Tag Archives: Spiritual awakening

We Are Beings of Light

We Are Beings of Light!

We Are Beings of Light“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good.” – Genesis 1:3-4

Yogananda taught that each of us is an individual expression of God’s one radiant light. He came to the West to help us awaken that light within, that it might shine more fully through our lives.

Yogananda once looked upon a group of disciples and said, “You have no idea how beautiful you all are—I see you all as light.” Yogananda, like all true masters, could perceive the light of the soul—ever shining through the darknesses of this world.

“As moving pictures are sustained by a beam of light—so are all of us sustained by the Cosmic Beam, the Divine Light pouring from the projection booth of Eternity.” – Paramhansa Yogananda

Just as the rays of the sun cannot shine clearly through a mud-splattered window until it has been cleaned, so too, this inner light cannot be fully expressed through our lives without spiritual purification. This purification comes through deep meditation, selfless service, and self-offering born of introspection. Continue reading

Woman in pronom position at sunrise over the ocean

Self-Surrender: The Pathway to Bliss

Woman with hands in pronam position at sunrise over the ocean

In higher consciousness, we discover an answer to every problem that life presents. As we lift our awareness from the little ego-self to the great soul-self, we rise above the level of every challenge—above the consciousness of pain, fear, and discouragement.

In the joy of soul-consciousness, we realize that we are one with God and that, in that oneness, we are connected to all life. With that understanding comes the awareness that when we help another, we are helping our own higher self; when we lift another, we ourselves are lifted. Therefore, the soul is ever kind, compassionate, and giving. It wants to serve God by serving all.

Kindness, compassion, and the desire to be helpful are all natural expressions of that lifted consciousness. We can offer ourselves up to the divine through our service to others, and in that service, we deepen our experience of inner joy and peace. Continue reading

Swami-Kriyananda-Centennial

A Tribute to Our Friend and Guide Swami Kriyananda

Ananda Devotees Sharing Light with the World

Ananda Devotees Sharing Light with the World

I’m writing these words from the Expanding Light Retreat at Ananda Village in California’s Sierra Nevada Foothills, joined by some 750 kindred souls celebrating the 100th anniversary of Swami Kriyananda’s birth.

This has been a deeply uplifting week. We shared meditations, inspiring talks, devotional chanting, a beautiful concert of Swami Kriyananda’s music, his play The Jewel in the Lotus, and warm conversations with fellow devotees—all in celebration of the life of Ananda’s founder, Swami Kriyananda.

There has been a palpable feeling of expansive joy throughout the week—a sense that, through all of us present, Swamiji would continue to grow and expand Ananda’s worldwide work of sharing Yogananda’s teachings and vibration with the world. Continue reading

Young man meditating on OM near a river.

OM Sweet OM: The Pathway to Self-Realization

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