Our relationships can bring great joy or great suffering into our lives. Either way, they can affect us on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. We can learn to heal difficult relationships and improve good ones by practicing some of these guidelines: 1) Listen. When communication becomes difficult, don’t shout or argue, but take time to listen to what is … Read More
A few days ago we received a letter from a young man who’s currently going through a painful separation. We were so touched by it that we wanted to share it with you in his own words: On Thursday I went to check out a little apartment in the hills of Newcastle [California]. I drove my bike out a long … Read More
Nearly every devotee struggles with trying to keep the mind more focused on God. It’s a very challenging struggle, a bit like trying to catch the wind. The pull of the world, and of past experiences and karma, draws us away from a single-minded focus on God. How do we resist that pull? In his poem “God! God! God!,” which … Read More
Everyday a miracle is happening all around us. Because it’s so humble and simple, we hardly even notice it, yet without it we couldn’t survive: the miracle of healing. I don’t mean the dramatic examples of divine intervention like Jesus restoring sight to the blind man, or Lahiri Mahasaya bringing Sri Yukteswar’s friend back from the dead. I’m talking about … Read More
Good health results from a strong unobstructed flow of life-force to all areas of the body; illness, moods, apathy—in fact, all negative states—are symptoms of a conflict or blockage of the life-force. One of the great benefits of meditation is a gradual freedom from these conflicts.
A dear friend of ours, Maria, passed away from cancer 2 years ago. As her husband was taking her to the hospital, in the last stages of her life, she gave him this amazing advice, “Detach yourself. Control the reactive process. Live the teachings.”
The “placebo effect” illustrates the importance of the mind, of consciousness, for both wellness and disease. It is our consciousness, working through the subtle laws of magnetism, which creates our circumstances.
Prayer helps us to open our consciousness to the flow of God’s grace. By praying, we make a conscious connection with God that otherwise wouldn’t be there, and thereby attune ourselves more fully to Him.
The repetition of this mantra will begin to drive out all other thoughts and desires, until your consciousness begins to rotate around that single phrase, “God, God, God.”
A tool for the New Year.
A great sense of relaxation comes as we realize that relationships are given to us primarily to help us learn and grow, especially in our ability to accept and to love. Relationships lived in this manner hold the promise of deep fulfillment.
ParamahnsaYogananda called this Nine-Day Cleansing Diet “a method for rejuvenating the body cells and awakening the latent powers of the mind and the inner forces of the soul.”
Love is the light that drives out all darkness in relationships between people. If you have any problem with another person, it’s because the love between you has diminished.
The first duty of every soul is to release the hold of ego consciousness, whether one is a renunciate, a householder, or living for God in some other way.
Love is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. The power of attraction holds families together and keeps the planets in their orbits.
A diminished flow of life-force is the root cause of disease. If we wait until we’re sick and then address only the symptoms, we will be caught up in a pernicious cycle of disease.
Why forgive one who wrongs you? Because the desire for vengeance is a karmic cage that imprisons both individuals and cultures into enduring suffering.
Much of our suffering comes from two sources: the force of delusion and our own karma.
Unhealthy levels of stress usually come from trying to control the uncontrollable. As yogis we want to find release from addiction to excitement and delusion. Your power lies in choosing how you respond.
The liberating concept underlying so much of Yoganananda’s teachings is that we aren’t our habits, our personalities, or even bodies, but WE ARE ENERGY.