Realization

Life, intelligence and love are truly within us. When these are spoken of in their universal nature, they are called absolute truths. We can only reveal and assert, but never prove them. We are Brahman, the Self, God. Yet at present we are not fully conscious of our true nature. The goal of our life’s journey is to realize our absolute divinity, otherwise called realization of our oneness with God. Is it possible to know, or realize God? Yes, it is most assuredly so.

There is a great difference between “knowledge” as we generally understand this term, and “realization.” To realize is to be come one with the reality which transcends sense perception. Realization is subjective. It rules that state of consciousness which intellect cannot penetrate. Knowledge is objective; it is finite. It is based on intellect. We know the phenomenal world; we realize the noumeal reality. We may know about a table, a picture, or any other object in the manifested universe, but in our knowledge of it we do not become one with it. It remains as a separate entity in our consciousness. Intellectual grasp is not realization. Let me further point out the difference between the two concepts from the illustration of a beautiful table. We acquire knowledge regarding its form, size and materials. These are external conditions. But we realize the beauty that is manifested through it. Beauty is a transcendental reality, which we realize.

Meditation is the gaining of control over our mind by turning it towards God. Meditation can be in two forms, subjective and objective. Subjective meditation is to meditate upon the Self within. “I am the absolute Self.” Thus meditate that you are Self, Spirit, God. Withdraw your mind from all other thoughts and firmly establish it on the Self within. Objective meditation is to realize God in all objects of the phenomenal world. Always culture recognition of the presence of God in all things. Unconditionally learn to see God everywhere. Never mind whether an object is pleasant or unpleasant, good or bad. See God in all. All these conceptions of the pairs of opposites are our own manufacture. Rise above duality and see God everywhere.

Our spiritual life should not be dominated by adverse material circumstances. Spiritual life must stand above all earthly conditions, as our Soul is above all effects of dualities. Do not always seek God, begin to see God. Blessed is he who sees God everywhere and beholds good in all things.

Swami Premananda
The Path of Pure Consciousness: Jnana Yoga

Perfecting the Means

Perfecting the means is a constant effort that requires steadfastness and humility. It requires placing importance upon every thought, every word and every deed. Our actions produce effects in both seen and unseen ways. Therefore, we should not be attached to the ends for we may not know or understand the actual effect.

It can be a great challenge to maintain our equilibrium when we are faced with difficult circumstances. We recognize the difference when an action is done in anger, impatience or intolerance, versus when our action is performed in joy, sincerity or selflessness. We think we know what will be the outcome, but we don’t have control over it. In fact, we barely have control over our own thoughts, let alone our words and actions. As difficult as it is to control our thoughts, it is impossible to have control over the results of our actions. The best we can do is employ appropriate means. We know every cause has an effect, yet we don’t know all the conditions and circumstances at play. Why should we be attached to the results or fruits of our actions? The life of yoga is freedom from such attachment.

The Bhagavad Gita implores us not to worry over the results of action. An action is a given cause. When the cause is given, its effect is inevitable. Therefore, good actions bring forth good results. We recognize this in the biblical expression, “the good tree bringeth forth good fruit.” Performance of good work brings only good to the world. If we have given out a good cause, a good result is bound to come. All negative actions produce inharmonious results. Then why worry over the result of an action? Worry is destructive. By worrying over the result of a good action, we destroy to a certain extent the good result that the given cause might have produced. But this does not mean that we must be unthoughtful about the result of our action. Before we engage, we must, to the best of our ability, find out what result our action is going to produce. Then when the action is done, we should not worry over the result.

When we work with pure concentration, completely immersed in our work, losing ourselves within the Self, we inevitably produce a noble result. Karma Yoga is constant self-remembrance in the performance of action. Our actions not only affect our own individual life, but they also influence the lives of others. There is a reverberation effect. It is like a boomerang that is sent out and returns to us. Our actions touch us as well as everyone around us.

Srimati Karuna
Gandhi’s Steadfast Yoga

Thy Infinite Voice

“Thou dost speak unto me in the melody of thy infinite voice.

The gentle whisper of the passing breeze, the mystic call of the soaring skylark, the minstrel song of the wandering brook, the message of eternity from the mighty sea---thy voice all!---I hear in rapturous adoration because thou hast endowed me with the power of hearing.

The silent teardrops of the crushed heart, the distant cry of the lost wayfarer, the prayer of the penitent soul, bring me closer to thee because I have heard the voice of thy call of love and mercy.

Thy voice of truth would be lost in the nothingness of space if I could not hear thy revealed word of wisdom repeated unto me by enlightened men of realization.

Thou dost speak unto me because I possess the faculty of hearing thy divine utterance.

The resounding rhythm of thy cosmic creation which unites soul with thy transcendental Self, I perceive within me because thou hast given me the power to hear.”

The Sanctity of The Senses
Swami Premananda

The Wisdom of Jnana Yoga

Jnana Yoga is the path of wisdom. In the perfection of knowledge we overcome maya, or the illusion of the unreal. The unreal has no existence, or at least, it is transitory in nature. The Real can never cease to be. Constantly engaged in the world of objective thought impressions, we become entangled in what is considered the web of maya. By wisdom we transcend maya. By the revelation of our true nature, we disentangle ourselves from the web of confusion. We are then able to think and act with discernment.

Jnana Yoga is the yoga of knowledge, not knowledge in the intellectual sense but that of pure consciousness. It is that knowledge that is inseparable from the true experience of Reality. A person who can see through the multitude of physical forms and worldly attachments, sees through the illusion of maya and can concentrate the mind on what is Real. In the purity of mind we establish the light of truth in our life. The desire for wisdom is innate within us.

The motto of the Gujarat Vidyapith, the university established by Mahatma Gandhi in Ahmedabad, India in 1920, stresses that knowledge is that which liberates us: Sa Vidya Ya Mukte Ye. These words can be found engraved on the wall of the university and on its seal.

Freedom is attained in the knowledge of the Self. Attainment of self-knowledge requires self-mastery, self-discipline and constant practice. It is, in essence, what Gandhiji meant by swaraj. Commonly, we learn of the movement for India’s independence as swaraj. But to Gandhiji, it personally meant more than the self-rule of a nation or home-rule for India. In his mind, swaraj meant rule of the self or individual self-mastery, leading to self-realization. Swaraj over this little self involves practicing self-control by putting aside limitations in the form of biases and prejudices, impatience and intolerance. We want to move beyond the chitta or mind stuff that keeps us from understanding the true nature of the soul within us and all beings. We want to be free of that which binds and limits us. Gandhiji referred to swaraj as the key ingredient on the path of wisdom. The Jnana Yogi must strive to overcome the littleness of mind in order to realize larger noble truths. Self-study and introspection will guide us if we give proper attention to insight and intuition.

This wisdom (jnana) is not mere book learning. In it there is no room for doubt. It begins with faith and ends with experience.

M.K. Gandhi

Wisdom is the discerning nature of the soul. It is not merely intellect but a higher state of consciousness that guides us internally. Self-knowledge has a value unequal to any other possession in life. It is that which alone reveals the true nature of ourselves and the world around us.

Srimati Karuna
Gandhi’s Steadfast Yoga

Why do we desire peace?

Life has only one goal, it is the realization of blissfulness. All possessions are pain bearing if they are not blessed with peace. Life without peace is existence in eternal sorrow. The most powerful impelling force of all my aspirations and desires is my longing for peace. The yearning for happiness is the most secret as well as the most sacred desire of the human heart because all its hopes and aspirations spring forth from this innate and fundamental longing of the inner spirit of man. I am absolutely certain that even if I wanted to suppress, much less eradicate, my yearning for peace I would be utterly unsuccessful. I know that I want to live in peace and happiness, joy and contentment. I want to live in peace, peace for myself as well as peace for my fellowmen. The attainment of knowledge is the supreme purpose of life and the realization of peace is the divine goal of human existence.

Why do we desire peace? Because peace is the basic substance of our being. It is a constituent quality of our spiritual self. Peace is the divine essence of the soul. We long for that which belongs to us and we are never satisfied until we have regained our divine treasure. The longing for peace is the most blessed yearning of our soul, the most righteous desire of our being.

Within the immensity of my illumined pure consciousness I have discovered the abode of unbounded joy and ever abiding peace. This inner peace has no limitation either in depth or in expansiveness. It is immeasurable and infinite.

Furthermore, it is completely free from any objective association. It is the very essence of peace, the substance of happiness itself. It is peace in its purest perfection. It is happiness in its abundant fullness. It is the living joy of beatitude. It is the peace of soul in the blissfulness of God. It is there within my consciousness. It has always been there. It has not been passive and silent. On the contrary, it has been very dynamic and eloquent in my intuitive awareness of its presence within me. The power of peace is eternal and the voice of peace is heard within the heart and soul of every being. In searching for peace man seeks to regain the blessedness of his soul. I have found the peace of God in my soul, within the abode of my pure and illumined consciousness.

I often retire into the inner abode of my illumined pure consciousness to dwell in the peace of God within me. God has built a heaven of blissfulness within me.

Swami Premananda
The Abode of Peace Within My Consciousness

When a Gift is Offered

Whosoever with devotion offers me a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, I accept it from him as the devout gift of a pure heart. O son of Kunti, whatever thou doest, whatever thou eatest, whatever thou offerest as oblation, whatever thou givest as gift, and whatever soul’s power thou puttest forth, do it as an offering unto me.

When a gift is offered with the thought that it is righteous to perform acts of charity, without expecting anything in return, at the right time and place and to a worthy person, that gift is regarded as the source of self-liberation and peace.

That gift which is made with the hope of receiving in return, or desiring personal reward, or with reluctance, is known as the source of pride and sorrow. The gift that is given at the wrong place or time, to unworthy persons, or ungraciously and with contempt, is the cause of self-degradation and misery.

AUM-TAT-SAT, this has been declared to be the triple name of Brahman, by which in the beginning were created and sanctified the Brahmanas, the Vedas and the sacrifice. Therefore, with the utterance of AUM, the worshippers of Brahman always commence their acts of sacrifice, charity and austerity, as enjoined by the laws of the holy scriptures. The seekers of liberation, uttering TAT, without desiring any phenomenal reward, perform various acts of sacrifice, austerity and charity. The word SAT is used to signify reality and goodness. O son of Pritha, the word SAT is also used to indicate and extol an auspicious act.

Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita: The Revelation of the Supreme Self
9:26-27, 17: 20-22, 23-26
Translation by Swami Premananda

The Unselfish Life

It is impossible to withstand the inevitable tragedies of life on earth if we seek life apart from God. Life in God is universal life, it is life in the universality, wisdom and joy of the Self. We shall be drowned in the ocean of misery if we live in selfishness. A little straw in the river sinks down under a small weight. A log floats, though a crocodile may lie upon it. A selfish life is like the little straw which is unable to hold itself up against the burden of a little suffering. An unselfish man is like the log, though the monster of great misery be thrust upon him, he lives in serenity, wisdom and joy. The life of wisdom is to live in the realization of the Self in all. All is the Self. Realize the Self in all; love the Self in all. In such realization, life becomes a joyous progress and love a living power.

Realization of the Self
Swami Premananda

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

All is revealed

What is the message revealed by Nature?
What expression does the formless give within form?
Ever offering a living word, the tone and tenor of cosmic vibration carries the Absolute into Self-manifestation.

The mystic reads the message of the universe in every leaf, stream and star.
No secret remains hidden from discovery.

All is revealed in a symphony of time and space.
The music of the spheres reverberates through every aspect of creation.
Look closely and witness the majesty of it all.

Srimati Karuna
Lights on the Path

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

Tagore: The Religion of Man

During the discussion of my own religious experience I express my belief that the first stage of my realization was through my feeling of intimacy with Nature—not that Nature which has its channel of information for our mind and physical relationship with our living body, but that which satisfies our personality with manifestations that make our life rich and stimulate our imagination in their harmony of forms, colors, sounds, and movements. It is not that world which vanishes into abstract symbols behind its own testimony to Science, but that which lavishly displays its wealth of reality to our personal self having its own perpetual reaction upon human nature.

I mention in connection with my personal experience some songs which I have often heard from wandering village singers, belonging to a popular sect in Bengal, called Bauls, who have no images, temples, scriptures, or ceremonials, who declare in their songs the divinity of Man, and express for him an intense feeling of love. Coming from men who are unsophisticated, living a simple life in obscurity, it gives us a clue to the inner meaning of all religions. For it suggests that these religions are never about a God of cosmic force, but rather about the God of human personality.

We must realize not only the reasoning mind, but also the creative imagination, the love and wisdom that belong to the Supreme Person, whose Spirit is over us all, love for whom comprehends love for all creatures and exceeds in depth and strength all other loves, leading to difficult endeavors and martyrdoms that have no other gain than the fulfillment of this love itself.

The Isha of our Upanishad, the Super Soul, which permeates all moving things, is the God of this human universe whose mind we share in all our true knowledge, love and service, and whom to reveal ourselves through renunciation of self is the highest end of life.

Rabindranath Tagore
The Religion of Man

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

Autumn

The gentle autumn has arrived. Her very presence fills the heart with serene happiness. Tranquility composes the mind with calmness, a sublime stillness pervades the entire being with inexplicable beatitude, soul feels closer to one's own pure consciousness, and a contemplative attitude fills the whole environment with an inner spiritual well-being. A subjective awareness arises with the realization that the world is a holy place permeated with the presence of God, when autumn touches the inner eye of illumined perception and enlightened vision revealing the beauty of all and the perfect harmony of the God of love. Autumn brings down the beauty of God from heaven for our enjoyment of the earth.

There is something mystifying and mysterious about this singularly beautiful and enchanting daughter of nature that is hypnotic yet sublime, magnetic and transcendental in her graceful and charming appearance and expression. There is a halo of holiness around her and a radiation of sacredness emanating from her whole being that pervades the entire environment with subtle all-permeating spiritual liberation. In her presence spirituality becomes a tangible reality, and holiness of divine substance to be realized by the soul, and blissful happiness in deep exaltation of joyousness to be absorbed by the spirit.

Autumn is beautiful. The secret of her beauty is love. Love makes all individuals beautiful. Love is the ultimate perfection of divine harmony. Nature is beautiful in her cosmic harmony. Love unites all forms in all aspects of nature in one universal harmonious interrelationship and makes her the reality of beauty. Autumn is the ultimate perfection of the beauty of nature.

Autumn has a special message for the human soul. It reminds the soul that this terrestrial world of love and beauty, joy and happiness, is but a traveller's along the path of life's journey. The ultimate destiny of the existence and the aspiration of the human soul is the attainment of the transcendental state of God's absolute perfection. The soul must return to and realize its own absolute perfection as the divine spirit of the cosmos of the Infinity from eternity to eternity. The immortal soul must realize the ever-existing self.

The enchanting autumn comes sweetly sharing her beauty with all human souls, with all souls, in this panoramic world of color and completion and manifold revelations of art and abundance of aesthetic manifestations. Leaves have put on colorful garments of intricate patterns and delightful designs and joined in chorus company to meet the gentle breeze for their autumnal dance of farewell to the brilliant rays of the summer light.

Swami Premananda
Prayers of Soul

Gandhi: The Secret of Silence

“It has often occurred to me that a seeker after truth has to be silent. I know the wonderful efficacy of silence. I visited a Trappist monastery in South Africa. A beautiful place it was. Most of the inmates of that place were under a vow of silence. I inquired of the Father the motive of it and he said the motive is apparent: 'We are frail human beings. We do not know very often what we say. If we want to listen to the still small voice that is always speaking within us, it will not be heard if we continually speak.' I understood that precious lesson. I know the secret of silence.”

“Experience has taught me that silence is a part of the spiritual discipline of a votary of truth. Proneness to exaggerate, to suppress or modify the truth, wittingly or unwittingly, is a natural weakness of man, and silence is necessary in order to surmount it. A man of few words will rarely be thoughtless in his speech; he will measure every word.”

“When one comes to think of it one cannot help feeling that nearly half the misery of the world would disappear if we, fretting mortals, knew the virtue of silence. Before modern civilization came upon us, at least six to eight hours of silence out of twenty-four were vouchsafed to us. Modern civilization has taught us to convert night into day and golden silence into brazen din and noise. What a great thing it would be if we in our busy lives could retire into ourselves each day for at least a couple of hours and prepare our minds to listen in to the Voice of the Great Silence. The Divine Radio is always singing if we could only make ourselves ready to listen to it, but it is impossible to listen without silence. St. Theresa has used a charming image to sum up the sweet result of silence: ‘You will at once feel your senses gather themselves together; they seem like bees which return to the hive and there shut themselves up to work without effort or care on your part. God thus rewards the soul; and gives to it such a domination over the senses that a sign is enough when it desires to recollect itself, for them to obey and so gather themselves together. At the first call of the will they come back more and more quickly. At last, after many exercises of this kind, God disposes them to a state of absolute repose and of perfect contemplation.’”

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

Dewdrop Beads of Light

I walk to the tree of life and sit beneath her canopy.
My thoughts ascend through her outstretched branches.

I listen to her wisdom and praise her for her beauty.
I thank her for her beneficence.
I learn from her guidance.

She offers blessings as dewdrop beads of light on the gossamer string of love, held together as a constellation of thoughts cast between the sunlight and shade, each one a prayer to the Almighty, so delicate, this web, and yet, so strong.

Others join me in this prayer— Our congregation consists of the birds, insects and other creatures who come in reverence and devotion.

In this communion, we breathe the purity and realize the presence of perfection, in a prayer at the tree of life.

Srimati Karuna
Prayer Beads

Self-Realization

“So long as our unfoldment requires us to continue our existence in the world of manifestation, we must have two ideals. One is the relative and the other is the absolute ideal. The relative ideal demands that we provide for the objective aspect of life; whereas the absolute ideal inspires us to realize the highest state of perfection, which is oneness with God, or Self-realization. These two ideals are complementary to each other. They are by no means contradictory, unless we make them so. Some live in the conviction that this world is altogether a source of bondage, unrighteousness, and misery. The cause of such belief lies in an ignorant perspective of the world they live in. The truth is that the world, to us, is like our two hands which we may use to strangle ourselves, or to save ourselves from being strangled.

Philosophy, religion, or truth does not make us rich, but it teaches us how to utilize what we possess, in order to regain our spiritual perfection. Philosophy lifts us into that state of consciousness at which the senses are instruments and Soul is the master. The ideal of life is not to be entangled by the world, but to live in it and remain free from its delusive influences. A true devotee loves God for God alone. No amount of disease, misfortune, poverty nor persecution can change his course of life from spirituality. He is firmly established on the Self. Spiritual perfection cannot be attained by casual effort. It takes time to accomplish any great task. It requires determination and unfaltering perseverance. To reach the spiritual ideal is the greatest undertaking in life.”

Realization of the Self
Swami Premananda

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!