One year ago Swami Kriyananda was speaking to a group of youths at Ananda Village. During this satsang, he suggested that the next generation of Ananda focus on “outreach.” As Swamiji’s successor, Nayaswami Jyotish, has since explained, “outreach” in its deepest sense means “to share”: Sharing the teachings of our path from our own center of experience and from our … Read More
Paramhansa Yogananda asks this rhetorical question in his Autobiography of a Yogi. I’ve also received various forms of that question over the years, usually from people who live in the world raising a family, or perhaps struggling with marriage or with the demands of a career. Yogananda’s answer, like other understated passages tucked away in that amazing book, essentially explains … Read More
Dear Friends, Here at Ananda Village we just finished Spiritual Renewal Week the theme of which was “Spiritual Lessons from the Life of Swami Kriyananda.” We heard story after inspiring story; each one conveying spiritual principles and helpful ideas. For this month’s letter, I felt inspired to share Swami’s words regarding tithing in this exerpt from Money Magnetism: Let me … Read More
My “first prayer,” as I’ve come to think of it, was made when I about 22 years old. I had just begun meditating and was beginning to look at life from a spiritual point of view. I’m sure that I had prayed when I was a child, but in high school I had been an atheist and went through years … Read More
Laziness is the inertia that impedes a person’s attempts to progress. He wakes up in the morning and thinks, “Oh, let me lie here just a little longer, before getting up to meditate.” Or he thinks, “It would be good to discipline myself, but let me just wait until tomorrow!”
A mental indulgence in fear creates a subconscious fear habit. When something upsetting occurs, the subconscious fear habit asserts itself, magnifying the object of one’s fears.
We are never separate from the Guru, just as we are never separate from God, but we must realize the Guru’s inner presence by opening our hearts to him and asking for his blessings.
When I “came to” I realized to the core of my being that all I needed to do was accept the gift of sobriety and say YES to it and to life, and God would take care of the rest!
When you add to his prolonged coma his well-documented lack of brain function, then Dr. Eben Alexander’s near-death experience, discussed in his book, “Proof of Heaven,” becomes the perfect scenario to illustrate the reality of near-death experiences.
When we walk through a forest, nature’s benevolence flows into us as sunshine flows into trees. Beneath soaring pines and giant, spreading oaks, one’s thoughts naturally turn expansive and harmonious.
