On March 7, 2016, we celebrated the mahasamadhi of our Master. By the altar were relics given the community by Yogananda’s loving family, relics that included the esraj he played, a cane he used, rose petals that came from a garland he wore on his last birthday (January 5, 1952), and a pocket watch. “Master is here,” the minister said. … Read More
Ninety years ago Paramhansa Yogananda inspired three thousand New Yorkers in Carnegie Hall to chant “O God Beautiful” for one hour and twenty-five minutes. Recently we gathered to follow our Master’s example — to celebrate the presence of God in nature, in the human heart, in service and devotion. To Arjuna, Krishna proclaims, “I am the true Self dwelling in … Read More
Dear friend, Next door to our family farm lived our second-grade teacher. Mrs. Bailey was large, comfortable, motherly, and welcoming. As a teacher and as a person she inspired respect, and even more, love—the sort of love that looked for ways to express itself in some good service that would bring forth her approving smile. She could have walked out … Read More
Dear Friend, Even as small children we were gathered up, still asleep, and carried to the midnight Christmas Eve service at St. Thomas Episcopal Church. Somewhere between wakefulness and dreaming, standing with our heads about level with a forest of adult knees, we watched, awestruck, as the crèche scene came to life. Over our heads we heard the minster’s sonorous, … Read More
Dear Friend, Last Thanksgiving, a friend and gurubhai of more than forty-five years suddenly left his body—going out as Master himself chose to do, of a heart attack. His passing brought us together in celebration of his life in God. From his first moment in Swami Kriyananda’s presence, in 1969, this one was on fire for God. His old life … Read More
Dear Friend, “I am ever with those who practice Kriya. I will guide you to the Cosmic Home through your enlarging perceptions.” Lahiri Mahasaya’s immortal promise is engraved on a plaque in the entryway to a meditation mandir dedicated to the great master. Lahiri’s words remind all who enter to open themselves in loving self-offering to receive the blessings endlessly … Read More
Dear Friend, Janmashtami celebrates the birth of Sri Krishna – the compassionate descent into human form of this great avatar of ancient India. “Whenever virtue declines and unrighteousness prevails” the Lord proclaims in the Bhagavad Gita, “I manifest Myself to protect the good, destroy evil, and to establish dharma. For this I am born in every age!” Krishna came again … Read More
Dear Friend, Spiritual Renewal Week, 2015: We had just heard wonderful news for our neighborhood clinic, and for the thousands of often indigent county residents who depend on its medical care. After 10 years of unsuccessful applications, the Clinic had been awarded the Holy Grail of federal grants, one that would mean the difference between a day-by-day struggle simply to … Read More
Dear Friend, What are we who seek God to do when darkness comes into our own lives, or into the lives of those we love—when we feel helpless in the face of human suffering: our own, or another’s? In A Renunciate Order for the New Age, Swamiji points the way with clarity and compassion: “The old renunciate order tended easily … Read More
Seeking a way forward from the destructive selfishness of ego-centered human nature and its resultant clan warfare, Kristar, the true disciple in Swamiji’s play “The Peace Treaty”, goes to his guru, the wise old hermit. The hermit’s advice: go to a quiet place, meditate, find the solution within. In the secret grotto, Kristar comes upon Gazella, who also frequents the … Read More
