Receiving Gratefully

Achariya Fritz Kramer
Speaks on "Receiving Gratefully"
Sunday, November 22, 2015 at 11:00am

As we enter our beautiful season of holy days, our minds will raise to the ideal of thanks. We will find ourselves meditating on gratitude, considering the many gifts given to us, both human and divine. So this Sunday, let us gather in the Temple and take the time to contemplate what it truly means to receive. And correspondingly, why openness and receptivity play such a grand role on our spiritual paths.

—Acharya Fritz

From Gurus and Swamis:

The quicker you can empty the air out of this room, the quicker it will be filled up by the external air; and if you close all the doors and every aperture, that which is within will remain, but that which is outside will never come in.

—Swami Vivekananda

It is not a pumping-in from the outside that gives wisdom; it is the power and extent of your inner receptivity that determines how much you can attain of true knowledge, and how rapidly. The man who has the power of receptivity quickly grasps everything.

—Swami Yogananda Paramhansa

If I had to choose, I would prefer a heart that can feel to eyes that can see. Intellect cannot reveal God but with a loving and devoted heart, we become aware of his presence everywhere and thus all life is spiritualized.

—Swami Premananda

Noble Thoughts: ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda) 

"Gratefulness must continually flow into our thanksgiving to make it full. Remembering our moments of ultimate belonging determines to what extent we find ultimate meaning. Why do we so rarely step out through this door of remembrance into joyful aliveness? Could it be that the mystic gratefulness in the depth of every human heart sings with 'a still, small voice,' and is easily drowned out by the noise we endure and the noise we make? Maybe we need more silence. Maybe we simply need now and then to look up at the silent stars and lose ourselves to be set free."

—Brother David Steindl-Rast, "Heart of Gratefulness"
  

"Great Spirit, God, Creator of All
I welcome You into my heart, mind, body and soul
There is always room for You here.
Grant me the wisdom to heed my inner voice
And the strength to stay grounded when I sing
     my sacred song.
Guide me down my chosen path and give me the
     courage to pursue what is available to me.
I an thankful for the lessons and grateful for the struggles;
I have not forgotten what has brought me to where
     I am today.
Open my heart to the healing wholeness of nature;
We are all related, and through this I will find serenity.
Great Spirit, God, Creator of All
Cleanse my spirit and wash my soul.
There is always room for You here."

—Laurel Singing Water Cat, Iroquois prayer (adapted)
 

"With inner care from your heart be pleased and thankful to Allah.
One with such faith, if he prays, he will see the light."

—Pir Nur-eddin Cerrahi, "Lesson in Perfection"

Beyond the Season of Light

Srimati Carrie
Speaks on "Beyond the Season of Light"
Sunday, November 15, 2015 at 11:00am

What enlightens our minds, illumines our hearts, and guides our lives? It is to that which we must awaken. Let us go beyond the season of light… toward a greater realization of the power and blessings of light. Let us move beyond the color and light of our celebration and festivity, to the light of our soul and the light of the universe.

—Srimati Carrie

 From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

"The world of nature surrounds us with revelations of light - light as a single current of illumination linking all life to the innermost soul of the universe, light whose full Radiance is realized in the soul of man. God is revealed as light, and we feel his meaning as light throughout cosmic life as we see light everywhere.

“The hope in the life of our world is to light the lamp of godliness in our own lives. Mindful of apparent darkness which seems to envelop us we must continue to pray for the light of God to appear. The light will shine within us. All the divine qualities of soul will arise by the power of divine light and truth to radiate their beams of loveliness and draw others to in them in their own Divine lamps." 

—Swami Kamalananda, "The Mystic Cross"

“Awaken yourself from the gloom of ignorance. You have closed your eyes in the sleep of delusion. Awake! Open your eyes and you shall behold the glory of God – the vast vista of God’s light spreading over all things.”

—Swami Yogananda Paramhansa, "Where There is Light"
 

“My destination is Self-illumination in the infinite effulgence of the Light where the dusk is dissolved into dawn and the dawn is eternal. The Light is the first beginning and the ultimate liberation of all. I will behold and become the Light that is forever the Light. The Light is God.”

—Swami Premananda, "Prayers of Soul"
 

Noble Thoughts: ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)

“Within the effulgent golden light of Sahasraram is revealed the one, the absolute Brahman. He is self-luminous, pure consciousness. He is the light of lights. He is the supreme Reality known to men of self-realization.

“There the sun rises not, nor do the moon and stars give light; there the lightning flashes not with flaming radiance; then how can this earthly fire of lighted wood reveal him who shines in the effulgence of his absolute glory? Everything shines by the reflection of his divine illumination. Verily, the whole universe is illumined by his light.”

—Mandukya Upanishad
 

“When light and shadow surround me from outside, there is still a light on the altar of my heart.”

—Zarathrustra
 

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” 

—Proverbs 119:105

Shivoham

Achariya Ajay Jeff Bauer
Speaks on "Shivoham"
Sunday, November 8, 2015 at 11:00am

"Shivoham” is Sanskrit for “I am God.” It is also the name of a beautiful devotional hymn composed by Swami Shankaracharya in the 8th century AD. In this complex world we live in each of us has multiple identities: I am “father”; I am “mother”; I am “child;” I am “American,” and so forth. Identity is an important concept in psychology. Psychologist Erik Erikson says “an identity crisis is a time of intensive analysis and exploration of different ways of looking at oneself.” Researcher James Marcia asserts “identity achievement occurs when an individual has gone through an exploration of different identities and made a commitment to one.” What is that “one” identity committing to which we live the fullest, happiest, most productive life of all? I am God — Shivoham!

—Acharya Ajay

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

"I am neither the mind, nor the intellect, nor the ego, nor the mind-stuff;
I am neither the body, nor the changes of the body;
I am neither the senses of hearing, taste, smell, or sight,
Nor am I the ether, the earth, the fire, the air;
I am Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, Bliss Absolute -
I am He! I am He! (Shivoham, Shivoham)

—Swami Shankaracharya
 

"I am an absolute monist." My religion is God, truth, or the pursuit of what is ultimately real called by any name, yet ever ineffable."

—Swami Kamalananda, “I am an Absolute Monist”

I am God, naught else but God.
Verily, I am Brahman, the cosmic Reality.
Imperfection is not a quality of my consciousness.
I am Consciousness-Existence-Bliss Absolute.
I am eternal. I am free.
I am that I Am.
There is no change in me.

-- Swami Premananda, “Prayers of Self-Realization”
 

Noble Thoughts: ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)

"Guided by whom does the mind think, feel, and form its desire? .... And who is the divine Reality that enables the eyes to see and the ears to hear?

"It is Brahman, the Supreme Self, dwelling in man as his soul. It is the consciousness of cognition, "Mind of the mind;" the substance of self-manifestation, "Word of the word; " the power of perception, "Ear of the ear;" the vision of revelation, "Eye of the eye;" and the existence that gives life to all beings, "Life of the life." The wise do not confuse the self with the senses. Liberating the self-consciousness from its attachment to sensory concepts and identification with physical objects, the wise attain to the realization of immortality."

—"Kena Upanishad, Realization of the Absolute," Translated into English from the original Sanskrit by Swami Premananda
 

"Never the Self was born nor will it ever die. Nor having existence, will it ever cease to exist. Birthless, deathless, changeless, eternal, ever itself is the Soul. It is not destroyed with the destruction of the body."

—"Srimad-Bhavad-Gita," Translated from the Sanskrit by Swami Premananda

"Let us meditate on the glory of that effulgent Reality from whom the whole universe is projected. May He enlighten our minds."

—"The Gayatri Prayer,"  Translated by Swami Premananda

The Gita, A Living Metaphor

Achariya George Adams
Speaks on "The Gita, A Living Metaphor"
Sunday, November 1, 2015 at 11:00am

All sublime scriptures are metaphors that contain an inner spiritual Truth which remains hidden from the unenlightened mind.  The discovery of that inner Truth makes the scripture a living fountain to quench our spiritual thirst for life’s meaning.

In his introduction to the 'Gita,' Swami Premananda shows us how to view these metaphors from the perspective of our soul.  He tells us:

“When Moses becomes the enlightened mind which liberates the soul from its enslavement to the bondage of sensory attachment, and guides it on the promised land of the state of perfection, to oneness with Yod; when the  flaming rosary from the hand of Zarathustra that burnt into ashes the attacking Tartar, gives assurance to the initiate regarding the ascending Pranic effulgence which consumes all accumulated subjective finiteness and brings the Revelation of Ahura Mazda; when Pontius Pilate assumes the authority of individual conscience struggling to choose between Barabbas, the self-degrading course of unrighteousness, and Jesus, the divine path of the soul shattering all the fetters of sensory desires in order to soul, in order to attain to the perfection of the Father in heaven, the transcendental God; and when Mohammed, in his reconquest of the holy Mecca, is recognized as the soul shattering all the fetters of sensory desires in order to regain freedom of divine transcending Araham and Arrahim; then the scriptureimmediately loses its personal elements, as well as its remoteness in time and space, and stands beforeus as a living reality with a message of vita force and revealing truth.”

This Sunday to achieve that goal, we will reflect on the dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna as a living guide for our own spiritual Journey.  Through the metaphor of the 'Gita' we will seek to gain spiritual insight into ourselves and our relation to God and the universe.

—Achariya George

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

The Bhagavad-Gita is fundamentally a yoga shastra, a scripture of Yoga…Yoga is the Sanskrit term which signifies the way as well as the ideal of God-realization….Yoga is the realization of one’s own state of absolute Godhood.  To realize God is to become one with God and in this divine identity is revealed the transcendental self-perfection.  For us, Yoga has no other meaning.  

—Swami Premananda, "Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, Introduction"
 

"Life changes form, and the cosmic transformations go on about us at all times, but we are here to remember that our soul is of identical nature with the God of the universe.  We meditate on the revelation of our own divine Self:"

'Never the self was born nor will it ever die.  Nor having existence, will it ever cease to exist.  Birthless, deathless, changeless, eternal, ever itself is the Soul.  It is not destroyed with the destruction of the body.'  (Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter II, Verse 20)
 
—Swami Kamalananda "The Mystic Cross"
 

Noble Thoughts:("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)

"When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to the Bhagavad-Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the 'Gita' will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day."  
 
—Mahatma Gandhi
 

"When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe, everything else seems so superfluous." 

—Albert Einstein
 

"The Bhagavad-Gita has a profound influence on the spirit of mankind by its devotion to God which is manifested by actions." 

—Dr. Albert Schweitzer

 
"The Bhagavad-Gita is a true scripture of the human race, a living creation rather than a book, with a new message for every age and a new meaning for every civilization." 
 
—Sri Aurobindo
 

Healthy Mind

Srimati Carrie
Speaks on "Healthy Mind" 
Sunday, October 25, 2015 at 11:00am
(Originally the service was to be conducted by Swami Kamalananda.  The text below was offered by her.)

No one doubts the importance of maintaining a strong and resilient mind and many are the current approaches to support its “health” throughout life. Some emphasize activities and techniques that FOCUS the mind while others would promote ways to EXPAND the mind. Which is preferable? Let us see!

Understanding the nature of the mind and its powers in the light of Yoga is of supreme importance to our faith and to God-realization. You never need to fear loss of memory or diminishment of mind with age. The mind can always be your most trustworthy resource and unfailing companion on the spiritual path.  Let us see how!

—S.K.

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

"Let us follow the example of great masters.  Let us sow the seed of wisdom, inwardly, by watering it daily in deep meditation.  Only by steadfast self-discipline can we achieve true and lasting happiness.

"To foolish people this inner work seems a prescription for self-torture. Self-discipline, however, is the only way to bring the unruly mind under control.  Only when the mind is calm and focused can one reap maximum benefits from life.

"By self-discipline we succeed in transforming sorrow-producing patterns of behavior into those which give inner joy.  By self-discipline the mind gradually frees itself from the meshes of delusion.  By self-discipline applied to meditation one finds the highway to lasting inner happiness."

—from THE RUBAIYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM by Swami Yogananda Paramhansa

"There are two types of mind, restless and serene.
Within the serene mind is reflected the reality and glory of God.
God rewards his devotee. The reward of God is the revelation of his perfection.

"He who has seen the light of God within him never again walks in spiritual darkness. He remains constantly aware of the sacredness of his body, the righteousness of his mind, the purity of his heart and the divinity of his soul."

—SAYINGS OF SHYAMACHARAN LAHIRI Swami Premananda, translator
 

"The prerequisite for sending out the radiation of peace is one’s own living in poise, mental calmness and transcendental vision. The basic principle of compassion and joyousness is the feeling of oneness with all that surrounds us together with the realization of transcendental identity in absolute perfection. Equanimity is attained and preserved only when one can keep his mind free from becoming identified with the objective world.  Peace is possible only for the free mind and not for the mind that is enslaved by the emotions. Action must bring peace to its performer, for the universal manifestation most surely carries within itself the power of peace."

—Swami Premananda, from THE WAY OF WISDOM AND SELF-ILLUMINATION (Buddha)

Noble Thoughts:  ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)

Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

—Mark 11:22 THE NEW TESTAMENT of the BIBLE

Spiritual words are potent with divine power. Repeat, incessantly repeat, spiritual words (mantram or Harinam), and gradually your body will become quiet and sanctified, and your mind serene and pure; and your soul will bring you perfect peace.

—Chaitannya (from THE WAY OF WISDOM AND SELF-LIBERATION, Swami Premananda

Dim not the consciousness of purity even when the lamp of life emits its last flicker in this world.  Carry in your heart absolute faith in the ultimate good; gain wisdom and remain firmly established therein; follow not the luring beck of ignorance: This is the law of virtue in this world; this is the way of happiness in life.

—from DHAMMAPADA, The Path of the Eternal Law, translated by Swami Premananda

Gracious Essence

Achariya Fritz Kramer
Speaks on "Gracious Essence" 
Sunday, October 18, 2015 at 11:00am

When walking the spiritual path, we hear much about the concept of grace. Yet, different religious traditions seem to have quite distinct definitions of what it constitutes. They speak about grace in many forms; as beauty, as favor, as mercy. Are these concepts mutually exclusive, or do they share some common foundation? Let's gather together in the Temple this Sunday morning to consider the many manifestations of grace, and meditate upon their divine essence.

—Acharya Fritz
 

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM
 

“All is possible by God's grace.”

—Swami Yogananda

“Spirituality is the source of beauty. Beauty emanates from within our soul. It is the divine glow of purity, holiness, love and self-realization. Loveliness is the fullness of beauty. It is the consummated perfection of all that is sweet and sublime in beauty. Loveliness is the gracefulness of soul. It is the spiritual charm of devotion. It is beauty in its supreme excellence.”

—Swami Premananda

“Those who are pure always in body, mind, and speech, who have strong devotion, who discriminate between the real and the unreal, who persevere in meditation and contemplation — upon them alone the grace of the Lord descends.”

—Swami Vivekananda

Noble Thoughts: ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)
 

“Perfection or freedom from error comes only from grace. Without an unreserved surrender to His grace, complete mastery over thought is impossible.”

—Mahatma Gandhi, "An Autobiography"

"To open ourselves to this grace, to this flow of truth, means that we have to step out of ourselves. We have to let go of the illusion that we are in control of our life. When we hand it over, we'll find ourselves falling into grace, falling into this clarity and openness and love, falling right into the grace of awakening from separation, where we realize our true spiritual essence: this beautiful, unknown, unborn presence which manifests as everything we see."

—Adyashanti, “Falling into Grace”

"The recurring response of grace to the pulsing prayer of the soul is the rhythm by which the worker moves forward to wholeness."

—14th century unknown author, “The Cloud of Unknowing”

Meditative Living

Srimati Carrie speaks on
"Meditative Living"
Sunday, October 11, 2015 at 11:00am

Live life to the fullest.   How do we do that?

It is easy to fall victim to our weakness of mind, to our changing emotions, to our physical frailty. We need to remind ourselves that we have the ultimate source of wisdom, peace and strength eternally available to our election.

In our meditation we call upon God to reveal to us our absolute perfection.

—Srimati Carrie
 

 From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

“Soul is our true and immortal self. In our soul we realize our identity with God.”

—Swami Premananda
 

“When the heart is made perfectly pure it receives the Spiritual Light, and anointed by the Spirit, man enters the kingdom of God which is within himself. At this state he realizes himself as an integral part of God. But gradually, through profound contemplation which is true worship, he becomes one with God and realizes his real nature with the illumination that the whole universe is but his own Self.”

—Swami Sri Yukteswar

“We are spirit. Our ‘life’ is very complex: patterns, confluences, and motions of light, consciousness and will coming together in a composite form that is far more extensive than our physical body. Our ‘life’ is the very substance of God — His light and love and life — manifesting, evolving and ascending to His perfection.”

—Swami Kamalananda

"There should be complete harmony between the inner spirit and the outer life. The qualities of soul must inspire and perfect all aspects of self-expression. That is the secret of spiritual life."

—Shyamacharan Lahiri

Noble Thoughts: ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)

“They who having attained the supreme soul in knowledge were filled with wisdom, and having found him in union with Soul were in perfect harmony with the inner self, they having realized him in the heart were free from all selfish desires, and having experienced him in all the activities of the world had attained calmness. The rishis were they who, having reached the supreme God from all sides, had found abiding peace, had become united with all, had entered into the life of the universe.” 

—Rabindranath Tagore

“I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die discover that I had not lived.”

—Henry David Thoreau

”It is easy to live in the world according to its own opinion.  It is also easy to live in solitude according to one’s own opinion.  But he is great who can maintain with sweetness the freedom of solitude in the midst of the crowd of the world.”

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Every plane of man’s being is dependent upon the other planes. For instance, if the body has lost its rhythm, something goes wrong with the mind; if the mind has lost its rhythm, the body goes wrong; if the heart has lost its rhythm, the mind is puzzled; and if the rhythm of the soul is lost, then all is wrong.”

—Hazrat Inayat Khan

Sacred Verses

Achariya Ajay Jeffrey Bauer
Speaks on "Sacred Verses"
Sunday, October 4, 2015 at 11:00am

Letters are bound together through meaning to form words; words are bound together through meaning to form sentences; sentences are bound together through meaning to form the verses of a holy scripture. The sacred thread of deep meaning, the sutra that binds that holy scripture together, is the ideal of God and God realization. Indeed the sacred ideal of God and God realization is the sutra that unifies all the seemingly disparate elements of life itself. The ostensibly fragmented and unrelated “verses” of our lives are unified through the ideal of God and God realization.

—Acharya Ajay
 

 From the Gurus and Swamis:  AUM

"Spiritual life cannot be compartmentalized. True and holistic awareness of life is the goal of subjectivity and comes from the consciousness that every expression, perception and aspect of life is permeated by the same spirit that is within us. Meditation therefore is as broad as life itself. To be spiritual is to see all, to do all, to love all in the consciousness of God."

—Swami Kamalananda, “Reflections on Still Waters”
 

"Sutras is the plural form of the singular noun sutra, a Sanskrit word meaning thread. The implication here is that, just as the pearls of a beautiful necklace are held together by a central thread, even so all the ideals, concepts, principles, techniques and methods of yoga are coordinated with and guided by the central truth of God and the realization of God."

—Swami Premananda, “Raja Yoga”
 

In waking, eating, working, dreaming, sleeping,
      Serving, meditating, chanting, divinely loving,
My soul will constantly hum, unheard by any:
      God! God! God!

—Swami Yogananda Paramhansa

Noble Thoughts: ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)

"The meaning of the living words that come out of the experiences of great hearts can never be exhausted by any one system of logical interpretation. They have to be endlessly explained by the commentaries of individual lives, and gain an added mystery in each new revelation."

—Rabindranath Tagore, "Sadhana"
 

"I believe in you my soul, the other I am
     must not abase itself to you,
And you must not be abased to the other.
Loafe with me on the grass, loose the stop from your throat,
Not words, not music or rhyme I want, not custom or lecture,
     not even the best,
Only the lull I like, the hum of your valved throat."

Walt Whitman, "Leaves of Grass"
 

"Try and realize always the presence of God. To attain this, we must convince ourselves of what is of faith, vis., that God dwells in the inmost heart of man, that we shall find Him within ourselves, if we will only enter in and seek Him there, that He is in our heart, to inspire us with holy thoughts, and with good desires, which incline us to what is right ... The great thing is always to be attentive and faithful to this voice within us."

—John Nicholas Grou, "Manual for Interior Souls"

Talk to God

Srimati Carrie
Speaks on "Talk to God"
Sunday, September 27, 2015 at 11:00am

When you talk to God, what do you say?  How do you say it?  Do you speak the words of poems, prayers and songs, or do you observe silence?  Do you convey thoughts or emotions? Do you express love, devotion, and appreciation — or concern, disappointment and fear? When you talk to God, what do you say?

—Srimati Carrie

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

“The knower of the word hears by attunement the internal voice reverberating beauty and truth throughout the universe. He learns to follow the strains of that soundless voice to unite his soul with God everywhere.

“His inner attunement is virtually his power, the power of purity, by which he creates harmony within himself and draws harmony into all his surroundings.

“God surrounds us with his harmonious vibration, but to realize it we need to tune in. Peer into your soul. Bring his divine word into your mind.”

—Swami Kamalananda,"Reflections on Still Waters"

“It is essential for our life and happiness that we understand the truths about the material universe around us. It is vital for our existence and peace that we realize the realities of the spiritual universe within us. Meditation is entering into and abiding in the spiritual universe within us. Meditation is entering into and abiding in the spiritual universe of our soul. It is dwelling with God within us. It is communion with the divine Spirit with our spirit. Only through meditation can we reach, reveal and realize the presence of God and his attributes and glory within us. Meditation is profound subjective contemplation with pure and enlightened consciousness. It is prayer unto God for nothing but his spiritual illumination, divine grace and transcendental glory. It is prayer unto God for his complete and perfect revelation. It is total self-surrender unto God with absolute love and devotion. Meditation is the pilgrimage of our soul to God within us.”

—Swam Premananda, "The Gayatri Prayer," Let Us Meditate
 

Noble Thoughts: ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)

“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”

—Matthew 6:6

“For those who are filled with the presence of God in them, to labor is to pray. Life is one continuous prayer or act of worship.

“I believe that prayer is the very soul and essence of religion, and therefore prayer must be the very core of the life of man. 

“Begin, therefore, your day with prayer, and make it so full that it may remain with you until evening. Close the day with prayer so that you may have a peaceful night free from dreams and nightmares. Do not worry about the forms. Let it be any form; it should be such as can put us in communion with the divine. Only let not the spirit wander while the words of prayer run out of your mouth.”

—Gandhi

“No prayer is complete without presence.”

—Rumi

“My words are tied in one with the great mountains, with the great rocks, with the great trees, in one with my body and heart. All of you see me, one with this world.”

—Yokuts Prayer

Self Service

Achariya Fritz Kramer
Speaks on "Self Service"
Sunday, September 20, 2015

With the final days of summer upon us, let us join together and ground ourselves in practice after a beautiful season of both relaxation and activity. This Sunday may we see beyond the seemingly transactional nature of our day-to-day lives, and meditate on the divine ideal of service. We will take time to view this pillar of the spiritual life in the light of devotion, in the light of action, and consider not just what we do, but more importantly, how we do it.

—Achariya Fritz

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

"Service, in tandem with meditation, is a necessary ingredient of Self-Realization. Service should be a positive expression of devotion and gratitude to God and Guru. To Self-Realization, I give my hands, my feet, my soul and I pray all may do the same.”

—Swami Yogananda Paramhansa

"In this world always take the position of the giver. Give everything and look for no returns. Give love, give help, give service, give any little thingyou can, but keep out barter. Make no conditions and none will be imposed. Let us give out of our own bounty, just as God gives to us."

—Swami Vivekananda

"In reality, through all your personal actions you primarily render service to your spiritual self and secondarily to your sensory self. In this wisdom you truly understand that whatever you do unto yourself or unto others, you do it unto the living soul of man."

—Swami Premananda

Noble Thoughts: ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)

"Everybody can be great. Because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve...You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love."

—Martin Luther King, Jr., Quoted in “Through God's Eyes,” Phil Bolsta

"And what is it to work with love?
It is to weave the cloth with threads
drawn from your heart, even as if your
beloved were to wear that cloth...
Work is love made visible."

—Kahlil Gibran, “The Prophet”

"Just as the phenomena in the natural world are there to be enjoyed and utilized by others, so must our own entire being and existence be available to them. It is only when we start thinking in such terms that we can develop the powerful thought that 'I will dedicate my entire being to the benefit of others. I exist solely to be of service to them.' Such powerful sentiments express themselves outwardly in acts that benefit sentient beings, and in that process our own needs are fulfilled."

—The Dalai Lama, “An Open Heart”

"One to whom the whole world is as his family should have the power of serving the universe without moving from his place. He can exercise this power only through service rendered to his neighbor."

—M. K. Gandhi, “Ashram Observances in Action”

What Would Jesus Say?

Achariya George Adams
Speaks on "What Would Jesus Say? An Examination of the Life and Teachings of Jesus of Christ Consciousness"
Sunday, September 13, 2015

This Sunday we have chosen for our meditation the subject, ‘What Would Jesus Say?” — an examination of the life and teachings of Jesus of Christ Consciousness.

We will begin by asking ourselves, “Who was this Blessed Nazarene?” “What was his life’s mission?” “Did he accomplish that Mission?” “Is his mission different than our own?”   “What is our Mission?”  “Have we accomplished our Mission?”  If not, “How do we accomplish that Mission?”

Next, we will explore the relevance of the life of Christ to our own?  We will ask whether the life of The Christ has relevance in our modern technological world and what does it teach us about ourselves and Truth?

We will then explore how we should view the life of the Nazarene in the light of the other Avatars, Mahatmas, Saviors and Savants.  We will raise the question whether the Nazarene’s teaching is new or the same eternal truth that has been advanced by the avatars, sages and savants in all times and lands.   We will discover that ‘Truth is One, Men Call It by Various Names.” 

We will learn that Jesus of Christ Consciousness was an Absolute Monist, a yogi, a fully realized soul, Son of God, and that you and I have within us this same Reality, i.e., the light and perfection of our Soul. God within you is your soul.  God within me is my soul.  We are all possessed of this innate divinity and it is our spiritual mission to unfold that soul to its absolute perfection.  In the words of Christ, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”  He was not talking to himself, but to you and me.   

We will learn that the mission of the Nazarene (the Soul, or Son of God) was to show us the way to the Perfection of the Father (symbolically the transcendental reality of God).  We will also learn that the life journey of the Christ contains within it the symbolic story of the unfoldment of our own soul.  It is not a new story, but one that has come down to us from the sages, savants and avatars throughout the ages.  Each aspect of the Nazarene’s life story from his birth to the visit of the three wise men; to the parables; to the meditation at the spiritual eye and time spent in the wilderness; to his teachings of forgiveness and ahimsa; to the renunciation of the money changers in the temple; to the encounter with Satan (the Ego); to the last supper; to the death, burial and resurrection reveals the evolutionary steps of our own spiritual journey to God, the Father. 

Which raises the question, Was Christ a Savior?  If so, what was he saving us from?  We read in the Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, “O Bharata, whenever and wherever divinity becomes subdued and humanity struggles to emerge out of ignorance, then and there I incarnate myself.”[1]  Remember that the angels at the birth of Christ, sang out “…unto you is born this day …a  Saviour…” not the Savior.  The Savior is God within you and within me.  It is that Savior that guides our day-to-day life as we walk together toward the Perfection of the Father.
     [1] Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 4, Text 7.

—Achariya George

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

Jesus, the great Orientalist, said, "I am the Light of the world."  (John 8:12)  "Ye are the children of Light."  As far back as human mind can go, mankind has sought to realize and reveal this truth: that God is Cosmic Light.
 
— "Seven Mystic Holy Days," Swami Premananda
 

"Those who attain Self-realization on earth live a similar twofold existence.  Conscientiously performing their work in the world, they are yet immersed in an inward beatitude."
 
— "Autobiography of a Yogi," Swami Paramhansa Yogananda
 
"The voice audible to Christ when he was absorbed in the wilderness in the love of his Heavenly Father was the silent voice of Anahata....Your consciousness has a vibration or sound particular to you.  It is not a pitch or a note that you can play on a musical instrument, but a specific vibration that resonates throughout your composite being, through every channel uniting your body, mind, heart and spirit.....You can find it within your own heart."
 
— "The Mystic Cross," Swami Kamalananda
 

Noble Thoughts: ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)

"So I say to you, Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you."

—Jesus Christ

"Of all the things I have read what remained with me forever was that Jesus came almost to give a new law — not an eye for an eye but to receive two blows when only one was given, and to go two miles when they were asked to go one. I came to see that the Sermon on the Mount was the whole of Christianity for him who wanted to live a Christian life. It is that sermon that has endeared Jesus to me."
 
—Mahatma Gandhi

"I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit."
 
—Khalil Gibran

The Eternal Path

Swami Kamalananda
Speaks on "The Eternal Path"
Sunday, September 6, 2015 at 11:00am

Our return to congregational worship is a reminder of our soul’s return to the Source on a Path that is Eternal. The Eternal Path to God has always been open to all, making it equally inviting and eternally valuable to all. When we create borders to it or divide it into distinctive traits or collective identities its meaning diminishes to us.

All names and forms are temporary. Remembering the Path as eternally vast and open expands our sense of freedom for all, love for all, and knowledge of all. True spirituality is the practice of identifying the soul’s One Source, One Presence and One Goal at every step of the way. But, “Which path is best for me?” Mark that the question comes to your mind individually.

The path, though open eternally to all, awaits our personal and individual choice and election, and every life is free and also spiritually responsible to make it. Spiritual experience is cultivated and “custom made” through each heart and mind, eternally and at each moment.

We are not chosen by God as a people or as a collective faith. “Our daily bread” is each soul taking nourishment every day through its own self effort on the inner path of God-realization. 

 
From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

"The whole universe is bound together by an underlying reality.  This reality permeates all.  All creation is united in it.  Why is it that you and I understand one another?  Why does a bird sing in response to our loving call?  Why does even a plant respond to human kindness and love?  This mutual understanding and response, found throughout the whole creation, is possible only because there exists a common bond between all created things.

"Some call it love.  It is love that unites us all.  Some speak of it as life.  It is life that binds us together.  Others explain it as consciousness.  The whole universe is tied together in consciousness.  We combine these three aspects and call it Self.  We term this underlying reality the Self, Soul, Atman, Brahman, God, Spirit."

—from GOD, THE UNIVERSAL REALITY by Brahmachari Jotin/Swami Premananda
 

"The essence of religion is the realization of the perfection of God with one’s own soul.

"The light of God illumines our consciousness with divine revelation. That is the secret of religion.

"Spiritual life comprises the following: study, meditation, service, charity, contentment and, above all, love."

—from SAYINGS OF SHYAMACHARAN LAHIRI, translated by Swami Premananda
 

"O Mother Divine, teach me to love others and to serve others.
Teach me to be true to my word,
     even as I want others to be true to me.
Teach me to love others as I wish them to love me.
Teach me, O Father,
     to make others happy — to make others smile.
Teach me, O Mother, to find my happiness
     in the joy of others.

"Father, teach me to understand that which I hear.
Help me to practice in my daily life
     all the good which I learn.
Teach me to watch The working in Nature.
Teach me to feel Thee as Silence,
     when I close my eyes.
I bow to Thee —Aum."
  Amen.

—from WHISPERS FROM ETERNITY,  by Swami Yogananda Paramhansa

Noble Thoughts

("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)

"Our individual minds are the strings which catch the rhythmic vibrations of this universal mind and respond in music of space and time. The quality and number and pitch of our mind strings differ and their tuning has not yet come to its perfection, but their law is the law of the universal mind which is the instrument of finitude upon which the Eternal Player plays his dance music of creation.

"Because of the mind instruments which we possess we also have found our place as creators.  We create not only art and social organizations, but our inner nature and outer surroundings, the truth of which depends upon their harmony with the law of the universal mind. Of course, our creations are mere variations on God’s great theme of the universe.  When we produce discords, they either have to end in a harmony or in silence.  Our freedom as a creator finds its highest joy in contributing its own voice in the concert of the world-music."

—from PERSONALITY,  by Rabindrinath Tagore

The Mystical Source of Yoga

Swami Kamalananda
Speaks on "The Mystical Source of Yoga"
Sunday, June 28, 2015 at 11:00am

The First International Day of Yoga (last week) heralded the ancient tradition with great promise for future generations. That the message was sent digitally around the world with carefully prepared videos captioned in languages reaching people world-wide was no small feat!

At the honorable invitation from the India Government, our own Srimati Carrie opened and “anchored” the entire event held on the Washington Monument mall.  

Yoga (primarily Ashtanga yoga) was seen as an integrated and holistic approach and practice enhancing the life of body, mind and spirit through a system of postures linked together by breath and movement.

But there is more we know and a deeper appreciation we need that springs from the very source of Yoga. Though scientific, its province is greater than that of science. Though chronicled for thousands of years it is not historical. Though it is often understood as the premise for religious experience it is not a religion.

Without speaking in philosophical riddles we can identify the profound mystical source of Yoga that form our spiritual “roots” and our sacred heritage of God and Gurus.

I am thankful we have this subject for our final convocation prior to July-August closing, and I look forward to sharing a meal with you afterwards.  

AUM  —S.K.
 

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

"Dedicated unto
All the soul-temples of Christians, Moslems,
Buddhists, Hebrews and Hindus,
Wherein the Cosmic Heart is throbbing equally 
always—

"And unto
All the multi-colored lamps of various true teachings,
In which shines the same one white flame of God—

"And unto
All churches, mosques, biharas, tabernacles
and temples of the world—
Wherein our own One Father dwells impartially
in the fullness of His glory."

—the “Dedication” from WHISPERS FROM ETERNITY, by Swami Yogananda Paramhansa

"There is no difference in the truths inculcated by the various faiths….there is but one method by which the world, both external and internal, has evolved ….. there is but one Goal admitted by all scriptures. But this basic truth is one not easily comprehended….

Only a few specially gifted persons can rise superior to the influence of their professed creeds and find absolute unanimity in the truths propagated by all great faiths."

—from "The Holy Science" by Swami Sri Yukteswar

"We are too concerned with acquiring knowledge of everything else but ourselves, and that is the root-cause of all our miseries.  So long as we give ourselves to the understanding of the phenomenal world only, our knowledge is incomplete, and analytic, hence imperfect.  Imperfect knowledge does not produce permanent peace.  In the knowledge of our true nature we find the synthesis of the multiplicities of the objective world, the unity in diversity.  Such knowledge produces peace. Wisdom is Self-realization."

—from "God, The Umiversal Reality" by Swami Premananda

"Creative Spirit"

"Soul is not a passive reality.  It is ever active within our innermost consciousness. It dwells within this body of ours. It is incessantly performing its divine task of purifying our inner consciousness and revealing our spiritual oneness with God.

By its power it stimulates and inspires all our senses and sense faculties in acts of righteousness. Soul sanctifies our senses, spiritualizes our mind and purifies our heart. Soul leads us into the realization of our divine nature of godhood."

—from "Sayings of Shyamacharan Lahiri" translated by Swami Premananda

Noble Thoughts: ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)

"The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical.  It is the power of all true science.  He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead.  To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms — this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religiousness."

—Albert Einstein

"There is one soul.
It is related to the world.
Art is its action thereon.
Science finds its methods.
Literature is its record.
Religion is the emotion of reverence that it inspires.
Ethics is the soul illustrated in human life.
Society is the finding of this soul by individuals in each other.
Trades are the learning of the soul in nature by labor.
Politics is the activity of the soul illustrated in power.
Manners are silent and mediate expressions of soul."

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Depend on it, that rude and careless as I am, I would fain practice the yoga faithfully . . . .The yogi, absorbed in contemplation, contributes in his degree to creation:  he breathes a divine perfume, he hears wonderful things.  Divine forms traverse him without tearing him, and united to the nature which is proper to him, he goes, he acts as animating original matter. To some extent, and at rare intervals, even I am a yogi."

—Henry David Thoreau

 
"I would develop in the child his hands, his brain and his soul.

"If they grow up in their natural innocence we won’t have to pass fruitless, idle resolutions, but we shall go from love to love and from peace to peace until at last all the corners of the world are covered with that peace and love for which consciously or unconsciously the world is hungering."

—Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, from "Yours Faithfully, Mahatma Gandhi," by Srimati Kamala

I and My Father are One

Achariya Fritz Kramer
Speaks on "I and My Father are One"
Sunday, June 21, 2015 at 11:00am

This Sunday we will meet in our Temple to honor, contemplate and celebrate fatherhood. When we offer the Eternal Truths each week, we say, "I and my Father are One." May our meditation on this statement bring us closer to that truth, closer to our fathers, both earthly and divine. And, as the day falls on a particularly auspicious place on the calendar this year, the Summer Solstice, let us join together to bask in the light of "Our Father which art in Heaven."

—Achariya Fritz

From the Gurus and Swamis:  AUM

"Father" is a symbol of pure idealism: Spirit, the transcendental God, as the source, the Primal Progenitor, of all cosmic creation. From Him all things have come into manifestation, and in His own cosmic omnipotence they find their perfection: a Father. Under His guiding omniscience, all things move in their appointed course: a Father. 

—Swami Yogananda Paramhansa

"The Eternal Father, God, Swami Parambrahma, is the only Real Substance, Sat, and is all in all in the universe."

—Swami Sri Yukteswar
 

"God is one. That which is infinite must be one. To admit the existence of any phenomenon outside God is to limit his infinity."

—Swami Premananda

Noble Thoughts:  ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)

"In the beginning was only Being,
One without a second.
Out of himself he brought forth the cosmos
And entered into everything in it.
There is nothing that does not come from him.
Of everything he is the inmost Self.
He is the truth; he is the Self supreme.
You are that, Shvetaketu, you are that."

—Chandogya Upanishad

 
"Within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related; the eternal ONE. And this deep power in which we exist and whose beatitude is all accessible to us is not only self-sufficing and perfect in every hour, but the act of seeing and the thing seen, the seer and the spectacle, the subject and the object are one."

—Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Best of Ralph Waldo Emerson"
 

"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in
       thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may
       believe that thou hast sent me.

And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that
       they may be one, even as we are one:  I in them, and      
       them in me, that they may be made perfect in one."

—John 17:21-23

God! God! God!

Achariya Ajay Bauer
Speaks on "God! God! God!"
Sunday, June 14, 2015 at 11:00am

At the conclusion of each session of the Kriya Series we offer the beautiful prayer of Swami Yogananda Paramahansa God! God! God!, a sublime and inspiring prayer of God-Consciousness. The philosophy of God-Consciousness is also expounded in the Isha Upanishad which enjoins: Whatever exists in the phenomenal universe should be perceived in the light of the supreme Self, Isha, God, Consciousness-Existence-Bliss Absolute. Why is “God!” repeated three times in the title of the prayer and in each stanza? What is the significance of it having seven stanzas? This Sunday we will meditate on the message of this profound prayer.

—Acharya Ajay
 

 From the Gurus and Swamis:  AUM

The light of the whole universe is the light within me. At the center of my earthly life is God, the Center of the Universe. The perfection of God emanating from the heart of the whole universe is the foundation and the root of my self-consciousness and self-existence.

I exist in the universe of God, and the universe of God exists within me. What a sublimely beautiful realization!

—Swami Kamalananda, “The Mystic Cross”
 
 
The attributes of God are infinite, eternal and universal. They are all-pervading and ever-present. They are transcendental and absolute. By its meditation upon these attributes of God mind receives in endless abundance all the qualities of virtue and righteousness wherewith to build our inner life and make it a mystic temple of wisdom to reveal the truth and power that enable us to follow the spiritual ideal, and the peace that offers joy amidst all the undulations of life's journey through this world.

—Swami Premananda, “The Blessedness of the Inner Life”

In waking, eating, working, dreaming, sleeping,
   serving, meditating, chanting, divinely loving,
My soul will hum, unheard by any:
  God! God! God!

—Swami Paramahansa Yogananda

Noble Thoughts: ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)

"Man should desire to live the full measure of his life in this world; always with the ideal of self-perfection. Thus, his mind will not become a slave to sensory impressions."
 
—"Isha Upanishad, Philosophy of God-Consciousness,"
translated by Swami Premananda

 
"The way of yoga followed here has a different purpose from others, – for its aim is not only to rise out of the ordinary ignorant world-consciousness into the divine consciousness, but to bring the supramental power of that divine consciousness down into the ignorance of mind, life and body, to transform them, to manifest the Divine here and create a divine life in matter."
 
"Be conscious first of thyself within, then think and act."
 
—Sri Aurobindo
 

"Love is the perfection of consciousness. For love is the ultimate meaning of everything around us. It is not a mere sentiment; it is truth; it is the joy that is at the root of all creation. It is the white light of pure consciousness that emanates from Brahma."
 
—Rabindranath Tagore

The Power of Suggestion

Srimati Carrie Trybulec
Speaks on "The Power of Suggestion"
Sunday, June 7, 2015 at 11:00am

The Isha Upanishad offers the thought that we should desire to live the full measure of life.  What guides us toward the realization of such divine fullness?

In order for us to achieve this realization, the knowledge of our own soul must grow.  By our meditation we liberate the mind and remove all false knowledge and limitation. We can, therefore, nurture the noble thoughts that come to us from every side, exploring the divine powers of suggestion that exist everywhere. 

-Srimati Carrie

From Gurus and Swamis:

“It is the nature of the mind to take suggestions. Once the mind is impressed by a wrong thought it may be difficult to overcome.  False knowledge is worse than ignorance.

Meditation cultivates the noble character of the mind.”

-Swami Kamalananda, Reflections on Still Waters
  

“To become subjective and to learn to meditate, the mind requires guidance. It requires something to focus on that is at first so interesting and so absorbing - so drawing to the mind - that all lesser and weaker, self-limiting or selfish thoughts, will drop away. It requires a light or an illuminating thought. We can see from this why spiritual study and the understanding of one’s philosophy and ideal are vitally important. We can also understand why the use of a specific mantram (sacred symbolic word) and technique of meditation are held in such sacred esteem.”

 -Swami Kamalananda, The Mystic Cross
 

“Meditation is not the contradiction of mind. It is the universalization of the senses. The world is not perfect, but it offers me manifold opportunities to unfold the God-given virtues of my soul and to attain self-perfection. Through contemplation upon noble thoughts and impersonal ideals my mind receives inspiration and illumination. In the performance of righteous deeds I feel my soul’s oneness with my fellow men.”

-Swami Premananda, The Inner Path to God
 

“Mind automatically overcomes and transcends all limitations when it is identified with the universality and infinity of God. Peace and contentment are the inevitable results of a liberated mind.

A liberated mind realizes its oneness with all that exists in the phenomenal world as well as with all the realities of the noumenal universe. 

The powers of mind and the faculties of the senses are not opposing forces within us. On the contrary they function in harmony when the ideals of purity and righteousness inspire and guide them.”

I perceive the presence and power of God around me in nature and in all beings, but I realize his attributes and perfection in the qualities and peace of my inmost soul.”

-Sayings of Shyamacharan Lahiri by Swami Premananda

Noble Thoughts:

“Goodness is the only investment that never fails.”

“Every man is the builder of a temple, called his body, to the god he worships, after a style purely his own, nor can he get off by hammering marble instead. We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and blood and bones. Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man’s features, any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them.”

-Henry David Thoreau, Walden

“One whose senses are spiritualized; whose words are constructive as well as illuminating; whose mind is made calm; who is thus disciplined in these three aspects of self-expression; Him I call a man of wisdom.”

-The Path of the Eternal Law, Dhammapada, Translated by Swami Premananda

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence…Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.”

- 2 Peter 1:3, New Testament

“Control the senses with the power of the Self, calm the mind with the transcendental peace of the Self, and illumine the intellect with the omniscience of the Self. Then alone objective desire, the great obstacle, will be transformed and will become the mighty power of subjective revelation. Thus thou shalt transcend all consciousness of duality and realize the absolute Self. Thou art the omnipotent Self.”

- Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Revelation of the Supreme Self, Translation and Interpretation by Swami Premananda

Thou Soul Immortal

Swami Kamalananda
Speaks on "Thou Soul Immortal"
Sunday, May 31, 2015 at 11:00am

Sunday’s service will be in remembrance of the immortal soul known to us in this life as Jens Erik Steensen: his family life as well as his dedicated service to the ideal of the Swami Order of Absolute Monism as an assistant minister of this church for over forty years.

You may read the Obituary as prepared by his loving family:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thegazettenet/obituary.aspx?n=jens-erik-steensen&pid=174910669& 

All attending the service are invited by the family to gather in the Puja Hall of the Gandhi Center for sharing reflections and refreshments.

—S.K.

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

"When I smile
Thou dost smile through me;
When I cry
In me Thou dost weep,
When I wake
Thou greetest me,
When I walk
Thou art with me.
Thou dost smile and weep,
Thou dost wake and walk
Like me; my Likeness Thou:
But when I dream,
Thou art awake;
When I stumble,
Thou art sure;
When I die
Thou art my life."

—Swami Yogananda Paramhansa from SONGS OF THE SOUL (“Thou in me”)
  

"The whole world of creation is but the appearance of the reality.  It is the reality adorned with the ornaments of light and life, form and beauty.
"God is the almighty power of good and beneficence.  He is the cosmic creator. He is infinite, eternal and universal.
"He has projected the universe of duality out of his being, yet it remains within his illimitable immensity.  Nothing exists outside his cosmic presence.
"God alone is my creator. He has created me as an individual soul. As a soul I am distinct from all other creations. I am made in the spirit of God."

—from SAYINGS OF SHYAMACHARAN LAHIRI, translated by Swami Premananda

"Alone, I stand alone on the seashore beneath the starlit sky where sands and surfs play their eternal game of love and joy.  I long to join them in their mirth and merriment but my soul hears the distant voice of the deep and perceives that the Lord of Light in heavens above has already illumined the path that leads the known to the Unknown.  I realize that the moment for my departure has arrived, and I must bid farewell and journey along the heaven-lit path to return where my soul once again will meet My-Soul and I become My-Self.  Oh truly, I must be on my way, alone with the Alone."

—Swami Premananda Giri, from PRAYERS OF SOUL

"Let not thy life be guided by the consciousness of enmity or friendship, nor by that of hatred or amiability. If thou desirest peace and emancipation, learn to be equally kind and loving to all."

 —Swami Shankarachariya, from the MOHA-MUDGAR, “The Bludgeon that Strikes Delusion Dead"

 
Noble Thoughts: ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)

"In my Father’s house are many mansions. I go and prepare a place for you that where I am
ye may be also."

—Jesus of Christ-consciousness (New Testament of the BIBLE, John 14:2)

"One is of supreme wisdom whose consciousness is free from all self-limiting concepts. 
One is a renunciate who has discarded all attachment from his heart.  One is a messenger of Truth who lives by rendering service of good will unto all."

—Buddha, from THE DHAMMAPADA
 

Every human heart is capable of love and devotion. The nature of water is to moisten; the nature of fire is to give warmth. The nature of a human being is to express pure love.

—Chaitannya, from “Apothegms of Love,” in THE WAY OF WISDOM AND SELF-LIBERATION

On The Seventh Day

Achariya Fritz Kramer
Speaks on "On The Seventh Day"
Sunday, May 24, 2015 at 11:00am

This Sunday we will meditate upon the true spiritual significance of the Sabbath. In the "battle din of activity" that makes up our daily lives, people from all times and lands have set out to establish and promote a time solely defined by spiritual rest, a time to strive for the divine ideal of stillness. While often considered a practice principally undertaken in Judeo-Christian custom, these moments set aside to honor God have deep roots that can be seen from Zoroastrianism to Buddhism to Native American spiritual traditions, and everywhere in between. Let us join together in the temple to rejoice in the day the Lord has made.

—Achariya Fritz

From the Gurus and Swamis:  AUM

"The Sabbath day is meant, principally, to put your mind on God...For one day, for at least a few hours, you should think of nothing but God."
 
—Swami Yogananda Paramhansa

"The bottom of the lake we cannot see, because its surface is covered with ripples. It is only possible when the ripples have subsided, and the water is calm, for us to catch a glimpse of the bottom. If the water is muddy, the bottom will not be seen; if the water is agitated all the time, the bottom will not be seen. If the water is clear, and there are no waves, we shall see the bottom."

—Swami Vivekananda

In the way toward Divinity there are seven spheres or stages of creation, designated as Swargas or Lokas by the Oriental sages. These are Bhuloka, the sphere of gross matters; Bhuvarloka, the 
sphere of fine matters or electric attributes; Swarloka, the sphere of magnetic poles and auras or electricities; Maharloka, the sphere of magnets, the atoms; Janaloka, the sphere of Spiritual Reflections, the Sons of God; Tapoloka, the sphere of the Holy Ghost, the Universal Spirit; and Satyaloka, the sphere of God, the Eternal Substance, Sat.

—Swami Sri Yukteswar

Noble Thoughts: ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)

"Empty yourself of everything. Let the mind rest at peace. The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return.

They grow and flourish and then return to the source. Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature."
—Lao Tsu, "Tao Te Ching" translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English


"Let my doing nothing when I have nothing to do become untroubled in its depth of peace like the evening in the seashore when the water is silent."
 
—Rabindranath Tagore, "Stray Birds"
 
 
"This rest is unchangeable, as God is; it is elevated, as God is, above all created things; it is most secret and intimate, because it is only God, the enjoyment of whom pierces to the very depths of our hearts; it is full, because God completely fills and satisfies the heart; it leaves nothing to desire, and nothing to regret, because he who possesses God can neither desire nor regret anything else."

—John Nicholas Grou, "Manual for Interior Souls"

Let Thy Light Shine

Achariya Ajay Jeffrey Bauer
Speaks on "Let Thy Light Shine"
Sunday, May 17, 2015 at 11:00am

Each one of us is uniquely endowed with the ability to bring God’s light into manifestation. We each have our own unique gifts, affinities and proclivities through which we must let the pure light of God shine upon all of creation untarnished by the littleness of ego. This is our sacred duty, privilege and joy. As Jesus of Christ Consciousness implored of us: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

—Acharya Ajay
 

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

"The essence of the rose is concealed, nurtured in secret. Nevertheless, the blossom, once unfolded, offers it's fragrance as freely as breath into the sunlight, rain and wind. The essence of man, his soul of God-light, God-life, and God-love, is also concealed and grows in silence. It must be cultivated so that its fragrance, the divine virtues of wisdom, self-mastery, peace and joy, may breathe freely through his thoughts, actions, and feelings in all surroundings."

—Swami Kamalananda, “Reflections on Still Waters”

"Bringing an abstract ideal or quality into concrete evidence for the good of all is self-manifestation. It is the actualization of a noble ideal into a positive benefit. It is performing good deeds with the godly qualities of the soul. Nobleness of conduct is verified by self-manifestation. In the fulfillment of self-manifestation the attributes of God are made beneficent to humanity and to all other creations of God."

—Swami Premananda, “One Hundred and One Noble Qualities”

"The sunbeams of Thy love shine with equal ardor on all members of Thy cosmic family – the prophet, the hero, the moth, and me.

"It is man's own fault that he has become opaque through dullness. Teach us to wipe away the mists of error from our mirror of right understanding.

"The arms of our spiritual resistance are weak. O Lord, switch Thy power into our limbs that we may cleanse away the dark vapors, which have settled on our transparency and prevented the free entry of Thy light. May we be bright unmarred mirrors, reflecting Thee."

—Swami Paramhansa Yogananda, “Whispers from Eternity”

Noble Thoughts: ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)

"O friend, understand: the body is like the ocean,
rich with hidden treasures.
Open your inmost chamber and light its lamp."

—Mirabai, in "Essential Mystics" by Andrew Harvey

"The creative spontaneous soul sends forth its promptings of desire and aspiration in us. These promptings are our true fate, which it is our business to fulfil."

—D.H. Lawrence, "Phoenix II"

 
"Honor the highest thing in the Universe; it is the power on which all things depend; it is the light by which all of life is guided. Honor the highest within yourself; for it too is the power on which all things depend, and the light by which all life is guided.

"Dig within. Within is the wellspring of Good; and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig."

—Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"

Life Giving

Srimati Carrie Trybulec
Speaks on “Life Giving”
Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 11:00am

On this blessed Mother’s Day, let us our turn our reflection to the life giving power of that indwelling Self of us all.  

When the infinite becomes finite in this individual life, it does not lose its infinity. It is merely granting that life giving power to manifest in cosmic form.

-Srimati Carrie

FROM GURUS AND SWAMIS:

Thou Perfect Giver of Bountiful Life,
Open my mind and heart to Life
That I may be ever mindful of the blessedness of human birth.
Thou has given me this life to realize Thy Life,
This mind to channel Thy Light,
This Heart to offer Thy Love. 

-Swami Kamalananda, “Reflections on Still Waters”
 

True human life is a process of sacrifice of the immediate, the individual and the apparent for a realization of life that is eternal, infinite and formless. That process of resolution of duality’s contradictions, separation and incomprehension is yoga.

-Swami Kamalananda – Frontiers of the Spirit
 

Creation has three stages of manifestation, namely, involution, evolution, and a third stage. It is difficult to find any single word to express the latter, but for our purpose let us call it the state of almost-perfection. These three stages of creation are parallel to and dominated by the three creative principles of God:

1.    Desire to create, universal Tamas

2.    Actual creation, universal Rajas

3.    Ideal of perfection, universal Sattva

The three creative principles, together, are called Prakriti (in Sanskrit) and procreatrix (in Latin). Prakriti is the mother-creator.  She creates, but she receives her power of creation from God. In reality, she is God’s true creative instrument.

 -Swami Premananda, “The Law of Self-Manifestation”

NOBLE THOUGHTS:

O thou indwelling Self, thou giver of life to the body, within thy almighty power rests the good of thy creation. Guide us by thy wisdom. May we always remember thy presence within and around us. May thy protection and peace be upon all humanity and upon thy entire creation.

-Svetasvatara Upanishad, Ch 3, Translation by Swami Premananda
 

Giving birth and nourishing; having without possessing; acting with no expectations; leading and not trying to control; this is the supreme virtue.

-Lao Tzu