Meditation at Dawn and Dusk

The practice of meditating upon first awakening in the morning and as the last thing we do before retiring at the end of the day is quite natural and logical. We feel drawn to Nature’s heart, a consciousness that unites our body, mind and spirit in inspiration. With each dawn, the sun floods all earthly life as it spreads its gaze over the horizon and reawakens all with its smile of pristine purity. With daily morning meditation, we feel that our day has been blessed from its beginning with God’s own Light-Life-Love to sustain and guide us.

Our evening meditation affirms our spirit’s independence from worldliness as a perfect completion to our day: As the sun withdraws over the horizon, we also withdraw our minds from all attentions, trappings and efforts as “sufficient unto the day” and finished, following the sun’s example by letting go of all mundane responsibilities such as job, family and other social concerns.

Swami Kamalananda
The Breath of God and Pranayam

Breath

There are many similarities in Vedic and Biblical stories of creation.

God is Creator in the Book of Genesis and the Supreme Being (“Brahma”) in the Vedas. In both traditions the Creator transcends the entire universe while bringing forth all life and beings, animate and inanimate. Every religious tradition we know describes the human being as the pinnacle of the process of creation, the most advanced of all living beings on earth.

In the Biblical story, God first created heaven and earth, the seas and the air, the fishes, fowls, herbs and plants and all living creatures in six days, and seeing that it was good ended all this work on the (symbolic) seventh day with rest. And then,

...the Lord God formed man (Adam) of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.  Genesis 2:7

The name “Adam” derives from a combination of “adi,” meaning first, and “aham,” or “ahong,” meaning “I-consciousness.” Adam thus became the first manifested self-consciousness as he drew in God’s imparted breath-of-life. This is similarly stated in the Qur’an:

I breathed into humanity something of my own spirit. Qur’an 38:72

Yet reading “God breathed” only begs the greater persisting philosophical question: How? Exactly what is God’s breath? The profound answer to that question is what strikingly distinguishes the Vedic and Upanishadic thought in several ways, the foremost being that breath existed BEFORE creation itself, i.e., without extraneous breath, as the One Existent, without a second:

In the beginning,

Before there was existence or nonexistence,
Before there was sky or atmosphere above,
Before there was birth, death or immortality,
Day or night, light or darkness. . .
Only the One Existent breathed calmly. . .
self-contained, with nothing beyond. Rig Veda

From that Absolute Being comes the cosmic manifestation of Breath.

Prana

The one consciousness-bearing life force is “Prana.” Prana is the “breath of life,” because there is no life without it; yet prana is not breathing per se. It is what animates all existence and all manifestations of life. All the cosmic space (the Akash) as well as vital forces such as gravity, magnetism and electricity evolve out of Prana. From movements higher and finer than nerve currents, to thoughts and actions, to the lowest and grossest — all are manifestations of Prana.

The Prashna Upanishad identifies Prana as the Supreme Power of Life born of the Atman, the Universal Self. Prana sustains and rules all functions of the various currents of life-force within the body:

Like the spokes on the hub of a chariot wheel, all beings are established on Prana. Revelation, meditation, hymns, sacraments, power and wisdom — all these are possible because of Prana.

Although we summarily call it Prana, we also describe Prana as expressing in five vayus, “winds” or currents working throughout the entire vast body of Nature. The five motions of Prana are associated with the five elements manifesting everywhere.

Swami Kamalananda
The Breath of God and Pranayam

Mental Habits for Meditation

Do you know what happens to the mind that is unprepared, untrained, ignorant of its divine powers of pure self-reflection? It becomes afraid. Afraid to be alone. Afraid to be silent. Afraid to be calm. It is the greatest tragedy of life, because every person desires peace of mind. Every person craves self-composure and strength of calmness, yet few people know where they exist or how to find them. Few people are willing to devote even a few minutes of their day to find themselves in silence and solitude.

Yet we can free ourselves from the habits of worldliness and get into the peace of self-subjectivity in many beautiful, meditative, ways: For instance, some people enjoy absorbing themselves in the thought of being part of the all-pervasive beauty and peace of God. They walk alone, “losing themselves” in the company of God in nature, communing with the vastness of the heavens above them or answering the hypnotic invitation whispered from a woodland stream at their feet. Who wouldn’t be blessed by the subjective adoration? A love of the “inner life” includes finding in the quietness and loveliness of the world surrounding us a self-revealing subjective calm. This comprehensive mood of inspiration is a prerequisite for meditation. The habits of quietness, reverie and reverence for nature are of themselves important components of meditation.

Meditation is the only way to self-enlightenment and peace, but unless one truly understands his subjective life he will encounter great difficulties when he attempts meditating. Promised the bliss and spiritual attainments of meditation the novice initially elects it with enthusiasm. But what happens if he is subjectively unprepared is sadly predictable: He either becomes bored with meditation or restless. The reason? So long has his consciousness been dominated by and engrossed in the outer, sensory world that his uncultivated inner realm seems empty to him. Or worse, left unattended it has become cluttered. It is just as if one has been outside all day and returned home to find everything inside his home is in disarray. How discouraging! Entering our subjective abode that has been neglected and unattended day after day from morning til night, our mind would surely turn inward and feel,”I want out of this!” The novice, having initially chosen meditation with enthusiasm now rejects it summarily. His unexplored power of introspection is weak—too burdened by wordiness, and also too weak to withstand the demands of the world.

Steeped in worldliness, our values are totally distorted. Our would becomes trivial and puny, offering us precious little of life. How odd that the popular meaning of “sophisticated” is “worldly” and that the connotation, far from pejorative, is complementary! Without the dynamic richness of subjectivity how can the mighty faculty of mind become anything more than provincial and small, boring, dull and mediocre?

The most curious and the sad thing about the restless and distracted sense-bound mind is that it is lonely. It seems to be busy and occupied all the time, and yet, it is invariably and painfully lonely. The reason is understandable: Without a subjective life the true self remains veiled, unknown. Loneliness is separation from self.

The Mystic Cross
Swami Kamalananda

Prakriti - Nature

“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.

O Earth, I am here---Thundering in raging seas, plunging with deafening roar into cascading waterfalls, leaping to ignite life with my electric force.

My river song floods fields and plains with verdant beauty.
I celebrate my journey with singing in brooks and streams.

In my sacred wildernesses soft rains murmur reverent prayers---
Green cathedrals sharing secret communion in hushed voices---

Branches uplifted and outstretched beseechingly to receive this hallowed consecration of the firmament.

I paint seasons’ colored tapestries on bark and leaf, tender flower petals and on carpets of untrod moss.

Dwelling in serene reflection in calm lakes and ponds, I lift to rippling surfaces sweet and gentle memories from my still and silent source.

I alone inhabit the deep.”

Frontiers of the Spirit
Swami Kamalananda

Come out into Nature

Come out into Nature—not the nature of maps and marked paths—not even the nature of America or any particular country—but the Nature of God…and of yourself. That Nature is filled with whispers of ruling powers which inhabit trees and flowers, streams and mountains. They will feed your inspiration and speak to you in your own immortal language. There is such sweetness and loveliness, profound lessons of law and justice, mystic messages, and virtues “civilized” man has yet to learn. And freedom! No wealth of mere possession can buy the sheer luxury of such freedom; it comes only by the grace of God to a heart attuned to creation’s glory. Time “lost” in Nature is priceless. It is also healing. It will take the aches out of your joints and mind, preserving health and harmony and uplifting your spirits.

Frontiers of the Spirit
Swami Kamalananda

Twelve Lights on the Subjective Life

1. Cultivate the consciousness of the inner life. “Do not follow the way of the worldly-minded.” (Isha Upanishad). Learn to seek God by seeing God.

2. Seek to earnestly know who you are. Self-knowledge is the source of freedom, peace, joy and love. It is the basis for enlightened character.

3. Realize the truth regarding the immortality and perfection of soul, thereby overcoming the worry and anxiety which arise from false identification with the physical and mental bodies.

4. Treasure the virtues of the Soul. They are wisdom, goodness, selflessness, purity, joy and love. Desire for “special status” of social position, fortune, and vain beauty obscures the true wealth of the Soul.

5. Cultivate humility. Humility is not self-abnegation nor cowardly passivity, but strength of character by the grace of God. It is identification with the source and perfection of all our powers of righteousness. In the words of Jesus of Christ Consciousness: “I of mine own self do nothing. Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

6. Learn to transcend the self-limiting concepts of time, space and relationship by renouncing such attachments to the world of opposites as these: myself/others; pleasure/pain; life/death; success/failure; praise/blame; fortune/misfortune; superiority/inferiority.

7. Value the sacredness of love—believing in and acting according to its transforming and perfecting power. Selfless love ennobles every life and establishes the heart on God. It strengthens the will, brings peace to the mind and purifies the heart.

8. Give up the idea that your inmost self is separate from others. In our truest life—in our aspirations and even in the difficulties we face in walking the path of God—we are one. No blessing or gift from God is exclusive or momentary.

9. Place the ideal of God above all else in your life. The objective structure of our life is meaningful and rewarding only inasmuch as it is sustained and guided by spiritual understanding and enduring faith. Have courage to let all go but God.

10. Learn to perceive this universe as friendly and your life as auspicious and blessed. Everything is the manifestation of God, and soul is perfect—now and evermore.

11. Find ways to practice and share your idealism through service. Selflessness, the duty of spirituality, is the glorification and adoration of divinity everywhere. It includes charity, trust, understanding, kindness and helpfulness.

12. Accept that the spiritual art of living is hard work, requiring sincere and devoted effort at all times: “Narrow is the way and few be those that find it.”

Frontiers of the Spirit
Swami Kamalananda

Dawn!

Dawn!

Light abundant and sufficient for each day to fill creation afresh with vitality and strength, with power to grow and find illumination. Awakening each day, may I find Thy light revealed in my soul with the certainty of Truth and Bliss.

Behold the Mystery of Light and the ways it comes to Life: Hold in  your hand a match unlit. How does light exist within it, hidden? Strike the match, and the light comes to life.

Within you consciousness, the flicker of light expands and connects what was hidden from you, bringing forms and colors into one sphere of meaning that becomes you and connects us.

Light ignites our hearts in many ways, always joining, embracing, expanding… Some hearts are slow to illumine. Like coal they need time, but once aglow, their quiet warmth soothes and endures for a long time.

Some hearts hold light as water does, subdued in dark and silent depths, yet brilliant and energizing in streams and cascading falls.

Some hearts spread their light like the ignited incense - a fragrance offered into all directions freely, inviting and pleasing to all.

Some hearts, like peerless transparent diamonds reveal the full spectrum of Light.

From dawn to dusk the sun’s light shines forth and the world appears to us as formations of lights and shadows. As we watch the setting sun, the same world disappears again into darkness. Where is Creation’s light then — That light which will pour into tomorrow’s creation?

Where is your Light now? Are you an explorer by daylight only? Or can you peer into the Light of the East, the Self-source that illuminates all worlds, both night and day?

Swami Kamalananda
The Forest of Forever

12 Stages of Breathing

Sitting with the purpose of meditation you can follow a tremendously beneficial process of breathing in twelve stages. Just by reading them, you will see right away that they are progressively sublime, calming and expansive. They will be effective and helpful from your very first attempt and every time you follow them! Following them, you will gradually benefit from increasing contentment, gentleness and peace.

Think of drawing water from a well, of extending a bucket (your mind) on a long rope (your probing attention). As the bucket goes ever deeper into the water, it seems to disappear. Otherwise said, your mind reaches deep within formless depths to draw the vital resources of cosmic life and illumination back to nourish your body, mind and spirit.

1. Settle your body, sitting with spine erect, hands placed on the thighs, palms upward. Do nothing but watch your breath in its regular motion of inhalation and exhalation. Your breath is your focus and your teacher.

2. With each inhalation and exhalation feel that you reach into a deeper realm of self-awareness beyond the mere physical motions.

3. A divine process of circulation is itself unfolding within you, connecting your breath with God’s life breath.

4. There is a restorative harmony and greater experience of calmness pervading your body and mind.

5. Entering deeper subjectivity, you inevitably discover many reflections and refractions of the mind. Without distinguishing specific thought-contents, samskaras and patterns of desire, simply enter the current of mindfulness. Your focus on breath alone will nourish and strengthen your non-attachment to those passing contents of “mind-stuff” (“Chittwa”).

6. Elevate and expand your desire to merge your individual mind with the creative Source of the Universal Mind. This union is Raja Yoga, the Royal Path of the Mind.

7. Higher powers draw you to the light that illumines the entire cosmos. Do not look back. Lesser charms, desires and fears have faded in this freedom, this renunciation.

8. Inspired by its attunement to cosmic vibratory joy and peace, your heart enters the “bhav” (state of consciousness) of renewed hope, gratitude and contentment.

9. With every breath, you realize that Peace is dynamic, never static. Your state of mind is serene and infinite, resonant in Silence.

10. In the joyful state of universality, all duality is resolved by Divinely beneficent and pure will.

11. Self-remembrance floods and dissolves all distinctions of “within” or “without.” Here is Freedom (Moksha) in the Ocean of the All,

12. the “I am That I Am.”

Swami Kamalananda
The Breath of God and Pranayam

Spiritual Wealth

Discovery of the spiritual wealth of your life does not mean that you will automatically become prosperous, healthy, famous or popular. Nor does it mean you will find a life of ease, free from care or responsibility. But you will enjoy true wealth, well-being and serenity. Realize the enduring precious value of the spiritual unfoldment of human character. Do not expect every objective experience you encounter in life to be beautiful and good. Think, rather, of your own inner life as powerful, good and beautiful—a precious gem that you yourself are fashioning and perfecting by the light of God. If disappointments come, don't abandon your spiritual goals, and never squander your wealth of character. Every human life has its limitations; such is life. Life on earth cannot be perfected, and no personality fulfills our ideal. But wherever you seek goodness lacking, supply it from the infinite treasures of your own heart. Understand the shortcomings of yourself and others and fill the gap by pouring out yourself. That is living by the wealth of soul. A spiritual ideal enriches life with harmony, compassion, gentleness and beauty.

Swami Kamalananda
Frontiers of the Spirit

Kundalini

The universe of cosmic energy, or prana, exists in two tendencies: one is unmanifest, the other manifest. The unmanifest exists as the vast potential of formless being out of which the universe arises. It is self-absorbed—that is, with the power to be, but without change. The second tendency of prana is dynamic and creative: that which manifests and which we see as matter, as living organisms, and all that we behold with our minds. Astronomers bring us to the threshold of pure Kriya Yoga philosophy with their assertion that we see only ten percent of our universe. The ninety percent that is imperceptible to our senses exists as potential to be penetrated by our minds. We must bring that light of consciousness within our minds to the similar state of vibration of cosmic light to be aware of the rest of the vast, yet unseen, universe.

This potential energy force of prana is called kundalini. It is neither electric nor is it mechanical. It is not the energy that is normally used by us throughout the day to maintain our expressive and creative life, but it is that reservoir of energy which exists to be drawn through the mind into the human nervous system. That potential kundalini energy of prana within us is not surplus, not dormant, but is as yet unknown. We call it spiritual because it determines the quality of our character, our state of consciousness and our ultimate peace and happiness.

All spiritual aspirants ought to know and clearly understand kundalini power. To the intiate trained to use kundalini it comprises the inner path to God. In Kriya meditation, kundalini is the specific and conscious link between individual prana or life energy pervading the human being and cosmic prana, the source and perfection of all beings.

This cosmic energy is finer than electrons or any other vibrating force identifed in nature. Spirit Absolute vibrating becomes cosmic consciousness, which becoming grosser becomes cosmic energy leading to material vibration and finally to matter itself. Hence the connection from undifferentiated pure consciousness to multifaceted manifestations of matter.

The life energy in the body of each human being is divinely given by the cosmic energy, but it loses its contact the more it becomes individualized, selfish, body-bound.

Your mind is the engine that draws the cosmic prana from the universe of life and directs it within you.

It is helpful to know that the root of the word “kundalini” suggests a reservoir or storehouse for prana. We already know that our individualized self-consciousness is awakened at Muladhar, at the base of the spine and that finally at Sahasraram that individualized consciousness is liberated into cosmic consciousness. In terms of kundalini, the base of the spine is like a reservoir, a lake from which the pranic current is generated. Figuratively speaking, the connection must always be there with a larger source, or the lake would dry up. And so it is that this kundalini, drawing from the potential of infinite cosmic energy, generates the life current in ascending consciousness through the spine until the individual self-consciousness is liberated into the ocean of bliss-consciousness, of infinite existence. The ascending powers of kundalini are divine illumination, self-mastery and love.

Swami Kamalananda
The Mystic Cross

Ujwala: Illumination

Light encircles each day
with its garland of seven illuminations.
In solemn stillness of Pre-dawn
is foretold the course of
each heavenward destiny.
Dawn heralding advent of rose-golden rays
in beneficent blessing, spanning across
the horizon of time and space.
Gaze upon this day of Thy creation!
Each morning bathing the day with renewed
vitality and opportunity.

From its glorious apogee
the Sun infuses all earth
with the power of pranic light
ensuring growth and evolution.
Twilight, the ending edge of day,
withdraws consciousness again
into self-contemplation
of the mystery of light and shadow.
Gaze, we all, with subjective wonder
at the serene beauty of this evening!
The moon, quiet and full of calm
and vast constellations offer
unanimous confirmation of
Thy benediction over all.
Filling the spheres with the
still darkness of night.
Rise from the depth of dreamless sleep
into worlds of shadowless midnight
To commune in realms unknown,
with pervasive and ineffable peace.

Awake, awake, this heart’s desire!
To again find promise of abiding Light
in each new day dawning!

From Skyland to Skyview

An excerpt from The Forest of Forever by Swami Kamalananda

Skyview Farm is the material “Forest” of this book, but I wish to begin with a preamble through an earlier Forest from my guru's early years in America: his formative influence in the great Shenandoah National Park and Skyland in Virginia.

Within a few years of his arrival in Washington in 1928, Swamiji (then a Brahmachari) met a couple whose influence and generosity would further his work in establishing his first church on Western Avenue while he simultaneously became an inspiration to their work in establishing the Shenandoah National Park.

Adi Nairn Pollock and her husband George Freeman Pollock worked for years in the early 1900’s to negotiate the transfer of their properties extending from Front Royal and further on in the vicinity of Sperryville, Virginia, to the east and Luray to the west, to an apex in lofty Hawksbill Mountain and the slightly lower though imposing Stony Man Mountain.

Adi had become a follower of the light of Yoga, trusting Swamiji spiritual guidance throughout the years of her husband's rigorous life of welcoming friends and visitors to their cherished mountain retreat at Skyland. “Polly” and Adi would invite “B.J.” (as Adi affectionately called Brahmachari Jotin) for visits to their Massanutten Lodge And the beautiful lands, also thoughtfully furnishing him a cabin all to himself. His noble bearing and presence drew other visitors to him; They warmly referred to him as the ‘Prince of Skyland.’

The Skyland of Swami's time is not the same as today's Skyland, which is easily reachable as a scenic car drive from Washington, D.C. In his time it was virtually isolated from the mechanized world. The trip itself provided a real adventure! When Swami went to visit Skyland he would leave (usually after his Sunday worship service) to drive to Luray and then go by secondary road to reach the foot of the mountain. This was a long and time consuming journey in the 1930s! The climb to Skyland would then be made by horse — either with carriage or on horseback, or for some, on foot.  (He rode horseback.) Some roads were merely dirt, unpaved, narrow, steep and with sharp curves. In bad weather of course they were dangerous! He would need three days just for travel to spend a few days there as if in another world.

While visiting at Massanutten lodge many times in those years Swamiji would speak on India's spiritual heritage, also sharing readings from Rabindranath Tagore with Mrs. Pollock and interested guests.

Few would understand how great were the sacrifices and major contribution of Mrs. Pollock's own wealth to the lengthy process of building the private, then state, and finally national properties to become a National treasure as the Shenandoah National Park. And fewer still would know the key influence of Swami Premananda in supporting the cause.

As I heard it, a critical moment in the legal proceedings occurred while he was visiting Skyland. Mrs. Pollock's financial resources had been stretched and consumed far beyond her expectations, and yet another demand came for even more expenditures. Exasperated and weary from it all, she was teetering on just giving up the entire project, and so she came to her trusted guru to express her dilemma:

“What shall I do?” she asked him. “This is too much! I don't think I should continue now…”

“Adi,” he explained, “I know how much you have given and done, but it will not be lost. Go ahead, Adi, If you can. Take this last step.”  “Okay, B.J., if you say so,” she answered.

Mr. Pollock's funeral services, held on September 7, 1949, were conducted by Swamiji as Minister of his “nonsectarian Self-Revelation Church in Washington.” He was introduced as a native of Calcutta, an eminent scholar and a friend of both Mr. and Mrs. Pollock, who spent much time with them at Massanutten Lodge. 

As recorded in “SKYLAND: The Heart of the Shenandoah National Park,” what he poured forth as tribute that day deepened everyone's appreciation of his friend, but will forever be a testimony to Swamiji’s own mystical reverence for Nature as well as his profound understanding of human character.

He spoke from the Forest of Forever:

“Mr. Pollack was not a religious man. I doubt if he ever entered a church during the last quarter of a century.

“I do not think Mr. Pollock ever contributed anything towards the construction of any church. Nevertheless, I can say that he was a spiritual man, and he has built a cathedral – not a cathedral of stone and marble, not a magnificent structure where human voices sing in choirs to the accompaniment of organ music. He has built a cathedral which will last as long as God preserves the United States of America. As long as America exists, this cathedral which Mr. Pollock built will endure.

“He has built a cathedral in Shenandoagh National Park where anthems are sung by bird choirs and the lighting is from the heavens above. It is a cathedral not limited to any denomination. Here men and women from all over the world will come and gather together, people of all faiths and creeds: Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Jews. Even the atheist will come and join in the worship of the spirit in that cathedral.

“What heart would not be lifted in the consciousness of God while seated in Stony Man, overlooking the valley? What soul would not be lifted in consciousness of spirit, realizing the beauty of God manifested when the foliage turns in a magnificent spectacle of color in the fall? It is such a cathedral that Mr. Pollack has built.

“It was very difficult for him to accomplish this task which proved arduous indeed.

“He had to go through many trials and tribulations and overcome many obstacles, but in spite of every hardship he slowly and steadfastly – I may say, stone by stone, step by step – built this cathedral of the Shenandoah National Park which will immortalize his memory. He had a dream, and that dream came true. 

“Once, when Mrs. Pollock urged him to give up Skyland, he said ‘Some day Skyland will become part of a National Park, and I am going to keep that place no matter how difficult it is. I am going to do everything in my power to build it into a National Park.’ 

“Yes, he worked hard, and his dream came true. Many of you remember when we had to go to Skyland on horses, then by taxis. Finally, the bulldozers came and the highway was built across the entire Park. Now thousands come for recreation and for revelation, too. Travellers will pass through that cathedral. Artists will come and paint its glory and beauty. Devotees will sit on the rock and in the meadows and find inspiration in the contemplation of Him who is the creator of all things.

“This is the cathedral of which Mr. Pollock dreamed and which he built. As such I say that, in the truest sense he was a spiritual man.”

Guru

“The word ‘guru’ comes to us from the Hindu heritage, yet the ideal of divine guidance is found throughout all spiritual traditions. It is so because the ideal and relationship of guru authority are integral to religious experience. Who was the guru of Plato? Did not Socrates lead Plato to the path of self-realization as his disciple? The guru of Shankaracharya, Govinda, initiated him into the light of meditation and inner revelation. John the Baptist protested that he could not initiate Jesus because Jesus was more spiritually advanced than he. He saw the divine unfoldment of Jesus. Yet, Jesus reminded John that every soul at one time is formally introduced and consciously makes a vow to God. ‘Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.’

Humanly speaking, guru is to be honored because he embodies the ideal we are seeking. Humanly imperfect, divinely perfect, guru is the image of our ideal. If we cannot recognize divinity in the human form we will not recognize it in formlessness. In reality, guru is our own self. Guru is the one who reveals to us our own soul. Guru is the self-revealing one. It is God whom we see in guru. God is the Supreme Guru, in reality the only Guru. God reveals Himself to us in our human guru.

The most profound meaning of guru is presented to us as Krishna, our Supreme Self, in the Bhagavad-Gita. It is the most sublime because it most clearly reveals the law, ideal and reality of Guru as well as the identical divinity of disciple, the self as individual (Arjuna). In Krishna we understand who is guru; in Arjuna we see how to fulfill perfect discipleship.

Who is this Guru, Krishna? ‘The one who draws the whole universe unto himself,’ or ‘the one to whom the whole universe is attracted,’ as the name ‘Krishna’ in its Sanskrit derivative ‘Akarshan’ denotes. This is not a personal god, but the ever abiding Self. Krishna is in each one of us as our soul. He speaks in the Gita as Atman, the closest indwelling self who reveals the Paramatman, or Supreme Self.

Krishna as the guide of Arjuna reveals the truth and ideal of guru—that is, our own divine, ever pure and perfect soul, Self-conscious and ever one with God. Embodying the ideal of human guru, Krishna leads Arjuna to discover the life of his own soul.”

Frontiers of the Spirit
Swami Kamalananda

Life is Guided by Consciousness

All life is guided by consciousness. Consciousness is responsible for all our happiness or unhappiness, peace or sorrow in life. Right now we are our consciousness. Our consciousness reveals the authority over our daily experience. Therefore, it is wise to evaluate the course of our own consciousness to see what authority we are obeying most of the time. What is our perspective, vision, awareness, ideal that guides our learning and growth? As Jesus wisely said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Our treasure or predominant identification of consciousness determines our happiness.

The quality of our life improves when we live more in the understanding of our pure consciousness. Our pure consciousness is the light of soul. It is ever one with the pure light of the universe. Wise individuals heed the guidance and authority of their souls giving them intrepid strength to face the most awesome struggles of life.

Happiness is found in following one's own path perfectly, and the ideal path is progressive. Fulfillment of even limited ideals leads us on to greater and nobler ideals. The ideal life improves with experience and by the growth of ideal. My ideal has evolved with my life. What I seek; what I am aware of; what I work towards; what I love; what is of utmost importance to me—the composite consciousness of these as my ideal has guided my life and determined my happiness at each stage, leading to fulfillment that carried me on to enlarged ideals and comprehension. I have found that God has directed my path to ever new frontiers and as I enter them I feel increasingly the blessedness of this treasured wealth of life.

From Frontiers of the Spirit
Swami Kamalananda

A Word for Nature

Books and words comprise scriptures, but they are not the only revelations of life. All creation is “word,” God's cosmic scripture for us to read and understand. The method of study is glorification, communion, and feeling that the stream of life that flows through our and Nature's veins is One.

The gospels relate how Jesus taught his disciples “many tongues.” I doubt that we are intended to believe from that that he instructed them in foreign languages. Rather, that he helped them to learn how God speaks Law and Life through self-manifestation; that the trees, flowers, and all creatures are, too, the language of the Infinite. As Shakespeare said in As You Like It, “And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.”

There are countless religions, sects and theologies. Life is not long enough to study them all. But all derive from one expression: Cosmic Nature. Religion comes not from East or West, but from the heart of Nature. Study Nature. Nature does not exist in a single instance without expressing the most profound meaning of life.

It was Nature that awakened man to religion: Beauty, wonder and admiration are the beginning of all worship and prayer. If there were no love or beauty, religion would never have existed. Nature is the only scripture written directly and entirely by God—as such the most perfect source of self-revelation. 

The religion of Nature is not based on a personal experience of someone else in another time. According to Nature's religion, no one can be religious until he has the direct revelation for himself. Nature is the first scripture of Yoga.

As you find yourself in Nature you will evolve morally. You will expand in your spiritual consciousness. There will be an integrated harmonious development felt and revealed in every aspect of your life as you find it in Nature. All obstacles will drop away because Nature has an exclusively spiritual purpose. The whole activity of Nature exists so that the soul may emerge through successive and progressive experiences to realize that it is free in the Absolute. When the soul knows that it is free from the differentiation and form of the external Nature, then it has learned its lesson well! When it perceives its oneness with the soul of Nature, it is whole.

The companionship of Nature is not imagined. It is real. The universe of Nature in which we live is filled with the 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. 

Come out into Nature—not the nature of maps and marked paths, not even the nature of America or of any particular country—but the Nature of God…and of yourself. That Nature is filled with whispers of ruling powers which inhabit trees and flowers, streams and mountains. They will feed your inspiration and speak to you in your own immortal language.

Frontiers of the Spirit
Swami Kamalananda

Peace of Subjectivity

Let us examine our mental life to see how well established in the peace of our own subjectivity we are: For too many people the day is so crowded with one activity after another that there is little time given to realize pure self-reflection. Instead, they habitually establish themselves solely in their objective life, allowing their mind to be dominated by the sense-world. They fill weekly engagement calendars with minutiae of their social activities but do precious little to organize and direct their mental duties. During the day, when confronted with free time their unbridled mind instantly demands distraction: Call someone. Turn on television. Go to a game. Go eat. Get away.  

Is this continuous distraction not an addiction? Or is it not virtual mental slavery—refusing the mind its own freedom or repose between morning and evening!

By nightfall one is so mentally enervated he just wants to escape in sleep. Yet when he wakes up the next morning he starts anew in the same old worldly habits. How sad! So much of life is destroyed, lost, missed, in the endless habit of sense-bound self-consciousness.

Do you know what happens to the mind that is unprepared, untrained, ignorant of its divine powers of pure self-reflection? It becomes afraid. Afraid to be alone. Afraid to be silent. Afraid to be calm. It is the greatest tragedy of life, because every person desires peace of mind. Every person craves self-composure and strength of calmness, yet few people know where they exist or how to find them. Few people are willing to devote even a few minutes of their day to find themselves in silence and solitude.

Yet we can free ourselves from the habits of worldliness and get into the peace of self-subjectivity in many beautiful, meditative, ways: For instance, some people enjoy absorbing themselves in the thought of being part of the all-pervasive beauty and peace of God. They walk alone, “losing themselves” in the company of God in nature, communing with the vastness of the heavens above them or answering the hypnotic invitation whispered from a woodland stream at their feet. Who wouldn't be blessed by the subjective adoration? A love of the “inner life” includes finding in the quietness and loveliness of the world surrounding us a self-revealing subjective calm. This comprehensive mood of inspiration is a prerequisite for meditation. The habits of quietness, reverie and reverence for nature are of themselves important components of meditation.

Meditation is the only way to self-enlightenment and peace, but unless one truly understands his subjective life he will encounter great difficulties when he attempts meditating. Promised the bliss and spiritual attainments of meditation the novice initially elects it with enthusiasm. But what happens if he is subjectively unprepared is sadly predictable: he either becomes bored with meditation or restless. The reason? So long has his consciousness been dominated by and engrossed in the outer, sensory world that his uncultivated inner realm seems empty to him. Or worse, left unattended it has become cluttered. It is just as if one has been outside all day and returned home to find everything inside his home in disarray. How discouraging! Entering our subjective abode that has been neglected and unattended day after day from morning till night, our mind would surely turn inward and feel, “I want out of this!” The novice, having initially chosen meditation with enthusiasm now rejects it summarily. His unexplored power of introspection is weak, too burdened by worldliness, and also too weak to withstand the demands of the world.

Without a subjective life the true self remains veiled, unknown.

Swami Kamalananda
The Mystic Cross

Ascending Consciousness

Soul comes to God through ever-expanding consciousness of its true being. Sacrifice, the “making sacred” of life, is the most natural offering of the beauty, love, goodness and wisdom of heart and soul, body and mind. The greater the consciousness of sacrifice, the greater the realization of freedom, oneness and selflessness. Spiritual sacrifice is a positive power, because it is in accordance with all spiritual progress everywhere.

With ascending consciousness soul offers itself in sacrifice throughout its human pilgrimage to God, and sacrifice can be perceived and understood in the manifestation of the human personality at four levels:

At the first level, consciousness is limited to selfish and worldly identification. One behaves in ignorance of the beneficent oneness enfolding and sustaining all life. Hence, he perceives his existence as temporal, separate and finite. He is subject to the discomfort of unhappiness as his desires and pleasures are limited to that which comes and goes. Imprisoned within his own limitations he is not capable of deep concern for others and often acts harshly.

At the second stage, consciousness recognizes that one must compromise and adjust to relative circumstances to achieve happiness on earth. One may reciprocate kindness and offer deeds of obligation, yet, if still dominated by personal awareness, he will rebel if his own way is not followed or if his own well-being is not secured first. He sees the necessity for good as motivated by personal gain.

A truly good and noble human being is one who possesses the third consciousness—that of sacrifice. At this level the heart rules. One is fulfilled in happiness through the serving of the joy and contentment of others. The bond of oneness of life in its mutual unfoldment is felt and served through harmony, balance, joy and beauty.

A person of the fourth level of consciousness is humanly divine in the attainment of sacrifice, adoring and realizing the love of God everywhere and in all beings. Without relying on human knowledge or judgment, confirmation or approval, he willingly and constantly lives and works in harmony with cosmic good. His human kindness, love and service are offered in adoration of God with no ulterior motive of personal gain. His gentleness, compassion, inner contentment and charity inspire and guide other hearts. He is a blessing to himself and to the world.

Frontiers of the Spirit
Swami Kamalananda

Why Do We Meditate?

Why do we meditate?

We meditate to live in the consciousness of God, to enlighten our life with the spirit of God. That is our goal. This soul within us is God. Therefore, it is through our own soul that we will come to know God. All meditation begins with the soul, not with the senses.

A person without the awareness of his soul is like an empty mansion. The structure seems cold—without character or charm—without that vitality by which it is companionable. Buddha felt that without self-knowledge a man is only a corpse, a shell of his existence: “The only dead are the ignorant,” he said.

Mere thinking that this embodied soul of ours will somehow go on forever in time does not make us immortal. The consciousness of immortality is the attainment of a realization of power, of being, of love and of will that is beyond the senses and beyond the mind. To be conscious of the soul’s pure existence free of birth and death, pain and pleasure and ignorance, is to realize immortality.

Such self-awareness is rare, but it has been achieved by human beings who lived on this earth with normal responsibilities. Their master gave them such indomitable strength and fearlessness that others around them were astonished and held them in awe.

How does the mind become self-enlightened? How does this faculty of mind become pure? How does it become serene and balanced?

Aspiring for loftiness and calmness of mind, some people propose to leave the world of mundane distractions and human obligations. They believe that forswearing responsibilities in the material world will help to free their minds from attachments and finite desires. They seek a solitary life or retreat hoping to thereby enlighten their minds. One doesn’t necessarily advance  spiritually that way. Merely to distance the body from the rush and push of worldly responsibilities isn’t going to calm or illumine the mind.

How would the mind be able to concentrate any better in seclusion? The old thoughts and habits that we created in the mind would follow us even to the most glorious mountaintop. When most people try to separate themselves from worldly habits and duties they dwell mainly on the memories of people and on desires and thoughts from worldly pastimes, even though their body may be in solitude.

We must learn to master the mind with strength and skill the way an archer does his bow: The archer (our soul) possesses all the necessary power, but in order to send the arrow (ascending pure consciousness) soaring, he must practice skillfully holding the bow (i.e., the mind) steady, at a distance. He can then withdraw the string (the mind’s subjective power) in close to himself, and launch the arrow to its target.

Swami Kamalananda
The Mystic Cross

Bending Near the Earth

“The Angels, Gracious Light of Soul,
bending near the earth
in me
touched the golden harp strings
of my heart
and the worlds
in silent obeisance lay
to hear their voices:
"Peace and Joy!
Peace and Joy
unto All!"

Upon this midnight clear 
I listen to their 
Word
resounding,
still.”

Swami Kamalananda

“Praise be to Allah, who created the heavens and the earth,
who made the angels, messengers with wings.”

Qur’an, Fatir 35:1

“Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars.
Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the skies.
Let them praise the name of the Lord, for at his command they were created.”

Psalms 148:2-5

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”

Luke 2:8-10