This year, 2020, marks the one hundredth anniversary of the launch of Paramhansa Yogananda’s world mission. The scope of his accomplishments in one lifetime was remarkable. Arriving in Boston in 1920, barely speaking English, he truly took America by storm. Within a few years of landing in the West, he was filling the largest auditoriums from coast to coast — from New … Read More
Our Sunday service readings begin the year by quoting one of the most mystical passages in the Bible, the first verses of the Gospel of St. John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without … Read More
Often in financial newsletters we see investment tips offered by an economic pundit saying what stocks to buy or sell in the coming year for the greatest profitability. For those of us who are seeking God and His divine riches, however, we need to follow the advice of a different kind of pundit. The question we should ask our guru, … Read More
It’s Christmas Eve as I write this, and I thought it would be fun to start with a little history before delving into more spiritual thoughts. “A Visit from St. Nicholas” is one of the world’s best-known poems. It starts, “’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The … Read More
Paramhansa Yogananda came to earth with a dual mission: to unite East and West and to uplift human consciousness. In one of his recorded talks Yoganandaji declared, “We have started a great movement. I came for the special dispensation — interpretation of the scriptures and giving Kriya Yoga, that key to heaven.” He explained that the Biblical expression describing Jesus Christ as … Read More
We will be having our annual all-day Christmas meditation on December 23. This tradition was started by Paramhansa Yogananda, who suggested we should celebrate a “spiritual Christmas” with a long meditation as well as a “social Christmas.” My first eight-hour meditation was in 1967. The previous evening Swami Kriyananda had given me and a few others our first Kriya initiation … Read More
“Isn’t it self-evident?” you may ask yourself. Yet when we look at the rising divorce rate, the incidence of abused or neglected children, and the escalating expressions of hatred and violence throughout the world, it seems clear that most people have forgotten the art of loving. Jyotish and I will be giving a two-part webinar, “How to Love and Be … Read More
This is a story about Mullah Nasreddin, one of innumerable tales about the mischievous Sufi mystic of thirteenth-century Turkey. Nasreddin never visited the mosque nor did he ever seem to pray, which greatly upset the people of his community. Although he was loved and admired for his wisdom, the elders were no longer able to tolerate his irreverent behavior, so … Read More
The early morning light cast shimmering shades of turquoise and crystalline blue on the rushing river and floating mists. Even at the usually quiet time of dawn, you could hear the pulsating, all-pervasive roar of AUM as the water’s ceaseless energy moved past us. The Ganges north of Rishikesh is one of the most spectacular and spiritually powerful sights we’ve … Read More
Our time now in India is fast drawing to a close. This morning during our daily walk, Devi asked me, “What is your main takeaway from this trip?” Without hesitation I replied, “It is the sense that we haven’t been doing anything. God is doing it all.” We have been travelling since mid-August and, by the time we return to … Read More
Dear Friends, This will be the last update we send from India during this trip. On Friday, Nov. 22, we fly back to the US after three and a half months on the road in Italy and India. First, we want to thank so many of you who have been praying for us daily — we’re very aware how much … Read More
We were walking quietly along a forest path in the foothills of the Himalayas, when suddenly a flutter of wings and movement in the trees overhead caught my attention. There it was, what I had been hoping to see . . . the red-billed blue magpie. For the past several years during our time in India, we’ve taken a period of seclusion … Read More
Here in India we’ve been teaching a course called Living the Gita. Part of our preparation has been to reread the Mahabharata, the long epic of which the Bhagavad Gita forms a part. We’ve been reading a delightful and enlightening version by Devdutt Pattanaik called Jaya, filled with stories from the Mahabharata as well as interesting additional information. At one … Read More
One of the most memorable chapters in Autobiography of a Yogi is “Two Penniless Boys in Brindaban,” in which Yoganandaji puts his faith in God to the test. If you remember, young Yogananda and his friend and fellow seeker, Jitendra, stop to visit the Master’s skeptical elder brother, Ananta, at his home in Agra. Trying to undermine his younger brother’s … Read More
Dear Friends, It’s always a joy to share with you our adventures as we travel. In many ways, this trip has been different from other times in India, in that we’ve done less traveling and teaching in Ananda centers here, but it has been equally rewarding. Our main focus for the first six weeks has been developing the “Living the … Read More
A friend sent us a fascinating article on the strong influence that gratitude and positive emotions have on us. They not only affect us personally, but also influence the world around us. As meditators we know how powerful the mind and heart can be, but it is nice to see this also backed up by scientific research, in this case … Read More
The group of thirty people broke up into pairs, laughing as they began to play “Camera,” one of Joseph Bharat Cornell’s Sharing Nature games. It was the last afternoon of a three-day course we’re developing, “Living the Gita,” which will be the basis for the new Yogananda Institute to be established in Delhi. After two and a half days of … Read More
This article by us came out on September 20 in the Times of India, the largest newspaper in the country. Another article we wrote for them a few years ago had more than a hundred thousand views and three hundred comments. It is a wonderful way to reach large numbers of readers. I thought you might enjoy reading this new … Read More
Dear Friends, There’s a lot of wonderful news to share with you since our last letter. We’ve rarely had a more intense, exciting, demanding, and expansive time in our lives! After we finished the first “Living the Gita” course Sept. 20 – 22, we began a week of various meetings with Ananda leaders here. The highlight of these was a two-day Center … Read More
There’s a story about a guru who made a strange request of three of his disciples. “I will give each of you a banana. I want you to find a place where no one is watching, and then eat your banana. Come back to me as soon as you have completed your task.” The first man quickly left the ashram … Read More
