God-contact can be achieved through regular, intense, long-continued meditation. During deep meditation, when the breath becomes calm, one experiences an enjoyable state of peace. But due to ego-consciousness, the thought of the body returns and the breath revives, rousing material desires and sense-distractions.
Any material vibration sent forth by the ego during meditation will dispel the consciousness of Spirit. Don’t be discouraged at this. By deeper meditation, learn to calm the breath and the senses.
Never mind if at first you don’t contact God. For a long time you have been hiding from Him—running away in the marsh of the senses. Seek Him by meditating deeply with utmost devotion. Steadily use your will power day after day, week after week, year after year, until the cosmic silence of ages is broken and you receive His answer.
You won’t have to wait for ages. You will find in deep meditation that God’s spirit of bliss will hover around you, and talk to you through the voice of peace. When ever-new, ever-increasing joy fills your silence, know that you have contacted God and that He is answering through the receiving instrument of your soul.
From Inner Culture, September 1939.
Meditation Support Website:
Learn to meditate; go deeper in your practice
By Joseph Bharat Cornell
Visit our Meditation Support Website and experience for yourself the clarity and power of Yogananda’s meditation practices.
Recently, one of our ministers was corresponding with a woman in England who was feeling overwhelmed by her illness—cancer. Encouraged by her contact with the minister, she went to the website and tried a few of the meditation techniques. After meditating for twenty minutes, she felt a profound calmness.
This experience of meditation—and God’s presence—totally changed her outlook. She has now become a source of strength for her family.
A woman from Byelorussia recently told us that it is extremely difficult to learn anything about yoga in her country. She was thrilled when she discovered the Meditation Support site and is now meditating regularly.
Wherever you live, you can now learn about meditation and receive ongoing guidance for your practice. Subscribers to the Daily Meditator, our free monthly meditation support newsletter, say that it has helped them establish a regular meditation practice after years of struggle. Contact us at: www.learn-meditation.org.