A Touch of Light, Meditation, Paramhansa Yogananda, Spiritualizing Daily Life

7 Revolutionary Teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda

Paramhansa Yogananda’s mission was to help usher the whole world, with greater understanding and spiritual insight, into Dwapara Yuga, the new Age of Energy in which we live. It was a world-changing mission, and therefore his teachings needed to be revolutionary. In some cases what he taught was well known in India but created a revolution in the West. Others of his teachings were completely new to this age. Let’s look at some of both.

A Touch of Light, Spiritualizing Daily Life

Making God’s Presence Dynamic in Your Life in 2015

The New Year will soon make its entrance onto the stage of our life, bringing with it the inescapable gains and losses, happiness and suffering. But no matter what adversities may lie ahead, they needn’t cause us suffering if we choose to live each day in greater awareness of God’s presence. Where God’s light is, no shadow can dwell.

A Touch of Light

The Descent of the Christ

The Jews, like other people of the time, were a mixture of traits good and bad. But all those dwelling in that holy land shared the desire to be free. For some, that meant freedom from the oppression of Rome, with its soldiers and tax collectors. For others it meant liberty from poverty and daily toil. But a few yearned for spiritual liberation and freedom from delusion, the greatest of all oppressors.

A Touch of Light, Happiness, Spiritual Development

Why Be Sad About Time’s Passing?

It’s an interesting experience to pick up the threads of your life after returning home from a long absence. Since late August we’ve been visiting and teaching in our centers in Italy and India, and have just returned to Ananda Village after four months. Readjusting to the responsibilities and rhythms of our life here requires some time and effort. To … Read More

A Touch of Light, Meditation

The Tremendous Power of Meditation

Meditation is a natural and rewarding human activity. Paramhansa Yogananda defined meditation as “deep concentration on God or one of His aspects.” Practiced daily, it produces astonishing results on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of our being. It connects us with our own inner powers of vitality, clarity, and love. When done deeply, it gives us an expanded sense … Read More

A Touch of Light

With Grateful Hearts

No matter how challenging our life has been, each of us has some reason to thank God: for the air we breathe from our first breath, for the sun that gives us warmth and light, for the people that gave us food and comfort.

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Last India Letter 2014

Dear Friends, We send our love to all of you and want to share what’s been happening for the past few weeks, which seems like the grand finale of our time in India this year. We’ll begin by sharing about the pilgrimage to Babaji’s cave with Diya, Keshava, Dharmini, Dharmaraj, and 40 Indian pilgrims. It was an extraordinary experience. On … Read More

A Touch of Light

Babaji’s Cave

We recently went on a pilgrimage to Babaji’s cave. There were forty-five pilgrims on the trip, with most of us seeing this sacred spot for the first time. It was here, in this little secluded cave in the middle of nowhere and of everywhere, that our lineage took birth. From this tiny cave, the science of Kriya Yoga has spread around the globe. It was here that Lahiri Mahasaya received not only Kriya initiation, but also the charge to take it back to the masses of spiritually thirsty souls. Autobiography of a Yogi relates that Babaji told him, “A deep purpose underlay the fact that you did not meet me this time until you were already a married man, with modest business responsibilities. You must put aside your thoughts of joining our secret band in the Himalayas; your life lies in the crowded marts, serving as an example of the ideal yogi-householder.”

A Touch of Light, Health and Healing

How to Heal Relationships

Our relationships can bring great joy or great suffering into our lives. Either way, they can affect us on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. We can learn to heal difficult relationships and improve good ones by practicing some of these guidelines: 1) Listen. When communication becomes difficult, don’t shout or argue, but take time to listen to what is … Read More

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Free Will

In our last letter, Devi wrote about karma and free will. I would like to look at another aspect of this fascinating question. Once, during a satsang, Swami Kriyananda was asked, “How much of what happens to us is determined by our karma?” His reply brought a gasp from the audience, “Virtually everything is pre-determined, even the choice of the shirt you put on this morning.”

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How Free Are We?

Recently at a satsang someone asked us, “How much free will do we have, and how much is predetermined by our past karma?” This question has troubled people down through the ages. Now in Dwapara Yuga our line of gurus have given us new understanding of how to find freedom from karmic bondage.

Babaji Pilgrimage to Cave Ananda in India
A Touch of Light, Paramhansa Yogananda

Finding Babaji’s Cave

“Surely this must be the cave itself! It matches every description given in Autobiography of a Yogi.” We were listening, enthralled, to a remarkable tale of the search for Babaji’s cave, the existence of which was revealed to the world by Paramhansa Yogananda in that book.

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News from Ananda Pune

Dear Friends, So much has happened since we last wrote you that it will be a challenge not to let this letter get too long. We arrived in our Pune Community a week ago on Oct. 13. Prior to that we were based in our Indian home in the Gurgaon ashram, but traveling often to and from Delhi in northeast … Read More

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Eternity in an Hour

The little boy was probably about eight years old. We saw him for only a moment as we were driving back along the busy four-lane road from Ananda’s center in Noida to our ashram in Gurgaon. With cars, motorcycles, bicycles, and motor rickshaws whizzing by in both directions, the boy was hanging his family’s laundry on the metal guardrail of the center meridian between the lanes.

A Touch of Light, Meditation

Taming the Restless Mind

Wherever we teach, one of the first questions we are asked is, “How can I control restless thoughts?” This universal problem was even addressed over 2,000 years ago in the Bhagavad Gita, when Arjuna lamented, “Owing to my restlessness, I’ve achieved no lasting results in the attempts You’ve taught me to steady the mind. Verily the mind is restless, tumultuous, madly stubborn! O Krishna, I consider it to be as difficult to master as the wind.” (Chapter 6:33,34)

A Touch of Light, Paramhansa Yogananda

The Cup and the Ocean

Once when Swami Kriyananda was a young monk, he was sitting quietly at the feet of his guru, Paramhansa Yoganandaji. Filled with devotion for his master, Swamiji silently prayed, “Teach me to love you as you love me.”

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News from Ananda Gurgaon

Dear Friends, Greetings from India! We hope that you are well. Our time here thus far has been immensely inspiring and enjoyable on all levels. If we could characterize our experience in a few words: it feels like coming home. It’s really helpful having our own rooms in the ashram in Gurgaon. These include a sitting room/office overlooking the beautiful … Read More

A Touch of Light

The Spiral Stairway

We recently held a Kriya Yoga Initiation in the boyhood home of Paramhansa Yogananda at 4 Gurpar Road in Kolkata. This site is made holy, not only by the many years that Master lived here, but also because of uniquely sacred events that took place at this spot. It was here that Babaji appeared and blessed Yoganandaji before his mission to America.

A Touch of Light, Paramhansa Yogananda

This Sod

For many years Paramhansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi has been a source of inspiration and guidance for me. Not only because of the wisdom, love, and joy that radiate from every page, but also because it has repeatedly served as a living channel to answer specific questions in my life. When I’m at a loss for the proper course … Read More

A Touch of Light, Swami Kriyananda

Discipleship

eptember 12 marks the anniversary of the day when, in 1948, Swami Kriyananda met Paramhansa Yogananda and became his disciple. From then on, in spite of his amazing accomplishments, Swami Kriyananda’s self-definition was simply, “I want to be known as a good disciple.”