The post The Householder’s Gift first appeared on Ananda Portland.
]]>For devotees and spiritual seekers of this path, there is hardly a more meaningful day in history to celebrate than the day of the birth of Lahiri Mahasaya, September 30th. And this week, whether in ceremony or Seva day, we at Ananda will honor the legacy of that world-changing guru who wore the garb of an unassuming accountant in Benares, and whose impact continues to shape the course of history to this day.
Shyama Charan Lahiri, as he was known before being given his spiritual title, was a married householder with sons, earning a modest living as an accountant for the railway. In those days, a man of his type was not permitted to learn the ancient techniques of spiritual liberation, and only those willing to renounce everything, including family and worldly employment, were permitted to learn.
Thus it was into this world in 1861 that the great Mahavatar Babaji bestowed his former disciple with the gift of Divine Sight, and revealed to him his own latent spiritual greatness. However, having had the life experiences of a householder in his current incarnation, Lahiri Mahasaya, the “great-minded one,” had boundless compassion for all those spiritually thirsty souls whose karma brought them to the householder path, and asked that the ancient restriction on Kriya Yoga be lifted that they too might be allowed to practice the liberating technique of kriya meditation.
He also demonstrated God’s universal love by giving Kriya to all, regardless of religious affiliation or social status, and also organized study groups, supported education, and held regular scripture discourses that he referred to as his “Gita Assembly.” He was the perfect embodiment of nishkam karma, “action without attachment,” and not only preached but showed that daily sadhana and right attitude can free one from the threefold suffering of body, mind, and soul, while one still serves family and society.
As Ananda devotees we may not think twice about living in spiritual community, practicing kriya, and serving God as a householder, but on this day we can say a silent prayer of gratitude to the one whose compassion and Self-realization made it possible for millions today to seek God in their own lives. Lahiri Mahasaya was, and is, a beacon of hope for spiritually thirsty souls who know deep down that there is more to life beyond what the senses show us.
On this auspicious occasion, my birthday wish for all of you is that you may be re-inspired to dive deep in the liberating ocean of your Kriya practice, to serve all as extensions of your own higher Self, and to deepen your attunement to God and Guru. May we all grow in Divine understanding, compassion, and true happiness, and thus honor the legacy of the Great One who opened the door to the lives we now live. Blessings to you.
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]]>The post Dwapara Discipleship first appeared on Ananda Portland.
]]>The opening sentence of Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda reads: “The characteristic features of Indian culture have long been a search for ultimate verities and the concomitant disciple-guru relationship.”
This magnificent book goes on to explain and inspire with countless spiritual teachings and insights, but it purposefully starts with this simple statement about truth and discipleship. The greatest spiritual books, teachers, and inspirations will always come up short without discipleship to a true Guru who is one with God.
Swami Kriyananda understood this, despite his search for truth taking him everywhere else—until he read that book and immediately sought discipleship at the feet of Paramhansa Yogananda this very week in 1948. From that point on, Swamiji spent sixty-five years deepening his discipleship and attunement to the Guru, tirelessly spreading his teachings and work. From the very beginning, even as he traveled cross-country to meet Yogananda, he knew the true twofold purpose of life: to find God and share Him with everyone.
The present age of energy, or Dwapara Yuga, is characterized by a growing awareness of energy as the underlying force behind all matter, including the human form. Although this manifests in endless distracting ways, like social media and AI, in the disciple-guru relationship it opens new vistas for expressing truth. Swamiji exemplified this perhaps more than any modern disciple: through music, writing, communities, lecturing, transforming education and the arts, renunciation, and much more. Every single creative work was an expression of discipleship.
One lesser-known book Swamiji wrote was a children’s fantasy that nevertheless contains deep teachings about the ancient cycles of time, or Yugas, including fascinating and fun adventures through ancient civilizations and mystical times. Oddly enough, when he wrote this book, Swamiji thought that I should pose on the cover as one of the main characters, Hansel! Despite this being a fun adventure of my own, I was pleased when later editions of the book featured a cover without my youthful face front and center.
Although a super volcano of creative energy and attunement, Swamiji remained fluid in his discipleship. He never claimed to know Master’s will (if anyone did it was him!), nor harbored assumptions or expectations of others. He lived in the moment and shared his wisdom and joy spontaneously according to his circumstances. His greatest desire for others was to help them, as disciples or simply as souls, express the highest version of their own true Self. If his help wasn’t welcome, he simply and humbly offered a silent blessing to all.
Swamiji once playfully said, “To thine own funky self be true,” meaning we all get to specialize in being ourselves. Discipleship means we get to play that same fun and sometimes funky role, aspiring nonetheless to be true to our own highest Self.
Ultimately, the Guru is guiding every single disciple to that highest Self, in every aspect of life, including and especially through every difficulty. This help is always available, but requires listening and willingness. When a disciple asked the great saint Anandamayi Ma why it was so hard to do this, Ma simply replied, “Shall I listen to you, or do you want to listen to me?”
Another great saint, Sister Gyanamata, took a similar no-nonsense approach to discipleship: “We must do what is right, whether we feel like it or not. Let the little self whine if it will.”
When we listen to the Guru, to God, and to the higher Self—which ultimately are one and the same—and respond with willingness, the path to discipleship becomes much simpler.
A man once came to see Yogananda, who was in a wheelchair at the time. They hadn’t met, but the omniscient Master knew why he had come. Gesturing to his wheelchair, he said to the man, “Come, you take me in my wheelchair, and I’ll take your soul to heaven.”
This is discipleship in its highest expression: we serve the Guru willingly and lovingly, and he makes our soul free in God.
Discipleship requires cooperation with other disciples, especially senior disciples and those appointed to help lead the Guru’s work. It requires serving the Guru, even in the humblest of ways. And it requires a dedicated practice of “deeper, longer, thirsty, guru-given meditation,” to the best of one’s ability, to prepare the soul for its union with Spirit.
Discipleship is all of these things, and yet it can’t be learned from a book. It can’t be limited to a few, and it can’t be limited to any form. In this lifetime, Dwapara discipleship is an endless creative expression of these principles in action.
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]]>The post The Divine Pursuit first appeared on Ananda Portland.
]]>We are being watched, followed, and pursued. Every minute detail of our lives is observed and catalogued, down to the faintest thought, action, and feeling.
Is it Flock cameras? AI bots building a marketing profile? Some other nefarious watcher? Perhaps—unfortunately, almost certainly—there is some of that. But no, the ultimate force watching your every move is a powerful force of divine love.
The silent Watcher is the conscious Spirit behind our own consciousness and everything in, and beyond, creation. Sometimes called God, this conscious, loving Presence is aware of us and seeks our highest good in everything. And this love is not passive. It is actively seeking to help each person—indeed, everything in creation—fulfill its highest potential.
There is a beautiful poem, The Hound of Heaven, by Francis Thompson, which describes this divine pursuit. The poem portrays a soul fleeing from God, only gradually to discover that the One from whom he has been running is the very source of all love, joy, and fulfillment.
“I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years…”
Much of the spiritual life is an unfolding inquiry, a journey of self-discovery, and an increasingly conscious seeking of higher consciousness—of God. Although it requires effort, discipline, devotion, and more, it is worth reflecting that God is, in fact, seeking us—perhaps even more than we are seeking Him.
And what are we really running from? Francis Thompson’s answer is ultimately one of divine compassion. The soul discovers that behind every disappointment, every loss, and every restless search was the loving pursuit of the One who knew what would truly make us whole.
St. Augustine of Hippo wrote:“You have made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until the find their rest in Thee.”
Paramhansa Yogananda shared a deeply moving story of the great illumined master, the Buddha, and his encounter with a beautiful courtesan.
One day, Buddha and his celibate disciples were resting beneath a tree when a courtesan approached, drawn to the radiant beauty and magnetism of the great Master. Overcome with feeling, she ran toward him and exclaimed, “O beautiful Shining One, I love thee.”
To the astonishment of his disciples, Buddha replied, “Beloved, I love thee too. Do not touch me now, however. Not yet.”
Years passed. Then one day, while meditating with his disciples, Buddha suddenly cried out, “I must go! My beloved, the courtesan, is calling me; she needs me now. I must fulfill my promise to her.”
The disciples followed anxiously. When they arrived at the same tree where Buddha had first met her, they found the once-beautiful woman lying there, gravely ill and covered with smallpox sores. Everyone recoiled from her.
But Buddha took her in his arms, placed her head in his lap, and whispered, “Beloved, I have come to prove my love to thee, and to fulfill my promise to touch thee. I have waited for a long time to demonstrate my true love, for I love thee when everyone else has ceased loving thee.”
This is divine love. It does not depend on beauty, success, usefulness, or even our ability to love in return. It sees beyond all outward appearances to the divine soul beneath.
Remember that God loves you perfectly and completely, exactly as you are. And yet, God loves us too much to leave us just as we are. His love is not sentimental or passive; it is a transforming force, forever calling, urging us on toward our highest Self.
Sri Yukteswar describes divine love in Autobiography of a Yogi:
“Ordinary love is selfish, darkly rooted in desires and satisfactions. Divine love is without condition, without boundary, without change. The flux of the human heart is gone forever at the transfixing touch of pure love.”
Yes, there is much to cause despair and discouragement in this world. There is great suffering and sorrow all around us, even as there is great love, joy, and hope. Therein lies a simple choice, even in the face of the greatest obstacles and difficulties. In fact, it is like an ultimatum: turn away from God and let discouragement and despair win the day, or turn toward God and discover ever greater divine love, joy, and hope.
Perhaps the greatest surprise on the spiritual path is that we eventually discover that we are not making the journey alone. We may think that we have found God through meditation and devotion, or long years of searching effort. But looking back we may realize that He was the One who found us first—and that through every seeming mistake, disappointment, and attempt to escape Him, divine love was quietly pursuing us.
This is the beautiful essence of The Hound of Heaven. After fleeing from God and searching everywhere else for fulfillment, the soul finally hears the Divine Beloved say:
“Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,
I am He Whom thou seekest!”
What we have been seeking all along is also seeking us. And when finally realize this and turn within, opening our hearts, we find God there. He has been watching over us, guiding us, and loving us every step of the way.
God and the great Gurus and saints are watching, guiding and helping us. They are blessing us with Divine Love.
Let us remember this Divine Pursuit–and live with greater dedication to receiving, living in, and sharing Divine Love with all.
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]]>The post Babaji’s Work first appeared on Ananda Portland.
]]>One hundred and six years ago, the great Mahavatar Babaji-Krishna visited Yogananda on the eve of his departure to America.
“You are the one I have chosen to spread Kriya Yoga in the West,” he told the chosen disciple.
Babaji went on to explain:
“Kriya Yoga, the supreme science of knowing God, will ultimately spread through all lands, harmonizing the nations through man’s personal, transcendental perception of the Infinite Father.”
Beyond the global conflicts and karmas, this is what is really happening in the world. Babaji and Christ are bringing divine grace to humanity, and receptive Kriya Yogis are helping to further that mission through their devotion, service, and attunement.
Every year in late July we celebrate Babaji Day, a true holy day honoring the great spiritual work and mission of Babaji and Yogananda. The work of Ananda is a direct extension of that mission, and each devotee plays a crucial part—no matter how small it may seem—according to his or her sincere spiritual efforts.
Here at Ananda Portland we celebrated with a powerful fire ceremony, inspirational talks, and chanting in our beautiful Shanti Garden—a temple of flowers and sky. This space has already served us so well, and will continue to do so for many years, as we complete the major renovations to our temple kitchen and Sangha Hall.
Just a few days earlier, however, our contractor called me with an ominous message: the news we had hoped to avoid from the city building department had just arrived. A technical aspect of our project had been flagged under the city fire code and would likely result in substantial delays, significant unplanned expenses, and impractical requirements.
Being Babaji week, I immediately prayed to the great Master for his blessings and grace: “Babaji, our Ananda Portland temple and sangha are a humble part of your great work. I trust in you.” I suggested to our contractor, Gavin, that we stay positive and meet the following morning to brainstorm a way forward together.
While we remained optimistic and explored several possible solutions, the road ahead still looked daunting. We found a couple of exceptions in the building code that would cost considerably less time and money and might still be acceptable to the city. We parted with a plan to contact the building inspector, but even our best-case scenario seemed difficult and uncertain.
Not thirty minutes later, Gavin called again with an urgent request that I return immediately. He wanted to explain face-to-face that he had never, in all his years of contracting, encountered a city inspector so reasonable and genuinely willing to work toward an expedient solution. Without granting us any special favors, our contractor, designer, and the city official worked diligently together to finalize a solution that very day—allowing the subcontractors to continue their work and preventing an avalanche of unnecessary expenses, complications, and delays.
Whether Babaji himself intervened directly or simply bestowed his grace through the willing cooperation of others, I don’t know. But I deeply feel that his blessings were present, and I remain profoundly grateful.
As Lahiri Mahasaya explains with great power and simple clarity in Autobiography of a Yogi:
“Anyone who utters with reverence the name of Babaji attracts an instant spiritual blessing.”
I have often marveled then, at those who gather with brother and sister devotees to pray to Babaji with devotion, practice Kriya Yoga, and sing his name with joy and energy in service to this great work.
Some years ago, a great devotee was discussing Ananda’s work in India with Swami Kriyananda. Swamiji gently reminded her:
“Always remember, this is not your work or my work; this is the work of Babaji and Master.”
In that simple truth lies both the great power and the real success in everything we do.
Babaji’s work never ceases. It continues wherever anyone sincerely seeks God, wherever one devotee serves with devotion, and wherever Kriya Yoga is practiced with love. Even in this moment, call to Babaji at the spiritual eye in the language of your own heart. Pray to know God, to share God through this path of Kriya Yoga, and to feel his living blessings in your life.
Aum, Babaji, Aum.
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]]>The post Preparing For Hard Times first appeared on Ananda Portland.
]]>Imagine the great master Paramhansa Yogananda intoning these words with ringing divine power and truth. He never said or did anything without direct guidance from God, so we can make no mistake about the nature of such a prophecy. What is this terrible cataclysm, then, and when is it coming? Are we really living in a divine dream that may yet turn into such a nightmare as the World Wars and other calamities of recent history? We can speculate much, and even perceive likely glimpses of what is to come, but the real questions probe deeper and more poignantly into the divine purpose at hand.
Yogananda’s words were not a one-off prediction or merely a suggestive remark. Swami Kriyananda also spoke and wrote strongly about this topic on many occasions. Yet there remains a certain, intentional vagueness surrounding these ominous foretellings. Swami and Master were not pessimists or fatalists. They were keenly aware of the mass karma at play in this world and of the messy, transitional nature of this emerging age of energy (Dwapara Yuga), still breaking the heavy chains of the previous age of matter (Kali Yuga). Moreover, such saints and masters know the power of divine grace—in no small part dependent upon the self-effort of those willing to receive it—to mitigate and even avert massive and disastrous karma.
Furthermore, the potential for spiritual progress in such hard times is immense. The horrors of World War II, to use but one example, are also the source of countless inspiring stories of courage, faith, honor, and other great spiritual virtues. The darkness and difficulty of such times provide a powerful backdrop for the Light to shine. Each person on earth makes a karmic choice to participate during such events and, in doing so, exercises the simple mechanism of free will: to move toward God and the Light, or to move, in some measure, toward the shadows of fear, unwillingness, or evil. Can the choice really be so simple? And for those who are willing, even amidst the “crash of breaking worlds,” can the gains really be so great? What an extraordinary opportunity lies before us.
Great souls like Yogananda and Kriyananda—by no means the only ones to do so in recent times—have made these predictions emphatically and consistently over the last hundred years, often as though such cataclysmic events lurk just around the corner. We don’t know exactly when or what will befall us, but in the end it matters little. Mitigation and grace notwithstanding, karma comes as inevitably as a train down the tracks. Already we see the fissures and formidable cracks forming in economics, the natural world, geopolitics, and society. When “the big one” arrives is far less important than what we do to prepare in our own lives each passing day.
Devotees and spiritual seekers are naturally more likely to heed these forewarnings, but to what end? Preparing emergency supplies such as food, medicine, and other essentials is practical and wise, but it only scratches the surface. To buy land, grow food, and cultivate spiritual community is better still. Best of all—and above all—is to develop a strong inner and outer spiritual life through daily meditation, prayer, service, and devotion. This is also the very purpose of Ananda, usually framed in a more positive light: to support individual seekers in the search for God and to create spiritual communities that further that goal. We need not dwell on these foreboding possibilities to seek, serve, and love God now. If anything, they simply underscore the only true purpose of life: to realize God and to share Him with all.
Why, then, make these seemingly awful predictions—or perhaps we should simply call them statements—about what is to come? Surely one purpose is to underscore the importance and urgency of seeking God now, in this transitory and troubled life. This is not a cheap sales pitch that creates a problem only to sell a solution—a familiar tactic! Rather, it is the compassionate warning of a true Divine Friend, extending a compassionate hand of love and salvation to those who are ready to receive it.
From Yogananda’s immortal poem God’s Boatman:
Oh! I will come back again and again!
Crossing a million crags of suffering,
With bleeding feet, I will come,
If need be, a trillion times,
As long as I know that
One stray brother is left behind.
We needn’t worry, nor wait to see what terrible cataclysm may come. We already possess the keys of awakening to overcome all that and far more. Each day, and this life itself, is a precious opportunity to make spiritual progress and return home,
…to the opalescent pool
Of iridescent joy,
There where my Father distributes
His all-desire-quenching, liquid peace.
The post Preparing For Hard Times first appeared on Ananda Portland.
]]>The post “Laughter Is Carbonated Holiness.” first appeared on Ananda Portland.
]]>That brilliant four-word sentence, written by author Ann Lamott, captures for me the wisdom and joy of good humor. Philosophy doesn’t get more profound than that.
More than twenty years ago, when I was managing Ananda’s East West Bookshop in California, authors and presenters would often approach me, hoping to be added to our calendar of lectures and workshops. One of my most memorable encounters was with an Indian gentleman who said he was a practitioner of “Laughter Yoga.” I was intrigued, and I arranged an interview. When the man entered the store, he walked up to me without saying a word, reached out to shake my hand and didn’t let go. His face lit up, and what followed was more than 30 seconds of his non-stop, top of his voice, uninhibited laughter. I signed him for a workshop on the spot, which we repeated several times over the years. It was a huge success, because genuine laughter is irresistible as a means to lift our spirits, as a source of good health and healing, and even as a rejuvenating aerobic exercise.
Paramhansa Yogananda advised reading something humorous every day, to be even-minded and cheerful even in the face of personal trials, and to cultivate a light-hearted attitude no matter how difficult the people and circumstances around us. No one was a better model of these ideals than Swami Kriyananda. He loved a good laugh. Swamiji would punctuate his lectures with humorous stories that were also instructive, and he would laugh with unaffected amusement at his own follies. Once, when giving a lecture, a cell phone started ringing. He had previously asked that phones be put on silence, and when the ringing continued, he paused and asked again with a slight hint of annoyance. A moment later, reaching into his pocket, he realized the offending phone was his own! No one laughed more genuinely than he did.
Good humor today has largely been replaced by jokes with a cutting edge that puts people down. Is that really funny? Humor can be witty and speak the truth, but when condescending, it furthers an us vs. them mentality, which is plainly divisive. On the other hand, there is much about our world that needs reforming, and pointing this out with humor can be both funny and effective. Gandhi once answered a reporter’s question with a wry and poignant remark that was also delightfully humorous. The reporter asked him, “Sir, what do you think of Western civilization?” Gandhi replied, “I think it would be a good idea!”
Where does humor fit in the greater scheme of life and spirituality? Is it really so important? Yogananda spoke of cheerfulness as a fundamental aspect of our path to God. In his classic poem Samadhi, he described a vast universe of cosmic events: past, present and future, all transmuted into a realm “beyond imagination of expectancy,” and he ended with this magnificent sentence: “Eternity and I, one united ray, a tiny bubble of laughter, I am become the Sea of Mirth Itself.”
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]]>The post We Are the Medium. Mind the Message. first appeared on Ananda Portland.
]]>The podcast, now a mainstay of app subscribers, has fast risen to widespread popularity as a medium of communication and of commentary on topics of interest. Anyone can start one, which is good for freedom of speech, although not necessarily for its content. Checks and balances not required. For the influence-seeker across the board, from expert to hack, the podcast is a carrier of news and sway, whether of shadow or light.
What occurred to me, given the state of the world’s need of correctives, is that what’s really needed is a channel of universal access and irresistible substance that would appeal to an audience of billions: an actual Godcast. Not with someone self-anointed to speak for the Omnipresent, but with the One and Only right there at the mic, waking us up to better ways of being.
That thought was followed a moment later with realizing that the world in all of its madness is that Godcast+ already, just with a different approach to waking us up. It’s a daily show entitled “Look, Listen, Learn,” using dire situations to drive home the point that ambitions laced with fear, hate, vengeance and greed are insanely counterproductive.
Alas, what is missing is the audience of billions tuning in with careful attention to what happens when that point is ignored. But in truth even a relative few with God-conscious aspirations would do much to turn the tide, for in them is the dharma needed.
Isn’t that who we were born to be, devotees of dharma’s way, harbingers of a changing tide? To turn that tide is not to engage in us vs. them harangues, but to model the principles of higher attunement. Paramhansa Yogananda, the avatar of this pivotal age, has blessed us with every tool and technique to do precisely that. And we also have each other to support our quest, joyfully instead of fearfully going forth.
Master did not promise us global victories. He even warned of harder times to come. But he did promise inner peace if we would simply follow his lead, and that we would thereby magnetize others to join us in making a difference.
Ours is not a glamorous, political or self-aggrandizing path. Quite the opposite. It is purposely humble. Where others compete, we practice cooperation. Where others strive for power, we strive to serve the divine potential in all. Ours is the way of light and of helping to spread it.
None of us is perfect in this. We, too, have more to learn, embody and practice. But I like to think of each of us as pod casting our soul’s radiance upon the challenges we meet, seeing their shadows recede with each illumination. Though perhaps without us noticing, this changes the world too.
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]]>The post Happy 100th, Swamiji first appeared on Ananda Portland.
]]>Dear Swamiji,
Happy 100th birthday today, May 19, 2026!
On the one hand, it’s hard to believe you were born a century ago and spent your entire life, after meeting our great guru Paramahansa Yogananda in 1948 at age 22, in an endless, prolific stream of service, devotion, and creative projects in the name of God and our Gurus. Your countless gifts include the blessing of Ananda spiritual communities, divine music, your writings and talks, and the training of so many brother and sister disciples who continue to carry your incredible spirit forward.
On the other hand, it feels like you are as alive and present as ever—sometimes even more so than during the short three and a half years our lives overlapped on this planet.
Paramahansa Yogananda promised that you would find God at the end of life, and when you did so in April 2013 it was like a huge spiritual bomb exploded. Instead of destruction and suffering, it spread huge waves of your spirit throughout the world, and instead of diminishing with time, it continues to thrive and surge wherever sincere devotees sing your music, live in harmony with God, and practice Kriya Yoga and discipleship in the powerful spirit you lived and taught us in so many ways.
What kept you from finding God until the end of life? Did you have any remaining karma that could veil your illuminated state of Self-Realization until that time? Was it the karma of other disciples like me? I suspect that you were a Jivan Mukta—a soul liberated in God—perhaps even for many lifetimes, yet you incarnated in this life as Swami Kriyananda to play a pivotal role in the mission of Yogananda and in all our lives. In any case, we, your brother and sister disciples—though in many ways we feel more like your spiritual children—are eternally grateful.
How can we ever repay your divine friendship, service, spiritual gifts, and kindness? Even as I ask the question, I know the answer in my soul. We have to live our lives in the same way you did: with unrelenting discipleship, devotion to God, and creative selfless service.
I myself was 22 when I first met you in the living room of your apartment at the Crystal Hermitage in 2009, and you told me there was no real difference between us. Although I was naive about who you really were, I was pretty sure there was a rather large difference in our states of consciousness.
But as I reflect on your comment, I think I am beginning to understand at least partially what you meant. In essence, we were very close, and we still are—especially when I sing your music with joy; especially when I try to serve our Guru in the same tireless spirit you did; and especially when I think of you and try to love God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength.
Swamiji, a part of me, doesn’t really like the modern tradition of giving gifts. Don’t misunderstand me—I do love the spirit of giving, and the feeling of being generous, thoughtful, and making someone else happy. But when birthdays, Christmas, and other occasions roll around, I think: what can I really give that matters? Sometimes I find a special or unique gift that feels just right, but often I feel like the person already has most of what they need or want, and I don’t want to just buy any old item for the sake of gift-giving. (Witness children often at Christmas and birthdays—they can hardly unwrap a gift and set the new object aside before tearing into the next present!)
But on your 100th birthday, Swamiji, I think I know what to give you. Yes, we are coming together for a grand and extraordinary Centennial Celebration next month in your honor. Yes, many of your fellow Kriya Yoga disciples will be practicing 100 days of devoted kriya meditation beginning tomorrow through August 26. Indeed, many of us do so daily year after year and will continue as long as we have breath in our bodies.
I think these gifts must “please” you, in the sense that we are rejoicing and rededicating ourselves to the common cause you have shared with us, and continue to strengthen and enliven in so many ways, in so many lives, year after year. Because like the spirit of our guru Paramahansa Yogananda, of all our Masters—and especially the deathless Babaji, the co-patriarch with Jesus Christ of our divine family and mission—yours is a constant, living, and pulsing divine presence.
Then I think the gift that must please you the most, Swamiji, and that I resolve to give you on this your birthday—and every day that I can possibly do so—is to live up to your example.
Whatever my deficiencies are, and as often as I may fall short, I resolve to live my life with ever deeper devotion to God; with unending service and dedication to the work of our great Gurus; and always sharing the divine friendship and gifts of spiritual community you have given us. And I will never let up. I will never, ever forsake you, Swamiji. Just as you remain loyal, committed, and with us always, I will always be by your side. In my own small and humble way, Swamiji, I will be like you. And whether it is at the end of this life, or some future life, I too will find God and be united with you there at last.
I miss you, Swamiji. I know that you are with us, but I still miss you. Nevertheless, I feel such joy when I think of your smile and feel you with me. I sing your music, read your writings, and listen to your talks and videos daily to remain in tune with you.
I thank you, and I love you, with the endless fullness of my heart, and I promise to keep giving you this gift as long as I live.Your sincere and humble brother disciple and friend,
Badri
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]]>The post It’s Complicated first appeared on Ananda Portland.
]]>
“Would that it were so simple…” is a line from a Coen Brothers movie that’s always stuck with me. In the scene, a refined British actor is trying to teach a rather simple-minded American actor to say this line with the gravitas and culture it demands, and the American is simply failing. In the end, his line is mercifully changed to read “It’s complicated” that he delivers flawlessly with a charming smirk.
And I think it’s stuck with me because it’s somehow a line that encapsulates my often-felt desire about life. I wish it were simple. Or at least, I wish it felt simple. But being caught in the delusion of identification with this limited body and mind, as most of us are on this planet, life often feels complicated and confusing.
Perhaps this is why Yogananda’s words often feel like healing water on the parched sponge of my mind and heart, because he tell us, with full Divine authority, that in fact life IS actually quite simple.
All that exists is God, the Master tells us, and nothing “good” or “bad” exists outside of His creation. As devotees, it’s one thing to believe the great Masters when they explain this, it’s quite another to Realize our inherent divinity and connection to All That Is.
Swami Kriyananda said that “When we become too engrossed outwardly, too engrossed in things and complications and relationships and so on, there’s no energy left inside for God. If we’re really living for God first and keeping that thought of our attunement with Him uppermost, then we find that [simplicity] automatically.”
This is of course, for many people, easier said than done. As Yogananda often said, “Environment is stronger than willpower,” and while most of us strive to create God-reminding environments in our daily lives, the larger environment of the world and our modern society is ever-present, and can seep into our consciousness with relative ease.
For example, you can live and work alongside devotees in God-reminding environments all day and all night, but if you’re struggling to pay the rent and put food on the table, it’s much harder to think about God, and one becomes more susceptible to the ideas, suggestions, and complicated plots of the world. So what is a devotee to do?
While we exist on many levels in life, from the many roles we play in our relationships to others to the daily obligations of life, Swamiji reminds us that “we can find simplicity on all levels.” But, he continues, we must begin by recognizing that this kind of simplicity only comes when we are centered in our higher Selves, and in God’s consciousness.
Luckily for us as devotees, we already have all we need to practice this simplicity, and center ourselves in God-consciousness.
Kriya Yoga, first and foremost, is the scientific method of God contact taught by Yogananda Himself which helps one remain centered in all circumstances, and contact the all-centering Spirit within. Through Kriya we learn to calm the tumult of the mind to see situations, find solutions, and hear the voice of Wisdom more clearly.
We also have satsang, or keeping the company of other Truth-seekers, which can help ground and center us by opening up to guidance through the channels of true friends, who themselves are open to the guidance of God for our own highest good. This indeed helps to simplify our lives if for no other reason than Truth-seekers tend to be rare on this planet, and simply removing 999/1000 people as potential companions makes it easier to find the 0.1% that will uplift and inspire you on your spiritual path.
Finally we have the Masters themselves, who are always with us and guiding us, sharing their vibration to all who would receive it. When we cultivate proximity to this vibration, whether through prayer, deep mediation, or music, we find ourselves naturally attuning to this higher consciousness. With that attunement comes a greater sense of inner simplicity, and the clarity of life’s true purpose stands in shining contrast to the false lures of the world.
So when troubles come, as they inevitably do, we can rejoice that we’ve found our work! We know what we must do! Whatever is throwing you off center is where the sacred work begins and ends, until our souls achieve endlessness.
The post It’s Complicated first appeared on Ananda Portland.
]]>The post Spirit and Nature Dancing Together first appeared on Ananda Portland.
]]>“Spirit and Nature dancing together,
Victory to Spirit and victory to Nature,
Radhe, Radhe, Radhe Govinda jai
Radhe, Radhe, Radhe Govinda jai”
I can think of no better place (outside the spine) to experience prana (life force) than in the spray of the ocean, nor a better place to hear the thunderous sound of aum than the waves ceaselessly crashing on the shore.
Last weekend, a small group of women gathered at the coast for two days to renew the Spirit and deepen friendships. We arrived with loose plans – meditate, practice yoga, eat, create, and let the ocean work its magic on our Souls. Between laughter and song, between meditations and art, we made time for the ocean. We walked up and down the shore. Sometimes together, often alone. We returned from each sojourn, renewed by the sea spray, sunshine, and wind, ready for whatever came next.
I grew up far from the ocean. But as a little girl, I used to visit Swami Kriyananda at his apartment below the Crystal Hermitage in Ananda Village with my mother. She was his publisher at the time, and I was her little shadow. She would meet with Swamiji most afternoons to review the recent chapter of one of his many books and, aside from his warm greeting, my favorite part of these visits was the walk to his apartment just beneath the Crystal Hermitage dome.
Wallpaper of a beach scene, pasted from floor to ceiling, transforms the stairwell that leads from the dome to his living quarters below. The sound of crashing waves is wired into the light switch so that turning on the lights means also turning on the ocean. A little box of sand and sea shells at the foot of the stairs adds whimsy to the journey. A few turns past the ocean stairs, you find yourself in a hallway decorated with another floor to ceiling wallpaper, this time of a majestic forest that guides you to the little door to his home. With each step, your energy shifts into that state of wonder found best in nature.
Yogananda wrote in Inner Culture magazine, “When we look at all the good things in nature and feel a tenderness rise within us, we are seeing and feeling God in nature.”
This retreat weekend was a reminder to take time in nature. It can be as simple as looking out the window or as ambitious as climbing a mountain peak. Nature is one of the most accessible points of entry into a higher state of consciousness for us. I could point to the mounting research suggesting that awe, a human emotion linked to myriad rejuvenating benefits and to a universal understanding of God, comes most often through experiences in nature. But it seems almost unnecessary to say so. It is simply true. All you need to do is look at the smiles on these faces after two days of beach walks and uplifting practices to know!
So let this be an invitation to you. Step, shuffle, or wheel outside and enjoy this glorious spring! And next year, join us! God is smiling through all of nature’s beauty – go meet that smile.
*Note: this weekend Gita and Badri will be leading a program at Heartsong Retreat with Ananda Washington, “Spirit & Nature: God’s Omnipresent Love“. Ananda Washington extend. Questions or registration please inquire.
The post Spirit and Nature Dancing Together first appeared on Ananda Portland.
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