When Worries Howl at You

Nearly every devotee struggles with trying to keep the mind more focused on God. It’s a very challenging struggle, a bit like trying to catch the wind. The pull of the world, and of past experiences and karma, draw us away from a single-minded focus on God. How do we resist that pull?

In his poem, God, God, God, which appears at the end of this article, Paramhansa Yogananda gives clear instructions on how to keep the mind more turned toward God. Yogananda tells us that in all aspects of life – in sleeping, waking, eating, working, serving, dreaming, meditating, chanting, divinely loving—the way to keep the mind focused on God is by silently repeating the mantra, “God, God, God.”

In the Ananda Purification Service, Paramhansa Yogananda says to the disciple: “Open your heart to me, and I will enter and take charge of your life.” How do you open your heart to the guru amidst all the busyness of life, or when worries howl at you?  One very important way of opening it is by chanting, “God, God, God.” You keep repeating that mantra in your mind and in your heart.

If you run into a problem or suddenly experience downward-pulling thoughts or feelings — repeat this mantra and attune to its divine vibration. Repeating the mantra will begin to purify your mind and heart until, eventually, you won’t have to have to push away those thoughts or desires. They will simply fall away; you will lose your appetite for them. But they won’t fall away unless you try constantly to purify your consciousness by chanting, “God, God, God.”

The repetition of this mantra will help drive out all other thoughts and desires, until your consciousness begins to rotate around that single phrase, “God, God, God.”  Make it a point throughout this year, 2011, to repeat the mantra constantly. Allow it to transform you.

From a January 2, 2011 Sunday Service at Ananda Village.

Sidebar:

God, God, God

by Paramhansa Yogananda

From the depths of slumber,
As I ascend the spiral stairway of wakefulness,
I will whisper:
God! God! God!

Thou art the food, and when I break my fast
Of nightly separation from Thee,
I will taste Thee, and mentally say:
God! God! God!

No matter where I go, the spotlight of my mind
Will ever keep turning on Thee;
And in the battle din of activity, my silent war-cry will be:
God! God! God!

When boisterous storms of trials shriek,
And when worries howl at me,
I will drown their noises, loudly chanting:
God! God! God!

When my mind weaves dreams
With threads of memories,
Then on that magic cloth will I emboss:
God! God! God!

Every night, in time of deepest sleep,
My peace dreams and calls, Joy! Joy! Joy!
And my joy comes singing evermore:
God! God! God!

In waking, eating, working, dreaming, sleeping,
Serving, meditating, chanting, divinely loving,
My soul will constantly hum, unheard by any:
God! God! God!