We have just finished an uplifting “Inner Renewal Week,” which we do annually in February at Ananda Village. In preparing for these classes, a formula for success clarified for me. These are not so much new ideas as they are a clear and simple presentation of them. You will achieve success in everything you do you when you apply this … 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
Discouragement and moods are two obstacles that often assail us on the spiritual path. There was a time during my first few years at Ananda when certain things happened that left me feeling pretty discouraged and downhearted. Fortunately I had a dear friend, an older gentleman who’d been on the path a long time, to whom I could go for … Read More
Most people worry about what their salary or position will be in the future, but a more valid question would be, “What qualities do I want to have in five years?” Your career is the canvas on which you will create that person.
I was reading an article by Paramhansa Yogananda when I came upon a passage that stopped me in my tracks: “I remember the day when for the first time, unlooked-for, from behind the clouds of the drudgery of routine meditating habits, the aurora of bliss suddenly burst upon my consciousness. It surpassed all my expectations. Joy indescribable!” To think that … Read More
As we move more fully into Dwapara Yuga, we can see the first glimmers of a global shift from competition to cooperation. How can we become agents of change, especially at work where competition is still highly rewarded?
The ultimate culprit that holds us back spiritually is the non-use of Paramhansa Yogananda’s techniques. The failure to use the spiritual tools given by the Guru puts us out of attunement with him.
To learn to interiorize one’s awareness completely can take many years, but even small progress in breath control can mean a great deal. The corresponding improvement in mental control could help you stay calm amid severe trials, to heal others with peace and kindness, and to concentrate successfully on your work.
Today many people are fearful for the future. How can we stay open and expansive in this time of uncertainty and turmoil? How do we remember that God is always supporting and guiding us?
There’s nothing we can ever do that will cause God not to love us. For devotees, the main thing is to keep your lamps filled with the oil of devotion and to keep offering your love to God. After a while, if a day goes by when you don’t express your love for God, it’s like a day without food.
If you can concentrate more deeply, your meditations will be more fulfilling and their depth and length will automatically begin to increase.
The first duty of every soul is to release the hold of ego consciousness, whether one is a renunciate, a householder, or living for God in some other way.
Real spiritual growth begins when we start to look toward the source of our power.
Many people stumble through life with painful slowness, their efforts blocked by lack of intensity.
If there is a single quality that society needs today, it is integrity. The worlds of business, of entertainment, of our culture in general, are crippled by a lack of morality. But, a culture is only a collection of individuals and the struggle for virtue must be personal. It begins with you.
I am grateful for my life exactly as it is.
