Grace of God

Achariya "Ajay" Jeffrey Bauer
Speaks on "Grace of God"
Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 11:00am

Next Thursday families and friends across our nation will gather together to celebrate the Thanksgiving Holyday. We will rightly give thanks for family and friends, for the plentitude of food to nourish us, for the wonderful homes in which we live and raise our children, and for countless other “earthly” blessings we are grateful to have received. But let us make sure we pause for a moment to give thanks to Him from whom all blessings flow. Quoting from Swami Premananda’s Seven Mystic Holydays, “God has given us this life to unfold and manifest his attributes and he has granted us immortality in order that we may realize our oneness with Him.” God is the material and substance of this earth, which has come into being that we may live and grow by his grace. Let us give thanks to God whose grace nourishes and guides all of life.  

—Achariya Ajay

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

"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 hast 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

"God has enshrined his divinity and perfection within our soul. His divine attributes comprise the sublime virtues of our soul. He has given us this life to unfold and manifest his attributes and he has granted us immortality in order that we may realize our oneness with him. Blessed is the heart wherein the spirit of thankfulness is an ever-abiding virtue."

—Swami Premananda, One Hundred and One Noble Qualities
 

"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

Noble Thoughts:

"Think of something for which you are grateful today. Say thanks. I am grateful to You, Giver and Sustainer of life, for having granted me another day of life. Your love and faith in me is truly overwhelming."
 
—Rabbi Terry Bookman, The Busy Soul

 
"Thou that hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart. . . .
Not thankful, when it pleaseth me;
As if thy blessings had spare days:
But such a heart, whose pulse may be Thy praise."

-George Herbert, The Temple

 
"We return thanks to our mother, the earth, which sustains us.
We return thanks to the rivers and streams, which supply us with water.
We return thanks to all herbs, which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases.
We return thanks to the corn, and to her sisters,
The beans and squashes which give us life.
We return thanks to the sun, that he has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye.
Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit, in whom is embodied all goodness, and who directs all things for the good of his children."
 
-Iroquois Prayer, quoted in Earth Prayers, edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon

Rise Above

Srimati Carrie
Speaks on “Rise Above"
Sunday, November 13, 2016 at 11:00am

There are times in life when we meet individuals whose strength and resilience create within us a sense of awe. Seeing how such a person overcomes adversity in life and prevails against all odds inspires us. In fact, we seek out stories of such human beings to set an example for how we may live our own life.  

No matter what personal tragedies and obstacles arise, some people seem to find the inner strength to rise above their circumstances and, perhaps, achieve greatness. Or at the very least, they learn critical lessons from these life experiences to bring them to a new understanding, a new way of thinking.

We know that one of the sublime messages of the Bhagavad Gita reveals to us that we should dedicate our actions to God, the universal reality; that we should fix our mind on that reality; rise above all personal desires and egoism; make ourselves free from attachment and grief. Thus prepared, we should engage in life. Is this not the very ideal that we are to “live in the world but not of the world?”

How do we apply this ideal to our daily living? How do we remove the trappings of our attachments, fears and worries? We too easily forget the reality of that Eternal and Immortal Self. 

Our struggles reflect the negative tendencies of our mind. How do we overcome the obstacles that meet us on the path of Self-realization? How do we rise above the physical, mental and emotional barriers that prevent us from realizing our True Self?

There is but one reality that permeates Thee and me and all beings. Let us rise above the consciousness of separation. Let us cross the sea of Samsara.

-Srimati Carrie

FROM GURUS AND SWAMIS:
 

The cosmic force, prana, is pure spirit, finer than electrons and more subtle than anything we perceive with our senses. It is this cosmic life energy that joins the universe of what we call matter - or manifest being - to spirit. All is spirit, but what we differentiate as spirit and matter is simply the gradation of spirit in vibration. Looking at life this way there is no conflict of separation between so-called spirit life and so-called matter.”

-Swami Kamalananda, The Mystic Cross
 

The cause of finiteness in man is his false knowledge about himself. He is entrenched in the thought that he is finite and limited, a creature of age and suffering, disease and death… He lives, moves, and grows in and with false concepts about himself, and in consequence he has not only forgotten his true and godly nature, but now he even refuses to believe that he is the supreme Spirit. The darkness of false knowledge blinds man’s vision of his divine Self.”

“Man, the transcendental Spirit, has made himself a captive in the prison-house of the senses. But what is it that keeps him enchained to the finiteness of sensory existence? It is Tanha. The Pali word Tanha is translated into English as “desire,” but the word desire does not convey the right philosophical significance of the term Tanha. The true meaning of Tanha is “the will to live in the lower self.” This will is the chain that keeps man tied to sensory existence. Desire for sublime virtues and noble deeds is among the basic principles of the philosophy of Nirvana. But the desire to confine the existence and ideal of life in the sensory self is a motive unworthy of the lofty origin and sublime destiny of man.” 

-Introduction to Dhammapada: The Path of the Eternal Law, by Swami Premananda

NOBLE THOUGHTS:

“Life in this physical plane of consciousness is as impermanent as the fleeting moments of time. One who has been initiated in the Light of the Self can never limit his ideal of existence to the evanescent pleasures of the phenomenal world.” (ch 1 v 28)

“Transcending even the subtlest phenomena in the relative universe, more sublime than the most spiritual being, is the Self, yet it resides in the hearts of all. When the senses are made calm by the serenity of mind, and the consciousness is freed from attachment and sorrow, then the Self is realized in its magnificence and glory. (ch 2 v 20) 

-Katha Upanishad

"There is an indefinable mysterious power that pervades everything, I feel it though I do not see it. It is this unseen power which makes itself felt and yet defies all proof, because it is so unlike all that I perceive through my senses. It transcends the senses. 

- Gandhi

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” 

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“O Arjuna, rise above the pairs of opposites, be thou firmly established on truth, be not attached to material gain and possession, be established on the Self, and thus thou shalt find freedom in and from the relative world of the Gunas.

To work is thy right, but thou hast no claim over the fruits of action. Let not thy action be inspired by the desire of its fruits, yet do thou not fall into inaction.

O Dhananjaya, being absorbed in the love of God perform thine action, and ever remembering that both success and failure are ultimately good, be thou undisturbed. Inner calmness is Yoga.” 

- Srimad Bhagavad Gita Ch 2: 45, 47-48

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

-Romans 12:2
 

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

-Isaiah 40:31

Seven Aspects of Spiritual Self-Mastery

Achariya George Adams
Speaks on "Seven Aspects of Spiritual Self-Mastery"
Sunday, November 6, 2016 at 11:00am

We live in exciting times.  Externally we have come along way since the age when most of humanity believed that the earth was the center of the universe.  Self-driving cars, planetary exploration, intelligent robots, the internet, advances in biology and medicine are but a few of man’s many material achievements.  Internally, examples of highly advanced souls like a Gandhi, a Jesus, a Buddha, a Mohammed and many others hold the promise of our future evolution as a species. These supreme souls have demonstrated the higher spiritual laws that govern our evolution and have taken us to a new level of understanding regarding the universe and ourselves. 

The question remains given our true spiritual nature: How do we achieve our highest spiritual potential?  How do we find a path to external and internal spiritual enlightenment? In the words of the blessed Nazarene: how do we become “perfect even as the Father in Heaven is Perfect”?

To achieve our highest potential requires a transformation of our life inside and out.  It requires a universal ideal and a universal philosophy that accommodates all truth, all knowledge that reconciles the differences between spirituality and materialism.  It requires that we discover our highest self and manifest that self in our life.  It requires that we govern our life by the laws of our true nature namely, oneness, eternality and illumination born of love, life and wisdom.  It requires the self-discipline of wisdom and all encompassing compassion.  it requires a spiritual practice that will help us grow and unfold the noble qualities of our soul.  It requires that we enter within and truly discover who we are and our relationship to the universe and that we manifest that discovery in our life.   

Truth is not the dictate of a religious authority, or other temporal power, or a mere speculation, it is direct experience! Truth is real!  Self realization is realization.  It is making real,the bringing into our awareness, awakening to that which is real.  Truth is God.  God is Truth.  Truth is the realization of the Absolute within our consciousness and manifesting that Truth in the world.

The ultimate spiritual goal of our life is to fully realize that we are one with the creator and to manifest that divinity at its highest level.  It is our blessing to realize that God, Truth, is everywhere and in all of creation.  It is our blessing to realize that not only are loved by God, but that we are love.  It is our blessing to be able to transmute and transcend that which is transitory and finite and unite our consciousness with that which is the One without a Second, the Source of All.  It is our blessing to be an instrument to manifest that divinity into the universe.

—Achariya George

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

"Experience is the only source of knowledge. In the world, religion is the only source where there is no surety, because it is not taught as a science of experience. This should not be. There is always, however, a small group of men who teach religion from experience. They are called mystics, and these mystics in every religion speak the same tongue and teach the same truth…. 

"The book from which to learn religion is your own mind and heart. The sage is often ignorant of physical science, because he reads the wrong book—the book within; and the scientist is too often ignorant of religion, because he too reads the wrong book—the book without."

—Swami Vivekananda, Notes on Science and Religion
 

"The Realization of the supreme Self, which is indestructible, eternal, without beginning and without end, destroys the illusion that the self is annihilated at the highest state of self-realization.

"As the self progresses toward the realization of its absolute perfection of wisdom, existence and bliss, it passes through various states of consciousness.  Leaving the lower behind, it enters the higher states in which it finds greater joy and new inspiration.

"Passing through the stages of duality, the Yogi realizes himself as above all dualities and free from their effects.  He realizes himself as birthless, deathless, all-pervading, and free from the chain of cause and effect.  He realizes that he is eternal.  Yet he finds himself unable to express this realization in words.  Here all suffering ceases, and the Yogi attains the state of eternal, conscious bliss."

 —Srimad-Bhagavad Gita,Translation and Spiritual Interpretation by Swami Premananda

Noble Thoughts:

"In the cosmic process, we find that life uses matter for its instrument. Similarly mind uses the living organism.  The highest order of being called spirit which is mind illumined by the ideals of truth, goodness and beauty is rooted in human intelligence and grows from it.  The universe attempts to realize these ideals and cannot be understood except in the light of them.   They are not only the goal of the universe in the temporal sense but are the timeless principles in the light of which alone the universe becomes intelligible."

—S. Radhakrishnan, The Spirit In Man

"If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning."

—Mahatma Gandhi

From Darkness to Light

Srimati Carrie
Speaks on "From Darkness to Light"
Sunday, October 30, 2016 at 11:00am

The beautiful observance of Diwali is found in our sacred awakening to the Light of Soul within and around us. We light the lamps, not only earthen lamps of oil and wicks, but we light the lamps of our own hearts.

Each of us has known dark moments, those times when we cannot seem to lift ourselves up and bring ourselves back into the light.  We lack hope and courage, joy and wisdom. But when we do find that spark of light within us, we touch the infinite.  We realize the truth within us. In those moments, we are filled with understanding and bliss. 

How do we keep the lamp lit?  What do we do to keep our consciousness lifted to that supreme light?  

—Srimati Carrie

From Gurus and Swamis: AUM

“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 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:

"God is the light of the heavens and the earth; the likeness of His light is as a niche wherein is a lamp. The lamp is in a glass. The glass is as it were a shining star. (This lamp is) kindled from a blessed tree, an olive that is neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil well nigh would shine, even if no fire touched it; light upon light.”

—Qur’an, Surah 24:35

“The light of life again has reached us: darkness hath passed away.”

—Rig Veda

"Our faith should be like an ever burning lamp which not only gives us light, but also illuminates the surroundings.”

—Mahatma Gandhi

 “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.”  

—The Bible, Proverbs 119:105

Divine Guidance

Achariya Ajay
Speaks on "Divine Guidance"
Sunday, October 23, 2016 at 11:00am

The service this Sunday will be a logical follow up of the service I gave on September 18th entitled “Moksha.” As stated previously one of the most fundamental desires of human beings is for freedom. Moksha is the ideal of absolute freedom and it is the birthright of all souls. We so earnestly desire freedom because in our true nature we are absolutely free. However, contrary to the dictates of popular culture, that freedom is not attained by giving free rein to the multitudinous desires of the senses which, paradoxically, lead us to sense enslavement and not to that true freedom we so desire. True freedom is only obtained by following the Divine Guidance of God afforded to us through the light of soul.

—Achariya Ajay

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

"Whither dost thou guide me, O thought? In this universe of God's cosmic creation thou art free to choose thy way and to guide thy course. Revelation of wisdom awaits thy election and all sublime concepts are thine to fill the entire domain of thy knowing power. Thou alone canst make the man a son of God."

—Swami Premananda, “Prayers of Self-Realization”

"The all-knowingness of God within man as the pure-consciousness of soul is the highest authority in life. It is this authority which we seek as God, as Christ, as Guru."

—Swami Kamalananda, “Frontiers of the Spirit”

"The remembrance of God in all expressions of thought, volition and feeling is the path of righteousness. The Yogi knows and follows the path of righteousness at all times and under all circumstances."

—Shyamacharan Lahiri, “Sayings of Shyamacharan Lahiri"

Noble Thoughts:

"Revelation depends upon purity of mind. Very often someone who is worldly-wise is not really wise. Intellectuality is one thing; wisdom is another thing. . . . When the light from within is thrown upon this knowledge, then the knowledge from the outer life and the light coming from within make a perfect wisdom; and it is that wisdom that guides man on the path of life."

—Hazrat Inayat Khan, "The Music of Life"
 

"Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue."
 
—Buddha, "The Three Building Blocks of Virtue"

 
"Truth resides in every human heart, and one has to search for it there, and to be guided by truth as one sees it."
 
—M. K. Gandhi, "Harijan 24-11-1933"

Tree of Life

Srimati Carrie
Speaks on "Tree of Life"
Sunday, October 16, 2016 at 11:00am

In the Autumn months of the earth we witness the majesty and glory of nature renouncing her garb and paring back for the winter months to come.  We are mesmerized by the beautiful pageantry of color displayed before our eyes.  The trees and forests share with us the message of life, wisdom and immortality.

The tree of life is a symbol that spans across religious scripture, mythological lore, and artistic impressions and represents to us the cosmic principle of life’s unfoldment.

-Srimati Carrie
 

FROM GURUS AND SWAMIS:

“Man has always cherished a spiritual kinship towards trees. Forest was the source, the inspiration and the revelation for the Rishis of yore. Man loves trees with his soul. He considers a tree so much a living spiritual symbol of life, its origin, growth and perfection, that he even worships trees."

-Swami Premananda, "Prayers of Soul"
 

"The universe of Nature in which we live is filled with a spirit akin to our own. Nature is alive with God. What that spirit awakens in the heart is a blessing. Some people consider a certain plant sacred; others bow to a stone; many worship the sun. It is always the desire to love and to feel union with God through this wonderful world that is satisfied in such reverences."

-Swami Kamalananda

NOBLE TRUTHS:

“The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.”

-Rabindranath Tagore"
 

"I part the out thrusting branches
and come in beneath the blessed and the blessing trees. 
Though I am silent
there is singing around me. 
Though I am dark
there is vision around me. 
Though I am heavy
there is flight around me." 

- Wendell Berry, “Woods”
 

“Blessed are those who find wisdom…She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.”

- Proverbs 3:13,18

Truth, Love and Non-violence

Achariya George Adams
Speaks on "Truth, Love and Non-violence"
Sunday, October  9, 2016 at 11:00am

This Sunday we have chosen for our meditation the subject, “Truth, Love and Non-violence.”  Our goal will be to awaken, inspire and affirm the spiritual evolution of our soul and that of humanity by the power of what Mahatma Gandhi referred to as “Satyagraha” (soul force). We will see that Satyagraha comports with the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount as well as the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita and that the law of love is the path to universal peace and understanding.

We will also come to the understanding that our soul, our divine essence, is a gift of God to each of us and that our spiritual destiny is to realize and manifest the qualities of Truth, Love and Non-violence in our daily life.

In preparation for this Sunday’s meditation, I invite you to reflect upon the following words from the teaching of The Mahatma:

“I have found that life persists in the midst of destruction. Therefore there must be a higher law than that of destruction. Only under that law would well-ordered society be intelligible and life worth living. If that is the law of life we must work it out in daily existence. Wherever there are wars, wherever we are confronted with an opponent, conquer by love. I have found that the certain law of love has answered in my own life as the law of destruction has never done. It takes a fairly strenuous course of training to attain a mental state of nonviolence. It is a disciplined life, like the life of a soldier. The perfect state is reached only when the mind, body, and speech are in proper coordination. Every problem would lend itself to solution if we are determined to make the law of truth and nonviolence the law of life. Just as a scientist will work wonders out of various applications of the laws of nature, a man who applies the laws of love with scientific precision can work greater wonders. Nonviolence is infinitely more wonderful and subtle than forces of nature like, for instance, electricity. The law of love is a far greater science than any modern science.”

— Achariya George

From Gurus and Swamis: AUM

“Thus, the whole life of the devotee and the universe around him are spiritualized in the twinkling of an eye.  The state which the Raja Yogi realizes only by years of rigid practice, the Jnana Yogi after lives of discrimination, and the Karma Yogi, after many years of service, the Bhakti Yogi attains in an instant”.

— The Magnetic Power of Love, by Swami Premananda
 

“Religion deals with the truths of the metaphysical world just as chemistry and the other natural sciences deal with the truths of the physical world. The book one must read to learn chemistry is the book of nature. The book from which to learn religion is your own mind and heart. The sage is often ignorant of physical science, because he reads the wrong book—the book within; and the scientist is too often ignorant of religion, because he too reads the wrong book—the book without.”

— Swami Vivekananda, Notes on Science and Religion
 

“In its positive form, Ahimsa means the largest love, the greatest charity.  If I am a follower of Ahimsa, I MUST LOVE my enemy.   I must apply the same rules to the wrongdoer who is my enemy or a stranger to me as I would to my wrong-doing father or son.  This active Ahimsa necessarily includes truth and fearlessness.

“Ahimsa is not the crude thing it has been made to appear.  Not to hurt any living thing is no doubt a part of Ahimsa.  But it is its least expression.  The principle of Ahimsa is hurt by every evil thought, by undue haste, by lying, by hatred, by wishing ill to anybody.  It is also violated by our holding on to what the world needs.”

— Mahatama Gandhi, An American Profile by Swami Kamalananda
 

“Realization of the Self reveals the harmony of existence and the correlation of the manifested universe, unfolds innate love and inner joy, unveils the beauty of creation, and in the limitless effulgence of self-consciousness brings the revelation of the all-pervasiveness of the eternal reality.

“Passing through the stages of duality, the Yogi realizes himself as above all dualities and free from their effects.  He realizes himself as birthless, deathless, all-pervading, and free from the chain of cause and effect.  He realizes that he is eternal.  Yet he finds himself unable to express this realization in words.  Here all suffering ceases, and the Yogi attains the state of eternal, conscious bliss.”

— Srimad-Bhagavad Gita, Spiritual Interpretation by Swami Premananda

Noble Thoughts

"Let Noble Thoughts come to us from every side."

—Rig Veda

“I am being led to my religion through Truth and Non-violence, i.e. love in the broadest sense.  I often describe my religion as the Religion of Truth.  Of late, instead of saying God is Truth, I have been saying Truth is God, in order to more fully define my Religion.…the most ignorant among mankind have some truth in them.  We are all sparks of Truth.  The sum total of these sparks is indescribable, as-yet-Unknown-Truth, which is God.”

— Mahatma Gandhi,  Contemporary Indian Philosophy (p 23)
 

"What I want to achieve, what I have been striving and pining to achieve these thirty years is self-realization, to see God face to face. I live and move and have my being in pursuit of this goal. All that I do by way of speaking and writing, and all my ventures in the political field, are directed to this same end."

— Mahatma Gandhi,  My Experiments in Truth
 

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy; But I say unto you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love only those who love you, what reward do you have?”

— Jesus of Christ Consciousness, New Testament, Matthew, Chapter 5 (pp 43-46)

Discipleship

Srimati Carrie
Speaks on "Discipleship"
Sunday, September 25, 2016 at 11:00am

We look to all the messengers of God — the great masters, rishis, saints and prophets —  to guide us as disciples on the path of truth.

With inner illumination we begin to see what is required for true discipleship: self-dedication and spiritual discipline.

Through discipleship we learn that it is the love of truth and the truth of love that shape our consciousness, ideal and activity. 

-Srimati Carrie

From Gurus and Swamis:

“Would you choose the way of true discipleship? Then cultivate the capacity to think clearly. Be discriminating, and guide the fresh course of your life by the ideal of self-perfection. Share and universalize your heart in the purest love. Take the higher course always, and then stick to it with commitment, patience and sincerity. This is the path the masters of life have followed to attain freedom and bliss.”

- Swami Kamalananda, Reflections on Still Waters
 

“…Just humble souls who unassumingly reach out to inspire in others love for God and the desire to seek God by transmitting their consciousness through the vibratory power of their example, words, thoughts and prayers.” 

- Swami Yogananda,The Second Coming of Christ
 

“Soul is a messenger of God. Its exclusive mission is to unfold, realize its God-given qualities and then manifest and share with all other souls God’s truth and attributes in ever increasing abundance.”

- Swami Premananda, Mystic Cross, Dedication Issue

“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, by Swami Premananda

Noble Thoughts:
 

"O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love."

- From Prayer of St. Francis
 

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”

- Jalaluddin Rumi
 

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

- John 13:34-35
 

“One who is the master of himself and who lives by the power and wisdom of self-control, none can ever deprive him of his conquest, neither men on earth nor gods in heaven, nor angels of the celestial realms, nor demons of the lower planes, nay, not even the creator of heaven and earth.

“To one who is an earnest seeker after the highest truth, the spiritual value of even a hundred years of ritualistic practices is negligible compared to that of his brief association with one true renunciate of pure heart.”

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

“O dear disciple, you have gained the realization of the Self, not through much theoretical learning, but because you were rightly initiated in the illumination of the Self by a preceptor who himself has attained the realization of the Self; and more especially by virtue of your determined self-effort in subjective meditation. O Nachiketa, may we always find such worthy disciples as you.” 

- Katha Upanishad, Translated by Swami Premananda

Moksha

Acharya Ajay Jeffrey Bauer
Speaks on "Moksha" 
Sunday, September 18, 2016 at 11:00am

One of the most fundamental desires of human beings is for freedom. This desire is inherent in human nature. We do not want to be confined or controlled by outside agencies in our physical life, in our mental life, in our emotional life, nor in our spiritual life. We rebel against such impositions with all our being. We cry out for freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of religion, and so forth. In fact much of human history can be understood in terms of the pursuit of these freedoms. In Hindu philosophy “Moksha” refers to liberation or emancipation. We may ask: liberation from what? Liberation into what? What freedom do we truly long for? Why do we long for it? What is the nature of that freedom? What are the true obstacles to the freedom we so desire? These questions will be the focal point of our service this Sunday.

From Gurus and Swamis

We possess free will. Each and every one of us is endowed with freedom of will. God has given us this freedom. Free will is one of the fundamental conditions of spiritual life. The attainment of the consciousness of God depends upon it.

-- Swami Premananda, “Free Will and Divine Guidance”

The earthbound live in fear and worry: 
"What will happen to me?" 
The astral bound are impatient and doubting: 
"How long will self realization take? When will I be free?" 
Only the mystic lives with courage and wisdom:
"The real is within and with me always. By the grace of God I will exist in heaven as I AM on earth."

-- Swami Kamalananda, “The Mystic Cross”
 

When man raises himself above sense enslavement and passes completely out of its influence, he becomes liberated from bondage and is placed in his real Self, the Eternal Spirit. On attaining this liberation, man becomes saved from all his troubles, and all the desires of his heart are fulfilled, so the ultimate aim of life is accomplished.

-- Swami Sri Yukteswar, “The Holy Science”
 

Noble Thoughts

You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief, but rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound.

-- Kahlil Gibran, “The Prophet “
 

Unless one is free one cannot explore, investigate or examine. To look deeply there needs to be, not only freedom, but the discipline that is necessary to observe; freedom and discipline go together. We are using the word 'discipline' not in the accepted, traditional sense, which is to conform, imitate, suppress, follow a set pattern; but rather as the root meaning of that word, which is 'to learn.' Learning and freedom go together, freedom bringing its own discipline; not a discipline imposed by the mind in order to achieve a certain result. . . One cannot learn about oneself unless one is free, free so that one can observe, not according to any pattern, formula or concept, but actually observe oneself as one is. . . . and in that there is great beauty."

-- J. Krishnamurti, “The Flight of the Eagle”
 

"Endued with self-discipline, free from fear of loss and lust of possession, pure in the consciousness of divinity within one's own self as well as in all other forms of creation; such a man of wisdom can bear the inevitable pain and sorrow of this world, for he has transcended sensory consciousness.

Gautama Buddha, “The Path of the Eternal Law: Dhammapada”, translated by Swami Premananda

The Awakening

Acharya George Adams
Speaks on "The Awakening" 
Sunday, September 11, 2016 at 11:00am

This Sunday we have chosen for our meditation a critical step in our spiritual journey to God-realization, “The Awakening.”  The Awakening is that point in our spiritual quest where we are “awakened” to our true nature and spiritual life's mission and given the choice of following life’s present course of separation in consciousness from God (the finite ego) or entering into a higher state of oneness with God—Soul Consciousness.  The Awakening is our Soul’s spiritual tipping point, the transformative moment where our consciousness is elevated into a higher level of spiritual knowledge and experience regarding who we are, where we have come from, and where we are going.  It is the crossroad of spiritual choice.  It is the moment we enter into a new and exciting stage of our inner and outer life.  It is the point in time when the spiritual law of unfoldment kicks in and manifests the power of our Soul, the power of divine life, divine love and divine wisdom.

This awakening is revealed in the lives of the many messengers of God and in our own personal journey.  It is to be found in the life of Mahatma Gandhi, Jesus of Christ Consciousness, Gautama, the Buddha, Mohammed, Moses, St. Francis and many others.

Like the silkworm that becomes the butterfly and the chick in the robin’s nest that breaks through its shell to experience the wonderment of a new world, Soul “breaks through” the shell of its finite ego separation consciousness and is awakened to its oneness with the spiritual law of the unfoldment of the innate spiritual qualities of its innermost being. 

In his book Seven Mystic Holidays, Swami Premananda has this to say regarding this awakening of the “innate spiritual qualities of our innermost being":

This awakening of nature and of the human heart and mind to the idealism of soul perfection is …the law of the unfoldment of the soul.  It signifies the gradual ascension of the soul to the absolute perfection of God.  It is the awakening of the innate spiritual qualities of our innermost being to reach the eternal glory of the supreme spirit. For all the attributes of God are enshrined within each and every one of us.

From Gurus and Swamis: AUM

“Buddha awakened man to the religion of soul, a religion of self-realization and divinity, of which the eternal truths mark the highway to perfection.  Perfection is not to be sought outside but within man.The soul of man is inherently perfect, and the goal of human existence is the attainment of that perfection, not through various means but only by self-effort.  Religion does not lie in the rigid observance of external formalities and rituals, though they have unquestionable value in the spiritual unfoldment of man.   Religion is not the acquirement but the unfoldment of divinity.”

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

“AUM, the cosmic Mantram, is the bow, soul is the mystic arrow.  Brahman is the divine mark.  With a heart disciplined by devotion and renunciation, like the arrow flying towards the mark, let the initiate become absorbed in meditation on Brahman.” 

—Light on Kriya Yoga, Mandukya Upanishad, translated by Swami Premananda

Noble Thoughts

“That I want Thee, only Thee, let my heart repeat without end.  All desires that distract me, day and night, are false and empty to the core.

As the night keeps hidden in its gloom the petition for light, even thus in the depths of my unconsciousness rings the cry—'I want Thee, only Thee'.

"As the storm still seeks its end in peace when it strikes against peace with all its might, even thus my rebellion strikes against Thy love, and still its cry is— 'I want Thee, —only Thee'.”

—Gitanjali by Rabintranath Tagore”
 

“The empirical world cannot exist by itself.  It is wholly dependent on Brahman, but the changes of the empirical order do not affect the integrity of Brahman.  The world depends on Brahman, but Brahman depends on nothing.  Ignorance affects our whole empirical being.  It is another name for finitude.”

—Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy, Chapter XV, Vedanta

"Purnam adah purnam idam
Purnat purnam udacyate,
Purnasya purnam adaya
Purnam eva avasisyate.
SHANTI SHANTISHANTI”

“That is Perfect; this is perfect;
Out of That Perfection emanates this perfection;
In the ocean of Perfection surge the waves of perfection;
Yet That Perfection is never lost.
PEACEBLISSPEACE”

—Ancient Invocation 

What is thy nature?

Srimati  Carrie
Speaks on "What is thy nature?"
Sunday, September 4, 2016 at 11:00am

All of philosophy seems to raise the question: "What is thy nature?” 
 
In our study of the universe, of ourselves and of God, we seek to know "What is thy nature?” But what does it mean to “know” the nature of the universe, of ourselves, of God? 
 
According to the Upanishads the enlightened life requires both Brahma-Vidya and Atma-Vidya; realization of God and realization of one’s own true self.
 
We seek to know the Divine attributes, to see God in all, and to realize the qualities of that Self within us. This is the path of Yoga.
 
All of our attempts along this spiritual path will bear fruit. Remember the words of Mahatma Gandhi: "Full effort is full victory.” What effort will we make? What steps will we take?
 
—Srimati Carrie
 

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM
 

”The moment we realize the Self, we realize the Soul, we realize God, we realize our true nature.”

—Swami Premananda, "Realization of the Self"

“It is the aim of yoga to fulfill life’s purpose through conduct and consciousness inherent, and thus natural, to our being.” 

—Swami Kamalananda, "Frontiers of the Spirit"

 
“He who inspires other souls with his ecstasy will find himself expanding. A soul who feels his joy in other souls gradually feels himself as the Self of all.
 
“Human hope, if used rightly as motivation to cultivate higher potentials of mind, imagination, and will, ultimately produces true faith, the intuitive realization of the divine powers in the soul.” 
 
—Swami Yogananda Paramhansa, "The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You"
 

“Through the knowledge of the essential nature and potentialities of the soul are gained the wisdom and power to make life a creative and perfecting self-manifestation in all states of existence.” 
 
—Swami Premananda, "Introduction to Aitareya Upanishad,
Eight Upanishads"
 

Noble Thoughts:

“Perfection is the exclusive attribute of God and it is indescribable, untranslatable. I do believe that it is possible for every human being to become perfect even as God is perfect. It is necessary for all of us to aspire after perfection, but when that blessed state is attained, it becomes indescribable, indefinable.” 
 
—Mahatma Gandhi, "Young India," 22 Sept 1937
 

“Heart, mind, thought, perception, discrimination, intelligence, knowledge, insight, steadfastness, imagination, wisdom, instinct, memory, conception, purpose, life, desire, will - all these are, indeed, various manifestations of consciousness.”
 
“The whole manifested universe has its existence in consciousness. Consciousness, is Brahman, the Self.”
 
— "Aitareya Upanishad," ch2, v2-3 (translated by Swami Premananda)
 

“That which is the Pure Atman is the Great Cause, the Cause of the cause. The gross, the subtle, the causal, and the Great Cause. The five elements are gross. Mind, buddhi, and ego are subtle. Prakriti, the Primal Energy, is the cause of all these. Brahman, Pure Atman, is the Cause of the cause.
 
“This pure Atman alone is our real nature. What is jnana? It is to know one’s own Self and keep the mind in It. It is to know the Pure Atman.”
 
—Sri Ramakrishna
 

Give Us This Day

Swami Kamalananda
Speaks on "Give Us This Day"
Sunday, June 26, 2016 at 11:00am

I am thinking of this, our final Sunday together before we disperse for July and August. As usual we will all have various plans — be they a dedicated project or study, travels, vacations and visits with family or friends or unique times alone. Whatever our days, they need always be lived consciously, contributing to our spiritual purpose and fulfillment.

In considering our communion with God each day, “Give Us This Day” comes to my mind. We repeat this holy supplication as voiced by Jesus perhaps thousands of times in our life! The few words can pass through our minds almost automatically as having come from a master of Christ Consciousness. But should the experience of their blessedness belong uniquely to Jesus? — Or are they not intended to become intimately and sublimely as our own voices lifted to God and drawing to us the same Infinite offerings of God through our lives each and every day?

Sunday will be an auspicious day for the second child of Neela and Trevor Manendo.  In welcoming little Louis Sasanka Manendo’s soul to This Life as given by God, we also bring our aspirations for This and Every Day as given by God to us in the eternal light of Self-Realization and Self-Perfection, One with God.

—S.K.

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

"The divine attributes of soul and the spiritual qualities of heart are the threads of holiness and purity which weave the robe of beauty and perfection to adorn the individual personality with happiness and joy. 
 
"The nature of Samskaras determine the resonance of the inner life and the rhythm of outer behavior. I am an image of my own Samskaras, a replica of my subjective impressions, thoughts and concepts, ideas and ideals.

"I am an image made of attributes of God.
I am a self-unfolding self.
Every human being is a pilgrim soul.

"This world with all its varied manifestations is truly a holy house of God. All its varied manifestations are its adorning ornaments of purity and holiness. Its purity is integral and immutable. Purity cannot be polluted. Divinity can never be defiled. The fallen rains resurrect life. The path of soul is never devoid of the Light of God."

—Swami Premananda, from PRAYERS OF SOUL — “My Life—A Prayer”

 
"I may go far, farther than the farthest star,
    but I will be Thine always!
"Devotees may come, devotees may go,
    but I will be Thine always!
"I may bound over the billows of many lives,
    forlorn beneath the skies of loneliness,
    but I will be Thine always.
"The world may leave Thee, while playing with
    Thy playthings, but I will be thine always.
"Thou mayest take everything away that Thou
     gavest me, but I will be Thine always."

—Swami Yogananda Paramahansa, from WHISPERS FROM ETERNITY
 

"God offers himself unto us in order that we may live and progress in love and righteousness. Only by the power of the divine qualities within us can we become spiritual and godly. All our creations and expressions of perfection are manifestations of God’s perfection.

"He loves all his creations. Therefore he is with and within us always. Love is oneness. It is the divine bond of spiritual identity.
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."

—from SAYINGS OF SHYAMACHARAN LAHIRI, translated by Swami Premananda

Noble Thoughts:

"Look to this day for it is life,
The very life of life.
In its brief course lie all the varieties
and realities of your existence:
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendor of beauty.
But today, well lived
makes every yesterday
a dream of happiness
and every tomorrow
a vision of hope.
Look well therefore to this day.
Such is the salutation to the ever-new dawn."

—Kalidasa

"Let the children come to me, do not hinder them;
      for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
"Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the
      kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."
 
—Jesus, THE BIBLE, Mark 10:15

Our Father

Achariya George Adams
Speaks on "Our Father"
Sunday, June 19, 2016 at 11:00am

In recognition of "Father’s Day," we have chosen for this Sunday’s meditation, the subject “Our Father.”  

We begin our meditation with gratitude to God for the life and example of our earthly Fathers.  Each of us has special memories of our relationship with our father that we treasure in our hearts, and on this special day, we extend our love and thankfulness for his life, idealism, example, love and gift of our life.

There are other “Fathers” for whom we should be grateful. These are the “father figures” who have influenced our journey through life by their example and who have inspired us along the way. We also extend our gratitude to these “Fathers” as well. 

In addition, we extend a special thankfulness to God for the life, guidance and ideal of our “spiritual fathers." These God-realized individuals include such enlightened souls as the Gurus, Buddha, Jesus, Mahatma Gandhi and the many other spiritual lights that have graced our life.  In particular, I know that the fellow devotees of our Church are immensely grateful to Swami Premananda and Swami Yogananda for their spiritual home.

Finally, we thank God, our Father, for the most precious gift of all, the gift of our Soul.  God in me is my Soul.  God in you is Your Soul. You and I are sons and daughters of God. We are one in Soul. 

Jesus of Christ Consciousness used the metaphor of “Our Father” to communicate this Truth to his followers. This Sunday we will explore this metaphor in its many facets.

Please join us!  All are Welcome!

—Achariya George
 

 From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

“Look at the great and spiritual work of the Kriyaban Jesus: 'The Father in me doeth the works,' he said with wisdom, humility and inspiration.  He taught his disciples to meditate.  He initiated them into the light of Kriya, and he gave them the charge of bringing the greatest ministry the world can receive from any servant of God: 'Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven'."

—"The Mystic Cross" by Swami Kamalananda

“O God, thou Father of the universe,
The whole creation is thy manifestation.
Heaven and earth proclaim thy glory.
In the immensity of space and the eternity of time,

The sun, the stars and the planets play thy mystic symphony.
O thou Almighty,
Thy will guides the destiny of creation,
Life moves in obedience to thy command.
O thou omnipresent Being,
Thy presence permeates all.

Thy harmony shapes the beauty of the universe.
Thy love fills it with peace and joy.
Inspire us to realize thy beauty, love, peace and joy Everywhere. 
But let us realize thy glory within us first,
For thou art the soul of man, as of all created beings." 

—"Prayers of Self-Realization" by Swami Premananda

"Never was it born, nor will it ever die.  Nor, having existence, will it cease to be. Birthless, deathless and changeless is the Self.  Without beginning, without end, self-existing , it pervades all.  It is not destroyed with the dissolution of form.

"The Realization of the supreme Self, which is indestructible, eternal, without beginning and without end, destroys the illusion that the self is annihilated at the highest state of self-realization."

—The "Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita," Spiritual Interpretation by Swami Premananda

Noble Thoughts:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh
     unto the Father, but by me.” 
“The Father within me doeth the works.”
“Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit."
“The Kingdom of Heaven cometh not with observation.
    The Kingdom of heaven is within."
“My Father’s house has many mansions.  I go now to
     prepare a place for you that where I am ye may be
     also.”
“None come to the Father except by the son.”
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
      with all thy soul, and with all thy mind and thy
      neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments
      hang all the law and the prophets.”

Jesus of Christ Consciousness

"Eternal, imperishable and infinite is Brahman, the supreme Self.  The wise and the ignorant both live in his cosmic existence. Ignorance is the cause of sense identification and delusion. Wisdom leads to self-liberation and immortality, but the supreme Self transcends all conditions of duality." 

—"Svetasvatara Upanishad," Chapter V, verse 1

"My consciousness has reached immortality, the illusion of death has vanished away. AUM:  I remember the state of my illumined Self, I remember."  

—"ISHA Upanishad," verse 17

High Minded

Achariya Fritz Kramer
Speaks on "High Minded"
Sunday, June 12, 2016 at 11:00am

Day in and day out we strive to be high minded, deriving our thoughts, words and actions from the purest place. Is that place the mind? Or somewhere else? This Sunday we will take a look at our mental worlds, and the four constituent functions that create them: buddhi, manas, ahamkara, and chitta. These functions, like the spokes of a wheel, drive the mental process — moving us along, and providing us the perspective to navigate, our spiritual paths. Let us join together in the Temple this Sunday to contemplate what it truly means to be High Minded.

—Achariya Fritz
 

 From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

"The Atom, under the influence of Chit (universal knowledge) forms the Chitta or the calm state of mind, which when spiritualized is called Buddhi, Intelligence. Its opposite is Manas, Mind, in which lives the Jiva: the self with Ahamkara, Ego, the idea of separate existence."

—Swami Sri Yukteswar, "The Holy Science"

"It is our own mental attitude which makes the world what it is for us. Our thought make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light. First, believe in this world -- that there is meaning behind everything. Everything in the world is good, is holy and beautiful. If you see something evil, think that you are not understanding it in the right light. Throw the burden on yourselves!"
 
—Swami Vivekananda, "Collected Works," Lecture April 1, 1900
 

Noble Thoughts

"Our Essence of Mind is intrinsically pure; all things are only its manifestations, and good deeds and evil deeds are only the result of good thoughts and evil thoughts respectively. Thus, within the Essence of Mind all things (are intrinsically pure), like the azure of the sky and the radiance of the sun and the moon, which, when obscured by passing clouds, may appear as if their brightness had been dimmed; but as soon as the clouds are blown away, brightness reappears and all objects are fully illuminated."

—Wei Lang, "The Sutra"
 

 "O my friend! Remain in solitude with a passion to meet the Lord;
Rid thyself of all grief and be happy.
Be not like the whirlwind; be not baffled or perplexed.
Center thy mind on one point, and be free from all thought."
 
—Sarmad, "Rubaiyats of Sarmad"

 
"It is only when the mind is empty that there is a possibility of creation; but I do not mean this superficial emptiness which most of us have. Most of us are superficially empty, and it shows itself through the desire for distraction. We want to be amused, so we turn to books, to the radio, we run to lectures, to authorities; the mind is everlastingly filling itself. I am not talking of that emptiness which is thoughtlessness. I am talking of the emptiness which comes through extraordinary thoughtfulness, when the mind sees its own power of creating illusion and goes beyond."

—J. Krishnamurti, "The First and Last Freedom"

Supreme Revelation

Srimati Carrie
Speaks on "Supreme Revelation"
Sunday, June 5, 2016 at 11:00am

This Sunday marks the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.  This sacred period of fasting and worship commemorates the first revelation of the Qur’an to the Prophet Muhammad. The consciousness of God’s holy light is revealed to the purified heart.  Knowledge of God is realized in the knowledge of one’s true self.

-Srimati Carrie
 

FROM GURUS AND SWAMIS:

“The realization of soul’s absolute oneness with God is revelation. It is the transcendental state of complete divine identity. It is the state of self-unfoldment wherein the divinity of soul attains the perfection of God. Revelation is spiritual realization. The soul of each of us has a divine destiny. It is the attainment of spiritual perfection in oneness with God. Each soul will ultimately reach that supreme goal and gain the revelation that the individuality of the soul is perfected in the universality of God. The perfection of God is attained and attainable by the soul of man. Revelation comes when consciousness ascends into that state of infinity wherein all concepts of duality are totally transcended. In the revelation of divine identity supreme blissfulness is realized.”

-Swami Premananda, One Hundred and One Noble Qualities
 

“In the soul of man God enshrines His own pure consciousness which guides our life with three revelations: ‘I exist. I know. I am blessed.’ Soul, the only authority of God, brings the highest assurance and truth which is consciously or unconsciously pursued through the universe of life.”

-Swami Kamalananda, Frontiers of the Spirit

“Through every experience God comes to me. Through acts of loving-kindness the love of God is revealed to me. Yet, when I am hurt by untowardness of others, there too, is a message of God revealed to my awakened vision: I learn that God abides with me even in pain, and I learn to see and love God equally in friend and foe.”

-Swami Kamalananda, Frontiers of the Spirit

NOBLE THOUGHTS:

“Free from all conditions of duality is the Self. The Self is eternal. It is the transcendental reality. At the highest state of self-realization the yogi recognizes himself as one with all objects of creation, and attains the revelation that all forms are the manifestations of his own universality.”

-Srimad Bhagavad Gita, translated and interpreted by Swami Premananda, ch 4, vs 6-7

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height; and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.”

-Ephesians 3, 17-19
 

“Blessed is he who has realized Brahman in this life, for he has truly lived his earthly existence.”

-Kena Upanishad
 

“O humankind! We created you from a single pair of one male and one female, and made you into nations and tribes that you may come to intimately know each other; (not that you would despise each other). Indeed the most honorable of you in the sight of God is the one who is the most God-conscious.”

-Qur’an 49:13
 

Man ‘arafa nafsahu, faqad ‘arafa rabbabu. “To know one’s own self is to know one’s Lord.” 

-Saying of the Prophet, PBUH

Divine Attunement

Achariya Ajay Bauer
Speaks on "Divine Attunement"
Sunday, May 29, 2016 at 11:00am

There are many beautiful ways to describe the process of Self-realization: spiritual path, spiritual journey, ascension, and so forth. As beautiful as these metaphors are, they can be somewhat misleading in that they seem to imply that the goal is somewhere else in time and space. Where are God and the perfection of soul to be found? In some distant time and place? Attunement is one of the most sublime descriptions of spiritual unfoldment, for it implies that the perfection of God and soul exist in the here and now and await our perception through attunement. The radio waves are everywhere but remain unheard unless the radio is tuned to the correct frequency. Likewise, God and his perfection abide here and now in every aspect of our lives. It is up to us to “attune” our heart, consciousness and life to that divine presence. 

—Achariya Ajay

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

"The whole universe moves in cosmic rhythm. God is eternal life or infinite vibration. Soul is life and vibration. When our consciousness is attuned to the cosmic vibration, AUM, within us, soul realizes its identity with God."

—Swami Premananda, “101 Noble Qualities”
 

"Meditation is the awakening of consciousness throughout life. The mystery of that awakening is linked to attunement to a particular vibration within us, for it is vibration which awakens our soul. Perfect vibration, cosmic intelligence-will-oneness, is linked to wisdom and happiness. That is why the wise consider the science of sound — of vibration, harmony and attunement — to be the most important knowledge of every condition of life. In healing, in teaching, in loving and learning, it is the secret of success in virtually every area. Sound is the means to self-enlightenment, happiness and success."

—Swami Kamalananda, “The Mystic Cross”
 

"In the wail of viols, in the humming of harps, and in the whisper sobs of my mind I caught echoes of Thee. Then I pulled down the stubborn veils of audible melodies. And, O Singer Infinite, I became aware of Thy voice! O Magic Music of my Soul, at last I heard Thee! Thou hast bestirred me from my age-old slumbers. Humbly I offer at Thine altar the bouquet of all my songs."

—Swami Yogananda, “Whispers From Eternity"
 

Noble Thoughts:

"Spiritual attainment is attuning oneself to a higher pitch."

—Hazrat Inayat Khan, "Awakening"
 

"The Om is also a call to attention. It arranges the particles of our subtle bodies into alignment. Every particle of energy within us responds to the sound of Om. When our energies are in alignment, we are in the best possible position to benefit from our meditations and prayers."

—Ted Andrews, "Sacred Sounds"
 

"The sacred tremor, the very place of creation and return, is completely limitless because it's nature is formless. All the relative notions tied to the ego rediscover their peaceful source deeply buried under all the different states. To grasp this fundamental truth is to see absolute freedom everywhere. Thus the activity of the senses itself dwells in this fundamental freedom and pours forth from it. Therefore, the person who rediscovers this sacred tremor of consciousness escapes the dim confusion of limited desire. Liberated in this way from the multiplicity of impulses tied to the ego, he experiences the supreme state."

—Daniel Odier, "Yoga Spandakarika"

Science of the Soul

Achariya George Adams
Speaks on "Science of the Soul"
Sunday, May 15, 2016 at 11:00am

This Sunday we have chosen for our meditation the subject “Science of the Soul.” We will explore such questions as: “Why cannot the science of religion be like any other science?”  “Why, if such a thing as the soul of man really exists, if it is immortal, can it not be known here and now and realized within one’s own consciousness?” 

Seekers after Truth have been studying religious systems for thousands of years.  When they could not reason out these Truths, they were told to "believe!" The more powerful even forced their dogmas of belief about Truth upon the citizenry.

But there were those who were not entirely satisfied with this superficiality.  "Is there no way out?" they asked. One does not speculate that way in physics, chemistry, and mathematics. Why cannot the science of religion and the soul be like any other science?

The Science of the Soul proposes that it is possible to go beyond mere speculation about Truth and points to those who have realized God.  Truth is not the dictate of a religious authority, or other temporal power, or mere speculation. It is direct experience, the realization of the Absolute within the consciousness of the individual.

The goal is to reach the Absolute, the eternal changeless Reality. It is to transcend that which is transitory and unite one’s consciousness with that which is the one without a second, the Source of All.  There is a way to complete the Scientific experiment and that way is enshrined within each of us.  That way is Yoga, the Science of the Soul.

Please join us this Sunday!  All are Welcome!

—Achariya George 

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

"Experience is the only source of knowledge. In the world, religion is the only source where there is no surety, because it is not taught as a science of experience. This should not be. There is always, however, a small group of men who teach religion from experience. They are called mystics, and these mystics in every religion speak the same tongue and teach the same truth. This is the real science of religion.

"Religion deals with the truths of the metaphysical world just as chemistry and the other natural sciences deal with the truths of the physical world. The book one must read to learn chemistry is the book of nature. The book from which to learn religion is your own mind and heart. The sage is often ignorant of physical science, because he reads the wrong book—the book within; and the scientist is too often ignorant of religion, because he too reads the wrong book—the book without."

—Swami Vivekananda, "Science and Religion"
 

Never was it born, nor will it ever die.  Nor, having existence, will it cease to be. Birthless, deathless and changeless is the Self.  Without beginning, without end, self-existing , it pervades all.  It is not destroyed with the dissolution of form.

The Realization of the supreme Self, which is indestructible, eternal, without beginning and without end, destroys the illusion that the self is annihilated at the highest state of self-realization.

As the self progresses toward the realization of its absolute perfection of wisdom, existence and bliss, it passes through various states of consciousness. Leaving the lower behind, it enters the higher states in which it finds greater joy and new inspiration.

Passing through the stages of duality, the Yogi realizes himself as above all dualities and free from their effects.  He realizes himself as birthless, deathless, all-pervading, and free from the chain of cause and effect. He realizes that he is eternal. Yet he finds himself unable to express this realization in words. Here all suffering ceases, and the Yogi attains the state of eternal, conscious bliss.

—"The Srimad-Bhagavad Gita," translation and spiritual interpretation by Swami Premananda
 

Noble Thoughts: 

"In the cosmic process, we find that life uses matter for its instrument. Similarly mind uses the living organism. The highest order of being called spirit, which is mind illumined by the ideals of truth, goodness and beauty, is rooted in human intelligence and grows from it. The universe attempts to realize these ideals and cannot be understood except in the light of them. They are not only the goal of the universe in the temporal sense, but are the timeless principles in the light of which alone, the universe becomes intelligible."

—S. Radhakrishnan,"The Spirit In Man"
 

O' GREAT SPIRIT
help me always
to speak the truth quietly,
to listen with an open mind
when others speak,
and to remember the peace
that may be found in silence.

—Cherokee Prayer
 

"Purnam adah purnam idam
Purnat purnam udacyate,
Purnasya purnam adaya
Purnam eva avasisyate.

SHANTI SHANTISHANTI”

“That is Perfect; this is perfect;
Out of That Perfection emanates this perfection;
In the ocean of Perfection surge the waves of perfection;
Yet That Perfection is never lost.

PEACEBLISSPEACE”

—Ancient Invocation

Behold, your Mother!

Srimati Carrie
Speaks on "Behold, your Mother"
Sunday, May 8, 20116 at 11:00am

Mother’s Day and the ideal of Divine Motherhood present us with the blessed meditation on the attributes of Godliness in self-manifestation.  It also represents the glorious ideal of discipleship. One example is found in the death of Jesus of Christ-Consciousness—when upon his death he said in the presence of his mother, Mary, and his disciple, 'Woman, behold your son.' And to his devoted disciple, he said, 'Behold, your Mother.' Her motherhood expanded beyond her own blood and kin… her love was elevated to spiritually encompass the souls of those on the path of God-realization. Sharing the purest love is the way of true discipleship and the life of a devotee of God. 

—Srimati Carrie

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

“What does the word 'mother' mean? It comes from matri in Sanskrit which is the basis of all languages. From this root was derived the Latin mater. Matri means 'to measure' so the mother was the 'measurer.' Is it not true that the mother measures or manifests all the divine attributes and offers the standard by which we come to realize selfless love, patience, understanding, forgiveness and other godly qualities?”

—Swami Premananda, "Seven Mystic Holydays"

“My first home in this world was in the sacred sanctuary of my mother’s womb. Each soul, without exception, is accorded the most heavenly home on earth within the living temple of its mother’s body. In it the law of origin, growth and protection is identically the same in the case of each and all souls.”

—Swami Premananda, "14 Questions on Reincarnation"

“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 hast 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"
 

“I am Prakriti, ordained to creative Nature.
I am the current of the Absolute in the ocean of life.
The Mother of Earth, generating endless harmonies and hues in splendorous profusion.
I fill the skies with endless invitations to awaken the soul from sleep.
Awake, then, from thy slumber of unknowing to discover thy cosmic inheritance of infinite domain in my wondrous emporium.”

—Swami Kamalananda, "Frontiers of the Spirit"

Noble Thoughts
 

"We are born of love; Love is our mother."

—Rumi
 

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

—Lao Tzu
 

"So the soldiers did these things, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold, your son!' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother!' And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home."

—John 19
 

“The Blessed Lord said:

I will again declare unto thee the supreme wisdom, which is above all knowledge, by knowing which all the Munis, (self-enlightened individuals), after this life attain to the highest perfection.

"Living by this wisdom and becoming one with my being, they do not come to birth during my cosmic manifestation, nor are they affected in the course of my universal absorption.

"O descendant of Bharata, the great Prakriti, the cosmic Nature, is my womb; in that I place the substance of objective manifestation; from thence is the birth of all beings.

"O son of Kunti, in whatsoever wombs whatever forms are produced, the cosmic Nature is the womb of all.”

—"Srimad-Bhagavad Gita," 14th Chapter, translated by Swami Premananda

Song of Devotion

Srimati Carrie
Speaks on "Song of Devotion"
Sunday, April 24, 2016 at 11:00am

Sri Chaitannya was an ardent exponent of Bhakti Yoga, the philosophy of love and devotion. He wandered the village path awakening all with his songs of God. The pure heart of devotion sings joyfully through a life of attunement. Devotion is vital to sustain us on the spiritual path.
 
—Srimati Carrie


From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

“In love we become silent. In the fullness of love, we are speechless. In love, our whole being vibrates in the rhythm of joy. Love needs no words to express itself.”

—Swami Premananda,The Magnetic Power of Love (Bhakti Yoga)

“From Anahata arises a specific mystic path of consciousness, the Brahmanari, which leads the individualized self-consciousness to its union with the perfection of Brahman. That mystic path arises from the consciousness of the soundless cosmic vibration heard within the holy Anahata.”

—Swami Kamalananda, The Mystic Cross

 
“Heavenly Father, may Thy love shine forever on the sanctuary of my devotion, and may I be able to awaken thy love in all hearts.”

—Swami Yogananada Paramhansa

 
NOBLE THOUGHTS

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

—Chaitannya, (Apothegms of Love, Bhakti Sutras) from "The Way of Wisdom and Self-Liberation" by Swami Premananda
 

“Music, the word we use in our everyday language, is nothing less than the picture of our Beloved. It is because music is the picture of our Beloved that we love music. But the question is, what is our Beloved and where is our Beloved? Our Beloved is that which is our source and our goal; and what we see of our Beloved before our physical eyes is the beauty which is before us; and that part of our Beloved not manifest to our eyes is the inner form of beauty of which our Beloved speaks to us. If only we would listen to the voice of all the beauty that attracts us in any form, we would find that in every aspect it tells us that behind all manifestation is the perfect Spirit, the spirit of wisdom.”

—Hazrat Inayat Khan

“You are the notes and we are the flute.”

—Rumi (Translated by Robert Bly)

“Effortlessly, love flows from God into man, like a bird who rivers the air without moving her wings. Thus, we move in His world one in body and soul, though outwardly separate in form. As the Source strikes the note, humanity sings: The Holy Spirit is our harpist, and all strings which are touched in Love must sound.”

- Mechthild of Magdeburg (Translated by Jane Hirshfield)
 
 
“The pursuit of Truth is true bhakti (devotion). It is the path that leads to God. How beautiful it would be, if all of us, young and old, men and women, devoted ourselves wholly to Truth in all that we might do in our waking hours, whether working, eating, drinking or playing, till dissolution of the body makes us one with Truth?”

—Mahatma Gandhi

Power of Ideal

Achariya Ajay Bauer
Speaks on "Power of Ideal"
Sunday, April 17, 2016 at 11:00am

The artist must have the vision or ideal of the finished painting to guide his brush strokes else the finished work would be nothing but random and meaningless blotches on the canvas. The pianist must have the ideal of the harmony and beauty of the music to guide his fingers or the result would be random dissonant plunking, as a cat walking across the keyboard. Our ideal of life gives meaning and cohesion to the seeming disparate and unrelated“notes” of our lives. What ideal will give this life of ours its most perfect, harmonious and beautiful expression?

—AcharIya Ajay
 

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

"The infusion of every detail of each and all actions and experiences of life with the consciousness of God and his constituent divine attributes is the secret of the blessed life of a yogi, of every person on earth."

—Swami Premananda, “Raja Yoga”
 

"Is Absolute Monism a religion? No, Absolute Monism is not a religion. Rather it is the ideal of spiritual experience and as such it is the fulfillment of all religions. Everyone will attain the ideal and realization of Absolute Monism ultimately because self-unfoldment and self-realization in the search for truth is universal to us all."

—Swami Kamalananda, “I Am An Absolute Monist”
 

"Let humanity grow in the knowledge of truth, in the power of righteousness, in the courage of self-determination, in the beneficence of noble deeds, in the wisdom of contemplation and meditation, and above all in the inner light of self-revelation and self-realization, and it's progress and peace will be permanently assured."

—Shyamacharan Lahiri, “Sayings of Shyamacharan Lahiri”
 

Noble Thoughts: 
 
"The purpose of the soul entering this body is to display her power and actions in the world, for she needs an instrument. By descending to this world, she increases the flow of her power to guide the human being through the world. Thereby she perfects herself above and below, attaining a higher state by being fulfilled in all dimensions. If she is not fulfilled both above and below, she is not complete."

—Mose de Leon, "The Essential Kabbalah"
 

"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. . . . O Universe, all that is in tune with you is also in tune with me. Every note of your harmony resonates in my innermost being. . . . O Nature, all that your seasons bring is fruit for me. From thee come all things; in thee do all things live and grow; and to thee do all things return."

—Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"

"The mere possession of a vision is not the same as living it, nor can we encourage others with it if we do not, ourselves, understand and follow its truths. The pattern of the Great Spirit is over us all, but if we follow our own spirits from within, our pattern becomes clearer. . . . To be blessed with visions is not enough — we must live them!"

—High Eagle,"Saints and Scholars: Be More, Do More, 

Have More" by Gavin G. Gregan