#anandamoy

[opalstream]

Affirmation

With the opening of the earliest dawn and the lotus buds, my soul softly opens in prayer to receive Thy light. Bathe each petal of my mind with Thy radiant rays! I saturate myself with the perfume of Thy Presence, and I wait to waft with the breeze the aroma of Thy message of love to all. Bless me, that with the spreading dawn I may spread Thy love everywhere. Bless me, that with the awakening dawn I may awaken all souls with my own and bring them to Thee.

The Advantage of Living in Troubled Times

We think it would be wonderful if only we lived in peaceful, normal times. But in a way there is an advantage to living in troubled times - they impress on us more clearly that this world is not our home, that true security lies not in this outer world, and that we need to seek God. Consider those peaceful times when there was no fear of world war, when there was no problem with unemployment or ecology. It was during such an era that Thoreau observed: ”The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Why? Because still there was a hunger, a yearning; something essential was missing: God.

It is important to understand that wherever the world is in its upward and downward cycles, whatever stage of material or spiritual advancement exists outwardly, each soul progresses according to his or her individual efforts. Even in the darkest periods, in the worst conditions, there were men and women - perhaps not many, but there were some - who attained divine realization. That is why I urge you all not to pay too much attention to the times we are living in, but to focus on that which is essential - your spiritual efforts.... Concentrate on God, not on the outer show.

-Bro Anandamoy, SRF Magazine Summer 2020 p 40; Affirmation, Yogananda, Whispers from Eternity 1929 reprint p 37.

*This talk by Bro Anandamoy was given at SRF convocation decades ago, yet his message resonates in our current troubled times. Remember your core goal of life, why you are here. Keep the divine purpose of spiritual enlightenment at the forefront of your thoughts and actions today. The world will continue to battle its way into a higher age. Assist that process through centering on your spiritual practices, and fulfilling your duties in the world with inner harmony. Your quiet love and peace contribute to the higher vibrations necessary for a better world. OmSadhana, Annie

*Learn to Meditate through Home Study - Share this with your friends who might like to learn:

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[opalstream]

O life is sweet, and death a dream,

Then joy is sweet, sorrow a dream,

Then health is sweet, sickness a dream,

Then praise is sweet, and blame a dream.

When Thy song flows through me.

Live in the Present, Fill That Present with God, and Play Your Part Well

Living in these times, of course we wonder about the future: “Will there be peace or war, prosperity or lack? What is going to happen?” This is natural. Still, we have to be careful, because if we are dwelling too much on these things, permitting speculation and worries to occupy our mind, God is pushed out. And then another incarnation - another opportunity to find Him who is the whole goal of life, the solution to all our problems - is wasted....Many persons want a detailed preview of what’s going to happen in the future. Why? So they can worry about it? This is exactly what the divine ones and the scriptures warn us against. Jesus said, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

Now I am not a fortune teller, so instead of giving you predictions about what is coming, I have a thought for you from Paramahansaji. He said, “When you see a motion picture or a stage performance, if you know the plot beforehand it will not be so interesting. It is good that you don’t understand this life, because God is playing a move drama in your life. It wouldn’t be interesting if we knew what was going to take place before it happened. Don’t be anxious about what is to be in the end. But always pray to God, “Teach me to play my part in this drama of life - weak or strong, sick or well, high or low, rich or poor - with an immortal attitude, that at the end of this drama I may know the moral of it all.”

-Bro Anandamoy, SRF Magazine Summer 2020 p 43; Chant, When Thy Song Flows Through Me.

*May your day be bright with appreciation for the present moments of existence.The peace and wonder of each instant underlying the divine drama of your life are worth savoring. The Creator has offered you the gift of this incarnation to achieve the highest spiritual realizations. What a privilege! BeHereNow, OmLove, Annie

*Learn to Meditate through Home Study - Share this with your friends who might like to learn:

https://yogananda.org/lessons

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[great-photography-attributed]

Early morning...................arrival................. By anandamoy https://flic.kr/p/2qHfi68

[kriyayogaguru]

First Experience with Paramahansaji ~ BLISS CONSCIOUSNESS The first time I saw him [Paramahansa Yogananda], he had given a Sunday Service. . . and after the service most people went to him to greet him. And when I stood in front of him he didn’t say a word, I didn’t say a word, he just took my hand. And the moment he touched me I was drunk, completely drunk. Now that was the real stuff. That was the Wine of the Mystics, you know [audience laughter]. You know, I thought I had experienced joy before. Then I knew. He talked about bliss-consciousness. He gave me just a little more than I could hold. Unbelievable. Bliss. First time a little touch. Bliss. And I walked out and I was completely drunk. I couldn’t walk straight. I was, I was like this, you know [Brother motions swerving with his hands]. Not only that, I was alone and I couldn’t contain it. I laughed out loud, just completely drunk. And people in the street were utterly disgusted [big laughter] They shook their heads and went way out of my way and I didn’t care. It took me several hours to simmer down. So that was the first experience. Excerpts from the DVD “Experiencing God Within” ~ Br. Anandamoy #anandamoy #yogananda #bliss #kriyayoga #meditation #kriyayogaguru #yssofindia #godconsciousness https://www.instagram.com/p/CqSuZEtyjgR/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[opalstream]

Affirmation Through the transparency of my deepest meditation I shall receive the light of the omnipresent Father passing through me. Calm The Breath & The Restless Mind To Perceive The Infinite One Light With every breath we take, there is a subtle war going on within us, between spiritual consciousness and material consciousness. As long as those currents are pulling against each other, which happens as long as we are breathing, we are in body consciousness, ego consciousness. In his Autobiography of a Yogi the Master explains this subtle principle further: "The breath and the restless mind, I saw, are like two storms that lash the ocean of light into waves of material forms - earth, sky, human beings, animals, birds, trees. No perception of the Infinite as One Light can be had except by calming those two storms (through practice of scientific meditation). As often as I quieted the two natural tumults, I beheld the multitudinous waves of creation melt into one lucent sea; even as the waves of the ocean, when a tempest subsides, serenely dissolve into unity." Though these ideas may seem very deep, they are essential for understanding the root cause of war and the way to peace. Remember, war is the karmic result of man's misuse of free will, his transgression of divine law. That misuse of free choice comes about because of the evil influence of maya, the cosmic force of delusion that makes human beings forget their divine nature and become egotistically identified with the outer world. Entrapment in delusion can be overcome only by reversing the outward flow of consciousness and energy in the body through scientific spiritual techniques, so that we become aware of our inner oneness with God. It is only in that state of divine consciousness that selfishness, anger, hatred, and all other causes of war are permanently overcome.

[opalstream]

Affirmation I will conquer pride by humility, wrath by love, excitement by calmness, selfishness by unselfishness, evil by good, ignorance by knowledge, and restlessness by the ineffable peace acquired in the stillness of inner silence. Battle Between Our Two Selves - Ego And Soul Goethe had his character Faust say, "Two souls I have within my bosom." What he expressed poetically, yoga explains scientifically: Opposing the divine consciousness of the soul within each of us is the ego, the lower self or pseudo-soul. We can see this battle between spiritual qualities and materialistic habits in ourselves countless times each day. For example, when you feel, "I should meditate," the ego counters by urging, "No, let's watch TV." The divine Self says, "Eat moderately and eat only healthful food." The ego says, "No, I want chocolate cake and ice cream, and the more the better." When the ego is winning, the individual is dominated by selfishness, anger, greed - all the things that bind us to the delusion of mortal consciousness. When the majority of society is in the grip of these negative forces, war is inevitable; I think this is quite easy to understand. But there is a deeper aspect to this inner battle between ego consciousness and divine consciousness, which most people do not comprehend. That aspect holds the practical key to solving the problem of war and suffering: it can be grasped only through the science of yoga. Paramahansa Yogananda has explained: "There are two currents flowing in the body. One is from the point between the eyebrows to the coccyx. This downwardly flowing or apana current has for its center the coccyx, through which it distributes itself to the sensory nerves and keeps the consciousness of man delusively tied to the body. The apana current, therefore, is restless and engrossed man in sensory experiences. There is another current, called prana, which is flowing from the coccyx to the point between the eyebrows. The nature of this life-current is calm; it withdraws inwardly the attention of the soul...and unites the soul with Spirit...There is an opposite pull exercised by the downwardly flowing current as compared to the upwardly flowing current. The soul's attention is often being pulled upward or downward by these two currents. In other words, there is a tug-of-war between these two forces to take the soul downward or upward. Owing to the opposite pull of these two currents, the exhalation and inhalations are born." -Bro Anandamoy, A World In Transition, P 170; Affirmation, Yogananda, Metaphysical Meditations, p 97.

[opalstream]

Affirmation O Spirit, I do this for You. Frank Lloyd Wright and Fra Angelico: How To Find Meaning In Your Daily Life Meditation is the foundation of the spiritual life. But there is another aspect also. Obviously, we cannot meditate all the time; we have our work to do, our outer role to play. This too is a part of spiritual discipline. Paramahansa Yogananda said, "Our spiritual and material duties should work together like two stallions, pulling the car of life harmoniously and uniformly to one happy goal... All outer duties should be spiritualized." That is, everything should be done with the consciousness of God within. Outer works and their results in themselves can never give us complete satisfaction and fulfillment. Let me give an example. I came to America to study under Frank Lloyd Wright. He was considered the king of architecture at that time, a man of great fame and genius. He knew he was a genius; yet he was not happy. One day I was present when he expressed some of the deep inner frustration he felt, and I saw that inwardly he was still unfulfilled. Like so many, he was seeking happiness and fulfillment in the wrong place - in his case, through fame and through his creative ability. By way of contrast, when I was in Italy I had seen the paintings of Fra Angelico. A famous painter of the fifteenth century and a deeply spiritual man. It is said that as he painted his portraits of Christ and the Madonna and the saints, tears of devotion streamed down his face. He didn't paint in order to have satisfaction through fame or through creativity. He found that satisfaction through his inner communion with God. And his act of painting was was an offering to God. The point is not that we have to cry in devotion to God when we work, but that our actions should be an offering to the Divine. Then our work is spiritualized. It doesn't matter what our occupation is; God isn't concerned about that. The saints of the various religions have been householders and monastics; they have worked in all occupations; they have been on all rungs of the social ladder. It was not their outer role that made them saints; it was their inner consciousness. So while you are working, once in a while stop for a moment and inwardly say to God, "I do this for You." Then you become God-centered, even in the midst of outer activities. -Bro Anandamoy, (Paramahansa Yogananda), A World In Transition, p 144. * Painting by Fra Angelico.