Showing posts with label Bhagavad Gita. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bhagavad Gita. Show all posts

Sunday, October 22, 2023

What is the Best Way to Pray? Is God Personal or Impersonal?

 What is the Best Way to Pray? Is God Personal or Impersonal?

The best way to pray is any way you can and will! Who cannot but feel for the people in Israel and Palestine fighting one another with civilians being targeted and taking the brunt of the violence. All war is stupid, but stupidity is endemic. As much as millions yearn for peace, war is a consistent fact of human existence as far back as we have records. It would seem to be a necessary part of the human drama.

As it was said during the last so-called “world” war, “There ain’t no atheists in foxholes.” If it requires hardship, pain, and suffering to trigger an appeal to a greater power, then so be it.

Contemplating the vastness and complexity of the universe and the human body and life, we are confronted with two choices: head down and get mine, or, head up, and embrace our part in the symphony of life. 

Life tends to push our head down into the details, let’s face it. And there are many details, more now than ever before in history. The head-down mudra of the cell phone symbolizes this reality. Who can blame those billions who, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of facts, energies, and circumstances that surround them, prefer the original head-down mudra of the ostrich. Tempting it is to hide under the covers or binge on Netflix.

Whatever opinions you may have of so-called pagan worship of the gods and the elements, at least in that worship there is a recognition that there are forces greater than our own that impact our lives.  Not as much can be said of billions of humans on our planet today between their indifference, their atheism, or agnosticism. Real paganism is the worship of the false idols of money, power, and pleasure.

Human consciousness is poised between the old and the unfolding new. The old contains static beliefs and social immobility; well-worn ritual and dogma; hierarchy and privilege; exploitation and abuse; power and helplessness. The new promises freedom but threatens us with chaos. Our world is confused and polarized, at best.

As there are many levels or stages of awareness and consciousness among humans so also does higher consciousness descend through many layers of God-ness and good-ness through forms such as angels and devas, saints and avatars, sages and heroes, peacemakers, teachers, caregivers, and parents.

The best way to pray is that which opens our hearts and minds to a power greater than our own. Not in abject self-denial but in self-expansion and love.

Jesus gave to us the Lord’s prayer newly revised in yogic pentameter:

Our Father who art in the heaven of Eternal Bliss, sacred is the vibration of Thy presence above, below, and within. Give us this day the sustaining life of Thy joy, the cleansing power of Thy love, the guidance of Thy wisdom, and the healing power of Thy peace. Forgive us our forgetfulness of Thee as we forgive others who hurt us, and may our tests strengthen our resolve to seek Thee alone. I shun the false promises of material desires, for Thou art my life, my love, and the light and glory of all life forever and ever. Amen.

Jesus shows us as do many great saints, East and West, that praying to God in a personal form is both beautiful and powerful. Never mind that God is “infinite.” I can think of several saints who encourage us to put aside our definitions of God in favor of developing a personal relationship propelled and flavored by the fragrance of pure love.

Nonetheless, our prayers should rise to the heaven of God’s nature as joy or pure love, and not try always to pull God down to make our lives more comfortable or successful. We cannot help but pray for the relief of suffering of others and sometimes even ourselves, but the highest prayer seeks to know God who is our very Self, our nearest and dearest. “God knows what you need before you even ask.”

Swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, describes in one of his many books (“Awaken to Superconsciousness”) that he makes it a rule for himself never to pray for himself. He admits that is not an expectation he has of anyone else. During his life, he experienced significant incidents of physical pain from operations and procedures. In the book mentioned, he tells of when he had a kidney stone attack. He could barely talk or move. After a time of intense pain, he recalled that he was scheduled to give the talk at the Sunday Service in a short while. He prayed to Divine Mother not for relief from the excruciating pain but to mention that if She wanted him to give the talk, She would have to make it possible for him to speak! The pain left him instantly. Ironically, he DID have trouble speaking as he was suffused with divine joy for the miraculous demonstration of Her love.

Unless we are significantly impersonal with respect to our own feelings, desires, and bodily compulsions, we would do better to relate to God in a more personal form.

Is God personal or impersonal?

In the ancient teachings of India, God has not only made this world but did so by BECOMING all things and endowing all creation with a spark of divine consciousness. After all, think about it: what else could God have made the universe out of except “Himself?” Divinity must, in some way, be present in every atom of creation even if well-hidden and deeply asleep.

The universe is God’s child and as such must contain, in varying degrees, elements of the nature of God’s impulse to have brought forth the creation in the first place: elements such as consciousness, the impulse to create, and choice. As the source of all created things is God’s consciousness, the greater the degree of self-awareness (consciousness), the greater one’s potential for creativity and choice. When awareness turns inward upon itself it has the potential to transcend the inherent limitations of form: including the human body and subtler aspects of human consciousness linked to the body: such as thoughts, emotions, memories, and imagination. When awareness turns inward to perceive its own nature it begins the return journey to the Consciousness out of which all things were born. Meditation is the art and science of consciousness.

In this return journey to God (as Consciousness), our perceptions become increasingly subtle and refined. We see this even in ourselves as we outgrow the toys of childhood and move increasingly through life with ever greater awareness and wisdom (hopefully). At the border of Infinity, we encounter stories such as that of Ramakrishna Paramhansa: he enjoyed a loving relationship with Divine Mother who appeared to him in vision and form but when his guru, Totapuri appeared in his life, Totapuri guided him to go beyond divine form into the formless bliss of God-consciousness.

We should be careful, however, not to grade God-consciousness as if we were the teacher. God is as much present IN forms as BEYOND forms. To one with “eyes to see” there is no difference. But we must also be careful not to imagine we are “one with the Father” in our present state! Tricky stuff, eh?

Yogananda said, “You will know when you will know.” “When this I shall die then shall I know who am I.”

Thus it is that Krishna encourages us to relate to God in the personal form. Responding to Arjuna’s question in the Bhagavad Gita comparing prayer to the impersonal Absolute to the personal form, Krishna states that “for embodied beings, the path of dedication to the Absolute is a more difficult way.”

Why be concerned if devotees extoll their love for Jesus or Krishna above all else? As Jesus said to the woman who washed his feet with her tears, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven for she hath loved much.” God has everything; God IS everything; but God awaits our love.


May the light of Christ, the Infinite Consciousness, be with you always,

Swami Hrimananda

 

Monday, September 25, 2023

Hello Silence, my old Friend!

Hello silence, my old friend, it’s good to sit with you again!

Swami Kriyananda[1] made the statement: “If there was a sound continuous since birth, what would you call it? Silence!”

There’s not much silence in the lives of human beings of the twenty-first century. But for those who meditate daily, we seek inner silence. Why? And What is silence?

Silence usually refers to one who doesn’t speak out loud. A person who, like Mahatma Gandhi, had a day of silence doesn’t speak to others while in silence. At Ananda retreat centers we offer name tags or buttons that say, “I am in silence.” This is to warn others around them that they do not wish to speak.

In American law enforcement detainees are supposed to be told “You have the right to remain silent.” This means that a person cannot be coerced to testify against themselves. I mention that because in certain ways it could be said that every time we open our mouth we give testimony of, or too often, against, our own best interests.

There is another and more important kind of silence: inner silence. This means the cessation of internal, mental narration. Meditators speak of seeking to subdue the monkey mind, that is, the restless, ceaseless mental narration we all have.

The gold standard scripture describing the state of the meditation mind is the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The second verse gives the clinical description of this mind, called “yoga.” The state of the yoga-mind is achieved when mental activity of image making, mental narration, and emotional responses to mental impressions like memory, fantasies, and sense stimuli subsides into a quiescent state of pure awareness.

The first part of this takes place when we do not react to the mental activity that appears in the mind. The second and deeper part is when mental activity itself ceases. By ceasing is NOT meant sleep or a trance state but simply being aware. Aware of what? The object(s) of awareness are less important than the awareness of awareness itself.

However, such unalloyed consciousness is difficult to achieve. Meditation techniques from a variety of traditions often give the meditator a suggestion as to what to focus on. Even the Yoga Sutras offer a catalog of objects from physical to subtle on which to contemplate.

Examples of “meditation objects” include the breath (controlled or merely observed), a word formula (affirmation or mantra), an image (physical or mental) of a holy personage or deity, repetitive prayer, mental counting, fingering beads, moving or observing the movement of energy flows or energy centers in the body, visualizing or observing internal colors or sounds, and chanting (silent or aloud) just to name some of the more common items.

One of the most effective keys to transcending restless mental activity is the discovery of the rishis of India: the breath-mind-body connection. The breath, which brings life into the body rendering it capable of activity (including restlessness) also holds the key to internal quietude, just as the final exit of the breath ordinarily signifies the death of the body. Of all the “objects” of meditation, breath control (aka “pranayama”) is supreme. It is mentioned in the Yoga Sutras and in the Bhagavad Gita, among other of India’s greatest scriptures.  

The purpose of such focus, combined with deep feeling, is to transcend the “natural turbulence” of the (monkey) mind and thereby invite a transcendent experience born of inner silence.

Experiencing inner silence isn’t a prerequisite of transcendence but, rather, invites transcendent experience to appear. This is because the steady focus or repetition of concentration upon the above-named “objects” can pacify or subdue the narrative function of the mind thus allowing the transcendent experience to descend, as it were, without the intervention of a discrete period of inner silence.

For most meditators, such concentrated focus is more effective than attempting to experience inner silence by willpower alone. This doesn’t mean that inner silence can be ignored or is of no value to seek. Why? For starters, the “doing” aspect of concentration upon an object is the opposite of the “being” nature of transcendence.

In the daily practice of meditation, “doing” may bring many benefits of meditation into one’s life but the desirable experience of transcendence can elude the meditator for years, or be so rare as to allow discouragement to set in. The ”ah-ha” experience of transcendence can “take my breath away!” Serious meditators naturally seek and treasure such experiences which have many, many names and are described by some as the gift of divine grace.

And here I am not even considering the oft-described ultimate states of consciousness variously named such as samadhi, enlightenment, inner communion, spiritual marriage, moksha, satori, or heaven. I am only considering the state of inner silence. These higher states generally induce or take place when breathing is suspended by natural breath-control and devotional means.

Paramhansa Yogananda coined the term “superconsciousness” to refer to the preliminary states of higher consciousness. These states are included in the sixth and seventh stages of the Eight-Fold (Ashtanga) Path described in the Yoga Sutras. Those stages are, respectively, dharana and “dhyana.” States of superconsciousness include, Yogananda taught, the eight aspects of superconsciousness: peace, wisdom, power, love, calmness, sound, light, and bliss.[2]

Paramhansa Yogananda taught that meditation techniques should be followed by a period of quiet. This period can be devotionally inclined with feeling or simple imagery, wordless prayer or silent yearning; or, it can be receptively silent, as in the inner silence which is the subject of this article. Devotion, too, can be a form of inner silence when it is beyond words and beyond creating mental images.

It is in the period of inner silence that the sixth sense of intuition is gradually developed. It is like opening a window that has been stuck closed for decades and which won’t stay open by itself. It must be “held open.” Sitting in the silence with a calm heart, a clear mind, and a deeply relaxed body is like holding open a window so that cool breezes of inspiration, guidance, and answers might be received. Doing so trains the body-mind to be more “open” and receptive not just in meditation but during activity, and even during sleep. To do this is like learning a new language or developing “eyes to see” and “ears to hear” to quote Jesus Christ! Let’s face it: we talk too much, even (indeed, especially) in our inner narrative whether our mouth is open or closed!

We all benefit from intuition at least occasionally, but few are aware of intuition’s silent and stealthy influence, coming “like a thief in the night” (again to quote Jesus Christ). Fewer still seek to develop their sixth sense for this is not generally taught, known or encouraged. Our deeply rational culture is all but unaware of intuition, relegating such experiences to coincidence or a lucky hunch, or worse, as something women seem to have more often than men.

Most meditators find it difficult to sit in the silence for very long without mental activity. Patience is indeed the quickest route to success. Practicing inner silence at moments during the day will be a great aid to “getting to know you.” Befriend the companionship of inner silence. In a song from the Ananda Sunday Service, “Festival of Light,” are the words “Out of the silence came the song of creation!” Scientists postulate that over 90% of the calculated energy and matter of the universe is invisible, but far from empty! This silence is vibrating with vitality; with joy; with love and acceptance; with intelligence!

By remaining locked in the body, brain, and nervous system with our own, even if justifiable preoccupations, we block the influence and guidance of our higher, divine Self. Learning to listen is the essence of meditation practice and is the heart of the daily life of a meditator.  This article is not intended to share the many practical and creative ideas on how to practice inner silence whether in meditation or in activity, but to do so is to open oneself to a life of vitality, creativity, security, and true happiness. (What more can be said!)[3]

This inner silence is the continuous sound or vibration of the Holy Spirit, or Aum, Amen, Amin….that has manifested all things. To be frequently and, with practice, continually in tune with this “music of the Spheres” is the purpose of our creation.

Yogananda created these words and sang them to the tune of “Roamin in the Gloamin” by Harry Lauder: “Sitting in the silence on the sunny banks of my mind. Sitting in the silence with my guru by my side. When my thoughts have gone to rest, that’s the time I see him best, oh ‘tis lovely sitting in the silence.”

Sitting in the silence,

Swami Hrimananda

 



[1] Swami Kriyananda (1926-2013) was trained and ordained as a kriyacharya by Paramhansa Yogananda (author of “Autobiography of a Yogi”). Swami Kriyananda founded the worldwide work of Ananda in 1968. Ananda includes intentional spiritual communities, teaching centers, churches, publishing retreat centers, meditation groups and affiliated enterprises.

[2] One can experience higher states under virtually any circumstance, not just meditation and not just classically in the states of dharana or dhyana. Patanjali simply enumerated or teased out discrete stages of soul-awakening.

[3] I recommend this book: “Intuition for Starters,” by Swami Kriyananda

Saturday, August 26, 2023

Who Do Men Say I AM?

Sages far wiser than most of us have long concurred that “Who am I” is the most important question we can and should ask ourselves. In “Autobiography of a Yogi” by Paramhansa Yogananda, he quotes a great sage:

“Outward ritual cannot destroy ignorance, because they are not mutually contradictory,” wrote Shankara in his famous Century of Verses. “Realized knowledge alone destroys ignorance.…Knowledge cannot spring up by any other means than inquiry. ‘Who am I? How was this universe born? Who is its maker? What is its material cause?’ This is the kind of inquiry referred to.” The intellect has no answer for these questions; hence the rishis evolved yoga as the technique of spiritual inquiry.1

Thus, the inquiry—essential as it is said to be—cannot be fathomed by the intellect alone but by actual experience.

Also, in “Autobiography” in a footnote to Chapter 1, Yogananda recounts: 

The poet Tennyson has left us, in his Memoirs, an account of his repetitious device for passing beyond the conscious mind into superconsciousness: “A kind of waking trance — this for lack of a better word — I have frequently had, quite up from boyhood, when I have been all alone,” Tennyson wrote. “This has come upon me through repeating my own name to myself silently, till all at once, as it were out of the intensity of the consciousness of individuality, individuality itself seemed to dissolve and fade away into boundless being, and this not a confused state but the clearest, the surest of the surest, utterly beyond words — where death was an almost laughable impossibility — the loss of personality (if so it were) seeming no extinction, but the only true life.” He wrote further: “It is no nebulous ecstasy, but a state of transcendent wonder, associated with absolute clearness of mind.” 2 

Jesus Christ famously asked his disciples, “Who do men say I am?” This question and the disciple Peter’s response has gone down in history, however, controversially. Catholic theologians claim that Jesus’ response established for all time his “church” and its authority through the papacy. Protestants claim, by contrast, that Peter’s “confession” that Jesus is the Messiah is the “rock” upon which the church is built (rather than Peter and the succession of prelates that followed him). Either way, the question and the answer are fundamentally profound for all time: not just for identifying the divinity of Jesus Christ, but, by extension, the innate divinity of all souls and our potential for Self-realization. 

The “I” principle waxes and wanes throughout our day and our lives. An infant makes little distinction between himself and the mother (or anyone else for that matter). But it isn’t long before the infant learns that the mother is not the same as himself nor omnipresent. “Separation anxiety” soon sets in.

During childhood—if family security and love prevail—the child has only bouts of aggression, selfishness or personal anxiety but otherwise is connected to the family scene. At puberty, separation begins in earnest, expressing itself in rebelliousness and intense ego-awareness. 

In marriage we find a repeat of the pattern. The couple meets and experiences unity but in time the frequency of experiences of differences grows and in time harmony can only prevail if recognition of those differences is accepted.

In our unreflective persona, we are wholly identified with life around us including and especially life as we mentally imagine, desire or fear it. Most “things” around us are generally prosaic and taken for granted. It is primarily our thoughts and feelings about the world (things, people, our opinions) that constitute the cocoon of self that we live in, happily or otherwise. Upon reflection, however (and only a little would suffice), we can know that the objects in this cocoon are ephemeral and often changing. The question can become—at least for a few— “Who am I (really)?”

As the Adi Shankacharya suggests, only by interior inquiry can we experience the “I” in its immutable nature of Self. We may crave endless change, but we do so from an assumed center of changelessness: continuity of existence and self-awareness held in the hope and expectation of satisfaction.

When one begins in earnest to explore “Who am I” we confront the initial reality that I am separate from you. This is true whether in therapy or in meditation. In therapy the “you” are all others (your parents, your spouse, children, co-workers) while in meditation one could say the “you” is whatever is your goal: God, guru, peace, bliss, samadhi, moksha, etc.

In the outer world, we can never pass beyond separateness: we can only reconcile to it. In the inner world of the self, we strive to rise above conditional awareness and self-definitions to achieve union with consciousness alone, as consciousness (however defined, named or not named).

This union of self with Self is not easily achieved. In the teachings of yoga, this process usually takes many lifetimes of effort and requires the help of a Self-realized Self to guide us out of the labyrinth of the mind. The mind, indeed the brain, too, takes input from the senses and creates a world of its own: likes, dislikes, desires, fear, opinions, emotions, tendencies, attitudes, and inclinations. Dissolving the intermediary of the mind to have direct perception is one of the ways to describe enlightenment. It must be said, however, that in the world of the mind and intellect the ways of describing the ultimate state are innumerable given the very nature of the mind and intellect! Do you see the conundrum, then?

“It takes a thorn to remove a thorn.” Our mind’s tendency to extract, reconstruct and redefine experiences in its own terms is obviously a hindrance but it is also a tool. “Work with things (and people) as they are” is good, solid, practical advice for all of us. Saints, sages and yogis are obviously practical people.

Redirecting our thoughts and goals to higher, less self-involved purposes is the first step. Looking to people more highly evolved in this pursuit becomes part of this first step. Refining our self-definition towards that of enlightened persons is very helpful. Yogananda tells the story of a yogi-saint who one day while meditating upon his chosen deity suddenly merged with the object of devotion and proclaimed aloud “I’ve been showering the murti (idol-image) with flowers and now I see that I AM THAT and now shower those petals upon my head as well.” The experience of oneness is not easily won, however.

Better it is, Krishna advises in the Bhagavad Gita, to approach God in the I-Thou relationship rather than to only seek the Absolute. For as long as we are encased in a human body and suffer the indignities of requiring air, water, food, shelter and sunlight, best it is to seek God-enlightenment as separate from us (for the time being until released by grace).

It is probably not useful to dwell endlessly upon transcending I-Thou. Let oneness be the gift of the One. The One has become many and it is not wrong to say that, in essence, the One IS the many. Why quibble over the distinction as if One is better than the Other? As my teacher, Swami Kriyananda would put it, “God is as much with you RIGHT NOW as He will ever be.” And as Yogananda put it, to achieve “Self-realization” you need only “improve your knowing.”

In the Eight-Limbed path of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the final three stages of samyama reflect the steps to enlightenment as “I am experiencing peace,” to “Peace IS” to “I AM.”

Some practical applications of this process can include the experience of gazing out a window onto a landscape: all mental narrative vanishes, and no barrier of mind separates you from the experience. Gazing in this way is a kind of meditative exercise that can be deployed during the day. Taking breaks to observe the flow of your breath is another simple but effective exercise. More subtle but very powerful when well-developed is the focusing of attention in the forehead, especially at the point between the eyebrows from time to time during the day (and almost always during meditation itself). Lastly, lifting your gaze upward as if thinking about something but not actually thinking of anything is also very calming.

Practice listening intently to sounds or another person’s words. Don’t run a parallel narrative while listening but simply listen as if the sound wasn’t so much coming in through your ears as in through your heart (not physical heart but in the center line of your body near the physical heart).

For those whose energy is strongly outward and for whom (or at times when) these practices (above) are too contemplative, practice radiating heart energy outward into your space, environment, workplace, or neighborhood from wherever you are, including while moving through space in a car, plane, or train. You can “color” the radiation with peace or love or kindness if you feel to do so. No one can see nor need to know that you are silently blessing them.

Like the yogi’s response to the hot dog vendor’s question about which condiments to add, “Make me One with everything!” Finding that cosmic vendor will require practice, patience, and determination!

 Joy to you, 

Swami Hrimananda

footnotes:
 1)
Autobiography of a Yogi, Chapter 26: The Science of Kriya Yoga
2) Autobiography of a Yogi, Chapter 1: My Parents and Early Life, footnote 11

Saturday, June 3, 2023

The Value of Guilt: a lesson from Judas Iscariot

Guilt, these days, gets a lot of brickbats. It's true that obsessing over one's past errors is unproductive and unhealthy but maybe we are misinterpreting the function of guilt to tell us something. As our body warns us with pain when we misuse it, so too can our conscience warn us through our thoughts and emotions. 

I'm not a historian of the evolution of Western psychological therapy, but I can say that blaming cultural conditioning for instilling guilt seems, to me, an overreaction to the cultural norms of the past.

And there are indeed some who try to "guilt-trip us." We have the proverbial Jewish mother "guilty tripping" her adult child for not calling her daily. We have the fundamentalist preacher or the priest preaching the threat of hellfire. This behavior can indeed inflict mental harm especially if instilled at an early age. But to claim that one should live a guilt-free life is like a tired old Existentialist throwing the baby out with the bathwater. 

And, who knows, maybe the real message in regards to excessive preoccupation with guilt is simply a warning that we have become obsessive? That fact doesn't necessarily negate the message of guilt itself.

Meditation and introspection can help us discern whether guilt has a valid message for us to consider or whether it comes from outside ourselves and has no merit. 

All I'm saying is that guilt has its place in our lives. 

Paramhansa Yogananda counsels us that if confronted with a critique, ask yourself if there's any truth to it. If so, consider what you can do to change your behavior or make amends but, if you honestly, sincerely and calmly conclude there is no merit to the critique, then let it go. 

His guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, advised in such heated moments to respond calmly, "Maybe you are right." By neither admitting nor denying, you buy time to contemplate the situation in a quieter, calmer moment. There are other responses too such as thanking a person and saying that you'll have to think about it. (When you are being critiqued as a representative of a principle or an organization, it may, however, be appropriate to be more proactive in your response because your response is not in self-justification but in self-defense of something greater than your ego.)

Take the heinous deed of Judas Iscariot.


Notwithstanding the claims of some interpretations of the Book of Judas, the canonical accounts make it clear that Judas betrayed Jesus and that when Judas realized his error he, out of guilt, killed himself. I'm not a proponent of suicide as a solution to anything but I do believe in the law of karma and its corollary, reincarnation. 

Paramhansa Yogananda claimed to have met Judas in a recent incarnation which, after presumably many incarnations subsequent to his betrayal of Jesus, Judas had worked out his karma and achieved soul freedom with the help of an enlightened Indian master of the nineteenth century. Judas' recognition of the nature of his error, irrespective of the reaction of taking his own life, was obviously a goad to come back and carry on the work of redemption. Even as merely an interesting story, it has a message for us. 

It is important not "to kill the messenger" of guilt and ignore the message. This is true whether the feeling of guilt rises up within you or is delivered uncharitably by someone else. It takes courage to perform the spiritual surgery of self-examination and ruthless self-honesty. Wallowing in one's guilt and defining oneself by our mistakes is the mistake that we make all too often: by so doing we effectively excuse ourselves from making the effort to change. 

Once we resolve to do better, we need to shake the dust of guilt from our feet and get back up and carry on with our journey toward soul-perfection. It is at THIS stage that the modern disdain for guilt has its place. As Swami Sri Yukteswar was quoted by Paramhansa Yogananda in "Autobiography of a Yogi," "Forget the past. The vanished lives of all men are dark with many shames. Human conduct is ever unreliable until anchored in the Divine. Everything in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort now."

This quote truly sums up the wisdom of how to deal with our errors.

As Lord Krishna teaches us in his homily to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, the soul is pure, free, and without stain just as God beyond creation is the same. Live more in the freedom of the soul and karma cannot touch you. If the "I" that erred has been dissolved there is no "I" to which karma that can hurt you. 

Let us congratulate Judas on his spiritual victory and let us work on our own with as much courage and determination.

Swami Hrimananda 


Saturday, February 25, 2023

Self-Realization: Church of All Religions! It's for Everyone!

Paramhansa Yogananda, author of "Autobiography of a Yogi," called his work a "Church of All Religions." It is a curious phrase because it implies a gathering of different churches under one roof, but that's not what he meant. Instead, Yogananda's teachings emphasize that the underlying goal of religion is to achieve Self-realization. When asked whether he was establishing a new religion Yogananda's reply was "It is a new expression." A new expression of that truth which is one and eternal, described in Sanskrit as sanatan dharma. 

Yogananda predicted that some day the goal of Self-realization would unite all religions. This does not suggest a new Catholic Church since the very nature of Self-realization is individual. Groups don't achieve Self-realization: individuals do. The meaning intended is that someday truth-seeking devotees would come to seek God by direct, intuitive inner perception. Jesus Christ put it well and simply: "The kingdom of heaven is within you." Meditation is the primary means for such a direct, spiritual perception. It was taught by Yogananda and is taught throughout the world by many teachers and traditions. The rapid spread of meditation in the twenty-first century more than hints at the truth of Yogananda's words.

Yogananda insisted that his was not a sect. From a historical or social point of view, organizations or groups founded to learn, share and practice Yogananda's teachings cannot but be viewed as sects. It seems obvious that he must have meant that the very nature of what he taught could not be (or should not be) sectarian! 

[A side note to the term Self-realization is found in the name of the organization he established with the addition of the word "Fellowship." In this simple fact Yogananda acknowledges the two great commandments of the Old Testament that Jesus Christ quoted when asked to summarize his teachings: love God and love thy neighbor as thyself. Thus Yogananda was suggesting that an individual seeking Self-realization would do well to share that journey with others in divine fellowship. But, I digress.]

In the July-September 1942 edition of Yogananda's magazine "Inner Culture," he writes about the newly created church in Hollywood that he called the "Self-Realization Church of All Religions."

At the time, he had a pulpit set up on the dais that symbolized all religions. It was opposite the pulpit that he and his ministers used. In the article Yogananda wrote he asks: "If our Father is One, then even though we may worship Him in different churches, why should we worship Him divided in spirit? Let us worship Him in oneness of brotherly spirit in Churches of All Religions, founded for the purpose of realizing God, not through belief, but through our Self's experience, by true devotion and meditation." He prayed that this new church of all religions "will help remove the dark shadows of ignorant division existing in many churches." Yogananda hoped that his church of all religions could inspire others to append this phrase ("Church of All Religions") to their name  to indicate unity in the worship of the one God. 

The truth in all religions to which he alludes is that each of us, individually, must return to our own inner center wherein divinity resides. Many have noted that Yogananda gave special emphasis to the teachings of Krishna and Jesus Christ. He did not expound upon other religions. One reason for his choice was that Jesus and Krishna (the latter in the reincarnated form of Babaji) are part of his spiritual lineage. But he was also emphasizing the "essence" of all religions and having shown the way for the teachings of these two great world teachers, it is not difficult to apply his insights to other great faiths. Put another way, Yogananda showed the essential oneness of truth itself, apart from its many and diverse forms, beliefs, histories, and rituals. God, the eternal Self, pervades the entire universe.

It cannot be denied, however, that the phrase "church of all religions" is too easily misunderstood. It would seem to suggest that any particular church with that in its name would be a kind of interfaith church where different faith traditions are practiced and acknowledged. Yogananda never did invite ministers of other faiths to use that pulpit in the Hollywood church. Very few ministers of other faiths during his lifetime, and even now, would use that pulpit except to declare the benefits and primacy of their own, "true" faith. Yogananda did not intend to teach syncretism for that would be skimming the surface. His goal was to identify the singular wellspring of wisdom out of which religion springs.

It strikes me that perhaps a clearer phrase could be "Church of the Eternal Religion." Unfortunately, this may not be an improvement because being in the singular suggests a specific sect and might even sound boastful.Yogananda's phrase points more directly at his intention: to suggest that all churches have something in common.

In the sanctuaries of the Blue Lotus Temple in Bothell, WA and the Temple of Light at Ananda Village near Nevada City, are symbols of the different major religions on the surrounding walls.


While these temples are dedicated to the teachings and lineage of Yogananda they yet affirm by these symbols the universality that Yogananda intended.

Yogananda's teachings are like a wheel: the hub at the center is Self-realization (union with God) through devotion, service and spiritual practice. The spokes of this wheel are the ways in which we "love thy neighbor" by bringing our ideals into creative and serviceful expression in daily life. Yogananda gave countless lectures and classes on success in business; marriage and relationships; vegetarianism; health; yoga postures; meditation for everyone; world trade and politics; future trends and predictions; and much more. 

Swami Kriyananda, founder of the worldwide work of Ananda and personally trained by Yogananda, followed in Yogananda's footsteps with some 150 books on all manner of subjects; he wrote music and chants; founded intentional communities following Yogananda's prediction of their future spread; and established schools for children and centers for meditation and yoga.

I think it is important for followers of Yogananda who seek to share his teachings to recall that he, and later, Swami Kriyananda, did not limit their teachings to disciples of Yogananda's lineage. Yogananda is a world teacher for our age and he offers practical solutions to the great challenges of our times. Even in respect to meditation, the central hub of his teachings, he taught meditation and universal spiritual teachings for all sincere seekers, not just disciples. His book of "prayer-demands," "Whispers from Eternity," contains a lifetime of inspiration for anyone who is sincere. The universality of his spiritual teachings he called Raja Yoga, following the tradition of yoga based on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Bhagavad Gita. 

Ananda worldwide emphasizes Yogananda's teachings for "everyone" through portals such as the Ananda School of Yoga and Meditation (Expanding Light Retreat, CA); Yogananda Academy of Europe; and the Institute of Living Yoga (Seattle, WA). These and other Ananda centers offer to all students teacher certifications in yoga and meditation. Countless programs on a range of how-to-live subjects are offered through the various Ananda centers. Such programs are increasingly being made available in virtual form on the internet.

Yogananda taught a "mindfulness meditation" decades before mindfulness achieved the widespread acclaim it enjoys now in the twenty-first century. The practice of observing the breath in synchronization with a silent mantra or affirmation didn't come from him because it comes to us from ancient times and is found throughout the world in one form or another. 

The technique he taught is termed "Hong Sau" after the mantra that is used. In the delightful story of the Pilgrim's Way, the Jesus prayer is used in synchronization with the breath also. There are other examples in various faith traditions that tell us that watching the breath with silent prayer is both ancient and universal. It is natural and effective for internalizing one's awareness.

Yogananda created a series of thirty-nine standing exercises which are also synchronized with the breath. These can be used as a prelude to sitting for meditation or independently, as a form of exercise. These exercises came to be known as the Energization Exercises and they can be found on YouTube. The basic idea is to alternate tensing a muscle (or a group of muscles) as you inhale and then exhale as you relax the muscle. 

Meditation and yoga have long been known to benefit everyone, regardless of belief or religious affiliation: even atheists. Teachers routinely note that some students whose initial interest was only for physical or mental benefits have an awakening of higher aspirations and awareness. Swami Kriyananda used an expression that Ananda teachers find helpful: "Prana (energy) has its own intelligence." The practice of yoga and meditation allows the practitioner to become more aware of the intelligent, vibrant energy that animates the physical form. This energy, called "prana" or "chi" in the orient, communicates a sense of well-being, peace, and joy as it distributes its natural vitality throughout the body and nervous system. The first step is to become aware of this energy and that awareness, by repeated practice, comes under one's conscious control.

In teaching the Hong Sau meditation technique and the Energization Exercises, together with his writings and classes on various "how-to-live" topics, Yogananda was addressing the needs of many people. He was content to have people of all faiths or no faith benefit by these practices.

I wonder if he foresaw the swelling tide of seekers who describe themselves as "spiritual not religious?" Or the growing number of people, otherwise sincere, who are challenged by the word "God," or "church?" During his life, these trends were not so visible. The use of the term "church" was, at that time, natural and appropriate. The fact that Yogananda offered the core concepts of self-awareness and energy awareness to the public at large and not just those who were followers suggests that he saw his life's work in the broadest possible terms. Those of us who would serve that work should do so likewise.

Because the "church" word can be problematic to the growing numbers of yoga students, Ananda has experimented in the past with alternate terms, the most popular of which was, for a time, "mandir." Mandir is a Sanskrit term for a building that is essentially a church or, more precisely, the place of the dwelling of God. (One's body might also be termed a "mandir.") But unfamiliarity with the term made it clumsy so, instead, the term "temple" has been used more often in recent years.

Might we consider the use of the term "Temple of All Religions" or "Temple of the Eternal Religion?" One term that has come into use is the "Temple of Light." This is the name of two of the three eight-sided, blue-tiled domes (hemisphere) that now exist: the first in Italy; the second, near Seattle, and the third at Ananda Village in northern California. (Near Seattle the dome is called the Blue Lotus Temple.) This is a intriguing alternative to "church of all religions" because "Light" is itself universally a symbol used by all religions. However, the word "temple" refers only to a building while "church" can be both a building and a congregation or fellowship.

As an aside, another experiment at Ananda worldwide has been to call the fellowship of members, students or supporters the "Sangha:" a Sanskrit term used by Hindus and Buddhists. But, like the word "mandir," it is less familiar to the public at large and we have too often felt to default to the term "church" because it is more familiar in the West and to the various government agencies we have to deal with.

It is the sectarian consciousness associated with "church" that is the issue. Yogananda railed against what he called "churchianity" -- the process by which organizational consciousness eventually eclipses the inspiration of its founder and true devotees. In the West we remain suffused in corporate and organizational consciousness. But both organization and inspiration are needed. Yogananda called the organization the "hive" and the inspiration and God-contact the "honey." The devotees bees create the hive wherein they can come together to sip and share the the nectar of inner peace. Unfortunately, the history of religion shows us the temptation we have to succumb to the former and lose touch with the latter.

But it's not just organizational consciousness: it's sectarianism. Even yogis can be fundamentalists because rigidity and dogmatism can manifest in the consciousness of anyone. I've heard that one international group of Krishna devotees insisted that because the Bhagavad Gita says one's meditation seat should have kusha grass then one cannot meditate unless you can get some kusha grass!

Historically, clergy, monks, nuns, Swami's and Abbots have been given power, prestige, status and even wealth. What arises all too easily is pride of position; in short, egotism. And then there's what I call the holier-than-thou-syndrome. We see it in the running baiting of Jesus Christ by the those rascal Pharisees. In the case of the Pharisees, their "holiness" consisted of nothing more profound than a hypocritical obedience to minor purity and ritual laws at the expense of true devotion. But even sincerely devotional people can fall into narrowness, insisting that their Jesus or Krishna is the only way, or, that any other aspect of the spiritual path beyond devotion is somehow "less than." Spiritual growth cannot be defined outwardly but surely it includes a growing expansiveness of awareness: one that includes the reality of others as manifestations of God.

The words we use are important but more important than these is the degree to which we sincerely strive to be channels for the inspiration to which we have been drawn. The real temple, ultimately, is our soul, surrounded by our physical form, and our feeling and perceptive bodies. In the far distant future, when perhaps a golden age of higher awareness dawns, the need for temples will vanish but for now and, until then, we need places and symbols for that higher state of consciousness. We also need one another in service, fellowship and devotion. Let our body-temples be churches of all religions seeking the One Father-Mother, Friend, Beloved God. Let this temple embrace all humanity, all Life.

Blessings of light and freedom to all,

Swami Hrimananda



Sunday, December 18, 2022

Why Celebrate Christmas? What is the Avatara?

In the beloved Song of God, the Bhagavad Gita, God promises that "whenever virtue declines and vice predominates, I incarnate on earth. Taking visible form, I combat evil and uphold dharma (virtue)."

The story of the three Wise Men (or Magi) appears only in the gospel of Matthew. Matthew was a tax collector and when Jesus saw him and said to Matthew, "Come, follow me," Matthew immediately left his collection booth to follow Jesus. As a much-hated tax collector, Matthew was obviously unorthodox but he could read, write, and do accounts. Of the four evangelists, Matthew seems to have had a particular interest in showing his Jewish compatriots that Jesus' life was foretold in the scriptures of the Old Testament.

But where would Matthew have learned of this story? If from Jesus, then Jesus would have presumably been told the story by his father or mother. But how would his parents have known the details of the Magi's visit to King Herod in Jerusalem before coming to Bethlehem? How would they have known that the Magi were warned in a dream not to tell King Herod that they had found the Christ-child? Whatever the source, you can be sure that the visit by the Magic must have had a special significance, one presumably to those with Jewish ears to hear. Or, perhaps it is for our ears that Matthew recounted this story?

Matthew, being unorthodox, was not only attracted to the equally unorthodox Jesus but may have also been knowledgeable regarding and curious about other cultures and traditions. The significance of this story is hinted at by Paramhansa Yogananda in the twentieth century when Yogananda declared that the Magi were none other than his own lineage (in past lives): Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Sri Yukteswar. Regardless of the facts, the story points to a significant connection between the Orient and the birth, life and mission of Jesus Christ. The Magi, who themselves are viewed as kings, came a great distance to present precious gifts to yet another king, albeit newborn and lying in a manger. How can this event not be fraught with meaning? The obvious significance is the recognition of Jesus' birth as the birth of a spiritual being. But why from "the East?"

"Whenever virtue declines....I incarnate on earth." Though Christians quite understandably admit of no other divine incarnation than Jesus, that dogma is questionable in the light of our exposure and knowledge of other religions. There's no reason that God should have but one son, is there? Does not the Old Testament make repeated mention of the "sons of God?" Does not the first chapter of John the Evangelist state that "as many as received Him (Christ) to them gave He the power to become the sons of God"? Taking our cue from the quote above from the Bhagavad Gita, is not obvious that down through history there have been times where the need for a savior was great? Consider the brutality of Jesus' times; the flagging power of the classical, so-called "pagan," religions; the inflexibility of caste and the oppression of so many people under Roman occupation.

Is this time in human history not such a moment? Orthodox religions are losing their appeal and at odds with one another; economic, racial, cultural and gender inequalities are rampant; threats of both war and the use of nuclear weapons are on the rise; climate change threatens all species of life on the planet; cooperation among nations is on the wane; and legislatures are polarized. Perhaps the avatara has already happened in the form of Paramhansa Yogananda and the lineage that sent him to the West.

Christmas, however is the celebration of the divine descent, or avatara, of Jesus Christ. Paramhansa Yogananda described the avatara, whether Jesus or others such as Krishna, Buddha, as being souls who, in a past life, achieved their son-ship with the Father and were sent back by God to uplift and redeem souls from the snares of delusion.

We not only celebrate the avatara of Jesus Christ in the Christmas season but we also celebrate the redeemer role of Jesus and other avatars. What is this redeemer role? Did Jesus (and others) come to redeem our sins? Well, yes, in a sense. But not in the passively sentimental sense that is implied by orthodox Christians. Un-redeemed souls do indeed require the spiritual help of a divine being, a savior. In India, this is expressed in the teaching that to achieve enlightenment the soul needs a guru. Though freely offered by the avatar, it is not cheaply won. The pearl of great price takes great spiritual effort. But why can we not redeem ourselves through self-effort alone: through penance, virtue, and devotion?

Christian dogma speaks of original sin, the fall of Adam and Eve, as the reason we need a Christ to reconcile us back to God--to make the perfect sacrifice necessary to atone for our sins. But a yogi would say we are equally burdened by our karma. Either way, we need something more than our own effort because we are imprisoned in a cocoon and blinded by a hypnosis of our separation from God.

An outside spiritual force or magnetism is needed for the soul to break through. The savior, or guru, appears when the disciple is ready (as the saying goes). That readiness is echoed in the parable of the prodigal son, when, in the midst of his self-inflicted deprivation, the son remembers and longs to return to his father's home. It is the first step. The role of the guru is to awaken our soul's memory of its home in God-consciousness--the home from which we were created. But the guru does more than just jog our memory. The guru has the spiritual power to give to those who "receive Him" the ability to be come  sons of God. Nor is such power based upon a ritual, an incantation or priestly position.

Life on earth would be a paradise if everyone followed the Golden Rule to "do unto others we would want others to do to us." But it is not enough. More than mere reason is needed. The very fact of our inability to bootstrap our way to inner communion with God puts us on notice that we need a spiritual power outside of ourselves.

At the Last Supper, Jesus rendered aloud an accounting to God the Father for the souls that were sent to him to be taught and uplifted. Except for Judas Iscariot, they were all accounted for. This reflects the yogic teaching that at the dawn of creation, that Being who will be our soul's redeemer is already known. But it is we who must consciously call upon God to send to us our savior. Isn't that a beautiful teaching?

In celebrating Christmas we celebrate the birth of an avatar, a redeemer of souls, in the human form of the Son of Man whom we call Jesus (the) Christ. 

A blessed and joyful Christmas to all,

Swami Hrimananda


Sunday, September 18, 2022

Divine Magnetism - Bhishma, the Sacklers & Treta Yuga

We live in an age of Ego! An age of the Individual. This is not a critique because former centuries, medieval times, was an Age of Serfs. These labels are not precise but they are like pointers: by "serfs" I mean that upward mobility, individual liberties, opportunities for creative advancement were rare, so rare that few even dreamed of them.

In this age, the age of Ego or Individual, we demand our rights; our freedoms; and the opportunity to pursue our dreams and desires. Just as some serfs might have become war lords or kings, so some individuals today are more like indentured serfs. It is a mixed bag but each age has its overriding character and ours is the age of ego.

In the great epic of India, the Mahabharata, one of the lead characters, named Bhishma,

Bhishma represents the ego principle in the allegory. Bhishma has the power to decide when and how he dies. The symbolic meaning of this is that only the ego has the right and power to surrender itself to God. 

Until that final supreme act of renunciation, the soul, identified with the body, can roam for countless lifetimes through the halls of an infinite and unending creation. 

So it is that the ego claims for itself even its spiritual victories. We can, for example, find ourselves proud of our humility. Such is the paradox of the delusion of ego. Attachment blinds the ego so that even its idealism can turn to ashes. 

This lesson is the story of the Sackler family: founders of Purdue Pharma, makers of the oxycontin opoid. Three brothers, Arthur, Raymond and Mortimer, set out to help to millions of people who suffer from chronic pain.


First Valium and later Oxycontin were supposed to be harmless and non-addictive. But their goals were quickly submerged by greed, dissolved in what became an irresistible high-energy marketing campaign. Their claims of harmlessness were false and before they could be called to account they had pocketed billions of dollars at the expense of countless lives and great suffering. The philanthropy of the Sackler family seemed at first idealistic but later presumably became a subconscious act of expiation. In the end, even their acts of philanthropy were disavowed.

In our age of reason, evidence, and science we imagine it is we, our egos, that are in control. We imagine that the history of humanity is one of emerging intelligence and power rather than a long decline from higher awareness of a long past golden age. Whether for good or ill, the ego claims or blames itself or other egos. Few see the hidden hand of karmic law and divine intervention silently guiding our destinies. 

In our high handed sense of individuality we look back in time or even in the present time at those who conduct rituals, symbolic offerings and sacrifices, as acts of superstition. While superstition cannot be denied, perhaps such rituals are a residue of something deeper and more powerful leftover from a time long lost in history when humanity communed with God in nature. We scoff at sun worshipers but are we sure we know what we are scoffing at? Can we say for sure that images of the sun weren't but symbols for something far greater?

According to the teaching in India of the cycles of time, the Yugas, there will come a time two thousand years or so from now that human consciousness will begin to acquire mental power. In our present age, humanity suffers from memory loss and inability to concentrate. But long ago and to come again in future millennia exists an age where mental power is beyond what the grasp of the human mind in the present age. I am convinced that the practice of meditation is the beginning of a long period of transformation into the next higher age. Meditation enhances concentration and psychic ability.

In the next age, the third or Treta Age, Swami Sri Yukteswar, the guru of Paramhansa Yogananda, says that humanity will comprehend divine magnetism. He doesn't define divine magnetism because he says, as I've already quoted, it is beyond our grasp at this time. But he is speaking of the general run of human consciousness. Nothing prevents you or me from attempting to seek such comprehension.

 

What is magnetism and how is it created? When electricity flows through a wire, an electromagnetic field is created around the wire. That field has magnetic properties. Electricity, Sri Yukteswar says, is the animal current of magnetism: meaning it possesses very little intelligence! But when a human being concentrates with great intensity and for a length of time, even years, on a goal there is created a magnetism that draws toward himself the natural consequences of that magnetism, for better or worse.

Divine magnetism, then, would be a term that acknowledges that the intelligence, consciousness and will-power energy necessary to create magnetism comes from a higher level of consciousness than that of the individual. Paramhansa Yogananda said as much in his well known statement that "thoughts are universally not individually rooted." 

So we return then to what appears on the surface as the vestiges of superstition: prayers of sacrifice and ritual offering. There was a time in descending Treta Yuga, which ended about 3,000 BC, when humanity had intuitive awareness of divine magnetism and could, by mental power, attune himself to accomplish whatever he sought. Let me quote from chapter three of the Bhagavad Gita:

10. Prajapati (God in the aspect of Creator) brought mankind into manifestation, and in so doing gave man the potential for self-offering into a higher (than human) awareness (through yagya). Along with this gift He enjoined mankind, “Whatever you desire, seek it by offering energy back to the source of all energy. Let this sacrifice (yagya) be your milch cow of fulfillment.”

11. (Prajapati continued:) “With this offering, commune with the devas (shining angels), that they may commune also with you. Through such mutual communion you will arrive at the highest good.”

12. (Prajapati concluded:) “By communion with the devas you will receive from them the (earthly) fulfillments you desire. He who enjoys the gifts of the gods without returning due offering (of energy) to them is, verily, a thief.”

The simple act of blessing your food before meals is both a holdover and yet also an affirmation of this universal truth. We might do this by mere force of habit, or, hopefully with conscious gratitude and recognition but it is symbolic of this all-but-forgotten truth. Our universe, our body and our life is the result of magnetic forces.

The Vedas, it is believed, appeared during the previous (descending)Treta Yuga. In the Vedas there exists a body of literature and ritual called the Karma Kanda. These are prayers and sacrifices for obtaining material and egoic goals. As human consciousness was steadily declining away from subtle awareness, these rituals were created that humankind would know from whence comes material sustenance, lest we forget entirely.

We live in an age where, for the most part, humanity, engrossed in the material world of reason and science, believes we are the doers of our fate. This is a good beginning but it is only a small part of the picture of human destiny. Enlightenment, Yogananda taught, is achieved by what is only 25% of our effort; 25% the effort of the savior or guru; and 50% the grace of God. While our effort is 100% of our will power the final goal takes much more. Even worldly success, when studied sensitively, depends on other people and the surrounding culture and circumstances. I believe it was the scientist, Max Planck who noted that scientific breakthroughs were achieved on the shoulders of those who came before.

Learn to tune into divine magnetism: first, the magnetism created by your own focused devotion in daily meditation; then, in the magnetism of offering all that you are, do and possess back to God in gratitude and for the operation of the divine will for your soul upliftment and the benefit of others. 

Those who practice advanced pranayams like Kriya Yoga can relate to the divine intelligence in the astral body as the "shining angels" of the chakras. Magnetism results from the devotional practice of pranayam drawing to oneself higher awareness and the help needed to grow spiritually.

Magnetism rules our destiny: first the magnetism of our past actions, which is to say our karma. Then, the magnetism created by our present actions. But if we lack will power and focus, our magnetism will be weak. Meditation can help develop concentration and will power and when meditation, and every act we perform, is offered into the divine magnetism for guidance, we can only find increasing happiness. "Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven, and all these things will be added unto you!"

God is the Doer. We did not ask to be created. We did not create this vast and awesome universe. Let us tune into the divine magnetism that creates and sustains all life, however invisibly to our sense and to our ego-awareness. Fear not and complain not but do your best and leave the rest.

In divine friendship,

Swami Hrimananda



Monday, September 12, 2022

Unworthiness vs Entitlement?

I've been intrigued with the concepts of "entitlement" and "unworthiness." In their exaggerated forms such attitudes are easily dismissed. If being entitled refers to a person who is arrogant and demanding, or by contrast, to someone self-abasing or self-loathing, it is obvious these attitudes are unbalanced and unhealthy.

Paramhansa Yogananda, author of the now classic story, "Autobiography of a Yogi," would say that "superiority complex" and "inferiority complex" are both forms of egotism. I recall my teacher, Swami Kriyananda (who was personally trained by Yogananda) wryly quoting this statement when some of us were initially resistant (as in "aw shucks") to his proposal that we be ordained as ministers.

Yet, at the same time, Swami Kriyananda often spoke of or wrote about the differences between spiritual or religious attitudes in former times as opposed to the attitudes encouraged by Paramhansa Yogananda in his public teachings up until his death in 1952.

The wisdom-seed for these differences are contained in the cycle of ages described by Swami Sri Yukteswar in the Introduction to his book, "The Holy Science." But for the purposes of this article, I will sidestep its technical explanation and terminology.

In the unworthiness "camp" we have concepts like sin, original sin, and past life (bad) karma. In the entitlement "camp" we have what Yogananda described as "prayer-demands," "you are a child of God," and affirmations such as "I am He" (Hamsa) or "I am Brahma (Aham Brahmasi)." So which is it?

Those who know me well, also know that my life mantra is BOTH-AND! Thus, some will NOT be surprised if I answer that question with the response: BOTH-AND!

Is it possible that we are BOTH unworthy AND entitled? Recall that one of the most controversial questions of Christianity was, and remains, "Who am I?" Is Jesus Christ God? or Man? or BOTH-AND?

You've certainly encountered the image of the devil on your left and the angel on your right: each giving advice and offering their respective support, right? In a recording of Yogananda's voice he humorously remarks that "In the day you are a devil but at night, an angel!"

Life is confusing. It is a paradox on so many levels. We strive and work so hard for so many things even though we all know, perfectly well and logically, that we will end up dead at any time, sooner or later. We know that smoking, drinking, cheating, lying, stealing, being lazy and eating junk food are bad for us but that doesn't seem to stop very many people, does it? 

We are quick to criticize others and just as quick, if not quicker, to justify ourselves! When bad things happen to us we instinctively feel these are foreign to our nature. When good things happen we feel this is surely ours. 

In former times, the overriding hallmark of spiritual attitude and behavior, both East and West, was one of unworthiness. Whether we call it the result of sin or bad karma, we "spiritual schumucks" needed to supplicate or make sacrifices to the Divine Being or gods and goddesses in order to make amends, or to go to confession and be given the penance of saying certain prayers; or, to accept Jesus as our personal savior whereupon his sacrifice on the cross absolves us. 

As St. Paul wrote to the Galatians, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sow so shall he reap." The need to pay our debts is an undeniable precept. It is embedded in human consciousness.

At the same, however, I don't see that fear or sorrow is as strong a motivation for being good as perhaps it once was (if it ever was). Referring back to Swami Sri Yukteswar's book, "The Holy Science," he describes the upcoming age (beginning around 1900 A.D.) as an age during which humans grow in "self-respect." 

When I think back to the American Revolution, the revolutionaries were offended by being treated in a way that disrespected their "inalienable rights." The history of America could be described as one during which the personal liberties and rights of individuals were continually a focus for discussion, protest and legislation. Consider the sentence in the Declaration of Independence: "we hold these truths to be self-evident."

The affirmation of personal liberties and rights is the opposite of unworthiness. I recall the phrase "just because" being used during the heat of the "Black Lives Matter" controversies. Black lives matter, in other words, "just because." No explanation or justification is needed for our innate value as human beings is "self-evident."

From the viewpoint of religion, this is a radical change even if from the standpoint of eternal truths it is nothing new. But the change in emphasis is important as well as practical. But, the emphasis is not simplistic. Let me explain.

If my insistence on entitlement is aggressive, arrogant or at the expense of the greater good, then it is the ego insisting on its entitlement. But to recognize my innate desire for and potential for goodness and, by extension, that of all others, than this is "soul-entitlement." A reverse description would apply equally to unworthiness. If I acknowledge that I have hurt or stolen, then this can be the soul's recognition of its need for grace, redemption, and forgiveness, and the need to change. But if my will power is paralyzed and I insist I am a victim of life and am blaming others, then this is the ego refusing to use its God-given will and intelligence to face current reality and to take steps to make changes.

As is taught in the Bhagavad Gita and in so many other scriptures, we are children of God and our destiny is to be reunited with the perfection that is God. To achieve realization of this truth requires a combination of self-effort and divine grace. Our souls are like gold covered in mud. The mud needs to be washed off in order to reveal the gold. Repeated error, especially over countless past lives, is the mud of our subconscious tendencies that block the soul's light from shining. 

Unsurprisingly, therefore, it is, once again, a BOTH-AND. The way to enlightenment can be described as either the Via Negativa or the Via Positiva. We can dissolve the ego or we can expand the ego. The end result is the same: Self-realization in God. 

But the point I wish to make is twofold: Yogananda generally emphasized soul-expansion and secondly, he did so because human consciousnesses is evolving in the direction of self-awareness and self-respect. Both points, however, are very general. In private and with the individuals who came to Yogananda for personal training, Yogananda emphasized BOTH the need to transcend ego affirming habits and attitudes, AND, the value of devotion, sympathy, compassion and selfless service. The very nature of any description of God-communion, samadhi, or cosmic consciousness is one of an expansion of consciousness towards Infinity!

Swami Kriyananda pointed out that those who insist that upon enlightenment that "we" vanish into nothingness are mistaken. The bonds of ego identification are surely dissolved in the state of nirvana, but the result is an expansion of consciousness into Pure Consciousness which is bliss. Consciousness is the source of creation. Consciousness may be "No-Thing," but it is not nothing.

Swami Kriyananda's book, Sadhu Beware, is a practical and modern playbook on overcoming ego. And yet as Yogananda once quipped to Swami Kriyananda, "When ecstasy comes, everything (else) goes!"

So you see, both unworthiness and entitlement have two octaves of applicability and we would do well to be conscious of the difference and choose the higher path.

Blessings to all!

Swami Hrimananda!