Paramhansa Yogananda writes in his book, How to Have Courage, Calmness, and Confidence: As a devotee on the spiritual path, give little weight to the trials that beset you. Be even minded. Walk with courage. Go forward from day to day with calm, inner faith. Eventually, you will pass beyond every shadow of bad karma, beyond all tests and difficulties, … Read More
Once upon a time, long, long ago, there traveled three wise kings across barren, unknown lands, in search of a holy child, a son of God. Guided by a star that shone both day and night, they undertook this journey with great hope, born of a deep faith that we are all one in God. In some traditions their arrival … Read More
In 2003, a man named Dave Bailsford became the performance director of British Cycling. The team had never won more than one gold medal in a single Olympic competition since 1908. But Bailsford had an idea about how to change that: the team could look at everything that affected their performance and improve each of those things by just one … Read More
Dear Daily Meditator, One of Swami Kriyananda’s secrets of meditation deserves special attention, because it has the potential to become a great inspiration for our practice: The Secret of meditation is… to feel SPACE in the body, and gradually expand that feeling from the body outward, into infinite SPACE. Here is a proposal: this week let’s use this Secret as a … Read More
Swami Kriyananda offered a number of “secrets of meditation.” This one has recently been very helpful to me: “Pray not as an outsider to heaven, but as one whose true home is heaven.” Especially when life is busy and it’s easy to become identified with the projects and the to-do lists, I have been trying to use this secret. If … Read More
Dear Meditator, Let’s have a closer look at another one of Swami Kriyananda’s precious Secrets of Meditation. At first glance, they seem quite simple and unassuming, yet behind them lies a profound yogic teaching. The Secret of Meditation is… deep relaxation: Inhale, tense the body; throw the breath out and relax. Release into the surrounding atmosphere, like wisps of vapor, … Read More
Quotes of Paramhansa Yogananda, from The Essence of Self-Realization. #1. To meditate a short time with depth… … is better than to meditate for long hours with the mind running wild. In the beginning, therefore, don’t force yourself to sit for a long time. Strive for shorter, but deeper, meditations. Then gradually, as you become accustomed to going deep, lengthen … Read More
Yogananda was once asked how much free will do we have. His response was, “Our free will exists to this extent: to think of God or not to think of God.” In this seemingly simple choice lies the path to inner freedom: The more we attune our individual will to God’s will, the more we free ourselves from karmic compulsions. In … Read More
In his booklet Secrets of Meditation, Swami Kriyananda offers as his second secret a vital key to our success in meditation: correct posture. Even though it is the very first thing a beginning meditator learns, alas, often it turns out that even after years of regular practice this important foundation of our “house of meditation” still requires some additional “cement,” … Read More
There is one thing you will never tire of, either in this life or throughout eternity, and that is the ever-new joy realized in God-contact. Joy that is always the same may cause boredom, but joy that is ever-new will last forever. Such joy can be found only in deep meditation. Fostering the desire for luxuries is the surest way … Read More
