Ananda Meditation Groups

12/01/2023

**What Problem?** A TOUCH OF LIGHT WEEKLY BLOG

We were discussing some major themes in *Autobiography of a Yogi* with a group of close friends. This great spiritual classic is so rich in expansive wisdom that every time I open it, I find some new truths revealed. It no doubt provides unique inspiration for each person who reads it, according to the level of their own spiritual understanding.

During the discussion, one of our friends shared a thought that had never occurred to me. “The *Autobiography,*” he said, “can be seen as a Dwapara Yuga epic in which many problems occur, but are all resolved with the understanding that energy and consciousness, not matter and form, are the ultimate reality.” What a brilliant insight!

Throughout the book, Master faces many challenges large and small, all of which are overcome by faith and divine intervention: being healed of deadly cholera by Lahiri Mahasaya’s intercession through his photo; passing his high school exams through the help of a scholarly friend and a Sanskrit verse in an empty lot; finding his guru standing before him in Benares after desperately searching for him; overcoming his brother Ananta’s skepticism through his courage and faith during his penniless journey to Brindaban.

Through these stories and many more like them, Master is teaching us invaluable lessons. First, don’t expect life to be easy, even for devotees. Here is a wonderful affirmation Master gave us: “Life is a struggle for joy all along the way. May I fight to win the battle on the very spot where I now am.” Accept that difficulties are a part of the spiritual path, and go into the fray with strength and courage.

Master is also showing us how to detach from any problem and approach it with the understanding that only consciousness is real. Another affirmation he’s given us is: “When fear or anger or any kind of suffering comes to me, I will view it as a spectator. I will separate myself from my experiences. At all costs I will endeavor to retain my peace and happiness.” Behind the form of every test is the opportunity to transcend it and to grow spiritually. By holding firmly to this thought, we come to understand what Master also teaches us: “There are no obstacles, only opportunities.”

Finally (for the purpose of this brief blog, because one could go on at length) his autobiography shows us that, come what may, God is always protecting and guiding us. Faith in Him/Her is the best tool we have to face and overcome all of our problems.

Speaking for each one of us, Yoganandaji declares: “My earthly experiences serve as a process of destruction of my limiting mortal delusions. In God even the most ‘impossible’ dreams are realized. (‘I will give him the morning star.’ —Revelations 2:28)” This “morning star” is the divine light which shines within us, revealing God’s unwavering presence in our life.

As I write these words, Jyotish and I are in Mumbai for the few days before returning to America after four months of traveling and teaching. My heart is filled with gratitude and joy as I realize how smoothly everything has gone. In the face of a myriad of possible problems, each step has been filled with protection and grace. When challenges have come, we’ve been given the strength to face them with joy. In part this is true because we’ve offered our life and our service to God and Guru. Perhaps the *Autobiography’s* most important lesson for overcoming problems is this: Give your service, your devotion, your life wholeheartedly to God. In time you will behold, hidden behind every test, His smiling face.

With love and joy,

Nayaswami Devi

P.S. Watch this video of children from an orphanage near the Mumbai ashram, who are being taught by devotees according to Education for Life principles. Their song seems to fit perfectly with the thoughts I’ve been sharing.

We love to receive your comments, share with us here: https://jyotishanddevi.org/blog

Listen to this week’s podcast with Devi: https://www.ananda.org/video/series/a-touch-of-light-podcast/

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KLGaV7OLMdA

07/03/2023

03/24/2023

**Finding God in the Big City** A TOUCH OF LIGHT WEEKLY BLOG

Twenty million people! That’s the population of the Greater Los Angeles area, we were told recently when we visited friends and Ananda centers there.

For one of our satsangs, in Torrance, the center leader asked us to talk about how to find spirituality in big-city life. I thought you, too, might be interested in the thoughts we shared that evening on the challenges faced by city-dwellers and some of the spiritual solutions to them.

*Distraction vs. Focused Attention*

Driving on big-city freeways is an experience in itself. It’s almost overwhelming to deal with the long commutes, the speed of the traffic, and the constantly flashing billboards screaming (as a friend of ours once humorously put it), “Eat me. Buy me. Take me home!” The mind gets scattered in a myriad of different directions, and even after arriving at your destination, it takes an effort of will to get focused again.

This is no small obstacle to achieving peace of mind, but the opportunity is also there: to keep the mind more concentrated on whatever we’re doing. Build up the habit of attentive awareness in everything you do—talking with a friend, working on a project at your job, going for a walk. While driving, listen to something uplifting—beautiful music or an inspiring talk—and give it your attention.

The more you make the conscious effort to concentrate, the more will you find yourself actively and rewardingly engaged in every area of your life. And the greater will your ability be to go deep in meditation.

*Self-Interest vs. Self-Giving*

The forces of competition and self-interest are strong in any large group. Even lab rats turn on one another when placed in overcrowded tanks. The seeming cold indifference in a big city may lead us to think, “If I don’t look out for ‘Number One,’ how will I get by?”

The opportunity here is to counter the pull of self-interest by consciously finding ways to serve and give to others. We have a friend in Los Angeles who would give her daughters a small weekly allowance, and then (at their request) drive them to an area where homeless people lived, so that they could give their money away.

Find ways to help others, even at your own inconvenience or loss. Keeping the heart open to those in need frees us from preoccupation with the demands of our limited self. Ultimately we realize that God alone is the provider, and that the more we give, the more we are given. Self-giving also leads us to experience a loving connection with all of life.

*Self-Indulgence vs. Self-Control*

Big-city life offers many dark pathways that lead to overstimulation of the senses, even to the point of self-destruction. Master set up his headquarters in Los Angeles, and lived there for nearly twenty-five years. He would sometimes walk up and down some of the seedy, bar-lined streets in order to bring light and upliftment to the poor souls there trapped in addictions.

The opportunity for us here is to examine our own life and find areas where we lack sufficient self-control. Take up a challenge with the thought, “I will practice inner discipline so that others may follow my lead and develop self-control in their life.”

When you’ve improved in one area, take up another challenge, until you begin to see that you—not old habits or karma—are in charge of your life. What freedom comes with this realization!

*Downward Emotions vs. Uplifted Feelings*

The sheer number of life stories and struggles in a big city can create a fog of hopelessness and despair. Especially now with economic and political uncertainty rife, and worse to come seeming to loom on the horizon, it’s easy to be pulled down into negativity.

To counter this tendency, we should strive energetically to keep hope and joy foremost in our minds. One of my favorite quotes of Master’s is, “Life is a battle for joy every step of the way. May I fight to win the battle on the very spot where I now stand.” These words have stood me in good stead through many a difficult situation.

Once you choose joy under all circumstances, you begin to find that joy is your constant companion.
In sum, finding God in big-city life comes down to this: In each of life’s circumstances, choose the highest and best road to follow. And use all of your strength and commitment to stay the course.

Remember these words of Yoganandaji: “There are no obstacles, only opportunities.” Your very effort will uplift those around you, whether you live in a big city or a small ashram. Then you become, as Swami Kriyananda used to say, “part of the solution, not the problem.”

In divine friendship,

Nayaswami Devi

We love to receive your comments, share with us here: https://www.ananda.org/jyotish-and-devi/finding-god-in-the-big-city/

Listen to this week’s behind-the-scenes commentary with Devi: https://www.ananda.org/video/series/a-touch-of-light-podcast/

02/24/2023

**Take That Step!** A TOUCH OF LIGHT WEEKLY BLOG

Driving on a stormy night to an uncertain destination is a daunting experience for all of us. It’s also a perfect analogy for the challenges on our spiritual journey.

First, we get in our car and are glad for the moment to be out of the storm. (This is our first step on the path to God, in which we have a longing to escape the turmoil of life and find peace of mind.)

Next, we’re uncertain about driving in the storm. We even begin to question if getting to the destination is worth it, so we decide to cancel the trip. (Some new seekers lose heart before they begin, and decide that the unknown destination of finding God and the demands of the trip are too much. They quit before they’ve even begun.)

Then, if we’re plucky enough, we summon up the courage to start the car, turn on the headlights, and check our GPS unit to get an idea of where we’re going. (We generate the initial energy to start the journey, then put out the positive energy that enables us to find a true guide—the guru—who can show us where we’re headed and how to get there.)

So the journey begins. Since the headlights enable us to see only a little distance ahead, we proceed slowly and cautiously. We hope that the road will become clearer as we continue driving. (Each step on the spiritual path is revealed as we approach it. The techniques and teachings come into focus as we proceed.)

At this point, the storm seems to be letting up, and we begin to relax and enjoy the journey. As we draw closer to our destination, streetlights appear to guide us, the road gets wider, and the signs for our journey’s end are more frequent. (As we continue towards our spiritual goal, the dark karma that obscured our way seems to lift. Our inner path to God becomes more brightly illumined, and reaching Him begins to seem possible.)

Finally, as we approach our destination, we begin to speed up, because we see that we’re nearing the journey’s end. With a sigh of relief, we realize that the goal that for so long seemed obscure is now familiar and welcoming. (Though the spiritual journey is seemingly filled with perils and uncertainty, as we continue the momentum builds. We realize that there was always an Unseen Passenger in the back seat silently guiding our way to our true home in God.)

To complete the journey, we must find the faith to trust that we are never alone on the spiritual path, and that God’s grace is always with us. But we must also have the courage to take the next step, and then the next, until we arrive at our goal.

Once Yoganandaji was correcting a disciple for some behavior that needed changing. The man tried to justify himself by answering, “That’s easy for you to say—you’re a master.”

Yoganandaji replied with great force: “And what do you think made me a master?” In other words, it’s by facing our challenges and overcoming them that we attain soul freedom. The journey may seem dark and daunting, but if we take each step in front of us, with God’s grace, we will get there.

Master, who has the soul of a spiritual warrior, wrote a wonderful poem, “My Soul Is Marching On.” It’s filled with the determination and power to reach the journey’s end. As you read these stanzas excerpted from the poem, try to visualize him in armor of gleaming light holding a flaming sword to guide us forward:

“The flowers bloomed, then hid in gloom,
The bounty of the trees did cease;
Colossal men have come and gone,
But still my soul is marching on!

“Darkness, death, and failures vied;
To block my path they fiercely tried.
My fight with jealous Nature’s strong,
But still my soul is marching on!”

Take the next step with determination, friend. Marching bravely we will reach—each one of us—the journey’s end.

Nayaswami Devi

We love to receive your comments, share with us here: https://buff.ly/3EzzLuw

Listen to this week’s behind-the-scenes commentary with Devi: https://buff.ly/3bEPieX

09/08/2022

05/13/2022

A friend who is an architect and engineer made an amusing comment about Ananda that has always stayed with me. He said, “We engineers study the effects of gravity. We need to know how to keep structures from collapsing. But at Ananda it is the opposite: You study the effects of levity.”

Levity, in this sense, is far different from the normal definition of humor or frivolity. In its deeper sense, levity is the flow of energy toward the bliss of our soul nature. Levity can even become levitation if the flow is strong enough. As Swami Kriyananda wrote in Demystifying Patanjali, Sutra 3-40, “By mastery over udana—the current within the deep spine which raises Kundalini through the sushumna to the brain—one gains the power of levitation, and of leaving the body at will.”

Few of us need to concern ourselves with levitation yet, but we all should practice levity. How can we “in-joy” ourselves? Keeping in mind that the flow of energy needs to be elevating and expanding, I thought it would be fun to share how Swami Kriyananda enjoyed himself. Since May 19 is the anniversary of his birthday, let’s start there.

Swamiji was attracted to both refinement and joy in many forms. One of these was good food. He often invited a small group of friends to breakfast on his birthday. Many times breakfast consisted of “fun foods”: pancakes, a wonderful fruit salad, fresh juice, and tea or coffee. Mainly what I remember though is the friendship, laughter, and delightful stories. Later in the day he might have a community gathering in the gardens around his home. Again, laughter and joy: the squeals of children playing in the pool, the aroma of food cooking on a grill, the murmur of small groups of people talking together. There was always music involved and often a play or skit. Occasionally, Swami would read a story from his favorite humorist, P.G. Wodehouse, sometimes laughing so hard he could barely finish a sentence. An amazing thing is that Divine Mother almost always attended these events dressed up in the form of a rainbow. On more than one occasion a rainbow appeared in a nearly cloudless sky as what is called a “glory.”

Swami was focused in whatever he did—he had to be energetic and concentrated in order to produce so many books, songs, and talks. But some of our most enchanting memories are of the trips of celebration that he would take after finishing a big project. We often accompanied him and a small group to Carmel-by-the-Sea, a charming California coastal town that started out as an artist colony.

Carmel is very refined, as close as Swami could get to the European feel of his youth. After meditation we would usually stroll along the streets visiting small shops, or art galleries, or “Conway of Asia,” a store that specialized in Asian and Indian antiques. We weren’t so much interested in buying things as in enjoying the refined ambience. The highlight of the day was lunch or dinner at one of Carmel’s many wonderful restaurants.

The main point here is that, in spite of his intense schedule, Swamiji always made time for uplifting enjoyment—for levity. And, as was his nature, he liked to share his joy with others. We would do well to take this as a model for our own lives. Set aside time for friends, for good meals, for laughter and song. It is all a part of the life of a yogi.

“Ever-new, ever-expanding joy” is the final goal of the spiritual path. It would be a shame to wait, to spend a lifetime being pulled down by the gravity of problems and world events. Let’s find ways to practice levity. Swamiji did.

In joy,

Nayaswami Jyotish

From the Touch of Light blog, “Levity.” We love to hear your comments. Share and listen to the behind-the-scenes commentary here: https://www.ananda.org/jyotish-and-devi/levity/

05/06/2022

There’s a story of a young disciple who came to his guru’s forest ashram for training. The guru blessed him and asked him to begin collecting firewood for the ashram’s stoves. Willingly he carried out this task, and as the days, months, and then years passed, he continued to serve humbly in this way.

One day as he was returning to the ashram with his load of wood, he tripped on a tree root, and a stick fell from his arms. As it dropped, it pulled out a few strands of his hair. Staring in amazement at the gray strands entangled in the piece of wood, he thought, “I came here as a young man, and now I am old with gray hair. I’ve wasted my whole life in carrying wood while other disciples have studied with the guru. I haven’t progressed toward my goal of finding God.” His eyes began to fill with tears.

Just at that moment his guru came running to him and caught his tears. “Don’t you know,” the sage said, “that if the tears of a soul as great as you touch the ground there will be famine in the land for seven years?” The guru then touched his forehead, and the disciple entered into union with God.

This beautiful story illustrates the point that it’s very difficult to tell for oneself whether or not we’re making spiritual progress. Are there any ways to know if our spiritual efforts are bearing fruit? Here are some signs to help guide you:

Do you have greater understanding and compassion for others? With spiritual growth, our consciousness expands so that we feel more keenly the joys and sorrows of others. With this heightened awareness comes a sense of connection and unity, and a strengthened desire to help others out of their suffering.

Are you finding new perspectives on life that are bigger than your own likes and dislikes? As the self-limiting confines of ego begin to dissolve, we get a broader view of life that embraces others’ realities as much as our own. Swamiji defined maturity as “the ability to relate appropriately to other realities than one’s own.”

Are you able more easily to accept people or situations that once used to bother you? Are you beginning to wonder why a particular situation ever troubled you? With inner growth comes freedom from old karma that has kept us bound. Sister Gyanamata, Yoganandaji’s most advanced woman disciple, loved these words from a chant: “Before my eyes/My dead self lies./Oh bliss beyond compare!”

Are you seeing new things in yourself that need to change? This may seem contradictory to spiritual growth, but Swami Kriyananda once said, “If you see a flaw in yourself that needs correcting, don’t despair, but rejoice. The flaw has always been there, but now that you finally see it, you can get to work on it.”

Are you able to remain “even-minded and cheerful” in all circumstances? As an undercurrent of joy begins to permeate your consciousness, you’ll realize that no matter what happens in life, nothing can touch that joy. A saint once said, “Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.”

But I should also mention that there are some attitudes that are deterrents to our inner development:

Don’t keep looking for signs of spiritual progress. Yoganandaji said that our spiritual efforts are like planting seeds. If you keep digging them up to see if they’ve sprouted, you only slow down their growth. Be a good gardener who lovingly cares for his plants, but has the patience to let them grow at their own pace.

Remember that God is the Doer, and give your inner development into His hands. In self-forgetfulness we are able to allow divine grace to transform us in ways we can’t yet understand. With faith in God, over time we can achieve the goals we are seeking.

Once we were riding in a car with Swami Kriyananda, and he was commenting on the spiritual growth of various Ananda members. Quietly from the back seat I said, “I don’t know that I’ve made much progress.” With intensity Swamiji replied, “How can you say that? You’re an entirely different person than when you came!” I’d been at Ananda for about fifteen years at that time, and I surely wasn’t aware of the changes to which he was referring.

If our spiritual progress happens in ways that are difficult for us to see, we might be inclined to ask, “Who are we becoming through this process?” It may seem hard to define, but it’s actually quite simple—the last two lines of Yoganandaji’s poem, “Samadhi,” say it all:

“A tiny bubble of laughter, I
Am become the Sea of Mirth Itself.”

In their own good time all of our efforts end in the endlessness of God’s Ocean of Joy.

Towards that Joy,

Nayaswami Devi

From the blog, “Are You Making Spiritual Progress?” Listen to behind-the-scenes commentary or share your comments with us here: https://buff.ly/3LOBfTl

We love to hear from you.

04/29/2022

Squinting is an invaluable technique used by artists, and something we can apply in our own lives too. For artists, it’s simple to do: you just periodically look at your work with your eyes partially closed. Here is what a very fine artist, Robert Genn, has to say about the subject:

“Looking at work with half-closed eyes has several benefits. Simply put, squinting makes note of weak areas. Squinting tells you what’s wrong and what’s bad. Squinting lets you know where darkness or lightness might be added. Also, by drawing together the eyelids, you see the subject as more or less reduced to black and white. When work is viewed without the benefit of color, decisions can be more readily made. It seems that in standard easel-working vision, you ‘can’t see the forest for the trees.’”

Isn’t that one of the common mistakes we make in life, focusing on the trees instead of the forest? If we apply the squinting technique to our lives, it will help us extract ourselves from all the details and see our major energy patterns. Doing this as a regular habit can help keep our lives on course.

Even the position of the eyes is significant. Here is what Paramhansa Yogananda writes about the great yogi, Lahiri Mahasaya: “His intense joy of God-communion is slightly revealed in a somewhat enigmatic smile. His eyes, half open to denote a nominal direction on the outer world, are half closed also. Completely oblivious to the poor lures of the earth, he was fully awake at all times to the spiritual problems of seekers who approached for his bounty.”

How can we translate the physical squint of an artist into the mental and spiritual squint that would be so helpful in life? What is needed above all is to back off from involvement in the innumerable details and problems of daily living. Another way of describing a spiritual squint would be to look at the canvas of life through a mind that is half involved and half detached. See the broader goals of your incarnation: Are they poorly focused, or set off to the side? When our minds are too involved in problems or too focused on “the poor lures of the earth,” we can’t see the larger picture.

The best time for a spiritual squint is toward the end of a meditation, when our minds and hearts are already somewhat withdrawn. Relax your gaze up toward the point between the eyebrows and spend a few minutes considering the broad patterns of your life. Do they line up with your aspirations, or have you allowed your soul to get caught in a cobweb of little hopes, dreams, and worries?

Once you perceive the “weak areas and what’s wrong or bad” it is time to get to work. Paint over those parts that should be eliminated and start adding more light and color to those parts that will bring you true joy.

Swami Kriyananda said, “We are all works in progress. God isn’t finished with us yet.”

With a squint and a half smile,

Nayaswami Jyotish

From the blog, “Learn to Squint.” Share a comment or listen to behind-the-scenes commentary, we love to hear from you: https://buff.ly/3LwRLXO