While working on this book, Kriyananda wrote a letter to an astrologer discussing some of his ideas.* In it, he described what he was doing as “universalizing each sign by addressing myself not only to Geminis, Leos, etc., but also to the Gemini, Leo, etc., in all of us.”  He writes that one of the “fascinating” things about the signs is “how they pin-point basic universal characteristics in man.”

Kriyananda’s observations are worth keeping in mind as we read this book. We all manifest the various qualities of each sign to some extent. Indeed, the very qualities that describe each of us as individuals are often the same ones that connect us as brothers and sisters in God.

Graham Waldon became a part of Ananda in 2009 and now lives in the Palo Alto community. Currently unemployed, he has spent much of the last year doing volunteer work, meditating, and devouring books by Swami Kriyananda and Paramhansa Yogananda.

* See In Divine Friendship, Crystal Clarity Publishers, page 253.

To order Your Sun Sign as a Spiritual Guide by Swami Kriyananda,  click here

Clarity Magazine articles can be printed in “text only” format, using your own computer.

The list of subjects to which Yogananda applied his cosmic vision is seemingly endless, and all this was in addition to his real mission—to bring us practical and proven techniques for soul liberation. No wonder he said, “If you do one-hundredth of what I’ve given you, it is sufficient.”

One of Yogananda‘s practical regimes for personal improvement that I’ve taken to heart is his “Nine-Day Cleansing and Vitalizing Diet.” Since the first time I tried it many years ago, I’ve experienced remarkable results, and have tried to do it with groups, a few others, or alone each year.

What is the Nine-Day Cleansing Diet? The brief description that follows provides all the information needed for you to successfully complete the diet.

The food allowed each day for the nine days is:
1 ½ grapefruits
1 ½ lemons
5 oranges
1 cooked vegetable with juice (quantity optional)
1 raw vegetable salad
1 glass orange juice*
3 cups of Vitality Beverage (one cup at each meal)

*to be taken every night before going to bed with ½ tsp. of senna leaves or Swiss Kriss, and later increase to 1 tsp.

Vitality Beverage:
2 stalks chopped celery
5 carrots (chopped) including part of stem
1 bunch chopped parsley
½ qt. chopped dandelion, or turnip greens, or spinach
1 qt. water
No salt or spices

The vitality beverage may be prepared in two ways, the first being preferable:

1. After putting celery and carrots through food processor, or chopping them finely, lightly boil them in the water for ten minutes. Then add selected greens and parsley and boil ten minutes more. Strain by squeezing through a cheesecloth.

2.  Use the same ingredients, but do not cook them. After putting them through a vegetable juicer, strain as above.

Drink one cup of the beverage, prepared by either method, at each of the three meals. That’s it—nothing more, nothing less.

The vitality beverage is essential to the cleansing action of the diet. I’ve tried both of the above two ways of preparing it and prefer the first, which involves boiling the chopped vegetables.

The raw vegetable method produces a juice similar to fresh carrot juice. The cooked method produces a bland-tasting broth similar, for those of you familiar with it, to Beiler’s “Potassium Broth” or Paavo Aerola’s broth, both of which are recommended for cleansing purposes. Try both the boiled and raw vegetable methods and decide for yourself.

What results have I experienced?

• Vitalization and healing of the body.
• Freedom from psychological dependency on food.
• Breaking of bad eating habits.
• Five to ten pound weight loss.
• Cleansing of skin, eyes, lungs and intestines.
• Improved health for a period of months.
• Increase energy level and need for less sleep.
• Rejuvenation of body and mind.
• Increased clarity of mind.
• Greater awareness of subtle flow of life force.
• Deepening sense of joy.
• Deeper, more inspired meditations.

Sound too good to be true? There are, let me assure you, challenges. It takes a strong will and self-discipline to finish the full nine days.

You may experience irritability in the first few days. Whether this reaction is caused by the release of toxins, I don’t know, but it’s wise to give someone on the diet a wide berth during the first few days. My husband, Jyotish, and I have an agreement that anything said during the beginning of the diet cannot be held against us. This plan has worked well, and we’ve stayed together through many successful attempts at the cleansing diet.

Sometimes people have headaches during the first few days, especially those addicted to coffee or black tea. The headaches seem to be caused by caffeine withdrawal.

You may also find a psychological change in your attitude towards food. Although you are actually eating large quantities of food, because the food is without salt, oil, or seasonings of any kind, it doesn’t provide the sensory satisfaction that we usually get from food. You may find yourself not interested in food at all.

Interested in trying the diet?
Here are a few tips I’ve discovered:

1. Practice Yogananda’s Energization Exercises at least once a day during the diet. Your awareness of subtle life energy is greatly increased at this time, and you can feel more sensitively the flow of prana through the medulla to the body parts.

2. Take regular sunbaths exposing as much of the body as possible to direct sunlight. Yogananda said you can receive up to ten times the benefit from solar energy if you consciously draw it into your body cells.

3. I find the Nine-Day Diet easiest to complete during the spring or summer months, which seems to be a natural cleansing time for the body. Also, because of the decreased caloric intake, the body tends to feel cold during the diet, which is less of a problem in the warm weather. In the spring and summer, there is also a greater variety of vegetables available for steaming.

4. Yogananda also recommends taking nightly warm baths with Epsom salts or some other good bath salt. The cleansing and rejuvenation of the skin produced by the diet are remarkable, and these warm salt baths aid in this process.

5. The regime of food consumption that works best for me is: Breakfast—grapefruits and vitality beverage; lunch—salad and vitality beverage; and dinner—steamed vegetables, lemons and vitality beverage, with oranges eaten through the day. Experiment and find what works best for you.

6. When coming off the diet, eat lightly and simply for the first few days. Someone once said, “Any fool can fast, but it takes a wise man to end his fast well.”

Yogananda called this Nine-Day Cleansing Diet “a method for rejuvenating the body cells and awakening the latent powers of the mind and the inner forces of the soul.” I heartily encourage you to launch into this spiritual adventure and challenge, and enjoy for yourself its remarkable benefits.

Reprinted from Clarity Magazine, July 1988. Nayaswami Devi, together with her husband Nayaswami Jyotish, is Co-Acharya (Spiritual Director) for Ananda Sangha Worldwide.

Other Clarity articles by Devi Novak are listed under “Nayaswami Devi.”

A Prankster
(An incident recounted by Paramhansa Yogananda)

In India I kept both the long hair that many yogis grow for spiritual reasons, and a beard. My guru had told me to keep my hair long, so when a fellow passenger on the ship—his name was Rashid; he was a Muslim—said to me, “You should keep either long hair or a beard, for Americans will never accept a scarecrow who sports both!” So then, when he offered to shave off my beard for me, I accepted. Well, he was definitely a prankster! He shaved off half my beard, then went off on his own, leaving me helpless! Maybe two hours passed before he returned, laughing, to relieve me of the other half of my beard!

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Semi-Developed Intuition
(A story by Paramhansa Yogananda)

Once at a farmhouse I met a man who had semi-developed intuition. He bothered everybody with the display of his intuition. He tried it on me several times. Eventually I had an overdose of his semi-intuitional practices and decided to wake him up.

One day, while we were sitting in the farm parlor and the door to the house was closed, we heard footsteps, and I asked my semi-intuitive friend:

“Will you please tell me who is at the door?”

He forthwith replied: “It is my uncle coming home after many years, and he never even wrote me about it.”

The door was opened and the uncle appeared, and when questioned he verified the statement. He said that he had come suddenly without notification. My friend triumphantly exclaimed:

“See, I have fully-developed intuition and not semi-developed intuition as you often say.”

Then I remonstrated: “My friend, beware. You will make a horrible blunder some day. You have a little intuition, but you have not practiced the technique of developing it to the extent that you can really depend upon it.” He laughed at me, but soon I had the occasion to laugh at him. My mischievous prayer was answered.

One dismal, rainy day, we were again sitting in the farm parlor when suddenly there was a loud knock on the closed door. I said to my friend: “Now use your semi-intuition and tell me who is knocking.” He concentrated for a moment, then said: “My brother has unexpectedly arrived. Open the door.”

I laughed and replied: “No, not I. I wouldn’t go near the door—my intuition tells me not to. You had better open the door yourself.”

Saying this, I ran to the other side of the room. He opened the door, and in rushed the farm bull with menacing horns, angrily seeking shelter from the rain. My friend jumped aside frantically and the bull ran after me. Of course, I was prepared for it and simply stepped aside, loudly exclaiming: “My friend, your semi-intuition indeed foretold about your “brother” arriving!” (Praecepta Lessons, 1938)

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AUM, Peace, Amen
(From an Ananda Village parent)

At Ananda Village, the prayer at meals ends with the words, ”AUM, Peace, Amen.” One day a little girl, at the end of the family meal, asked a question that had long been on her mind. “Why, Mommy,” she asked, “do we always bless the peas and almonds even when we’re not having any for dinner?”

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“Sri Ram, Jai Ram”
(From Swami Kriyananda)

Years ago I was recording a Sanskrit chant, “Sri Ram, Jai Ram.”  It’s a wonderful chant, and I sang it from my heart—from the heart center. But toward the end of that recording session my energy slipped into the cervical center, which is opposite the throat. The heart center expresses love, but the throat center expresses calmness and expansion. When I sang it from that center I could feel calmness and a sense of expansion in my energy and voice. I said to the engineer, “Let’s record it again,” and I sang the entire song from the throat center.

A friend of mine’s two-year-old child loved this chant, and always wanted to hear the recording. One day when she was scolding him, he looked up at her and said, “Sri Ram, Jai Ram.” He had felt the calmness of the chant and was trying to pacify his mother with that vibration.

Clarity Magazine articles can be printed in “text only” format, using your own computer.

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Spiritual awakening is accompanied by a rising energy and consciousness in the spine. In this spiritual state, one may indeed dance, laugh, and sing with unending gladness, wrapped ever in breezes of inner joy. The Art and Science of Raja Yoga, by Swami Kriyananda.

The awakening of the chakras comes only after long, careful discipline. Great joy, as well as great mental and spiritual power, come when the seven “gates” are open. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Explained, by Paramhansa Yogananda.

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Divine awakening depends upon channeling all of your energy upward, and focusing it at the point between the eyebrows. That is what Jesus meant when he said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy strength.” The Art and Science of Raja Yoga, by Swami Kriyananda.

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Pranayama means control of the energy in the body, and its direction upward through the spine to the brain and to the Christ center between the eyebrows. This alone is the pathway of awakening. Essence of Self-Realization, by Paramhansa Yogananda.

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The awakened kundalini alone can bring healing to the “poison-bite” of delusion. St. Teresa of Avila described her ecstatic experiences as resembling “the upward shot of a bullet through a gun”—an acceptable account of kundalini awakening. The Promise of Immortality, by Swami Kriyananda.

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Despite the diversity of outward religious forms, the path of inner, spiritual awakening is essentially one. Rays of the Same Light, by Swami Kriyananda.

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Yoga practice awakens the faculties, clearing away impurities that have too long kept the mind in a state of ignorance. The highest purpose of yoga is to facilitate the awakening of divine awareness. Eastern Thoughts—Western Thoughts, by Swami Kriyananda.

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Will power is the key to awakening energy. Yogananda used to say, “The greater the will, the greater the flow of energy.” We can apply this principle to the task of keeping the body in good health and healing our illnesses and also to drawing inspiration at will. Art as a Hidden Message, by Swami Kriyananda.

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The guru acts like a lighthouse, shining the Divine Light with a mighty blaze of awakening into the darkness of human delusion. Without such a high influence it is impossible for the devotee to rise to great heights. The Art and Science of Raja Yoga, by Swami Kriyananda.

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The attitude needed for spiritual awakening is one of joyful surrender and receptivity to the inflow of divine grace. Rays of the Same Light, by Swami Kriyananda.

Clarity Magazine articles can be printed in “text only” format, using your own computer.