Happy New Year, everyone. Nayaswami Jyotish: This coming year could be very momentous for the world, for Ananda, and for each of us individually. It is going to be a very important year with many changes happening. This morning I read a letter from 1950 by Paramhansa Yogananda. He urges us to make better use of the time … Read More
In a few days it will be a new year, 2017, and it’s time to think about changes you might like to make. An artist once was asked how he could sculpt such a perfect image of an elephant. He replied, “It’s easy. I just chip away everything that doesn’t look like an elephant.” We need to chip away everything … Read More
Dear Friends, Happy Christmas! Our gift to you this year is a parable about a pilgrimage taken by a young seeker: a journey towards self-discovery and enlightenment. It was part of one of our classes for Inner Renewal Week 2015, and afterwards many people asked to have a copy of it. So we had it transcribed, and have reworked and … Read More
In this Christmas season, it’s important to reflect on the deeper message of Christ’s life and birth. Paramhansa Yogananda told his disciples that it was Jesus himself who appeared to Babaji in the Himalayas, and asked him to send these teachings to the West in order to reveal the deeper meaning of Christianity. Through people’s practice of meditation, they could … Read More
Many popular images associated with Christmas are actually rooted in inner spiritual realities. But over time the deeper meaning becomes lost, and the symbol becomes an end unto itself. Perhaps the most iconic symbols are the Christmas tree and Santa Claus. The use of evergreen wreaths goes back to the prehistory of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, while the more modern … Read More
We were sitting on the beach our first evening in Puri, India, gazing at the moonlight on the waves and listening to the crashing of the surf on the shore. Seventy devotees would be joining us in two days for a pilgrimage to sacred sites in this area, which is considered to be one of the holiest in India. A … Read More
Today was a remarkable day! We are in Puri, India, where Swami Sri Yukteswar had an ashram, and where his body is enshrined in a small samadhi mandir (shrine that holds the body of a great master). Paramhansa Yogananda used often to come here with his guru, and it was in Puri that Sri Yukteswar left his body in 1936. … Read More
Recently while in Pune, India, I asked an old friend how he felt he’d changed spiritually over the years. He replied, “It’s hard to see change from one day to the next, but looking back I see that I’m not the same person I used to be, though my nature remains much the same. In the past I used to … Read More
“Giving thanks—and the attitude of gratitude behind Thanksgiving Day—is one of the most fundamental aspects of the spiritual path.” —Nayaswami Jyotish “The deeper meaning of Thanksgiving is always to have a connection with the Divine. Always to be thanking the Divine for what is given to us. And to express that gratitude. We should express it to the people around … Read More
Sometimes we have doubts. Does God really care about us? Does He love us or protect us when we are unable to fend for ourselves? I heard an amazing account that shows that God and Guru are there when we most need them. Here is the story, as told to our center leader from Pune, India, and relayed to Devi … Read More
America has made its choice now in this presidential election. The world may well be facing troubled times, as the United States and all nations come to terms with a dramatic break from past values and models of government. Already waves of uncertainty, confusion, and fear are moving across the planet. But whether the outcome was your personal choice or … Read More
Dear Friends, The results of the election were quite a shock to us, as probably to most people. We are entering a new era in politics and many people will be unsettled, anxious, perhaps even fear filled. At times like this we all need to be, ever more strongly, instruments for God’s light. Remember, this is God’s dream and He … Read More
Dear Friends, We started writing this letter to you earlier today, when we took for granted that Clinton would win the election. Now we are in a different land and mindscape, and will all need to come to terms with what lies ahead and what we can do in a positive way to help. So, for the rest of the … Read More
A mother comes into her son’s bedroom and sees that he is still asleep. “Wake up, wake up. It’s late,” she says. The son responds by pulling the blankets up over his head. “Wake up,” his mother says again, “or you’ll be late for school.” “I don’t want to go to school,” the son says, “and there are two reasons. … Read More
As we gathered in the early morning sunlight for group sadhana in Chennai, everyone was filled with eager anticipation of what lay ahead. After months of effort, we would officially be dedicating the new Center that evening, and friends would be gathering from all over India for the event. As we went outside by the garden to do our Energization … Read More
Autobiography of a Yogi changed my life. Really, it did. There is a power in that book that is far beyond the ordinary. Paramhansa Yogananda said to Swami Kriyananda on their first meeting, “I put my vibrations into it.” I read it when I was at one of the natural transition points in life, the changeover from school to adulthood. … Read More
Dear Friends, We just returned yesterday from two remarkable weeks in Chennai, which were filled with many spiritually powerful events: the dedication of the new center; a large public talk; the first Kriya Initiation, and a retreat day at the center. In February 2016 when we were visiting Chennai, Dharmarajan and Dharmini, the center leaders there, showed us an old … Read More
We came into the world just weeks apart, Autobiography of a Yogi and I, born together in December 1946. Both of us were riding on waves of human hope: I was part of the “baby boomer” generation that emerged after millions of American servicemen returned from World War II. Hoping to leave the horrors of war behind, the soldiers wanted … Read More
This is a story about the power of our thoughts. Some years ago I was playing a game of doubles in racquetball, meaning there are two players on each side. The object of the game is to keep the ball in play, trying to force the opposing team to make an error. Unfortunately, my partner was making most of the … Read More
I had an intriguing dream a few nights ago: It began as a conversation with a visionary scientist, reminiscent of Nikola Tesla, explaining to us his theories on the inner workings of the universe. Such conversations usually fly well over my head, but because he was communicating not with words but thought transference, I could easily understand his concepts. I … Read More