Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Fall Equinox : Time to Reflect

Fall is in the air. The burning colors and hues of red and yellow are beginning to appear. The Fall breezes re-fresh the intensity of the summer sun whose strength is beginning to wane but whose brightness remains cheerful and caressing. Yes, here in the northwest, the rain has returned, perhaps a little too quickly for many of us. But the harvest of summer memories of fun and sun, inspirations and perspectives that relaxation and rest can bring, and the revitalizing effect of the solstice's ascendancy.are abundant.

The Fall reminds us that we will "reap that which we sow." This wondrous universe is but waves, tall, proud, or humble and subtle, upon the great ocean of consciousness. These waves are essentially Light and vibrations of Aum: intentions made manifest!

We cannot therefore hide the fruit of our actions from the seeds of our thoughts and emotions which which we have planted in the Spring of our life and in the soil of our consciousness. Fall represents the harvest of our intentions which are comprised of the seed of our thoughts, the rain of our emotions, and the soil of our karma that allows them to grow and bear fruits.

There is a saying that we are born with the face God gives us, but after forty we wear the face that we have created in this life. Well, don't take that too literally but it's the same idea, isn't it?

I know that early in life, I, perhaps like many of you, felt the call of high ideals and of the spiritual life. Like many, young adulthood had some detours and distractions, but the time came when the call returned. How many people I have met who say, one way or another, "Oh, yes, I saw (or read) "Autobiography of a Yogi" twenty years ago but now it calls to me again, and that's why I have come to Ananda!"*

In that great book, which many consider a scripture in its own right (you can open the book on any page and find inspiration appropriate to your own needs in that moment!), Yogananda writes "The trivial preoccupations of daily life are not enough for man; wisdom too is a native hunger." No matter how successful you have been in your pursuit of income, health, career, or human love, these, however sought by humankind with great effort, can never satisfy us. When we consider that most people are in fact NOT all that successful in achieving material and ego comforts, the dissatisfaction is compounded exponentially. For what successful person can view the world around them without compassion? So even if WE achieve our natural human material goals (and so few do), can we truly rest content when see the suffering of others?

Swami Kriyananda, founder of Ananda, gives us an example of unstinting service to humanity with the message of Self-realization. There is no security in this world of unceasing change except in the transcendent state of God's omnipresence. The key to that is right attitude, right action, and inner communion.

May the fruit of your soul's efforts be sweetened by the grace of God's transforming Light.

We invite your to join us in celebration of our Oneness in Spirit at our Equinox Service, Saturday night, September 18, 7:30 p.m. at Ananda Meditation Temple in Bothell, WA. It's free, open to all, and a very popular event that draws friends, family members, students, and local community. There is a power in the Fall crisp air that invites us to go within and be rejuvenated by the soil of God-contact.

Blessings,

Hriman



*Autobiography of a Yogi, 1946 First Edition by Paramhansa Yogananda