Dear Friends, As the school year sprints toward its frenzied end-of-year hoopla, in between the parties and last-minute meetings, there is a hurricane of breaking down, packing up, clearing out, and filing away. Students gleefully participate in the classroom destruction — they can be seen in the halls with items on rolling chairs as they assist their teachers in wheeling … Read More
Dear Ones, I owe so much to Swami Kriyananda. While living in Bangalore in 2006 — my husband was on an expat assignment with Texas Instruments at the time — I was so eager, even desperate, for the techniques taught by Paramhansa Yogananda, especially about meditation and Kriya. I was already on the path of Transcendental Meditation, had even started … Read More
Dear Friends, In Autobiography of a Yogi, Sri Yukteswar appears and tells Paramhansa Yogananda in his description of the afterlife, “The astral world is infinitely clean, beautiful, pure, and orderly…. The terrestrial blemishes — weeds, bacteria, insects, snakes — are absent.” I often think of this line when my fingernails are caked with mud and my back is grumbling from … Read More
Hello Friends, Let’s ramp things down. Lower the volume. Take your foot off the pedal. Ease off the gas.Slow this train down. Hold your horses. Take a deep breath. Smell the roses. Feel the breeze. Listen to the birds. Drink it in. Bask in the sun. Embrace the storm. Behold the stars. Let it slide. Let it roll off your … Read More
In the beginning there was the Supreme Spirit, one without a second. There was no universe then; there were no actual forms. Only Bliss absolute reigned, alone. When Spirit decided to create, it did so through vibrating the surface (in a way of speaking) of Its consciousness. This vibration produced a sound, the sound of AUM. Duality is the result … Read More
Dear Friends, Astrologers are excited this week. We had a new moon in the last few minutes (in the last degree) of Aries on Wednesday night — Eid Mubarak, by the way!. The previous new moon was also in Aries on the Spring Equinox, March 21, at 0 degrees of Aries, the first sign of the zodiac. That moment has been described by … Read More
Dear Friends, I’ve been making frequent trips to Master’s Market at Ananda Village to get something cool and refreshing to combat the rising temperatures. An outstanding drink I found there, and which I recommend everyone try, is Virgil’s All Natural Zero Sugar Orange. From direct experience, I proclaim that this is the best drink in all the three worlds with which … Read More
♣ Keep this thought firmly in mind: The way to advance through meditation is not grimly to force yourself to sit as many hours as possible every day. To meditate to the point of mental exhaustion is counter-productive. Don’t push yourself beyond your own natural abilities. To meditate five minutes may sometimes be more effective than to meditate hours, if during those five minutes you … Read More
Dear Friends, This weekend is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, who Yoganandaji averred was a reincarnated, Self-realized Master who perfectly embodied and radiated Christ Consciousness. Jesus came on special assignment to bring the true teachings of the right relationship with God and with each other. “When virtue declines and wickedness ascends, I will manifest myself on earth,” says … Read More
Hello Friends, For some reason, every time I want to see something on Youtube, the video is preceded by a 10-15 second ad on quitting cigarettes. These ads end with the motto “Live Tobacco free.”—A good motto for all of us, and especially for us as yogis. The practice of kriya yoga is enhanced if we have strong lungs and a … Read More