Meditation—Is It Hard or Easy?

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los beneficios del ayuno del yogananda

I’m feeling better today. I fasted yesterday, in part to help clear out some respiratory congestion I’ve had since we got back from India a few days ago. For this particular purpose, I did a fast called the “Master Cleanse,” in which you drink a “lemonade” consisting of lemon juice, Grade B maple syrup, and a little cayenne powder, diluted with water. Occasionally Devi and I will do Paramhansa Yogananda’s marvelous Nine-Day Cleansing and Vitalizing Diet, which consists of lots of citrus, raw vegetables, a daily steamed vegetable, and a special “vitality beverage.”

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Godly Qualities—A Checklist

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Running through Ananda Village in Northern California are the rutted remains of an old road. A hundred and fifty years ago, during the time of the Gold Rush, when tons of ore were taken from the land around us, Wells Fargo stagecoach drivers urged their horses up and down these hills, and Pony Express riders rushed along carrying bags of mail. Interesting as history, but in current times this old road leads nowhere.

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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

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Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness A Touch of Light by Nayaswami Devi

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This second sentence of the Declaration of Independence has been called “one of the best-known sentences in the English language.”

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Global Warming

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We need more global warming. No, not the kind where the average temperature rises. I mean where the average consciousness rises. The only true cure for many of the world’s problems—war, poverty, and even rising temperatures—is for mankind’s consciousness to expand.

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Fifty Years

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Nayaswami Jyotish, Swami Kriyananda, and Paramhansa Yogananda in blessing.

Today is the fourth anniversary of Swami Kriyananda’s leaving his body. Ananda Worldwide celebrates this occasion with what we call “Moksha Day,” a day dedicated to Self-realization, or spiritual freedom. We start the day with a six-hour meditation at the Moksha Mandir, where Swami Kriyananda’s body is enshrined. This is an especially beautiful time of year at Ananda Village, with Swami’s beloved gardens filled by more than fifteen thousand tulips and thousands of visitors. It’s almost as if he thought, “If people are going to gather to honor this day, let them be surrounded by beauty.”

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Who Are You? Truth vs. Facts

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What Is the Nature of the Soul? Yogananda teachings answer this deep and common spiritual question.

Have you ever been awestruck by a great work of art or a scene of natural beauty? The power of Michelangelo’s “David”; the mystery of Leonardo’s “Mona Lisa”; the perfection in architecture of the Taj Mahal; or the cosmic grandeur of the Aurora Borealis: I’ve looked at all of these, and felt deeply uplifted.

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Four Keys to Deeper Meditations

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Yogananda Poem When I Am Only a Dream. Painting "Eternity" by Jyotish

This morning as I sat in meditation, I ignored some of the advice I am sharing here. Instead of focusing entirely on my meditation, I spent some time thinking about this blog. (Ah, how often we ignore good advice, even when it comes from ourselves!) Yet I hope some benefit will come from my well-intentioned restlessness. Anyway, here is what came to me.

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