Ananda Sunday Services, 2009
Every Sunday morning Ananda Village residents and guests meet for meditation, chanting, readings, and a sermon by one of the Ananda ministers. Recording of a part of the Sunday Service is posted online within a few days.
The Promise of the Scriptures
November 15, 2009
Marga and Peter Goering
In God’s eyes,
when human beings go astray, there is nothing to forgive. All of
us are aspects, only, of His own Self.
He who made us resides
in us. He is not far away from us in some far-off heaven. His
call to us, always, is to return to our own home, within.
–Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Faith Is a Call to Prayer, Prayer Is a Call to Faith
November 8, 2009
Ananta and Maria McSweeney
Prayer is a power, provided we believe deeply in that power.
When our thoughts and feelings are strongly focused and then
united in growing awareness to the Divine Presence within, they
can bring even seemingly unrealistic wishes to fulfillment.
–Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Why Tell God Anything, When He Knows Everything?
November 1, 2009
Anandi and Bharat Cornell
God knows everything already. He knows what is in your
heart. It is you who need to clarify your feelings, that you attune
yourself to Him in turn more clearly. For only by such clarity
will you be able to receive perfectly what He gives you.
–Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
What Is the Best Way to Pray?
October 25, 2009
Latika Parojinog and Nitai Deranja
Jesus Christ and Sri Krishna, both, advised praying to God
as personal. Yet both emphasized also that God is above form, and that He must be sought, ultimately, in Infinity.
–Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
First Things First
October 11, 2009
Devi and Jyotish Novak
If a person is true to his highest priorities, he will generally find that his
other needs are fulfilled naturally as well.
–Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Victory Demands the Courage of Conviction
October 11, 2009
Parvati and Pranaba Hansen
The struggle Jesus describes is not a war against unknown enemies, but the struggle with our own attachment to all that is nearest and dearest to us, humanly speaking. Ultimately, it is a war against the ego itself, and against anything with which we surround ourselves to bolster the ego’s fragile sense of security.
–Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Durga and Vidura Smallen
Human will is, as Paramhansa Yogananda used to say, guided by whims and limited understanding. The divine will is in harmony with every level of reality. Though the divine will sometimes appears to us, at first, to be wrong, it proves always, eventually, to be for our highest good.
–Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Many Are the Pathways to Truth
September 27, 2009, Forest Lawn Chapel, Los Angeles
Swami Kriyananda
Let no one tell you what your path to God ought to be.
Many are the paths. Select your own according to the dictates
of your own nature, no matter how out of step that puts you
with other people.
–Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Intuition Is Simple — The Intellect Is Complex
September 20, 2009
Peter and Marga Goering
The intellect separates; it analyzes, then puts things together again piece by piece. Intellect lacks intuition’s flow, which descends smoothly, like a river, from the superconscious.
–Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Truth Invites; It Never Commands
September 13, 2009
Swami Kriyananda
Free will is a basic principle of life. God never coerces: He
invites us to live in such a way that we find fulfillment in
ourselves.
–Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Ego: Friend or Foe?
September 6, 2009
Dave and Maria Warner
That which the ego relinquishes, offering
it up to soul-consciousness, is reclaimed forever in cosmic
consciousness. Nothing is ever lost.
–Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Who Are True Christians?
August 30, 2009
Catherine and Peter Van Houten
Nowhere do we find Jesus condemning, or even gently
criticizing, other spiritual masters. His criticisms were reserved
for worldly attitudes, and for those hypocritical Pharisees who
had allowed religion to become, for them, a pretense.
–Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Publisher’s Note
Recording of Sunday Service on August 23 is not available. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Does Satan Exist?
August 16, 2009
Sunday Service with Swami Kriyananda
Yogananda, quoted in The New Path, said, “I used to think Satan
was only a human invention, but now I know, and add my testimony to that of others who lived before me, that Satan is a reality.
“He is a universal, conscious force whose sole aim is
to keep all beings bound to the wheel of delusion.”
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Does God Hide the Truth?
August 9, 2009
Latika Parojinog and Nitai Deranja
There are exoteric truths, and there are also esoteric truths.
There is that which is revealed impersonally and left up to
us to interpret — such as the thunder and our perception of
it as divine wrath; the rain and our perception of it as God’s
sympathy. But behind even God’s most open expressions there
lies impenetrable mystery.
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
How Democratic Is Truth?
August 2, 2009
Bharat and Anandi Cornell
In the case of subtle knowledge, the main disadvantage in
making it universally available is the harm it might do to one
who isn’t ready for it, and who might even mock it.
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Do You Need a Guru?
July 26, 2009
Ministers: Parvati and Pranaba Hansen
Even a mountain guide wouldn’t presume to do one’s climbing for one; his purpose would be only to help the neophyte to climb safely. To have a wise guru is not a sign of weakness, but of plain common sense.
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Self-Effort, Too, Is Needed
July 19, 2009
Ministers: Anandi and Bharat Cornell
Self-confidence and self-effort are necessary, as the ignition of a car is necessary to the motor.
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Self-Reliance vs. Self-Reliance
July 12, 2009
Ministers: Diksha and Gyandev McCord
Our strength must come from within, but it must be coupled with recognition of our inner link with broader and higher realities.
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Abiding in God
July 5, 2009
Minister:Swami Kriyananda
For disciples of this path, the more, in their hearts, they live consciously in the presence of the masters, the more they will find the divine presence living within them.
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
The Redeeming Light
June 28, 2009
Ministers: Anandi and Bharat Cornell
The divine light—pure, calm, liberating—is the only final cure for every kind of delusion: ill health, emotional grief, and spiritual ignorance. Seek it daily in the silence, in deep meditation.
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
The Eternal Now
June 21, 2009
Ministers: Parvati and Pranaba Hansen
God is with us now as much as He will ever be. It is not Him who needs to come to us: we need to come to Him! And that process of coming is a matter of transforming our self-perception.
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
How Devotees Rise
June 14, 2009
Ministers: Lisa Powers and Nitai Deranja
Divine blessings are not common in this world. They are extraordinary. When they come, we should give them priority over any other consideration.'
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Why Do Devotees Fall?
June 7, 2009
Ministers: Dharamadas and Nirmala Schuppe
Doubt not the power of delusion. Respect it indeed, fear it, though not in the sense of cowering before it. Yogananda said, “One is not safe until he attains the state of final union with God.”
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
The Inner Kingdom
May 31, 2009
Ministers: Anandi Cornell and Latika Parojinog
The legend of Adam and Eve describes how the first human beings dissipated their spiritual energy, centered in the spine. The spine is the channel through which flows the river of baptism and of spiritual life.
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
The Best Way to Worship
May 24, 2009
Ministers: Diksha and Gyandev McCord
God sent different religions into the world to satisfy different human needs. Each person should find those practices and observances which are compatible with his own nature.
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Activity vs. Inner Communion
May 17, 2009
Ministers: Devi and Jyotish Novak
The path to inner freedom was described by Yogananda in these words: “Be always calmly active, and actively calm.”
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Perfection Is Self-Transcendence
May 3, 2009
Ministers: Catherine Van Houten and Seva Wiberg
See everything that comes to you unasked for as a manifestation of God’s will. Be grateful for the pains you experience, for they are healing strokes of His love.
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
How High Should We Aspire?
April 26, 2009
Ministers: Anandi and Bharat Cornell
Don’t be satisfied with goodness born merely of ego-definitions.
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
To Each According to his Faith
April 19, 2009
Ministers: Dave Warner and Seva Wiberg
Our faith is the attractive power of our underlying state of conciousness. Goodness attracts goodness. Evil attracts evil. Whatever there is in you of lightness or dark, offer it up to the heights.
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Easter: Resurrection for Every Soul
April 12, 2009
Ministers: Devi and Jyotish Novak
Divine consciousness is capable of taking the base metal of worldliness and transforming it into the spiritual gold of divine wisdom and love.
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Who Is this Son of Man?
April 5, 2009
Ministers: Catherine and Peter Van Houten
Was Jesus a human being, merely? Those who, on Palm Sunday, called him “King” little realized the actual nature of his kingdom. His consciousness was centered in Infinity.
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Deeds vs. Intentions
March 29, 2009
Ministers: Anandi and Bharat Cornell
When we give love to others, we discover love in ourselves. And when we serve others, we feel an expanded sense of joy.
—Bharat, quoting Swami Kriyananda
We Are Children of the Light
March 22, 2009
Ministers: Diksha and Gyandev McCord
Even if we are not perceiving God at the moment, living in the thought of Him will enable it to happen in time.
—Gyandev McCord
Reason vs. Intuition
March 15, 2009
Ministers: Devi and Jyotish Novak
The biggest problem with relying too much on logic and reason is that it keeps us bound to the world of sensory perceptions.
—Jyotish Novak
Dogmatism vs. Common Sense
March 8, 2009
Ministers: Latika Parojinog and Nitai Deranja
Words, even though appearing in the scriptures, are no substitute for direct perceptions of truth.
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
By Thinking Can We Arrive at Understanding?
March 1, 2009
Ministers: Catherine and Peter Van Houten
Intellect alone can never lead one to truth. Without fixity of purpose, born of the heart’s devotion, the intellect wanders endlessly.
—Swami Kriyananda, Rays of the One Light
Can Man See God?
February 22, 2009
Ministers: Peter and Marga Goering
Christianity describes the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. In Vedanta philosophy, the Father is “Sat,” or existence beyond creation; the Son is “Tat,” or the Christ Consciousness reflected within creation; and the Holy Ghost is the “Aum” vibration.
—Peter Goering
The Law Is Perfected in Love
February 15, 2009
Ministers: Dave and Maria Warner
If we think of God in terms of “cold spiritual mathematics,” we hold Him at a distance. But if think of Him as the Presence that beats in our hearts, we make Him our own.
—Maria Warner
The Importance of Soul-Receptivity
February 8, 2009
Ministers: Anandi and Bharat Cornell
When the ego steps out, God steps in.
—Anandi, quoting Rajarsi Janakananda, Yogananda’s most advanced disciple
The Mystery of Avatara, or Divine Incarnation
February 1, 2009
Ministers: Devi and Jyotish Novak
An Avatar is not different in his or her substance from what we are, in our true selves.
—Devi Novak
The Infinite Christ
January 25, 2009
Ministers: Anandi and Bharat Cornell
Whenever virtue declines and vice predominates, I incarnate on earth. Taking visible form, I come to destroy evil and reestablish virtue.
—The Bhagavad Gita
Is God Present Even There, Where There Is Ignorance?
January 18, 2009
Ministers: Peter Van Houten and Seva Wiberg
The practice of Kriya Yoga is the ultimate “democratic” process of spiritual development: anyone, anywhere can become spiritually liberated.
—Peter Van Houten
Did God Create the Universe — or Become It?
January 10, 2009
Ministers: Dave and Maria Warner
When our lives are dedicated toward service to others and toward loving God, we start recognizing who and what we really are.
—Dave Warner
At the Heart of Silence — the Eternal Word
January 4, 2009
Ministers: Devi and Jyotish Novak
Everything we experience, touch, taste, and feel, originates from the majestic stillness of God.
—Devi Novak
Next
Sunday Services, 2008