Dear Friends,
Here at Ananda Village we just finished Spiritual Renewal Week the theme of which was “Spiritual Lessons from the Life of Swami Kriyananda.” We heard story after inspiring story; each one conveying spiritual principles and helpful ideas.
For this month’s letter, I felt inspired to share Swami’s words regarding tithing in this exerpt from Money Magnetism:
Let me tell you a little story.
When I finished writing my home study course, The Art and Science of Raja Yoga, a job that took me two solid years of work, I decided to go off and celebrate its completion with God. This is something I usually do whenever I’ve completed a project for Him, especially one that has required a great deal of time and effort. So I went to Carmel, a charming seaside town on the California coast.
Well, I didn’t stop to consider that this was August, and the height of the tourist season. When I arrived, I found no rooms available. Finally I did locate one, but it was at a much higher price than I could afford to pay. I hesitated. But then I thought, “Divine Mother, I’ve come here to celebrate with You. What shall I do? Let me go ahead and take this room. I’ll leave it to You to see that I have enough money to get home.” With that I took out my wallet to pay for the room. But the clerk at the desk, who didn’t know me from any of the thousands of tourists who had come through Carmel that summer shook his head. “Don’t pay me,” he said. “But I’d rather pay you now.” “I don’t want you to pay me at all,” he explained. “But why not?” “I don’t know,” he said. “I just like you.” And then I understood: Because I was sharing this celebration with God, God was also sharing it with me!”
If you’ve never tried doing things with God before, try it. You’ll be amazed at how, when you do things that way, He will be there doing them with you!
An effective way to learn this principle is by tithing, in God’s name. Many people object, “I can’t afford to give just now, but I’ll be happy to give later on, when I can afford to.” They don’t realize that the very act of giving generates abundance. People who give selflessly to God find that He sustains them. Whatever energy they put out flows back to them, reinforced by the power that sustains the universe.
When you join us in the adventures of tithing, together we practice doing all things with God.
In divine friendship,
Lisa Fontaine
P.S. Do you have a story you’d like to share? You can send it to mukti@ananda.org.
