A bold and powerful self-affirmation
Jesus Christ, even among great masters, was exceptional in his mission, and in his need to affirm his own importance to that mission. Sometimes he spoke in terms that, from anyone who had attained a union with God less perfect than his, must surely have seemed almost embarrassingly boastful and arrogant. He said, for example, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” *

Jesus’ self-affirmation did not indicate any lack of humility. He had no ego of which to be either proud or humble. Jesus came, however, with a particular expression of the eternal truths, and it was necessary for him to focus people’s high spiritual aspirations in himself as an instrument of divine grace. Otherwise, the many schools of thought that were rampant in his day would have diluted his message and made it seem merely another “school of philosophy,” from whose teachings people could select as they chose.

Reading his words in the Bible, one is nonetheless surprised at how powerfully he affirmed the importance of his own mission on earth. Repeatedly through the New Testament we find Jesus referring, without the slightest hesitation or reticence, to himself. Sometimes he spoke of himself as the “son of man;” sometimes, as the “Son of God.” It was, however, necessary for him to speak in that way. Very little valid spiritual tradition remained among the Jews of his time. Few would have been accepted his new expressions of eternal truth had he declared them self-effacingly.

A way-shower and conqueror of unknown territories
The age Jesus lived in was a hard one. He had to survive a public mission in a rough, dogmatic, and intolerant society. Never did he hesitate to “thunder” when the occasion called for a divine rumble. To those who like their saints “soft and cuddly,” Jesus would have been—shall we say?—an embarrassment. Indeed, to some people he must have seemed glaringly offensive!

It is, indeed, perfectly understandable that the self-assertiveness with which Jesus so often spoke would have seemed offensive to the unenlightened rabbis of his day. They were, in their own opinion, the supreme authorities in Judaism. If Jesus were to appear and teach in the same way on earth today in any country in Christendom—not as himself, but as someone unknown—I venture to say that almost every priest, pastor, minister of religion, and every other sort of prelate would probably consider his bold self-assertion quite as outrageous as did the Pharisees.

To those at the top of any social ladder, Jesus might well have seemed “pushy” and “a bit over the top.” In fact, he was “pushy.” It wasn’t himself he was pushing, of course, but divine Truth and God. He had come as a way-shower, a road builder, and conqueror of unknown territories. The more restrained and socially approved way of expressing oneself, always with tactful care, was not at all what was needed in his times.

One wonders, even, how the expression — “Gentle Jesus meek and mild” — ever got started. Jesus fitted perfectly the Vedic description of the man of God, as Paramhansa Yogananda quoted it in Autobiography of a Yogi: “Softer than the flower, where kindness is concerned; stronger than the thunder, where principles are at stake.”

A “firebrand revolutionary”?
Certain modern writers have claimed that Jesus Christ was a firebrand revolutionary, citing, among other things, his statement, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I come not to send peace, but a sword.”

Viewed literally, it would be easy to take Jesus’ words as bellicose. Viewed in the broader context of his life mission, we quickly see that he was not issuing an inflammatory call to arms, but speaking thus only to light a fire of divine courage in the hearts of devotees. The conflagration Jesus sought to ignite was a fire of pure love for God, underscored by renunciation of every lesser attraction and attachment.

Jesus’ reference to “sword” was a reference to the “sword” of discrimination, essential for slicing through the chains of outward attachment. He also meant “sword” symbolically, referring to the determination one needs to find God.

As for revolutionary zeal, the only “uprising” he encouraged was to urge people to “revolutionize” their inner, spiritual outlook. Jesus Christ came on earth to inspire people to seek union with God. “My kingdom,” he said, “is not of this world.” Constantly he urged them to seek God-consciousness: “He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” Christ’s message was that the spiritual path is not for armchair devotees but for spiritual warriors, for those who would embrace death itself, rather than abandon their divine search.

Fiery power, conviction, and courage
Nor did Jesus comport himself like a rabble-rousing firebrand—a suggestion that a few modern commentators have also made. He spoke with magnetic courage, joy, and unshakable faith, but it is very evident from the Gospels (Yogananda, too, corroborated this statement), that Jesus never spoke with personal anger. He could, however, when the occasion demanded it, speak with fiery power and conviction, reflecting the wrath of God, as when he drove the moneychangers out of the temple!

Jesus, as a human being, was joy-filled, loving, and, to an amazing degree, courageous. On the occasion the Jews accused him of blasphemy and were about to stone him, he replied (I paraphrase), “I’ve done all these good works among you. For which of them do you intend to stone me?”

There could be no other explanation than courageous openness to anything, based on perfect non-attachment, in the way he replied. Only such supreme detachment could have made possible his good humor. Think of it: There he was, threatened with disaster by a hostile mob. Could what he said have been due to self-pity? (“Just look at all the favors I’ve done you. Is this your way—sniff!—of showing gratitude?”) Absurd! He challenged them, almost with a laugh!

Small wonder the orthodox Pharisees rejected him as fiercely as they did. One might almost say that Jesus, by his outspokenness, virtually invited their rage, causing it to erupt, finally, in the Crucifixion!

The Sermon on the Mount: “a revolutionary teaching”
Though Jesus himself was no “firebrand revolutionary,” his Sermon on the Mount has been described as “a revolutionary teaching.” And indeed so it was: its summons to live for God alone was uncompromising. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God,” he declared, “and His righteousness; and all these things [the requirements, in other words, for human fulfillment] shall be added unto you.”

The sermon is the longest single statement by Jesus in the New Testament. It includes some of his most important teachings, including the Beatitudes. Tradition depicts Jesus as delivering this sermon to the multitudes. It is more likely that he was addressing his disciples. The orthodox rabbis of the day were accustomed to the spiritual compromises demanded by worldly people. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount challenged their lukewarm devotion.

That Jesus was speaking to a more intimate group is implied at the very outset of the Beatitudes: “And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him. And he opened his mouth, and taught them.” His statement, “Ye are the light of the world,” would hardly have been directed at everybody. Jesus was addressing devotees whose deep desire was to dwell constantly in the consciousness of God.

Personal sincerity is what Jesus demanded. Jesus wanted to inspire all to seek God with the same ardor he showed, the ardor of dedication to the divine search. His mission was to help those refined souls whose egos were still trapped in limitation, but who desired earnestly to get out of their egos and to know God.

Why Jesus scolded his disciples
If Jesus sometimes scolded his disciples, it was to urge them to deepen their spiritual insight. Thus, when Peter asked him why it isn’t what goes into the mouth, but what comes out of it that defiles a person, Jesus answered, “Are you still unable to grasp these things? Don’t you see that whatever goes into a man’s mouth passes into the stomach and then out of the body altogether? But the things that come out of his mouth come from his heart and mind.”

Peter’s request for an explanation on a question that should have been clear to someone as spiritually developed as he showed how powerful prior conditioning can be. His thoughts wavered between the orthodox Jewish teachings on which he’d been raised and the new statements of eternal truth that were being taught by Jesus Christ.

Jesus seldom, if ever, explained his meanings either to the Pharisees or to the spiritual wanderers. The people of his times, and to some extent even his own disciples, were not ready for teachings that were too far ahead of the general knowledge of their day. It was to his disciples that he clarified them, even when their understanding fell short of his expectations of them.

“The truth shall make you free”
Jesus issued a stirring summons to the highest adventure there is: the quest for truth. By his self-affirmation and example, he challenged everyone to deepen his experience of life until he stands face-to-face with Truth itself. Thus, to Nicodemus he said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen.”

The challenge Jesus gave us was to make truth our own. “Ye shall know the truth,” he said, “and the truth shall make you free.” By “truth” he meant the intuitive perception of our essential nature, which is one with God.

From Revelations of Christ and The Promise of Immortality, by Swami Kriyananda, available from Crystal Clarity Publishers. To order click here

*Bible verses in order:
John 14:6
John 18:36
Mathew 10:38
Mathew 10:36
John 18:36
John 10:30-31
Mathew 6:33
Mathew 5:14
Mathew 15:16-20
John 3:11
John 8:32

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Most people have had one or more of their windows of life jammed shut for years. As a result, they suffer from chronic maladies. Their remedy lies in discovering how to open those windows themselves and bask once more in the all-healing rays of the Divine.

2. Right attitude toward diet
You must strike a balance between non-attachment to outer things and sensible concern for your present realities. So long as you are centered in body-consciousness, you must take sensible care of your body and follow the God-made laws that govern health and the physical body. At the same time, don’t over-emphasize the importance of the body or become too fastidious about diet. Many food faddists only weaken their systems by depending excessively on dietary principles.

Since you have to eat, eat the right kind of food. Choose a balanced diet, stick to it, and then forget the body. Devote your time to meditation and right living.

3. Do’s and Don’ts of Proper Eating
Every day the tissues of the body must be supplied with the proper body-building materials. In plastering a house, if you mix less lime in the sand, the plaster will begin to fall off in a short time. Similarly, our bodies decay when not “plastered” with the right type and quantity of body-building elements. The body begins to lose vigor, the tissues become flabby, the skin begins to wrinkle, and the cells begin to lose their building power.

In planning your breakfast, lunch, and dinner, be sure to give your body the proper type and quantity of body-building materials.

Eat sparingly of the right foods
Overloading the stomach with unnecessary food is one of the most common abuses of the body. Eat sparingly and notice the great change in your health for the better. Eating too much at one meal, followed by lack of exercise, develops the body disproportionately.

Eating freely of fruits and vegetables will greatly benefit your health, whereas eating too much starchy food and protein retains the poisons in the body.

Drink milk each day
Drink at least a glassful of good milk each day. Milk is the only food except eggs that alone can support human life. Drinking milk will help prevent old age and the sudden deterioration of the body, which result from not giving the body all the elements necessary for its healthy maintenance. Drink milk alone or with fruits—never with meals.

Avoid drinking ice water
Doctors say that drinking ice water lowers the temperature of the stomach thirty degrees. This is shocking and disastrous to an individual’s digestive power. Never drink ice water with your meals or when you are overheated. It’s best not to drink water of any kind with meals.

Eat only when hungry
The man who eats without real physical hunger is skating on the “thin ice” of digestibility. When he begins to tax his poor digestive power by greedily gulping unmasticated food in large quantities, and washing it down with ice water, he opens the door to illness and disease.

Eat in an atmosphere of calmness
Other important considerations in eating and digesting food are:

1. Proper selection of food
2. Attractive appearance and aroma
3. Pleasant environment

One should always partake of food with a thankful, joyful heart. Keep mealtimes calm and pleasant, and avoid eating when under the stress of emotion.

4. Analyze your mental diet
Have you ever analyzed your mental diet? It consists of the thoughts you think as well as the thoughts you receive from close contact with friends. Good thoughts are nourishing food for the mind, but thoughts of any other nature are poisonous to both mind and body. Peaceful thoughts and peaceful friends produce healthy, magnetic minds, whereas the wrong sort of friends produces inner disquietude and an unwholesome, gloomy mind.

No matter how busy you are, do not forget to free your mind regularly from all worries. Do not allow them to torture you. Remember that they were made by you. Learn to remove the causes of your worries without permitting them to worry you.

5. Add the “magnetic diet” of sunshine and oxygen
The magnetic diet consists of such food substitutes as sunrays and oxygen, which can be assimilated and converted into energy more quickly than solids and liquids. Oxygen and sunshine should have a very important place in people’s lives, because of their direct energy-producing quality.

When you are tired or hungry, take a sunbath and you will find yourself revived and recharged with ultraviolet rays. Inhale and exhale several times outdoors or near an open window, and your fatigue will be gone. A fasting person who inhales and exhales deeply twelve times, three times a day, is able to fully recharge his body with energy.

Practice the following exercise three times a day: Exhale slowly, counting from 1 to 6. Now, while the lungs are empty, mentally count from 1 to 6. Inhale slowly, counting from 1 to 6. Then hold the breath, counting from 1 to 6. Repeat eleven times.

6. How to remain youthful
You must take care of your body machine. As the years roll along, do not give up—as so many people do. Always be interested in life. Keep the mind busy by creating and doing new things. The infinite powers are at your command. Just as the ocean can help any wave to retain its form, so also can the everlasting ocean of Immortal Power behind the human body continue manifesting itself as that youthful, vital form.

Daily exercise
Walk daily and bathe your body in the bacteria-killing sunshine. During the winter months, take time to go skating, skiing, and walking. Breathe the fresh, crisp, invigorating air of winter. Perform some sort of exercise every day until perspiration breaks out over your whole body. Your colds and other similar ills will soon disappear.

Sufficient sleep
Sleep can be induced at will by lying on the back, closing the eyes, tensing and relaxing the body, and dismissing all thoughts. Try this until you learn to sleep at will.

Healthy teeth
Diseased teeth produce many ills. After eating, give your teeth a cleansing “shower bath.”  If you have no toothbrush handy, rinse your mouth with water ten times after each meal.

Periodic fasting
One of the main causes of arthritis, rheumatism, and many other diseases is autointoxication, which is due to faulty elimination. Uneliminated, decayed food stays like a paste on the walls of the intestines and is absorbed into the bloodstream. Disease naturally follows.

A three-day fast once a month on orange juice, with a laxative each night while fasting, will expel poisons and do much to make the body strong, healthy, and youthful to the last days of life.

Smile from the heart
There is no better reviving tonic than a genuine smile, and no beauty greater than the smile of peace and wisdom glowing on your face.

7. Rejuvenation through relaxation
Physical relaxation
For complete relaxation of the body, first gently tense the entire body. Then relax and withdraw all energy from the body and remain relaxed, without the slightest physical motion. The complete absence of motion and tension from muscles and limbs is “relaxation.” Imagine that the body is jelly-like, without bones or muscles. When you can do this, you have attained perfect muscular relaxation.

Deep relaxation with AUM
Sit on a straight chair, with your spine upright. Expel the breath quickly and hold the breath, counting mentally 1 to 10. Inhale slowly, hold the breath, counting 1 to 10. Repeat ten times. Then expel the breath and forget it.

Concentrate on the toes of the left foot and say “AUM” mentally on each toe. Do the same to the toes of the right foot. Then concentrate on the sole of the left foot and then the right foot, saying “AUM” on each.

Concentrate on the left and right calves, mentally saying “AUM.” Do the same with the left and right thighs, left and right hips, navel, abdomen, liver, spleen, stomach, pancreas, heart, left and right lungs, left and right hands and arms, left side of neck, right side of neck, and front and back of neck.

Say “AUM” mentally, concentrating on the pituitary gland, pineal gland, medulla, point between the eyebrows, mouth, tongue and uvula, left and right nostrils, left and right eyes, left and right ears, cerebellum, and cerebrum.

Then go up and down the chakras: coccygeal, sacral, lumbar, dorsal, cervical, medulla, and Christ Center at the point between the eyebrows, mentally chanting “AUM.” Try to feel that the whole body is surrounded within and without with the holy vibration of AUM.

Mental relaxation
Mental relaxation consists of the ability to free the mind from haunting worries over past and present difficulties. Mastery in mental relaxation comes with faithful practice. It can be attained by learning how to free the mind of all thoughts at will and to keep the attention fixed on the peace and contentment within. By the regular practice of meditation you can achieve mental relaxation.

8. Rejuvenation through “super-relaxation”
“Super-relaxation” is the complete, voluntary withdrawal of consciousness and energy from the entire body and mind through the practice of meditation. By the practice of meditation, one achieves complete mental relaxation by releasing the consciousness from the delusion of duality and resting the mind in one’s true nature of unity in Spirit. One also achieves complete physical relaxation, inhibiting decay and the breaking down of bodily tissues. This keeps the bloodstream pure and promotes physical rejuvenation.

9. Draw on limitless cosmic energy
Willingness and determination keep the blood vitalized with life-energy. If you can maintain an attitude of joyful willingness at all times, you will find your body constantly supplied with fresh cosmic energy drawn into the body through the door of the medulla oblongata. Your blood will be charged with life-current, making it immune to the invasion of bacteria.

To keep your body vibrating with life current, strengthen your willingness and determination in everything.

10. The highest form of rejuvenation
The highest form of rejuvenation is to unite the human consciousness with the infinite Cosmic Consciousness through meditation. When you are able to feel your body as vibrating currents in the ocean of Cosmic Consciousness, you will find not only perpetual rejuvenation in the soul, but also in the body. Meditation is the greatest way of resurrecting your soul from the bondage of body and all your trials. Meditate at the feet of the Infinite. Learn to saturate yourself with Him.

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

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MJC: I’ve been a direct disciple of Babaji of the Kriya Yoga lineage for many years. In 1979, I felt the inner guidance, which I believe came from Babaji, to begin studying Ayurveda. I realized a few years later, however, that for karmic reasons I also needed to become a chiropractor, so in 1982 I enrolled in chiropractic college. Being a chiropractor has proved helpful in my practice of Ayurveda – I will sometimes combine an Ayurvedic consultation with a chiropractic adjustment.

After graduating from chiropractic college in 1987, I studied Ayurveda with a number of Indian practitioners in this country, including an outstanding doctor from New Delhi who would visit the United States once a year. When this doctor no longer came, I prayed to Babaji that I needed further study. From then on, I received the teachings from Babaji intuitively. Most of what I know about the deeper aspects of Ayurveda comes from Babaji.

Q: What is Ayurveda?

MJC: Ayurveda is a system of natural medicine from India that is said to be over 5,000 years old. It is based on truths that were cognized by the rishis (sages) in deep meditation. Much of the original Ayurvedic science became lost during the Dark Age of Kali Yuga, but the deeper Ayurvedic truths are again beginning to surface.

Q: Do you see yourself as blazing a trail for a new type of Ayurvedic practice?

MJC: In my practice I try to present the deeper aspects of Ayurveda in a way that helps people see the connection between their attitudes and the “imbalances” that lead to illness, and how their attitudes relate to their karmic lessons in this lifetime. I believe there is a divine purpose to our lives and that illness can motivate us to work on important karmic issues and fulfill our life purpose.

Q: I understand that pulse diagnosis is one of the main diagnostic tools for Ayurveda. How does Ayurvedic pulse analysis differ a nurse’s reading of  a pulse?

MJC: When a nurse feels your pulse she’s tuning into a physical process. Ayurvedic pulse analysis is a means of accessing information stored in a person’s energy body. Everything relating to a person’s physical, mental, and emotional nature is stored in the energy body. By reading someone’s pulse, I can determine if that person has an illness and the imbalances that led to that illness. I can also determine whether that person has  imbalances that might lead to illness.

Q: Can you explain what you mean by “imbalances?”

MJC: Yes. In every person there are three basic health-related influences or what in Ayurveda we call doshas. These are known as vata, pitta, and kapha. Everyone has all three doshas in their body type but in differing proportions. For each person there is an optimal or properly “balanced” combination of these three influences, which varies from person to person. Deviations from the optimal create imbalances.

Q: In your many years of practice, what are the main imbalances you’ve seen?

MJC: By far the most frequent imbalance occurs in the vata dosha and is known as prana vata. I’ve read over 40,000 pulses in my career and rarely did I encounter someone who did not have a prana vata imbalance.

A prana vata imbalance causes a person to have a restless, overly active mind and difficulty in perceiving reality correctly. Often there’s insomnia, and a tendency to worry and replay mental “tapes” of past experiences. There may also be a tendency to be paranoid and to jump to wrong conclusions.

Q: Are there other common imbalances?

MJC: Yes. The two other most common imbalances involve the pitta dosha. Pitta is related to the fire element and people with an excess of pitta have a tendency toward negative attitudes and emotions — frustration, sadness, disappointment, impatience, anger, irritability, self-pity. The failure to process and release negative attitudes and emotions is the main cause of sadhaka pitta, which is the second most common imbalance that I see in my practice. When not processed and released, negative attitudes and emotions are stored in the energy body.

The third most common imbalance is ranjaka pitta. A ranjaka pitta imbalance usually results from feelings of being wronged or abused. Often there have been instances of actual abuse, persecution, or other serious “wrongs” in the person’s life. The imbalance occurs when a person feels justified in hanging on to the feeling of being wronged and is unable to accept responsibility for having attracted that karma.

Q: Can you give an example of how these imbalances lead to illness?

MJC: Let’s look at adult-onset diabetes.  Most cases of adult-onset diabetes involve a pitta imbalance caused by not fully processing emotional experiences. Usually there’s a holding on to disappointments, regrets, and to feelings of being wronged. There might also be the kind of intense, driving energy associated with “type A” personalities.

The accumulation of these unprocessed emotions and attitudes generates heat and inflammation in the body undermining the functioning of the body’s internal organs and cells, a process which can, in time, inhibit the cells’ ability to process glucose.

With adult-onset diabetes, it is said that unprocessed emotions block one’s ability to experience the “sweetness” that life can offer. The life lesson will include understanding that absolutely everything that happens in life is an opportunity to work on our karma. Without this understanding, a person will usually feel “wronged.” It’s the holding on to the feeling of being “wronged” that leads to diabetes, a heat-related disease.

Q: If having a predominance of pitta in one’s body type can predispose a person to certain imbalances and illnesses, it seems that it would be important to know one’s body type?

MJC: It’s very important. Our body type reflects the life lessons we need to learn in our soul journey. Understanding your body type is like having a roadmap to better health. You understand what attitudes you need to work on and what lifestyle changes you need to make.

Q: You stated previously that the most common and also the most serious imbalance is prana vata. Can you explain how a prana vata imbalance affects a person’s health?

MJC: A prana vata imbalance is a factor in all major diseases, including diabetes and cancer. A long-standing prana vata imbalance constricts the flow of life force in the body and weakens the immune system. The more active, and restless a person’s mind, the more constricted the flow of life force and the greater the impact on the immune system and on all bodily systems and cells.

Q: You mentioned that a prana vata imbalance is often a factor in the onset of cancer. Can you explain how that occurs?

MJC: Yes.  Let’s look at colon cancer, which is relatively common today. When people hold a lot of stress in the abdominal area, it affects their digestion and elimination, causing toxins to build up. The build-up of toxins and wastes in the colon aggravates prana vata, which weakens the immune system and constricts the flow of life force.

In my experience, most if not all cancers also involve negativity. Negativity generates heat and inflammation in the body which, as we saw with diabetes, can undermine the functioning of the internal organs and bodily cells. The negativity may not be obvious. It might be that someone is highly critical but doesn’t show it outwardly.

So, to sum up: the combination of toxic build-up in the colon, a reduced flow of life force throughout the body, a weakened immune system, and an increase of heat and inflammation throughout the body can in time result in colon cancer.

Q: Does breast cancer also involve unprocessed attitudes and emotions, and inflammation in the organs and cells?

MJC: Yes. Breast cancer is very much related to the heart and to unprocessed feelings and emotions. In this instance, the resulting heat and inflammation will often increase the rajasic element in the body’s hormonal cells.

Q: How do you help your patients transcend the attitudes that lead to imbalances and illness?

MJC: I think a big lesson for many people with serious illnesses and especially cancer is forgiveness—learning to forgive people for not being perfect and to recognize that all people are working on their life’s lessons. With an attitude of forgiveness we become grateful for life’s lessons. We recognize the truth that there are no “mistakes” and that every single aspect of our life is designed to facilitate our working on our life lessons.

Q: Of all the imbalances, which is the most important one to try to correct?

MJC: I would say prana vata because of its powerful effect on the immune system and the flow of life force in the body. Yet people today tend to do things that aggravate prana vata.

Q: Can you give a few examples?

MJC: Multi-tasking is a big one. Driving and talking on a cell phone. Talking on the phone while watching the computer screen. Reading while eating a meal. When you do more than one thing at a time, it divides the mind and increases prana vata.

The solution is for people to put their attention on one thing at a time. When they’re working on the computer, that’s should be all they are doing. When they’re eating a meal, they should only be doing that. Doing only one thing at a time is a big help in reducing prana vata.

People also need to watch what goes on in the mind. They may think, “Oh, I’m not doing two things at the same time.”  They may not be doing two things, but if their minds are focusing on more than one thing at a time, the mind becomes scattered. The more scattered the mind, the greater the prana vata imbalance.

Having a regular schedule of sleep, waking, and eating is also very important in preventing and reducing prana vata. Caffeine and alcohol aggravate prana vata.

Q: Is it correct that Ayurveda places a great deal of the responsibility for healing on the individual?

MJC: Yes. To benefit from Ayurveda people need to take responsibility for their own healthcare – meditation, diet, exercise, getting enough sleep. What kind of thoughts do they have? Are they multi-tasking?

Q: Why do some people not take responsibility?

MJC: I can think of a number of reasons. Some may have such a big prana vata imbalance that they become scattered and simply forget. They may intend to work on calming the mind but then forget!  Also, the more active and busy a person’s mind, the less able they are to see themselves in reality and to see that they are not taking care of themselves.

Another reason is second-guessing the diagnosis, which can also stem from prana vata and an overly active mind: “Did the doctor do the diagnosis right?  Am I taking the right herbs?” The mind just goes on and on.

A third reason is that a people with a prana vata imbalance often don’t think clearly and can misinterpret what they’ve experienced. When you combine that lack of clarity with the kind of pitta imbalance that makes a person inflexible, you can easily have someone who is resistant to treatment.

A final reason would be a pitta imbalance in the heart, and a sense of sadness and lack of fulfillment. People with this kind of imbalance often believe that no form of treatment will ever help them. Usually they don’t take care of themselves because they think, “I’m not worthy of love,” or “I’m overweight anyway, so who really cares?”

Q: Roughly what percent of your patients listen to you?

MJC: I always have drawn a lot of devotees in my practice but I’m now drawing devotees who are deeper on the spiritual path and highly motivated to work on their imbalances. They understand how getting rid of their imbalances and becoming more grounded, less restless, and more flexible will help them spiritually.

Q: What kind of remedies and practices do you recommend for people?

MJC: Meditation is at the top of the list, but if a person is not yet calm enough to meditate, I might first recommend breathing exercises such as alternate nostril breathing, which is calming and cooling to the nervous system. I also recommend affirmations and visualizations relating to the chakras affected by their imbalances.

Herbs are a very important part of what I recommend. With Babaji’s guidance, I recently developed a number of herb formulas that address the kinds of imbalances I commonly see in my practice. The herbs have a balancing effect on the doshas, chakras, and the energy body. There are also nasya oils based on the same herb formulas that give a quick input into the nervous system through the nostrils.

Q: You describe what you practice as “Shaktiveda Ayurveda.” Can you explain what that means?

Shaktiveda Ayurveda includes pulse diagnosis and the different therapies and practices I recommend for the imbalances that lead to illness. I also recently completed a DVD which combines a number of different therapies.

Q: How do you see the future of your practice?

MJC: Eventually, I may focus more on people who are prepared to delve deeply into the underlying imbalances. My specialty is being able to help people see what blocks them, and as I evolve spiritually, that ability evolves in me. Today I’m better at reading pulses than I was five or ten years ago.

Q: Does Babaji give you more understanding of the pulse as you grow spiritually?

MJC: Yes. I gain a deeper understanding of how everything revealed by the pulse fits together. Having this big picture enables me to see why people have certain symptoms, what the imbalances are, and what life lessons they need to work on. But it’s all from  Babaji, not from me.

Q: When you do Ayurvedic pulse readings, how would you describe Babaji’s relationship to you?

MJC: He opens up a channel that allows me to get the truth. But it’s his blessings. It’s not from me.

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Paramhansa Yogananda explained that the heart is the center for the primordial feeling element (chittwa) in consciousness. Furthermore, we perceive and respond to the world primarily through our feeling nature rather than the intellect, which follows feeling. One of Patanjali’s most important sutras says that “when we can neutralize the whirlpools of feeling (chittwa), we automatically attain union (yoga) with God.” The neutralization of the energies in the heart center is the key because the heart is the central “switching station” for the control and direction of our consciousness.

The two movements of the heart
It helps to understand that there are two movements of the heart’s energy we must learn to control before we can attain Self-Realization. The first is the outward movement of energy away from unity with God and into the delusion of matter-attachment. The second is the heart’s movement upward and downward — upward toward the higher chakras and expansive, happy feelings or downward into darkness, negativity, and contraction. Let’s discuss first the outward and inward movement of the heart’s energy.

Whenever Paramhansa Yogananda talked to his close disciples, one of his main themes was non-attachment. Attachments reinforce the delusion that material things — money, fame or circumstances — can make us happy. They can’t. The most they can do is fulfill a self-created condition on our happiness. Ultimately the power to be happy is completely in our mind, but when we look for fulfillment in material objects and circumstances, we give away our control.  The root cause of all pain and confusion is the forgetfulness of our unity with Spirit.

Today the world is in a state of great anxiety and fear due to widespread economic and political instability. Around the globe many people have assumed: “The more money, fame, or power I have, the happier I’ll be.” That delusion is now being shown to be false and as a result many people are confused and unhappy.

Harmonizing the heart’s energy
The first step to gaining control of the heart’s energy is releasing the attachments and bringing the outward flow of energy into a state of harmony with Spirit. Here are two stories that illustrate how dramatically things change when we expand and harmonize our heart’s energy.

One of the best movies we’ve ever seen is Schindler’s List. This movie, which is based on a true story, presents a deeply moving portrayal of how one man’s heart shifted from selfishness and greed to a loving and selfless concern for others — from separateness and contraction to unity and expansion.

One man’s inner journey
Schindler was a German and a Nazi. As a businessman, he saw that large profits could be made by producing materials needed for the Second World War, so he moved to Poland in order to start factory. He chose Poland because he knew that the Polish Jews were in terrible circumstances and couldn’t find work. He realized that he could hire them for a pittance. His factory was very productive and he was very well paid by the German hierarchy.

But then Schindler had a turn of heart. He began to see the atrocities being committed by the Nazis. First he tried to ignore them but soon realized he needed to protect his workers. When the Germans began rounding up Jews who lived in the ghettos to send them to concentration camps, Schindler created a housing area near his factory for his workers.

Toward the end of the war, the Nazi’s wanted to destroy all evidence of their atrocities and began to exterminate all remaining Jews. The only way Schindler could protect his workers was to convince the German hierarchy that he was going to move them en masse in order to start another factory elsewhere and continue helping the war effort. The Nazi’s agreed but insisted that Schindler pay for each worker he moved — over a thousand people. Schindler eventually gave away his entire fortune in order to save them.

Initially, all Schindler wanted was money. Dehumanizing and taking advantage of the Jews was just a means to his end. But as his heart’s energy expanded from a sense of separation to unity, he began to see these very same people as reflections of himself. Spiritual advancement requires that we, too, expand our heart’s energy from separation to unity, that we see all creatures as extensions of our own true self. And that we learn to love.

A different kind of bus ride
There’s another beautiful story that shows how one of our Ananda members shifted her heart’s energy in a similar way. In the 1980s, Ananda had a bookstore and restaurant in San Francisco. We also had an ashram San Francisco but on the other side of town from the bookstore. The woman who was the manager of the bookstore couldn’t leave the store until 11:30 or 12:00 at night.

Since she didn’t drive, she had to take the bus through a very downtrodden area of town. Many people, including drunks and drug addicts, would ride the bus late at night, and she found the situation very difficult. She sought Swami Kriyananda’s advice. Since she couldn’t drive, he suggested that she take a taxi or have someone from the ashram pick her up. It soon became clear that none of those options would work, and that the only way she could get home was by bus. Kriyananda said, “All right, then, I suggest that you to do this: When you get on the bus, pick out one person who appears to need help and pray for that person the whole way home. If that person gets off the bus, pick out a second person and pray for that person, and so on. But concentrate your whole bus ride on praying for others.”

About two weeks later, this woman told Swami Kriyananda that the bus ride had become her favorite part of the day. By praying for people, she shifted her heart’s energy from a state of separateness and fear to one of unity and joy.

Take back your power
These two stories dramatically illustrate how shifting the heart’s energy from separation to expansion is the most important step we can take spiritually. Techniques are obviously important but techniques alone will not give us Self-realization. We need to gain control over the direction of the heart’s potential to expand until we experience everything as a part of our own Self.

Ultimately, our happiness is under our control. If something is making us unhappy, it’s because we’ve given it the power to do so. Take that power back.

Working with negative emotions
Once we’ve decided to take our power back into ourselves, there are still the emotions of the heart’s upward and downward flow to deal with. An important key to working with emotions is remembering that in this world of duality every emotion has a dual nature. If we’re feeling a negative emotion, there will always be a polar opposite, and we can turn our negative emotions positive by focusing on that opposite.

For feelings of anger, the polar opposite is love. If we’re angry with someone but then decide to give that person love and understanding, we’ve taken control of the heart’s energy. We’ve turned on the heart’s positive “switch” which lifts us up to the higher chakras and ultimately into union with God.

We perceive and respond to the world primarily through our feeling nature. The mind actually plays a secondary role because the mind follows the heart. When we like or dislike something, the mind will automatically rationalize reasons to support our feelings.

Two very important attitudes
To bring the heart’s energy into a state of harmony with the Divine, it’s very important that we learn to feel certain attitudes resonating in our heart center. Love obviously is the most important feeling of all, but almost as important as love is gratitude.

Gratitude is important because it directs the energy flow upwards. By being grateful for the circumstances and people in our lives, we open up a positive flow of energy from the heart up to the spiritual eye. It’s simply impossible to be negatively directed while we feel gratitude. You don’t have express it outwardly — just silently allow that feeling of thankfulness to resonate in your heart. Start by being habitually grateful for things that are easy to accept. Then train yourself also to feel appreciation for things that are difficult.

Forgiveness is another very important attitude. Paramhansa Yogananda said that the highest expression of Christ’s love was his statement on the cross: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” In the most difficult of circumstances, and fully aware that his persecutors were acting wrongly, Jesus’ attitude was one of love and acceptance. In fact, he was blessing his persecutors by asking God not to allow them to suffer the karma of their wrong actions. If we can do that even a little bit, it will begin to transform us spiritually.

From talks during Spiritual Renewal Week, August 15, 2011 and Inner Renewal Week, Feb 9, 2011.

Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi are the Spiritual Directors of Ananda Worldwide. Other Clarity articles by Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi are listed under “Jyotish and Devi Novak.”

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

Anti-Semitism and violations of human rights
Being Jewish, I became aware of persecution at a young age. Anti-Semitism and violations of human rights were widespread in Russia until the late 1980s. While attending a teachers college in the 1960s I found a job as a junior editor on a journal published by the Communist Party. I was fired after a few months when it became known that I was Jewish. After completing my studies for a Master’s degree in Psychology at Moscow University in 1972, I found work as a psychologist at a research institute. Two years later I was fired due to opposition to having Jews on staff.

In the mid-1970s, there was a great need for psychologists in many areas, but each time I applied for a job I was turned down. During the sixteen years between 1972 and 1988, when my family received permission to emigrate to the United States, I was able to find work as a psychologist for a total of only four years.

A prayer for a spiritual teacher
In the first decades of Soviet power, the government destroyed churches and persecuted priests and other religious people. Many people had to hide their religious affiliations. Nonetheless, as a university student, I was already consciously seeking God. I felt strongly that a spiritual power existed. I tried to “talk” to God by asking for help or thanking Him for everything I had, and even for what I didn’t have. In those moments I sometimes experienced great love and joy and I felt that God really “heard” me.

At the same time, I saw around me a lot of injustice and people suffering from a lack of understanding and love. I had many questions:  If God is all-powerful, why did people have to suffer so much? Intuitively I felt I needed a spiritual teacher to answer my questions and to teach me how to experience God. I prayed that God help me find a spiritual teacher.

Teaching hatha yoga as a “health class”
In 1968, when I was 27 years old, I suffered from severe asthma was often confined to bed. My mother had learned about yoga from her hairdresser, who told her that yoga was good for one’s health. At my mother’s request, her hairdresser agreed to take me to her next yoga class.

From the very first class I felt that the path of yoga was mine, even though the teacher taught none of the spiritual aspects of yoga, only hatha yoga. Under the influence of these classes I changed my diet, fasted once a week, and gradually became a vegetarian. I became stronger physically and emotionally. A year later many of my health problems had disappeared.

The teacher, who had discovered yoga while traveling in India as a journalist, often gave us articles about yoga which he had translated. Reading this literature increased my desire to go deeper into the yoga science, especially the spiritual aspects.

My yoga teacher is arrested
However, in circulating information about yoga, the teacher took a great risk. Yoga was considered foreign propaganda because it taught that true freedom was spiritual, not political. Teaching yoga was strictly prohibited and yoga teachers were persecuted and often imprisoned. Even the word “yoga” could not be used. There were many articles in the press describing yoga as “dangerous” and depicting instances of people who had been “damaged” by yoga. Since many people were looking for non-traditional ways to improve their heath, the teacher’s solution was to describe his classes as “health classes.”

I had been attending these classes for about two years when three men in dark suits appeared one day and arrested our teacher. Everyone knew that someone from the class had betrayed him by reporting him to the KGB. Witnessing my teacher’s arrest filled me with fear. The students were too afraid to comment or even to look at one another. Later we learned that the teacher had been arrested for distributing the yoga literature he had translated.

I find my spiritual teacher
Two years later, I found a new hatha yoga group with a good teacher with whom I studied for the next five years. This teacher also taught only hatha yoga; I still yearned to study the deeper, spiritual aspects of yoga.

In 1979, while my husband and I attended a farewell party for one of our friends who had received permission to go to America, I met Joseph Berkovich, who would eventually become my spiritual teacher. I told him about my seven years of practicing hatha yoga, and he invited me to his yoga class. Officially Joseph taught only hatha yoga to a small group of students. After I’d studied with him for a while, I explained my interest in the spiritual aspects of yoga and asked him to guide me on the spiritual path.

In private sessions, Joseph began to guide me in the theory and practice of spiritual yoga and to deepen my understanding of the path of Self-realization. From Joseph I learned the Hong Sau and AUM techniques of meditation, and how to use affirmations, visualizations, and healing techniques. He helped me understand the subtle inner world of intuition and how to meditate on the different aspects of God.

Through Joseph I first learned of Paramhansa Yogananda, whom Joseph described as his “spiritual master.” In 1982 Joseph gave me Autobiography of Yogi to read. The book had been translated from English to Russian and typewritten. Books like these were still prohibited and Joseph asked me do not to show it to anyone.

One day Joseph showed me a magazine in English published at the Ananda community in America, in California. He had translated all the articles himself word by word. He said, “You cannot imagine how much joy fills my heart when I read articles in this magazine.” At that time it seemed an impossible dream that I might some day visit Ananda.

The beginning of a long and painful wait
In 1979, my family (my husband, myself, our two daughters, and my father) applied for permission to leave Russia. We were refused permission because my father was a scientist and hydro-geologist who had once worked in the field of diamond mining, which was considered secret work. We were told that because of my father’s knowledge, it would be dangerous to Russia for the rest of us to be allowed to leave the country.

Thus began our long and painful wait. During this period, our life was a mixture of uncertainty and fear of arrest, combined with the will and determination to overcome all difficulties. Because we had applied to leave Russia, my husband and I were now considered “passive dissidents,” and he and I, and my father, were immediately fired from our jobs. I had been working as a psychotherapist in a psychiatric hospital, my husband as a patent engineer, and my father as a professor of hydrogeology in a scientific research institute. From then on, we lived under the surveillance of the KGB.

Teaching yoga “under the table”
After losing our jobs, and at great risk, we had to work “under the table” simply to survive. My husband worked as a translator of technical literature from English to Russian and my father received a small retirement pension. Joseph suggested that I teach yoga in my home and, with his guidance, I put together a two-year yoga program. I selected students only on the recommendation of people I knew and trusted.

My intuition always helped me in choosing students. Once a young man came and told me he wanted to join a yoga group but I felt insincerity in his voice. When I asked how he had learned about me he said it was “irrelevant,” that he just wanted to know yoga. From the way he questioned me about yoga and what I taught, I felt he was a KGB agent. Eventually he left and never came back.

After three months, I was teaching five small yoga groups each week with 5-6 students in a group. I felt a deep fulfillment in being able to help people not only to improve their physical health, but also to achieve inner peace through meditation.

Attempts to entrap and intimidate her
Persecution of yoga teachers continued until the late 1980s, and information about the “bad tricks” of the KGB spread fast among dissidents and those of us who had been refused permission to emigrate. We were advised not to allow a policeman to enter our apartments. To arrest someone a policeman usually came with one or two “helpers.” One of my close friends had recently been arrested for teaching yoga and sent to prison in Siberia for two years.

One evening when I was holding a class in my apartment, the doorbell rang. When I opened the door I saw a policeman with another man, but I did not let them in. The policeman asked whether I was working. Barely controlling my fear, I told him that under the Soviet constitution, as the mother of a small child, I had the right to stay at home. Nonetheless, he insisted that I was obliged to find work and gave me one month to find a job, saying he would return and check.

We applied five more times for permission to leave Russia but were refused each time until 1988 when French president Francois Mitterrand visited Russia and met with Mikhail Gorbachev, who was then head of Russia. Mitterrand presented Gorbachev with a list of 100 Jewish dissidents and “refuseniks” who wanted to leave Russia. Our names were on the list. Senator Edward Kennedy and other activists were also fighting for our right to leave Russia. Finally, at the end of 1988, after nearly 10 years of waiting, we received permission to leave Russia . We will be ever grateful to all the people who helped us.

An impossible dream fulfilled
Upon arriving in America, we became affiliated with an Ananda meditation group on the North Shore of Boston and later with the Ananda Rhode Island Center. Fulfilling an “impossible” dream, in the mid-1990s my daughter and I visited Ananda Village, where I received discipleship initiation and, a few years later, initiation into Kriya Yoga.

Excerpted from the forthcoming book, Threads of Fate.

Anna Shapiro has been living in America since 1988. She worked as a psychologist and psychotherapist for 10 years at the Jewish Family Service North of Boston, and also taught yoga for 22 years. Currently she is retired but continues teaching yoga to the elderly. Her book, Threads of Fate, was published in Russian and is not being prepared for publication in English. She lives in Beverly, MA with he husband Mark. She has one daughter and enjoys spending time with her two grandchildren.

Q: Alex, what is Vaastu?

AF: Vaastu is the science of bringing Spirit into physical manifestation in the form of a building. A building designed and constructed according to Vaastu principles becomes “alive” with prana or life force. Cosmic energy bathes the entire building, and the building functions much like a radio that can only receive and transmit beneficial energies.

Q: How did you first become interested in Vaastu?

AF: I became interested in Vaastu while living in Ashland, Oregon. Although I have a master’s degree in architecture and have done architectural work, I had become frustrated with the building styles of modern architecture. When I first learned about Vaastu I did a little online research but much of what I found tended to be somewhat formulaic: “If you do A, then B happens,” and bore no relationship to what I knew about architecture and science.

But I thought it might be possible to uncover more of the original Vaastu science, so I took a three-day introductory Vaastu course in Ashland offered by Ron Quinn, a Vaastu teacher from Colorado. Later, when Quinn returned to Ashland, I took a two-week course. Studying with Quinn, I began to see that there was much more to Vaastu than I had realized. I have always been interested in the spirit behind the building, and in architectural designs that facilitate the flow of human activities within a building. Vaastu, as a form of architecture, suited me perfectly because it focuses on the intention of the building — what it’s there for.

Q: How did Ron Quinn acquire his expertise in Vaastu?

AF: Ron Quinn, who had been a building contractor, studied Vaastu with V. Ganapati Sthapati, the foremost Vaastu practitioner in India. Dr. Sthapati was a member of the Shtilpi clan, the group that designed and constructed all buildings in India before the advent of the British. Dr. Sthapati traveled all over the world building temples, which are the highest form of Vedic architecture. He passed away recently.

Q: I understand that when you and your wife moved from Ashland to Ananda Village you designed and built a house according to Vaastu principles. Since, as you said, Vaastu focuses on the intention of the building, can you explain how the intention of your house guided your approach to designing and building your home?

AF: With Vaastu the intention of the building is not just important, it’s the key. Different types of buildings — temples, residential, commercial, or industrial – are based on different sets of Vaastu principles and rules because the intention behind each type of building is different.

My wife and I had a very clear spiritual intention for our house. We didn’t want a house that would make us fabulously wealthy, or a house that would support a driven, success-oriented lifestyle. Finding God is our main goal in life and we wanted a house with a feeling tone that would enhance our spiritual progress. In the design and construction of the house, we worked with our spiritual intention in an intensely focused way.

Q: Can you explain how you did that?

AF: As a first step, we surrendered the entire project to God and Guru, saying, “OK, this is your house. Do with it what you want. If it never gets finished, we’re OK with that.” After laying out the site, we asked two Ananda ministers to lead a blessing ceremony at the site. With the ministers and a group of friends, we chanted and prayed as we walked along the circuits in the same directions the energy would move within and outside the house.

As we moved forward with the project, we would pray and seek guidance from our Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, and also from the “devas,” those angelic beings that support human creativity. For each important issue or decision, whether it was design, engaging contractors, or money, we would seek guidance from our Guru and the devas, who we thought of as our team.

Q: How did your team help you?

AF: The most dramatic physical example of assistance from our team occurred when the contractor was grading the building site. After starting the grading process, we discovered a boulder at least six feet deep right in the middle of where the house was to go. We had no choice but to get rid of that rock. I suggested that the contractor knock it into pieces with the bulldozer blade, but he refused saying it would hurt the blade. Instead, he called in a friend to dynamite the rock.

At that point my wife and I went into our small house adjacent to the site and prayed: “Master! Devas! We know you want us to build this house. There’s a rock in the middle and we don’t want to dynamite it, for the injury it might do to the trees, plants, and our nearby well. If you don’t want it dynamited then you need to do something. But whatever happens, we’ll do what’s needed to get the house built.”

After praying we went back out to the site. The contractor was in the process of completing the grading. At that moment, the contractor lost control of the bulldozer. The bulldozer slid over the edge of the excavation around the boulder and a corner of the blade hit the rock and smashed it to pieces.

Q: That sounds like a miracle.

AF: We thought so too.

Q: How strictly did you adhere to your spiritual intention and the Vaastu principles in building of your house?

AF: Very strictly, because building a Vaastu house requires that kind of discipline. There are five main Vaastu principles, and we adhered strictly to all of them. Three, in particular, are especially important.

Q: What are those three principles?

AF: The first is siting, determining where the building will go. For the house to resonate with planetary force fields and energies, the house has to be properly aligned with these energy fields. The lot size and shape are also relevant, whether there’s a slope or perhaps water moving under the site. Some things are positive and others are negative, but they all affect whether the vibration of the house will be nourishing or draining to the occupants.

The second is: who will live in the house? The people living in the house are very important vibrational elements in the overall Vaastu picture. Each of us has what is called a “nakshastra” or a birth moon, which is configured astrologically and is reflective of our karma. Some nakshastras are compatible with other nakshastras but some are in conflict.

When I was first learning Vaastu in Ashland, I had a client who wanted a Vaastu home. He was very wealthy and he hired me to design a huge house for him and his fiancée. However, when working on the design, I could not get their two nakshastras to work together compatibly, no matter how hard I tried. The couple ended up deciding not to get married, which I believe was the right decision, and the man decided not to build the house.

Q: What is the third principle?

The third and most important principle involves determining whether the six elements in a Vaastu home are favorable or unfavorable. We do this mathematically by an exacting process involving what’s known in Vaastu as a “mother wall,  a “mandala” and the “perimeter.”

By this process I was able to determine the basic characteristics of the home that would bring our intentions into manifestation. Using the mandala, for example, I located the main entrance to our house in a north-facing direction, which represented eminence in divine activities and obviously supported our spiritual intention.

The mother wall and mandala together enabled me to calculate the exact measurement of the “perimeter” of the kind of house that would support our spiritual intention. Armed with the perimeter measurement, I was able to determine that if the foundation of the house was more than one and three-eighths inches longer or shorter than the intended perimeter, the house would not have the intended vibration. All of the characteristics of the house would change — and not in a good way.

Q: How did you make certain that didn’t happen?

AF: I worked very closely with the people who did the foundation. Each day I emphasized the importance of doing it very carefully. As the foundation was going up, I measured it over and over again. The builders were very conscientious, and we had to redo several sections before it was right, but they did get it right.

Q: I understand that the center of a Vaastu house is the most important part of the house. Did the Vaastu principles require you to work with the center in a specific way?

AF: Yes. The center of the house is referred to as the “sacred center” and it functions as the “engine” for the flow of energy throughout the entire house. To continue bringing cosmic energy into the house, we can’t place anything in the sacred center, not even bookshelves.  We can gather, sing and chant there, but we can’t sleep there.

Ideally, the sacred center should have light coming in from above and from all four directions but variations are also possible. The sacred center might have only a skylight; it can also be outside in the middle of the house as with a courtyard.

Q: Open courtyards are common in many cultures — South America, the Mediterranean countries, the ashrams in India. Might these courtyards reflect a vestige of this sacred center principle?

AF: It’s possible. Archeologists have uncovered ancient cities in India where every house was constructed according to these principles, and many had an open courtyard.

Q: How is your spiritual intention reflected in the finished house?

AF: Our spiritual intention is reflected in the feeling tone of the house. Sensitive people feel a quiet strength and rejuvenation just from being in the house. When Swami Kriyananda first visited our home, he said, “I like your house….” I was very relieved since Swami Kriyananda can “read” energy quite well.

Before deciding on the housing site, we asked our team, where we should locate the northeast corner. This is the key corner in a Vaastu house because the energy of the cosmos enters from that corner. We placed our meditation room in the northeast corner; to meditate there is very powerful.

We believe our spiritual intention also enabled us to finish the house. There were many challenges, and many potential obstacles to completing the house. Even so, we were able to finish the house and to finish it well.

Q: Did you find the exactness of the Vaastu science challenging?

AF: Yes, I found it very challenging but eventually I thought, “we do Kriya Yoga a certain way because the technique has a rationale.  Similarly, the Vaastu science has a very clear rationale.”

Q: How do you see the future of Vaastu in the West?

AF: I think Vaastu, like all energy-related fields, will unfold during Dwapara Yuga and by the end of Dwapara Yuga, will be widely used. It is believed that Vaastu originated 6000 years ago in Treta Yuga, and some researchers push it back to 13,000 years ago in Satya Yuga. Dr. Sthapati often said that Vaastu had to be brought to the West to be re-discovered as the powerful science it truly is, and then taken back to India. He predicted that once Vaastu gained acceptance in the West, modern-day Indians who have rejected the old traditions will be more willing to embrace it.

Our challenge in the West, however, is to be careful not to adulterate the core essence of Vaastu with our tendency to seek “a quick fix.” We need to be careful not to become impatient with the time and effort demanded by the deeper scientific aspects of Vaastu. The Vaastu energy formulas affect the well-being of everyone living in a structure, and we would be doing ourselves a great disservice if we tried to replicate the science without a deep understanding.

I’ve tried to find out how authentic practitioners like Dr. Sthapati practiced Vaastu and, more importantly, why they did certain things? Sthapati didn’t talk much about the why. I suspect he was highly intuitive and he knew when certain deviations from the principles were right or wrong. My goal is to go more and more deeply into all aspects of Vaastu, including the intuitive.

Alex Forrester lives with his wife, Devadasi, in the home he built adjacent to Ananda Village. He works as a consultant for  projects at Ananda Village and elsewhere.

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

For it was obvious to me even then that, if I trampled on others in my efforts to “get to the top,” I would also be trampling on myself. The attitudes that I projected onto others would become imbedded in my own consciousness. If I was indifferent to the feelings of others, I would lose my own sensitivity to feeling itself as a fundamentally important part of human nature. And if I lost my sensitivity, I would cease to be a human being, and would become a mere automaton of flesh and blood.

What I must do, I decided, was exactly the opposite: I must deepen my own ability to feel, my sensitivity to life and to everything and everybody around me. Some of those theater friends paid me a visit after my conversion to the spiritual path, and departed afterward with the same cynical smiles of inner emptiness.

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A fundamental reality we all share is our egos. Reality, as far as each of us is concerned, is centered in ourselves. Yet we know that there is a vast reality out there to be explored, and if possible, to be understood. Some of us reach out to embrace it. We want to know how this little ego of ours relates to the vastness around us, how our realities fit in with those of other people. Others, however, seek protection from what they perceive as a threat in all that vastness: not just the vastness of the universe, but the vast diversity of human customs, attitudes, desires, and ideas; in short, other people’s realities.

Although born with egos, all of us are part of, and belong to, a universal reality. We are self-fulfilled to the degree that we partake of that reality. And we offend against our own deepest nature when we divorce ourselves from that reality.

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The following suggestions will help you to recognize and affirm your broader reality, which dwells within everyone. As you adopt them in your daily interactions with others, your understanding of yourself and others will deepen. As you begin to understand others more deeply as extensions of your own self, harmony follows automatically. These suggestions are therefore helpful also as a checklist for how well you are succeeding in your efforts to live in harmony with others.

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A checklist for living in harmony with others

1. Never judge anyone. Accept all as they are.

2. Realize that each person has a duty to change and improve himself. Whether or not he does so is not your responsibility.

3. Develop a sense of humor, first as regards your own foibles, and second as regards the foibles of others.

4. Don’t accept error when you see it, but accept simply that people do make mistakes. (Haven’t you yourself made a fair share of them?) Thus, love people not for their faults, but in spite of them, and because everyone is trying, each in his own way, to find his way out of his own pits of error.

5. Look upon other people as friends and acquaintances of yours whom you may have known in past incarnations, and some of them perhaps closely and dearly. It is, indeed, probable that you have known many of them before, for we live a vast number of lives on earth.

6. Whether or not they are your friends from before, God in His infinity is omnipresent. He therefore resides in everyone—as everyone! See all whom you meet as expressions of our one common Father/Mother God.

7. Be strict in practicing the moral principle of ahimsa, or harmlessness. Never wish harm to anyone or to any creature—nor even (if you are deep in this practice) to any thing. Automatically, as you continue this practice, you will find yourself wishing everybody well.

8. Never covet another’s property. Wish everybody happiness in their possessions, and in their ideas and inspirations.

9. Dismiss from your mind the thought of personal attachment to anything. Thus, when dealing with others, you will find you have no ulterior motives to warp your understanding of them.

10. Never view anyone with the thought of needing or desiring anything from him. Give him perfect freedom, mentally, simply to be himself, and to be complete in himself.

11. Be ever truthful and sincere—first of all with yourself, and then with everyone you meet.

12. Never tell yourself, regarding anyone else’s shortcomings, “I could never be like that!” The sad fact is, you could be. We all have the potential to be like anyone on earth, from the most debased to the most saintly. Be compassionate, therefore. Pray inwardly to God never to let you fall into that error again. For who knows what mistakes you may have committed yourself—perhaps in the far distant past.

13. Smile at others when it seems right to do so. Smile with them, not only at them. Let your smile be not only with your lips, but from your heart. Let it rise from there to shine out through your eyes.

14. Laugh with others, never at them.

15. When others grieve, never withhold your sympathy from them, but, instead of grieving with them, try to give them your heartfelt joy.

16. When others tell you of their troubles, try gently to steer them in the direction of finding possible solutions to them.

17. Try to love people as extensions of your own self. We may think of each person as specializing, on behalf of the whole human race, in being, simply, himself!

18. Live in the thought of God’s loving, blissful presence within you. Next, try, when in the company of others, to share with them His inner bliss.

******

As you follow the above principles, your own inner understanding may suggest to you countless other ways of recognizing and affirming your own broader reality, which dwells within other people also. Seek ways, then, to befriend and help them. All creatures, indeed, each in his, her, or its own way, are parts of your own one, greater Being.

From the essay, “Understanding People,” in Religion and the New Age, and Material Success through Yoga Principles, Lesson Nine, Crystal Clarity Publishers.

The beginning of a tailspin
To illustrate, let me tell you of my experience. In 1997 my 90-year-old mother died. My husband and I were then serving as ministers in the Ananda Church in Palo Alto. During the last three years of my mother’s life, she lived in a nearby nursing home, surrounded by people in their 80s and 90s. I spent a lot of time with my mother during those years, visiting two or three times a week. Paramhansa Yogananda writes that “environment is stronger than willpower.” Being in that nursing home environment so much, I began to feel about 80 years old myself.

Shortly after my mother’s passing, my husband and I moved to Seattle to serve at the Seattle Ananda Center. Six months after our move, I turned 65. Coming on top of the move, and at a time when I was already feeling older than my years, this birthday sent me into a tailspin. The thought of being old enough for Social Security payments and Medicare — things I had been dealing with for my mother for many years — meant I had grown old and hadn’t even noticed.  It was a shock!

Soon my body started falling apart. I developed arthritic pains in my hands and feet, as my mother had. My knees and my back started aching. A wisdom tooth extraction resulted in a gland infection in my jaw and I developed “dry mouth” syndrome. Suddenly I understood why my mother always had a piece of hard candy in her pocket. According to doctors, “dry mouth” is often a symptom of aging.

I finally get the message
But these ailments were merely the little indications that time had taken its toll. The big learning experience came as a result of my teaching yoga postures at the Seattle Center. Somehow I managed to aggravate an old injury in my left shoulder and I developed what’s known as a “frozen shoulder.” I could barely move my shoulder without pain. Amidst many prayers and affirmations, I searched for several months before I finally found a physical therapist who could actually help me, an “older” lady who worked me very hard. It took many months of therapy but I overcame the “frozen shoulder” completely, and I learned that if you are willing to put out the effort, you can heal almost anything.

My successful experience with physical therapy was a turning point in changing my outlook on getting “old.”  Several years and a few more physical symptoms later, I finally got the message:  I don’t have to consider myself OLD.

I was in the final stages of learning this lesson when, in 2001, my husband and I moved to the Ananda Sacramento Center. Later, when in need of a boost, I decided to go to India with Gyandevi Fuller to trek in the Himalayas. That trip not only launched me on a track of deeper meditations and longer seclusions, it also showed me that the human body is capable of doing almost anything it sets out to do.

I had a similar experience a few years later when my husband and I went to Peru with students from the Ananda College. As an “aging” lady, I didn’t know if I would be able to keep up with a group of young people climbing mountains. But I discovered I could keep up very well and also fully enjoy the experience.

“It was so good for my mind”
Even so, there were still a few lingering misconceptions I needed to get rid of. Several years before, I had noticed I was becoming more forgetful. It was becoming harder and harder to remember what I’d done even a few moments before. Here again was perhaps another sign that I was “getting old.”

Then my husband and I went on a diet and we started counting calories. Counting calories throughout the day was a lot of work, with or without a calculator, but it was so good for my mind! My mind became much sharper and much less forgetful. My calorie-counting experience suggests that it doesn’t matter very much how we exercise the mind so long as we do so.  Paramhansa Yogananda recommends two other ways to keep the mind exercised: 1) reading good books with full attention and 2) making the mental effort to assimilate what we’ve read.

Don’t lose “half the battle”
Now that I am 79, healthy and well, I’m amazed at the resiliency of my body. Looking back, I can see where the downhill slide started – in the mind!  I had embraced the thought-form so prevalent during the years I was growing up: that the retirement phase of life is the beginning of the end, and that it was “all downhill” from there.

Paramhansa Yogananda poses the question: “why do some elderly people remain youthful while others do not?” He explains: “Aging starts primarily in the mind. When the thought enters your mind that you are getting old and you permit it to take hold, you have lost half the battle.”

According to Yogananda, the second half of life is a time when we should be “in fuller possession of our faculties and talents, zestful for new worlds to conquer, and eager to pass on whatever wisdom we have gleaned.” The 19th century poet, Robert Browning, said it well:

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which
The first was made.

The wonderful potential of aging
As we move into the last decades of life, it is crucial that we look at the wonderful potential they hold for us. A positive attitude and a willingness to do our very best in all circumstances can transform our lives, regardless of calendar years. This is one of the main lessons I learned from my treks through the mountains of India and Peru.

People in their 50s and 60s may sometimes complain “I must be getting old!” but the growing number of people who are intensely active in their later years shows that we can be mentally and physically “in shape” at any age. Swami Kriyananda and many others at Ananda are living examples of this philosophy.

Now in his eighties, Kriyananda maintains the same busy schedule of travel, speaking, writing, and counseling that he did forty years ago. By his example, Kriyananda has shown that age and physical limitations are irrelevant; no matter what our age or circumstancesm we can still live serviceful lives that benefit others. I can also think of at least two dozen people in the various Ananda communities who, in their 70s and 80s, are still playing vital, active roles.

“What is going on here?”
In 1700, when the world moved into Dwapara Yuga, we entered an age of ascending consciousness. Swami Kriyananda writes that one of the indications of an ascending Yuga is a general increase in longevity. The average life expectancy in 1900 was 50. During the 2400 years of Dwapara Yuga, the average life expectancy will increase to 200.

This general increase in longevity is already becoming evident, worldwide. We see evidence of it in news articles on people getting their college degree at 85 or 90; when we hear of people continuing their careers into their 80s; or when we read about a retired lithographer who, at 87, has taken up the art of trapeze flying. Even people who are unaware of the Yuga concept start to think: “What is going on here?”

Slowing the aging process
Great yogis in India have lived to advanced ages, irrespective of the Yuga. Swami Kriyananda speaks of having met yogis in India more than 140 years old, including one Dariababa, a 144-year-old yogi with black hair and a strong body, who knew Lahiri Mahasaya. Kriyananda says, “Many, many yogis have lived in their bodies for a long time because they are in tune with the divine energy and have absolute control over their minds and bodies.”

The example of these yogis underscores the importance of devotion and spiritual practices in slowing the aging process and increasing longevity. A very important benefit of the retirement years is that many of us have more time to be alone with God and to deepen our commitment to the spiritual search. I have found Yogananda’s Energization Exercises and meditation techniques to be powerful aids in this process.

The mind: a powerful ally
Looking back, I realize that my life has never been so rich and full as it is today. When I changed how I viewed the aging process and learned to forget myself by focusing on serving others more joyfully, all the aches and pains disappeared. Eating more healthfully and “listening” more carefully to my body’s needs also proved important. I am now able to take regular seclusions and devote myself more fully to my spiritual life. Through it all, my mind has become an ally and an invaluable tool for unearthing the “gold” in the “golden years.”

Nayaswami Janakidevi, now in her eightieth year, has become newly inspired by life and wishes to share this inspiration with others through workshops and inspirational writing.  As a teacher and minister, she has been pursuing God through Ananda for over thirty years, side by side with her husband, Nayaswami Byasa. She lives at Ananda Village.

By and by this rumor about A and the crows reached the ears of D. To verify the strange rumor, and in great excitement, D went to several village officers and asked about it. They all vehemently declared that they were positive that four crows flew out of A’s mouth during his ailment.

Curious, but disbelieving and dissatisfied, D went to his friend C and said, “Friend, rumor has it that A disgorged four crows out of his mouth. Is that true?” C laughed and laughed, and after the echo of his laughter subsided,  replied, “My, how people exaggerate. Our friend A only sent forth three crows out of his mouth.”

Hearing this, D thought to himself, “Well, I have boiled down the rumor to three crows. Now, let me inquire of B, who lives near A’s home.” When D found B and questioned him about the three crows that A was said to have expelled from his mouth, B nearly became hysterical with laughter and said, “My how people can froth and swell up things. Why, A only expelled two crows during his sick spell.”

More skeptical than ever, D thought to himself, “I have reduced the number of crows from four to two — now let me go to A himself and get from him the facts regarding the “two-crow” story. D met A in his home, and as soon as A heard about the four or three or two crows he was rumored to have expelled, he was beside himself with laughter. He fell from his chair and rolled on the floor with merriment.

After A had his fill of laughter, he sat on the chair again and said to D, “Friend D, I never dreamed that anyone could develop such an exaggerated yarn, so strange and unrelated to everyday facts.

“Well, my friend, here are the facts. I was walking near an open drain when I became ill with indigestion and expelled two black things at the edge of the drain, which rebounded and disappeared in the drain. B was passing by with a few people at that time and, hearing me violently coughing said, ‘What is the matter with you?’

“I replied, ‘Something strange just happened. I was severely ill with indigestion and expelled the contents of my stomach, and two dark things flew out of my mouth and disappeared from my sight.’ Later, I remembered that I had eaten too many dark mushrooms, which had caused my sick spell.

“I can see that B, in his excitement, heard that two dark things flew out of my mouth, and his imagination transformed the two mushrooms into two gloomy crows, winging their way into invisibility. When C heard this story from B, in his excitement and to convince unbelieving ears, he increased the number of crows from two to three. The gullible, gossip-loving villagers were not satisfied with the story of three crows but emphatically asserted that I, during my ailment, expelled four crows, which vanished into thin air.”

******

This story fittingly illustrates how people love to exaggerate. People love to believe the impossible and to exaggerate upon it, for it satisfies their hunger for weird, mysterious happenings. Man becomes tired of this prosaic world, so he enjoys living in the domain of fancy. Some men and women live so completely in the domain of fancy that they are not aware that their love of exaggeration gives birth to abject lies. Such people cease to behold the demarcation line between truth and falsehood.

There may be some facts in a rumor or a piece of gossip. If you want to know the truth about anything, find out what started the rumor. Someone has said: “Give a lie a twenty-five minute start and it will become immortal.”

It is best to combat lies by loud or silent protest, as the case demands. Although exaggeration and false accusations may be based on something factual, those accused may be entirely different from what people have been told. People lose faith in someone who has exaggerated, as soon as the complete truth is uncovered.

From the Praecepta Lessons, 1938.

Dear ________:

Partly it is a question of re-training one’s subconscious habits.  Partly, too, one must learn to live more superconsciously. To learn to live superconsciously, God’s presence must be experienced, not merely affirmed.  The more actually aware one becomes, in meditation, of God’s presence within, the more this inner awareness spills over effortlessly into his outward activities.

Inward awareness of the Divine Presence awakens also the understanding that there exists a Divine Law, and that all things are in fact ruled by this Law, and not really by our own little human efforts except to the extent that we serve as its willing instruments.  One knows then that the most important thing in life is to serve and please God alone, not man.

Again, when tests come, if one can hold onto the inner peace born of meditation one will find the inner strength to overcome them. But without this peace it is difficult to handle even minor nuisances without fairly disintegrating emotionally. Next to meditation, the most important thing is sat-sanga, good company. Among devotees a subtle magnetism is exchanged that gives to the strong as well as the weak added strength to maintain their calmness in the midst of daily activities.

Finally, to re-train your subconsciousness, always sing inwardly to God.  Japa this practice is called in India. And remember, when your love for God becomes a constant, silent yearning of your heart, all other things will melt away like morning mist before the rising sun. The greatest way to cling to God is to cling first to love.

May God and our Gurus bless you.

From Letters to Truthseekers, Crystal Clarity Publishers (Currently out of print). Related reading: In Divine Friendship, Letters of Counsel and Reflection by Swami Kriyananda. To order click here

May the religion of matter-worship be converted into loving, direct worship of Thee. Since, without Thy power to love, we cannot truly love anything, may we love Thee first and above everything else.

May the heavenly kingdom of Bliss, where Thou dwellest, manifest itself with all its divine qualities on earth, and may all lands be freed from limitations, imperfections, and miseries. Let Thy kingdom within us manifest itself without.

Father, leave us not in the pit of temptations, into which we fell by the misuse of Thy gift of reason. When we become freer and stronger—should it be Thy wish to test us, to see whether we love Thee more than any temptation—then, Father, make Thyself more tempting than temptation! O Father, if it be Thy wish to test us, help us keep our will power strong enough to meet all Thy tests.

Give us our daily bread: food, health, and prosperity for the body; efficiency for the mind; and, above all, Thy wisdom and love for our souls. Teach us to deliver ourselves, with Thy help, from the meshes of ignorance which we have woven through our own carelessness.

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

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.

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

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

******

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.

*******

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.

*******

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.

*******

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

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

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.

*******

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.

*******

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.”

*******

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!

*******

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.”

*******

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.

*******

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.

Q: How can I develop self-confidence? Every book I’ve read about achieving success stresses the importance of developing confidence in one’s self, of knowing that one is good at whatever one wants to do. Unfortunately, I simply haven’t that confidence. No matter how hard I try, I never seem to do things as well as I’d like to do them.

SK: I’ve glanced through some of those books, and find that what they’re trying to do is promote egotism. Egotism means pride, which Paramhansa Yogananda said is “the death of wisdom.” Without wisdom, any success achieved will be fragile. What I suggest is that you study the different kinds of success, and the kind of self-confidence that led to that success, and see which works the best.

Q: Are you saying that some kinds of self-confidence work better than others?

SK: Yes. Self-confidence that is not boastful, but rooted in calm self-knowledge, is much more effective than the “crowing rooster” kind.

Q: Well, I’m not interested in outstanding achievements! I just want to be able to do well whatever I do, without dreading the possible consequences.

SK: Evidently, then, you’re struggling with an inferiority complex. Most supposed “cures” for an inferiority complex focus on helping a person to build up his self-esteem. Their purpose is to resuscitate a weak or ailing ego. That can be helpful if the ego has been damaged, but it doesn’t take into account the fact that having an ego at all can be damaging. Why? Simply because it is self-limiting!

The goal of life is to find God. In that search, the first thing you need to overcome is the usual focus on the egoic self. What those attempts at creating self-esteem and self-confidence accomplish, generally, is to replace an inferiority complex with a superiority complex. Both of these “complexes,” Yogananda said, are more or less equally obstacles to true and long-lasting success.

Q: Can you explain further why both of those complexes are obstacles to success?

SK: Ego, considered as a flaw, is simply exaggerated self-involvement. To be insecure can be as much an expression of exaggerated self-consciousness as to be over-confident.

An inferiority complex is like a sponge. It sucks energy into itself, leaving little energy for what needs to be done. Over-confidence, on the other hand, cuts one off from the source of life-giving energy, rendering dry and uninspired whatever one accomplishes.

Q: Can you suggest ways to help me overcome this weakness—this inferiority complex?

SK: Certainly. There are essentially two ways. One is to shift one’s focus away from self-preoccupation, and direct it toward whatever is being done. Once people become really good at doing anything, they usually accept that competence. Self-confidence is no longer an issue.

The second way is to focus on seeking to channel a higher power.

Q: I think I understand that I need to focus less on myself, and I can see the importance of praying for God’s help when the work one does is for Him. My problem, however, relates to work I do for personal ends: seeking work to support my family, or even doing something trivial like defending my point of view in a discussion.

SK: The devotee should always try to include God in everything he does.

Q: But isn’t it somehow wrong to ask Him to inspire me with ways of winning a discussion on political issues?

SK: I agree with you. In my desire to rise above ego, I have always refused to pray for my own needs—such as for a healing when I am ill, or even for reduced pain when I am suffering. Once I had an acute kidney stone attack, and suffered for several hours from the most intense pain I had ever experienced, but I didn’t want to bother God with a plea for help.

It was only hours later, when I suddenly realized that in fifteen minutes a roomful of people were expecting me to give Sunday Service, that I finally said to God, “If You want me to give that service You’re going to have to do something about the pain!” Unbelievably, almost like breath fading from steel, the pain vanished from my body and was replaced by an equally intense joy!

Still, you see, I didn’t pray for myself: I prayed to be able to serve those people if God wanted me to. It’s important to exclude ego-motivation as much as possible. I have held to this principle throughout my life of discipleship.

Q: I do see your point, and hope I won’t forget it. Here’s another point: I find my self-confidence failing in situations where I’m expected to “produce”— such as to speak in public, or even to express my ideas before a small group of people. Under such circumstances, I certainly do pray to God for help — desperately! But I’m so worried about the impression I’ll make that the thought of Him gets crowded out of my mind when I’m speaking.

SK: What I’ve always done, and it has helped me also as a public speaker, is to keep in mind a “worst case scenario.” I’ve said to myself, “What am I afraid of? Isn’t it the thought that people might think me a fool? Very well then, I’ll just accept that maybe I am a fool! If that’s really my problem, what concern should it be of mine that others find out about it?”

If in any other way I turn out to have bungled anything, well, I’ll certainly try my best the next time, but all I can do, even then, is leave the matter in God’s hands. I can’t be responsible for being something I’m not. My only responsibility is to do my best, trying always to improve.

Q: Some of the books I’ve read tell me to visualize myself doing a good job. Might it have helped you to try to visualize yourself as a good public speaker?

SK: Most of a person’s ability to succeed at anything comes from attuning himself to whatever state of consciousness most closely resonates with success in that field. Yogananda one time, as the young director of his school at Ranchi, India, hired a well-known artist to paint a portrait of Lahiri Mahasaya, his guru’s guru. When the job was completed, Yogananda saw that the artist, though competent, had not captured the spirit of that great Master. The artist was upset by Yogananda’s response and challenged him to do a better picture.

Yogananda accepted the challenge, bought a set of paints and brushes, and set to work on creating another painting. His first few attempts were unsuccessful. Each time he failed, however, he tried again more carefully, gradually attuning himself to the skill required for the task. After a week, the new painting was finished.

When the artist saw the new painting, he had the humility to admit that it was better than his own. Yogananda, I suspect, had felt his sincerity, and therefore took the trouble to show him the importance of concentrating more on the deed than on oneself as the doer!

So you see, you must bring God into your work. However, don’t just pray, “Make me successful.” Say, rather, “Guide me, that I understand how to do better whatever it is I do.”

Q: This idea of attuning oneself to the task to be done is new to me. Can you elaborate some more?

SK: Yes. Whenever I’ve really wanted to do something well, I’ve found that by asking God to guide my understanding, rather than asking for the blessing to succeed, I’ve done many things for which no experience could have prepared me better. I’ve found, moreover, that by tuning in to what was needed the answers simply came to me, almost without effort.

Strange as it may seem, I’ve never had much confidence in myself about anything. Writing, I suppose, might be considered an exception: I’ve always known I could write. It is probably safe to say that my self-confidence here was a memory carried over from a previous incarnation and the only exception I remember to my usual lack of self-confidence.

On the other hand, I’ve always been certain I could do anything well I set my mind to — not because I considered myself particularly adept, but because, instead of holding the thought hopelessly, “I can’t do that!” I’ve told myself, “Even though I don’t see how I can do that, I know God can do anything, even through the poorest instrument!”

When I was asked, years ago, to write a book for Ananda’s twentieth anniversary in 1988, my schedule was such that I only had one week free to write it; after that, I had other commitments. With regret I replied that it just wasn’t possible.

Afterward, however, I suddenly thought, “It’s true I myself can’t do it, but God can do anything! Let me open the flood-gates and see what flows out.” Banishing all doubt as to my own ability, I sat down and, not affirming that I myself could do it, simply let come from God what would come. Ideas, and the right words in which to clothe those ideas, simply poured through my fingertips onto the computer keys. I was able, in spite of the time limitation, to write the book within that week.

So here, for the devotee, is an important solution to the problem of lack of self-confidence. If you think, “I don’t see how I can do it,” remind yourself, “but God can do anything!”

The matter goes even deeper than that: It shows that lack of self-confidence can actually be an aid, not a hindrance, to successful accomplishment. Frankly accepting one’s own incompetence will dismiss from one’s mind the whole agonizing process: “Can I? How can I? Do I have the experience to make the job even remotely possible? Couldn’t others do it better? ”

Remember the formula: “I can’t, but God, through me, can do anything!” How many times have I found my solution in that simple thought! In fact, one consequence has been that my own deep-seated self-doubt, brought over from past lives, and its accompanying lack of self-confidence, have been important keys to what perhaps few would deny has been a successful life. That lack of belief in myself, directed outward from myself, has resulted in finishing innumerable projects simply because, in self-forgetfulness, I was able to concentrate one-pointedly on the projects themselves.

Q: Is that formula another reason why you’ve never been nervous about public speaking?

SK: In part, yes. My initiation into public speaking was surely as dramatic as anyone might wish for. I was only twenty-two years old and had been with Yogananda only eight months, when I was asked to take the Master’s place in giving the Sunday morning service at our church in San Diego, California. The announcement had already gone out that he would be speaking that day.

When the curtain opened on the stage that next morning, to reveal this callow youth standing there instead of the great Guru everyone was expecting, a tangible shock went through the whole congregation. Strange as it may seem, I wasn’t nervous. Slightly apprehensive, yes, but I was so keenly aware of the letdown everyone was experiencing that I could only pity them; I hadn’t energy left over to feel sorry for myself.

Well, but that’s another key for overcoming lack of self-confidence: Lose yourself in the thought of (or, in my case, in my concern for) the people, or of the job at hand. Don’t make a big issue of getting yourself out of the way: simply focus all your attention on what needs to be done, and on the people you’re serving.

I’ve found it very helpful to focus also on the “worst case scenario.” I’ve imagined the most dreadful results that might loom before me. Then I’ve asked myself, “Well, so what else? Such things happen, and most people manage somehow to survive them.” Even death, when it comes, is not really the end of very much: just of another phase of existence. Thus, even if death should be the outcome of that “worst case scenario,” think to yourself, “What of it?” Death will have to come some day, so why not prepare yourself for it now?

With that thought in mind, I’ve found I can relax and forget all about being nervous. I should add that it does take a certain firmness of resolution to entertain such thoughts as these.

Q: Frankly, it would be difficult for me to focus on the “worst case scenario.”

SK: Doing so will contribute greatly to your own peace of mind. Often, people fear what will happen, but accept the thing calmly once it has happened. Thus, that “worst case scenario” can help as a visualization. Visualize that worst, then mentally accept it. In this way you’ll stop worrying about your competence, or lack of it, or anything.

Basically, I think the reason I haven’t had a problem with lack of self-confidence is not that I lacked it, but rather that I simply accepted that lack. I haven’t had enough self-confidence even to bother about not having it. By accepting it, and telling myself that God, on the other hand, can supply every lack, I’ve always found there was nothing to worry about.

The whole secret lies in accepting that we, of ourselves, really can’t do anything right, but that God through us can literally do anything!

From the essay, “How to Develop Self-Confidence” in Religion in the New Age, (Crystal Clarity Publishers), and other writings. To order: click here

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

When a dietician expounds upon the wonderful results of a certain dietary system, Mr. John is very enthusiastic. However, because he never tries out that system of diet, he loses interest in it. But if another dietician visits town, Mr. John goes to listen to him because he remembers the enthusiasm he felt while listening to the first dietician. Mr. John does not try out this new system of diet either, or if he tries it a little, he soon falls back on his unhealthy eating habits. In this way, Mr. John, impelled by a theoretical desire to eat properly, develops the habit of listening to all the new dieticians who come to town without ever following their instructions.

But Mr. John should remember that he cannot follow all dietary systems at the same time and that he should not discard a good system of diet for a lesser system, just because it happens to be new to him.

Carefully select the best teaching
The above principles apply to religion as well. Most people try to follow a variety of  teachings yet stick to none. Led only by curiosity, they love to listen to new ideas from new personalities without ever assimilating the ideas. They are like people who set out on a path to reach a certain destination but become so enamored with walking that they keep on walking and forget all about the point they wanted to reach.

Just as there is more than one true religion, so also is there more than one path that leads up the mountain of divine attainment. In the beginning of the spiritual search it is wise to seek truth through books and lectures and to compare different spiritual paths and teachers. But it becomes important at a certain point to carefully select the best teaching and the best teacher.

You can find the best teaching expressed in books, but to attain spiritual perfection, you also need the assistance of a guru. The willingness to accept divine guidance through one of God’s awakened channels differentiates the sincere seeker from the dilettante. To try to achieve spiritual perfection through a variety of channels shows not only a lack of commitment, but a lack of understanding of the universal path by which all souls find enlightenment.

The potential for confusion
Once you’ve made your selection, it is important to be firmly loyal to your way. You must simply accept that it is not possible to follow more than one teaching at a time, any more than you can reach a destination by following more than one route at a time. Once you’ve found a true teaching, the restless searching should cease.

Unfortunately, many students, even after finding a true teaching, continue to read other teachings and to investigate other paths, perhaps hoping to find easier, shorter routes to divine attainment. I once had a student who read other teachings all the time. She was a very nice person, always kind and polite to everyone. But I used to tell her, “Why don’t you read your own teachings?”

“Oh, all teachings are the same,” she said.

“That’s true,” I said, “but just the same, if you keep reading everything else you will get confused. You have to realize the truth behind those teachings. Only then will you know from realization that they are the same. Until that time, it will be like trying to cross a river with your feet in two boats. When the boats separate, you will fall between them and drown. Some differences do exist between the various teachings. With wisdom, they can be resolved. To the unenlightened mind, however, though they are superficial, they can be a cause of confusion.”

Unfortunately, this student didn’t heed my advice but kept on with her eclectic reading. After a time, she drifted off.

Loyalty is the first law of God
The very thought, “Oh, all teachings are the same,” has just enough truth in it to constitute also a pitfall. Until you have risen above your conscious mind and learned to live more by superconscious guidance, the differences between one teaching and another can easily lead into a bog of confusion.

To one who lives by superconscious guidance and is planted firmly on his own path, the differences between one teaching and another become superficial. Such a person understands the underlying purpose of each path, and sees why the good advice of one teacher may differ in some respects from the equally good advice of another. Newcomers to the path, however, may not perceive the unifying rationale behind those differences, and are often confused by them.

Always be wise in your seeking. The emotional excitement of finding new ways must always be balanced against the truth that “loyalty is the first law of God.” Eclecticism indicates a lack of serious purpose. This is not to say you should be fanatical, but on the other hand don’t be wishy-washy. If you would unite your soul with Him who is the foundation of the universe, you must be firm in what you stand for. Unswerving loyalty to one’s chosen path is necessary.

Seek God with deep sincerity
Why do so many people truly long for God, yet do not find him?  It is because they do not seek Him with deep sincerity and give up too soon.

Always be completely sincere with God. Without sincerity, the necessary focus and intensity will be lacking. God already knows what you are thinking, but sincerity lends power to your thoughts and prayers by focusing and centering them in Him. God never fails to listen to true soul-calls.

The devotional call, if sincere, deep and continuous, and supplemented by sincere efforts at deep meditation, always brings a divine response. The sincere truth-seeker tells himself, “I know what an arduous task it must be to achieve perfection, but I will give it all I have. With God’s help, success surely must be mine!”

What happens if you fall?
We are living in a new age when the standards of living are less strict. It becomes even more important, therefore, to remember always that the correct spiritual way to live is to go within and ask yourself whether what you are doing is right or wrong. Be absolutely sincere with yourself. If you are sincere you will rarely go wrong, and if you do, you will quickly correct yourself.

Sincere repentance for past wrong actions is needed before a person can go forward and make the kind of effort needed to attain divine freedom. For this reason, Jesus wanted to test the character of his fallen disciple, the woman of Samaria, to see if she could be helped. The woman of Samaria had had five husbands and was then living with a man who was not her husband.

To determine the degree of her degradation, Jesus asked her to call her husband. When she responded honestly by telling Jesus that she had no husband, he was pleased. Her truthfulness showed that her moral degradation was only temporary. Because of her honesty and recognition of Jesus as the promised Messiah, he was able to heal her. Thereafter, she became one of his disciples and devoted herself to the spread of his teachings.

Never indulge in hypocrisy or insincerity
No matter how far a disciple has strayed from the spiritual life, he can be saved if he is sincere and honest with his guru. Insincerity and prevarication toward the guru are the greatest sins for these are deliberate transgressions, unlike flesh transgressions which are often due partly to instinctive compulsion. It’s possible to help wayward souls if they sincerely confess their faults and are willing to accept the guru’s advice and blessings. But if the disciple practices insincerity toward his guru and tries to hide his moral disease, he shuts the door to the guru’s healing help.

Never indulge in hypocrisy or insincerity. Always remember: no matter how far you fall from the grace of goodness, you are spiritually safe if you sincerely try your utmost to become good again.

It was this all-important quality of sincerity that Jesus praised in his disciple, Nathaniel, upon their first meeting. As Nathaniel walked toward him accompanied by the disciple Philip, Jesus said, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile” — meaning, “Behold a soul who is completely free of all insincerity.”

Sincerity and courage attract divine strength
You can attain divine consciousness if you are sincere and persistent, and convince God that you want Him more than anything else. You must apply yourself energetically and put forth continuous personal zeal. No matter what your difficulties, you must not give up. Those devotees who never give up reach the divine goal.

Salvation is possible because sincerity and courage attract the strength needed for its attainment. God gives to the sincere seeker the power to achieve victory.

From books, articles, and lessons (1938).

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

In 1859, Charles Darwin came up with another idea. He said man’s existence could be explained within the context of material creation alone, through evolution and natural selection, the survival of the fittest. According to Darwin, man and apes evolved from a common ancestor, an idea distinctly at odds with the Biblical scenario. The debate over human origins has raged ever since.

Recent studies show that adherents to either side of this debate would do well to rethink their positions. A reexamination of old and new research reveals that the creationism versus Darwinism debate may be missing the mark entirely.

Human footprints next to dinosaur tracks
An NBC documentary, The Mysterious Origins of Man, that aired in the late 1990s, discusses a body of evidence gathered by archeologists and other experts* that testifies to the existence of modern man millions of years before his supposed emergence, according to evolutionary theory, from southern Africa 100,000 years ago. Narrated by Charlton Heston and drawing on evidence largely ignored by the scientific establishment, the NBC documentary stepped outside the usual Bible versus Darwin debate. At issue were human footprints discovered in Texas side by side with dinosaur tracks, stone tools dating back 55 million years, sophisticated maps of unknown antiquity, and evidence of advanced civilization in prehistory.

This and other evidence suggests man neither evolved from apes nor rose from the dust of the earth just 4,000 years before the time of Christ. The implications are profound and are causing many to reevaluate the entire issue of human origins.

Based on research assembled as Darwin began to dominate scientific thought at the turn of the century, and upon more recent archaeological discoveries, Mysterious Origins also reveals a common occurrence in the history of science — a bias that favors conventional theory, in this instance Darwinism, and a tendency to ignore or reject contrary evidence. This may explain why fossil evidence indicating man is far more ancient than conventional theory allows, and that he did not evolve from an ape-like ancestor, has gathered dust for over a century.

The 120-year effort to prove Darwin’s theory
This scientific bias explains why certain evidence has been overlooked or possibly ignored, and also why the search for “the missing link” in human evolution, the long-sought-after ancestor of both man and apes, has dominated the scientific community. Even so, the 120-year quest to prove Darwin’s theory has yielded very little, according to one science investigator, other than “speculative leaps” by researchers eager to find confirming evidence.

In the case of so-called Pithecanthropus Ape man (a.k.a. Java Man), anthropologist Eugene Dubois found a human thigh bone and the skull cap of an ape, in Indonesia, separated by a distance of forty feet. The year was 1891. He pieced the two together, creating the famous Java Man. But many experts say the thigh bone and skull cap are unrelated. Shortly before his death, Dubois himself said the skull cap belonged to a large monkey, and the thigh bone to a man. Yet Java Man remains to this day, to many, evidence of man’s descent from a primitive anthropoid.

In the case of Piltdown Man, another presumed missing link found in England in 1910, the find proved to be a sophisticated fraud. And even the crown jewel of alleged human ancestral fossils, the famous Lucy, found in Ethiopia in 1974, is indistinguishable from a monkey or extinct ape, according to many anthropologists.

Unanswered questions in Darwin’s theory
In recent years, an emerging group of scientists have drawn a picture of human evolution radically at odds with the conventional theory. Physical anthropologist Charles Oxnard, for example, has placed the genus Homo, to which man belongs, in a far more ancient time period than standard evolutionary theory allows, bringing into question the underpinnings of Darwin’s theory. Oxnard states, “The conventional notion of human evolution must now be heavily modified or even rejected … new concepts must be explored.”*

What troubles other opponents of standard evolutionary theory is its inability to account for how new species and features originate — the supposition that the innumerable aspects of biological life, down to the pores in human skin, a beetle’s legs, the protective pads on a camel’s knees, and on and on, came about accidentally through natural selection. The notion of intent, or inherent purpose, within creation does not fit into the Darwinian version of reality.

Life, to a Darwinist, can only exist in the context of absolute materialism, a series of accidental events and chemical reactions responsible for everything in the universe. Yet even common sense suggests otherwise. In the case of the human brain, for instance, its advanced capacities (the ability to perform calculus, play the violin, consciousness itself) cannot be explained by the survival of the fittest doctrine alone. And perhaps the most telling example of all is the biological cell itself, the genetic complexities and inherent abilities of which rival the most complex computer software.

What about sudden catastrophes?
The search for evidence for extremely ancient human origins has led some to investigate the possibility of sudden rather than gradual evolutionary change. Once looked upon with raised eyebrows, and still facing dogged opposition, the “catastrophist” point of view has made headway of late in the scientific community. This theory holds that sudden disruptions in the continuity of planetary life have taken place, altering the course of evolution. “Gradualism,” a Darwinist tenet that assumes all life evolved slowly and without interruption, has fallen out of favor in some circles.

Indeed, it has become clear that all sorts of catastrophes have taken place on the globe, and in the universe at large. A well known catastrophist theory proposes that the extinction of the dinosaurs resulted from a huge meteor crashing into the planet with the force of thousands of hydrogen bombs. Other catastrophist theories have to do with drastic changes in climate, seismic upheavals and fluctuations, and even reversals in the Earth’s magnetic field.

“Intelligent design” – creationism without the dogma
The creationist argument derives from orthodox religious doctrine, which rejects allegorical interpretations of the Book of Genesis. It is a belief system many Christians do not accept literally and which the Bible itself may not support. It also lacks scientific support, in that fossil records reveal man has existed on Earth for far longer than 6,000 years. The six days of creation scenario, moreover, taken literally, bears no resemblance to the time it took for the universe to be born.

The more common-sense notion of “intelligent design,” however, (creationism without the dogma) strikes a more palatable note, even among some scientists, who find it hard to deny that an inherent intelligence exists within the universe. The problem with creationism lies, then, not in the idea of intelligent design, but in literal interpretations of the Bible with regard to the debate over human origins.

Why limit the debate to Western models?
The conventional debate over our origins, as we find it characterized in the major media, ignores concepts of human and cosmic origins shared by a large portion of the world’s population, those of the mystic East. Einstein himself entertained such ideas, because they supported his belief in a universal intelligence. More recently, physicist and Nobel Laureate, Brian Josephson, and others, have drawn parallels between Eastern mysticism and modern physics.

The Vedas, in fact, present a scenario similar to that of the expanding and contracting universe of modern physics. Using the allegory of the “Great In breath and Out breath” of creation, the Vedas describe how Brahman, the omnipresent consciousness, projected its consciousness into the material universe, and how that omnipresent consciousness, existing beyond creation, remains intrinsic to all things as creation evolves.

To Einstein, especially in his later years, the idea of consciousness-based reality became naturally apparent — an awareness of a universal, conscious presence inseparable from each of us individually and from creation itself. “As I grow older,” Einstein said, “the identification with the here and now is slowly lost. One feels dissolved, merged into nature.” Others in the field of physics, philosophy, and religion are also embracing this viewpoint.

The greatest minds, then, of our time and of antiquity, reject Darwin’s often unstated premise, his belief in absolute materialism, which says that all life evolved from primitive matter, accidentally, without purpose or design. At the same time, the concept of a consciousness-based creation offers an alternative to strict Biblical interpretations and the concept of an anthropomorphic creator separate from man and nature.

Can science study consciousness?
Establishment science, however, has taken a hands-off approach to consciousness, never daring to explore what by definition cannot be explained by matter-based beliefs about the origin of life. An article by David Chalmers, The Puzzle of Conscious Experience, emphasizes the point.

“For many years,” Chalmers says, “consciousness was shunned by researchers…The prevailing view was that science, which depends on objectivity, could not accommodate something as subjective as consciousness.” Chalmers, however, goes on to say that neuroscientists, psychologists and philosophers have recently begun to reject the idea that consciousness cannot be studied.  He proposes that consciousness “might be explained by a new kind of theory …. [with] startling consequences for our view of the universe and of ourselves.”

The eminent physicist, Steven Weinberg, in his book Dream of a Final Theory, sounds a more skeptical note. He says the goal of physics is to develop a “theory of everything” that will tell us all there is to know about the universe — a law or principle from which the universe derives. But the real problem in developing such a theory, he admits, is consciousness, because consciousness could not have derived from material processes alone.

Darwinism, therefore, which depends upon the assumption that all existence is matter-based, cannot account for the most human characteristic of all, consciousness, which cannot derive from the process of natural selection in a random, mechanistic creation — the capacity of the human mind being far beyond what is necessary for mere survival.

The goal of science and religion: “a theory of everything”
To understand human origins, then, and to develop a “theory of everything,” a true scientist must not only evaluate the tangible evidence gathered by archeologists and other experts,** he must also study consciousness, without which he neglects the most basic capacity of human beings — the ability to think creatively and aspire spiritually.

He would have to experiment in the internal, subjective world, delving into what the scientific establishment considers a forbidden realm. He would have to devote himself, independent of any dogma, to the exploration of the essence of his own conscious existence, as well as to the study of material creation. Like Einstein, he would see this pursuit as the essential goal of both science and religion, the search for knowledge in its purest sense. By so doing, science might arrive at a theory of everything.

The above article was excerpted from a longer article that appeared in Atlantis Rising (Winter 1996), and Forbidden History, edited by J. Douglas Kenyon,  Bear & Company, a division of Inner Traditions International, Rochester, VT (2005)  www.InnerTradions.com  Certain discussions have been edited slightly.

David Lewis, publisher of The Montana Pioneer, lives and writes in Livingston, Montana. His worldview is shaped by his affinity for the indwelling spirit combined with a measure of intellectual study, common sense, and a fascination with the mystery we are all involved with as human beings.

* Richard Thompson and Michael Cremo, Forbidden Archeology, and condensed version, The Hidden History of the Human Race.

** Graham Hancock, Fingerprints of the Gods: The Evidence of Earth’s Lost Civilization, and Forbidden Archeology.

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

1. Forgetfulness of God
For many of us, forgetfulness of God is the main culprit holding us back spiritually. When we go days at a time forgetting our spiritual quest, the path gets dry and we lose our inspiration.

Some years ago, I (Devi) had a beautiful week-long seclusion at Paramhansa Yogananda’s retreat at Encinitas. I meditated for many hours every day and immersed myself in Yogananda’s consciousness. In the early evening I would watch the sun setting over the ocean. There was one day when the sunset was especially beautiful. The sky’s iridescent pastel colors looked like beautiful shimmery chiffon and the ocean was like rolling waves of velvet with streams of silver.

I remember thinking that the sky looked like Divine Mother in the most beautiful gown I had ever seen. There was a feeling of perfect, beautiful omnipresence, and I was part of that omnipresence.

Then I looked down and saw a bit of movement on the water. My focus descended from the vastness and beauty of the sunset to that little point of movement. Three or four people were surfing, and I began watching them and thinking to myself, “Oh, look he’s falling. No, he’s going to make it all the way in.” Suddenly all I could think about was that little human drama. I had totally forgotten Divine Mother’s beautiful presence. When I realized what had happened, it was like a slap in the face.

But that happens so often in our lives as devotees. We set a resolution—we say we’re going to remember God, but subconsciously there are contrary inclinations, and we lose sight of the high mountain of Self-realization and the expansiveness of Spirit. It isn’t enough to say we shouldn’t be forgetful, because the very nature of the mind is to flit and forget. We need to build in constant little reminders like japa or chanting. But the main antidote to forgetfulness is introspection. Yogananda talked repeatedly about introspection and how important it is for our spiritual progress.

Yogananda recommends that we practice introspection twice a day, morning and evening. In the morning we should set our resolutions for the day and in the evening, review our day and ask ourselves: “Did we use our will power to keep our resolutions, or did we become the tool of bad habits?”  Yogananda says that by “ever-watchful introspection” we can banish all the contrary inclinations that make us forgetful of God.

2. Negativity and avoiding the light
Paramhansa Yogananda spoke very strongly about not speaking negatively. His position on this issue contradicts much of modern psychology, but he said we should never talk about past hurts or bad experiences, or about any of the things people have done that bother us. Any form of negative expression opens the mind to negative thinking.

Yogananda said it was an abuse of God’s gift of memory to remember bad experiences and to dwell on them. We should use the gift of memory to recall uplifting and positive experiences. Using memory in this way helps to free us from karma.

Negativity can also take the form of watching movies or reading books that pull us down. The negative content of modern media can easily pull the mind into negative thought patterns. The same is true of certain kinds of news programs and political commentary. Most political commentary these days tends to be negative and polarizing.

Negative thinking is such an easy habit to fall into. Think of a river: When you step into it at the edge of the bank, the river doesn’t have much power. If you take only one or two steps into that negative current, it’s easy to get out. But the more you go toward the center of the stream, the more forcefully it will carry you into increasing negativity. It is important to catch your negative thoughts quickly and turn your mind toward something positive or beautiful.

People who are habitually pulled into a spiritual slump by negativity tend to avoid the very things that would help draw them in an upward direction: satsangs, group meditations, Sunday service. If you’re stuck in a downward pulling direction, one of the antidotes is to force yourself to go to uplifting events and places. Everything in the world has magnetism – people, places, thoughts – and environment is stronger than will power. Put yourself in the presence of upward pulling magnetism.

When you’re really stuck in a downward pulling thought pattern, the antidote is to work with the body, not the mind. Passive negativity doesn’t have enough energy to be redirected upward, so the first step is to do something that gets positive energy going — deep breathing, exercise, a walk, or some form of sport. Once the energy is moving again, find a way to help someone. Serviceful activity will help get you out of the negative stream and into the stream of positivity.

3. Restlessness and comparisons
The next culprit on the list is the tendency to get restless. We can be going along perfectly fine in our spiritual life and then all of a sudden we get the thought: “I need to go to the mall,” or “I need to relax and see a movie…” or “I’d like to have an outing with my friends.” Obviously it’s not a bad thing to get out and change our environment once in a while but if we have a habit of becoming restless, then we need to work against that habit. The complexity of the world is infinite, especially in this age of the internet. There are so many things we can get involved in—but the net effect of all this outward involvement is to draw us into a rajasic mode and away from God.

A less obvious form of restlessness is comparing ourselves with others. Once while still fairly new on the path, I (Devi) asked an Indian yogi who was visiting Ananda and giving a satsang, “How do we develop the kind of commitment that keeps us on the path for our entire life? He said, “Never compare yourself to other people.”

I thought, “What has that got to do with staying on the spiritual path?” Since then I’ve realized how important that advice was. Comparing ourselves with other people takes us out of our higher self into a sense of separation. It takes us into ego competition, into such thoughts as: “He’s so spiritual, she’s not so spiritual. I’m more spiritual than they are.” We can easily slip into feelings of superiority and negativity, or we can become discouraged about our spiritual potential.

Swami Kriyananda suggested a way out of a tendency to feel superior. He said we should strive to put our egos in a position of disadvantage, to look for ways we can take a back seat. This helps us disconnect from the sense, “I am important.” For feelings of discouragement, the solution is to offer such thoughts up to God, knowing that God is pleased when we strive to do our best with the karma we’ve brought over from the past.

One of the most powerful of all spiritual techniques is to keep our consciousness focused at the point between the eyebrows, the spiritual eye. Keeping our consciousness there banishes all restless thoughts.

4. Material desire and “unnecessary luxuries”
For many people material desire would be at the top of the list of things that hold us back from God, but most devotees aren’t strongly pulled by the usual material desires. Devotees are more challenged by what we might call “unnecessary luxuries.” These are the ways we indulge ourselves emotionally and psychologically: “I don’t really need to get up for meditation every morning. I’ll give myself the luxury of sleeping in twice a week.” “Though I need to lose weight, I’ll give myself the luxury of eating two big pieces of that dessert.” Every time we give into those indulgences, we’re giving in to our lower nature.

Sometimes those who’ve been on the spiritual path for awhile begin to think: “I’m a devotee. I’ve given my life to God. It’s probably okay if I go see that R-rated movie.” But it’s not okay. The consciousness is very malleable, and those images penetrate deeply. The downward pulls of delusion are so strong that we can never relax our vigilance. In a way, the longer we’re on the spiritual path, the more vigilant we need to be because it’s easy to allow bad habits to start creeping in.

We received a letter recently from a friend who as a young man had struggled with alcoholism, and was able to overcome it through a 12-step program. He was looking forward to his 30-year anniversary as a non-drinker. He wrote that he had attended a gathering of friends he hadn’t seen for a long time, and that he was the only one who wasn’t drinking. And he could feel a pull —“What’s one drink going hurt? You’ve been sober for 30 years.” He felt this battle going on within himself. He concluded the letter by saying, “I left the party, and I made my 30th anniversary.”

5. The non-use of Yogananda’s techniques
The ultimate culprit that holds us back spiritually is the non-use of Yogananda’s techniques. The failure to use the spiritual tools given by the Guru puts us out of attunement with him. The antidote is to start doing the very simple things he suggested. Sit and practice Hong Sau for an entire meditation. Try to go deeper and deeper. Ultimately the goal of Hong Sau is to go beyond the breath, into breathlessness. Try also to practice the AUM technique more, and especially Kriya Yoga.

We’ve listed five things that hold us back spiritually, but you don’t have to give into them. A simple formula that applies to all five is this: Anytime you feel pulled in a negative direction ask yourself: “What is the opposite of this direction?” Then put your energy into that positive direction. Yogananda says if you bring in the light, the darkness disappears even though it’s been there for a million years. As soon as you flip the light switch, it becomes light. You don’t have to wait another million years for the light gradually to cancel the darkness.

*******

What draws us to God?
Ultimately what draws us to God is the help of God and Guru. We can’t do it on our own. The Guru is that expression of God who has been designated to lead us out of darkness and into the light. Do everything possible to increase your attunement with the Guru. Draw from his power. Keep him in your heart. Try to feel you are a channel for the Guru’s vibration and that nothing exists except that vibration. More than anything else, being a channel for that vibration is what will draw us to God.

From talks at Ananda Village during February 2010 and August 2011.

Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi are the Spiritual Directors of Ananda Worldwide.

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

My father spent the early morning hours, before going to work, in prayer and inner communion with God. As a family we observed the tradition of Holy Saturday and from Friday dusk to Saturday dusk refrained from all worldly activity. We read the Bible, took walks in nature, and went to the synagogue. I believed in a good God and would pray to Him in time of need.

A growing sense of emptiness
Though raised in this devout, joyful tradition, in my teenage years I found myself questioning the existence of God and the purpose of life — who I was, and why I was here. Later, in my early twenties, I began to explore Eastern spiritual traditions, including Buddhism and yoga.

By my late twenties I had had my share of disappointments in relationships and career. I was then studying art in Kyoto, Japan. Outwardly things were going well enough, but inwardly there was a growing sense of emptiness and dissatisfaction. While lying in bed one evening and gazing at the ceiling, I prayed desperately from the depths of my soul: “God, show me the way.” This simple prayer shocked me. I was admitting that I had no clue as to who I was, or the purpose of life. Yet this deeply heartfelt prayer proved a turning point.

I wasn’t ready for THIS answer!
Shortly after offering this prayer, I knew I had to move to America and live in California. Trusting that everything would somehow work out, after living in Japan for almost three years, I moved to California. Two weeks later I discovered Ananda.

I was living with a Jewish girl friend in Palo Alto when I found a magazine that listed spiritual groups and retreats in California. But after looking through the magazine, I closed it in despair. There were so many listings! How was I to know which path was mine? I prayed deeply to God to show me my path.

A few days later, while walking in downtown Palo Alto and again praying to God to show me the way, I saw a sign in front of a building that said: “Yoga Center.” It was the Ananda Center in its old location, an office building. However, immediately upon entering, when I saw the altar with the photo of Jesus, I felt a pinch in my heart. I said to myself: “This is not for me! I AM JEWISH.” I walked out, thinking I would never return. God had answered my prayer, but I didn’t realize it. And I wasn’t ready for THIS answer!

I decide to borrow tapes
When my car battery died a few days later, a neighbor offered me the use of her car to go buy a new battery. Driving to the auto shop, I pressed the cassette button and heard a woman talking about healthy relationships. Her words touched a deep responsive chord in my heart. My neighbor later told me that the tape was of a talk by Asha Praver from the Ananda Center’s free lending library, and that anyone could borrow tapes.

With effort, I overcame enough of my resentment about the photo of Jesus to borrow tapes of talks by Asha Praver, co-director of the Palo Alto Ananda Center. Part of me was very drawn to these new teachings, yet another part of me was very much holding back. Nonetheless, as I listened to her talks over the next few months, and also meditated, the truth of these teachings began to resonate in every fiber of my being. I decided to explore further by going to a kirtan, an evening of group chanting.

Going to a kirtan felt safe: no one would see me or even know me. I found the kirtan very inspiring – it lifted me to a level of consciousness higher than I’d ever experienced. I decided I would visit the center again.

I felt like a betrayer
This time I mustered the courage to attend Sunday Service, arriving in time to attend the purification ceremony. If you, the reader, are not Jewish, you probably don’t know how it feels to a deeply religious Jew to walk into a church. I felt like a betrayer. I flashed back to my childhood and the primary school history classes in which I heard about the Jews who converted to Christianity. They betrayed God! I never wanted to be one of those weak-hearted Jews who betrayed their own God.

Yet here I was, at the age of 31, going to A CHURCH. My body was trembling slightly as I sat in the back. The light was dim. No one could see me — ONLY GOD.

After hearing an explanation of the purification ceremony, I decided I could take part in it. I took the piece of paper, wrote down a prayer, and went up to the altar and knelt before the minister, David Praver. But when I opened my mouth to say: “I seek purification by the grace of God,” I burst into tears. I was shocked and humiliated by my reaction, but David was very kind and compassionate.

I went back to my seat, calmed myself, and somehow found the courage to stay for the entire service. When it was time to leave, I stood in the line where the ministers were greeting people. When my turn came, the first words I blurted were, “I’m sorry but I’m Jewish, and I don’t really know why I’m here.”

Asha said very kindly, “We’re Jewish too.” I certainly didn’t expect to hear this. I thought I might faint. Luckily, I remained standing.

A firm resolution to follow my heart
Later, having returned for another Ananda event, I learned that Asha gave private counseling to people. Asha agreed to meet with me privately and we set a day and time to meet. For the next days, I was in much emotional turmoil. Although most of my adult life I had been a self-directed person, I now felt powerless to resolve the inner battle raging within me.

When Asha and I met, I told her that my heart was aching to know the truth, and that I was drawn to the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda. Intuitively, I felt the truth in them, but my mind rebelled. I asked her how was it possible for someone like me, who was Jewish, to be attracted to these teachings?

She said, “When you are desperate, God will pick you up and show you the way.” She also said, “If you can’t relate to Jesus, put that on the shelf. Just take what feels right and leave the rest.” She recommended that I read Swami Kriyananda’s book, The Path.

Asha’s advice proved very helpful. I started taking classes at the center and doing the meditation practices each day. More and more my heart was drawn to Ananda, but my inner battle continued. It was then that I made a firm resolution to follow the guidance of my heart, since my rebellious mind didn’t get me very far.

The hardest step of all
Nonetheless, it took two and a half more years to break through the fear and anxiety and embrace Yogananda’s path. I came to realize that the God I believed in was a Jewish God, and that my entire self-identity was wrapped around that concept. Each step of the way was like shedding a layer of myself. And there were still layers of old self-definitions to remove.

The final step, the actual taking of the discipleship vow, which meant accepting Paramhansa Yogananda as my guru, was the hardest of all. By then I had moved to Ananda Village.

While preparing to take the vow, the inner battle took on a new intensity. In Judaism, your spiritual life is between you and God. There is no “intermediary.” Yet here I was about to take a vow to a line of gurus, including Jesus Christ, allowing them to guide me to God. I felt I was cutting the umbilical cord that connected me to my religion, my family, and Israel. It was the most dramatic and important time of my life. I felt I had gone through a “death and rebirth.”

Released into a greater, more expansive world
Though still afraid, I took discipleship. After the ceremony I felt great inner blessings and protection. I felt uplifted and light, as if the burden of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. It took much prayer, meditation, attunement with Yogananda, and the grace of God to break through the resistance, but once I became Yogananda’s disciple, I experienced a great sense of expansion and freedom. My consciousness had been released from the prison of my old ways of thinking into a greater world.

Through attunement with Yogananda I have learned to see Jesus for the great master he truly was. I also learned something Judaism never taught me: that the goal of life is to achieve the same level of enlightenment that Jesus, Moses, and all the great masters, including Yogananda, have attained. I was thrilled to learn that I too have that same potential.

*******

Greeting Jesus as a friend
Some years ago, a Jewish woman attended the Thanksgiving Retreat at The Expanding Light Guest Retreat at Ananda Village. At the end of the retreat, she told the group about a profound experience she’d had during the retreat.

In the past, she had attended Sunday services at Ananda Village and enjoyed them very much. But it bothered her to see the picture of Jesus on the altar. If there hadn’t been a picture of Jesus, her joy would have been complete. After coming to many services and continuing to be upset, she decided to make peace with Jesus. She made a commitment that for one year every time she saw a picture of Jesus, she would greet him as a friend.

“Welcome home daughter”
At the end of the year she came to the Thanksgiving Retreat. On Saturday evening of the retreat, she went to meditate in the Lahiri Mandir. No one else was there. She stood up at the end of her meditation and bowed before each photo of the Ananda line of gurus. Last of all, she bowed before the picture of Jesus.

Turning to leave, she heard Jesus say to her: “Welcome home, daughter.” She felt waves of peace and love flooding her being. It was a transforming experience.

******

After 21 years on this path, I am so grateful to God and to my Guru for leading me to my path and giving me the strength to break through the many layers of past habits and perceptions. I have realized, as Yogananda tells us, that the saints and masters are the true custodians of religion.

Nayaswami Diksha teaches at The Expanding Light guest retreat at Ananda Village. She was initiated into the Nayaswami Order in 2009. She is a Lightbearer and is married to Nayaswami Gyandev.

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

A: This debate goes back at least to the early 1900s. As science learned more about the complexity of the universe, many scientists embraced the atheistic viewpoint that intelligent life was the end point of a blind process that happened purely by chance. Darwin’s theory of evolution gave a big impetus to this viewpoint.

Q: So at the start of the twentieth century, the “chance theory” was the prevailing viewpoint in science?

A: Yes. Before then, most scientists believed in God, including Isaac Newton, one the greatest scientists of all time. Newton, so the story goes, believed so deeply in the existence of a divine creator that he once built a huge mechanical model of our solar system showing the rotation of the planets around the sun. He invited his friend, an agnostic, over to see it. Upon seeing the model, his friend said, “This is incredible and so complicated. Who made it?”

Newton had made his point: as complicated as the model was, it was nothing compared to the complexity of the universe. How could his friend think the universe didn’t have a designer?

Q: Can you explain why an increasingly greater number of scientists are beginning to see what was obvious to Newton — that the universe does in fact have a “designer?”

A: Scientific knowledge is at the point where we now understand how many physical properties of the universe had to be exactly right for human life to exist. Before science had this knowledge, it was easier to maintain the notion that the universe’s “life-friendly properties” had simply happened by chance.

But now there are so many examples of these unique “life-friendly properties” that science can no longer dismiss all of them as mere chance or coincidence.* As a result, the pendulum is now swinging back to the idea of an intelligent designer of the universe, a viewpoint sometimes described as “anthropic.”

Q: What are some of the properties of the universe that support the idea of intelligent design?

A: Many of the key discoveries of the last 100 years are based on the scientific study of the atom and the subatomic world, a field known as “quantum mechanics.”

Physicists have found that even tiny changes in the structure or forces within the atom would mean that life as we know it could not exist. For example, if the protons in atoms were just .2% larger they would be too unstable to support life — the atoms would disappear and we would not exist.

If we suddenly doubled the size of the electron, the same thing would happen: all life would cease to exist. In fact, any change in the size, properties, and interactions among protons, neutrons, and electrons would cause life as we know it to disappear.

Q: Can we conclude, then, that the size and structure of the atom are among the things that are “exactly right” for all life to exist, not only human life?

A: Yes. Paramhansa Yogananda, and also all modern scientists, refer to the atom as the basic “building block” of all matter and hence of all life. This fundamental yet microscopic particle of matter displays a level of precision in its form and function that points much more to intelligent design than to chance. Physicists who study the properties of atoms are finding more and more examples of this kind of “fine-tuning.”

Q: Other than the atom, are there other examples that point to intelligent design?

A: Yes, there are two examples relating to the formation of the Earth as a planet supportive of life. The planet Mars is a good example of how the Earth might have ended up with a change in one or two conditions.

Four billion years ago, when the Earth and Mars were forming, Mars, like the Earth, had surface water, an atmosphere, and a liquid molten iron core that created a magnetic field which protected the planet from harmful solar radiation. Initially, both planets experienced enormously high surface heat.

However, as cooling occurred, Mars, being much smaller than the Earth, cooled much more rapidly. As a result, its liquid molten core eventually hardened and Mars lost its protective magnetic field. Without a magnetic field, Mars was continually subjected to harmful solar radiation and solar winds. In time, this continual bombardment transformed the planet into a barren desert lacking an atmosphere.

Had the Earth been a little smaller, it could have easily ended up as a planet inhospitable to life, just like Mars. But today the earth still has a liquid molten core which gives it a protective magnetic field.

Q: It’s very difficult for the human mind to comprehend the vastness of an intelligence that set in motion planetary processes spanning billions of years. Do you think this vastness may be one of the reasons some people embrace the chance theory?

A: I’m sure that’s true for some scientists, but Einstein’s response to that cosmic vastness was a sense of reverent awe. He eventually embraced the intelligent design viewpoint.

Q:You said there were two examples of intelligent design relating to the formation of the Earth. What is the second?

A: The existence of the moon is another example suggestive of intelligent design. The scientific evidence shows that the moon formed when a small planetoid collided with the Earth billions of years ago. That collision not only formed the moon, it also forced the earth’s axis to tilt in relation to the sun to cause the familiar seasons: summer, fall, winter, spring.

If we didn’t have a moon, our weather would be much more extreme, and it would be difficult, if not impossible, for life as we know it to exist. Having a moon that supports rather than threatens our existence of life, is more evidence of intelligent design.

There’s other evidence of intelligent design I could cite but most of it is very technical. To understand it, you need a scientific background. But there are many other examples of the physical universe’s “life-friendly” properties.

Q: In the face of this kind of evidence, what’s the position of scientists who support the chance theory?

A: One of the main theories advanced by proponents of the chance viewpoint is the theory of the “multiverse,” which maintains that there are an infinite number of universes, and that our universe just happens to be the one where conditions are right for intelligent life. However, there’s no scientific proof that these other universes exist.

Q: How has the scientific community responded to the multiverse theory?

A: Skeptically. It makes little sense to talk about other universes if there’s no way to confirm their existence. Some physicists have pointed out that if you can hypothesize an unlimited number of universes, you can explain anything, but a theory that allows anything to be possible, actually explains nothing. *

I’ve always thought that the multiverse theory is really no different from saying, “If there were a million monkeys pounding away on a million typewriters for an unlimited period of time, eventually they’d write the Bible, all of Shakespeare’s plays, the Koran, and every other famous book that’s ever been written — just by chance.”

I like using that example because it’s so preposterous. When you cloak the multiverse theory in the garb of scientific language it appears more reasonable than when you substitute a goofy example.

Q: Have the proponents cited anything in support of the multiverse theory?

A: They’ve been able to show mathematically that the multiverse is a possibility, but, in science, being able to show that something is mathematically possible doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s true.

The other evidence cited is the discovery of “dark energy.” In 1998 scientists discovered that the expansion of the universe is accelerating and not slowing down as previously assumed. An unknown form of energy, dubbed “dark energy,” is causing this expansion.

The proponents of the multiverse theory have seized upon this expansion of the universe through “dark energy” as support for the multiverse theory. However, science at this point doesn’t even know what dark energy is, so obviously it’s neither evidence nor proof that other universes exist.

In fact, many scientists have shown that the discovery of “dark energy” provides additional support for the intelligent design viewpoint.

Q: Can you explain how?

A: “Dark energy” is another example of the kind of fine-tuning that allows life to exist. Scientists have found that the calibration of “dark energy,” which appears to be a repelling force, is just enough to accelerate expansion of the universe but not so much as to cause the universe to rip apart. If the effects of “dark energy” were any greater, they would overwhelm the gravity that holds the universe together.

One prominent physicist describes the calibration of dark energy as an example of fine-tuning well beyond what one might expect if it were a “mere accident.”*

Q: What, then, will be the likely fate of the multiverse theory?

A: There have been plenty of theories in science over the centuries that have been popular yet eventually been proven false. Evidence is ultimately what brings about changes in scientific understanding. If the evidence doesn’t confirm a theory, at some point we have to change or abandon the theory.

Maybe multiverses exist. But as an explanation of why intelligent life exists on Earth, so far there’s no evidence to support the multiverse theory.

Q: Do you believe that the future will increasingly confirm the intelligent design viewpoint?

A: Yes. I believe that as these “life-friendly” coincidences continue to stack up, more and more scientists will embrace intelligent design. As one commentator put it: “The basic properties of the universe are uncannily suited for life. Tweak the laws of physics in just about any way – and life as we know it would cease to exist.”*

Peter Van Houten, a Lightbearer and resident of Ananda Village, is the founder and CEO of Sierra Family Medical Clinic near Ananda Village. He is also co-author of Yoga Therapy for Insomnia and Yoga Therapy for Headache Relief. These books are available from Crystal Clarity Publishers. To order click here

* Tim Folger, “Science’s Alternative to an Intelligent Creator: the Multiverse Theory,” Discover Magazine, November 10, 2008.

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Paramhansa Yogananda told us he’d once gone to see “The Song of Bernadette,” a movie about the life of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, France. “I was deeply moved,” he said, “for there were many similarities between her life and my own. And then I chanced to look up, and saw the light coming out of the projection booth. Everything taking place on the screen was an illusion, created by variations of shadows and light. Such is human existence. It is all God’s light producing everything. Yet how completely real it all seems to human beings.”

The “cosmic motion picture” is true not only to two human senses, sight and hearing, but to all five. It is presented to us three-dimensionally, and includes the illusion of smell, taste, and touch. And yet, just as the light emanating from the projection booth in a movie house produces mere images of reality, so also does God’s light produce mere appearances. For all its persuasiveness, life is as fundamentally unreal as any movie.

The universe is only a projection of shadows and light. Everything is produced by God. Indeed, not only does He produce a movie true to the five senses, He also writes the script, directs the action, plays all the parts, composes and plays all the music, and even provides the audience!

*******

Learn to say: “What a fine picture!”

When the English novelist, Charles Dickens, was writing his famous tale, The Old Curiosity Shop, he realized at a certain point that it would be necessary to the integrity of his story for Little Nell, his main character, to die. It is said that when this understanding came to him he walked the streets of London for hours, weeping. Yet he had no artistic choice but to “kill” her. Otherwise, he would have been untrue to his own story line.

God, Yogananda said, also weeps for mankind: for man’s follies and sufferings. He weeps for human wickedness, also, for though it produces grief for the recipients of wickedness, it produces even more grief, in time, for the wicked themselves. Yet the Lord lets His show go on. He created it without any sense of personal involvement. The drama of every individual’s life must work its slow way, by however winding a road, to its eventual, inevitable conclusion: reabsorption in the bliss of Satchidananda.

Yogananda once said: “When we go to a tragic motion picture and see death and suffering on the screen, we may leave saying, ‘What a fine picture!’ Why then can we not say as much of this motion picture of life? For the truth is, we are only shadow players on the screen of life. We are immortals sent here on earth to act our roles and then depart. We should not take the play seriously. Whatever picture is showing, we should not let it disturb our minds.

“Let us just say, ‘This is a good picture. I am learning much from this experience.’ If you can face life with this attitude, you shall see the light of eternal bliss dancing through all life’s experiences.”

*******

The Story of Narada

Though an illusion, life is the most convincing movie of all. The Indian scriptures relate a story that allegorically describes the illusory nature of human existence, and how easy it is to become ensnared in that illusion.

Narada, an ancient Indian sage, after years of meditation, realized God  in the form of Vishnu. When the Lord appeared to him as Vishnu, he asked if Narada would like to request from Him a boon.

“Yes, Lord,” replied Narada. “Please help me to understand how people get caught up in Your maya—the cosmic delusion. It all seems so simple to me, now that I’m out of it. How can people be so foolish?  Help me to understand that power of delusion which keeps humanity roaming in spiritual ignorance for so many countless incarnations.”

“Very well, My son,” replied the Lord. “Come, let us go for a walk.”

As they went, they came to a desert. The day was hot, and the sand made it much hotter. After some time, both of them felt the need for water to drink. And then, on the horizon, they saw a wisp of smoke rising, giving evidence of a village.

“Narada,” said Vishnu, “I am very thirsty. Would you go to that village and fetch me some water?”

“Certainly, Lord!” replied Narada.

He trudged over the hot sand until he reached the small village. At the first house he came too, he knocked on the door. It was answered by a beautiful maiden. Anciently familiar she seemed to him. In an instant he forgot everything else! Her parents, who were at home, welcomed him as their own. He and the maiden were married, and set up a home and business in another part of the village. Years passed. They had a son; then another one.

After twelve years, his wife gave birth to their third child. While this third one was still a baby, there came all of a sudden a flash flood from a swollen river high up in the hills. In little more than a moment the flood wiped out their home, their business — the whole village. Narada escaped with nothing but his little family and the clothes on their backs.

As the flood waters rose all around them, they set off together in desperate search of high ground. They waded through the swirling water, as high as their knees. Narada held one child by each hand, and slung their baby over one shoulder. His wife struggled along by his side.

Suddenly Narada stumbled slightly on a submerged stone. As he tried hastily to regain his balance, the baby slipped off his shoulder into the water. Desperate to save it, he released his other two children’s hands and reached out to rescue the baby. Alas, it was swept away before he could catch it. The older boys, lacking his strong grip, were swept away also. At that moment Narada’s wife, her knees buckling with grief, fell also and was carried off in the flood. In just a few minutes Narada had lost everything he had worked so hard, over twelve years, to create. Despondent, his will failed him, and he collapsed, letting the water take him, too.

Long afterward, it seemed, he came back to consciousness. Looking around him, he saw on all sides what looked like a muddy expanse of water. “I must,” he thought, “have been swept onto a little mound.” Then, recalling his tragedy, he began softly to weep.

“Narada!” sounded a voice nearby. Why did it seem so familiar? He looked about him again, and realized that what he’d seen around him was not muddy water, but a vast expanse of desert sand.

“Narada!” came the voice again. He looked up. To his amazement, he saw Vishnu standing there.

“Narada, what happened?” inquired Vishnu. “Half an hour ago I sent you for a drink of water, and now I find you sleeping in the sand. What has happened?”

*******

For all its persuasiveness, life is as unreal as any movie. There is no substance at all to the manifested universe—except inasmuch as movies are real: as appearances, merely. The vast drama of time, space, and active life is a colossal fiction!

*******

From Conversations with Yogananda by Swami Kriyananda and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Explained, by Paramhansa Yogananda, Crystal Clarity Publishers.

VISUALIZATION
A World of Virtual Reality

by Swami Kriyananda

Paramhansa Yogananda stated that spiritual progress can be greatly accelerated by keeping one’s mind focused all the time at the point between the eyebrows, the Christ center. However, one problem with visualizing the Christ center during activity is that it represents mental fixity. Everything we do outwardly, however, involves motion. It is difficult enough even while meditating to bring the mind to a still focus. During activity, this difficulty is increased a thousandfold.

Here, then, is a suggestion: Visualize a video screen at the point between the eyebrows! Project your mind through the screen, as if through a window, into a world of “virtual reality.” That is in fact what everything around us is: a world of virtual reality. It is an illusion, simply—more real to us than any video we see only because it is faithful to all five of the senses, and not only to the senses of hearing and sight. Nevertheless, it is not more real, fundamentally, than any video movie.

As you act and interact with the world around you, and with others, project your consciousness and energy out to them through the “video screen” of your spiritual eye!

From Meditation for Starters, by Swami Kriyananda, available from Crystal Clarity Publishers. To order click here

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The prayer is quite simple: If you are having challenges with another person, visualize that person in light and for one minute pray: “Lord, fill him or her with peace and harmony, peace and harmony.” Then visualize yourself in light and pray for 15 seconds: “Lord, fill me with peace and harmony, peace and harmony.”

The prayer also came with these additional words: “Do this 5 times a day — 3 or 4 times might work, but 5 times practically never fails.”

I know of at least a dozen positive responses to the use of the prayer since I began sharing it with others over the past year. Here are several of these “miracles.”

Suspicions of dishonesty

I first met “Sarah” during a meditation program I was teaching at The Expanding Light Guest Retreat at Ananda Village. Sarah is a woman of high energy and great determination. She came to the United States from a foreign country and created a wonderful medical practice for herself here. Determined to make meditation a daily part of her life, she succeeded in doing so with ever-increasing focus. We spoke about her meditation practice the next few times I saw her.

Recently I saw Sarah again, but this time she was very troubled. She had just moved her medical practice into a new office. She had negotiated all aspects of the rental with a real estate broker, who had told her she didn’t need to pay rent for the month she was painting and redecorating her office. Sarah later learned that the landlord knew nothing about this “deal.”

As a result, the landlord thought she was cheating him. Refusing to accept her story about the “deal” with the broker, he was very rude to her and demanded that she send him a check immediately.

The next time I saw Sarah was during a retreat at The Expanding Light. She had just sent the check to the landlord. She was still very upset about his attitude and behavior toward her, and also by recent reports from other tenants that the landlord “hated” her. Sarah usually gets along well with people and is accustomed to harmony in her life.

At my suggestion, Sarah started using the peace and harmony prayer with great energy during her retreat and continued using it every day on her return home. Here’s what she said in an email to me two weeks later:

“As you advised, I used the “peace and harmony prayer” every day for two weeks during my meditation practice at least twice a day. I received a letter from my landlord this morning and everything seems fine now. He figured out that all the problems we had were based on the real estate agent’s miscommunication. He even offered to refund some of the money I’d sent him…. I was shocked to discover that the real estate agent had forged my initials on the lease.”

*******

A job retained and a relationship healed

Another woman, “Sue,” had two fascinating experiences with the prayer. Sue is in charge of a small staff in a larger company. She first started using the peace and harmony prayer to defuse tension with certain work associates, including one of the managers. Later it became known that there would be big changes in the company, but no one knew what they were.

Shortly afterwards, the manager for whom Sue was praying announced that the company was laying off a large group of employees. Sue and her small staff were the only ones in the division not included in this directive. From Sue’s understanding of how the company functions, the only reason she can imagine for the exception in her case was the “peace and harmony prayer.”

*******

Sue also has three adult sons. Her youngest son had become engaged to a lovely woman. Sue liked the young woman and felt that she and her son would do well together in marriage, but a controversy developed between the two which threatened to destroy the relationship.

Sue decided to use the “peace and harmony prayer” in a slightly different way – to help her son and his fiancée resolve their differences. She used the prayer as Yogananda recommended, praying five times a day that the couple be filled with peace and harmony and that she herself be filled with peace and harmony. She did this over a period of four months.

Sue noticed two things. Each time she spoke to her son, he reported that things were going a little better between him and his fiancée. He seemed more willing to admit his own part in the friction between them. After four months of prayers, the problems weren’t completely resolved but the relationship was definitely on the road to healing as Sue continued to use the prayer.

But the other result is also lovely. Sue noticed that she was also changing. She was beginning to feel a growing sense of healthy detachment from her son. As she continued with the prayer, it became clearer and clearer that her son’s life was in God’s hands; she was merely God’s instrument, helping as she was able. Sue feels blessed by this growing sense of inner freedom.

*******

Boiling anger vanished

About six months ago “Mary,” a friend from the Midwest, called for counseling. I had met Mary during a meditation program also, and she is an exceptionally upbeat, energetic, likeable person. When we spoke she was deeply upset by something happening at her school. Mary works with “at risk” children and had discovered some innovative computer technology that inspired their creativity and interest in learning.

Betty, the school media specialist, seeing Mary’s success with this new equipment, convinced the principal to buy the same equipment for the school’s new media center, to be used by all students. Since Mary had a full teaching load, she assumed Betty would take responsibility for getting the new media center started once she learned how to use the equipment. But each of the many times Mary offered to train her, Betty was too busy.

As the new school equipment sat idle, Mary began to overhear Betty telling others that Mary was the only person who could get the media center started, but that she was refusing to help. Mary began to feel frustrated and annoyed. From then on the situation deteriorated. Betty remained critical of Mary even after Mary had trained certain students in how to use the equipment. Compounding the problem, Mary was now being frequently interrupted in her work with her “at risk” students to fix media center problems.

Now quite angry, Mary began obsessing about Betty. Her face became frozen with tension. Angry thoughts about Betty began to keep her awake at night. Each time she saw Betty her body tightened, and she refused to speak to her. Mary found her anger toward Betty bleeding into her interactions with others.

All of this was uncharacteristic of Mary as I know her, but her devotion to her own students, combined with her desire for fairness, was pushing her over the edge.

By the time Mary and I talked, I had heard quite a few success stories about the “peace and harmony prayer,” so Mary willingly embraced the prayer and began practicing it with intensity.

The first thing Mary noticed was that after only a few days of saying the prayer, her body and face began to relax and her angry thoughts decreased. A few days later, she began smiling again and was able to speak pleasantries to Betty when she passed her at work. She noticed that Betty too was smiling more and being kinder to the students.

The school where Mary works has a spiritual focus. After a week or two of saying the peace and harmony prayer, Mary and Betty attended the before-school prayer group. Mary was able to pray for Betty’s family, and Betty prayed for Mary’s family. All animosity between them had vanished. The “peace and harmony” prayer had healed them both. Mary was so inspired by this process that she has made the peace and harmony prayer a regular part of her life.

When the prayer didn’t work

I have had lovely success using this prayer in my own life. Sometimes even a few repetitions of the prayer takes me out of a little mental whirlpool of inharmony. But I’d also like to share a time it didn’t work for me and why.

A good friend of mine, whom I’ll call “Kelly,” once hurled an insult at me with great energy and anger, accusing me of having a fault that I consider negative. My first thought was, “Wow, Kelly really doesn’t like me!” My next thought was, “And suddenly, I don’t like Kelly so well either!” But the anger was uncharacteristic of my friend, so it wasn’t something I could just ignore.

I began to use the peace and harmony prayer, but I somehow knew the prayer wasn’t going to work in this situation. The next morning, still “energized” from the previous day’s insult, I approached my morning meditation with special energy, determined to connect with the superconscious mind, the source of transformation and solutions. As I focused deeply on Yogananda’s meditation techniques, out of “nowhere” the clear thought came to me, “Kelly is right! I do need to work on that quality.” The moment I realized Kelly was right, every shred of negative feeling toward my friend vanished!

So, sometimes if the prayer isn’t working, there may be something within ourselves that needs work. In this situation God had something else for me to learn. Rather than remove the unpleasant disharmony, He wanted me to get to work on a quality that would help my personal transformation.

*******

I deeply encourage you to use the peace and harmony prayer in any area of your life where there is disharmony. If the situation is long-standing, you may find that a greater investment of energy is needed, and that your commitment to lifting your consciousness out of negative thought patterns needs to be regular and ongoing.

But the “peace and harmony” prayer is extremely potent. Its simplicity and clear focus direct the mind toward attunement with God and give us a practical way to draw God’s grace in important aspects of our life.

I also believe there’s a special blessing in the prayer. Try it! If you have any notable results I’d love to hear about them.

Nayaswami Anandi teaches at The Expanding Light guest retreat at Ananda Village. She is a founding member of Ananda, a Kriyacharya, and was initiated into the Nayaswami Order in 2009. She also works as an editor for Crystal Clarity, Publishers. She is married to Nayaswami Bharat.

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With this goal in mind, the Hindu philosopher asked, “Boatman, have you studied the first Hindu bible?” The boatman replied, “No sir. I don’t know anything about the first Hindu bible.” The Hindu philosopher, looking very wise, remarked pityingly, “Mr. Boatman, I am sorry to declare unto you that 25 per cent of your life is lost.”

The boatman swallowed this insult and kept on quietly rowing his boat. When the boat had gone some distance across the Ganges, the Hindu philosopher, his eyes sparkling with unholy wisdom, exclaimed loudly, “Mr. Boatman, I must ask you: have you studied the second Hindu bible?”

This question roused the boatman and he replied, “Sir, I tell you definitely that I know nothing about the second Hindu bible.” To this the Hindu philosopher replied with cool amusement, “Mr. Boatman, I am very sorry to declare unto you that 50 per cent of your life is lost.”

The boatman angrily settled down to his work at the oars. When the boat had reached the middle of the river and the wind was blowing a bit strongly, for the third time the Hindu philosopher’s eyes glistened with superiority and he demanded, “Mr. Boatman tell me: have you studied the third Hindu bible?”

By this time the boatman was beside himself with wrath and he shouted, “Mr. Philosopher, I am sorry you cannot find anybody else to practice your knowledge upon. I told you I don’t know anything about the Hindu bibles.”

The philosopher, in gloating triumph and with pseudo-wisdom resounding in his voice, declared nonchalantly, “Mr. Boatman, I am sorry to announce unto you that 75 per cent of your life is lost.” The boatman kept mumbling and somehow swallowed the words of this impossible philosopher.

Ten more minutes passed. Suddenly a demon of a storm seared the veils of the clouds and sprang over the waters of the river, lashing it into furiously excited waves. The boat began to rock like a little floating leaf in the madly raging river current.

The philosopher was shivering and trembling, while the boatman with a smile of assurance on his face looked at him and said, “Mr. Philosopher, you pelted me with many questions. May I now ask you one?” Receiving an affirmative reply, the boatman said, “Mr. Hindu Philosopher, knower of the four Hindu bibles, you established that 75 per cent of my life was lost. Now I will ask you a question: Do you know how to swim?”

To this question the Hindu philosopher tremblingly replied, “No, dear boatman. I cannot swim.” Then the boatman, with victorious indifference, smilingly replied, “Mr. Hindu Philosopher, knower of the four Hindu bibles, I am sorry to declare unto you that 100 per cent of your life is soon going to be lost.”

Just at that moment, as if fulfilling the prophecy of the boatman, a furious gust upset the boat, drowning the philosopher. The boatman, by powerful strokes, overcame the waves and reached the shores of the Ganges in safety.

*******

The moral of this story: No matter how prosperous or powerful you are, unless you learn the art of right behavior and right living, you will drown in the seas of difficulty. But if you know the art of swimming across life’s tumultuous river by initiating the right actions at the right time, with powerful strokes of will power, you will be able to transcend the tests of life and reach the shores of perfect contentment.

From the Praecepta Lessons, 1938.

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Beginners on a ski slope make a good study in worry-consciousness: chins jutting forward, rear ends jutting backward, knees bent as if they thought the slope was planning to attack them, arms stiff and flailing as though they expected, after the fall, to be reincarnated as windmills. But most people have to be extra attentive to the details of a thing while they’re still learning it. The worrier goes them one better. He remains at his post far beyond the call of duty. He goes on acting the novice — tense, apprehensive — long after he should have learned to “stand up and flow with the slope.”

I remember a friend of mine in college (in fact it was Julius Katchen, whose remarkable talent as a pianist later brought him fame) passing my window one day, shaking his fists in the air and crying, “Problems! Problems!” That image has always lingered in my mind as epitomizing the attitude so typical of the worrier. Julius couldn’t have had all that much to emote over, except maybe finding another tenor for the glee club. But he looked as though the problems of the universe were nesting in his hair.

The basic problem of the beginning skier is too much concern for his own body. The basic problem of the chronic worrier is too much concern for himself. This concern may express itself in various ways — as excessive self-consciousness, or an exaggerated sense of responsibility for the success of every undertaking, or a tendency to hover protectively over others like a mother hen, or even (strange to say) as absent-mindedness and inattention to the outward details of living — a result of being absorbed in too many inward-drawing, mental vortices. The first lesson, then, for every worrier is to learn to relax, to offer himself more and more freely into life’s flow.

Unfortunately, the worrier even more than most people finds it difficult to see life as a flow. As his exaggerated sense of ego (please understand, I don’t mean egotism, or pride) separates him mentally from the rest of the world, so he tends to fragment things objectively, too, to see them in terms of separations. Details of one kind and another, usually minor, absorb him. Again, over-attentiveness to his little self creates in him a bias toward minutiae, such that even if an enemy army invaded his country his chief concern might be over what the invaders were doing to the condition of the roads. In other words, he loses the sense of objective proportion.

But the world is not divided into two classes of people — the worriers and the non-worriers. Most of us worry sometimes, and most worriers are at times full of confidence. I’m writing here of a general line of human development, not of rigid categories of people and behavior. In fact, the tendency to break things up mentally into categories is both a symptom of worry-consciousness and, to a greater or lesser degree, a weakness of most of the human race.

Even moderately good skiers, who can afford to forget their bodies and think more about the problems of the slope, betray their lack of expertise in the exaggerated attention they give to every bump and turn. The mark of an expert is not only the fact that he knows how to execute the necessary movements, but that he sees the slope as a continuity; he absorbs the obstacles as they come, into a sense of graceful, flowing movement.

Remember, faith is a dynamic practice, not a passive acceptance of whatever you believe to be true. Try exercising more of this sort of faith — in life, and especially in God. Even if life doesn’t always seem like much of a flow to you, depend more on God’s power to work things out always for the best. The more you dynamically, lovingly offer your life and ego to Him, and the more you think of Him as the real Doer even when it is you who seem to be acting, the more amazed you will be to see how very capable He is of running things quite competently Himself!

Our job as human beings is to try to do His will, but at the same time to understand that we can never be more than willing soldiers in the eternal war of light against darkness. We must do our best, but it is not for us to decide the outcome even of minor skirmishes. That is why the Bhagavad Gita says that one should act willingly, but leave the results of his actions to God. (Nishkam karma the Gita calls it: desireless action.)

Always remember, worry-consciousness, and the tendency to fragment reality into separate, static, mental images, not only creates problems where none really exist, but actually interferes with one’s efforts to resolve problems where they do exist. The worrier tends to think that he alone is realistic in a world of daft dreamers, but in fact he would be much more realistic if he saw himself as he really is: a humble soldier in the struggle of life, not a general; and if he saw life as it really is: a divine flow.

From Letters to Truthseekers, Crystal Clarity Publishers (currently out of print). Related reading: In Divine Friendship, Letters of Counsel and Reflection by Swami Kriyananda. To order click here

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My imprisoned soul cried at last for freedom from the prison of confining flesh and solicitous maternal care. No more did I want to dwell within the fenced garden of the senses. Yes, I cried for freedom.

Then at last the cloud of silence within me, holding Thee remote, burst, and Thy mercy rained upon me, cleansing me with Thy grace. The rising waters of Thy Spirit broke the narrow boundaries of my soul, baptizing me in Thine expanding waters of infinity.

The power of Thy flood of cosmic consciousness broke the embankments of my senses, and every little bubble of my consciousness dissolved, to be baptized in the waters of Thine omnipresence.

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

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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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There are miracles, yes, but magnetism is what draws those miracles. Magnetism is the most important thing in life. I believe we’re on the eve of difficult times but if you have the right kind of magnetism, even if there’s a depression, it won’t be a predicament for you. Success in every aspect of life depends on the power of your magnetism to attract it. By developing “success magnetism,” you will find victory in all situations even in the midst of widespread difficulties.

Step One: Will Power and Concentration
How does magnetism work?  Magnetism is generated by the strength and quality of your energy flow. When you pass electricity through a wire, it generates a magnetic field. The more electricity passes through the wire, the stronger the magnetic field.

Human magnetism works on the same principle. Whenever you will something to happen, a ray of energy goes out, projected by the power of your thought. That energy generates a magnetic force-field which can attract to you the objects of your expectations. The strength of that magnetism depends on your level of energy. People of low energy generate very little magnetism. Those with high energy can perform miracles.

“The greater the will, the greater the flow of energy” was one of Paramhansa Yogananda’s oft-stated maxims. The more you focus your energy one-pointedly, the stronger your magnetism to attract what you need. Concentration is thus the first necessity in developing that kind of will power. If your energy goes out in many different directions, you have very little magnetism. When you can focus your mind one-pointedly, you are already far on the way to developing a powerful will and the magnetism to attract success.

Step Two: Enthusiasm
For your magnetism to gain power, it is vitally important to summon up strong feeling for what you want to accomplish. Whatever you are doing, do it with all your heart. Magnetism is the result not only of focused energy but also of enthusiasm.

It has been said that nothing great has ever been accomplished without enthusiasm. Thomas Edison, for example, went through 43,000 experiments before he found the right filament for the light bulb—such was his deep feeling for the work he was doing. If you look at the lives of great scientists, you will find that they were passionate men and women and absolutely dedicated to the search for scientific truth. They could never have accomplished what they did without enthusiasm.

Always be careful to keep your enthusiasm from spilling over into excitement. For the will to become will power, it must be directed calmly, with control. As that happens, even when others have failed, somehow you will succeed.

Step Three: Positive Thinking
To develop magnetism, always be positive in your thinking. You will attract success if your mind is positive, and you will attract failure if it isn’t. A positive attitude will bring a positive response.

I had a very interesting experience of this principle at the airport in 1955, when I was leaving for France. When checking in at the airline counter, I stood behind a man whose baggage was obviously overweight. This man, when told he had to pay more, became very upset and made threats about not using that airline in the future. He even asked to see the manager. The angrier he got, the firmer the airline official became in his refusal to back down.

My baggage was much heavier than this man’s, but as I went up to the counter I thought, “This man is a friend. God is in this form,” and with that positive thought, I smiled at him. He looked at my baggage and said, “Well, what have we got here?” And without another word he allowed my baggage to go through. When your thoughts are positive, when they’re kind and helpful, you will find that others will want to help you.

I passed my music composition exam in college using this same principle. I didn’t go to any classes, but right before going in to take the exam, I read the bold print rules in the textbook. Two rules stuck in my mind, one of which was that a bass line should go in the opposite direction to the melody. Armed with this information, and with a very positive, cheerful outlook, I went in to take the exam.

We were asked to write a melody for a bass line. Suddenly, into my mind came a beautiful oriental melody. Later, the professor told me that it was on the strength of that melody that he gave me a good grade in the course.

The inspiration for that melody came because I was positive in my expectations and free of doubt. If you have doubt, if you think, “Well, gee, I don’t know if I can do this,” inspiration won’t come. But if all your energy is strongly focused in a positive direction, you will develop the kind of magnetism that will attract inspiration, answers to questions—all sorts of things. Even the right, pertinent knowledge can be attracted by the right, magnetic expectation.

Step Four: Solution Consciousness
“Solution consciousness” is another important aspect of magnetism.  Many people have “problem consciousness.” You ask them to do something and their response is always: “Yes, but!”  People like that never succeed. Whenever you have a problem, don’t think of it as a problem. See it as an opportunity. You will be amazed how much you can accomplish when you eliminate the word “can’t.”

Yogananda was very strong on solution consciousness. During World War II, he wanted to build a church in Hollywood, but new buildings were not allowed in Los Angeles.  Everybody told him, “It’s not possible.” He said, “Oh, yes it is.” Since there was no law against renovation, he found an old building that was barely standing and moved it on to property he had bought. The neighbors complained bitterly but he developed the building into a beautiful church.

Don’t dwell on difficulties longer than it takes to define them clearly. With solution-consciousness you can have success. Solution-consciousness actually attracts right answers to itself, whereas problem-consciousness prevents answers from even arising in the mind.

Step Five: Kindness
An attitude of kindness is also important for magnetism. Kindness is very magnetic. When people are kind, they draw other people’s help in return. In true kindness, there is much more giving than receiving. True kindness is an all-giving energy.

Paramhansa Yogananda was all-giving in just this way. Once he went to a cane shop, and being a representative of an organization, he wanted to spend the organization’s money wisely, so he bargained. After bargaining and getting the best price he could, he thought, “This man has such a poor shop. I want to help him.” And he gave him back more money than he had saved!

The shopkeeper said, “You are a gentleman, sir.” He gave Yogananda the best cane he had. When Yogananda came home, he said, “What a poor floor that man had. I think I’ll get him a new floor.” That kind of kindness is what you need to develop.

The more you give generously of yourself—to God, to life, to other people, the more the karmic law supports you in return. Your ability to succeed in business, or in any other endeavor, increases to the extent of your awareness of your kinship with the great web of life.

Step Six: Non-attachment
One of the basic teachings in the Bhagavad Gita is nishkam karma: action without desire for the fruits of action. Many self-help books say you should desire intensely whatever you want, for that very intensity will draw to you the object of your desire. When desire and attachment exist, however, what you attract may not be what you need or it may be much less than you could have had. When putting out energy to achieve a goal, it is much better to focus on the energy flow itself, not the specific objective, even when your need is for a specific sum of money.

Years ago members of Ananda Village were invited to pledge different amounts of money to help with the enhancement of “downtown Ananda.” We needed $3000 to pave the entrance driveway. I knew that no one else could come up with that kind of money so I decided (secretly) to pledge the whole amount myself, even though I didn’t have nearly that amount. The money was needed in two weeks.

Although I made a request for a specific sum of money, in praying to Divine Mother I concentrated on the energy of the prayer, rather than the specific request. With great will power, I projected the energy of the prayer upward from my heart and then out through the spiritual eye. I didn’t visualize a specific sum of money or how the money might come. Instead I focused on the purpose this money was meant to serve with the thought, “Divine Mother knows more than I, and will take care of that end of things.”

One morning nearly two weeks later I saw an envelope lying on the floor inside my front door. In it was a letter and check for $3000 from a friend who had once lived at Ananda and had recently received an inheritance.

When you act with non-attachment, you can be sure of one thing: when success comes, it will be in the best possible way. Whatever you need, send energy outward as a “loving demand.”  Energy flows much more forcefully when you think of it as a flow, without fixed and definite goals.

Step Seven: Attune to a Greater Reality
The power to attract success of every kind increases in direct proportion to your ability to recognize, and attune yourself to, a reality greater than your own. The more you unite your awareness to the Infinite Consciousness, the more effective your power will be. What you can on your own do is limited but what God can accomplish through you is limitless.

It’s absolutely thrilling to live life this way and to experience how much can be accomplished. I want to assure you of this because in hard times, there will be a lot of suffering. But you don’t have to suffer if you put out the right kind of energy.

From an April 2011 talk in Los Angeles, California.

Related link: click here to learn about our online course, Success and Happiness Through Yoga Principles

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German site predates Stonehenge: Archaeologists have found what could be Europe’s oldest astronomical observatory near the town of Goseck in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The site, which is estimated to be around 7,000 years old and measures 75 meters in diameter, is thought to be one of the oldest and largest of the 140 similar sites now discovered throughout Western Europe.

Hardly a week goes by without an announcement that some ancient structure or astronomical artifact has been found, or that some civilization is discovered to be older or more advanced than previously thought.

In recent years we have found that the Sumerians had a great knowledge of mathematics and astronomy, and that the ancient Egyptians not only built massive structures but also used orthodontics and prosthetic devices. We have learned that the ancient South Americans built massive stone structures of such fine tolerances that they did not require mortar, and that an unknown race etched out patterns on the ground that make sense only when viewed from the sky. We have discovered that the ancient Europeans built megalithic structures and astronomical observatories in England, France, Germany, and Ireland. Most of these ancient cultures also seemed to have had a profound knowledge of star movements as well as lunar and solar cycles.

The fact that there were numerous advanced ancient civilizations prior to the Dark Ages is slowly gaining attention. Consequently, a greater effort is underway to find out exactly how much the ancients knew, how widespread their cultures really were, and how far back their knowledge might date. Offshore searches, better technology and the ability to communicate and access obscure data quickly over the Internet are aiding in this spontaneous collaborative process.

The number one myth of the ancient world
As the evidence mounts, other major questions are being asked: What is the source of the ancient knowledge? Does it stem from a long lost civilization, possibly an Atlantis-type culture that predates even the early Egyptian and megalithic eras? Or as a History Channel program recently argued, was man really a hunter-gatherer on a slow path of evolution who suddenly benefited by contact with a highly advanced alien race? Or could it be that primitive man was not so primitive after all?

The groundbreaking book, Hamlet’s Mill,* points to an answer. It tells us that the myth and folklore of over 30 ancient cultures around the world speak of a vast cycle of time with alternating higher and lower ages caused by something known as the “precession of the equinox.”

What is so important about the precession of the equinox that it became the number one myth of the ancient world? Only the flood story is as widely repeated in the myth and folklore of these old world cultures.

What is the “precession of the equinox?”
The equinox is that day in the spring and fall when day and night are of equal length. The precession of the equinox occurs when the sun, observed on the day of the equinox, rises in different constellations of the zodiac. There are many constellations in the heavens, but those that form the zodiac, in front of which our sun and solar system move, are only twelve in number.

Here’s an example of how the precession works. If at the time of Christ we looked up in the eastern sky before sunrise on the day of the spring equinox, we would have seen the constellation Pisces at the point in the sky where the sun was about to rise. Today, if we look at the eastern sky at the same point on the day of the spring equinox, we would see that Pisces is receding and that the constellation Aquarius is coming into view at that point in the sky where the sun is about to rise.

In other words, the spring equinox, which has been moving through Pisces for about the last 2000 years, is about to rise in Aquarius. This is the meaning of the “dawning of the age of Aquarius.”

It takes about 2000 years for the equinox to move through each constellation. Over a period of about 24,000 years the equinox precesses, or moves backward, through all twelve constellations of the zodiac, returning to its starting point. This is one cycle of the precession of the equinox.

Precession: one of three celestial motions
Studying the myths and being cognizant of the cycles of nature, we can begin to understand why precession may have been so important to cultures of the ancient world.

We all know of two celestial motions that have a profound effect on life and consciousness. The first, the diurnal motion or earth rotating on its axis, causes mankind to move from a waking state to a subconscious sleep state and back again every 24 hours. Our bodies have adapted to the earth’s rotation so well that it produces these regular changes in consciousness without us even thinking the process remarkable.

The second celestial motion as defined by Copernicus – the earth’s revolution around the sun – has an equally significant effect, prompting trillions of life forms to spring out of the ground, bloom, fruit, and then decay while billions of other species hibernate, spawn, or migrate en masse. Our visible world literally springs to life, completely changes its color and stride, and then reverses with every waxing and waning of this second celestial motion.

The third celestial motion, the precession of the equinox, is less understood than the first two, but if we are to believe ancient cultures from around the world, it is equally transformative in its effect. In fact, the ancients suggest that the precession was the driving force behind the rise and fall of civilization itself.

What disguises the impact of this precessional motion is its vast timescale. From any fixed point on earth we notice that the stars shift position by about 4 minutes per day due to the earth’s annual orbit around the sun. Precession, however, proceeds so slowly, about one degree per 72 years, that it takes very patient observation to notice this subtle shift in the position of the sun relative to the background stars. It would have taken generations, and careful record-keeping, to notice a large enough shift in movement to be certain that the equinox was indeed precessing through the constellations.

A megalithic structure such as Stonehenge, however, with its large fixed stones, would be an ideal vantage point for observing this slow movement of the stars from year to year. The ancient cultures certainly had many of these structures.

The “Great Year,” “Yugas,” and “Ages of Man”
As previously noted, the myth and folklore of virtually every ancient culture mention some type of grand cosmic cycle. Plato and the Greeks called this cycle the “Great Year” as did the early Chinese. The people of the Indus Valley called it the “Yugas.” These ancient cultures believed that as the heavens moved, the earth went through a metamorphosis from a dark age, to an age of enlightenment, then back again.

Just as the day and year have their phases of increasing and decreasing light, the ancients broke the Great Year into two parts: 12,000 years ascending and 12,000 years descending (when things are getting better and when things are getting worse). They also broke each of these two parts into four sections, which the Greeks called the Iron, Bronze, Silver and Golden ages. Each age was said to have a particular characteristic and to profoundly affect man’s consciousness and events on earth.

Hesiod, the Greek poet and scholar (750 B.C.), writing about the “Ages of Man,” described the attributes of each age in great detail. As did so many other cultures throughout the world, Hesiod spoke of a distant Golden Age, a time of the gods and a near perfect world:

[Men of the Golden Age] lived like gods with a carefree heart, remote from toil and misery. Wretched old age did not affect them either, but with hands and feet ever unchanged they enjoyed themselves … and they died as if overcome by sleep. All good things were theirs, and the grain-giving soil bore its fruits of its own accord in unstinted plenty, while they at leisure harvested their fields in contentment and abundance.

The Vedic culture probably expounded on the precessional cycle better than any other. In great detail they described the vast powers of man in the higher ages and the misery and chaos of the darkest age, which they called the Kali Yuga. Unfortunately, during the last Kali Yuga or Dark Age, the correct method of calculating the yugas became obscured. The time period of one ascending or descending age, correctly noted as 12,000 years in the Mahabharata, was multiplied by 360, resulting in an immense period of time that lost all correlation to the precessional cycle or the archaeological record. Such is the way of the dark ages!

The authors of Hamlet’s Mill tell us that ancient mythology is the scientific language of antiquity. Our ancestors knew the sky intimately. Not only did they share an understanding of celestial mechanics, they meticulously charted celestial causes and effects over thousands of years of observations. Entire cultures fully embraced the idea of the “Great Year” and a “Golden Age.” By studying their myths and folklore, we too might gain insight into the true meaning and mechanics of the precession.

An unsuccessful attempt to explain the procession
During the dark ages, mankind lost the knowledge that the earth was spinning on its axis and that the earth went around the sun. So also did it lose the knowledge of the grand precessional cycle. The “Great Year” went from being the number one topic of discussion in the ancient world to near total oblivion.

As the Dark Age receded, Copernicus, relying on the ancient Greek heliocentric writings, correctly explained the first two motions of the earth: the daily rotation of the earth on its axis and its annual rotation around the sun. Copernicus did not, however, have access to ancient knowledge on the third motion. Nonetheless, since precession was a known though little understood phenomenon in astrological circles, he attempted to explain it by suggesting that the earth must “wobble.”

Copernicus’ theory of precession, developed without knowledge that the solar system could move, inevitably proved inadequate. Newton later tried, unsuccessfully, to clarify Copernicus’ theory.

Swami Sri Yukteswar’s explanation of the precession
In 1894, a great Indian sage, Swami Sri Yukteswar, offered a different explanation for the precessional motion of the stars and the rise and fall of the ages. He stated that it is the motion of the sun, revolving around a companion star or “dual,” which causes the precession of the equinox:

We know from Oriental Astronomy that moons revolve around their planets, and planets revolving on their axis with their moons revolve around the sun, and the sun takes some star for its dual and revolves around it in a period of about 24,000 years causing the backward movement of the equinox.

Interestingly, Sri Yukteswar’s statement was made at a time when there was very little knowledge of companion star systems. According to the latest NASA figures, however, up to 80% of all stars may be part of a binary or multiple star system. When we consider also that a huge number of stars (such as Brown Dwarfs) are difficult to see, it begins to seem possible that the sun might be part of a binary or multiple star system yet to be discovered.

Most astronomers would say that if our sun were part of a binary system we would know it by now. However, if the companion star’s orbit period were long enough, or if the star itself were faint enough, it is quite possible we would not presently know whether our sun has a companion star.

Recent scientific research suggests that if the binary orbit were slightly elliptical, as all orbits are, then precession would average about 24,000 years, as proposed by Sri Yukteswar. This figure agrees well with the ancient Indian interpretation of the Yugas and strongly suggests that a binary system may be the most plausible explanation of the phenomenon of precession, even though astronomers have yet to discover a companion star to the sun.

Scientific corroboration of ancient myths
If the binary model is correct, it would go a long way to shedding light on the great myths and folklore from around the world. No doubt there are great catastrophes such as comets, asteroids, large earth movements, or possibly even pole shifts that befall the earth from time to time and interrupt the history of man.

But none of these explain why there was a progressive decline of civilization for thousands of years before the Dark Ages, or why man’s intelligence and technological capabilities generally seem to be advancing so rapidly since then. A binary system of our sun traveling through space, taking the earth on a long elliptical journey and exposing it to different electromagnetic sources, could very well explain the myths that come to us from every world culture.

The dawning of the age of Aquarius
According to Time Magazine, over 17 million people are now meditating in the United States alone. Slowly but surely consciousness seems to be expanding, boosting our ability to better understand the mysteries of the universe, and the mechanisms of the precessional cycle. If the cycle is real, perhaps we are close to rediscovering how to once again live in harmony with the earth and to achieve our full human potential.

Consider what a Golden Age might have been like, when people revered the heavens and aligned their structures in harmony with the motions of the earth and stars. Were wizards, saints, sages, and enlightened people the made-up stories of a fantasized higher age? Or were they beings much  like you and me who discovered a higher consciousness?

The time now is akin to the last days of winter, things are thawing out and a sense of promise is in the air. While all the flowers do not necessarily bloom on the first day of spring, an understanding of the grand precessional cycle suggests we are moving into a brighter, more beautiful time.

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Walter Cruttenden is the Director of the Binary Research Institute, an archaeoastronomy think tank in California. He is the author of the book Lost Star of Myth and Time and the award-winning documentary, The Great Year, narrated by James Earl Jones. Cruttenden’s work focuses on the cause and consequences of solar system motion and the astronomy of ancient cultures.

The foregoing article is taken from his book, Lost Star of Myth and Time, and articles on the precession of the equinox appearing on his website: Binary Research Institute

For more information on this topic readers are invited to attend the 7th annual “Conference on Precession and Ancient Knowledge” to be held this fall in Sedona, Arizona. To learn more click here

*Hamlet’s Mill was written by Giorgio Santillana, Professor of the History of Science at MIT, and Hertha von Dechend, an anthropologist from Frankfurt University.

Related reading: The Yugas – Keys to Understanding Our Hidden Past, Emerging Energy Age, and Enlightened Future by Joseph Selbie & David Steinmetz. To order click here

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

Science tells us that everything came from vibration and that all things in this universe are nothing but different rates of one vibration. Therefore it is one vibration which has created the solids, liquids, gases, and all substances. Isn’t it so?”

He said, “Yes.” Then I asked, “How is it that one vibration becomes solid, another becomes liquid, and another becomes gases, and how is it that these vibrations are so coordinated that human life becomes possible? Doesn’t it show that there is an Intelligence behind all this?” He said, “Yes, I have found the answer.”

All matter is composed of vibration. The difference between solids, liquids, and gaseous substances consists only in the different rate of their vibration. Heat a piece of iron and it will liquefy; further heat the liquid and it will evaporate into gas. Science does not tell us how this one vibration differentiates itself, but vibration could not differentiate itself into different forms if it did not have intelligence.

In support of human life
Intelligent vibration creates and guides the universe. The human body is simply a combination consisting chiefly of 16 elements that can be found almost anywhere in Nature’s realm. Unless intelligence is in the body, it is only a combination of these elements and nothing more. With intelligence added, it becomes a living and thinking human being.

If vibration were not intelligent, the earth might be a meaningless mass of mud without human beings or a food supply to support human life. Seemingly, the earth and the whole universe have been placed on a routine so that human life is possible.

For instance, there is the sun far away and here we are on this little earth and yet, due to the direction of a living intelligence, there is a cooperation between the sun and our lives. Without that sun we could not exist. Even the stars govern our lives to some extent. We have hunger, and Nature supplies our need for food. Some mysterious power transforms that food into energy and the tissues of our bodies. Why doesn’t one hand become longer than the other? Why is not the head as long as the body?

Everything we see in creation shows thought and design. Even the fibers of the tree show thought and design. The tree breathes and has sap pressure. Why do the seasons come on time? Why is the earth the earth, the ocean the ocean, and the solar system a solar system? Why is there this perceptible beauty and orderly arrangement in the universe?  It is because an intelligent force is guiding all things to a definite destiny. Not only do we see evidence of intelligence in everything around us, but the harmonious arrangement of all things suggests a conscious prearranged plan.

Human beings, the solar and stellar systems, the earth with its physical laws and routine of seasons, all stand in harmonious relation to each other. This shows the universe to be the work of one governing Intelligence or Universal Spirit who creates all things and arranges them in harmonious relationships according to an unseen plan.

The Factory of Cosmic Intelligence
The Infinite is inconceivable, but the finite gives us a starting point. Can the intelligence reflected in Nature come out of nothing? Is it not reasonable to suppose that somewhere there is some sort of “factory” that produces intelligence? We humans are only one of the many products of that Factory of Cosmic Intelligence. God is that invisible Factory of Intelligence from which stars, planets, and all manifest things are created, born and harmonized.

Despite Nature’s many pranks, throughout the universe there is a rhythm. This rhythm, and all things, are products of the Factory of the one All-Ruling Intelligence. In fact, the whole universe works in a coordinated way. It is a universe conducted in perfect order. Different rates of vibration, balanced in the cosmic rhythm, produce before us the majestic cosmos.

Beauty, morality, & nobility
You will observe that this universal Spirit is also trying to manifest beauty and a moral and a noble plan. Not only do we see intelligence at work, but we also see the beauty of Nature, of mountains rising in the ever-changing canvas of the sky. We see the beauty of magnanimous souls, the loftiness of certain minds, the depth of saintly love, the fountains of human mercy. Why is there this perceptible beauty and inspiration all around us? No doubt the universal power sometimes works under adverse circumstances, but it is evident that a secret force is at work trying to bring order out of the chaos of creation through beauty, and a moral and spiritual plan.

Everything in the universe is related. Hidden within us is the germ of an Almighty Power that has linked us all together. We find that our wisdom is a reflection from an infinite light of wisdom. We can say, “God is wisdom, the wisdom behind all wisdom, of which we can see glimpses through the intelligence of human beings and the intelligence expressed in all Nature.

The goodness of God
God is very good to us. If He wanted to punish us, He could give a little push to this earth and we would be gone. The earth is going at a terrific speed around the sun, but think what would happen if it whirled a little faster or a little slower–we would be completely wiped out.

Just like a man with a lot of luggage, so is this earth with its moon going around the sun. Even though many natural forces try to pull it away, the earth goes on its path. We think we are perfectly safe, but if the earth trembled just a little, where would we be? Think of the insecurity of earthly existence; and yet so many people go on forgetting God and His power!

The surest proof of God’s existence
God lies beyond the circle of our imagination and finite understanding. We can not prove God’s existence through the limited powers of the intellect. Intellect gives only a partial and indirect view of things. God is the cause of all things, but He is also beyond cause. Only our superconscious mind or intuition can fully grasp this truth. Intuition carries the conviction of direct experience.

The surest proof of the existence of God can only be found within, by the whole-hearted deep, daily practice of meditation.  When we have stilled the waves of thought within us and are calm, we can perceive the Infinite. Then the God that is templed in all creation manifests within us as the peace and bliss of meditation.

When that bliss comes over you, you will recognize it as a conscious, intelligent, universal Being to whom you may appeal, and not an abstract mental state. The experience of bliss is the surest proof of God’s existence. Finding Him within, you will find Him everywhere.

God gives us many incentives
Many incentives are given us outwardly to inspire us to seek a higher reality. There are Nature’s countless beauties. There is the amazing adaptability and precision evident in the natural order, the signs of a mighty, guiding Intelligence. And there are inspiring qualities in human nature, which sensitive people, as they become aware of them, want to develop in themselves.

It is evident that the harmony in Nature and the mathematics of planetary order reveal an intelligent law and cosmic plan. The unthinking person ascribes the law and order in this world to chance and nature, but the divine man, who consciously perceives God in everything, knows that everything, including all planetary and stellar systems, are linked to that one Infinite Intelligence and governed by His will.

From books, articles and lessons.

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Karma in the spiritual realm is the equivalent to Newton’s law of action and reaction in physics: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If we put out positive, loving energy, we receive positive, loving energy in return. If we put out negative energy in the form of judgmental attitudes or dishonesty, that same type of energy comes back to us.

What makes karma “bad” or “good?”
Swami Kriyananda describes good karma as anything that brings us closer to God and bad karma as anything that takes us farther away from Him. Is winning the lottery good karma? Not if we spend that money on ourselves and increase our sense of ego. Is having everything we’ve worked for crumble before our eyes bad karma? Not necessarily. Many people have become saints by responding to adversity with great will power and courage.

The power of a particular karma is determined by the energy and will power that went into creating it. These same two factors can also change our karma. For instance, if in the past you tried to hurt people by unkind acts, you can neutralize that karma by devoting equal energy to helping and uplifting others. The more energy and will power you put into changing that karma, the sooner it will dissipate, and the sooner the good karma you’re now creating will start to bear fruit. If you don’t know what you might have done to create a difficult karma, use your imagination as to what likely caused it.

A step by step approach to changing your karma
A dear friend at Ananda Village, who passed away early this year, exemplified perfectly how we should respond to karma. Three weeks before her passing she learned that she had inoperable brain cancer and little time left to live. Within five days of the onset of the first major symptoms, her body stopped obeying her brain. Her husband had to wheel her in a wheelchair into the hospital for brain scans.

She could feel how upset he was over what she was going through, and she said something to comfort him which we should emblazon in our minds: “Detach yourself, control the reactive process, and live the teachings.” Her succinct statement sums up exactly how we should meet karmic tests if we want to undo karmic patterns. Many of us now have this advice posted on our desks at work.

“It’s not my fault”
When we’re facing a difficult karma, the first thing we need to do is to detach ourselves. One of the most important ways of detaching ourselves is to accept karmic tests as coming from God. How do we know that our karmic tests come from God? Everything comes from God. If we don’t accept that, then we are pushing away the lesson we need to learn.

Secondly, we need to control the tendency to blame others. When something bad happens, how often our first reaction is to blame other people. We have layers of protective devices around the ego, but one of the biggest is: “It’s not my fault.” Suppose you were obeying the traffic laws, and someone ran a red light and collided with your car. If you blame that person, you’ve done absolutely nothing to change your karma. But if you detach yourself and think: “There’s something for me to learn from this experience,” you bring a positive reaction to it.  Your positive reaction will help expiate the karma.

So the first step in detaching ourselves is: Don’t blame people or circumstances. Nor does it particularly help to blame yourself. Just accept what’s happening as coming from God for your own spiritual freedom.

“What comes of itself let it come”
Detachment also means accepting whatever comes and being grateful for it. It means not wishing that certain things happen or not happen; not wishing you could have this thing or that. Yogananda beautifully described acceptance when he said, “What comes of itself, let it come.” Accept not only what comes, but also what doesn’t come.

Though often difficult, expressing gratitude for our karma is an important aspect of changing it.  Paramhansa Yogananda explained that Jesus Christ was referring to how we can change our karma when he said, “And to him that smites you on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that takes away your cloak forbid not to take your coat also.” (Luke 6:39.) When seemingly bad karma comes, accept it with gratitude and say: “Thank you — I welcome it!” Welcoming bad karma is not easy, but as we learn to control the reactive process we begin to understand that all karmic tests are truly for our benefit.

Controlling the reactive process means catching yourself when you first start to have a negative reaction. If you can catch yourself at that moment it is easier to neutralize the karma.

Becoming free of karmic patterns
When we respond to karma in the right way, we pass the test and don’t have to repeat it. Otherwise we get to retake the test, sometimes over a period of lifetimes. It’s important to become aware of your karmic patterns, the things that happen repeatedly. Karmic patterns are very complex. We don’t always know why a certain karma comes but if the karma is repeating in your life, that’s a sign you should spend time working on that particular karma.

A wonderful artist friend of ours told us a story about how she changed a negative karmic pattern. One day she called her financial advisor, who was also a friend, and asked a question. He reacted angrily, saying: “Why are you calling me at work? Can’t you understand I’ve got business to do?  I don’t have time for this now.” And he slammed the phone down.

Our friend was very fiery and tended to be reactive. She immediately picked up the phone and called him back, but the line was busy. After calling back several times and getting a busy signal, she became engrossed in her work. Several hours later she remembered the call.  However, by this time she had calmed down and had begun to think, “I wonder why he reacted like that? That’s not like him.” She called him and asked, “Is something wrong? That was such a strange reaction from you this morning.” He started crying and said, “I’m having a very difficult time at home and at work,” and they went on to have a deep and loving conversation.

For our friend, the way out of a repeating negative pattern was to respond, not with anger or aggression, but with patience, understanding, and kindness. In so doing, she neutralized the reactive process and also created good karma.

So: “Detach yourself, control the reactive process, and live the teachings.” The teachings point us to the attitudes and practices that get us out of these karmic patterns. Bringing that simple formula to mind when we have a spiritual test will help free us from much suffering.

A subtler form of bad karma
Generally speaking, if we respond to adversity with the right attitude, then what initially looked like bad karma becomes something positive spiritually. But there’s a subtler form of bad karma that comes from identifying with the body and the material world. This type of karma can make us restless, impede our efforts to meditate, or prevent us from going deeper into the spiritual life. Often it limits our faith in our own spiritual potential.

To overcome karma of this type we need to work on removing the subconscious blocks and inner conflicts concerning what we really want in life, and who we really are in our deepest nature. Remember always that overcoming any kind of karma depends on how much will power and positive energy we direct toward the process of self-transformation. We can eliminate all subconscious blocks by focusing our energy strongly in positive new directions.

Kriya Yoga and the grace of God and Guru
The most powerful antidote for our past bad karma is the practice of Kriya Yoga, which works directly on the vrittis in the spine, where our karma resides. Paramhansa Yogananda said, “Seeds of past karma cannot germinate when roasted in the fire of wisdom.” Through the deep practice of Kriya, we burn up, or “roast,” the seeds of our past karma.

The teachings of India say that the law of karma rules supreme, but higher than the law of karma is the grace of God and Guru. There are many stories in the Autobiography of a Yogi and the Indian scriptures that tell of how the guru “takes on” the karma of his disciples. The guru’s purpose is not only to give us his consciousness, but also to protect us. If it’s our karma to lose an arm, we may only get a little scratch. If it’s our karma to receive a fatal blow, it will be deflected.

The grace of God and Guru is our ultimate karmic protection. The more we attune ourselves to their will, the more that grace surrounds us. Our job is to respond to karma with the right attitude and effort, but it is the grace of God and Guru that ultimately frees us from all karma.

From February 2011 talks at Ananda Village.

Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi are the Spiritual Directors of Ananda Worldwide.

Other Clarity articles by Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi are listed under “Jyotish and Devi Novak.”

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

One day, while stopping at that beach in the middle of a run, I felt the inspiration that I should go to medical school. In that moment I also found my guru, though it would take time for me to actually know that.

Praying and listening with the heart
Medical school is an experience in learning how to memorize a huge amount of data. I always appreciated having that fund of knowledge, but I also understood that I could not truly help my patients simply by relying only on that information. During my internship and residency, I somehow knew to keep a note on my clipboard reminding me to always pray and ask for guidance before I saw a patient. Guru’s grace descending again!

Now, in my medical practice, I ask for guidance all the time – over and over. I’ve had miraculous experiences because I’ve been willing to be quiet and listen with my heart. Before walking into a patient’s room, or while sitting with a patient, I’ll pray to Yogananda: “Master, I need to know what to say to this person, and how to say it.”

Then the words come, the diagnoses come, and miracles happen. The stories that have evolved through my work are precious.  Here are a few tales of these divine gifts.

Something was terribly wrong
One day, after I had seen close to 30 patients, I stopped at the door of the treatment room before going in to see my last patient. Inwardly I said, “Divine Mother, You have to guide me because I’m exhausted. I’m going to miss something important if You’re not with me.”

Waiting in the room was a 92-year-old man, the father of one of the nuns who ran the hospital. She and her sister were with him. He was a gruff old man and announced to me right away, “I haven’t been to see a doctor in ten years at least. I never go to the doctor. I have a little back pain – just give me some medicine!”

When I asked him to tell me about his back pain, he replied with annoyance, “There’s nothing to tell you! I’ve just got back pain.” After pressing him for more details, he said that a very severe back pain had come on suddenly the night before. His daughter added, “It was so severe that it made him sick to his stomach.”

As I listened to this story, right away I got the feeling that something was terribly wrong. I said to him, “I’m going to leave the room. You’re going to get undressed, and I’m going to come back and examine you.” Muttering a few expletives, he refused to be examined, but fortunately his daughters were on my side.

I left the room. On the way back, before going in, I prayed, “Divine Mother, You diagnose this man. Something’s going on here.”

During the exam, I found nothing except a little of what we call “mottling” of his skin on his right side, which I assumed was due to the room being cold. But I still had this troubling feeling. So I said to him, “You are going to the emergency room. Would you like your daughters to drive you, or shall I call 911?”

After quite an argument, he let his daughters drive him to the emergency room. I called ahead to the emergency room doctor and said, “Something serious is going on with this man. It’s important that you see him the instant he arrives.”

The doctor in the emergency room knew exactly what that “mottling” meant, and quickly got him up to the operating room. The instant the surgeon opened his abdomen, his entire abdominal aorta burst open. Had this man stopped to go home, had we fought for another three minutes, he would have died.

The next day, my phone kept ringing. My doctor friends at the hospital called to ask, “How did you remember this sign?” I said, “I didn’t remember anything.”

I thought to myself, “How could I ever share this story?” From years of taking care of patients I knew that knowing all the facts and “signs” is important (I don’t want to miss a pneumonia, or an appendicitis), but most of the healing that’s happened in my practice has come through me. Everything important that I know about medicine, everything I have to give, comes from my having opened my heart to God.

“See this man!”
Another day, when I had a completely overbooked schedule,  a new patient called saying he had a cold and needed to see me right away. To placate him I told my front desk staff to tell him I was not currently accepting new patients but as a favor would see him in my “next available” spot. He refused to accept the “favor” and called three more times, saying that the cough was “killing him.”  Then I had that feeling: “See this man!”

He was a generally healthy 32-year old man. I examined his throat, lymph nodes, and lungs. All were fine. Then something said to me, “listen to his heart.” But I fought back: “No! I’m busy.” Then again: “Listen!”

I listened and there was a murmur. He said no one had ever mentioned it before. I prayed, “Is this important?” I listened to his heart again and didn’t like what I heard. Most murmurs are what we call “benign,” but this one wasn’t. He needed to have an ultrasound of the heart the next day. The woman at my front desk said, “Impossible.” I said, “Make it happen.”

He had the ultrasound the following morning. It showed an aneurysm at the junction of his aorta and his aortic valve. The very next morning the man had open-heart surgery. The surgeons said he would have died very soon had it not been discovered and that it was congenital — it had been there since birth. Later, several of the surgeons called asking me “how I knew?” I decided not to try to explain, but in my heart I was pronaming to Divine Mother.

A special assignment based on inspiration
Several years ago a woman who had been having abdominal pain and other symptoms for about one year came to my office. She hadn’t seen a physician in years because she didn’t “trust” them. The previous day, however, she had seen a gynecologist who told her it was likely she had an inoperable tumor and, if so, her only alternative was palliative care.

This woman was filled with rage.  As we discussed her situation, she mentioned at least ten times that she hated her husband—that  she was just ready to leave him, but now with this tumor she might never get away from him. She and her husband had been disconnected for years, even as they raised their two children.

I asked her to give me a minute. I closed my eyes and asked Yogananda to tell me what to say to this woman and how to say it in a way she could hear it. When I opened my eyes she asked what I was doing. I said, “I was praying.”

After discussing the medical possibilities, I gave her referral slips for X-rays and lab work and scheduled a follow-up visit in two weeks. Then I told her I had a special assignment for her based on the inspiration that came when I prayed. I wrote out a prescription that told her to say three nice things every day to her husband.

Obviously upset, she said, “That won’t be easy.” She asked what those three things might be. I suggested that she tell her husband whenever he was home how glad she was that he was there, and to say it like she meant it—and then to think of two more things to say. She was quite disgruntled when she left.

As it turned out, this woman she did have an inoperable tumor. When I saw her again and told her what the tests showed, she was quite stoic. After a bit I asked her how things were at home. She looked startled.

She said, “Oh Dr. Rubenstone, when I left here I was so mad at you I thought I would never return. Later I felt compelled to try what you suggested, but I did it grudgingly. You told me it could just be an act so I acted, and I acted well. Within three days my husband was a different man. He took a leave of absence from work and he hasn’t left my side since. He has been loving, attentive, and generous. I have never seen this side of him before. Our home is filled with love.”

My patient died about three months later. She died at home, never having gone into a hospital. I was at her home many times and I always felt blessed to be there. Her passing was perhaps the most love-filled experience I have ever witnessed. I felt Yogananda’s blessing.

My Guru guided me into medicine and he has been with me ever since. In my practice I ask for guidance all the time. As long as I remember to ask for help, it comes, and miracles happen.

Tyagi Shanti, a Lightbearer and longtime Ananda member, lives in the Ananda Palo Alto community. She has a full-time medical practice specializing in “transformational medicine,” working with people as they move through major life transitions. She also teaches meditation, energy and healing, and “living wellness” at the Ananda Palo Alto Sangha.

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A: Yes. Paramhansa Yogananda writes that sound is “the most powerful force in the universe.” Music penetrates more deeply into our consciousness, and into the brain and nervous system, than do paintings and other visual images. We have limited control over music’s effects once it enters our “neural network.”

Q. Yogananda has also said that music can be very healing. He cites as an example the physical healings that occurred when he chanted “O God Beautiful” with a Carnegie Hall audience during his early years in America. Is there any scientific research on the healing effects of music and, if so, what kind of music is science investigating?

A. There’s a considerable body of research showing that music can have healing effects for certain physical and mental disorders. In fact, music therapy is a widely recognized form of treatment for anxiety, depression, chronic pain, cardiovascular disease, and weakened immunity.

A recent study of music’s effect on depression and chronic pain is a good example of the research taking place. In that study, sixty people listened to “pleasant music” for an hour a day for one week. Some chose their “favorite” music while others chose from tapes provided by the music therapists. The music included pop music, slow melodious tunes, orchestral music, and relaxation music with nature sounds.

Interestingly, all of the music had healing effects. The people who were depressed experienced as much as a 25% improvement in their depressive symptoms, which is about what we see when we treat depression with medication or psychotherapy. Those with chronic pain disorders experienced up to a 20% decrease in their symptoms, again approximating what we can achieve with medical treatment.

These statistics are very encouraging from a medical standpoint. I have a number of patients in my medical practice who experience a lot of back pain even though they’ve had multiple back surgeries. Even opiate pain relievers like morphine now have only a limited effect for them. But we’ve been able to get them additional pain relief with music therapy.

Q. You mentioned that some of those who participated in this study listened to their “favorite” music. Is there something special about listening to one’s “favorite” music that promotes healing?

A. Yes. Medical science has known for a while that positive emotions are beneficial to health and healing, but what our studies are beginning to show is that music can activate those emotions. Having people listen to their “favorite music” is one way of activating healing emotions.

Q. Can you explain how that works from a neurological standpoint?

A. All of us “encode” music with emotion, meaning that we associate music with pleasant or painful memories. There’s an area in the brain—right behind the forehead—that links music, memories and emotions. Whenever we hear a familiar piece of music, a “soundtrack” starts playing in the brain that calls back memories of situations, people, or places. That “soundtrack” activates a positive or negative response, depending on our associations, and each person’s response will be unique.

I know of one woman, for example, who always felt depressed when she heard Pachebel’s Canon, which is a very benign piece of classical music. She said, “It’s a wonderful piece of music but my boyfriend broke up with me while we were listening to it, and even though that was 25 years ago, it still makes me cry when I hear it.”

Q. Given music’s “encoding” effect, have any studies examined the healing effects of listening to “favorite music?”

A. Yes. There have been two studies of people with cardiovascular disease. In one study most participants selected “country music” as their favorite music to evoke joy. The research showed that listening to this music had a very healthy effect on the  dilation of  their blood vessels, increasing the relaxed dilation by an average of 26%.

The other study involved stroke patients with visual impairments. The study concluded that the positive emotions activated by the music caused more efficient signaling in the brain, which stimulated the brain cells or neurons relating to vision. Thus, the stroke patients were able to see better. Anything that can help stroke patients is an important gain since many of them suffer from depression due to stroke-related impairments.

Q. Can we go so far as to say that listening to one’s favorite music can change a person’s overall outlook on life?

A. The studies suggest that how we interpret the world is often dependent on how we’re feeling inside, and that music is certainly one way of influencing those feelings. When we’re feeling happy and upbeat we tend to make more positive assumptions about life than when we’re feeling negative.

With or without scientific studies, we know that music can enhance whatever outlook we already have, positive or negative. Swami Kriyananda has sometimes referred to a song called Gloomy Sunday, which was aired frequently on the radio during the 1930s. The song was eventually banned because some listeners, caught up in its mood of life-rejection, were committing suicide.

Q. Are you implying that the mere fact that a person likes a certain kind of music doesn’t necessarily make it healing?

A. That’s correct. A book Swami Kriyananda has often mentioned, Beyond the Darkness, illustrates this point. The author of the book, Angie Fenimore, was very attracted to “heavy metal” music as a young person. In her book she describes her near-death experience after her suicide attempt, and the “dark” region she visited. She reports that that the depressed “vibrations” of that dark region were identical to the heavy metal music she once listened to. Ever since her successful recovery, she has tried to persuade people that heavy metal music, with its angry hypnotic beat, is harmful.

The scientific studies of the health effects of heavy metal and rap music all confirm that music of this type is harmful to our brain, nervous system, and ultimately our health.

Q. Do the studies suggest self-help measures – ways people can use music to overcome certain illnesses or to strengthen their health?

A. So far, most of the health benefits we’re aware of have occurred as part of studies using trained music therapists, or as part of fairly elaborate treatment programs designed by physicians or trained behavioral therapists.

In our medical clinic, however, we routinely suggest lists of light classical music and spiritual music in our treatment plans for our behavioral health patients. Swami Kriyananda has also suggested certain selections from Ananda’s music repertoire as being helpful for worry, depression, and other emotional disorders.

Q. What advice would you give people who want to use music to improve or maintain their health?

A. Music that is upbeat, uplifting, calming, and promotes a peaceful frame of mind would be good to listen to. However, although I can give general advice based on the type of music and its likely effects, it’s very important for each person to monitor his or her own reactions.

Because of the encoding effects of music I’ve already mentioned, music that’s healing for most people may not be beneficial for everyone. The studies show that classical music has healing effects, especially for uplifting one’s mood and strengthening the immune system, but if the classical music you’re listening to makes you feel a little nervous or uneasy, then I wouldn’t recommend listening to it.

It’s also very important to be sensitive to the how you respond to the rhythmic patterns of the music. There was a study showing that exercising on a treadmill while keeping time to the beat of motivational rock music helped people enjoy their workouts more and increased their physical endurance by as much as 15%. At the same time, Swami Kriyananda suggests that the rhythmic patterns of rock music are usually ego-affirming, which means that listening to this kind of music could be harmful spiritually, even if it enhances your endurance. A safer alternative might be classical music with a rhythmic beat or spiritual music with a tabla drum.

We should also be sensitive to the soundtracks of movies. I used to teach a program on music and the chakras, and I took most of the music I used to illustrate the lower chakras from movie soundtracks. These were easy selections to make because so many movie soundtracks focus on those lower centers.

Q: How does Kriyananda’s music fit into what we know from  scientific research?

A: It’s an excellent example of the kind of music that would be helpful for its positive effects on mood and also health — strengthening the immune function, reducing the risk for cardiovascular disease, lowering blood pressure. Kriyananda’s music also has very good lyrics. Positive lyrics can also benefit our overall health, including our mood.

Because our brain is so changeable, we have to be careful about our environment. When we’re watching a movie with agitating or chaotic music, our brain and nervous system absorb what we’re hearing. The more we expose ourselves to positive, upbeat music, the stronger the impact on our overall health. I always remind my patients that what we expose ourselves to in life is always a conscious choice.

To view a complete selection of uplifting music titles by Swami Kriyananda, click here

Peter Van Houten, a Lightbearer and resident of Ananda Village, is the founder and CEO of Sierra Family Medical Clinic near Ananda Village. He is also co-author of Yoga Therapy for Insomnia and Yoga Therapy for Headache Relief.

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

SK. You should offer yourself to God and forget about finding your guru. When the time comes, God will lead you to the right one.

Q: Can you speak about how we can deepen our love for God?

SK: The spiritual path, in a sense, is very narrow. There’s no room for both your ego and God. The more you think of yourself, the less you think of God. But the more you think of God and forget about yourself, the more He gives you of His love.

God is love. You don’t develop your love and then give it to Him. It’s only with His love that you can love Him. The more open you are to Him, the more you find your heart becoming flooded with that love. He gives you that love when you get yourself out of the way and offer yourself up to Him.

Q: Do you have any advice for newer devotees?

SK: In the beginning of the spiritual search you have to put out as much energy as you can because if you don’t, the world will pull you away. If you do that, then you’ll have the strength to carry on. The middle period of the spiritual search is more difficult, but if you get a strong flow of energy going in the beginning, you’ll get through the middle period just fine.

Otherwise my advice for newer devotees is very simple: love God!  Just love God and everything will work out.

Q: The Bible* states that when the Israelites were trying to escape from Egypt, God said He would “harden the hearts” of the Egyptians to enable the Israelites to escape. How can we reconcile God’s action with the concept of free will?

SK: These concepts are difficult to understand, but when things are destined to happen, God makes them happen. In the case of the Egyptians and the Israelites, the Egyptians’ hearts had to be hardened for the Israelites to be able to separate themselves from Egypt.

The only free will we have is to turn toward God or to reject Him— to love Him or to spurn Him. Otherwise, since God is omniscient, everything that we do — and will do– is already known, even what color shirt we will wear this morning. Nonetheless that degree of free will determines whether we move toward happiness or toward suffering, and how long we will wander in delusion. You can become free of delusion when you make up your mind that you want to love God more and more.

Q: How we can know if we have a divine friendship with someone?

SK: A divine friendship is one in which your energy is more toward giving than receiving; there’s mutual giving, not mutual taking. You think in terms of what you can do for this other person. In the process, you of course also receive, but when the energy of giving is pure, there’s no expectation of return. We have wonderful friendships at Ananda just because of that principle.

Q: What would be the most important piece of advice you could give to those who are trying to start communities in today’s world?

SK: Things were very difficult when I started Ananda. Most of those who came in the beginning had their own ideas about what communities ought to be like. I found, however, that by giving energy to those who were in tune with my vision, and ignoring those who were not, the naysayers fell away and the solid core became stronger.

Now that Ananda has established the pattern for successful community living, the best thing for someone wanting to start a community would be to come to Ananda Village, live among us for a while, and learn how we do things. Successful community living is a matter in which understanding must come largely by osmosis. After that, they can leave and start their own community and add whatever changes are needed to make it their kind of community. They don’t have to do things the way we do at Ananda. But if they take with them an understanding of the principles that have made Ananda successful, it will free them from endless burdens and headaches.

Q: Can you speak about developing calmness within one’s activities?

SK: Krishna gave a very good answer to that question. He said to act with non-attachment– nishkam karma, action without desire for the fruits of action. With non-attachment, you can act calmly and still do whatever you need to do.

God has given me an ability to write without difficulty, in a flow, but one reason the writing flows is that I have no thought for the future. I’m just doing it for the fun of it. I wrote The Time Tunnel, which will be published soon, in two weeks.  I’d never thought of writing a children’s story, but without any effort at all, it flowed out of me, including all the ideas about ancient Egypt and ancient Atlantis.

So, to develop calmness:  Don’t have any desire for the fruits of your actions. In addition, try to feel that God is acting through you, keep a joyful attitude when you work, and meditate every day.

Q: How do you conquer fatigue?

SK: Paramhansa Yogananda gave us the principle: “the greater the will, the greater the flow of energy.” Your level of energy depends entirely on the strength of your will power. When you use your will power to generate enthusiasm, you’ll find that you have energy. If you can generate even a little enthusiasm, you’ll find that fatigue doesn’t bother you anymore.

Q: How important is it to go to group meditations instead of meditating alone? Is it a solely a matter of personal preference?

SK: Magnetism is one of the most important things in life. When you have a group of people doing the same thing there’s much more magnetism than when you’re doing it alone. When you have a group of people meditating together, there is a power that comes that helps each person in the group to meditate more deeply.

Magnetism can be used in so many ways. In The New Path, there is the story of how I passed the Greek exam in college by convincing myself that I was a Greek. With the very strong thought that I was a Greek, I had the magnetism to attract that knowledge. I had a similar experience in Bali. There came a point when I thought: “I’ve just got to learn this language.” I was there only two weeks but by the end I had a vocabulary of 600 words and I was able to talk about philosophy and all kinds of things. How? By having the magnetism that allowed that understanding to flow through me. Magnetism creates that flow.

When you have electricity going through a wire, the stronger the flow of electricity, the stronger the magnetic field generated. And the same is true with you. The more energy you put out, the greater will be your magnetism, and through that magnetism there is virtually nothing you can’t accomplish.

Very few people realize how important magnetism is in their life. Some people go into a new field of work and suddenly everything flowers for them. With other people, no matter how they work, nothing succeeds. If you develop magnetism you can learn languages, you can succeed in business, you can attract inventions, you can attract ideas for a book, you can attract friends.

How is it that people become friends? When you love somebody and that person dies, you don’t lose them. Your love becomes a magnet that draws you together again and again. You can live on the opposite sides of the world but you’ll be drawn together.

Q: I have trouble thinking of God as “he” or “she.” Can you talk about that?

SK: God is neither masculine nor feminine, but He’s also both. In the West, because Jesus talked of God as the Father, we have the tradition of calling God, “He.” But although I say “He,” in my heart I always think “She.” To me, God is my Divine Mother. It’s easier to love God as mother than as father because the mother is closer to us than the father. She forgives us always. Women are more merciful by nature than men because men go too much by reason. I think many of the troubles in the world come from that rational bias.

Man represents reason. Woman represents feeling. Feeling, however, is the essence of consciousness itself. You can’t reason your way to understanding; you have to feel it. Of the two, I think the feminine is the more important because it’s the most basic. Without the feminine aspect, man would be very one-sided. Kali Yuga, the dark age that ended in 1900, was one-sided in its emphasis on masculine energy. I think that in the new age of Dwapara Yuga feminine energy is going to become very important.

Q. What is my first step to getting out of depression?  I have low energy. What should I do?

SK. Being with high-energy people will give you higher energy. Bring your energy upward with positive thoughts and positive expectations. Don’t let your energy go downward. You can have higher energy—anybody can. Your karma is pulling you downward but by your will power, you can change that.

From satsangs and classes in Los Angeles and at Ananda Village in April 2011.

Related reading: The New Path by Swami Kriyananda, To order click here

A Place Called Ananda by Swami Kriyananda, To order click here

*Exodus 10:1

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

Most of us have had these experiences, yet there are things we can do to rekindle our enthusiasm for meditation. A very important one is to pay attention to the attitude we take into meditation.

Change your attitude toward meditation

I had an experience with dryness in meditation which I overcame by adopting a different attitude toward meditation. At Ananda Village there is a weekly three-hour Kriya Yoga meditation which I usually lead. On the day of the meditation, I had a very busy workday and was rushing just to get out the door and make it to the meditation on time. It was a combination of my rushing to get there and also dragging my feet, if it’s possible to do both. My underlying attitude was one of unwillingness. I found myself thinking, “My mind is running all over the place. I can’t sit and meditate for 3 hours.”

As I got out of the car, I heard a voice. This voice had a lot of energy and enthusiasm so I knew it wasn’t coming from my current state of consciousness. I think it was the voice of my superconscious mind or soul. And this voice said with so much eagerness and enthusiasm, “This could be the night!” – that I listened to it.  I knew it meant that this could be the night that I would go into the final state of complete samadhi, complete union with God.

In Autobiography of a Yogi, in the chapter in which Paramhansa Yogananda relates his first experience of samadhi or cosmic consciousness, he tells us that just before that event, he was having a very restless meditation. It was then that Sri Yukteswar called him and said, “Your heart’s desire shall be fulfilled.” Sri Yukteswar touched him on the chest and Yogananda had the experience of samadhi.

So I knew from this voice that, “yes, this really could be the night.” As it turned out it wasn’t, but by going into that meditation with such a positive attitude, I had a very good meditation. It wasn’t the ultimate, but it was so much better than if I’d been thinking, “Do I really want to be here?”

In meditation, as in all aspects of the spiritual life, attitude is everything. If you’re having difficulty in meditation, work on developing enthusiasm and a positive attitude.  “This could be the time!” is a good attitude to take into every meditation.

Taking an attitude of positive expectation into every meditation is very important because the truth is: God could come to us at any time. We don’t know how much or how little karma we have left. Our job as devotees is to keep working at it day by day, with energy and eager anticipation, and, as Yogananda said, with divine inevitability the ultimate experience of oneness with the Infinite will come to the sincere seeker.

Offer your entire self

Paramhansa Yogananda said that if you want to succeed in meditation, you must develop devotion. But people who aren’t particularly devotional by nature often wonder, “What is devotion and how do I practice it?” Swami Kriyananda gave us an important key when he described devotion as “living our life and practicing the teachings with a sense of self-offering.” You should try to see devotion as the practice of offering yourself, with freedom and deep love, at the feet of God or the guru.

Many years ago, I had one of my frequent near-tragic encounters in nature that taught me the importance of learning to see devotion as a heart-felt sense of self-offering. What I learned from that experience, and what has proved true ever since, is the following important truth: if you can offer your entire self into the light of God with complete freedom, with absolutely no sense of compulsion, with no feeling of “What am I getting out of it?” but with love and gratitude—you’ll experience divine bliss.

What if you can’t see the light in meditation?  Then you can simply offer yourself at the spiritual eye, the point between the eyebrows, as if you were giving the gift of yourself to God. Swami Kriyananda said that when you concentrate on the spiritual eye, the Christ center, you’re actually looking at it from the medulla, the seat of ego. By the practice of offering yourself into the Christ center, you are taking the energy of the ego and offering it to God for purification. By repeatedly making that self-offering, you will gradually transcend the ego and become freer and freer within yourself.

Self-offering consists of offering all your positive attitudes, all the negative issues you’re struggling with, everything you own, anything you’re proud of, all of your tests, your entire being—and offering it either into the light of God or the Christ center. When doing any of Paramhansa’s Yogananda’s meditation techniques, always try to do them with a sense of devotional self-offering. During your daily work, and in relating to others, try also to feel that you are offering your life in service to God.

Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita said that “even a leaf offered with devotion is pleasing to Me.” Instead of offering just a leaf, offer your entire self. That’s what pleases God the most.

Attunement to the Guru

One time when I was visiting Swami Kriyananda in India, I felt very uplifted in his presence. As I was about to return to America, I said to him, “It’s easy to feel attunement with Yogananda in your presence. How can I continue to feel that way when I return home?” Since my work puts me in contact with many other devotees, I was asking this question for others too.

He responded, “What I do is ask myself, ‘Master, what would you do? What do you want me to do?’ I ask both those questions. For instance, while writing The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita, I felt a real joy inside as if Master were saying, ‘This is what I want you to do.’ So it is not enough just to pray and meditate. We need to ask Master, ‘How would you handle this?’”

Kriyananda continued: “I also have found that mentally chanting ‘Aum Guru’ is a wonderful practice. If you maintain that practice day and night, even while you’re working and doing other things, it’s amazing how much you can change. You feel more and more desire for God, more and more purity of heart, more and more dedication. That’s what really matters.” Kriyananda has also said that mentally chanting “Aum Guru” will help you not only to attune to the consciousness of the guru but also to AUM, the creative power of the universe.

Our true nature is Satchidananda, “ever-conscious, ever-existing, ever-new bliss.” We don’t have to make some great achievement to gain that bliss. We don’t have to climb a high mountain. We simply have to meditate regularly, with the right attitude, and with a sense of devotional self-offering. Deepening our attunement to the Guru by asking for his guidance and chanting “Aum Guru” throughout the day is also very important. As these practices become more and more a regular part of our daily life, we will begin to experience the bliss of our true nature.

From an August 2010 talk at Ananda Village.

Nayaswami Devarshi, a Lightbearer and longtime member of Ananda, lives at Ananda Village where he serves as Director of the Kriya Yoga Ministry.

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The little frog thought to himself, “If I give up I will die, so I must keep on swimming.” Two hours passed, and the little frog thought he could do no more. But as he thought of his dead brother frog, he roused his will, saying, “To give up is certain death. I will keep on paddling until I die, if death is to come, but I will not give up trying, for while there is life there is still hope.”

Intoxicated with determination, the little frog kept on paddling. After hours, when he felt paralyzed with fatigue and could paddle no more, he suddenly felt a big lump under his feet. His incessant paddling had churned the milk into butter! Standing on the butter mound with great joy, the little frog leaped from the milk pail to freedom.

*******

Remember, we are all in the slippery milk pail of life, trying to get free from our troubles like the two frogs. Most people give up trying and fail like the big frog. But we must learn to persevere in our effort toward one goal, as the little frog did. Then we shall churn an opportunity by our God-guided, unflinching will power, and we will be able to hop out of the milk pail of trials onto the safe ground of eternal success. By not giving up, we develop will power and win in everything we undertake.

From the Praecepta Lessons.

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A devotee was saying the other day that she feels repelled by the thought of using techniques to know God. Many people feel that way. But their feeling is based on a great misconception. They believe that yoga techniques reduce to mechanics what ought to be a relationship of love. In fact, that isn’t what yoga techniques are about at all, as may be inferred from the great love that is manifested by true yogis.

For people like this devotee, perhaps the word law might be more helpful. For surely they would not deny that God requires of us that we abide by His law, and not flout it. The techniques of yoga are simply a recognition of certain laws of our own spiritual nature that are unfamiliar to most people.

If a girl tried to win a man by using “techniques” such as flattery, or pretending a sweetness that she doesn’t really feel, she might well be accused of insincerity. But if, on the other hand, she were to recognize that her inability to win him has been due to certain flaws in her own nature, then surely it would be a sign of her sincerity if she tried to improve herself.

This is the purpose of using yoga techniques. They are a means of self-improvement, that we might make ourselves a more fit instrument to receive and express God’s love. They are in no sense a means of “compromising” God into revealing Himself! But if we know that for lack of such self-improvement we keep Him out of our hearts—so much so that He simply cannot come—surely it will be a sign of our love for Him if we practice those methods which have been found helpful by others who have known Him. The true devotee will leave no stone unturned in his search for the Infinite Beloved.

Another point, too, might be considered: If you know that a friend is planning to visit you, and if you are eager to receive him, will you busy yourself making noises in the kitchen that might prevent you from hearing the knock at the door when it comes? Will you not rather stand in the doorway, and watch for your friend’s approach from afar? Divine grace enters the body in certain definite ways. Is it so insincere to put oneself in readiness to receive it? The reason yogis teach one, for example, to concentrate at the point between the eyebrows is because that’s where the divine light, when it comes, appears to the devotee. Yoga techniques are simply a process of cooperation with divine grace; they are not an imposition on it.

All, truly, is God’s grace. Yoga practices are not intended as a bypass of that fact. Kripa is the Sanskrit word for grace; it is used more often in India than our English word is ever used in this country. Yogis well know that one cannot command God’s grace. But if we truly believe in His love for us, we must believe also that His grace is not whimsical—that He would bless us even NOW, if we were but ready to receive His blessings. Our task is not to wheedle or “con” Him into giving us more than our fair share of grace; it is to ready ourselves to receive. Were we fully receptive, by God’s grace we would become Christlike even now—today!

From Letters to Truthseekers. Crystal Clarity Publishers (currently out of print).

Related reading: In Divine Friendship, Letters of Counsel and Reflection by Swami Kriyananda. To order click here

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When the time comes to depart, I will retire to wakeful sleep on the bosom of Thy infinite joy, a ripple ever dancing with billows of all joy. I am a bubble of joy, struggling to burst and unite with the ocean of joy.

I feel Thy joy in all things! Make me a lighthouse of joy also, guiding storm-tossed vessels of life to safety on the shores of Thy joy.

Let every vine of my activity bear large grape clusters of Thy joy! Let me drink the divine wine pressed from the grapes of all life’s little joys!

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

For your listening enjoyment, Whispers from Eternity is also available in an audiobook format. To order click here

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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.

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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

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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.”

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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.

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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)

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Selected from the CD album, Mystic Harp.  Available from Clarity Sound & Light. To order click here

Selected from the CD album, Mystic Harp.  Available from Clarity Sound & Light. To order click here

Selected from the CD album, Mystic Harp 2.  Available from Clarity Sound & Light. To order click here

Selected from the CD album, Mystic Harp 2.  Available from Clarity Sound & Light. To order click here

Selected from the CD album, Mystic Harp 2.  Available from Clarity Sound & Light. To order click here

Judas was a prophet
I once had an interesting talk with my Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, on the subject of Judas. He told me, “Of course, Judas was a prophet.” When I expressed surprise at this astonishing description of the greatness of Judas, Yogananda replied, “Oh yes! He would have had to be, to be one of the twelve disciples. But he had to go through two thousand years of suffering for his treachery. He was finally liberated in this century. Jesus appeared to Judas’ guru in this lifetime, a great master in India, and asked him to give Judas final liberation.”

As an interesting aside here: to be a prophet means to be united in consciousness with God. Paramhansa Yogananda, however, included in the meaning of the word prophet those disciples of a great master who, even if they are not yet liberated, are highly advanced spiritually.

Pausing a moment, Yogananda added, “I knew Judas in this lifetime.”

“What was he like?” I inquired, naturally eager for more information.

“Always very quiet and by himself,” my Guru responded. “He still had some attachment to money, not in the sense of desiring it personally but as a means of helping others. The other disciples began to tease him for it one day, but the guru said to them, ‘Don’t. Leave him alone.’”

A terrifying lesson
Lest anyone doubt the power of delusion to draw people into actions that are diametrically opposed to everything they believe, the fate of Judas must stand as a salutary, even a terrifying lesson. Judas fell so deeply into the delusions of money attachment and worldly acceptance that he was capable, as if in a dream, of accepting silver from the chief rabbi for the betrayal of Jesus. Committing suicide, Judas met his death in a crash of remorse and horror at what he’d done.

Nevertheless, he was a great soul—far greater, indeed, than the many peripheral disciples who had come to Jesus more recently in their divine search.

It is better, in other words, to seek God and fail in the attempt—and even to fail greatly—than to be a lukewarm seeker—or, worse still, not even to seek Him at all. Judas Iscariot was, spiritually speaking, far ahead of the most successful materialistic businessman.

Karmic causes and effects
It is important to understand that it was not Judas’ absolute destiny to betray Jesus. Yogananda explained that Judas could have overcome the bad karma that ultimately led to the betrayal. Jesus, in fact, predicted his betrayal by Judas in order to warn him, so that he might reform and refrain from committing the evil act. Karma is almost always mixed. Judas, for example, could not have betrayed Jesus if he not also had the good karma to be born as a direct, close disciple.

There was, however, a definite destiny in the betrayal itself — it would have come about in one way or another. Judas had to suffer personally the consequences of the part he’d played in that drama.

The bad karma Judas incurred from the betrayal was especially great because he had sinned and blasphemed against Jesus, someone who was one with God. One of the greatest sins is to inflict harm on a saint who has achieved Self-realization. In so doing, one commits an offense against the Christ consciousness itself, which resides within us all, but is fully manifested in those who have realized God.

Judas’s betrayal of Jesus was, however, an even greater sin because it was a “sin against the Holy Ghost” (AUM), with whom Judas had already been blessed to commune. To experience God’s presence as AUM, and then, subsequently, to turn away from it, can finally be “forgiven” only by the seeker himself, by embracing once again the divine experience he has spurned. The return is not so easy, however, because that particular sin sets up an inner vibration of restlessness, or uneasiness with one’s self that can only be overcome by great personal effort.

Nonetheless, it is a karma that can be overcome. Yogananda, in his commentaries on the New Testament of the Bible, wrote that Judas, instead of hanging himself for betraying Jesus, should have devoted the rest of his life to seclusion and meditating on God. In other words, Judas could have started the process of redemption during his lifetime, had he summoned from within himself the inner strength and courage to do so.

You first extend the invitation
It is interesting that the Biblical account of the betrayal of Jesus describes “the devil” as putting the thought of betrayal “into the heart of Judas.” Indeed it so happens because, as Yogananda said, “Thoughts are universally and not individually rooted.”

We first tap the source of negative consciousness in the universe by ourselves thinking wrong thoughts, and by mentally toying with any wrong desire we harbor even lightly in our hearts. Those thoughts and desires send rays of magnetic energy into the infinite, attracting a compatible energy, depending on whether our “invitation” is positive or negative. Thus it is that our thoughts and desires can lift us either heavenward, or cast us down into ever-deeper darkness and suffering.

Yogananda used to say: “Here is a line. On one side of it is God; on the other side, Satan. Neither can influence you until you yourself turn toward the one or the other. Once you allow yourself, however, to turn either way, the divine or the satanic influence will begin to act upon you consciously.” You yourself, in other words, first extend the invitation. God or Satan then comes to you, and influences you further in the direction you’ve already indicated.

Invite goodness into your consciousness
If you want to cleanse yourself of impure motives, or to strengthen your inner purity, the best place to start is by spurning every impure imagining, which people tend too easily to “play with” mentally in an effort (they may tell themselves) to “understand” and reason their way out of that thought. Instead, you should concentrate on raising your feelings from the heart to the higher centers in the throat and the head. If you can harmonize those feelings, uplift them, and then channel them to the spiritual eye (the “Christ center”) in the forehead, you will find that your tendency to harbor impure feelings will change completely. Almost automatically, those feelings will be purified.

Above all invite goodness into your consciousness. The battle will be half won when you realize that you are not the source of any virtue that you manifest, or of any delusion, but that you can, if you choose, become an instrument of divine love and bliss in the world. Yoga emphasizes the importance of keeping the heart filled with what Jesus referred to as “good treasure”: kindly thoughts, devotion, love, calm feeling, non-attachment to everything material.

No one, however, is safe from delusion until he is firmly established in God-consciousness. Jesus, like Yogananda, placed the strongest emphasis on inner communion with God. It is God alone who can save us through our ever-deepening inner communion with Him. The tragedy of Judas shows that even highly advanced disciples can still fall spiritually until they reach the final stage of liberation— nirbikalpa samadhi—when at last they attain full awareness that only the Infinite Self, God, exists.

Not a permanent state
Although Judas acted under the influence of Satan, the story of Judas must be understood as not indicating a permanent state of alienation from God. As great as was Judas’s betrayal—owing, my Guru said, to “a little bad karma”—its fruits were only temporary. Judas was, inherently, a great and true disciple. His problem was merely that there were in him still a few deep-seated faults that remained to be worked out. He suffered greatly for that betrayal, but his good karma stood him in good stead also, and flowered at last by taking him to divine liberation.

Yogananda was once relating to his students the story of Sadhu Haridas, an eighteenth century holy man in India, who fell from the spiritual path even though he was highly advanced. Yet, my Guru said, he achieved full liberation in that same lifetime. A student of Yogananda’s, who was present when Yogananda related this story, objected, “How can that be? Isn’t the punishment far greater for one who, though knowing the law, breaks it?”

“Mm-mm,” replied the Master, shaking his head. “God is no tyrant. When you have eaten good cheese, then resume eating stale cheese again, you soon realize your mistake. If, then, you once again want only the good cheese, God won’t deny you.”

Yogananda made a similar observation about one of his own close disciples who had betrayed him in nefarious ways. As Jesus had done with Judas, Yogananda had predicted that betrayal. Yet, that disciple was nonetheless a great soul. Yogananda stated firmly that he would be liberated in another three lifetimes.

God will do the rest
For ourselves, we must understand that no matter how many times, or how far, we fall, God will ever wait for us with outstretched arms until we return to Him. Never fear, therefore, but give to God as much of yourself as you are capable of giving. He will ever do the rest.

Excerpted from: Revelations of Christ, proclaimed by Paramhansa Yogananda, Presented by his Disciple, Swami Kriyananda, Crystal Clarity Publishers, and other sources.

*“And Jesus answered him, The first commandment is: ‘Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord.’”

There was a time when I believed that Satan was a figment of the mind, but now I know from personal experience and add my testimony to that of Jesus Christ and countless others that Satan exists, and is responsible for the creation of evil on earth and in the minds of men. He is a universal, conscious force whose sole aim is to keep mankind bound to delusion. Many times I have seen Satan trying to obstruct me by mysterious misfortunes, and by taking on materialized forms.

Satan is part of God’s drama
Philosophically, Satan represents the outward flowing creative force which brings creation into manifestation. Without Satan, there would be no creation; no universe; no cosmic drama.

Satan is necessary to God’s drama, just as the villain is necessary in a stage play to personify evil. Without the villain, we might not feel the necessary incentive to love the hero, who represents the good. Similarly, evil and its painful after-effects are meant to awaken in us love for goodness and God.

Both evil and good exist only in the realm of maya, of duality. God is beyond them both. God could destroy Satan in a minute, but He would be going against His own laws if He did so. God knew that some evil would result from His creation, but He also knew that the power of love was stronger than the lures of evil, so He is trying by love to draw us back to Him and away from the influence of Satan.

The origin of all evil
Some intellectuals, while not denying the existence of evil, claim that evil does not originate in an objective power such as Satan, but arises when man yields to temptation and, by his repeated transgressions over many incarnations, creates in himself evil habits. According to this view, evil is wholly man’s fault and neither God nor any conscious evil power is responsible for the evil in the world. This viewpoint asserts that evil is wholly subjective, originating in the bad judgment of man.

This viewpoint fails to answer many questions. Why do millions of bacteria and virulent armies of germs move silently about the earth seeking to destroy human lives? Why do millions die by floods and cataclysms? It does not seem possible that the ten million people who perished in the 1931 flood and famine in China all suffered that fate due to past actions in previous lives. Think also of the innumerable diseases which infest plants and animals who have no free choice and who, consequently, could not attract evils due to bad karma.

The eternal warfare of bacteria, germs and diseases, and the unceasing upheavals and cataclysms in Nature, distinctly show that there is an evil force trying to thwart the efforts of the Infinite Good to express His infinite goodness throughout creation. Knowledge of an objective Satan explains the origin of all evil, which cannot be explained by the individual or collective subjective ignorance of man. Satan can work as wrong subjective consciousness in man, or he can become the objective evil in Nature.

Remember: the conscious evil force of Satan could not influence human minds if they did not allow it. It is therefore better to know all the lures of evil and the ways to combat them than to blindly deny their existence. Knowledge only, not indifference, can produce final emancipation from the lures of Satan.

The two realms of conscious cosmic energy
The two distinct realms of conscious cosmic energy, the heavenly and the satanic, can be found within the human body and throughout all space. In the human body, the heavenly region extends from the heart center up to the Christ center at the point between the eyebrows. The satanic region — the region of the senses and man’s lower instincts – is located in the three lower centers below the heart. People who do not meditate find their consciousness falling from the heavenly region of the brain down to the region of the senses, rendering them vulnerable to the lures of Satan.

There are also two vast rivers of consciousness that flow through the universe, one of them heavenly, the other satanic. All good is organized by God, His angels, and the enlightened masters sent to earth to awaken in humanity love of goodness and God. All evil is organized by Satan, who uses a vast horde of evil spirits to carry on his cosmic campaign of wickedness. To the ordinary man, Satan appears as subjective temptation subtly luring him according to the quality of his thoughts and feelings.

Patterns of good and evil
Do not deny the existence of an objective evil power, but become aware of the destructive patterns of evil as temptation within yourself and as imperfection and strife in Nature. We find that Jesus, whose knowledge was born of intuition, did not deny this evil. Jesus spoke of a conscious Satan who lured Him to the wilderness and tempted Him with destructive patterns of evil arrayed side by side with the good patterns of God.

What are those good and evil patterns? They are manifestations of duality, or the outward flowing cosmic energy that brought creation into existence. Thus, for every good pattern created by God, Satan has created a corresponding pattern of evil. For love and forgiveness, Satan has created hatred and revenge. For wisdom, Satan has created ignorance. For calmness, fearlessness, unselfishness, peace, and happiness, Satan has created restlessness, fear, selfishness, anger, and sorrow.

Man stands in the middle, with God on one side and Satan on the other side, each ready to pull him in whichever direction he wishes to go. Conscience, the voice of God, always beckons you to do what’s right. Temptation, the voice of Satan, coaxes you to do wrong.

Remember that you are a free agent endowed with free will, and that Satan can only influence you when you allow yourself to yield to his temptations. Strengthen your consciousness of goodness, and in its light drive away the darkness of evil. Perfect self-honesty and dynamic self-effort will help you eliminate forever the influence of satanic delusion in your life.

Meditation—the way out
Meditation is the only way to escape permanently the net of satanic delusion and to return to your true home in God. No matter how busy you are with work or other affairs, strive always to enter the inner silence to attune yourself with God. Contact with God through meditation reminds the soul of the unending fulfillment of bliss and destroys all seeds of earthly desires.

Make it a point always to keep your most important engagement: your daily appointment with the Lord. Twice daily, enter the inner silence. Worship God on the altar of the dawn. At the day’s end, sit quietly in the temple of the night; let darkness conceal you from the distractions of the day. Meditate deeply if you would know God.

When one goes into deep samadhi (oneness with Spirit) one perceives Spirit as the only Reality, the only eternal substance existing. Then you know that only ever-new, ever-joyous Spirit exists and that Satan is a delusion. Before attaining this exalted state, one must acknowledge the existence of duality. God and Satan are facts, even if the latter exists only in delusion and not in reality.

Freedom comes not by uttering wheedling prayers, but by attuning oneself deeply with the all-loving Inner Silence. When the influence of Satan is completely terminated in the soul, the liberated devotee finds only the presence of ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new bliss. All evil disappears as forgotten shadows from the consciousness of the illumined devotee.

There is no eternal punishment
People do not intentionally love to be evil. They are evil because they do not know the greater fulfillment of good habits and are unable to compare and select the best. As soon as man realizes that evil promises happiness and results only in unhappiness, he begins to wish for emancipation and for God. This wish for goodness and freedom serves as a portal through which God is again invited to come into the life of the prodigal son and lead him to the abode of freedom.

Even fathomless evil cannot destroy man’s soul, for he is essentially immortal and eternally good. If man continuously listens to the whisperings of conscience within himself and gets used to better ways of living, he ultimately discovers the eternal good in him and that he is made in the image of God, and thus becomes liberated.

From articles and books.

A wonderful flow of sharing
We were blessed with a wonderful learning experience in the truth that “nothing is ours” the year we lived at Ananda’s Italian center, which at the time was near Lake Como. It was the early 1980s. Ananda had only recently opened this new center. We were there to support the new work, and we worked in close association with the current leaders, a husband and wife team.

What I (Devi) learned right away in living at the center was that nothing was really ours in fact! We had our own little room, and our own closet and dresser—or so we thought. That thought didn’t last long. The female director, who was also a good friend, would come bursting in on us any time, night or day, no matter what we were doing. She would say, “What can I wear today?” and start going through the closet and taking things out of the drawers.

At first I was a little taken aback, until I realized that she was also completely giving of what was “hers.” Just as she had burst in on us, she would also come rushing in to give away everything she had. For many years afterwards, nearly every article of clothing I received compliments on had come from her.

There was such a wonderful flow in that sharing. We found that nothing was ours, nothing was theirs, nothing was anyone’s. It was just a flow. Because of this flow, we would receive huge boxes of clothes from people from all over Europe. Beautiful things would come from Germany, England, and Italy, and we would pass them around and share them. We began to realize that because we didn’t think, “this is mine” or “this is theirs,” we had more clothes than we knew what to do with.

There is a flow of God’s abundance that passes through us in true sharing. The identity and power that we draw to ourselves is so much greater than the identity of just “us.”  The more we learned the lesson that nothing was “ours,” the freer we felt.

The best Easter we ever had
As time went on, God asked us to give up more and more, which produced in us a kind of a tug of war. We would ask: “Lord, are You really going to ask us for this and this?” And, of course, He did.

Many guests were coming for Easter in 1983, and we realized that we even had to give up our rooms for the guests, because there simply weren’t enough rooms for everyone. Some of our staff went to live in the little outbuildings and small sheds.

We found a room in the sub-sub-basement of the ashram house, our main building; through our room ran all the pipes for the building. The room had no windows or heat. One little light bulb hung from the ceiling. Everything was rather damp, and there was a thick layer of mildew on the walls. The moisture permeated our blankets when we slept.

As we were preparing the room, we kept thinking: “Divine Mother, You’re really not going to have us stay here, are You? When Easter weekend arrives, we’ll really get to stay in our own room, right?”

The weekend came, very cold and very rainy, and with all the guests who had said they were coming. So we did spend all of Easter in what we fondly called “Gyanamata Grotto,” after Sister Gyanamata, Paramhansa Yogananda’s foremost woman disciple, who had a wonderful spirit of renunciation.  Each morning our pajamas would be wet from the moisture condensing off the walls. But we realized that it was the best Easter we had ever had, because nothing was ours. Everything we had, we shared; and in that sharing we found great joy and freedom. We had the absolute certainty that God would take care of us and provide all we needed.

“I’m giving it to God”
We don’t have to worry about getting that extra $50 in the paycheck. We don’t have to worry about anything. It’s just the pull of the world that makes it all seem important and we become frightened.

Swami Kriyananda tells the story of the time, while traveling, he met a man who gave him a hard-luck story and asked for money. He didn’t know if the man’s story was genuine, but he gave the man most of the money he had in his wallet. As Kriyananda gave him the money, the man said, “I’ll be sure you get it back, because I don’t want you to lose faith in human nature.” Kriyananda replied, “I have faith in God. I’m not giving this to you; I’m giving it to God.”

When we share, we are affirming our faith in God, and that we are a part of everyone. This is how we all need to live. Everything we do, we should do for Him. When we live that way, we find that whatever we give comes back to us a thousand-fold.

“Nothing is mine”
In the Art and Science of Raja Yoga, ** Swami Kriyananda discusses the yamas and the niyamas, the do’s and don’ts of the spiritual path. He says that the yama “non-greed” means not to be attached to what is rightfully one’s own, and to be able to share everything you have without a sense of limitation. And interestingly enough, the power that comes with perfection of non-greed is the ability to remember one’s past lives.

What’s the connection there? When we attain “non-greed” or perfect non-attachment, we overcome any identification with our own body and can then remember our past lives — our identifications with other bodies, places, and events.

When we no longer think, “This body is who I am. This house is mine,” but start to ask, “Who am I?” What is mine?” we begin to awaken to our true reality—the soul, which in its essence is infinite and eternal. How many little dramas have we lived? How many times have we said, “This is my house; this is my wife or husband, or my children?” How many times have we died and woken up without a body and without a house, without any of those attachments?

We go through it again and again until finally one day it starts sinking in: that no matter how tightly we clutch what God has provided, we will lose it. It all has to go. Even the bodies we cherish and pamper, they go one way or another—painfully or easily, but they go.

And we begin to realize that in giving, we break through the delusion that makes us identify with our bodies and possessions. We begin to say, “God, nothing is mine. I’m just playing a little role now, but I want to wake up to my infinite, eternal reality in Thee. I know that giving freely of what I have will help me achieve this awareness.”

What we give comes back blessed
There is a beautiful poem by Tagore, which we’ll paraphrase here: God comes in the form of a prince to a beggar. The prince approaches the beggar and says, “What can you give me?” The beggar is shocked, of course, thinking that the prince should give him some alms. In his shock, the beggar gives the prince only one little grain of rice. Later, when he opens his sack in the evening, the beggar finds that just one little grain of rice has turned to gold.

That which you give away comes back to you in a more blessed form. This is especially true of love and friendship. Whenever you see someone in need, share with him, share even if you think you have nothing to give, even if you think you have no wisdom, or peace, or joy, or love. You have more than you know.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta was walking the streets of London one day and saw a very lonely, sad-looking man sitting there. She walked up to him and took his hands without comment. He said, “Your hands are so warm.” “My hands are always warm,” was her reply. Of course they were. They were warm from a lifetime of giving the vibrant energy of divine love to others. The man said, “It’s been so long since I’ve felt the warmth of a human hand.”

Being able to give the warmth of a human hand doesn’t need years of spiritual study to learn. All it takes is the understanding that we were born on this earth to give—not to see what we can acquire for ourselves, but to be a channel to give to others whatever God has given us.

Based on an article that appeared in Clarity Magazine, January 30, 1989.

Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi are the Spiritual Directors of Ananda Worldwide. An earlier version of this article appeared in Clarity Magazine in the 1980s.

Other Clarity articles by Nayaswamis Jyotish and  Devi are listed under “Jyotish and Devi Novak.”

*The yamas and the niyamas are the ten “do’s” and “don’ts” of the spiritual path, as described by Patanjali in his comprehensive Yoga Sutras. Patanjali also describes the particular spiritual strength or power that comes as a result of perfecting each of the yamas and niyamas.

* *Crystal Clarity Publishers.

Maitreyi found inspiration and guidance in two other sources: Practicing the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence (1634-1691), and Letters by a Modern Mystic, by Frank Laubach (1884-1970). Laubach’s “Game with Minutes,”* [see sidebar below] in which one tries to think of God for at least one second every minute, gave Maitreyi a way to assess her daily progress.

After several weeks o