Dear Friend,
Swami Kriyananda’s book God is for Everyone ends with a visualization:
“What the aspirant must do, finally, is make happiness, first, then joy, and finally, bliss his constant reality. Here is a suggestion for helping you in this direction:
“Every time a bubble of happiness appears in your heart, make it your top priority to continue in the awareness of it! The cause of that little rainbow bubble may be quite commonplace: perhaps the fulfillment of some perfectly trivial desire. Whatever the source of your happiness, enjoy it as a thing in itself, and forget any outward reason for its appearance. Expand that bubble mentally with every exhaling breath. Watch as the bubble grows larger. Dwell on the joy contained in it. Separate that joy from any confining form. For true joy cannot be contained. It has no boundaries. Its center is everywhere; its circumference, nowhere. Become joy itself, no longer held within that fragile, rainbow bubble!
“As you dwell ever more deeply on inner joy, you will find it breaking down all limiting walls and streaming outward in all directions. Let joy release your soul to soar in infinite space.”
I remember the Cuban missile crisis in the early 1960’s. I was about 10 years old and I remember being afraid. I was sitting in the car waiting for my parents to get something in a store one evening and I remember thinking about nuclear war. All of a sudden this profound sense of peace and calmness entered my heart and I knew, no matter what happened, everything would be all right. I wasn’t afraid anymore. This was one of those little bubbles of happiness that Swami described above. It was a brief glimpse of the in-dwelling spirit of God telling a little boy everything will be all right. When that comes, you know it to be true, if even for a moment.
We all have had these moments in our lives, when despite the obstacles we face in our lives, a little glimmer of hope or peace comes to us. As Swami suggests above, build on and expand that feeling of God telling you everything is going to be all right. When the car suddenly needs to be repaired and there is a big question mark as to where the money will come from we can react two ways. We can become afraid and expand that emotion until “it has no boundaries.” Conversely, we can earnestly ask God to show us that bubble of joy that is always there if we look for it. We all know that circumstances will scare us from time to time. But, we have a choice about how long it will last! Using the visualization above is like flexing a muscle. The more we practice overcoming negative emotions as quickly as possible, by looking for God’s peace and joy within and expanding that feeling, the more this joy will be our constant, inner reality.
During this time of worldwide turmoil remember—we only need to invite Him to become our reality. When you give, try to do so with the deep spirit of devotion. Listen sensitively inside to feel divine joy behind the act of giving. Dwell on that joy and expand that bubble until it touches everyone. This touch of divine joy is the perfect gift to everyone you love, and every stranger.
Joy to you!
Dave Bingham
For Ananda’s Thank You, God Tithing
