Tag Archives: self-realization

Young man meditating on OM near a river.

OM Sweet OM: The Pathway to Self-Realization

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Young man meditating on OM near a river.OM is within, and all around us. It lies at the heart of all things, animate and inanimate. It is through OM that we have journeyed away from our home in God—into this world of maya and delusion—and it is through OM that we will find our way back to our true nature of oneness with God.

Yogananda used two spellings for the cosmic vibration: OM and AUM. Although AUM is the more accurate Sanskrit form, he often used the shorter spelling, OM, as well—especially in poetic writings. For simplicity, I will use the more commonly recognized OM in this article.

Occasionally, Yogananda would take some of the disciples to a movie. When the movie reached its most exciting part, he would tap them on the shoulder, point to the beam of light coming from the projection booth, and say, “It’s all just a play of light and shadow.” Continue reading →

Woman writing in her journal

Introspection: The Key to Spiritual Progress

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Woman writing in her journalParamhansa Yogananda said that we cannot stand still on the spiritual path: we are either moving forward or we are moving backward. He also said that the minutes are more important than the years. If we want to see improvement over the years, we must start by making the right effort today.

A few years ago, I was the service manager for an electrical contracting company. The owner often told me, “You need to inspect what you expect.” He meant that, as a manager, I needed to keep an eye on our crew to make sure they were meeting our quality standards.

The same thing can be said about managing our inner kingdom of attitudes, habits, and thoughts. These determine success or failure on the spiritual path: whether or not we are moving in the right direction. We need to inspect what we expect. Continue reading →