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.

For more information about Dr. Cravatta or to contact her for an in person or phone consultation, please click on the ad at the top of this page.

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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.

Dear ___________:

Do you practice Paschimotanasana, the Posterior Stretching pose? You should do it very slowly and carefully, not forcibly, but rather relaxing further and further forward, concentrating especially on releasing tension at the base of the spine. Hold the pose comfortably for two or more minutes. Dhanurasana, the Bow pose, might be helpful, too. (But hold this one much less time, of course.)

Have you ever gone to a good chiropractor or osteopath? It should be one who takes x-rays. You might try cutting onions, garlic, and eggs out of your diet. (I am assuming you no longer eat meat, but if you do I suggest you omit that also.) These foods have a heating and somewhat irritating effect, especially on the lower nerves in the spine.

Do you practice Maha Mudra? It has a very healing effect. You might even try doing it twice as many times as you have been taught at Kriya Yoga Initiation.

Practice healing affirmations, too, with firm faith and deep concentration, and always visualize yourself free of any difficulties. I especially recommend Paramhansa Yogananda’s book, Scientific Healing Affirmations.

Remember, your body changes constantly. Every few years all its cells are replaced. The only reason they keep falling into the same old patterns is that you have established those cellular patterns for them to fit into. If you will change your mental “picture,” the incoming cells will fit themselves to the new pattern. People will then exclaim what a miracle has been performed. No such thing! You will simply have put into operation a basic aspect of natural law as it applies to the human body.

Be free!

Blessings to you, and prayers for your good health.

In divine friendship,

Swami Kriyananda

From Letters to Truth Seekers, 1973 (Currently out of print).

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

Q: Peter, what is cooperative healing?

A: For me as a doctor and devotee, cooperative healing at the highest level is based on the understanding that taking care of our health is a cooperative process with God. As devotees, we  sometimes have karmic tests that involve our physical or mental health, and how we work with those tests is an important aspect of our spiritual development. In making decisions about our health care,  it’s important that we try to tune into God’s will for us, and that we cooperate with His will.

How we work with our health care practitioners should also be a cooperative process. One of the most challenging situations for me as a physician is trying to help someone who isn’t taking responsibility for his or her part in the healing process, who wants the physician to do all the work and provide the “quick fix.”

The people who get well the fastest are those who say, “I want to be well. Give me some suggestions on what I need to do and I’ll try to follow them to the best of my ability.” We make it a cooperative process — doctor and patient work together in the healing process.

Cooperative healing also includes cooperating with our bodies. If we’ve come into this life with knees that don’t work very well, we have to cooperate with our body’s physical limitations and not try to run a marathon. Swimming or walking might be a better choice. So, cooperating with who we are physically, mentally, and emotionally is an aspect of the cooperative healing process.

Q: How exactly does a person cooperate with God in the area of health?

A: It’s tempting when facing a serious health challenge that may require surgery or a potent form of medical treatment to decide that we simply want to focus on an alternative method of healing. But as devotees, we always need to keep in mind that God-realization is our highest priority, and that God may want us to work with our health challenge in a way that differs from our personal inclinations.

What I often say in such situations is, “How do you think you’ll feel about this treatment issue at the end of your life? What are you really going to care about?” A devotee, at the end of life, is going to be concerned about such things as, “Did I make my search for God my top priority? Did I deepen my relationship with God? Did I focus on serving others and serving God in others?” Having this kind of discussion helps people gain perspective on their current health crisis and treatment options, and to become more accepting of a treatment that’s in their long-term best interests.

Q: Do you have this kind of discussion only when there’s a serious diagnosis such as cancer or diabetes?

A: Sometimes it occurs in those contexts, but more commonly the issue arises when devotees feel that a recommended medication might interfere with their immune system or when they are already using a form of healing where taking pharmaceuticals is discouraged. Another common situation is when devotees first hear that they need to be on an antidepressant for six to nine months, and they’re not happy about it. Or perhaps someone has tried unsuccessfully to cure an infection with alternative therapies.

In all of these instances, I try to help them to see that success on the spiritual path is not dependent on avoiding allopathic medications in every circumstance. I encourage them to always keep as their highest priority that God’s in charge. Basically, I try to help them reach a point of understanding where they can say: “As a devotee I’m trying to find God, and I’m just going to have to get my ego out of the way and be practical.”

Sometimes I’ll say to them, “Remember, God invented this surgery,” or “God invented this medication. These things came from God and we need to see God in them.” Or, I might explain to someone, “Remember, when you take your penicillin tablets, you’re taking them because the infection’s not likely to go away otherwise. God is in that tablet.”

Q: Have there been times when your approach didn’t work?

A: Yes. One instance in particular stands out. It involved a devotee with a fairly serious health problem that was affecting not only him but his entire family because his symptoms were making him so miserable and irritable. But he was determined to rely solely on an alternative form of healing, which wasn’t working. There was no harm in his having tried it, but clearly it hadn’t worked. He was still very sick when he didn’t need to be.

Since the situation was having an impact on quite a few people, I decided to discuss it with Swami Kriyananda. Kriyananda thought about it for a minute and said, “You know, Peter, sometimes it’s better to take a pill than to be a pill.”

I sometimes quote Swami Kriyananda’s statement to patients and everybody laughs, but they all get the point. What it helps them to see is that, “I need to keep my priorities straight. My current health challenge is something I have to deal with, but I also need to maintain a good relationship with God, with my loved ones, and with those I’m serving. If I have to take a medication to keep those priorities paramount, well, fine.”

Q: In your medical practice you work with both devotees and non-devotees. Do you find it more challenging to work with devotees?

A: I actually find it easier to work with devotees in general because they’re very interested in being well and are usually very cooperative. For example, if I recommend walking briskly twenty minutes twice a day to someone who is not getting enough exercise, perhaps one out of five people is willing to do that. The number of devotees who cooperate with that kind of advice is much higher.

Devotees usually want to be able to function at a high level so that they can meditate and serve; most of them do all the important common sense things that help a person maintain good health — eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep. It’s surprising the number of people who ignore these common sense practices.

At the same time, it’s not at all surprising that devotees will seek out subtler ways of working with their health care. Now that we’re well into Dwapara Yuga, devotees especially are much more oriented to working with energy and thought, and not just with the physical body. But if these alternative methods don’t work, most devotees are grateful to know that standard medicine is available as a back up that often will work when subtler means don’t.

Q: Do devotees ever suggest to you new or different allopathic ways of treating their health problems?

A: Yes. An important aspect of being cooperative with my patients is to always keep in mind that they often have very good intuition and insight into what’s happening with their own bodies. Rather than just looking at a laboratory test or going by what I’ve learned from their physical exam, it’s important for me to listen to their suggestions.

If people have been meditating on their current health challenge, or really thinking about it, I take their suggestions more seriously because God may be speaking to them through their intuition. When we do a laboratory test based on that kind of suggestion, it often turns out that they were right, and it would have been detrimental to their healing had I not listened. Such experiences keep me humble and remind me not to get so caught up in my professional viewpoint that I dismiss their intuitive insight simply because it’s not clothed in proper medical terminology.

Q: Do you have this kind of experience often?

A: Yes, in fact. Listening to patients’ suggestions is an important aspect of cooperative healing. But a lot of physicians refuse to do that. They say, “If you want my care, you have to do it my way.”

Q: So, for both practitioner and patient, cooperative healing requires humility and receptivity, important spiritual attitudes.

A: Yes, for patients and practitioners, the challenge is not to have a lot of ego invested in a particular point of view. Often I find that I have to encourage devotees not to view their health problems as a stigma or as a spiritual failure —unless, let’s say, they’ve been meditating for twenty years and are still smoking cigarettes. But that’s the minority. The vast majority of health challenges come from inherited predispositions or are just one of the many common ailments that occur as people age.

I’ve always appreciated something Swami Kriyananda said: “Remember nobody gets out of this life alive.” We all have to die someday, and it will be some type of ailment or illness that triggers that process. The best approach for devotees is to avoid self-judgment and to work with their heath problems very practically. Illness isn’t a sign that we’re fundamentally flawed and don’t deserve to be devotees. In fact, for devotees, having significant health challenges is one way of burning up karma.

I might add, however, that devotees as a group are healthier than the mainstream. Their immune systems seem to be stronger, and they tend to recover from illnesses and surgeries more quickly than average. I’ve also found that I can prescribe lower dosages of medication to get excellent effects, especially with anti-depressants. This has been my experience in working with literally hundreds and hundreds of devotees over thirty years.

Q: Swami Kriyananda writes that the highest kind of healing is to stimulate a person to be his or her own healer.  Is that the goal of cooperative healing?

A: Yes. For practitioners, rather than seeing ourselves as doing “something” to someone, it’s better to see ourselves more as facilitators or coaches. We may be able to offer diagnostic procedures and medications, but in the end we’re simply trying to help people attain their highest potential physically, mentally, and spiritually.

I’ve often tried to imagine myself a hundred years in the future, sitting around with healing practitioners from other traditions and saying, “Can you believe that we used to give people medications —and vaccinations? And the acupuncturist answers, “I know, but can you believe that we used to stick people with needles? I can’t believe it, but we really didn’t know any better then.”

I find that it’s good to keep this perspective lest any of us think we have a corner on the truth as health care practitioners. Probably in a hundred years, much of what we’re now doing in health care will be laughable.

Peter Van Houten, a Lightbearer and resident of Ananda Village, is the founder and CEO of Sierra Family Medical Clinic near Ananda Village.

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

Q. Bryan, in 2008 you conducted a study to determine whether Ananda Yoga could help people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). What did the study show?

A. We found significant improvements in both the physical health and quality of life of those who participated in the study, essentially validating what Paramhansa Yogananda says about the positive effects of meditation and the Energization Exercises on the brain and nervous system. One participant did the practices everyday and had outstanding results in all the areas we measured. She had brain scans taken before and after the study which showed a reversal of the damage caused by MS.

For the study, I used the term “Ananda Yoga” to refer to the full range of practices offered at Ananda, including meditation, the Energization Exercises, postures with affirmations, and deep relaxation.

Q. What prompted you to do a study of how Ananda Yoga might help people with MS?

A. In 2007, a neurologist in Italy completed a study showing that persons with MS who took part in an 8-month Ananda Yoga program experienced a significant decrease in fatigue and depression. Upon learning of the study, the Expanding Light staff at Ananda Village decided to do an MS study that would validate these findings on fatigue and depression, but also look at the impact of Ananda Yoga on the physical symptoms of MS.

I am a long-time member of Ananda. When I heard of The Expanding Light’s intention to do a study, I felt that my background in neurologic rehabilitation research could help make the study scientifically stronger. I am a Doctor of Physical Therapy, and serve as a university faculty member, teaching and researching. At the time, I had just finished my doctoral thesis on treating MS. By studying MS, we were also seeking information that would be helpful to people with other neurological diseases.

Q. What was the purpose of the study?

A. Specifically, the purpose of the study was to determine if an 18-week Ananda Yoga program could effect improvements in strength, mobility, fatigue, balance, respiratory function, and in the quality of life of persons with early stage MS. “Quality of life” means how people perceive their physical and mental health, and how that perception affects their sense of well-being.

Multiple sclerosis is usually described as “progressive,” which means that you get worse as the years pass. That, however, is not a helpful perspective. There are many instances of people with MS who have made a complete recovery or have stabilized and not worsened throughout their lives.

In designing this study, we felt that Ananda’s spiritual perspective and yogic practices could be especially useful in offsetting the pervasive negativity that says that people with MS will inevitably “get worse and die.”

Q. What is multiple sclerosis and how is it caused?

A. MS is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the central nervous system. Some call it “the great crippler of young adults” because the onset is usually from 20-40 years old.

The cause is unknown and the symptoms vary widely, but the most common ones are: physical weakness, abnormal muscle tone, loss of balance in walking, respiratory weakness, impaired bladder and bowel function, fatigue, depression, and cognitive impairments affecting attention span, concentration, and memory. Fatigue especially is a tremendous challenge for persons with MS and the most frequently cited complaint.

Since MS affects people in the prime of their working lives, those involved in “mental” work can feel desperate about diminishing cognitive capacity. One of the participants in the study initiated a lengthy discussion among the group about the cognitive impairments of the disease (attention, concentration, memory) and how much more terrifying they were than the physical impairments.

Q. Other than the Italian study, did you draw upon any other studies in designing the Ananda Yoga study?

A. We looked at several studies that used traditional physical therapy or included only one yogic practice, such as postures.

However, while attending an international yoga therapy workshop, I had learned that the best researchers were discovering that the most effective yoga programs provide an initial period of immersion long enough to take participants out of their usual routines, and to allow them to go deeply into all of the practices. Offering yoga once a week in a community setting does not seem to have nearly the same effect as an initial introduction of at least one full day of immersion.

Additionally, it was becoming apparent to researchers that a “multi-component” approach (more than just postures and a brief meditation) was most effective, especially for improvements in mental health.

Our approach incorporated both of these “best practices.” We did an intensive 5-day workshop to start off the MS program, and Ananda Yoga certainly has multiple components.

Q. Who were the study participants and how were they recruited?

A. We recruited study participants from the MS Society of Northern California and through The Expanding Light Website. The Expanding Light also sent an announcement to its mailing list.

Twenty-eight people diagnosed with mild to moderate MS participated in the initial 5-day training. Nearly all of them were still working for a living, although a few had serious disabilities that altered their work and family lives.

Q. I understand that you tested all study participants before the start of the 5-day training?

A. We tested all participants on both the physical and quality of life impairments caused by the disease. This initial testing gave us a baseline to compare with later re-testing to determine how much the practices helped them.

After the initial testing, participants took part in classes and workshops in Ananda Yoga practices at The Expanding Light. They also attended classes discussing the scientific evidence showing the positive impact of yogic practices on the nervous system, especially meditation and the Energization Exercises.

After the 5-day intensive, participants returned home for 18 weeks of Ananda Yoga practice. We asked them to practice the techniques at least 3 times a week and to keep a journal. To support them in their home practice, we gave them an illustrated practice manual, and a DVD with a guided meditation, and a demonstration of yoga postures and Energization Exercises.

The Expanding Light staff kept in touch with everyone through weekly inspirational emails and monthly phone calls. The group proved very cohesive and they formed their own “mini community” with a blog that lasted at least two years beyond the study.

Q. Did participants have any trouble keeping up with their practices at home?

A. Some were only able to practice once a week, and a few practiced nearly four times per week. Most, however, were able to practice on average just under three times per week – about what we asked for.

Q. When the participants returned to The Expanding Light in May 2008 for re-testing, did you find that they had gotten better?

A. Most definitely. Every single area of functioning that we measured showed improvements for the group as a whole. These are particularly compelling results when studying a progressive disease such as MS, which is usually thought of as an ever-worsening condition.

Yet even more critical from a scientific perspective is that our re-testing showed that there were statistically significant (that is, beyond just a chance) improvements.

Physical improvements
To measure physical changes, we used standardized tests for balance, walking speed and endurance, leg strength, and respiratory capacity. We found improvements in the following areas:

• There were significant improvements in balance. This is important because folks with MS tend to have additional injuries and disabilities from falls. What is especially notable is that most participants, when retested for balance, achieved the highest level of “normal” balance that the standardized instrument could measure!
• Respiratory capacity improved significantly. This too is an important finding because one of the main causes of death in persons with MS is respiratory infection, brought on by weakness in the lungs and pulmonary muscles.
• Functional strength in the legs improved significantly, with several participants increasing their leg strength by 62%.
• Preferred walking speed, meaning the pace at which they normally walk, increased significantly, showing improved mobility.

Quality of life improvements
To measure quality of life changes, we used the standardized MS Quality of Life survey, and found improvements in the following areas:

• There was a nearly 50% decrease in anxiety for the group as a whole.
• There were significantly decreased levels of depression.
• There were significant decreases in the impact of fatigue on their lives, showing an average 77% improvement. The Energization Exercises showed the highest correlation with decreases in fatigue.
• Participants reported significantly improved levels of attention and concentration. The perception that they were functioning better gave people more self-confidence in their work and thus helped indirectly with job security.
• “Positive affect.” Participants reported significant increases in the amount of time they felt cheerful, calm, and peaceful. Interestingly, these gains correlated most strongly with more meditation practice.
• “Behavioral control.” There was a huge improvement in this area, meaning that folks were now feeling “in firm control of their behavior, thoughts, emotions, and feelings,” and more “emotionally stable.”

Q. Ananda Yoga includes a fairly large number of practices. Did the study show how many of the practices one needs to do to get the benefits, and for how many days a week?

A. We think that one explanation for the improvements is that Ananda Yoga is multi-component – it includes meditation, Energization Exercises, deep relaxation, and postures with affirmations. The data shows that with one exception, participants practiced every component of Ananda Yoga, but that they varied in how frequently they practiced.

While physical benefits did not correlate with frequency of practice, we found that the improvements noted in quality of life correlated strongly with the frequency of practice. For example, those who practiced 4 times a week showed significantly higher improvements in quality of life markers, and in a sense of “health and vitality,” than those who practiced fewer than 3 times a week. This finding suggests that more quality of life benefits are derived from a more frequent practice.

Q. What are the most important lessons and implications from the study?

A. The study showed that Ananda Yoga helps people with a significant chronic disease to be more uplifted, to be less depressed, to be less at risk of falling, to be much less fatigued, and to be more socially active because they feel less noticeably disabled.

For persons with a chronic neurological illness, perhaps the most significant overall result is that participants not only did not get worse, but they all improved. In medical science, developing a therapy that slows the progress of a chronic disease is considered a huge breakthrough. If, as this study suggests, a regular practice of Ananda Yoga can not only stop a “progressive worsening” of a chronic disease, but can also bring about improvements, then Ananda Yoga offers potentially positive benefits for everyone.

It is clear to me that we possess – in Yogananda’s teachings and especially in the expression of these teachings through Ananda Yoga — very powerful tools. We are only now beginning to have the scientific means to measure just how powerful they are.

Bryan Coleman-Salgado is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, and teaches neurologic physical therapy as a full-time faculty member at California State University, Sacramento. He is a Sevaka life member at Ananda, and has been a yoga practitioner for 34 years.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What results have I experienced?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But this, dear students, is a jellyfish philosophy. It is not the way to truth. What is true is that if your father died of cancer and you continue to live as he did, you may follow in his footsteps.

Sickness is the result of breaking some mental or physical law, either in this life or in a past incarnation.  It is your job to free yourself from the shackles of undesirable hereditary tendencies, including habits of ill health. Like everything else worth attaining, you must work for it!

Divine healing at Bethesda
The mind controls the body. The will of a person who has been ill for a long time becomes so weak that he cannot overcome the illness. However, faith can revive the power of his will and effect a healing. The Bible tells of such a healing.

In Jerusalem, Jesus went to the pool of Bethesda, where a crowd of people waited to bathe in the healing waters. At certain times the waters vibrated and emanated healing currents. The first one to enter after the waters moved was healed.

Jesus saw a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years lying by the pool. He had no one to help him, and when the waters vibrated—someone else always got in ahead of him. Filled with compassion, Jesus asked, “Wilt thou be made whole?”  When Jesus found that the sick man was receptive and desired very much to be healed, He said, “Rise, take up thy bed and walk.”

The man was healed by his own awakened faith and the revival of his will, which aroused the latent life energy of his own brain and served as the antenna for the cosmic energy from Jesus.

The power of the mind
Most physical diseases have their roots in the mind. You can produce disease in your body merely by allowing yourself to be hypnotized by the thought of disease. In trying to get rid of an illness, people often concentrate more on the gripping power of the illness than on the possibility of a cure, and thus permit the illness to become both a physical and mental habit.

It is a mistake to think this way. Never allow your mind to entertain thoughts of illness or limitation. The subconscious habit of “disease consciousness” exerts a strong influence on the continuity of chronic diseases. In fact, chronic mental or physical diseases always have deep roots in the subconscious mind.

That is why all affirmations ought to be impressive enough to become mental habits in the subconscious mind, which will, in turn, influence the conscious mind. In this way, strong conscious affirmations can influence the mind and body through the medium of the subconscious.

Fear: the enemy of will power
Will power is the main dynamo of the body, converting cosmic energy into life force. The stronger the will, the greater the flow of energy into the tissues and body parts.

Often during illness, however, people become discouraged and permit subconscious tendencies to hamper the will. If the illness is serious or prolonged, memories of previous ailments, as well as past failures and disappointments, often fill the mind with fear that the body cannot recover.

Fear is one of the greatest enemies of will power and health. It paralyzes the will, disrupts the life force flowing through the nerves, and lowers the vitality of the entire body. Physical health slowly fails from want of life force. If, however, a person resolutely refuses to be afraid or disheartened, his will can produce the life force needed to heal the body.

Health: your divine birthright
Fear of sickness belongs to the domain of ignorance. Of course, if you are stricken with ill health, you should strive for health without being afraid of failure. While struggling, however, you must understand that the struggle for health is born of delusion, for you already have what you need in the inner Self.

Once a healthy, wealthy, and wise prince dreamed that he was poor and ill. In the dream he shouted, “Oh, I am suffering from cancer and I have lost all my wisdom and riches.”

His wife, the queen, woke up and roused him, saying, “Look, prince. Laugh and rejoice, for you are neither suffering from sickness, nor have you lost riches and wisdom. You are comfortably lying at my side in health and wisdom, in your rich kingdom. You were only dreaming about these catastrophes.”

So it is that many people are dreaming about lack when they might claim their birthright of joy, health, and plenty as children of God. Only by meditating and attuning to God’s consciousness, do we realize the truth that this universe is God’s dream. In a dream you may think that you are ill but once awakened, you see it is not true. When awake in God, so also do you  know that this life is nothing but a dream.

Meditation leads to permanent success
We can change certain aspects of our own ego-dream by altering the way we think. For example, when we are ill we can make a strong affirmation of good health and become well again. But meditation alone leads to permanent success.

By connecting your individual energy with the unlimited storehouse of inner cosmic energy, you can overcome ill health. To achieve permanent success, you must meditate morning and night, and concentrate the superconscious peace rays on the brain, scorching out the seeds of past failures and stimulating the success tendencies.

During meditation, you feel the power of concentration in the will center at the point between the eyebrows, as well as a feeling of complete peace throughout the body. To scour the seeds of past sickness from the brain cells, you must transfer the power of concentration felt at the point between the eyebrows and the peace feeling of the body, to the brain. This impregnates the brain cells with peace and power, and modifies their chemical and psychological composition.

By repeatedly concentrating this vital power on the brain for long periods of time, you will eventually destroy all lurking disease tendencies from the past.

Right approach for devotees
Illness can be a serious obstacle on the spiritual path. Do your best, within reason, to achieve health, but always keep your efforts proportionate to the true, long-range goal of life, which is to find God.

Many saints have had serious illnesses. The test of spirituality is one’s inner state of consciousness, and, above all, the purity of one’s love for God.

There was a saint who fell ill. His disciples pleaded with him, “Master, so many have been healed by your intercession. Why don’t you pray to the Divine Mother to heal you, too?” This seemed to him not a bad idea; he accepted their suggestion. When he prayed, the Divine Mother appeared to him.

“Of all things!” She rebuked him. “You, who have realized your oneness with the Infinite, and who have so many bodies you live through, want now, by praying for this one little form, to limit yourself to it? For shame!” The saint deeply regretted his error, and prayed, “Mother, Your love alone is all-sufficient!”

It is wisest to be impartial. If you have health, but are attached to it, you will always be afraid of losing it. And if you fear that loss, but become ill, you will suffer. It is better to rise above outer conditions altogether, so that they cannot affect you. Try to rise above the pairs of opposites: pleasure and pain, heat and cold, sickness and health.

Conditions are always neutral
Remember: conditions are always neutral; they seem happy or sad owing only to the attitudes of the mind. If a man is ill, afflicted with arthritic pain, and slogging through deep mud on a winter night, he can yet be happy just the same. With a strong will, he’d be able to ignore every difficulty and his happiness would remain unaffected.

Not that those circumstances would have been pleasurable. Nonetheless, a human being can be happy under the worst circumstances. Mind has no connection with the body apart from whatever connection you choose to give it. To pass life’s tests, you need to develop elasticity of the mind.

When your mind can remain completely apart from the body at will, you will be free. Why not remain forever joyful in the Self? By tuning into God and waking up in His consciousness, you will know that this life is nothing but a dream.

From articles, and books, 1930-1942.

To view Swami Kriyananda’s talk, “Attaining Radiant Health and Well-Being,“click here:

I choose to be thankful
So, it may not be surprising that, as a yoga teacher, I specialize in yoga therapy for musculoskeletal issues and bring to my work an expertise and compassion borne of experience. Rather than be resentful of what appears to be more than my fair share of injuries and illnesses, I choose to be thankful for what I have learned and for the blessing of being able to help others reach for optimal health—physically, mentally and spiritually.

I would like to add that I have never thought of myself as someone prone to illness and injury–I have always seen myself as healthy and hardy. You might even say that I had to work really hard to get some of my injuries. As an athlete, ballet dancer, horse rider and trainer, I often pushed myself to limits most people would have avoided.

Injuries led me to my dharma
Looking back, I can see the hand of God and Guru clearly helping me, through my many injuries, to fulfill my dharma as a yoga teacher. The injuries cut off some of the other avenues I might have taken—professional dancing, modeling, acting—pursuits that easily could have prevented me from having a spiritual life.

It was a back injury in the early 1980s that led me to Ananda. After a completely unhelpful visit to an orthopedic surgeon, I was feeling very low regarding my situation. Unexpectedly, I received a flyer from the Ananda San Francisco House announcing  a three-month intensive yoga teacher-training program. I had no desire to teach yoga, but while staring at the flyer I had an unexplainable “knowing” that taking this course would be a lifeline out of my downward spiral.

And it was! I had no idea the course would cover not only yoga postures but also yogic philosophy, spirituality, and the concept of a guru. I learned that everyone had a guru and I looked forward to finding mine.

It took several years for me to realize that I had already found my guru:Paramhansa Yogananda. By then, I had opened my own yoga studio in San Francisco and was teaching yoga.

A blessing not to feel pain
A source of deep fulfillment in my work as a therapeutic yoga teacher is the smile on peoples’ faces—the “light bulb” moments when pain has disappeared or is suddenly no longer acute. Often it’s a blessing  not to feel pain for any period of time. Many students have found pain relief, healing, and have avoided surgery through the therapeutic yoga sessions.

In a therapeutic yoga session, the problem presented by the student is usually physical, but the healing is both physical and spiritual, and often unexpected. This scenario is especially true with students new to yoga who would never seek spiritual counseling.

One example was a student who complained of a chronic shoulder problem. After I led him through a series of restorative poses, he began to open up and mentioned a disagreement with his daughter. Apparently feeling more comfortable, he then launched into a discussion of the issue underlying his shoulder problem: his Catholic background, his deepening feelings for Yogananda and the yogic spiritual path, and the conflicts these feelings caused him.

I spent most of the rest of the class quoting the Bible and pointing out the deeper meanings, and showing how they parallel the yoga teachings. The student found the parallels very reassuring, and by the end of the session his shoulder felt fine. He is now exploring Yogananda’s teachings more deeply with the goal of becoming a disciple.

A way to accelerate spiritual progress
I try to meet people where they are and to help them accordingly. However, when working with devotees, I can talk openly about meditation, the subtle energies, prayer, and spiritual growth as part of the healing process, which can lead to faster results. Devotees already understand the benefits of yoga postures, how they can help us sit for long periods of meditation and redirect our energy upward to the spiritual eye.

One student needed help with his spiritual practices and guidance on a hip problem. After observing him, it became clear that one practice would resolve both concerns. I instructed him to keep his attention at the spiritual eye at all times to the degree possible.

On a physical level, this upward focus lifted his torso enough to take the load off  his hips, and helped correct his hip and postural problems. As for his spiritual concerns—focusing more frequently at the spiritual eye throughout the day energized his entire spiritual life. This is a practice Yogananda strongly recommends for all devotees as a means of accelerating spiritual progress.

I put my trust in Yogananda
In my work as a therapeutic yoga teacher, I always pray to Yogananda  and ask him to guide me in how to work with students so that each one receives what he or she needs. I say, “Master, this is your student, you tell me what to do.”

By this process I have spiritualized my work and it has become a form of sadhana. Sometimes the guidance I receive makes no sense to me but it always turns out to be the right thing.

Once, for example, one of my “student-teachers” was guiding an older woman with a history of lower back pain. Following the teacher’s guidance, the woman was doing leg movements and stretches that had the potential to strain the lower back. My first impulse was to rush over and “correct” the situation. Wanting to be respectful to my students (especially when they are guiding others), I paused and asked Yogananda what to do.

The answer was to “do nothing.”  I asked again to be sure and the answer was clear: “Do nothing.” So, I put my trust in Yogananda and let the situation unfold. Later in the class, when the students gave feedback, the older woman expressed her gratitude and enjoyment for the helpful leg exercises her teacher had given her—the ones that “common sense” told me would not be good for her. I smiled and inwardly thanked my guru.

A different perspective on pain
As I’ve learned to rely more on God and Guru, and to understand that I am not the “doer,” I have become a more effective therapeutic yoga teacher. I receive the inspiration I need and teaching is much easier, with better results for my students. Also, by attempting always to practice the presence of God, I naturally begin to spiritualize everything I do, including my work.

As for my own healing journey, in the years since I first found Ananda, meditation and the practice of Kriya Yoga have given me an entirely different perspective on pain, which allows for a different experience of pain. As it says in the Bhagavad Gita, “even a little practice of this inward religion will save you from dire fears and colossal suffering.”

Nicole DeAvilla Whiting lives in Marin County with her husband and two children. She teaches Ananda Yoga at the Expanding Light Guest Retreat at Ananda Village and in Marin County, where she also leads an Ananda meditation group.

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

Q. Peter, you started a medical clinic two years after moving to Ananda Village. Since then, you’ve had the responsibility of running a busy rural clinic while also providing medical services to clinic patients. In addition, you’ve often had to respond to medical emergencies in the evening after work and on week-ends.

Under these circumstances, how has it been possible for you to put God first in your life?

A. Since becoming a devotee, I’ve always tried to see my life as belonging to God. Interestingly, I started doing that much more consciously during a period when I was facing more challenges than I thought I could handle.

Q. What was happening at that time?

A. It was during  the late 1980s. The clinic had been open for about five years, but we were still just barely hanging on financially. I was working all the time, doing everything from seeing patients, managing the finances, and being on call most nights.

In the midst of all this, local doctors were criticizing me for starting a clinic with so little medical experience, claiming that we didn’t provide good health care. Then county officials began pressuring us to move to an approved structure, which we simply couldn’t afford to do.

That was the last straw. I began asking myself, “Is it really my karma to be a doctor? Are all these problems a ‘sign’ I should be doing something else?” I started thinking seriously about closing the clinic and wrote Swami Kriyananda for advice.

After consulting with him, I understood more deeply that it was God’s will for me to be a doctor, and on some level I relaxed. I realized that it didn’t matter if the challenges felt crushing, or if my ego was bruised by the criticism from other doctors. What was happening was God’s will for me–His way of making me stronger.

The problems still existed, but I became more resilient in dealing with them because I no longer struggled against them. I relied more on God’s strength and guidance for solutions. It was an important turning point in surrendering to God’s will.

Q. Another important aspect of putting God first involves consciously acting as His instrument and channeling His love to people. Is this something you do in your work at the clinic?

A. Yes, but I’ve had to learn to do it. My inner relationship with God has always been very devotional, and it’s been easy for me to feel love for God. One of my main lessons in this life has been learning to give that same love outwardly to people.

At the clinic we see about 15,000 patients a year, most of whom are society’s dropouts—indigent, homeless, and often mentally ill with difficult personalities. They’re people you have to work at loving—and I’ve had to work at it.

Q. How did you “work at it?”

A. When seeing patients, I would consciously try to feel God’s love in my heart– and then project that love out to them. At the same time, I would also pray for them. Gradually, my heart opened to them, especially as I began to see how deeply healing it was for patients when I worked with them in a loving way.

Q. Specifically, how was it healing for your patients?

A. It had a calming effect on  those who were agitated or disturbed emotionally. In general, their physical and mental health improved, and they had a greatly improved ability to make constructive decisions about diet, smoking, exercise, intoxicants and other things that affected their physical and mental health.

Q. In your many years of practicing medicine, there must have been times when you did your absolute best but something nevertheless went “wrong.” How does that affect you? Have you been able to develop non-attachment to the “fruits” of your efforts?

A. For someone like me who really takes what he does seriously, non-attachment has been very difficult. Many times something has gone very badly for a patient and I thought maybe I was at fault. Usually it turned out that I wasn’t.

But I’ve realized that if I let my concentration lapse for 30 seconds, I could miss a key piece of information and the patient could end up being harmed, or even dying, from my mistake.

Q. Was there a turning point when you became stronger in non-attachment?

A. Yes, about six or seven years ago. I was injecting cortisone into a patient’s back to relieve pain and accidentally punched through the muscle into the lung. The patient ended up in the hospital with a collapsed lung. It’s the kind of thing we routinely warn patients about, but it was horrifying to actually have it happen.

The patient made a perfect recovery, but it felt terrible to have hurt someone who trusted me. Still, I’m grateful for the experience.

Q. What did you learn?

A. I realized more deeply the message of The Bhagavad Gita—that in this world we have no choice but to act. Things like this are going to happen even though we try our best. We have to understand that the results of our actions are completely in God’s hands, and always give what we do to Him.

If your work involves a lot of exposure and a high level of responsibility, as mine does, you’re going to make “big” mistakes, not little mistakes. I have to be willing to accept that and surrender it to God. He’s the Doer. The results of my actions belong to Him.

Q. When did you first understand that God was the Doer and that He was working through you in all health care situations, even when the outcome wasn’t what you want?

A. This is perhaps the most important lesson on the spiritual path, and it’s been a gradual process. It started when I was an intern and had no choice but to depend on God because often I didn’t know what to do. After praying, I would know what to do. Even today, when with a patient, if I don’t know the solution, I always pray.

But there’s a deeper level of seeing God as the Doer, when you begin to feel God flowing through you, silently guiding your thoughts and actions. Only for the last five or six years have I begun to feel that more continuously.

Back in the first days of the clinic, I tried to think that way, but it was mostly affirmation. More recently it’s been the reality.

Q. Have there been any dramatic instances of this?

A. Yes. Sometimes I’ll be talking with a patient, trying to figure out what’s wrong, and suddenly find myself talking about something I know absolutely nothing about. I’ll look it up afterwards and find that what I’ve told the patient is correct.

It’s very humbling and always reminds me who’s in charge. But I don’t think I’m unique. If we see what we’re doing as a service and an offering to God, the superconscious will sometimes infiltrate our thoughts and behavior.

Q. Paramhansa Yogananda said that willingness is one of the most important spiritual attitudes. Has willingness been a challenge for you?

A. Willingness has been my hardest challenge because I like things to be organized and predictable. It’s sometimes difficult to stay willing when it’s 6:00 p.m., I’ve already seen 25 patients and would really like to go home—and suddenly there’s one more patient who really needs to be seen. My battle is to not do the easy thing by sending the patient to the hospital emergency room or telling him or her to come back the next day.

As devotees, the pitfall is to decide that we have only so much energy—and no more. Just when I think I’ve done everything I can do, Divine Mother often says, “But there’s so much more you can do,” and then shows me that’s true.

Q. If being willing leaves you with less time for meditation, wouldn’t that adversely affect your spiritual progress?

A. Not necessarily. Recently the clinic went through a very challenging 3-year period when it looked like we might close. We’d been doing very well for a long time. Then gradually we lost most of our top medical staff and couldn’t replace them because finances had become very tight.

For a while I was the only one seeing patients and working 16 hours a day just to keep the clinic afloat. I couldn’t meditate much. Yet it was a period of real growth for me spiritually.

It helped me understand that God will work with us in the ways we need for our spiritual development, and we shouldn’t think that the only way we grow spiritually is by meditating eight hours a day. We just have to be willing to do what God asks of us.

Q. How did the experience change you?

A. I had to confront a number of my fears very directly. The clinic was something I’d worked on for almost 30 years and it looked like it was going to fail. I could have ended up financially ruined. There were so many ways this could have happened.

More than once I felt like I was going a little crazy with the whole thing. I got stretched far beyond what I thought my limits were, and yet, looking back, I can see that God and Guru protected me the whole time.

Q. I imagine you gained a much deeper level of trust and faith in God?

A. The experience definitely took concepts like “faith” and “trust” and made them much more real because I’d lived it. Repeatedly I had to say, “God, you’re going to have to protect me because I’m going far beyond what I think I can do.”

And God came through and produced a miracle. From any standpoint, the clinic should not be standing today.

Q. Didn’t you need a certain level of faith and centeredness to successfully go through a test like that?

A. For sure. Being a devotee for many years gives you the momentum to get through things that would have been insurmountable earlier on the path. You’ve already gotten through many challenges, and you’re more confident that God will carry you through this one too. You learn that God will always protect you, provided you do your best and keep moving forward, no matter how hard it gets.

Peter Van Houten, a Lightbearer, lives at Ananda Village and is the founder and Medical Director of Sierra Family Medical Clinic.

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

What helped me most during the “in between times” was to call on God and Guru’s grace in times of need by doing japa. When my mind became negative or fearful I would do japa by repeating a mantra, and my negative thoughts would usually dissolve.

In stressful situations like driving to out-of-the-way locations, which is often necessary in my job as a family court attorney, doing japa would calm me down and I was able to find my destinations.

Kriya Yoga: a turning point
Receiving Kriya Yoga initiation in 2006 was an important turning point in learning not to compartmentalize my life. Since then, my meditations have become deeper and I find it easier to remain centered in the midst of life’s storms.

As a result, I’ve been able to experience first hand the truth that all life situations, and not just the time spent in meditation and prayer, are opportunities for spiritual growth.

A challenging relationship
A year after receiving Kriya Yoga initiation, I went through one of the most challenging times in my life as an attorney. I had been appointed by the court to represent a woman whose teen-age daughter had been removed from her care and placed in foster care.

This woman was very disturbed emotionally. Initially, she spent most of our meetings berating me, threatening either to fire me or to report me to the state bar association (she couldn’t fire me since I was court-appointed), or fixating on fears not based in reality.

Familiar fears
A year and half into my relationship with this woman, I felt inspired during one of her tirades to gaze at her at the point between the eyebrows (the spiritual eye), and to think of her as a child of God. The effect on me was immediate.

Despite her negativity, I suddenly felt immense compassion for her—and for myself. I realized that in many ways she was my teacher. She had fears that were familiar to me—fears of not being loved, of being rejected by society, of not being appreciated, of being misjudged, of not being good enough.

The differences between us were only a matter of degree. She allowed her fears to overwhelm her to such an extent that she was unable to function. I, on the other hand, was learning to control my mind and transcend my emotions through the practice of meditation, prayer, and japa.

Listening more intuitively
That was a turning point in our relationship. After that, I saw every phone call and every meeting with her as an opportunity for inner growth—for me to remain centered and compassionate no matter what she said or did, and to listen more intuitively to how best to help her.

I learned not to insist that she spell out her exact positions on the legal situation with her daughter—something that was extremely difficult for her to do. Instead, I encouraged her to express her feelings and emotions, which turned out to be far more productive.

I learned to listen to her, to translate her feelings and concerns into coherent legal positions, and to present them in court in an organized manner. She felt that she had been heard and was grateful for that.

She even seemed healed by the process. She was more relaxed during our meetings, less anxious. Her tirades became less frequent and less “dramatic.” At one point she even invited me to join her at a dinner at her church, which was a huge demonstration of gratitude and kindness on her part.

At the end of our 3-year attorney-client relationship, she no longer perceived me as someone who might hurt or abandon her but as an ally, someone on her side.

A mysterious illness
The biggest step forward in my progress toward seeing my spiritual and everyday life as one came in 2008 when I was hit with a mysterious illness. Just a few months earlier I had been enjoying long hikes with my dog, meditating and doing yoga postures regularly, and carrying a heavy family law caseload.

Suddenly I was struggling with dizzy spells, bodily weakness, and a sense of being totally overwhelmed by any minor demand on my time and attention.  In less than two months, however, 15 weekend guests—students and teachers from the Ananda Institute and other Ananda friends—were due to arrive.

One week before their arrival, a blood test disclosed a vitamin B12 deficiency. I wondered: how fast would the vitamin B12 pills make me feel somewhat normal again?

Opening to God and Guru
I considered canceling their visit—the events planned for the weekend included a kirtan, Sunday Service, and a hike and visit to the local Buddhist Stupa Park. How could I, in my state of total fatigue and discomfort, get the house ready, plan meals, cook, set up sleeping arrangements, and look somewhat happy to see them when they arrived?

Though weakened by illness, I was nonetheless determined to find a way to be ready for my guests. After meditating, I surrendered the situation to God and my Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, and asked them to take charge of my body and flow through me so that things would be ready for my friends’ arrival.

I curtailed my work schedule as much as possible and each day managed to get one thing done.  I was pale and eight pounds thinner the day my Ananda friends arrived, but the house was clean, the food was ready, and I felt blissful to see so many bright faces at my doorstep.

A marathon of joy
The weekend was a marathon, but I felt so much joy I could barely eat or sleep. My home vibrated with music, laughter, singing, love, and devotion.

I have several musical instruments in my house but I am not a musical person and cannot play any of them. During that weekend, those instruments heard beautiful tunes as the students played Swami Kriyananda’s music all day long.

By Monday morning all my guests had left, and I had a few days to rest before the arrival of another weekend Ananda guest and more Ananda events. My body was still somewhat weak, but once again everything got done.

During the Sunday evening satsang in my home, the visiting Ananda minister spoke about energy and quoted Paramhansa Yogananda’s statement that one small gram of human flesh has enough energy to light up an entire city. We did Swami Kriyananda’s Superconscious Living Exercises and my body felt refreshed. What most amazed me were my vitality and readiness to serve.

Many blessings; many lessons
What did I learn from these two experiences? I learned that if I put total effort and willingness into a project, not only do I open myself to God’s wisdom and guidance, I also receive the strength I need to serve.

I learned also that there is no difference between the “spiritual” and the “mundane” when I perceive myself as God’s instrument and am willing to do whatever needs to be done. My willingness opens the door to the infinite source of all energy and strength.

Though I had heard and read many times, “God is the Doer,” this was my first experience of what it meant to act with the sense that God was acting through me. Previously, I had always felt that I was the doer, even when thinking of God during activities or consciously trying to serve God through others.

What a difference it is to experience the truth that God is omnipresent, all-pervasive, and ever-ready to pick us up when we stumble or fall!

Everything is an opportunity
The blessing I most cherish is the growing realization that all situations in life are opportunities for inner growth. It was easier perhaps for me to learn this lesson when the outward activities were of a spiritual nature, like the Ananda events I hosted in my home, rather than my daily mundane duties.

But it has become clear that what’s important is not what I do but being in a state of surrender and alignment with the divine will.

My health and strength have returned. Life’s many duties have become simpler and much less exhausting. I continue to enjoy spiritual retreats but I also enjoy my daily spiritual journey. Everyday I pray that I become a better devotee, more surrendered to the divine will, so that God can flow through me in all that I do.

A spiritual seeker since 1991, Daniella Ferrari is currently the leader of the Ananda Meditation and Book Study Group in Sedona, AZ.  In her work as a family law attorney, she represents indigent clients and abused and neglected children.

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

Preparation time: 10 minutes Serves: 5
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Sauté for 5 minutes:

¼ cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

Add and sauté until slightly soft:

6 zucchini, cut into rounds

Add:

2 tablespoons tamari or Bragg Liquid Aminos
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 pinch black pepper

Serve warm or cold.
(From Global Kitchen, Crystal Clarity Publishers)

2. Tomato Basil Salad
A cooling salad for a festive or everyday meal.

Preparation time: 25 minutes Serves: 6

Place in a bowl:

3 large tomatoes, cut into crescents
6 mushrooms, cut into 1/8 inch slices
¼ cup olives, sliced
1/3 cup artichoke hearts,* quartered
¼ cup fresh parsley, minced
2 tablespoons fresh basil, minced

In a small bowl, mix dressing:

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 large clove garlic, peeled and minced
2 pinches dried mustard

Pour dressing over vegetables and toss. Add, to taste:

½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Serving idea: Good with Bulgur Garbanzo Salad.
*Use artichoke hearts packed in water, not vinegar.

(From Global Kitchen, Crystal Clarity Publishers)

3. Mexican Salad
A meal in itself

Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time for rice: 45 minutes
Chilling time: 30 minutes

Sauté for 5 minutes in medium skillet:

1½ tablespoons butter
1½ cups cooked rice
scant ½  teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon coriander
scant ½  teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon paprika

Allow to cool. In a large bowl, mix the above with:

1½ cups cooked kidney beans  (canned work fine)
1 head iceberg lettuce, cut into bite-size pieces
¼-½ cup minced yellow or red onions
one 4-ounce can diced Ortega chilies
one 3½-5-ounce can pitted black olives, sliced

Then add:

3 tomatoes, diced
1/3 pound cheddar cheese, cut into small pieces

Top with:

¼ pound corn chips, broken into bite-size pieces

Chill and serve with Ranch Dressing, This salad goes well with corn bread

(From Simply Vegetarian! Crystal Clarity Publishers)

4. Seasoned Spinach Salad
Simple but delicious.

Preparation time: 10-15 minutes Serves: 4
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes

Thaw and drain water from:

1 pound frozen spinach

Sauté in a skillet for 5 minutes:

3 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and whole
thawed spinach

Cover and let simmer on low heat for 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally. Discard garlic cloves. Place spinach in a serving dish and add:

½ cup black olives, sliced

Serve warm.

Variations:
Add ½ cup pine nuts to sautéed spinach. You can also mix this salad with cooked basmati rice.

(From Global Kitchen, Crystal Clarity Publishers)

A. Years ago, I discovered that one of my biggest challenges as a nurse was attachment—attachment to the person I was serving, and also to my role as a caring professional. My first big awareness of this came when I found myself in tears because I was unable to be present at the childbirth of a favorite patient. This was in the 1970s, long before I came onto the spiritual path.

Q. How and when did you come onto the spiritual path?

A. In 1984, after hearing an Ananda minister, Asha Praver, give a talk in Seattle, Washington on “How To Bring God into Every Moment of Your Life.”  Her talk affected me profoundly, especially in helping me see how much I yearned for a spiritual life.

At the time, I was teaching nursing at the University of Washington School of Nursing and also seeing patients. After hearing Asha discuss the eight aspects of God, especially peace, calmness, love, and joy, I realized that what I most loved about teaching and nursing was being able to express these divine qualities, and helping students and patients express similar qualities.

Q. As you studied Yogananda’s teachings and began to meditate, were you able to bring those qualities more into your work?

A. Yes, and I was discovering that when attuned to the divine qualities, one’s energy becomes more deeply healing.

Q. You mentioned that attachment has been one of your biggest challenges. Have you been able to resolve that?

A.  I took a big step toward resolving it when I made the decision to leave for a desert retreat, even though a friend had suddenly become severely ill, with the possibility of dying. I was then living at Ananda Village (I moved there in 1987), and I worked as a Nurse Practitioner at the nearby clinic founded by Dr. Peter Van Houten, an Ananda devotee.

Q. How did this decision help you overcome attachment?

A. This woman and I were very good friends and I was also one of her caregivers. So it was natural for me to want to be with her during her crisis. At the same time, she had been through several such medical “crises” previously, and she always came through them just fine.

The situation forced me to introspect and try to figure out what was the dharmic or “righteous” decision—to stay, in order to be part of her support team, or to go ahead with my plans to take time off and nurture myself with a much-needed rest.

My first inclination was to stay, because staying seemed so obviously the right thing to do. But the thought kept coming that I was attached  both to being with her, and to my image of myself as a good friend and caregiver, and that for my own spiritual growth, I needed to go.

So, after much agonizing and trying to tune into inner guidance, I decided to go as a conscious act of non-attachment and faith that God was the Doer and fully in charge.  I also believed I would be an even stronger part of her support team while away because I would have much more time to meditate and pray.

Q. Ultimately, did you feel you made the right decision?

A. Ultimately, yes, but I had a great deal of self-doubt about it for some time. My friend died while I was away, which was very difficult for me. I so deeply regretted not being with her when she died that it wasn’t easy to break through my emotions and see how my leaving might have actually been good for both of us. Only after a lot of meditation, prayer and soul-searching was I convinced that I really had made the right decision.

I felt my friend’s presence very strongly the whole time I was away, and I know my prayers and visualizations reached her. Spiritually, this experience was an important turning point in my learning to trust my inner guidance, to trust God, and to trust the power of prayer.

Q. Being able to help people from afar is the foundation of Ananda’s healing prayer ministry. Was this your first experience of the truth of this teaching?

A. I was part of the healing prayer ministry and believed this to be true, but in this situation I was actually able to experience that it was true.

Q. In this experience with your friend, you resolved a potential conflict between your role as a nurse and what was right for you spiritually. Have you faced that potential conflict in other situations?

A. Many times! There was another big lesson around this issue involving this same friend who died. When I first learned of her diagnosis with a very serious and usually fatal illness, I wanted to mobilize a community support system to assist her in coping with her illness. My training as a nurse had taught me how important this was.

Swami Kriyananda, however, told her that she shouldn’t share the diagnosis with any more than the few of us who already knew. This surprised me, but at this point in my spiritual development, I knew enough to accept that Swami Kriyananda’s inner attunement with the Divine was likely to be more “right” than my “professional” knowledge.

Months later, I was able to see the wisdom of his guidance. He had wanted my friend to become strong enough in her acceptance of the diagnosis, and in her commitment to make it an opportunity for spiritual growth, that she wouldn’t be weakened by the fears of others.

Q.  How might others’ fearful thoughts have weakened your friend?

A. My friend had been told that she probably had only about eighteen months to live. She was frightened and in shock, and her aura was weak, which made her susceptible to becoming even more ill from the negative, fearful thoughts of others.

After taking a few months to become stronger in her mind and in her attunement with her Guru, she was able to share her situation with others without their fears weakening her resolve to fight as a spiritual warrior. By giving full energy to her spiritual practices, she lived another ten years with vitality and joy.

Q. Have there been other experiences that strengthened your faith that God is fully in charge of our lives?

A.  It’s been a major recurring issue for me. A key situation involved a devotee who was dying of cancer and came with his wife to live his last days near Ananda Village—to be in the vibration of other devotees. Toward the end, the man’s wife was having difficulty coping with his physical needs and his impending death.

One day, while driving back to the clinic after changing his dressings, I prayed to Paramhansa Yogananda: “Why can’t you just take him? He’s ready to go!”  In that moment I “heard” a response, “But what if by staying in his body a few more days his soul could be liberated?”  Immediately I retracted my request!

From then on, I’ve had a much easier time accepting that God has a plan, and that the only appropriate prayer in situations involving peoples’ lives and health is: “Thy will be done.”

Q. Can you share any other instances of where you came to see that God was “in charge” when it wasn’t immediately obvious?

A. I learned another aspect of this truth while treating a woman at Ananda Village who had sustained a severe injury to her leg. As the doctor and I were cleaning the wound, which was very deep, I apologized because our efforts were obviously increasing her pain.

She looked at me very seriously and said: “About a week before the accident, I dreamed that I had lost my leg.  I know that it’s only by Guru’s grace that instead of losing my leg, I got this nasty wound.  I’m very grateful it wasn’t worse.”

I’ve always remembered this dramatic demonstration of how much worse things could be if it weren’t for God’s grace, and how easy it is to forget that a loving God is in charge and taking very good care of us, even if it doesn’t seem so from our limited perspective.

Q. Currently you are serving as director of the new “Lifestyles for Radiant Health” program at the Expanding Light at Ananda Village. How does this tie into your efforts to integrate spirituality and health?

A. Ultimately, the course enables participants to see radiant health as a bridge to spirituality. Yogananda says that the highest level of healing is spiritual, and involves opening to God’s presence within.

For this, there are no better tools than those Yogananda brought: Energization Exercises, meditation techniques, affirmations and visualizations. These same spiritual tools also enable us to achieve radiant health on all levels—physical and mental as well as spiritual.

Q. You’ve offered the program twice now. How have people responded?

A. Participants have loved the course for how it empowers them to move to their next steps in radiant health of body, mind, and soul.

Q. It seems, then, that this course is very much in alignment with your spiritual goals?

A. Indeed, it is. It brings me great joy to help others awaken to their soul natures.  And for some people, the doorway to that awakening is their health.

Mangala, a Lightbearer, lives at Ananda Village and serves as Director of the “Lifestyles for Radiant Health” program at the Expanding Light.

I am not advocating neglect of one’s duties; that, of course, would be contrary to the laws of spiritual development. I am entreating my students, in whatever walk of life, to devote some portion of each day to personal physical improvement. This will speed one’s spiritual unfoldment. Nothing is gained by physical neglect; in fact, it retards spiritual evolution.

Life itself is God-given and our physical vehicle comes from the same source. How, then, can we in good conscience abuse or neglect that which is lent us for our earthly sojourn?

The care we give ourselves enables us to render greater service to mankind. While we cannot force salvation upon another, we can do our best to set an example of overall well-being. Bodily health is a magnet that draws others to us.

Whether we are blessed with it at birth or acquire it, good health is a symbol of spiritual progress. Sometime, somewhere we have worked for it. If we are suffering now, then health is a treasure we have lost, and its absence points to an important lesson we came here to learn.

“In all things, moderation”
We are told: “In all things, moderation.” This admonition applies to health in its various aspects: work, eating, rest, and recreation. Most of us over-do, at least in one direction.

Practically all of us overeat. Few, indeed, ever leave the table feeling only partially full, yet that is one of the chief secrets of maintaining a healthy body, and getting real benefits from our food.

Others have so great an appetite for their work that all else is subservient, and health suffers as a consequence. For the over-conscientious worker, frequent periods of complete relaxation are recommended, and also some form of amusement. Without “respites” that take the mind completely off work, one’s perspective narrows and the sponge of energy is squeezed dry.

Then there are those in whom the play spirit is hyper-developed. Though it is good to indulge in some form of amusement, that, too, taxes our time and energy if done too often.

Everything we eat, think, and do affects bodily health. Periodically, we need to take inventory and ask ourselves: What we are aiming toward? How are we progressing toward that goal? Is it at the expense of our health?

Cultivate personal attractiveness
Contrary to the views of many teachers, we do not advocate developing the spiritual at the expense of personal attractiveness. Even though your work may involve serving humanity, you nonetheless must make the most of your personal appearance.

Beauty in all its myriad forms is part of the divine plan. We see evidence of that everywhere: in the flowers and trees, in the birds and sky, in music and the creative arts, in the face of a child, in a voice. Why, then, if God has seen fit to recognize its worth should we try to eradicate it from our lives in the name of spiritual attainment?

The old idea of a long-faced missionary, moving among his fellow beings clad in ugly, drab costumes, is not an image we wish to implant in the hearts of students. Nothing is gained by disregarding that which will enhance your personal appearance, tempered always, of course, with good taste.

If you are a homely woman, then adopt all the reasonable beauty-parlor tricks to make yourself attractive. Better still, decorate your soul with the rich ornaments of sincerity, a magnetic personality, intoxicating smiles, and all-round serviceability.

Recapture your lost health
If you have been ailing physically, there is no more legitimate ambition, nor one that will pay greater dividends, than making the attainment of your health your one great aim.

By doing so, you will begin to “clean up your own little back yard” of the accumulated debris that each soul comes into this life to overcome. On the physical level, it will pay you dividends beyond your fondest dreams; from the spiritual standpoint, you will have overcome a delinquency similar to selfishness, cruelty, and dishonesty.

Visualize the physical perfection you would like to attain. Refuse to become discouraged at apparent slow progress, for natural healing is not necessarily a rapid “cure.

Be persistent. Demand and determine to rebuild your abused physical vehicle. The earnestness with which you apply yourself will determine the degree of success. In your daily period of meditation, remember to ask God for the help needed to develop physically, mentally, and spiritually. Then, just as when we post a letter, forget about it and go about your other business, trusting in God’s power to answer your prayer.

Nature unaided fails
Remember, the body is the link between our higher and lower natures, the cart which carries within it the essence of all we shall eventually be. Why not speed up the transition?

Resolve to heal yourself, whatever the difficulty. Supplant wrong habits with good, and adhere to them with all the power of will that you can muster.

There is a maxim: “Nature unaided fails.” You must give attention and loving care to whatever you possess, whether talents or health, else they will languish and wither. Particularly is this true of health.

Excerpted from the Praecepta Lessons, 1934-1938

Once settled in the community, Bill participated in community events, enjoyed coming to meals, and taught a yoga class at the local senior center. Slim and athletic in his sixties, he loved to hike and was once an avid skier. Then, three years ago, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

A deeply rewarding friendship
Today Bill and I are going on our weekly walk. It takes us about an hour and we enjoy sharing what’s going on in our lives. But mostly we talk about God, the spiritual path, and the challenges we face as devotees.

Before his illness, Bill and I had occasionally taken walks, but we started going for regular walks when he agreed to help me with a project. I was completing the requirements for a bachelor of science in nursing and needed to do a holistic case study on someone with a chronic disease. Not only was Bill kind enough to oblige, in the process we forged a deeply rewarding friendship.

As we walk, Bill reminds me to keep my arms swinging. I last for about 30 seconds and place my hands back in my pockets. Bill says that the “trainers” at his weekly exercise class try to get everyone to swing their arms. Since this is particularly difficult to do if the Parkinson’s is advanced, the trainers offer walking sticks and encourage the class to use them like ski poles. I realize how fortunate I am to be able to swing my arms, so I silently practice gratitude and give it another try.

The appeal of warmer weather
Having grown up in New Jersey and skied most of his life, Bill is used to cold weather. But today it’s about 42 degrees and that’s a bit chilly for us both. The conversation changes to Florida and warmer weather. Bill has been talking about Florida for some weeks now. Although he enjoys the community and the friends he has made, a warmer, dryer climate is very appealing. Parkinson’s affects the joints and muscles causing stiffness, especially in cold weather.

Bill has friends in Florida and will be visiting soon to check it out as a possible place to live. His only living relative, a brother, also lives on the east coast.

Bill knows that to meet the challenges of Parkinson’s, he needs to raise his physical, mental, and spiritual energy. He believes that miracles do happen and that a recovery from Parkinson’s is a very real possibility. It is this thought that keeps him going. He says, “The key for me is not to lose hope.”

A disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, Bill’s faith is built upon years of practicing yoga and meditation, and reading the Bible. In his daily sadhana, he spends about half of his time doing deep relaxation, visualization, and affirmations. The rest is spent meditating in the silence and feeling God’s presence. He tells me: “In the silence I don’t have Parkinson’s. Everything is all right and I feel at peace.”

Grateful for the entire body
Currently, he is working with the concept of gratitude. Bill has a lot of low back and neck pain, hoarseness of throat, and fatigue. He visualizes what is working well in his body, gives thanks for what is healthy, and expands that gratitude out to the entire body. His affirmation is: “I rest and relax in God’s perfect love. My mind is at peace and my body is healed.”

Near the end of our walk, I ask Bill how his practice of the Energization Exercises is going. He has been doing them in bed because of balance problems. Just then, Bill stops in the road and starts doing the calf tensing exercise. He gets a big smile on his face because he is able to do it today! We talk about how doing the Energization Exercises strengthens our will and ability to direct the life force.

The most healing remedy
I also ask Bill how Parkinson’s has changed his life. He responds with a story. “I was riding the light rail one day when I noticed a fellow in a wheel chair. Instead of arms, he had two floppy stubs. He had no lower legs. Our eyes met and a connection was made. I wanted to go over and hug him. I guess I recognized myself in him and wanted to let him know he was loved, that it was all going to work out, and that he was in God’s hands. I now have great empathy for those who are dealing with chronic physical, mental, or emotional issues.”

In my work as a hospice nurse, I have seen that the knowledge that one is loved is one of the most healing remedies available. Hope of a cure may be gone but not for a “transition” full of compassion, kindness, and dignity. Patients and family are deeply reassured to know they will not be abandoned, and that loving help will be available during the final weeks and hours.

The potential for isolation
Later, Bill and I have tea together. He starts to cough while drinking the tea and I ask if he has been having any difficulty swallowing. He says he has had some problems. He is at risk for aspiration pneumonia because of a poor swallow reflex related to Parkinson’s. He is also at risk for falling because of muscle stiffness in his legs. Bill says: “I am learning that I am not the body, but spirit in the body. The only thing that counts is my personal relationship with God.”

With any chronic illness there is the potential for isolation. Bill doesn’t mention it directly, but I sense he is already feeling a bit of this and, for this reason also, is looking towards Florida. He is still able to drive and shop, but no longer teaches at the senior center. He had been living alone, but six months ago a family in the community changed their sleeping arrangements and offered him the master bedroom. Even so, I know he is concerned about becoming a “burden.”

Have I done my best?
Though Bill and I have never discussed it, surely the thought must come: When will this lifetime end? How will I look back on my life’s story? Will I be satisfied that I did my best? Even when we do our best, our general conditioning is to think we could have done better, something Yogananda cautions us never to do.

In his writings on “Evening Hospice,” Swami Kriyananda offers a number of suggestions meant for the end of life, though certainly of benefit at any time. Some of the most important are:

• Relinquish attachments.
• Release the grip of ego-consciousness.
• Offer every regret into God’s love and infinite consciousness.
• Forgive past hurts and betrayals.
• Give out universal love to everyone, even to so-called enemies.
• Concentrate on infinity.
• Practice devotion.
• Overcome fear by realizing that you are not this body.

Transforming before my eyes
These are not suggestions that can be knocked out in a day or two. They are life-long pursuits requiring daily attention.

But they are certainly the issues Bill is now addressing. Every day he practices relinquishing attachment to a body that no longer obeys him, releasing a bit more “the grip of ego-consciousness,” and offering “universal love” to everyone.

Thinking of how I’ve faced lesser challenges, I am humbled by how well Bill has succeeded in raising and focusing his energy. It’s as if he were taking a crash course in Self-realization with extremely challenging subjects, requiring him to be fully present, moment-by-moment.

And he is transforming before my eyes. Whether or not his disease is cured, a miracle is already in the making.

Post Script: Bill recently moved to a graduated living community in Florida where he has a small studio apartment. Though he misses the community and our weekly walks, he is enjoying the warm climate and the opportunity to spend time at the beach. If he continues to deteriorate physically, he can remain in the community and move from independent living to assisted-living, then to intermediate care, and finally, if necessary, into full time care.

Kent Baughman, a Lightbearer and founding member of the Ananda Community in Portland OR, currently works as a hospice nurse and case manager in Portland. His goal is to create an Evening Hospice program based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda.

Suffering encourages us to let go of our attachments and limitations and reach for something higher. Without it, we wouldn’t have the motivation to seek further.

“Lord, give me more suffering”
Kunti Devi, the mother of three of the Pandavas princes in the Indian epic, the Mahabharata, became very sorrowful when her sons were banished to the forest. In her despair, she constantly repeated the name of Lord Krishna. After some time, her mind became free of sorrow and she began to experience an ever-present joy filling her soul.

Pleased with her faith and devotion, Krishna appeared to Kunti and asked what “boon” she would like—which of life’s many pleasures could he bestow upon her. She replied, “Lord, give me more suffering, more difficulties, for it is in suffering that I remembered you.”

Tests come to us for one reason only: that we seek our fulfillment in God. Paramhansa Yogananda said that for most people, a life without difficulties is a wasted life, because there is no incentive to grow and take on a larger understanding. It is suffering that encourages us to reach for the divine within us.

Two years of worsening symptoms
Illness is often one of the most serious challenges people face and can be a major test. Fifteen years ago, I had a rare, debilitating illness; fatigue, fever, pain and shortness of breath were my constant companions. Early in my illness, I was told my symptoms would eventually go away and my health would improve. During this time, I tried my best to heal myself through conventional and alternative medicine, and prayer. I also meditated as best I could.

After two difficult years of worsening symptoms, I had to honestly ask myself, “What if this illness never goes away?” I faced the very real possibility that it would be with me for the rest of my life. Then I thought: “I am going to have to change my consciousness!”

The purpose of tests is to raise and uplift our energy. If we simply wait a test out without raising our energy, the karma that caused the problem will sprout again seed-like in the future, and we will be right back where we started.

My illness lasted three and a half long years. What did I learn during this time? The first lesson was not to become frustrated over what was happening to me, because giving in to frustration always led to despair. At times, this was very difficult, but the more I succeeded, the happier I was.

The second lesson was to see my illness as God’s agenda for me at this time, right now. What was occurring in my life was not a mistake. I realized that I had to welcome what He was giving me. To the degree I resented or resisted it, I would be unable to see the situation clearly and then make the necessary changes.

Usually our positive attitudes, service, and meditation practices enable us to sail past any difficulties. But a test is designed to stop us in our tracks so that we will look at, and discard, specific attitudes and delusions that are holding us back spiritually.

What were the attitudes holding me back? Before the illness, I tended to evaluate myself by how much I served, how much I meditated, and how much good I was doing, which included giving lectures around the world. When I became ill, that was all taken away because I couldn’t serve or meditate.

As a result of the illness, I learned not to define myself by anything outward. I went to the core of my relationship with Divine Mother and realized that She was satisfied simply if I loved Her.

The illness changed me in dramatic ways.  I became more centered in myself and felt a greater sense of freedom and joy in all my activities. Cooperating with God’s will during the illness enabled me to renounce personal desires and live more fully for God.

Although the test was not easy, every day I am deeply thankful for it and the invaluable soul lessons I learned. Tests can be a source of tremendous blessings when we receive them in the right way.

“Master, help me to understand.”
Swami Kriyananda said the way to overcome tests is through love. What he means by that is to accept and embrace everything that comes to you. We should respond the way one of Kriyananda’s brother disciples did when he fell off a ladder and broke his arm. Instantly he said: “Yes, Master!”

Another of Yogananda’s disciples showed the same spirit under much more challenging circumstances. This woman underwent surgery for highly advanced cancer. When she woke up, the anesthesia had worn off; she was in tremendous pain and thought she might die.

She didn’t want to die with the consciousness of feeling trapped in the body and identified with suffering. So, with all her heart and soul, as strongly as she could, she prayed to Yogananda: “ Master, I have always tried to accept everything that comes to me as your will and for my highest good. Show me that this is true now. I’m not afraid of dying, but I don’t want my life to end in this horrible negative consciousness. You cannot let me die like this!”

Gratitude and total acceptance
Immediately she felt a calm presence surrounding her, and inwardly she heard Yogananda say: “I will help you through this. The key is: Be grateful for everything.”

From the response in her heart, this woman knew that her gratitude had to be total—that she needed be grateful for every tube that went into her mouth, for every intravenous drip attached to her arm, for every nurse and doctor, for every pain. What God wanted of her was total acceptance.

As she practiced being grateful for everything, she said it was like climbing a ladder step by step. “I was still in the darkness,” she said, but she kept on thanking God for everything. It took a few hours but she eventually climbed the ladder into a great feeling of light and joy. And she became a source of great inspiration to all the doctors and nurses in the hospital.

God comes to us through all of our life experiences. Swami Kriyananda said, “Karmic law is an expression of divine love.” A test is God coming to us to reveal our limitations and to help us to grow and expand beyond them. Every challenging experience is our own special “lesson plan” designed by God.

The way to overcome tests is to accept them calmly and pleasantly. It is reacting against challenging circumstances that increases their hold over us. When we respond to tests calmly and cheerfully, it means we are no longer identifying with their reality and their power to affect us.

We don’t have the full picture
Usually we have no idea why a test comes to us because we don’t see the big picture. It’s very much like the wrestling program I was involved in as a freshman in high school. My school had just started the wrestling program and all of us were new to the sport.

We began our first season with a week of intensive physical training. The exercise we practiced the most was the “bridging exercise,” where you lie on your back and arch your neck to lift your back off the ground. We practiced this exercise constantly and were so sore afterwards that we couldn’t turn our heads without moving the entire body.

Being young and eager, we wondered when our coach would teach us how to pin our opponent. We thought, “Isn’t the point of wrestling to win your match? Why are we spending so much time practicing this bridging pose—it’s so painful!”

As it turned out, being new to wrestling and not very good, we spent most of our time on our backs with our opponents trying to pin us to the mat. We found that “bridging” was our best move. Knowing how to keep ourselves from being pinned allowed us to survive long enough to actually win a few matches.

Life is often like this. We have no idea why certain things come to us, so we need to face our challenges with faith and courage—the faith that God knows what He is doing, and the courage to embrace and work with what He sends.

Contact God in meditation so you can experience Him as a God of love and joy. Then when trials come, you will be able to fully trust Him and know that He is with you.

Become a spiritual warrior
A “spiritual warrior” is someone who fully accepts what comes to him. He understands that God is behind all of life’s experiences because only God exists—nothing else is real.

From this understanding come liberating joy and freedom. Remember, nothing in creation can harm you when you live in the consciousness of God.

From an August 26, 2007 talk.

Bharat Cornell, Lightbearer and longtime Ananda member, works in the Sangha Office as the Meditation support Coordinator. He is also the author of the award-winning Sharing Nature Book Series.

The emotional and spiritual challenges of an illness are perhaps even harder than the physical. There’s the temptation to fall into self-pity or to be hurt by other people’s impatience or lack of understanding. We live in a fast-paced, youth-oriented culture where “perfect, graceful bodies” are held up as the ideal.

For now, when I struggle with negative emotions, I pray for the grace to have a broader perspective:  to understand my karma more deeply and to learn its lessons. I pray especially for the right attitude and the ability to stay positive.

Quietly turning pages
As if in answer to my prayers, I recently had the good fortune to be involved with the Ananda Village audio recording of Swami Kriyananda reading The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita. While Kriyananda was reading aloud the entire book, I was by his side in the recording booth, quietly turning the pages.

The task was surprisingly demanding. I had to be awake and alert at every moment so I would be sure to remove each page at exactly the right time. I also had to listen for any unintended changes or mistakes, so that I could bring them to Swami Kriyananda’s attention.

Also, due to space and noise considerations, I was on my knees for the entire six days of recording. For me, perhaps more than for most people, it was a sacrifice—but one that strangely added to the overall joy of the experience.

All great works are accompanied by tapasya or austerity. Swami Kriyananda’s entire life has been one of self-sacrifice, especially in the creation of Ananda. It seemed fitting, then, that the recording of The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita should require some mild discomfort on my part.

Since my involvement in the recording of the book was the result of an unusual series of circumstances, I have asked myself, why did this experience come to me? I think there are two reasons, one personal, the other related to the book.

A microcosm of lessons
My days with Swami Kriyananda in the recording studio were a microcosm of lessons in how to live as a disciple, and how to meet the challenges of the body. Kriyananda had just celebrated his 80th birthday, yet his energy and focus remained consistently strong both during and after the recording process. Though he may have been physically unwell, he rarely mentioned it.

A friend who went to India this year for the celebration of Yogananda’s mahasamadhi (his final conscious exit from the body), told me of a day when Kriyananda’s body was so ill, he practically went straight from his sick bed to the teaching platform, and was brought into the hall in a wheel chair. Deeply moved by his example, she said, “Swami is showing us that we can always find a way to serve our Guru—even up to the moment of death!”

“I am not the body”
During the recording of The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita, Kriyananda served as a powerful role model of self-transcendence. Over the 35 years of my association with him, I have often observed his non-identification with the body.  He knows he is not the body, while most of us are still trying to realize this truth.

While with him in the studio, I experienced a taste of that transcendence. Any physical discomfort was just a faint buzz in the background. In the foreground of my mind was the joy of the experience, including helping to manifest a recording that will inspire so many people. Etched in my soul was the lesson: self-transcendence is a matter of what you focus on.

Gradually, the liberating idea that  “I am not the body” has started to ring true in unexpected ways, bringing a new sense of freedom. The radiant memory of those days in the recording studio helps me open up to the bigger picture. I try constantly to remind myself of the joyful devotion and detachment I felt while in Kriyananda’s presence.

An ocean of inspiration and grace
The other reason this experience came to me, I believe, relates to the book itself. From the reports of those who were with him, Kriyananda was immersed in an ocean of inspiration and grace during the writing of The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita. He often says that Yogananda wrote the book through him.

The inspiration Kriyananda felt permeates the book in an almost tangible way. I had already experienced the power of that inspiration in reading the book. During the recording session, I was immersed in it for six entire days.

Being careful not to squander a precious opportunity, after each day of recording, I remained quiet and inward while handling my other duties for Radio Ananda, (Ananda’s internet radio station). Meditating and reading The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita were the highest priority; I yearned to stay in that sacred vibration as long as possible.

I can now appreciate more fully the Bhagavad Gita’s promise to any one who listens with devotion to its timeless wisdom:

Even that person who, full of devotion and without skepticism, merely listens to this holy discourse, and heeds its teachings, shall become free from earthly karma and shall be blessed to dwell in the high realm of the virtuous.

The Gita as a friend
A few months after the recording session, I sat one day in front of a picture of Sister Gyanamata, Yogananda’s greatest woman disciple who, at death, became a liberated soul. Among Yogananda’s disciples, she is known for the depth of her inward attunement to him.

Silently I prayed to her, asking for guidance on becoming more in tune with the Guru.  I felt her answer: “Read the Bhagavad Gita.” This was another confirmation that the Gita had become an important vehicle for attuning myself to the ray of divine grace that flows through Yogananda and Kriyananda.

However, the Gita is a valuable resource for any spiritual aspirant. For many of us there are times when meditation is difficult, when reading The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita may be all we can do. The book can help us on many levels, including the powerful level of vibration. What’s essential is that we approach it, as we would any good friend, with respect and an open heart.

“Wisdom is the greatest cleanser,” said Sri Yukteswar. The Gita is a flowing stream of wisdom and light, which we can tap into at any point. If we bathe in that stream, it will cleanse and purify us.

Each moment is precious
Recently I felt a welling up of gratitude for all the blessings in my life: for my Guru and for Swami Kriyananda, for the practice of yoga and meditation, for the spiritual community of Ananda.

Increasingly, I see my life in terms of quality more than quantity. Each moment is precious. Each day provides opportunities for giving my life to God—for loving and serving the Divine Friend.

* A line from Life Is a Dream, a song by Swami Kriyananda.

Nalini Graeber, Lightbearer and long-time Ananda member, works for Ananda Radio, Ananda’s new internet radio station. She is also working on a book.

Lemons
The lemon is truly a gift of the gods, and its uses are legion. It is the richest source of hydrogen, the most radiant and high-vibrating of all the organic chemicals. In the realm of natural healing, hydrogen is a potent medicine, giving life, energy, and radiance.

Its high hydrogen content makes lemon juice the best disinfectant for the internal organs. The juice of one lemon diluted in warm water, without sugar, taken daily on an empty stomach, is very good for the liver, spleen, intestines, and kidneys.

As an antiseptic, the lemon has no equal. The following uses of lemons have been tested and proven effective:

• Toothache—place a slice of lemon against the sore spot.

• To ease a bilious (gall bladder) attack—drink sour lemonade.

• To heal burns when no standard burn remedy is at hand—first generously apply olive oil, then a little strained lemon juice.

• To help heal inflammations of the finger or toe—apply lemon packs consisting of 1/2 lemon juice and 1/2 distilled water. Lemon packs have also proved helpful in cases of appendicitis and applied to the eyes for cataracts. For the latter, first apply olive oil to the skin.

• To help heal wounds—use lemon water. If the skin is broken first apply olive oil. Vary the strength of the lemon solution according to the seriousness of the injury and the fortitude of the patient.

There are, of course, occasions when citrus fruit is contra-indicated, temporarily at least. This is especially true of the lemon, which thins the blood.

In the case of the anemic, the very thin, the aged, and whenever there is a tendency toward profuse bleeding, the lemon should be used with discretion and under capable guidance.

Tomatoes
Not long ago, the luscious tomato, or so-called “love-apple,” was unknown in the human diet. Considered poisonous, it was tolerated in the garden only for its decorative red coloring.

Today, dieticians consider it one of the most important vegetables, due to its high alkalinity and wealth of vitamins and minerals.

If you have a garden, include this plant in your next crop and use them in abundance. If fresh tomatoes are unavailable, the canned product is a splendid substitute. Although any food should be kept as near its natural state as possible, the tomato is one of the few foods that does not lose its nutrients with cooking or canning.

The tomato is an excellent overall curative food and a specific curative for most liver conditions. As the largest organ in the body, the liver has a tremendous amount of work to do. When over-worked, it rebels and lies down on the job.

To ensure liver health, avoid overeating and fast periodically on fruit or vegetable juices. Among these, very few help the liver as much as tomato juice.

Pineapples
Pineapples, which have the same vibration as the heart, possess many marvelous attributes.

They nourish the glands, are a natural antiseptic for sore throat, sore tonsils, and the bowels, and have great cleansing qualities. Due to its dissolving and cleansing properties, pineapple is an excellent reducing food.

If the fresh pineapple is not obtainable, use the canned, unsweetened variety. Cottage cheese and pineapple is an excellent combination for those needing more calcium in their diet.

Low Cost Nutritious Foods

The Potato
Highly nutritious, the potato should be used whenever there is a need to consider expenses without lowering the standard of nourishment. Besides being inexpensive and widely available, the potato is an alternative to bread and can be prepared in a wide variety of ways.

Consider using the baked potato as the center around which you build  the meal. This enables you to vary the accompaniments based on the tastes of family members and the foods in season.

Never discard the uncooked potato skins—they are an invaluable source of important minerals. You can make a broth for soup by boiling the skins in water for 45 minutes.

Lima beans
Lima beans are another splendid entrée—inexpensive, highly alkaline and nutritious. Because of their exceedingly high alkalinity, many people who cannot tolerate grains have no difficulty with bread made of lima bean flour.

Lentils
Lentils, another inexpensive, alkaline food, can be used in a soup, vegetable loaf, patties, or simply as plain baked lentils. They are an excellent substitute for animal protein.

Rich in vitamins and minerals, lentils are an important source of silicon, which nourishes the brain, ligaments, hair, and nails.

Properly Combining Foods

Could you follow a musical score, read, walk, write, talk, and meditate simultaneously, doing justice to them all? Well, that is often what the digestive organs are called upon to do three times a day, year in and year out.

To obtain the best results from food, one should give careful consideration to properly combining the items used at one meal, and reducing them to the minimum. The fewer the items used at one meal, the better, especially if one has digestive difficulties.

Even of fruits, it is well to use one at a time. In fact, frequent meals composed of only one fruit are an excellent idea.

Although the body requires various types of food for harmonious balance, it cannot handle them all at one sitting. In the beginning, healthy, normal cells are able to select what they need and to discard what they cannot utilize. Due to misuse, they lose that power of selection, as do the taste buds in the mouth.

There are five separate digestive fluids in the body, designed to handle the variety of foods we need. But when too many different foods are foisted upon an overtaxed “public servant,” the resulting confusion is similar to when the manager of a big manufacturing plant issues conflicting orders to the various departments.

In all creative expressions, the laws of harmony manifest themselves. When eyes and palate dictate how we nourish this physical temple, to the exclusion of the governing laws of health, ill health is the inevitable, eventual result.

From Praecepta Lessons, 1934-1938.

For a country boy like me, Los Angeles was the “big-city,” supposedly full of movie stars, warm beaches, colorful flowers, and opportunity. But I was drawn to this iconic locale for one reason only: It had been sanctified by Paramhansa Yogananda.

Floating on a cloud of inspiration
I discovered Yogananda in 1987, when I was actively searching for a spiritual guide and chanced upon a paperback titled, The Path, by Swami Kriyananda, which includes many inspiring stories of his years with Yogananda. Kriyananda’s book led me straight to my Guru. Before I had even finished the book I was on a Greyhound bus to California, to visit the places associated with Yogananda’s life, stopping only in the Bay Area where I purchased Autobiography of a Yogi.

My first visit to Yogananda’s shrines in Los Angeles was deeply uplifting; at times I was floating on a cloud of inspiration. After that, I returned to Los Angeles several times, and was now firmly convinced that Yogananda was my Guru.

A ten-year addiction to food
Thus it was that in late May 1992, I left Colorado to find a job, apartment, and new life in Los Angeles. But mainly I went for spiritual healing. I hoped that living near Yogananda’s shrines would help me pull my life together.

Since I was 15, I had suffered from an addiction to food that had given me enormous trouble. For ten years I had often gone on compulsive binges in which I might eat thousands of calories of food in one sitting. I had tried everything to put an end to this compulsion: prayers; affirmations; psychotherapy; books on psychology and addiction; spiritual counseling—but so far my efforts had not been fruitful.

I knew that spiritual healing through willpower and attunement was possible. Could Yogananda help me overcome my disease? Would God help me lead a more normal life? I had a lot of questions and hoped to find answers in Los Angeles.

Caught in a “karmic storm”
Things didn’t go well from the beginning. Upon arriving in the “City of Angels,” I spent a few days in Santa Monica at a very nice motel, but it was too expensive for a long-term stay. I ended up in Hollywood where lodgings were more affordable, and found what seemed to be a suitable motel near the corner of Western and Vermont.

My first hint that this wasn`t the most uplifting neighborhood came after I had already prepaid for a week. A glimpse of the emerging “nightlife” on the street outside the hotel made me want to leave, but I did not leave. The “karmic storm” that was about to engulf me had already begun.

Once in my room, my energy began to sink and I felt an overwhelming urge to eat. For the next few weeks, I consumed massive amounts of food. I was caught in an overeating spiral that included the occasional ordering and eating of entire pizzas and the raiding of nearby grocery stores for junk food.

“Would God hear me?”
Occasionally I was able to muster the energy to go out and visit one of Yogananda`s sacred shrines. There I would meditate and, with great willpower, pray for healing. I was in dire straights—would God hear me? But every time I prayed, I felt nothing—no surge of energy or joy, no sense of God’s presence.

After a week or two, I knew I was risking serious physical problems. My weight ballooned, I grew very lethargic, and I began to get edema in my ankles. I didn’t look very hard for a job or an apartment. Mainly I just stayed in the motel room and ate.

After about three weeks, I began to get low on money. Since I hadn’t found a job, I knew that I would soon have to go back to Colorado. And I had gained at least 25 pounds in a month.

It would be very embarrassing to return and let my family see what food addiction had done in such a short period. However, when I called my parents and explained that things hadn’t worked out in Los Angeles, to my great relief, they agreed to let me stay with them until I got back on my feet.

A final visit to the crypt
Before I left, I went again to Yogananda`s crypt at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale. I prayed very deeply for Yogananda to heal me of this terrible addiction. I sat in front of his crypt and meditated and prayed for at least an hour, but again felt no inner response.

So at the end of June, I repacked my little car, put my bicycle back on the rack, and headed back to Colorado. I had barely enough money to pay for food and gas for the 1,000-mile trip. What I had hoped would be a life-changing move had seemingly ended in complete failure.

A temporary lull in the storm?
But things are not always as they appear. Several days after leaving Los Angeles I realized that I hadn`t had the urge to overeat for a while. “Well, surely,” I thought, “this is just a temporary lull in the storm.” I was certain to be just as addicted as ever.

When I reached my parent’s house my nerves were shot and my body was very tired. But surprisingly, I began to notice that I wasn’t overeating. I wasn’t eating much at all, in that I craved fruits and vegetables and not much more.

My body began to recover and my mind also started to clear up. It would take weeks for my body to recover fully, but after a week or two I felt much better physically. Now the question arose: Had some healing occurred in Los Angeles?

By the end of August, there had been no overeating episodes since returning to Colorado.  The rest of the year was fine, and except for a minor “blip” of overeating in early 1993, I was never again troubled by the problem of overeating.

Deep gratitude to Yogananda
In March 1993, I joined an Ananda-sponsored pilgrimage to Los Angeles for the celebration of Yogananda`s March 7, 1952 Mahasamadhi. There, for the first time, I met my Ananda spiritual family. Bubbling with joy and happily meditating with my new spiritual friends, I felt deep gratitude to Yogananda for remaking me into a “new man.”

Back in Colorado, my life came together: I became a certified paraprofessional nurse, resumed bicycle racing as a hobby, and for the first time in my life had my own residence. As I went through my daily routine, thoughts of Yogananda and other saints often filled me with joy.

Spiritual healing worked for me when nothing else did. From my own experience, I know that strong willpower coupled with dynamic faith in the Guru can accomplish just about anything. What was most surprising, however, is that one can undergo a life-transforming healing and not even realize it, at least initially. It seems that the Guru prefers to exercise his spiritual power in non-dramatic ways.

It is often said that the greatest blessing “in the three worlds” is discipleship to a God-realized guru. I can add my humble testimony to the wisdom of the ages when I say that I know, firsthand, that this is true.

Jack Byrom is the Ananda Meditation Group leader in Columbus, Ohio. He, has a BA degree in environmental science, and works as a technical editor for a scientific publisher.

Of course, I didn’t know how wrong I was at the time. All I knew was that Mama had relied on prayer to heal her of breast cancer. Instead, God took her from me—just when I needed her most. The resultant grief, anger and confusion led to my fatal decision: to reject that cruel, heartless God who separates children from parents.

A devout Christian Scientist
Mama was a devout Christian Scientist. She would spend hours each day studying Mary Baker Eddy’s writings, praying, copying inspirational snippets into her journal, and calling on practitioners for herself and the family whenever needed.

Our family attended church each Sunday and Mama habitually attended Wednesday-evening testimonial meetings, where members took turns testifying how “knowing the truth” cured them of unwanted conditions. The Christian Science reading room was one of Mama’s favorite haunts, and I remember her watching the Christian Science TV show each Sunday morning.

Mama always made sure that my brother and I, who attended the Christian Science Sunday school, did our “homework.” We would take turns reading the weekly lesson each morning at breakfast. She was so proud of a poem I wrote that she submitted it to the Christian Science magazine.

All that praying—to no avail!
When Mama developed cancer at age 54, she called on practitioners to pray for her, and naturally, the family prayed too. As her condition worsened, she finally went against the Christian Science injunction never to visit doctors.

With great reluctance, she saw a doctor who gave her the diagnosis and later, did a mastectomy. But it was too late by then. The cancer returned and spread.

At 15, I was still a believer—so it was a huge blow when she died. All that praying—to no avail! Wasn’t God supposed to deliver her?

No one said so out loud, but it was implied that all of us who prayed for Mama had somehow failed in our efforts to save her. I considered my faith very strong, and thought that my prayers—combined with everyone else’s—would be enough to produce the hoped-for miracle.

I certainly did not want to lose my mother at so young and vulnerable an age. Consumed by grief, anger and deep disappointment, I blamed God for taking her, in direct opposition to my pleas that He spare her.

Swept up in materialism
I might have spent the rest of my life in God-denial—but for the pain. At first it was the indignity of too few acceptances, a not-uncommon occurrence in the professions I had chosen: acting and writing. To numb that awful sense of inadequacy, some turn to alcohol or drugs; my drug of choice was romance. It took years to learn how ultimately unsatisfying such relationships are compared to the bliss of God’s unconditional love.

The source of the pain was twofold: unresolved grief, and fear of being alone. Years later, I came to understand that leaving God out of my life made resolving my grief—and a rising tide of related problems—much more difficult.

I thought I was over my loss, but since I did not really know how to grieve, I pushed it so deep inside, it was easy to pretend it was gone. Having left religion behind, I allowed myself to be swept up in materialism.

Yet something was always missing. There was always a part of me, albeit unacknowledged for years, which longed for God—the sweet, loving embrace of Divine Mother, the strength, power and protection of the Father.

I wanted to believe, but experience made me doubt. And doubt had the upper hand for twenty years.

The turning point: a mysterious illness
When I was about thirty, a barely-acknowledged inner voice began vying for my attention. I responded to that “call” by the usual routes—books, classes, workshops. I didn’t have a clear concept of exactly what I was seeking, but finally, I was able to acknowledge my need to re-connect with God.

The turning point came with the birth of my child, which was soon followed by a mysterious psycho-physical illness. My recovery was progressing slowly until a friend gave me a set of meditation tapes geared to my condition. My illness had added a new sense of urgency. What did I have to lose?

Since I was confined to bed anyway, I began listening to the meditation tapes, following the instructions—and feeling better. In fact, every time I practiced that routine, I noticed far more improvement than simply following the prescribed medical regimen.

The prodigal daughter returns
Autobiography of a Yogi was one of a dozen books recommended by my metaphysics teacher. To say it was the most transforming book I ever encountered is to greatly understate its power. I would have to stop after one or two chapters just to savor the heavenly effects of those timeless truths, so beautifully embedded in Yogananda’s remarkable story.

Tears sprang forth when I came to “An Experience in Cosmic Consciousness.” Never had I read so thorough, poetic and enthralling a description of that sublime state. My spirit leapt at the realization that it could be mine as well—especially on reading Sri Yukteswar’s illumined explanation:

Spiritual advancement is not to be measured by one’s displays of outward power, but solely by the depth of his bliss in meditation. Ever-new Joy is God…seductive beyond thought of competition…Desire for material things is endless. Man is never satisfied completely, and pursues one goal after another. The ‘something else’ he seeks is the Lord, who alone can grant lasting joy….

Through Yogananda, I felt Divine Mother welcoming home Her prodigal daughter with open arms. Willingly, happily, with deep gratitude, I surrendered.

What joy to find a Master who defined God not as some distant Father/Mother, but as Divine Bliss that can be found right inside my Self. Life ceased to be a struggle filled with fear, grief and pain. Yogananda turned on the light, and I have been abiding in its all-encompassing clarity ever since.

My mother was not really gone
That’s how I came to know my mother was not really gone. Between immersing myself in Yogananda’s teachings and meditating—turning off the restless mind and making the leap into the soul—I realized the soul cannot die, and that death is not the enemy nor the loss most people believe it to be.

It’s one thing to be told our departed loved ones are “in a better place.” To actually bear witness to that fact is quite another—“convincing to your very atoms.” In spirit, I am as close to her as when she occupied her diseased body.

I could now totally accept that Mama’s death (as well as those of other loved ones) was in divine order, that it was NOT a failure or defeat, and rejoice in her soul’s freedom.

There was no longer any sadness or guilt, just calm acceptance and love. This liberating realization marked the end of my search, and the beginning of an unbreakable bond with my Guru, dear Yogananda–who also lost his mother early in life.

God knows our true needs
I see now that Mary Baker Eddy had it partially right: prayer does produce results. But Yogananda makes it clear that all the praying in the world is useless unless you are first attuned to God. It’s like making calls with a disconnected telephone; you’re just going through the motions.

With prayer and affirmation, Yogananda places the emphasis where it belongs: on the unassailable power of God to heal any condition, and more importantly—on the precise steps required to connect with that power, and stay connected.

Also, there is so much more to prayer than merely petitioning God for what we want. As Swami Kriyananda writes, “It’s not up to us to decide if a person should be healed; it’s ultimately God’s will…God knows our true needs better than we do.” How much better to live surrendered to God’s will than to regard Him as some spiritual paramedic who can be called on to do our bidding.

Today, I look back on that sorrowful, angry child wandering in the wilderness, and can hardly believe that was me. If rejecting God was my worst choice, inviting Him back into my life was my best. The very thing I worked so hard to deny was the key to my deliverance. And the healing of my mysterious psycho-physical illness was only the beginning.

Valerie Putney, an author and certified yoga teacher in Greensboro, NC, received Kriya Yoga initiation in 1988.

Christian Science is a new presentation of truths the Hindus first preached long ago. By emphasizing the power of mind over body, and the dreamlike nature of this phenomenal world, Christian Science has awakened many matter-bound people to the power of the mind.

Hindu teachers agree with the basic principles of Christian Science but express them differently. Instead of saying, as the Christian Scientist does, that matter does not exist, they say that matter is materialized mind-force. While believing fully in the power of the mind to heal physical sickness, they do not reject the healings brought about by certain doctors.

Hindu teachers do not deny the miraculous healings wrought by Christian Science practitioners, but humbly ask them, “Do you know why mind power effects physical healing in certain cases but not in others?”

It takes great preparation to change the mental habits of a person living wholly on the material plane. A man contradicts himself when he talks of the non-existence of matter and the uselessness of medicine but thinks he cannot exist a day without eating. If one believes in food, one necessarily believes in medicine, for both are only combinations of chemicals.

Many have died of disease though they believed in mental healing. Until belief in mind-power is based on scientific knowledge, a person relying on mental healing is in danger of disillusionment, for God’s physical laws operate just as truly as His mental laws. Both come from the Divine Source

To be absolutely sure of mental healing, one must learn how to lift one’s consciousness from the physical to the superconscious plane. The man who, through a long series of self-disciplinary steps, has awakened in God by expanding his consciousness into the world of unchangeable reality—he alone can say that matter has no existence.

Excerpted from East West magazine, 1926.

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

As the diligent student is happily expectant on the last day of school, so also at the second half of life should we find ourselves in fuller possession of our faculties and talents, zestful for new worlds to conquer, and eager to pass on whatever wisdom we have gleaned.

Instead, all about us we see broken bodies, disillusioned and confused slants on life, and spiritual floundering. Life is, for most people, a great disappointment. Before forty, everything seems rosy and full of promise, but after forty most people’s bodies begin to change. People complain, “I’m no longer the person I was in my youth.”

Aging starts with the mind
Why do some elderly people remain youthful and others not? Why are some young people already old? Diet and exercise play a part, but aging starts primarily with the mind.

The mind, by constant worries, grows old quickly and makes the body look old and unhealthy. Boredom and dissatisfaction with life have a similar effect. Many people, after forty, think they have exhausted all of life’s joys.

Others fall into the habit of thinking they know exactly how things ought to be. They identify happiness with fixity instead of accepting life’s natural flow. Everything they do is predictable. Even the melodies they whistle or sing are the same—year in and year out. They become in time what I call “psychological antiques”—wanting nothing moved, nothing changed, nothing even improved. Stability is their concept of permanence.

In America one finds many elderly people who have remained youthful. The American temperament is marked by qualities that make for mental youthfulness—active thinking, openness to new ideas, and a love of experimentation. Americans have the consciousness that everything is possible. Of all the people in the Western hemisphere, they are the most spiritually curious — one grows younger seeking Truth.

A world of solace
Reading good books will keep you mentally youthful. If you are worried, grieved, or bored, good books offer a world of solace. They keep your mind busy and your intellect exercised, protecting you from idle thoughts that create boredom and dissatisfaction. Good books are your best silent friends.

Always read with full attention and always try to assimilate what you read. Through assimilation and thoughtful reflection on what you have read, you will be able to garner wisdom from the great minds of all ages and make it your own. Only go to movies or plays occasionally, and then only to see the best spiritual movies or plays. Unlike good books, most movies and plays fail to stimulate the mind.

You can also overcome  negative tendencies such as worry and boredom by serving God through others. Tender to mankind the highest service which your talent and training afford. Through service you automatically divert potentially self-serving energy toward the development of good tendencies.

Importance of mental stability
Mental stability is the foundation of lasting mental youthfulness. A smile that cannot be extinguished by any financial, social, or physical trials helps to keep the body looking young.

To be able to cheerfully experience health and disease, including sudden intense pain (while always seeking a remedy), financial reverses, and the loss of friends and loved ones is the way to attain mental stability. This comes through meditation.

Meditation: the best rejuvenator
Meditation is the best way to keep the mind and body rejuvenated. The soul, by meditation, rises above its identification with the body and beholds itself as a pure image of Spirit. It develops eternal mental youthfulness as it grows indifferent to the illusive consciousness of past and future.

By feeling the ocean of immortal Bliss-God underlying the changeable waves of past and present life experiences, the soul finds perpetual rejuvenation in body and mind. When not meditating, constantly tell yourself inwardly: “I am the Infinite, which has become the body. The body as a manifestation of Spirit is the ever-youthful Spirit.”

Excerpted from Praecepta Lessons, 1934, 1938; and The Essence of Self-Realization.

DO’S

• Oil, particularly olive oil, has been used as an aid to skin beauty throughout the ages. It is said that chief among Cleopatra’s beauty and rejuvenation secrets was the generous use of olive oil.

• Combine equal amounts of high quality olive oil and strained lemon juice. The lemon juice assists the oil in penetrating and prevents unseemly hair growth.

• Almond oil is another excellent facial oil and a good base for powder.

• Use lemon juice combined with a few drops of olive oil as a bleach for discolorations. Fresh cucumber juice is also excellent for this purpose.

• Give your skin a daily air bath and sunbath.

• Take daily friction baths using a rough towel on the entire body.

• Work up a good perspiration by some sort of exercise. Also, an occasional sweat bath is beneficial.

• Take a warm shower or bath each night to wash away the accumulated waste of the day, and to allow the skin to breathe during sleep.

• Take a cool or cold shower in the morning to tone the skin and to help it function properly as a heat regulator.

• You can make an excellent facial astringent at home. Beat egg white until stiff. Apply it to the face and neck and leave on four or five minutes. Wash off with cool water. After a few applications, notice the effect upon formerly flabby skin

• Applying oatmeal to the face is soothing, healing, and nourishing. It adds an aliveness and luster like nothing else. Mix whole grain oats with little warm water and let stand until the oats are soft. Then gently massage the mixture over the face for several minutes. Wash off with cool water. You may also use left-over cooked cereal.

DON’TS

• If the skin is too oily, it is often advisable to discontinue the use of dairy products, for a period at least.

• Don’t allow your skin to become dry–dry skin wrinkles faster than well-lubricated skin.

• Don’t take frequent or prolonged hot baths unless expressly for therapeutic purposes. While they do relax, they have a tendency to dry the skin, and are also demagnetizing. Best time to take hot baths is at night.

From the Praecepta Lessons, 1934.

I’m sorry I’ve been unable to stop by to see you in person. This body can no longer get around as I wish it could.

I understand that the time for your passing may be very near. I wanted you to know that though I’m not with you in body, I’m very much there by your side in spirit, and in consciousness.

Don’t be afraid of what’s to come. As you’ll soon see for yourself, death is nothing to fear. Illness has its challenges (as well you know). At the moment of death itself, though, there’s no pain at all. Rather, what you’ll experience is a great release from all the pain and worries you’ve been dragging along.

These next days are a wonderful opportunity for you. Enjoy them! Leave those burdens behind you: Relax away from all of them. Absorb yourself in thoughts of the freedom and light that will soon be yours. You’re very blessed to have lived the life you did. Those who have meditated and lived for God go to higher, beautiful realms when they depart this earth.

I know that many friends have been coming to be with you. There will be many more angels waiting to receive you and bless you on the other side. We’re a spiritual family who’ve been doing this together for many lifetimes!

I’m praying for you, sending you my love, my blessings, my best wishes, and my support in the new adventure that’s soon to begin for you. I pray especially for your realization in God. Please pray for us, too. We’ll miss you. But we’ll also be together again soon.

God bless you.

In divine friendship

Swami Kriyananda

Angina is caused by a blockage in the heart’s arteries. After my first attack I underwent angioplasty—a procedure that involves inserting small metal tubes called “stents” into the blocked arteries.

Can we still go on pilgrimage?
The timing of this new attack couldn’t have been worse. My wife and I were scheduled to leave on the India pilgrimage sponsored by Ananda Assisi on February 11, 2005. We were very much looking forward to meditating at places associated with the life of our Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, and strengthening our spiritual lives.

My doctor assured me that the attack was not life threatening, but I needed to know whether another angioplasty was necessary, and if it could be scheduled in time for us to go on pilgrimage. Since my wife and I live in England, this meant seeing a heart specialist at the local hospital. I urged my doctor to schedule a hospital appointment as soon as possible.

Three months later—November 2004—I learned that my doctor had not scheduled the appointment. With the Assisi pilgrimage only two months away, I got busy and made daily telephone calls to the hospital.

I finally obtained an appointment with Dr. Sarkar, a cheerful, young cardiologist from Calcutta. Tests showed that I needed another angioplasty. The procedure was scheduled for January 27, 2005, two weeks before the start of the pilgrimage.

“This is how we learn.”
A few days later I sat in the meditation room of our home and prayed: “Why do I have to suffer again from heart disease, especially when I am about to go to India on pilgrimage?” Silently gazing at a favorite picture of Yogananda, I heard the answer: “This is how we learn.”

“But what am I supposed to learn from this?” There was no answer.

For some time however, I had been considering the possibility that the causes of my heart disease, or at least some of the symptoms, were one and the same as the obstacles I faced in my spiritual life. My life pattern was one of working with tension and anxiety “to get things done,” while ignoring strong emotions that simmered just below the surface— especially anger and fear.

I had retired from full-time work and was now meditating, but I had carried into my new life many tension-generating habits that interfered with my ability to meditate deeply. Indeed, it was during a period of meditation teacher training at the Ananda center in Assisi, Italy that the most recent angina attack occurred.

I was beginning to understand that I needed to develop inner calmness by nurturing contentment. The blockages in my heart’s arteries were less likely to cause angina or fibrillation if I could keep my heart calm.

The heart needs to be protected
A week or so later, while checking my e-mails, I experienced another heart incident—this time an episode of fibrillation. This was not unusual; I had experienced fibrillation in the past and took medication to control it. The condition becomes critical only if it triggers angina.

In the midst of the attack I said to my wife: “The heart needs to be protected and listened to.” The fibrillation stopped as soon as I said these words. Commenting on this, my wife said: “The heart responds to what’s true.” In other words, my acceptance of the heart’s reality, or “truth,” quieted the heart and stopped the fibrillation.

It was becoming apparent that to develop inner calmness, I needed to listen more sensitively to what my heart was trying to teach me. I began to watch how my heart responded to the slightest emotion.

We don’t want your catalogue!
One day, as my wife and I returned from a walk, I spied a certain unsolicited catalogue inside the front door and thought: “Another wretched Bettaware catalogue. You’d think they’d have learned by now that we don’t want their catalogue, that we don’t order from them, and that we don’t want the inconvenience of ensuring it gets returned to them on the right day!”

As I voiced these thoughts to myself, I became acutely aware of a slight feeling of pain in my heart. I wasn’t particularly angry, simply frustrated.

So I posed the question, “What would the heart “like” to have heard instead? What manner of dealing with the problem would have been ‘kinder’ to the heart and not resulted in pain?” I focused on the heart and tried to feel its vulnerability.

From somewhere beyond my mind came the words: “Thank you for your catalogue. We’re sorry you’ve not been able to sell us anything, but we shop elsewhere. We’d like for you to cross our names off your list and to offer the catalogue to someone who can make better use of it.” I wrote down these words and pinned the note to the catalogue.

Soon after, I made another discovery involving what I called my “yeah-buts.” My wife would suggest something and I would agree broadly but immediately think of an exception or possible difficulty and say, “Yes, but suppose . . ..” I would then feel a slight change in my heart, as though a good flow of energy was suddenly blocked.

It soon became obvious that my “Yeah-buts ”were a subtle way of saying “no” to life and of blocking positive, life-affirming possibilities. Becoming more aware of this helped me drop this way of thinking, which eased my heart symptoms.

The heart responds to every thought
I was discovering that the heart is a sensitive instrument and responds to the feelings enshrined in every thought. Ignoring its slightest whisper interrupts its free flow of life-giving energy.

The most harmful thoughts usually reflected strong desires and attachments—something I wanted to make happen, or prevent from happening, in the external world. By contrast, non-attachment, or acting without desire for the fruits of action, nurtured inner calmness.

By now I was much more in touch with the inner, intuitive part of myself. I was learning not to judge whether my thoughts were good or bad, but simply whether they were pleasing to my heart. I made a list of all the attitudes and qualities that were unfavorable to the heart— self-pity, doubt, suspicion, worrying about money, anxiety over getting things done, etc.

Since I tend to be a compulsive worker, I resolved to sit down for a minimum of one hour each afternoon and savor total peace. During this time I would relax, read from books by Yogananda or Swami Kriyananda, or perhaps meditate an additional hour. Whenever I did this, my heart symptoms eased.

Tuning into God’s healing power
The angioplasty procedure took place as scheduled. Throughout the procedure, and especially during moments of pain, I tried to focus all of my energy inwardly. I pictured Yogananda, chanted AUM, and visualized energy and light being channeled to my heart. More vividly than ever, I felt the reality of Yogananda’s words:

All methods of healing—physical, mental, and vital—become limited without knowing that the unlimited power of God is working behind them, and that His almighty power of healing is sufficient by itself. (Praecepta Lessons, 1935)

With a quieter heart and a deeper receptivity to the many blessings of the experience, my wife and I went on pilgrimage. My heart disease had ceased to be my adversary and had become my friend, awakening me to a greater awareness not simply of the health of my body but, more important, to God’s presence within.

Why did I have to have an angina attack just before we were leaving for the pilgrimage? Because this is how we learn.

Through heart disease, I was finding a better balance between head and heart, between “head-strong” ego-based behavior and my deeper Self. I now remain ever alert to the danger of the head “taking over.”

Chris and his wife, Evelyn, live and serve at the Ananda Assisi community and guest retreat.

Green is the most outstanding pigment on Mother Nature’s palette of exterior decorating. In the science of food values, that coloring is known as chlorophyll, the green substance of plant life which, when taken into the body, becomes the hemoglobin of the blood.

Green has a healing vibration. Hospitals often use a mild shade of green in patients’ rooms, and it is usually the color of choice in decorating large public buildings. For the over-worked mental worker, merely going out of doors and resting the eyes upon some far distant patch of green will soothe and relax the whole nervous system, especially the eyes.

Where is the housewife who does not instinctively insist upon having a green growing plant in the home? Even in winter, when flowers are scarce, a pot of ivy or a geranium helps to satisfy the need for some visible contact with nature. A bit of green pottery or a cluster of leaves will enliven an otherwise drab room. Upon entering, the eye will be drawn immediately to that object, as if in search of a haven of peace from whence to gather renewed vigor.

Why does a wise Mother Nature surround us with such a pronounced color frequency? The answer is simple: so that eventually we might be inspired to see the invulnerable link between human life and the plant kingdom.

Alkaline foods
The normal medium in which the body performs its functions is alkaline. Alkalinity means health and immunity to disease. The alkaline chemicals neutralize and eliminate the acids formed by activity and by an excess of acid-producing foods. When, as a result of improper diet, overwork, lack of rest, lack of fresh air, etc., the body becomes acid, we are ill.

In order to keep the body in an alkaline condition, it’s important to eat foods that have an alkaline reaction. A few such foods are: tomatoes, lettuce, celery, spinach, cucumbers, beets, eggplant, asparagus, carrots, leeks, chard, mushrooms, squash, soybeans, almonds, lentils, lima beans, buttermilk, oranges, peaches, pears, lemons, raspberries, strawberries, apricots, apples, grape juice, cantaloupe, watermelons, figs, and dates.

Because they contain the largest percentage of alkaline elements, the leaves and tender stems of vegetables should be included in our diet. The green vegetables do not contain much solid nourishment, but they are invaluable for their bulk and for the minerals, sodium, calcium, and iron—three of the most essential alkaline elements.

The green leaves of cabbage, for instance, contain four times as much iron as the inner colorless leaves. Romaine lettuce is preferable to the common “garden variety” of lettuce — practically every leaf is vibrant with color. Through eating an abundance of alkaline foods, either in bulk, reducing them to juices, or through the process of drying and powdering, we can go far toward restoring a condition of youth to prematurely aging body cells.

The Ever-Youthful Spirit
by Paramhansa Yogananda

It is only by realizing our oneness with God that we can completely break our self-created imaginary limitations of accidents, failure, lack, disease, and death. We must never suggest to the mind the human limitations of sickness, old age, and death. Instead, constantly, inwardly tell it: “I am the Infinite, which has become the body. The body as a manifestation of Spirit is the ever-youthful Spirit.” The Pracepta lessons, 1934, 1935.

Never neglect a head cold
A person newly caught and choked by Mr. Cold usually bursts out in violent spells of sneezing which bombard the mucous membranes and overexcite the brain. As a result, a person with a cold often feels miserable.

Colds are often caused by a faulty diet or lack of physical exercise. Susceptibility to colds can also be a tendency brought over from past lives. Drinking something cold immediately after a hot drink, such as hot tea or coffee, increases your susceptibility to colds, as also does going from an extremely hot room into a chill atmosphere.

Neglecting a head cold allows the wicked invader to spread its territory into the throat. Neglecting it even further allows it to enter the inner chambers of the bronchial tubes.

How to cure a cold
When you catch cold, try to fast for two days. During a cold,  the extra poisons in your body are being thrown off; adding more food to your system obstructs Nature’s poison- eliminating system. It’s also very good to use a laxative at the beginning of a cold.

If you can’t bear up under a complete fast, then eat apples, pears or grapes. But refrain from eating acid fruits and eat nothing at night.

Drink only two glasses of tepid warm water daily, and no hot or cold water. Drinking large quantities of water during a cold over-saturates the mucous membranes and aggravates a runny nose.

Drink in the sun’s rays
A four-hour sunbath with the rays of the sun falling directly on your skin has been known to cure a cold in one day. When taking the sunbath, concentrate deeply on the sun-bathed surface of your body. Then, through every pore of the body, drink in the sunshine.

Concentrating upon the sun’s rays will give you one hundred times greater results than taking a sunbath absent-mindedly. If your skin is sensitive, you can protect it by smearing olive oil or something similar over your body.

You can also draw healing energy from the sun through the medulla. Cover your entire body with a piece of thick blue silk or a blanket, while keeping the medulla exposed to the sun. Focus your full concentration on the medulla and feel the back of your head becoming warmer. Then feel the energy going into the brain and being distributed throughout the body.

Chemicalizing the sunlight
The “heliotropic” method of healing, which combines the life force and the sun’s rays into a more powerful healing force, is very effective in destroying disease germs of the respiratory organs. The following exercises should be done morning and afternoon for half an hour, on a light stomach.

• For head colds: Lie on your back on a woolen blanket in sunlight and expose your chest, thighs, and feet. Open your mouth wide and lift your chin, allowing the sunlight to penetrate your mouth and nostrils. At the same time, gently quiver your head, concentrating on the nasal membranes and the throat.

• Visualize the energy generated by the quivering of your head as absorbing and chemicalizing the sunlight into a hot healing force passing through your nasal membranes and throat, helping to roast disease germs.

• For chest colds: While in a sitting or lying position, expose your chest to the sun. Rapidly but gently rub your chest, injecting energy into it through your hands. Visualize the life force generated by your hands as absorbing and chemicalizing the sunlight into a hot healing force, penetrating your chest.

Getting rid of “catarrh”
The heliotropic method of healing is especially beneficial for persons suffering with catarrh. In non-medical terms, “catarrh” is used synonymously with “postnasal drip,” a runny nose, or a congested throat. Neglecting colds and overeating at night are the two main causes of catarrh. The following guidelines will help you destroy the roots of this disease.

• Drink no iced water with your meals and no water before going to bed.

• Drink milk only in the afternoon.

• Eat light meals at night, mostly fruit and ground-up nuts.

• Eat your heaviest meal at noon but very little bread—only a small piece of toasted whole wheat bread.

• Once a week it is helpful to skip breakfast and lunch and fast on orange juice.

• Take long walks in the morning and especially at night before going to bed.

• While walking, inhale and exhale deeply.

• Sleep well covered, with windows open wide both summer and winter.

Vitality will flood your body
An interested, joyous will draws life force into the body. To prevent colds and other illnesses, always perform both small and important duties with deep attention and cheerfulness. As you do so, vitality will flood your entire body.

From East West and Inner Culture, 1926- 1934 and the Praecepta Lessons, 1934-1938.

Eat sparingly and watch your health improve
There is a Syrian proverb: “The enemy of man is his stomach.” The chief abuse of the body lies in overloading it with unnecessary food.

Use your will power to resist the temptation of eating three meals every day, by which the whole system, including the cells, heart, nerves, and stomach have to work continuously. Eat sparingly and notice the great change in your health for the better.

Many are being led to their graves because they eat at the sound of the dinner bell. Ignore its ominous call if you are not hungry. It is good to eat at a regular time, for it creates a psychological expectancy that helps the secretion of digestive juices.

But never eat unless you are hungry. If you are hungry eat moderately. Omit meals if you are only slightly hungry and this will sharpen your hunger for the next meal.

Elements of a healthy diet
A supply of raw fruit, vegetables, and nuts should be included in the regular diet.  Raw food is nature-and-sun-cooked.  Use it abundantly.

If you eat cooked vegetables, let them be steamed or baked, not boiled. Eat very lightly of starches and cereals.

Make it a point to include the following items in your daily diet. Distribute the items over breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but do not omit any of them. You may, of course, eat other foods, but following this diet will insure that the body receives the sixteen elements it requires for sustenance.

l. A carrot (unscraped but thoroughly washed). Chew it well. Nature made it hard to strengthen your teeth by chewing.

2. A lemon (an antiseptic for the body—use in the morning).

3. An orange.

4. An apple.

5. A glass of almond milk or any nut milk (Grind two tablespoonfuls of nuts thoroughly and mix with water).

6. Chopped fresh green-leafed vegetables—spinach or lettuce are good.

7. Unsulphured dates and raisins—one handful daily.

8. Whole wheat bread, fresh cheese, a glass of milk, or one or two boiled eggs are beneficial if you do hard manual labor.

Avoid fanaticism
Remember to follow the God-made laws that govern your health and physical body, but don’t be too fastidious about diet or over-emphasize the body’s importance. There are food “cranks” who talk of nothing but “lettuce and nuts” until you wonder how they can be so blind to other, more interesting aspects of life.

I am not underestimating the value of a proper diet; simply don’t become fanatical about it. Since you have to eat, eat the right kind of food. Choose a balanced diet, stick to it, and then forget the body.

Include sunshine in your menu
Without frequent baths in God’s sea of sunlight, you cannot be healthy. Sunlight and ultra violet rays fill the tissues and pores of the body with life-giving energy. They redden the hemoglobin of the blood, making it richer and healthier.

An ordinary bath washes away bacteria and dirt from the human body. So also, the ultra violet rays in sunlight not only cleanse the body of bacteria but also destroy them. They penetrate the homes of enemy bacteria hiding in the fingernails and pores.

If you don’t have time for a walk, open your windows and let sunlight bathe you all over. Everyone should have at least a half hour sunbath twice a week, preferably every day.

Banish disease through exercise
If you are quickly out of breath or feel a pain in the chest when you run or go upstairs—take care. You have a lazy heart, and are suffering from lack of proper exercise. To keep your heart in good condition, walk briskly for a mile each day, or go for a run in the park.

Whenever you take a walk, practice the following breathing exercise twenty-four times: inhale, counting one to twelve. Hold the breath twelve counts, then exhale while counting one to twelve.

Oxygen from exercise and breathing, sunshine from regular sunbaths, and the sixteen essential elements from food are important for the health and rejuvenation of the body. Other rules for happy, healthy living include heartfelt smiles, creative ability, concentration, good character, conservation of sex energy, and good company.

From articles and lessons, 1926-1935.

I felt an intensive yoga program would help. It did, and one important side effect was that I learned to meditate, which changed my life permanently for the better. But in addition to the usual difficulties of a beginning meditator, sitting was the worst position for my back pain.

A loss of body consciousness
One day I was determined to try my best to go deeper in meditation and transcend the pain. I remembered being told that visualizing a saint’s eyes was a powerful technique for meditation.

At that time, I knew little about saints. However, I had read Swami Kriyananda’s book, The Path, so I decided to look at his cover photo. I closed my eyes and, with all my will power, focused on his eyes.

It was tough going. The back cried out as usual for attention. Eventually, to my amazement and enjoyment, I was able to transcend the pain! Through the strong concentration, I experienced a loss of body consciousness. To be free of pain, even for a short time, was a wonderful and expansive feeling.

The most intense back pain ever
More than twenty years have passed since that experience. Gradually, through yoga and other techniques, my back healed. Last year, however, I re-injured it. Applying all the healing techniques I knew, within a few weeks I managed to reduce the pain to a slight twinge.

Then one night I was up late working on a writing assignment. My five-year-old daughter was having trouble going to sleep and had climbed into bed with her father. Both my daughter and husband were asleep when I went to pick her up and return her to her room, as I have done many times.

This time, however, I forgot all about the body mechanics I had learned over the past twenty years. I reached toward the middle of the bed and picked her straight up.

Fortunately, she was only a few inches above the bed when my back “went out” and I dropped her. The pain was more intense than any back pain I had ever felt. I let out a sound that woke both my daughter and husband, and somehow came down onto the floor, where I lay on my back next to the bed, with my knees bent.

With this pain I knew I needed help
I focused immediately on deep diaphragmatic breathing—breathing deeply into the belly and blowing out the pain with my exhalations. My husband and daughter rushed to help me. I asked them not to touch me.

Normally I take medication only as a last resort. However, without much hesitation, I asked for Ibuprofen. With this pain I knew I needed help. Then I asked my husband if he would gently cover me with a blanket. I convinced him and my daughter (in between deep breathing) to go to bed, that I could take care of myself.

The spasms were intense. I had to use my breath just to maintain the pain at the current level. If I even attempted a therapeutic pelvic tilt, the spasms would deepen and increase.

There was no reason not to still be joyful
As I lay there working with the breath and consciously trying to relax the spasms, I automatically went into my usual practice of mentally chanting, “I love you God.” I focused at the spiritual eye and invoked Yogananda and Divine Mother’s presence.

Shifting into a more God-conscious state made me recall that I had been feeling very joyful before my back went out. I reflected that, though I was in pain, I was grateful for many things in my life and that there was no reason not to still be joyful.

I then started mentally chanting one of my other personal mantras, “joy, joy, joy”— all the while breathing deeply to control the pain. Chanting “joy” reminded me that joy was still part of my core being.

Somehow I knew I had a choice: I could feel sorry for myself (poor me!), and worried about the possibility of a long and difficult rehabilitation. Or I could stay in the present moment, get back to my center, and experience joy. I chose joy.

Two separate and distinct realities
It wasn’t a matter of pretending that the pain did not exist. In fact, I needed to focus part of my attention on the deep breathing to keep the pain from intensifying and spreading.

Gradually, however, despite the pain (and the need to focus on it), my awareness of joy expanded. Before long I was feeling great joy. The pain was as intense as ever. But I was experiencing two separate and distinct realities: pain and joy.

It was a revelation that I could experience such a depth of joy and still be aware of physical pain. I had always assumed that saints who remained joyful despite great physical trials had transcended body consciousness in ecstasy.

But I recalled something I had read about St. Teresa of Avila. When not in ecstasy, she often experienced great physical pain. However, in her joyful devotion to the work Christ had given her, she was only partially aware of it.  Not all saints with serious physical ailments, I began to realize as I lay on the floor, lived in a constant state of ecstatic communion. Their joy in God was so intense, however, that physical pain simply did not matter.

When the spasms became less intense, I was able to move into a therapeutic pelvic tilt. After half an hour of deep breathing and gentle pelvic tilts, I was able to get up. I placed pillows under my knees—and, covering myself with blankets from the bed— went to sleep on the floor.

I am deeply grateful
The physical healing took awhile. I slept on my back on the floor with my legs over a padded bench for almost a week. For several weeks I asked both my daughter and seven-year- old son to be very careful with me— too forceful a hug could be extremely painful.

As I applied my knowledge of therapeutic yoga and other techniques, I tried to focus on God, Guru, and the joy within. Whenever I became focused and centered, I once again experienced joy.

I am deeply grateful for the blessing of the pain that was not transcended but became a separate reality. It has helped me see that the goal of life is not necessarily to remove or even transcend life’s difficulties, but to live in joy regardless of the ups and downs.

As I live this way, the more things tend to work out for the best. Challenges still come but as I live more deeply from my center in God, I am able to handle them more gracefully.

Nicole DeAvilla-Whiting lives with her husband and two children in Marin County. She teaches Ananda Yoga at The Expanding Light guest retreat and in Marin County, where she also leads an Ananda healing prayer group.

Diet, sleep, exercise, and relaxation all have their midpoints. The right amount of each will strengthen your system, but too much or too little will weaken you. Avoid the dangerous tendency to think, “More is better.”

You will inevitably experience stress, depression or anxiety if some aspect of your life is out of balance. Take time to look at the major areas of your life: work, relationships, diet and the like—and identify their balance points. It is vital to realize that total well-being is impossible without balance. Wellness finds its home in a well-balanced life.

Friendship—like attracts like
Many studies have shown that strong friendships support wellness. Good friends let us relax into our comfort zone. They can be a valuable source of encouragement because we trust their input. Friends don’t always have to agree with each other; in fact a certain amount of give and take allows us to consider different viewpoints. But the goodwill of friendship is a precious gift.

If you are feeling a lack of friendship you can prime the pump by befriending others. One of the laws of life is that like attracts like. Being a friend is more important than having a friend.

Find time for friendship even if your schedule is hectic. Don’t let a week pass without spending time with a friend, even if it is just by phone. Friendship is like the warm glow of the sun—the tree of health withers and dies when it is absent for too long.

An expansive consciousness puts things in perspective
It is important to have a broad perspective. Problems can ruin our sense of proportion, whether they concern health, finances, relationships, or whatever. Self-involvement makes even small things seem huge. A simple cold feels as if it will never end.

Expansive consciousness reduces concerns about health to their proper size, helping us to see everything against a backdrop of eternity. To be effective, expansiveness needs to become a daily habit. One of the most beneficial things you can do for yourself is to be a channel for love and friendship.

See yourself as a source of light for the world. Befriend the people you meet today. Let kindness pour through you like a springtime stream. We are blessed and healed, not by what we possess, but by what flows through us.

True love is not about receiving
Love is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. The power of attraction holds families together and keeps the planets in their orbits. Yet a lot of what passes for love has a kind of merchant quality to it—“If you give me this, I’ll give you that.” True love is not about receiving but rather an expression of the universal desire for connection and unity. The deepest love is universal— a resonance between your heart and others.

Here is a technique to expand your love. It is best practiced in meditation, but can be done anytime you are calm and aware: Sensitively feel for the quality of love in your heart. Now expand that sensation to fill your whole body, bathing every cell. This alone will be a potent healer.  But don’t stop here.  Let your love continue to expand outward, until it touches each person in your life. Make your love so powerful that it embraces everyone and everything on the planet.

Now take that powerful force, condense it and share it with everyone you meet today. Imagine what the world would be like if everyone would do this. Love alone would cure the world’s ills.

From 30 Day Essentials for Wellness, by Jyotish Novak, Crystal Clarity. Jyotish and Devi Novak are acharyas (spiritual directors) of Ananda Sangha Worldwide. Jyotish is also acharya of the Ananda Sevaka Order, worldwide.

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

Nervousness interferes with all the normal functioning of the human body and mind; it upsets the physical, mental, and spiritual machinery. If you are nervous, it is difficult to meditate deeply, work efficiently, or heal a disease.

The body may be compared to a factory, in which the brain is the main dynamo. The brain sends energy to the organs of the body through a system of special conductors called nerves. The nerves vitalize the bodily organs, and send and receive messages from the outer world.

Violent and long-continued excitement
The main causes of nervousness are 1) long-continued over-activity, 2) excessive stimulation of the senses from physical over-indulgence, 3) and mental over-stimulation from chronic fear, anger, sorrow, hatred, jealousy, discontent or similar harmful emotions.

Any violent or prolonged excitement disturbs the flow of life force through the nervous system. If you put a two-thousand-volt current through a fifty-watt lamp, it will burn out the lamp. In the same way, excessive stimulation burns the nerves, cutting off the supply of energy and upsetting the functioning of the nervous system.

The most damaging emotions are anger and fear. (Worry is usually a fear that something undesirable will happen.) As soon as you are angry or afraid, you burn the nerves.

Anger burns the nerves in the brain and causes poisons to be secreted throughout the body. Fear burns the nerves that supply the heart and can cause heart trouble. Feelings of timidity destroy the nerve endings.

Nervousness is highly contagious
Nervousness can also be caused by a restless mind, which sends excess energy vibrating along the nerves. Too little sleep is harmful to the nerves, but too much sleep drugs the nerves.

Lack of the necessities for normal and happy living such as exercise, fresh air, sunshine, proper food, agreeable work, and a purpose in life aggravate, if they do not actually cause, nervousness.

Nervousness is highly contagious and can be caused by associating with nervous, faultfinding, or otherwise disagreeable people.

“What comes of itself, let it come”
I have devised a recharging technique by which you can revive nerve tissue by sending energy into damaged nerves. But this technique is of little avail if you do not remedy the causes of nervousness. Knowing how to prevent nerve cells from being destroyed is the first step.

First, analyze yourself and determine the cause of your nervousness. If fear is at work, a calm analysis of the cause will usually remove the fear. What’s the use of fearing? Fear not only causes nervousness, but can also bring about the very things you wish to avoid.

Anger results from frustrated desires. Desire and anger are the two greatest barriers to wisdom. They destroy a person’s peace of mind, and obstruct the flow of his understanding.

To overcome anger, learn to remain inwardly calm and non-attached. Accept with an unruffled mind whatever comes. I often say, “What comes of itself, let it come.” This is just as true for the bad things in life as the good. Calmness alone will give you a sense of correct proportion and inspire you to behave with unfailing good sense.

Soothe and relax the nervous system
Water cools the nerve endings and balances all the vital centers. Taking a cold shower or splashing your face with cold water is very helpful for nervousness.

For the overworked mental worker, merely going out of doors and resting the eyes upon some far distant patch of green will often soothe and relax the nervous system. Eating more fruit, not over-eating, and partial fasting—going without breakfast or lunch—are also good.

Associating with strong, serene, kind, spiritual people is of great benefit to the nervous person. Even a few moments in the company of a saint can work wonders in producing calmness and quiet.

Soul nervousness requires meditation
There is another form of nervousness, “soul nervousness,” which can be destroyed only by meditation. In soul nervousness, the soul is so identified with the body that it has forgotten its real nature. It thinks it is nothing but a bundle of sensations.

The cure for soul nervousness lies in transferring your attention from this little cage of the body to the perception of the Infinite. As a child of the Infinite, you must learn to reflect the image of God.

Do your best today and forget tomorrow
It’s good to have a vision of the future, but don’t harass the soul with petty worries. God is in charge of planets, stars—everything that you see, yet He is never disturbed. Do your best today and forget tomorrow. God will take care of everything.

To increase your capacity for work always think that you are doing God’s work. Each day ask yourself: “What can I do for God today?” God is always busy, creating universes upon universes, yet He is never tired. If we want to be like Him, we must have His tremendous capacity for activity.

If you learn to control the life force through the practice of meditation and spiritual exercises, your mind and vital powers will be under your control. Calm nerves, controlled bodily energy, and a well-regulated moral life usually accompany mental calmness.

From East-West Magazine, 1927; Praecepta Lessons, 1934, 1935, 1938; and Conversations with Yogananda.

When the life force is blocked or diminished we feel unwell, depressed, or somehow “off.” A diminished flow of life-force is the root cause of disease. Eventually it will result in physical symptoms, although this may take some time. If we wait until we’re sick and then address only the symptoms, we will be caught in a pernicious cycle of disease.

Treating only symptoms, rather than the cause, is like the story of a man who took his car to a mechanic. “I have this problem,” the man said. “The oil light keeps coming on.”

The mechanic replied, “Aw, I can fix that in a jiffy,” and walked over and ripped out the light.

The mind: origin of wellness and disease
The mind is the origin of both wellness and disease. Our mind and body are a single organism. Increasing the strength and health of the mind starts a complex process that results eventually in true wellness.

“Mind” comprises far more that just conscious thought. It also includes the subconscious and emotional aspects of our being, as well as our intuitive superconscious. This mind can be a powerful healer, especially when we understand that it controls physical mechanisms such as the immune system, hormones, and neurotransmitters in the brain.

Many factors in illness appear to be beyond our control, but one thing that we can do is maintain a clear resolution to be well. Your deep-seated intentions will largely determine whether you have dynamic health or become a passive victim of illness.

In other words, a powerful mental inclination toward wellness will help you avoid becoming ill, and speed your recovery if you do face a health challenge. Here is something to think about: Probably the most universally effective medication is the placebo.

The first step to wellness, then, is simply to accept the enormous power of your intentions. As you think, so you will become.

Try this: Decide to be well and mean it. Resolve now to make changes that create wellness.

Don’t give away your power
Take personal control and responsibility for your wellness. The inclination to think that others are responsible for your health will, like a hole in a bucket of milk, drain away your power. Don’t put others in charge, but feel rather that medical professionals, family, and friends are your allies. Ultimately, responsibility for your wellness is yours alone.

Accepting what comes to us is tremendously important for wellness. Feel that, consciously or not, you have drawn the perfect circumstances for growth. Then take charge of your life. Learning to take responsibility for everything that comes to you is one of the great lessons of life. It is the key to contentment and invincible happiness.

Try this: Say to yourself: “The responsibility for my health and happiness is mine alone! I refuse to surrender my power by making anyone else responsible.

See illness as an opportunity
All challenges in life represent hidden opportunities, and health issues are no exception. Problems are nature’s way of showing us that something needs to change. Perhaps we have thoughts and feelings that are subtly self-destructive, or old habits that need to be dropped.

How often we resist change, even when we desperately need it. The poor snake, in some dim way, probably resists shedding his old skin, yet without discarding the old he can’t grow. A health challenge can be the same for us.

Use it as an opportunity to re-evaluate your life, to see how you need to grow. Moldy old attitudes, habits, and unsatisfying relationships may be crying out for change. Now may be just the opportunity that you have been waiting for.

Try this: Ask yourself: What is really trying to happen? Is this time a hidden opportunity for needed changes?

Excerpted from 30 Day Essentials for Wellness, by Jyotish Novak, Crystal Clarity Publishers.

To see related titles by Jyotish Novak, click here

Jyotish and Devi Novak are acharyas, (spiritual directors) of Ananda Sangha Worldwide.  Jyotish is also acharya of the Ananda Sevaka Order, worldwide.

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

In 1992, Vas experienced his first episode of Crohn’s disease, an autoimmune disorder in which the disease process ulcerates and, in some cases, eats right through the intestinal wall. Vas was admitted to the hospital none too soon, as the disease had become almost life threatening.

After two hospitalizations and several months of convalescence, he returned to his job as manager of East West Bookshop in Menlo Park, California with a changed diet, a shortened workweek, and mellowed work habits.

The disease recurs
When the disease flared up again in September 2002, Vas spoke only of getting well. Each day, whether at home or in the hospital, he continued to meditate. We were alternately hopeful and gravely concerned as the weeks went by and he was hospitalized again and again with complications.

After one of his medications caused nerve damage in his right ankle, Vas had to use a walker. He struggled just to get through his bedroom door. Behind the door, and partially in view was his golf bag. A recent “convert” to golf, he had been out to golf courses several times with friends from the Seattle Ananda community.

When I suggested that we move the clubs so he could get through the door more easily, he said, “No! Leave them there. I want to see them each day.”

The challenges mount
The challenges of the disease, and the side effects from the medications—at one point 29 pills—mounted. Later, there were three weeks of “home health care” with intravenous feedings.

Through it all, Vas maintained a matter of fact attitude. At home or in the hospital, he was sweet and grateful to his nurses, and addressed each by name. Several knew him as customers of East West Bookshop in Seattle, where, since 1996, he had worked as co-manager and book buyer.

Occasionally, however, the illness was a challenge to his equanimity. But he would apologize, saying, “I don’t mean to be so sharp, Babe.”

A different kind of leader
Following the first episode of Crohn’s disease, Vas had worked conscientiously on his attitudes as a manager. No longer the strict taskmaster, he became much more the nurturing mother.

He had understood the truth of one of Ananda’s guiding principles—“people are more important than things,” that compassionate sensitivity to people is more important than a project turning out perfectly.

Vas came downstairs on Christmas Day 2002 to greet East West staff and other friends. He was deeply “present” with each person and spoke of his gratitude for their friendship and prayers.

By then, the medications had weakened his heart to the point that he had already experienced one episode of atrial fibrillation, in which the heart behaves erratically. The doctor had warned that if it happened again he might not come out of it so readily.

“I’m getting better.”
The Thursday before Vas left his body, his doctor suggested that he consider surgery. Vas replied, “I’m getting better. I won’t consider that until I’m on my deathbed. Short of surgery, he was doing everything he could to get well.

By Saturday, Vas’s body was under great duress. It was apparent that he was suffering. But without further explanation, all he would say was, “I’m not going.” I knew then that he would not go, once again, to the hospital emergency room.

Yogananda’s birthday
The following morning, January 5, 2003, at 4:46 a.m. I heard his breath stop. His heart had gone into atrial fibrillation and couldn’t right itself. It was Sunday, Yogananda’s birthday.

We had been preparing to celebrate our Guru’s birthday at the mandir, with a banquet to follow. Now we were preparing for my husband’s astral ascension service.

The sky was a blaze of yellow and coral as we drove to the mandir for the ceremony. In the midst of the dazzling sky was a beautiful crystal prism, round and rainbow colored.

At the service we played the recording of Vas singing “Nightingale” just before Swami Kriyananda gave a major talk in Seattle in June 2002, a few months before Vas became ill.

The Guru’s grace
With his remaining strength, Vas seemed to have surrendered his life into the hands of his Guru for the final decision.  The timing of his death, the crystal prism in the sky—showed me that Yogananda had called him home.

Vas was a man of reserve, dignity, and energy. That he stopped short of surgery was very understandable. The idea of a post surgical life with Crohn’s disease was not a compromise he was willing to make.

Yet, my first thought was a question: what about the possibility of prolonging his life as a devotee? This seemed of value, certainly.

But, as Terry McGilloway stated so eloquently in his eulogy, it was as if Yogananda came and said “You don’t have to live that way,” and released him from that sick body.

Self-concern the greatest enemy
In the two years since Vas slipped away, I have experienced both sadness and peace. Death is not to be feared. Loss is not to be feared. Self-concern is the greatest enemy because it is a natural by product of the first phases of grieving. “Poor me” is a pretty formidable temptation.

Along with the prayers and support of friends, what sustained me most after his passing was meditation. At such times, I was truly between worlds, conscious of spending time both there and here—where he was and where I was. I felt so close to him, and so at peace in that meditative space. The certainty that he lived helped me to move forward.

“You’ll do fine, Babe.”
God took my loving life-companion and asked, “May I be your companion now?”

Swami Kriyananda said in a recent video talk from India: “You think when someone dies—how cruel. No! God came to you in that form. God is taking Himself back so you will look at Him again and seek His love.”

The biggest gain has been a deepening of my love for God, for Guru, and for a life of renunciation. I have lost a great friend only to find that the love in my heart has multiplied.

At various times during our life together I would say to Vas, “I don’t know what I’ll do without you if you go first.” And he always said, “You’ll do fine, Babe.”

Jacqueline Snitkin serves as a Lightbearer at Ananda Seattle.

Dear _____________________

I know you feel you are being honest in the bitterness of your appraisal of life. Still, you seem a reasonable man, and on that basis I would like to offer you these few thoughts. And I offer them also as one who has known suffering in life.

My faith, too, in God was severely shaken—not faith in His existence, nor even His love for others, but certainly in His love for me, a lack that seemed to me the more painful for the selectivity of its focus.

There was a thought that helped me at that time, one that I hope you won’t take amiss if I share it with you. For I, too, am a reasonable man, but during that trial I remembered the many times in my life when my ability to reason had been affected by my feelings—even to the extent of becoming totally clouded, when my feelings were distorted.

The logic on those occasions had seemed so transparent, so ineluctable, that I hadn’t imagined that it might be wrong. Yet, when the upset in my feelings subsided, the logic changed with them, giving me finally a calmer, more balanced perspective.

Looking back on those occasions, what I resolved to do during my time of severe testing was to suspend judgment for the time being, and wait for a time when I might view my experience without the intense aversion which, I knew, was affecting my reason. In fact, that time did come at last, though only after the passage of years. The marvelous thing was that, when it came, I was only grateful for what I had experienced.

I’m not going to ask you even to imagine gratitude for what you’re suffering, but I do ask you to suspend judgment for the time being. I might even put it to you this way: Why suffer twice? You are experiencing physical pain: Why add to it mental torture?

I’ve tried this simple technique many times since those dark days in my own life. Whenever things have gone wrong and I’ve been tempted to get upset about them, I’ve told myself, “This isn’t the time for me to pass judgment. For now, let me try to accept things as they are without trying to understand what they mean. If in fact they do have a meaning for me, perhaps it will come clear later on.”

So far, it always has come clear, in the end.

In divine friendship

Swami Kriyananda

First we can learn to live in our bodies without thinking of them as ourselves. When you are feeling tired, don’t think to yourself, “I’m tired,” but rather, “This body is tired.” If you’re not feeling well, don’t announce it to others—that gives energy to the thought that you are unwell. Instead, simply admit to yourself that your body needs some care, but that you are fine.

Try to mentally separate yourself from physical pain. There are two techniques for doing this. First, if a specific part of your body is injured, try to sit quietly, calm the mind, and then mentally send light and energy to that part as we do in the Energization Exercises. Do this repeatedly with a focused mind, and you will find healing energy flowing to that body part.

A second technique to mentally detach from both physical and mental pain is to concentrate the mind strongly at the point between the eyebrows, the spiritual eye. By concentrating there, we can actually change our level of consciousness from suffering to our natural state of joy. To maintain this uplifted state, do this not just once but at regular intervals throughout the day.

We should try not to be identified with shifting emotions and mental states, or with unpredictable conditions of good health and fortune. Live in the thought of your eternal nature. By not allowing physical sensations to take control of our minds, by conscious use and direction of our energy, and by living our lives in longer rhythms mindful of our eternal nature, we can overcome the force of delusion that binds us to suffering.

*****

The other major cause of our suffering is our own bad karma. The law of karma is based on the principle that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The kind of energy we put out into the world is exactly what will come back to us. If we offer the world love and understanding, we draw this in return. If, on the other hand, we live with hatred and indifference to the suffering of others, we will attract these qualities into our lives.

When seemingly undeserved suffering comes into our lives, it’s because at some time in the past we have set into motion the events that have brought about the present pain. But what can we do about it? We can’t undo past mistakes, but we can deal with our present misfortune by expiating our wrong actions, and without incurring more bad karma.

First we must accept responsibility for everything that comes to us. Try to have the attitude, “I have created this bad karma, and I can destroy it.” If we put the blame off on others, we will never see the wrong understanding that caused us to err in the first place. Use your will power to deal unflinchingly with whatever comes. No matter what happens to you, always feel that you have the ability to rise above it.

If you give up, or get discouraged, then the bonds of karma will triumph over you. If, however, you determinedly resolve to keep trying until you have passed through your difficulties, then you will find that even if you fail temporarily, you will ultimately win the battle of life.

Our own bad karma allows darkness and suffering into our lives, but with our will and determination we can overcome its power. Paramhansa Yogananda said, “Life is a struggle for joy all along the way. May I fight to win the battle on the very spot where I now am.”

*****

We can’t be warriors all of the time. Sometimes in the midst of trials, it’s all that we can do to escape through sleep. However, try to see even these periods when we want to escape from our suffering as part of an overall strategy. Think to yourself, “I’m going to escape into the subconscious realm of sleep for a while, but only to renew my energy and determination to take up the battle again.”

Finally, the worst result of our bad karma is that it makes us forget that we are all children of God. By deep, regular meditation, we can renew our contact with God. When we begin practicing the presence of God in our lives, delusion and karma no longer have a hold on us. We can walk triumphantly through all of life’s difficulties feeling that God’s strength and protection are always with us.

Jyotish and Devi Novak are Acharyas (spiritual directors) for Ananda Sangha Worldwide. Jyotish Novak is also Spiritual Director of the Ananda Sevaka Order worldwide.

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

The latest scientific research on the causes, diagnoses, and treatment of headaches, reviewed in the book, shows that that the techniques and approach of Ananda Yoga are especially effective in breaking the headache cycle. Ananda Yoga treats the underlying mental and physiological origins of headaches, using relaxation, stretching, breathing, and positive affirmation.

An epidemic problem
Roughly half the people in the United States have had a severe headache at least once in their lives. Chronic headaches over time tend to undermine the sufferer’s emotional and physical health. Ultimately, even close social relationships can deteriorate—people who suffer from recurring migraine headaches are three times more likely to develop depression than those without migraines.

Due to inadequate treatment options, treating chronic headaches can be a frustrating experience for both doctor and patient. A surprising number of headache sufferers are convinced that finding an effective treatment without side-effects is a hopeless task.

Ananda Yoga—an ideal headache treatment
Ananda Yoga works in three different ways to help prevent and treat headaches:

Gentle stretching: The postures promote deep relaxation through gentle, tension-relieving stretching, done with a meditative focus.

Affirmation: The affirmations accompanying each yoga posture help to realign thought patterns and release mental tensions.

Breathing: The Ananda Yoga breathing exercises deepen the level of mental and physical relaxation.

Stretches for the neck and shoulders
To prevent or relieve tension headaches, the neck and upper back need to be kept flexible. Many types of neck stretches are helpful, but most people won’t do them regularly enough to gain any real benefit. The Ananda Yoga system offers a balanced set of stretches that are safe, beneficial, and pleasant to do, making it easier to maintain a regular practice.

Eagle arms
Bring your left arm up in front of you and bend it at the elbow, with your upper arm horizontal, and forearm vertical in front of your nose. Wrap your right arm underneath and around the left, until the palms come together.

Keeping your chest lifted and open, raise and lower your elbows until you find the position that affords the best stretch of your shoulders and upper back. As you hold the position and breathe easily feel the release of tension throughout your upper body: shoulders, upper back, arms, and wrists. With each exhalation, visualize the released energy pouring into your spine, your center.

Affirm mentally: “At the center of life’s storms I stand serene.”

Hold this position for at least 30 seconds, continuing the affirmation. Repeat on the other side, with left arm wrapping underneath right, for the same amount of time.

Variation
If you cannot bring your palms together (this is quite common), drape a yoga strap between your left thumb and forefinger. After wrapping your right arm as far as it will go around the left, grasp the strap with both hands and as your shoulders relax, gradually work your hands closer together.

To order, call 800-424-1055 or go to www.crystalclarity.com.

Peter Van Houten, M.D. is the founder of the Sierra Family Medical Clinic and has been practicing medicine for more than 20 years. He has written articles and lectured extensively on the brain and the human nervous system.

Rich Gyandev McCord, Ph.D. is worldwide director of Ananda Yoga, one of the largest schools of yoga in the United States. He has been practicing yoga for over 23 years.

Q: What attracted you to hospice work?

Sharon: When I first started in nursing in 1969 I worked in an intensive care unit but left after a year because I had such a hard time dealing with people dying. This was before I was on the spiritual path and I had a lot of fear around death.

But I always wanted to do this kind of work. I felt that there was something here for me to learn.

Three years ago, for financial reasons, I needed to work outside Ananda Village and a hospice job opened up. After 20 years on the spiritual path, I felt that I could handle the challenge of working with the dying.

The guru’s presence
Q: Did your background in meditation and yoga made a difference in how you responded to people dying?

Sharon: A huge difference. Meditation has helped me overcome many fears. As it says in Autobiography of a Yogi, “even a little practice of this inward religion will save you from dire fears and colossal sufferings.” I had learned, also, to “practice the presence,” and I knew that everything in my life improved when I brought God and guru into what I was doing.

So when driving to see a patient, I would pray deeply to Yogananda and ask him to go before me and calm the way. Then, before going into a patient’s home I would stop and try to feel Yogananda’s presence. Often, I would meditate in my car for a few minutes to become more interiorized and uplifted.

As long as I could feel Yogananda’s presence, I was able to bring a positive energy to the situation no matter how challenging things were. Then I felt I had something to give.

Q: Did you notice any changes in the people you were trying to help?

Sharon: People seemed to be comforted. Some would say, “Gosh, you know, just your being here makes me feel much calmer or more comfortable.”  But I knew it wasn’t me they were feeling. What they were feeling was Yogananda’s presence, his energy.

Interestingly, a situation would often improve even before I arrived. Sometimes I would receive a call saying that the family was in a panic, or that the situation had become chaotic—and I would take off immediately. On the way I would pray and do Kriyas while driving. By the time I got there the situation was calmer.

Fear of dying
Q: Do you frequently encounter negative emotions about death—emotions such as fear and anger?

Sharon: I’ve learned that most people, as they approach death, have some fear simply because they’re going into the unknown. Even people who are spiritual and have deep faith in God often have to deal with fear.

But a lot of people are afraid because they believe they haven’t lived very good lives. They may be afraid that they’ll go to hell. Sometimes they’ve turned away from God and now that they’re dying, they want to turn back, but are afraid that God won’t accept them. As death approaches, many people go through spiritual crises. They have difficulty accessing the strength and comfort they need to approach death calmly.

Q: And in what ways have you been able to help people with their fear and anger?

Sharon: I try to offer a picture of God who’s not vengeful, who loves us unconditionally, and who is always forgiving. Just recently I was helping a man who was really terrified. He’d been a devout Catholic, but when his son died in a military accident, he turned away from the church. In his mind, he had turned away from God, and so he had quite a bit of fear about dying.

I talked to him about God being a God of love and forgiveness. Eventually he reached a point where he was more peaceful about dying, feeling he hadn’t done so badly after all.

Q: What about anger? Have you been able to help people let go of those emotions?

Sharon: A hospice nurse always tries to relieve pain and make the patient comfortable. When you do that, people then usually have enough energy to deal with their anger, which usually involves forgiving themselves and others. I’ve seen beautiful healings between family members as a person approaches death.

“I am the doer!”
Q: You and I were talking earlier about a crisis in your hospice work that resulted in your becoming ill. You said that from the illness you learned that you had become over-confident about working with the dying. Can you explain how that happened?

Sharon: After about two years in hospice I reached a point where I felt I could handle most situations—and I actually said that to my husband. I didn’t realize what a dangerous statement that was!

What I was really saying was “I am the doer.” I was taking all the credit for helping my patients and improving their situations. And I had become so confident that I wasn’t praying nearly as much or tuning into Yogananda’s presence.

The result was that the daily exposure to the pain and suffering of dying began to weigh on me. It became a burden that I carried and that eventually manifested in my body as illness.

When I was regularly tuning into Yogananda and could feel him flowing through me, I could always see the “perfection” in what was happening whenever my patients were close to dying. I would hold onto the thought that my patients were simply leaving one house and entering another—that soon they would be in the Light, and that everything would be fine. And I would be at peace about it.

The higher Self, not the ego
Q: You’ve been off work for a few months, but as you prepare to go back, do you have any plans for how you will approach your hospice work?

Sharon: Hand in hand with Yogananda! I pray that I never again lose sight of who the doer is. If I can approach each patient with Yogananda’s presence in my heart, then I feel I have something to give.

A Buddhist who worked in a hospice house in San Francisco said that the most important medicine we bring to the patient is ourselves. By that he meant our higher self, not the ego.

Q: Do you have any ideas about how you can bring more of your higher self to your patients?

Sharon: For me the most important key is meditating twice a day, without fail. Also, praying before each visit for guidance and to be a channel to bring peace to the situation, always keeps me in my center. I also plan to do a private astral ascension ceremony for my patients when they pass on, to help them on their way— and to help me release them into the Light.

I feel very blessed to be able to do this work. You walk into people’s lives during one of their most intimate experiences and they share it with you. There are many times of laughter and many beautiful moments. It’s a wonderful way to serve God and guru.

Sharon Taylor is an Ananda Village resident and Lightbearer. A registered nurse, she is currently doing hospice work in the Nevada City-Grass Valley area.

Included also are easy-to-follow guidelines for successful cooking, healthy diet, as well as tips on shopping for food and utensils.

Diksha has selected from her extensive repertoire of outstanding recipes dishes that are not only delicious and imaginative, but also healthy and easy-to-prepare. Rich in taste and texture, these dishes will please the most discriminating gourmets.

Crispy Herbed Tofu
This wonderfully textured tofu can be served as a snack, mixed with salad, or as a main dish for lunch and dinner.

Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2-3
Drain and wrap in a paper towel to absorb excess water:
1 lb. firm tofu
Cut tofu into 1 inch cubes
Sauté  in a pan, on medium-high heat for 5 minutes:
2 tablespoons safflower oil
tofu cubes
1 teaspoon garlic powder, sprinkled on top
Sprinkle on tofu pieces and stir:
1 teaspoon dried thyme (optional)
1 ½ tablespoons nutritional yeast
Sauté, stirring frequently, until tofu pieces are golden and crisp on the outside, about 10-15 minutes. Turn heat off and add:
1 ½ tablespoons tamari or Bragg (or to taste)
squeeze of fresh lemon juice (optional)

Spiritualize Your Relationship with Food

• Eat only when you are hungry. Learn to distinguish between true hunger and trying to fill a void caused by emotional upset, stress, or boredom.

• Don’t overeat. When you finish a meal you should feel comfortable, and as if you still have room in your stomach.

• Avoid eating late at night. Falling asleep shortly after easting causes food to lie in the stomach without being properly digested.

• When you eat too much, or too little, or too quickly, accept it with humor and understanding. Resolve to keep trying to improve, and move forward.

• Be creative, patient with yourself, and enjoy the process of transforming your diet.

• Remember that food is not just a bunch of nutrients; it’s part of Spirit.

—From Vegetarian Cooking for Starters.

Blanche McCord, a Lightbearer and Ananda Village resident, is the author of The Expanding Light Cookbook and teaches at The Expanding Light guest retreat.

To order Vegetarian Cooking for Starters and The Intimate Vegetarian, call 800-424-1055 or e-mail clarity@crystalclarity.com.

Says Nancy: “Whether simple or elaborate, meals that are delicious, colorful, and made with high quality ingredients are a delight to eat and will add enjoyment to your life. I’ve also discovered that the most essential ingredient in making the finest meals in the world is cooking from your heart.  Food that is lovingly prepared is the most deeply nourishing, comforting, and healing of all.”

The Intimate Vegetarian is full of wonderful tips and techniques for shopping, storing and preparing foods such as:

Cutting onions without “crying”:
“There are all kinds of methods that are supposed to prevent your eyes from watering and burning while cutting onions, and I’ve tried a lot of them over the years without notable success. However, there is one technique that helps immensely. Splash some vinegar (any vinegar will do) over the surface of your cutting board and rub it in before you start cutting. Your eyes will barely notice the onion’s airborne irritants.”

Cheese Enchiladas
A simple, colorful main course, these enchiladas take only minutes to prepare, have a fabulous flavor, and are a delight to behold. Add a side dish of warmed Mexican Bean dip and another of plain brown rice, and you have an exciting yet wholesome meal.

For 1 person:
Prep time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 20 minutes
Makes: 2 enchiladas
2 6-inch corn tortillas
2/3 to 1 cup grated sharp
Cheddar or Jack cheese
2 Tbs. finely chopped red or
yellow onion (optional)
1/2 to 2/3 cup enchilada sauce,
divided
2 Tbs. sour cream
1 tsp. finely chopped green onion
1 Tbs. sliced black olives

For 2 people:
Prep time: 10-12 minutes
Baking time: 20-25 minutes
Makes: 4 enchiladas
4 6-inch corn tortillas
1-1/3 to 2 cups grated sharp
Cheddar of Jack cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped red or
yellow onion (optional)
1 cup enchilada sauce, divided
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tsp. finely chopped green onion
2 Tbs. sliced black olives

To prepare:
1. Set oven to broil. Place tortillas  flat on a foil-covered baking sheet (for easy cleanup). Spread cheese evenly over tortillas.

2. Set under broiler for a minute or so until cheese is almost melted and tortilla is soft. Remove from oven. When tortillas are still warm and soft, sprinkle with onion (if desired) and gently roll into a loose cylinder shape. Set aside, flap side down.

3. Preheat oven to 400° F. Pour half of the enchilada sauce in a loaf pan or 7-inch, round baking dish. (8” x 8” dish for 2). Place rolled tortillas in pan or dish, flap side down, and cover with remaining enchilada sauce. Spoon some of the sauce over each enchilada to thoroughly moisten tortillas.

4. Cover pan or dish with foil. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until bubbling hot. Garnish each enchilada with a dollop of sour cream and a smattering of green onions and black olives.

Note to the cook
Leftover enchiladas reheat nicely in the oven or in a covered frying pan with a little water in the bottom.

Nancy Mair, a Lightbearer and Ananda Village resident, works as a writer, carpenter and landscape designer.

To order Vegetarian Cooking for Starters and The Intimate Vegetarian, call 800-424-1055 or e-mail clarity@crystalclarity.com

This emphasis on energy represents a shift in thinking from a model of the universe based on fixed, insensate matter toward one based on fluid, conscious awareness. The more we recognize that energy is the essence of all that we see and experience through our senses, the more we come to depend on that energy and understand how to work with it.

The subtle causes of illness
As we go back and try to perceive what is behind each outward, physical manifestation, we can see that there is a subtler reality responsible for that manifestation. God created the universe first as thought, then He projected that thought out as energy, and finally He condensed that energy into matter, or the physical world. The more we are in touch with the unseen cause of the outward form, the more power we have to work with the energy which created it and to effect changes in it.

This is extremely relevant to our understanding of the field of self-healing. The more we can tune in to the subtle realities of thought patterns and energy that produce illness, the more we can change those patterns at their source.

Generating the right energy
The future of healing lies in knowing how to introduce energy into the body and to work with it in such a way as to destroy disease and bring about lasting health. Energy, in fact, has always been the cause of radiant well-being. Merely eating the right foods won’t necessarily give you good health, but right attitude and the energy it generates can.

An attitude of joy is perhaps the best healer of all. Norman Cousins, the well-known writer, was able to cure himself completely of what had been diagnosed as a terminal illness by deliberately laughing for many hours every day.

Energy has been the cause of seemingly miraculous cures. Yogananda said, “The greater the will, the greater the flow of energy.” This is the basis of our Energization Exercises. But we also need to understand that healing requires more than just generating lots of will and energy. We must learn how to use that energy sensitively in cooperation with a higher power.

Learn to work with God
I’ve found in working with healing energy, it’s more effective to hold the thought, “I want to work with God, not just for God.” Of course, it’s good to do things for God, but when you’re doing them in cooperation with Him, the flow of energy becomes subtly but very tangibly different. Then amazing things seem to happen effortlessly in a harmonious flow.

A few years ago I had been working very hard, and my heart started to feel very tired and strained. I began sending energy there but with the added thought, “God, let’s do this together.”

With that approach came the understanding of using energy in a different way—not just with determined will power, but with a consciousness of a flow of health and happiness to that body part. My heart immediately began to respond and quickly returned to feeling well. By working with God, our will works with the energy rather than driving it, and we find we can do a great deal to heal our bodies.

Certainly there are times when it’s necessary for us to consult a doctor, but we don’t constantly need to be running off for medical attention. Once Master said, “Every time I turn my back, I find people here starting to go to doctors all the time. But if they have faith in God and in the divine flow, everything will work much better.”

A new approach to healing
There are many indications that, in a hundred years from now, our understanding of how the world operates will change dramatically. Every development in modern science is moving away from a focus on outward physical forms  into an awareness that the universe is really a flow of energy.

Healing in the future will be a fusion of new medical knowledge with spiritual insights about the effects of energy and consciousness upon the body. When these two disciplines converge on a single point, a whole new approach to healing will emerge that reflects the fact that our bodies are essentially composed of energy. By working with new forms of energy, and being in tune with a higher source, we can accomplish things that pills could never do.

I’d like to share a story about a healing experience that I had which doesn’t involve the deliberate sending of energy on my part, but rather being in tune with a higher consciousness. Some years ago I had an extraordinarily painful attack of kidney stones. I’ve never experienced anything like it—the pain was so intense that every muscle in my body was quivering like a leaf, and I couldn’t speak.

A friend was helping me and was urging me to go to the hospital, but the thought of driving over our bumpy roads was totally out of the question. Two hours passed, and the pain was getting worse and worse. I don’t like to pray for myself, so I just hung in there. I can’t say I grinned and bore it, but I bore it.

Then I looked at my watch—it was Sunday morning, and I was supposed to give the Sunday service in fifteen minutes. Feeling desperate at this point, I prayed, “God, I’m totally incapable of giving the service in this condition, so if you want me to give it, please take this pain away.”

It was quite amazing but within the length of time it took me to say that prayer, the pain vanished and was replaced by intense joy. It wasn’t just the emotional joy of relief, but rather the feeling of God’s presence. In fact, during the Sunday service I was so overwhelmed with joy that I could hardly speak anyway.

What is true healing?
This healing wasn’t brought about by sending energy to the kidney, but by offering the illness up to God and letting Him do it. It can happen in either way, but the important thing to understand is that if we do it together with God, the possibilities are unlimited. If we send that energy with His grace, if we ask Him to heal us, and if we understand that all true healing should be according to His will and not our own, then all this can become a means for our spiritual growth.

We can think of disease as a natural process of the psyche in its effort to cure itself of sin, delusion, or various kinds of error. Therefore in self-healing it’s important for you not to send energy only according to your own desires, but to try to feel what is God’s will in the matter.

Ultimately what’s important isn’t the healing of your body, but the spiritual growth of your soul. If you grow in the consciousness of God, when this body goes, you’ll keep on growing. But if you’ve only focused on physical health, you’ll have created a beautiful mausoleum—a white sepulcher, as Jesus called it.

Change your attitudes
Transformation of consciousness is the essence of self-healing. Learn to change your attitudes, because in the last analysis, wrong attitudes are always responsible for anything that goes wrong with you. Even accidents that occur are caused by something in your consciousness that attracts them.

Finally, remember that regardless of health or disease, you should strive to be a part of that divine flow and be united in your consciousness with God. Saints, too, sometimes have to deal with illnesses—maybe they’re taking other people’s karma, maybe they’re working out their own—it doesn’t matter. But remember we go through what we need to in order to achieve the highest healing of all—the healing of our ignorance of who we really are: children of God.

From a 1987 talk by Swami Kriyananda.

Good Health:
Good health is more than a state
of not being ill! It is a radiant state
of inner well-being.

Such radiant well-being comes
after the mind has been cleared of
every shadow of unwillingness, of
fear, and of doubt; when one has
learned to say “yes” to life; and
when one has learned to love.

From Affirmations for Self-Healing by
Swami Kriyananda.

Human methods are limited
No doubt some medicines have healing power, since God gave herbs and minerals power to affect the body of man. We know from experience that medicine has power to heal, as is demonstrated by the wonderful healings effected by good drugs and by good doctors. However, it must be remembered that medicine and doctors have limited power and often reveal their helplessness when confronted with chronic diseases. Therefore, to put your entire trust in medicine, and not in God’s unlimited healing power, is sure to bring disillusionment.

God is the healer
Convince the mind first that all human methods of cure are limited in their healing power, and that only God’s all-permeating, all-healing power is unlimited. While sitting in silence in the morning and evening, and whenever you have time during the day, mentally affirm: “Father, Thy unlimited and all-healing power is in me. Manifest Thy Light through the darkness of my ignorance.”

In healing, the power of the healer, great or small, is limited compared to the unlimited healing power of God. Hence, all healers, instead of commanding their own powers in healing, should invoke the unlimited divine healing power to flow through them. Man’s power may fail but God’s power can never fail. However, God cannot heal us until we open the gates of our own willingness to be healed.

The key: “an interested, joyous will”
Life force enters the body through the agency of an interested, joyous will. Learn to perform all your duties with a courageous cheerfulness welling up from within you; as you do that, a flood of vitality will move through your actions and your entire body. Do your daily duties, (even those in which you have no interest), with deepest attention and happiness, remembering that God is guiding and supporting every effort you make to achieve a noble ambition. When you perform noble actions with the consciousness of God, ceaseless energy will enter your body.

Strong will-power pulls energy into the body from the surrounding conscious cosmic rays through the door of the medulla oblongata. A man with strong will-power, by his highly vibrating mind, can deflect disease, failure, and ignorance. But the will vibration must be stronger than the vibration of physical or inner disease. The more chronic the disease, the stronger and more unflinching should be the faith, determination, and effort of will to get well.

Negative thoughts shut off the supply of energy
Remember that doubt, mental fatigue, worry, indifference, fear, restlessness, and timidity create counteracting static that makes it impossible for man to attune to the surrounding cosmic energy. Mental and physical laziness are accompanied by listlessness and lack of energy.

Enthusiasm and willingness go hand in hand with fresh supplies of energy. The greater the will, the more inexhaustible the energy. Death cannot ensue as long as the “will to live” is present. It is only because man, after his exhausting struggle with disease, relaxes the hold of his will on life, that death can conquer. So omnipotent is the will of man.

Excerpted from 1925-1935 writings by Paramhansa Yogananda, as compiled by Mary Kretzmann in Divine Will Healing.

Not my time to go
Closing my eyes and focusing at the point between the eyebrows, I asked God, “Is this my time to leave the body?” I waited with calm, almost hopeful, acceptance for an answer. But I saw no light, and had no sense that God was calling me home. Instead, I had a sudden intuitive flash that showed me spending weeks in the hospital and undergoing a lot of unpleasantness to regain my former health. But I would recover. With this realization came a deep sense of peace and acceptance.

I heard voices murmuring around me. One voice explained, “I saw her car making a turn off the road, but I didn’t remember there being anything there but trees.” Another voice assured me, “We’ve called for help. What happened?

“….Fell asleep ….at the wheel,” I managed to gasp.

Chanting AUM with Divine Mother
At this point, each breath was unbelievably painful. (Later I would learn that most of my breathing equipment was not working properly.) I started mentally chanting “AUM” with each breath and asking Divine Mother to breathe with me. From that first, “AUM,” I felt lifted above the worst of the pain, like a child held safe in its mother’s arms. I no longer had to struggle alone.

Thereafter, I drifted in and out of consciousness and have only passing memories of the rest of the day. I floated back into consciousness just in time to see the paramedics snipping away my clothing from the wrist upward. My mind cried out, “Stop! You don’t need to do that! I’m going to be just fine!” Since I wasn’t up to the task of speaking, I had to watch stoically as they cut away my favorite raincoat, and to remember that they really meant well. My distress at the loss of my raincoat was the final proof that I was, indeed, among the living again.

Airlifted by helicopter to the hospital for surgery, I woke up in an intensive care unit with tubes in my nose, abdomen, lung and throat. I was hooked up to an array of monitors and IVs and could barely move. If I hadn’t known, on such a deep level of my being, that all would be fine, I might have been concerned for this person hooked up to all that equipment and lost in a twilight zone of medical emergency.

My only desire: a cool drink of water
Because of my internal injuries, I was not allowed to eat or drink anything, even water, for most of my two weeks in the hospital. The thought of a cool glass of water became my only real desire. When I finally got my first glass of water, I took twenty minutes to savor that experience, letting the cool water trickle down my throat to soothe and to renew.

Since that experience, I have been reminded to truly savor even the simplest pleasures in life—whether it is a beautiful sunset, friendships, the sound of the wind in the trees, or the love of my family.

While in the hospital, I worked to understand and accept what had happened, and to see the accident as a loving gift from God. As a devotee, I understood that life is not meant to hurt us, but to expand us. For is it not from seeds of pain and suffering that compassion and wisdom grow?

I remembered the story from Swami Kriyananda about his fellow monk, Bernard, being told by Yogananda to be more careful. Bernard protested that it wasn’t his fault that he kept having car accidents—in fact, two of them happened when his car was parked! Yogananda again insisted that he be more careful. Bernard’s attitude of carelessness had attracted the accidents because of the magnetism it created.

“Are you now unhappy enough?”
As I look at my life, I realize now that before the accident I had been deeply unhappy for some time. I had been nursing my own personal hurts, whether real or imagined, and holding onto disagreements and disappointments—which resulted in my distancing myself from others. My mind had created a whirlpool of self-perpetuating unhappiness and darkness. It’s as if Divine Mother were asking me, “Is being broken and in the hospital unhappy enough for you?”

Then I remembered…. Years ago at Sunday service, during that part of the service when people come to the altar for a blessing from the minister, I had just sat down after being blessed. Tears streamed down my face, unbidden, as I watched others waiting their turn to be blessed. I felt Divine Mother whispering in my heart, “I have so many children to love. Won’t you help me?” I remember feeling like I had mentally stepped over a line—accepting the task being offered and pledging to do my best. These many years later, how had I strayed so very far from my goal?

A better job of remembering
“Smriti” means divine memory. It means remembering who and what we really are—a spark of the Divine set adrift in a sea of delusion. The imperfections of the physical plane are part of the drama of life. It is our task to remember that we are here to try to support the best in each other, as devotees, not to fixate on mistakes and misunderstandings. Anything that fosters a sense of separation is fraught with danger for the sincere devotee, who seeks to reclaim his or her birthright as a child of the Infinite.

When I look at the pictures of my car after the accident, it is easy to see that I am alive today only because of God’s grace. The car had hit a tree and been smashed in until the dashboard was almost touching the front seat on the passenger side, and there was barely enough room for me on the driver’s side.

For some reason, when I wrapped my car around that tree, it was not my time to leave. Perhaps I have been given another chance to remember who I am and why I have come here. With eyes wide open, I look for opportunities to bring Light to all that I do. Each day I am grateful for the chance to continue to invite God into my life to help me to do a better job of remembering.

Saraswati Kieran, a former teacher in the Ananda School, lives at Ananda Village with her husband and family.

Addiction to stimulation
Entertainment moguls use excitement like a drug to hook us on their programs. The next time you watch a TV show or a movie, look for their deliberate attempts to shock you— loud music, sudden scene changes, and odd lighting effects. The nervous system gradually adapts to this kind of stimulation and begins to close down, which is why the trend in music and movies is to get ever more “shocking.”

As yogis we want to find release from addiction to excitement and delusion. The same event affects everyone in unique ways depending on how they react. Your power lies in choosing how you respond. It has been well said that, “pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.” Most stress and pain come from wishing that things were other than they are. Learn to flow with life and much of your stress will disappear.

The importance of acceptance
Here is a challenge for you. Tonight, before you go to sleep, mentally review your day and try to see how often you wanted things to be different. Did you wish that you could have slept longer? That you didn’t have to do certain chores, that other drivers didn’t behave the way they did, that people at work were nicer? It goes on and on.

The more you try to control the unchangeable, the more stress you create for yourself.  Now go back and accept each and every event.  Acceptance begins by understanding that your karma attracts exactly what you need, whether it seems good or bad.

Paramhansa Yogananda said we should train our minds to be even-minded and cheerful in all situations. This is not merely a nice maxim, but a powerful, life-changing technique. Commit yourself to being happy under all circumstances. Watch your reactions to events and as soon as you catch yourself being pulled down, reaffirm your decision to be happy. And let go of old baggage. How long do you have to condemn yourself to carrying around old regrets and grudges?

Love: the greatest stress-buster
Here is a technique for dealing with tense situations, especially if your emotions are becoming upset. There is a link between the breath, the mind, and the subtle energy or aura. First calm yourself by controlling your breath and relaxing your mind. Then, from your heart chakra, project a peaceful aura to embrace everyone involved in the situation. Feel that you are all linked together in harmony. You can use variations of this technique in virtually every situation.

The greatest stress-buster of all is love. Realize, finally, that your true fulfillment comes when you love others, love life, and, especially, love the God that dwells within everything.

Jyotish and Devi Novak serve as Spiritual Directors of Ananda Sangha Worldwide. Jyotish is the author of the video, Meditation Therapy for Stress and Change. To order call 800-424-1055.

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

A: Yes. Sometimes the healing has been instantaneous, but most times it is gradual. Last year I worked with a man who had a longstanding chronic illness and it’s a good example of how the process can work. In a short healing session, I was able to help him to open his medulla oblongata and he regained his health, but after several months the problem came back.

I realized then that he needed a way that he, on his own, could regularly energize the medulla. So I gave him Paramhansa Yogananda’s affirmations for the medulla and they helped him a great deal.

Q: Why is the medulla oblongata so important?

A: The medulla oblongata is also called the “mouth of God.” It’s where life force (God’s energy) enters the body. Many of Yogananda’s healing techniques involve drawing energy in through the medulla and directing it to your own body or out through the hands to send healing to others.

In doing hands-on healing with devotees who have chronic illnesses, I’ve noticed that the spiritual eye is often very strong but that the medulla oblongata will feel either “dead” or weak—there’s very little energy there. Whenever I’ve been able to help energize the medulla with a strong flow of energy, the person’s health has improved.

Q: I imagine that for the healing to be permanent, the person needs to continue to be actively engaged in the healing process?

A: Affirmations are one of the most powerful ways to address any healing need—be it physical, mental, or spiritual, chronic or short-term. Healing depends on the power of the healer and the receptivity of the patient. The process of powerfully affirming health increases a person’s receptivity to the healing process.

Some people think of receptivity as a passive state, but it’s actually very dynamic. The person who expects the healer to do it all won’t heal nearly as quickly as someone who takes responsibility to affirm and visualize health for himself.

Yogananda put it this way: “Faith, not time, will determine when the cure will be effected.” Faith motivates people to put out the energy that healing requires.

Q: It’s obvious, then, that a person’s attitudes are a key to drawing energy into the body through the medulla?

A: Very much so. People who are healthy, vibrant and full of energy aren’t usually thinking about the medulla at all! They simply wake up with a lot of enthusiasm, saying “I want to do that project today!” And then there’s a rush of energy. Enthusiasm, a strong will, embracing what each day brings with gratitude and joy, giving energy to others—all of these help to keep a strong flow through the medulla.

Q: The Energization Exercises, then, would also be very helpful?

A: That’s what they’re designed for—to bring a strong flow of energy into the body through the medulla. But the mental aspects of energization are just as important as the physical. The exercises won’t help you very much if you do them grudgingly or absentmindedly.

I love the words in the prayer for energization, “O eternal youth of body and mind, abide within me forever and ever.” Think of the life force entering the body through the medulla and then filling your body cells with that kind of energy!

Q: In working with people who have chronic illnesses, do you try to help them release suppressed emotions?

A: I used to devote a lot of energy to helping people release deeply held feelings and blocks (from this life and past lives) and it was very helpful. In the past year, however, I’ve felt Divine Mother guiding me to help people in a much deeper and faster way, by sending healing energy into the person’s spiritual eye and medulla, down the spine to the chakras.

Yogananda describes this technique as sending “divine healing rays into the patient’s heart and brain,” thus destroying the “seeds of ignorance” and enabling him to “smile with the health of God-love.”

Q: Can you offer any guidelines for selecting a spiritual healer?

A: It’s important that the healer not make you “healer-dependent” but, rather, assists you in regaining your God-given ability to be well. Just as herbalists and nutritionists empower their patients by giving them specific knowledge for health, likewise, “spiritual healers” should also empower their patients with suitable tools for self-healing, such as positive thoughts and affirmations, healing exercises, and ideas for right living.

When possible, I think it’s wonderful if followers of Yogananda are able to go to practitioners who have deeply studied and applied his teachings on healing. The truths they embody are powerful and limitless and only beginning to be explored.

Q: Where does the teaching that “God is the doer” fit in with healing? Is the healer necessary?

A: The true spiritual healer has experienced God’s healing power and knows that even miracles are possible, if God wills it. This faith in divine healing becomes a deep part of the healer’s vibration. Proximity to such faith often helps the patient begin to believe healing is possible and thus makes him more receptive to healing energy.

The patient, of course, can hold healing thoughts for himself, and it is vital to do so, but sometimes he needs the help of someone who firmly holds this faith. When the healer touches the patient under such circumstances, wonderful healing can occur.

God needs instruments, and the healer is only that—a willing instrument of something much, much greater. It would be the deathblow to a spiritual healer to think otherwise. You have to remain humble.

Mary Kretzmann, Lightbearer and resident of Ananda Village, is Director of the Ananda Healing Prayer Ministry. For healing prayers or to order Divine Will Healing, call 530-478-7560 or email, prayers@ananda.org.

Affirmation for Energizing the Medulla
by Paramhansa Yogananda

Simultaneously concentrate your will on the medulla and the point between the eyebrows. Repeat the following affirmation, first loudly and then gradually in whispers, and finally silently:

I will my life-force to charge
With Godly will I will it charge
Through my nerves and
muscles all
My tissues, limbs and all,
With vibrant tingling fire
With burning joyous power
In blood and glands
By sovereign command
I bid you flow
By my command
I bid you glow
By my command
I bid you glow.

Scientific Healing Affirmations
by Paramhansa Yogananda, 1924 edition.

Simultaneously concentrate your will on the medulla and the point between the eyebrows. Repeat the following affirmation, first loudly and then gradually in whispers, and finally silently:

I will my life-force to charge
With Godly will I will it charge
Through my nerves and
muscles all
My tissues, limbs and all,
With vibrant tingling fire
With burning joyous power
In blood and glands
By sovereign command
I bid you flow
By my command
I bid you glow
By my command
I bid you glow.

Scientific Healing Affirmations
by Paramhansa Yogananda, 1924 edition.

Dear _____________________

You’ll recall I wrote in The Path that when I was new at Mt. Washington I was talked into following the “grape cure.” The rationale given me was that once I’d purified my body I would find it easier to meditate. The “grape cure” would also, I was told, purify my consciousness.

It seemed to me a good idea. After all, anything to further my spiritual development. When Master [Paramhansa Yogananda] found out about it, however, he scolded me for what I was doing. A pure heart, he remarked scoffingly, is more important than a pure body. Emphasis on purifying the body, I’ve since found, too often takes people’s energy and attention from the real task God has placed before us: that of purifying our hearts.

Most of the professionals I’ve met in this field are sincere and also good. I’m sure they help many people. Their very emphasis on a physical approach to spirituality, however, is contrary to Master’s teachings.

People will always be fascinated with various kinds of diet and healing. Please understand that I’m not opposed to all such practices, and much good has come from some of them.

Let us remember above all, however, that Master has given us a wealth of material on healing, as on countless other subjects. As his spiritual children, let us depend more on his teachings, and less on the recommendations of others whose final legacy to devotees is often a loss of attunement with our spiritual path.

In divine friendship

Swami Kriyananda

Most alternative approaches to healing address only the conscious or subconscious mind, but Meditation Therapy™ introduces the power of the superconscious mind, thus attacking the root causes of our problems.

Only when we change our energy patterns at the deepest levels of consciousness can there be lasting outward results. What Novak offers is not a temporary fix, but an empowering healing process heavily dependent upon our own perseverance, patience, and sense of spiritual adventure.

Life’s experiences are not accidental
Novak begins each video with a discussion of the nature and causes of the problem and offers practical solutions for prevention. He stresses that the things that happen to us in life are not random or accidental. We draw them to ourselves by a subtle process of magnetism because they are the lessons we need in order to grow.

For instance, in Meditation Therapy™ for Health and Healing, Novak points out that, “illness is nature’s way of showing us that we’re out of harmony with universal law, just as jumping out of a window shows that we can’t defy the laws of gravity.” He emphasizes the need to deal with the underlying causes of illness rather than the symptoms, otherwise there is the tendency to repeat the same patterns of ill health again and again.

An attitude of dynamic acceptance
In Meditation Therapy™ for Stress and Change, Novak explains similarly that unhealthy levels of stress, like all chronic health problems, begin in the mind. Practical changes in our outward circumstances may be helpful in reducing stress, but more important is right attitude. Our real power lies in how we respond.

Instead of pushing life away, we can eliminate stress and tension by an attitude of dynamic acceptance and the determination to be even-minded and cheerful at all times.

Finally, Meditation Therapy™ for Relationships emphasizes the need to see relationships in a more expansive way. “For most people,” Novak says, “relationships are one of the greatest sources of fulfillment, and can also be the cause of life’s greatest pain.”

A solution-oriented approach
The practice of meditation and complementary techniques is central to the effectiveness of meditation therapy. Pain is the result of contracting in upon ourselves through excessive self-focus. Expansiveness, however, brings joy and fulfillment as we expand our sense of self and happiness to include the needs of others.

Eventually, in the expanded states of consciousness found in meditation, we can discover an underlying joy that doesn’t change under any circumstances. Each video describes these techniques in four easy-to-use sections.

A complete teaching
This new video series offers a complete teaching, one that draws upon Novak’s thirty plus years on the spiritual path as counselor, teacher of meditation, and spiritual leader.

Most self-help therapies tend to be limited in scope because they lack a strong spiritual foundation. Meditation Therapy™ is solution-oriented. It is based upon the ancient yogic traditions brought to the West by Paramhansa Yogananda and embraces every level of human experience. For anyone seeking long-term solutions, these videos are a must.

Jyotish Novak and his wife, Devi, are Spiritual Directors of Ananda Sangha Worldwide.

Meditation Therapy™ videos can be ordered by calling 800 424-1055.

Jolted out of a rut
We both hung up and my husband came into the room and looked into my eyes.  He asked if I was all right.  I said, “Yes, and I’m going into the kitchen to make cookies for your birthday party.” I knew I had a choice in how I was to respond.  I wanted to make that choice as consciously as possible.

The biopsy had shown a malignant tumor in my left breast, which is right over the heart. I remember thinking, “Well, if you’re going to die, what’s there to lose in opening your heart? I began a silent mantra immediately—“This is mine.  God doesn’t make mistakes. This is a gift from God, from Divine Mother.”

Before I found the lump in my breast I had been in a rut for months.  I didn’t know how to get out of it, and I didn’t seem to have the energy to try.  I remember praying, “Divine Mother, help me get out of this.”  You’ve probably heard people say, “Be careful of what you ask for.”  Yet, I trusted that Divine Mother knew what it would take to get me moving again.

Afraid to eat
Despite my initial resolve, my energy contracted right after the diagnosis.  Fear of suffering, of pain and sickness, clouded my days. Suddenly I remembered everything I had ever read about foods, pesticides, fats, hormones, and preservatives that caused cancer.  I became afraid to eat.

A friend came over when she heard me sobbing on the phone.  She rubbed my feet as I told her how afraid I was of eating.  I had hardly eaten in three days.  She took me downstairs and made some soup. She said, “I’ve seen many people go through this, Lisa, and I don’t think it makes any difference what you eat.”

It was the right thing to say in that moment, for my fear vanished. We began talking about her son. I made a comment that seemed to help her with an inner struggle and she thanked me. In that moment I remembered the time I had nearly drowned in rough seas with a friend in Hawaii. What gave me the strength to get back to shore was calling out encouragement to her.

My health crisis occurred shortly after our community had experienced an unusually large number of deaths. Six women who had been fighting long-term illnesses such as cancer, AIDS, and MS all died within a few months. It seemed as if the entire community was in a state of grief.  I felt we needed someone to live so the grieving could stop. I put into action a spiritual truth: When you’re too self-involved because of depression, illness or difficult outer circumstances, the best way to change your energy is to do something for someone else. By thinking of others, in this instance the community, and not myself, I was able to stay much more positive.

Meditation—my refuge
I renewed my efforts at sadhana, adding some yoga postures with affirmations. This along with meditation became my daily healing tonic. The asanas and affirmations helped to keep my energy dynamic and stable, my mind centered and accepting. Meditation, however, was my refuge, the place where I could experience that I am not my body, and that my body’s troubles are separate from who and what I really am. Chanting was also helpful, especially when agitation or fear made meditation impossible. Singing to God took me into the calming reality of my heart and soul connection with the Divine.

My mastectomy was scheduled for three weeks after the biopsy. Still, I constantly called the surgeon, trying to get him to operate sooner.  I thought of all those cells growing out of control in my body and I wanted them OUT!  I called each morning to see if there might be a cancellation. Fear struck again.

Divine Mother handed me another lesson. As long as I tried to change the outer circumstances, instead of trusting the guiding hand that was so evident from the beginning, I lost my inner peace. When I accepted what I could not change, my peace returned and I was able to see that those two weeks before surgery would allow me to tie up work-related responsibilities and to relax and heal after the surgery.

As is the tradition at Ananda Village, I was given a blessing the night before the surgery. It seemed as if the entire community showed up. We chanted while people came up in small groups and blessed me. Many friends later commented on the powerful healing energy they felt that night.

The healing power of love
During the surgery, several friends prayed at the hospital chapel and sent healing energy. Two days after the mastectomy the pathology report miraculously showed no traces of the cancerous tumor. My doctors explained it by saying that my immune system may have taken care of the remaining cancer, or that the cauterization of the biopsy incision could have eradicated what was left of the disease. I choose to think that it was the love and prayers I received from my relatives and spiritual family before and during the surgery.

Five months later I was asked to work at our guest retreat, The Expanding Light, and I begin teaching Hatha Yoga again. My cancer experience had opened my heart and I was eager to work with people and share the blessing of yoga.

A year after my surgery I felt lighter, more relaxed and began noticing a new level of self-acceptance. The freedom to be “me,” with all my imperfections, felt extraordinary. I was learning how to enjoy the divine connection we all have with one another, and to allow divine love to flow through me.  I was also much more open to God’s will in my life, whatever that might be.

Having a disease that strikes fear into most people was the experience that freed me from fear Cancer was Divine Mother’s gift to me, and I will be eternally grateful for it.

Lisa Powers, an Ananda Village minister and resident, helps teach the Ananda Yoga Teacher Training course at The Expanding Light Guest Retreat.

For those seeking God, Paramhansa Yogananda offered this valuable guidance: “Material foods impress the mind with certain good or bad qualities, and people’s thoughts, actions, and health generally are determined by the foods they eat.” We need to choose, as he put it, “those material foods which emit and lodge spiritual vibrations in man’s mind and brain.” If we eat food with the right energy, it will affect our consciousness favorably.

The three gunas
Yogananda counseled that, “One’s diet should be confined to foods which are easily converted into energy…..” This means pure, natural foods that promote good health and optimum vitality. Even fresh foods, however, have varying effects on our consciousness. The yoga teachings recommend following a diet that promotes harmony rather than stimulation, one that keeps the nervous system calm and peaceful, and fills the body with energy, vitality and strength.

Yoga teaches that all creation, including food, is composed of three subtle qualities (gunas): elevating, activating, and darkening. In Sanskrit, these qualities are called sattwic, rajasic and tamasic. When we eat or surround ourselves with one of these qualities, our consciousness is drawn in that direction.

Sattwic—elevating
Sattwa guna is the positive quality, drawing us toward goodness, truth, purity and spirituality. Foods that are natural, calming, or cleansing are sattwic, as are foods that increase life, vitality, purity, strength, health, and joy.

These include raw fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, as well as water, air and sunlight. They foster within us such qualities as expansiveness, intelligence, creativity, love, sympathy, calmness, patience, devotion and truthfulness.

Rajasic—activating
Rajo guna is the neutral quality—i.e., not necessarily either “good” or “bad.” It is, however, activating, creating constant activity and motion. Foods that are cooked, spiced, stimulating or gourmet tend to be rajasic, as does food that is excessively hot, bitter, sour, or salty.

Naturally rajasic foods include lamb, poultry, fish, whole grains, lightly cooked vegetables and fruits, onions, garlic, eggs, coffee, tobacco, refined sugar, soft drinks, fats, and oils. They lead us toward such “movement-oriented” qualities as ambition, curiosity, restlessness, impulsiveness, over-seriousness, or being demonstrative.

Tamasic—darkening
Tamo guna is the negative quality, drawing us toward darkness or evil, untruth, inertia, ignorance. Foods that are overcooked, spoiled or unwholesome are tamasic.

Tamasic foods include alcoholic beverages, moldy cheese, deep fried food, dried meats, very hot spicy foods, and foods that are over processed, chemicalized, canned or fermented. Tamasic foods lead us toward dullness, laziness, anger, negativity, covetousness, deceit, lust, and body-consciousness.

The ideal diet
Paramhansa Yogananda recommended a diet that includes foods with both rajasic and sattwic vibrations. He pointed out that we need to balance our need to fulfill worldly duties (rajas) with the need to keep the breath calm for meditation (sattwa). Therefore his recommended diet included whole grains (cooked), vegetables and fruits (raw and lightly cooked), low fat yogurt, cottage cheese, milk, butter, nuts and seeds.

Keep in mind, however, that other factors can contribute positively to your diet. Even though each food has its own innate vibrations according to gunas, we can infuse it with sattwic vibrations through the way we cook it and eat it.

Spiritualize your cooking
For starters, create a sattwic cooking environment: view your kitchen as a sacred place. Keep it as clean and orderly as you would a temple. Have a little “kitchen altar” with a photo of your loved ones for whom you are cooking as well as a photo of the guru. Candles and flowers are also helpful.

Pray and meditate before you cook, so you’ll cook with a centered, positive attitude and loving heart. Practice gratitude, appreciation and thankfulness as you cook; it will create a more loving and sacred space. Use cooking as a self-offering and service to yourself and others. Actively bring God into your cooking; practice japa (repetition of the name of God), mantra, chanting or positive affirmation to keep you calm, centered and uplifted.

Spiritualize your eating environment
When the food is ready, relax for a few moments before eating. Then bless the food—not as a mere ritual, but with conscious appreciation and gratitude. At The Expanding Light, we sing a beautiful food blessing composed by Swami Kriyananda: “Receive Lord in Thy light the food we eat for it is Thine. Infuse it with Thy love, Thy energy, Thy life divine.”

Try to make your eating environment pleasant and sattwic. It’s best to eat in silence, so you can concentrate on the food without distractions. If you listen to music, use soft, calming music. Treat your food with love and respect, chewing the food well; this will help you better assimilate its physical nutrients. Concentrate also on drawing its subtle qualities, so you can better ingest harmonious, sattwic vibrations.

Remember, food is not just a bunch of nutrients; it is part of God. Yogananda taught, “Think of God before you eat body-nourishing food; then think of Him while you are eating it. Then, when you have finished eating, think of God.” Once you learn to eat right foods and think right thoughts “your body and mind, purified by this energy, will take on the beauty of the Spirit.”

[Quotations taken from Super Advanced Course No. 1 lessons 5 & 12 (1930) by Paramhansa Yogananda.]

Blanche McCord is the author of The Expanding Light Cookbook and teaches at The Expanding Light Guest Retreat.

For many years that cactus grew without spines but one night, after Master’s passing, vandals broke into the grounds and beat the cactus with sticks. Amazingly, the cactus started growing spines once again.

Seeing this, the monks and nuns began to give the cactus focused attention and love, reassuring it that it was safe and protected. Slowly, the cactus dropped its newly developed spines.

Most of the ingredients needed to cook Indian dishes, such as ghee, hing, chapatis, and nan, can be found in the Asian section of your local supermarket or the little import shops that specialize in Indian foods.

Panir, on the other hand, is rarely available for purchase and is best made fresh on the day that you plan to use it as is done in India, where people eat only fresh cheese. The practical reason for this preference is the historical lack of refrigeration in India, but also, in the Hindu scheme of things, foods that are not fresh such as the aged cheeses that we enjoy in the West are traditionally considered tamasic.

Panir is an integral part of traditional Indian cooking. It is a soft cheese made from fresh whole milk and is similar in taste to cottage cheese or the fresh mozzarella and ricotta made in Italy. It is very easy to make and well worth the trouble. Here’s how to do it.

To make one pound of panir, you will need:

One gallon of whole milk
1/2 cup of strained lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
Large pot or pan
Colander
Cheesecloth

1. Bring milk to a boil in a large pan. Stir constantly to prevent scorching. Reduce heat to low and stir in lemon juice. When the milk separates into cheese curds and yellowish whey, remove pan from the heat.

2. Line a colander with a triple thickness of cheesecloth 22 to 24 inches square, or a cotton pillowcase stretched over the mouth of the colander will do just as well. Using a slotted spoon, gently transfer the large pieces of panir to the colander, then slowly pour the smaller bits of panir and whey through it. Gather the corners of the cheesecloth or the pillowcase and tie the cheese into a tight bundle.

3. Rinse the bundle of curds with a slow stream of water to remove the lemon taste. Gently squeeze out the excess liquid and place the bundle on a slanted surface to let it drain into a sink or container.

4. When all liquid has drained, form the bundle into a flat, square parcel and place a flat weight on top of it, pressing the panir to drain it further, until it is firm and weighs about one pound. Let sit for 2 hours or, if possible, refrigerate overnight before using. You can now remove the cloth. Panir will keep 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator, and can be frozen for up to a month without affecting taste or texture.

Peas and Panir or Panir Mutter
Serves 4 – 6

Now that you’ve learned how to make panir, you’ll want to try it in one of those tasty Indian dishes we were discussing earlier.

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh panir
ghee or vegetable oil for frying panir
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon sesame seed
4-5 whole cloves
4-5 whole black peppercorns
1-2 inches cinnamon stick, broken into small pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pinch hing
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro     (fresh coriander) leaves
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon crumbled bay leaves (4-5 bay     leaves)
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne to taste (optional)
2-4 tablespoons tomato paste
1-2 teaspoons salt
1 16 ounce package frozen peas
1 cup of water
1-2 tablespoons sour cream or yogurt (optional)

Directions:
1. Begin by frying the panir. Cut into 1/2 or 3/4 inch cubes. Heat a small quantity of ghee or oil in a non-stick frying pan. Add panir, and fry over moderate heat for about 5 minutes, turning the cubes with a fork or spatula until they are golden brown on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the cumin seed, mustard seed, and sesame seed, and set aside.

3. In a small skillet, over medium heat, dry roast the whole cloves, peppercorns, and cinnamon stick for 5 to 8 minutes, until brown. Let cool slightly, and grind together. Set aside.

4. Heat together in a large saucepan or skillet the vegetable oil, hing and 1 teaspoon of the cumin, mustard and sesame seed mixture.

5. When seeds begin to pop, add the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and garlic, and saute until the onion is transparent, stirring frequently.

6. Stir in the crumbled bay leaf, cumin powder, garam masala, turmeric, and cayenne (optional) and the ground, roasted spices set aside earlier.

7. Add the tomato paste, salt, frozen peas, and water. Simmer until the peas are cooked.

8. Stir in prepared panir and sour cream or yogurt and serve.

John Lenti serves as the produce manager at Earth Song Market, Ananda’s natural food grocery store and café in Nevada City, CA. John  has been an Ananda resident for over 20 years and has shared his enjoyment of cooking with fellow community members around the world.