Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga, or eightfold path, is the cornerstone of the science of yoga, and gives us a roadmap for the journey back home to God. I’ve found it clarifying to view the eight stages in reverse order—samadhi, dhyana, dharana, pratyahara, pranayama, asana, niyama, and yama—so as to see how each one rests logically upon the stage preceding it. Samadhi … Read More
“I will be true to you as I pray always to be true to God. I will love you without condition, as I would be loved by you and as we are ever loved by God. I will never compete with you; I will cooperate for our own, and for all others’ highest good. I will forgive you always, and … Read More
How to do the Full Yogic Breath: Begin by standing upright, arms at the sides. Close your eyes and feel centered in the spine. Breathe slowly and deeply from the diaphragm. Now slowly bend forward, keeping the knees relaxed. Exhale slowly and completely as you bend forward, allowing your body to come down only as far as is comfortable and your … Read More
People can meditate for many months, or even years, with little result, simply because they have ignored the basics, thinking that such elementary practices are only for the merest beginner. Restlessness, especially mental restlessness, is the main impediment to deeper meditation. Our hardest job in meditation is to rid the mind of the static created by thoughts and desires. There … Read More
I am the Christ Consciousness which has been with you always. Before you were born, I was there. Before even the world was, I was. I am the spirit of God that dwells in the heart of every atom. I am ever aware of you though you see me not. To every part of your being I give my unconditional … Read More
A step-by-step guide to learning the art and science of meditation. The book is a practical guide to learning how to relax your body, interiorize your awareness, concentrate your mind, develop and clarify intuition, expand your spirit, and experience peace, joy, and calmness. Order the How to Meditate book.
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, draws us away from a single-minded focus on God. How do we resist that pull? In his poem “God! God! God!,” which … Read More
I want to talk about the spiritual significance of Kriyananda’s passing for all of us. The qualities that Kriyananda expressed – his beautiful expression of love, creativity, and dynamism – were never his qualities. They are God’s qualities; Kriyananda simply channeled them. It’s now time for us to take the high consciousness that Kriyananda expressed and to express those same qualities more … Read More
With the death of Swami Kriyananda, a remarkable light has passed from the world, and we will not see its like again during our lifetimes. The manner of his passing was, in a sense, his Guru’s gift to him. In the month and a half before his passing, he’d made four major trips, which had tired his body. Though he … Read More
We just finished a beautiful groundbreaking ceremony for Swami Kriyananda’s Moksha Mandir. This lovely building, the final resting place for his mortal remains, will be a place of meditation and inspiration for thousands who will visit here. Many stories about Swamiji were recounted, but this is the one that touched me the most. About a year before his passing, Swamiji … Read More
My first paying job was as a summer counselor at a Boy Scout camp, where I helped young scouts learn skills such as camping, canoeing, fire building, and knot tying. When I started I was only 12 years of age, hardly older than many of the boys who were coming for a week of camping. One day a couple of … Read More
We heard a story about a seeker who as a young man in Europe had read Autobiography of a Yogi. He was so impressed by the book that he resolved to move to America and join Yogananda’s work. Then the news reached him that Yogananda had just left the body, and he dropped his plans. Some time later the great … Read More
1) Meditate. “Beloved God, since no earthly engagement is possible without using the powers borrowed from Thee, I will renounce everything that interferes with my engagement to meditate on Thee in daily awakened silence.” [*] 2) Push yourself a little. If you do too much you risk burnout. But doing too little puts you at risk of tracing endless circles … Read More
Devi and I are taking a short break in Pacific Grove, California, overlooking Monterey Bay with its rugged and dramatic coastline. In addition to the beauty of the ocean, there is an amazing variety of sea life: flocks of cormorants and seagulls, seals sunning themselves, and sea otters somehow endlessly entertaining doing nothing more than floating on their backs. Further … Read More
Some years ago a delightful friend of ours, an architect and engineer, observed, “We engineers study the laws of gravity, but you people at Ananda study the laws of levity.” While humorous, this statement is also deeply true. As things expand they become lighter, and the purpose of life at Ananda is to expand. Swami Kriyananda introduced the concept of … Read More
Have you ever finished meditating and then realized you’d been so unfocused that you could hardly remember what happened? Paramhansa Yogananda defined meditation as “deep concentration on God or one of His aspects.” In order to achieve this, we need to bring the consciousness to one-pointed attention at the spiritual eye. The first few minutes after closing our eyes is … Read More
There was only stillness. A stillness so profound that no words existed to describe it. And bliss, a bliss so fulfilling that nothing more was desired or needed. But the nature of the bliss was to expand, ever to expand. And so a small part of the still, infinite bliss began to vibrate. And this was the primordial duality: stillness … Read More
In Psalm 46:10 of the Bible, there is the oft-quoted statement, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Usually this is interpreted as “sit still” or “be quiet.” But there is a deeper and more profound explanation. The yogic meaning is to still the prana, or life force, and then you will know God. I have been reading a … Read More
Devi and I led the first Ananda pilgrimage when we were living in Italy in 1984. After going to Assisi and other sacred places, we visited Florence for its great art and history. While there, we went with a wonderful guide to one of the world’s greatest museums, The Uffizi Gallery. She told us, “We don’t have enough time to … Read More
I’m writing this a few days after the New Year when people have already begun to break their resolutions. Let’s ask why. Will power alone, which Paramhansa Yogananda defined as “desire plus energy directed toward a goal,” is a weak ally. Like a muscle, will power suffers fatigue. An interesting study showed that the worst time to seek leniency in … Read More