"Proof of Heaven" - A Near Hopeful Experience

I recently finished reading the book, “Proof of Heaven,” by the neurosurgeon Eben Alexander. Eben fell into a life-threatening coma and miraculously survived but even more than that had a very revealing, profound, and conscious experience of higher realms in one of the more interesting NDE’s (near-death experiences) reported to date.

It doesn’t terribly much matter to me how true it is. No one but Eben can know that. But what interested me, for today’s purpose, was his statement that during his sojourn into heavenly realms he learned that although evil does certainly exist, it is a small portion or proportion of the good that exists.

Now in some ways this contradicts my (perhaps limited) understanding of the law duality wherein the play of opposites are equal and necessary to the appearance of substance in the drama of creation.

So his statement was pause for reflection (if not downright concern). In Paramhansa Yogananda’s teachings, including as they have been expressed by his direct disciple and Ananda’s founder, Swami Kriyananda, evil is described as a “conscious force” flowing out from Spirit towards matter. As this force flows outward it does so in a continuum of consciousness whose direction is towards the affirmation of separation and the perpetuation of the creation.

Thus “evil” is relative in several ways. For today’s topic, what strikes me is that much of this continuum is “relatively” neutral and far from “evil” as we normally define or experience it. A tree is “evil” only in the sense that its very character hides from our sight its underlying spiritual essence both as energy (“vibration and Life Force”) AND as conscious, and divinely intelligent and self-aware.

So, too, therefore are most objects and most human thoughts, feelings, and actions: relatively neutral (relative to classically “evil” behavior). With this understanding, then, the creation is largely benign and in its “awesomeness,” beauty, and transparent intelligence and order, a reflection of Divine Love and Harmony.

In this view, evil, as an intentional and consciously harmful force and action, is “relatively” small portion of the cosmos in the realms of thought, emotions, feelings, electricities, atomic energies, and physical forms and actions.

In Sanaatan Dharma, the “eternal and universal precepts” of Vedanta, the outflowing force is more or less matched by the inflowing force. I say more or less because its real importance is in the realm of human consciousness. We don’t expect much from planets and stars, rocks, trees, plants or animals in the way of good or evil, except in relation to their harm or their benefit to us as humans.

A person can be dedicated to humanitarian causes but, being perhaps an atheist or agnostic, has no desire to seek God or higher states of inner communion with “the universe.” Only consciousness can desire to commune with Consciousness. There’s obviously nothing “evil” about being a dedicated humanitarian. Sympathies for the suffering of others manifesting as practical and self-sacrificing action is surely pleasing to God as all great spiritual teachers have averred. But only by conscious, intentional seeking can the individual approach the Godhead (by whatever name). Yes, we can have peak experiences of Oneness, but unless such an experience(s) changes our life forever in the direction seeking “more of That,” we return to ego consciousness and to our life’s work, karma and dharma.

But good works can reinforce pride and cause attachment to results which, when thwarted by other worldly forces, might cause disillusionment, discouragement, anger and, at last, giving up and in. I think of the image of a “peace protester” marching angrily and shouting slogans or inflicting harm on others or their property. An oxy-moron, in other words.

So, both are true: good and evil vie equally from the metaphysical standpoint of the outflowing energy towards matter and separateness and the inflowing force towards union. But, on the whole, the creation is also largely neutral or benign and only a small portion of its actually evil in the more limited and normal sense of that term.

Most people are basically good, even if, in truth, the main reason they are good is that they don’t possess enough energy and creative initiative to be bad!

Still, I find this reflection, inspired by Proof of Heaven, a happy and hopeful one! I “hope “ you agree!

Blessings,

Nayaswami Hriman

What to do with your Enlightened Brother-in-Law?

What to do if your brother-in-law is enlightened? - The world's longest blog article. Apologies in advance for being a nerd. 

What is enlightenment? How to achieve it? Is it easy to do? What is nothingness?

Any resemblance to any living “brother-in-law”  is entirely coincidental.

Since a large number of people on this planet have a brother-in-law, it seems to me that it is about time this important subject be squarely addressed, for, given the large number of brother-in-laws on the planet, there must surely be quite a number who consider themselves “enlightened.” In fact, recent studies have shown that there is a veritable epidemic of enlightenment occurring in the population of brothers-in-law. I feel it is my duty to take on this subject straight up.

Notwithstanding the current pandemic of enlightenment in this group, there have always been some in every age and culture who consider themselves enlightened and who, moreover, consider any and all religious or spiritual doctrines, practices, or promotion as, to quote P.G. Wodehouse, “bilge.” Some, using stronger language, shout “poppycock!”

True devotees everywhere and in every age are plagued by at least one know-it-all scofflaw and self-described enlightened brother-in-law. Since presumably your gentle nature and your firmly held beliefs preclude you from knocking the ‘ol buster off (and putting him out his misery while saving civilization from this blight upon humanity), this article may offer you some solace and alternatives.

Perhaps you are plagued, as I have been, by one such who, while adamantly rejecting any label, would easily fit into the target range of the dreaded “nondualist.” These blighters fancy themselves godlike and omniscient, gazing down upon creation and its creatures with a sardonic and all-knowing hauteur. Their disdain and dismissal of practices such as meditation, dogma, ritual, prayer and the like is, well, “absolute.”

And what makes his assertion that religion is unnecessary (and, in fact, worse than unnecessary) so clever is that there is a some level of truth here. Starting with the well known evils and disadvantages, prejudices, and narrow-mindedness of religion and its practitioners and representatives, there is the deeper truth that in the nondualistic state of consciousness there is no longer any distinctions of “I or Thou” or ego or separateness. In the state of Oneness, there is only Consciousness itself! It almost absurd to spend a lot time describing the state because by “definition” this state is beyond words. Still, for my purposes and I hope for yours too I will use these words as synonyms or markers and these include Oneness and God. Other terms (and there are many more) include Self-realization, samadhi, satori, nirvana, heaven, or mystical marriage (etc. etc.). (Keep in mind that users of these terms may well make distinctions among them.)

In the tradition of Vedanta, the scriptures of India, and among yogis (rishis, masters, etc.) the attitude of our nondualist is the approach to God (or Oneness) called gyana yoga. A modern Christian who approaches God as the “Cosmic Ground of Being” might similarly be called a gyana yogi. So, too, a Buddhist who refuses to describe the ultimate state as any-thing at all except perhaps as nirvana.

As Krishna notes in the Bhagavad Gita, this approach, however, is austere to an extreme (like being a spiritual stoic) and comments that the path to the Absolute should be walked only by a few advanced souls for it is “arduous” for most embodied beings. Easier for humans is to approach the Unapproachable through the “I-Thou” relationship. To be a true nondualist one must deny the very existence of all objects in the field or sphere of duality, including one’s own body, emotions, thoughts and so on! Rare and difficult indeed! For those who attempt it prematurely (and that includes, in my humble opinion, just about everyone who does) they seem to fall into a pit of self-delusion. Those attracted to this path are, admittedly, those who possess a keen and sharp and discerning mind. In the attempt to cut off the report of the senses and emotions (too soon), the mind can drift and pretend to establish its own alternative reality. The consequences, as any amateur psychologist can tell you, are disastrous for as Krishna also notes in Bhagavad Gita, “suppression availeth nothing.” The sphere of the mind is far vaster and more labyrinthian than that of the physical cosmos.

Our aspiring nondualist might even, with a sarcastic grin, quote sages who say, of enlightenment, that “it is, and, it isn’t!” In this they pretend to be deep and profound, hoping by this koan to stump you into submission. Our nondualist will mock all forms of spirituality as tainted with duality and thus doomed by their opposite! And, again, there is some truth to this. One who emphasizes devotion in an unbalanced way may become fanatical, for example. One who emphasizes ritual or dogma may become dogmatic, and one who treasures selflfess service may become restless and disillusioned.

Hiding behind the pretense of nonduality may impress a few, but enlightenment is not a put up job. Yes, it is that an enlightened master can make himself appear very ordinary to ordinary and materialistic people but those of refined consciousness will always catch his scent! It is absurd to claim enlightenment but to have no noticeable traits of an expanded consciousness.

Still, we must confess that enlightenment is unconditional and it expresses itself uniquely in each soul who achieves it. Swami Kriyananda once asked an enlightened yogi why he didn’t seem to have any disciples or conduct any ministry. The yogi’s simple reply was, “God has done what He wants with this body.”

Another feature of the state of Oneness is that it exists independent of any efforts to achieve it. Will power or mental power or affirmation alone cannot command it. But the scoffer mistakenly concludes that any effort to achieve it is futile, and that any effort to share “the path to it,” is nothing but self-serving propaganda. Pointing to the many shortcomings of religion and religionists, and their all-too-human representatives, he claims to have “proof.”

In this we encounter yet another of mankind’s existential dilemmas: how can the ego transcend itself? Can any action ever be other than in self-interest? Is anyone who strives for salvation or seeks to help others towards the same goal simply self-deluded because he or she is so plainly NOT (yet) enlightened himself? Is there a way out of this conundrum? The relationship of spiritual growth to effort and even to grace is so difficult to establish objectively that it is not difficult to look at all the religious craziness that abounds and dismiss it all as useless. Add to this the overpowering satisfaction and relief it offers to the ego which can rise up and shout, “I told you so!” “I’m perfect just the way I AM!” “I don’t have to do a thing!” But is it true?

Human life is not worth living if we abandon the nexus between action and consequence. The law of action and reaction has its metaphysical counterpart in the law of karma. Problem is, the nondualist proclaims, leaping into the breach, action only produces reaction and it never ends. Or does it?

Sleep may be the opposite of activity, but yogis claims that Oneness is achieved through the state of breathlessness -- a state that doesn’t produce death to the physical body. “Be still and know that I AM GOD” says the Old Testament. To admit a nondual state is, itself, logically even, to yield to the affirmation that there exists a state of being, of consciousness that has no second, no dual, and that this state is transcendent of duality.

Other great spiritual teachers and scriptures further proclaim that from this state of Oneness is manifested the whole of creation itself. This cannot be proved logically, they admit, but only realized in the state itself. By definition, moreover, this would have to be the case.

The power of Oneness holds the key to our imprisonment in the body and ego. “It takes One to Know One.” It has been both a universal precept and an easily observed fact in the history of the spiritual giants of planet Earth that each soul, imprisoned, is eventually awakened from its delusive dream of duality and separateness by the influence, wisdom, and compassion of another who has already awakened from the dream. Thus the power of the myths such as the prince and the pauper. We are all royalty but we find ourselves paupers and have forgotten our true nature. Someone or somehow we must awaken from this error, this nightmare of mistaken identity.

This, too, is the meaning of the famous story by Jesus Christ: the Prodigal Son. A true guru (known as a “Sat” guru, or savior) comes in every age (measured in thousand or more year increments) to re-awaken the forgotten memory of our Oneness in those souls who, during that time, are ready and “have ears to hear” (as Jesus put it repeatedly). Such a One also has the power to attract and completely liberate those who have incarnated in that time and place in readiness to ascend.

But the pseudo guru of the Big Easy to Oneness is not finished yet, for he also has the testimony of some spiritual teachers (and seekers) who quote scriptures such as I AM THAT I AM (Old Testament), or, “Tat twam asi” (Thou art THAT! - Hindu scriptures) to bolster their claim that no personal effort is needed for we are already enlightened and only have to realize it.

This claim, though misplaced, nonetheless has its source in the truth that the state of Oneness both preexists and coexists with material reality. Out of Oneness, out of nonduality, and out of God has come creation’s duality. (Out of the One, comes two; from two, three!) Nonduality (God) is both the source and sustainer of duality and at the same untouched by it. This is as deep and profound a truth (and mystery to our duality-bound intellect and body-bound sense experiences) as any mankind has intuited. It is taught in various ways in every great faith and metaphysical tradition. On its basis, some have falsely concluded that we can simply declare ourselves “free” and thereby be proclaimed “enlightened.” But again I ask you, is it so? And if it is, how do you we know it’s true? Are there are any proofs of enlightenment?

Given that religion will always have its share of frauds and flawed human beings (as we find in all human endeavors), and given that there are ignorant and superstitious people who practice religion out of fear, suffering or for ego or material gain, it’s not so difficult, if so inclined, to conclude along with Karl Marx that religion is “the opiate of the people.” When one has a taste of nonduality and in relation to it, it is true that all spiritual efforts and beliefs seem unnecessary. If one achieves enlightenment and it is a permanent beatitude, well, why argue? But the mere contemplation or passing experience of Oneness does not thereby render one exempt from the challenge and effort needed for purification of ego consciousness in order to enjoy the permanent blessing of soul freedom. The coexistence of nondual and dual states of consciousness (and passing back and forth between) can give rise to pride and self-delusion.

In fact, this is a commonly reported challenge to spiritual seekers even if they never use these somewhat dry and technical terms. Swami Kriyananda, my teacher, has pointed out that in the last stages of liberation the final test is that of pride--in this case, pride in the very real lofty heights of vision and power granted to the soul before it merges into the stream of Bliss forever. The Christian analogy is the temptation of Christ during which Satan shows to him all the earth and offers him dominion over all things if Jesus will worship him, Satan, Lord of Creation. Jesus says, simply, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” The test of pride is both the soul’s first and last temptation.

And because many people, including your brother-in-law, may have in fact had some peak experience of a nondual or nonverbal reality, it tempts one to so declare the inadequacy and unessential need for self-effort, religion or spiritual activities or beliefs. If well read, our scoffer might quote Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita who (like Buddha centuries later) who decried the common reliance upon Vedic rituals and prayers in substitution for the effort to seek God as the sole reality.

Is all spiritual striving and sharing, therefore, simply a delusion, like your brother-in-law avers?

There’s a corollary to this line of false but egoically convenient reasoning. The corollary is the long standing appearance of the teaching of emptiness. The state of the void or emptiness is indeed a state of consciousness. It includes trance states or states induced medically or otherwise. Every night in deep sleep we enter the dreamless sleep state in which yogis say we touch upon our soul nature as Bliss. Yet far from being unconscious, when we awaken from a good sleep we are aware that we slept well (or not), having entered this important and essential state. Yogis have long used comparisons to sleep to hint at higher states of consciousness. Unfortunately, in sleep we cannot progress spiritually because enlightenment by definition is a higher, more aware state.

If all things are a manifestation of consciousness, this must include rocks. Rocks don’t appear especially conscious. Therefore, we can conclude that in this relative world, consciousness itself is relative but that unconsciousness, taken literally, is impossible.

But some clever scoffers aver that emptiness is de facto the state of enlightenment. This is convenient because it, too, absolves the scoffer of any guilt, remorse or need for effort or right action. This false teaching is well rooted in that agnostics, atheists and materialists believe that at death we disappear and no longer exist. Hard to argue with the obvious physical evidence (or lack of it) supporting this point of view. But in this article I don’t want to get into the afterlife issue, not for fear, but it’s a much bigger topic. In this article I want to focus on enlightenment as a present state of consciousness while living in a human body. I am only saying that the lack of belief in an afterlife is another point of view that would seem to support the idea that enlightenment is a state of emptiness.

This concept of no-thing-ness is, however, a valid teaching because, as a state of being, it can be experienced by meditative efforts. But is it enlightenment? Emptiness is a feature of and typically associated with Buddhistic teachings, though it appears throughout history and in human thinking. But it is flawed, both logically and intuitively. For no one, except perhaps a suicide, seeks permanent loss of consciousness. Survival is the most deeply rooted instinct to be found anywhere in creation. If it is false then the creation itself is false. And yes that teaching is common, too, but we are not here to discuss whether the creation is true or false. A useless debate. We can simply say that it is impermanent so far as our experience of it is concerned. We can say that intrudes impressively upon our senses and our thoughts, and, indeed, even our dreams. Whether anything is, ultimately, “real” begs the question and no doubt pleases mental midgets but not true seekers who, in the end, want practical results to their sincere seeking.

Let us therefore say that the creation is false in the sense of always changing, alternating between opposites and not absolute in the sense that Oneness, pure Consciousness, and God are unchanging and eternal. Whether or not the creation is self-perpetuating is also a “relatively” useless question for midget minds and dry hearts.

Returning now to emptiness, my teacher (Swami Kriyananda) has put it so well with his tongue-(firmly)-in-cheek: Commenting on the Buddhistic belief that the end of suffering and the goal of life is to achieve the void, he says, “No wonder that in that tradition they came up with the concept of Boddhisattva: one who postpones his enlightenment to help others. Seeking no-thing-ness is more likely to prompt a request for a rain check from what amounts to an act of suicide. Who would aspire to no-thing-ness? Why, moreover, would one who achieved emptiness feel such deep and abiding compassion for the sufferings of others?

That emptiness is in fact a state of consciousness and can be experienced is not worth denying. Many great spiritual teachers so attest to it. Most express this state as a steppingstone, a way station to the goal. But if the price to end suffering is to end consciousness as we know it, well, hmmmm, I think most of us would want put in a request for that rain check.

Like Frank Sinatra sang, “Is that all there is?” Hardly: saints down through ages don’t exhibit love, compassion and joy as aspects of an enlightened consciousness “for nothing!” The “nothing” that is real and true is the dissolution of ego, “nothing” less. But when ego is dissolved (or expanded into Infinity--either image works for the sake of describing the indescribable), the result is the one thing all beings seek: pure, unconditioned Bliss. Not a loss of consciousness but Consciousness itself. Satchidananda: God is, and we are, and we seek immortality (Sat), unbroken Self-awareness (Chit) and Bliss (Ananda): Ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new Bliss.

Our survival instinct isn’t present for the sake of mere survival. We survive that we may live; we live only as we are self-aware, and we seek to live to enjoy living. The ancient teachings of India, including the adi (first) Swami Shankycharya, in seeking to dispell the growing atheism among the adherents of Buddhism, declare that God is Sat-Chit-Ananda: ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new Bliss. This is the nature of absolute reality and is the eternal promise and striving of all creation and of our souls.

But no matter how cogent your response to the scoffer is, be prepared for his “ultimate defense strategy.”  When shaken, he will deploy his golden parachute of silent nonduality to dismiss your explanations as born in the “captivity” of duality.

Putting the scoffer aside, smug in his inertial blanket of theoretical nonduality, I do think he does us a service by helping us clarify some important questions. The effort can highlight for us both the limits of intellectual discovery and the potential for the intellect to point us in the right direction when used wisely. But, like Moses who could not enter the Promised Land because born in captivity (duality), the intellect must be set aside. Only the heart can “know” and can enter into God (Oneness). “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”

So I see at least three useful inquiries offered to me by my (self-proclaimed) enlightened brother-in-law:

1.    What does it mean to be enlightened?

2.    Are there any objective signs of an enlightened consciousness?

3.    What, if anything, can I (as ego) do to transcend ego and achieve enlightenment?

Human life would be insufferable if we didn’t have the intuitive wisdom that we can improve our lives and that we can discover what is true (whether it be in respect to material, psychological or spiritual matters). The intuitive knowledge and common shared experience that intention and attitude markedly affect a person’s actions (and that one’s actions reflect one’s consciousness) is fundamental to the human experience.

Many sages, saints, poets and ordinary people have attempted to describe the indescribable state of nonduality. “Nonduality” is a coldly rational word and I prefer “God” or, at worst, Oneness. But it would the height of folly to “mince words” when describing God!

I suppose that many humans, indeed, perhaps most, have had some peak experience in their lives. In every field of human activity you find beginners, experienced people, and “masters” of their art or craft. This, too, is fundamental to the human experience.

So, therefore, it is not unreasonable to presuppose that enlightenment, too, has its stages of progressive development. You might object along rational lines saying that an experience of nonduality must surely be, by “definition,” the same for everyone. That may be logical but it defies the testimony and experience of human beings. Love, too, might be said to be the same, but in fact it isn’t. There are degrees of depth and feeling.

Paramhansa Yogananda was once asked if there is an end to striving (in achieving enlightenment). He said, effectively, that there is no end but one goes on into endlessness. What else, after all, would “Infinity” suggest?

John Paul Sartre may have declared himself “radically free” to act from his own inner creative impulse, unaffected by outer circumstances but in this he betrayed both common sense and truth. Nothing about his life, should you be so unfortunate to study it, suggests the truth of his self-declaration.

True saints may indeed have “seen” God but each and everyone of them are unique and their lives, examples, and message was surely conditioned by, because appropriate to, outer circumstances and the needs of others. Always appropriate to the circumstance is the wise one.

What can enlightenment possibly mean if it isn’t life changing? It may be that it transforms each person uniquely but states of anger, jealousy, lust and dishonesty are not aspects of an enlightened consciousness. This is not only common sense but it is, in fact, the testimony of the lives of thousands of souls who have been recognized as having a desirable and elevated state of consciousness worthy of being called enlightened.

I won’t attempt to go further and speak of the “miracles” performed by saints for I know those cannot be “proved” although a sincere study of their lives and the testimony of credible witnesses may prove surprisingly persuasive.

In the Bhagavad Gita, the disciple, Arjuna, in fact asks his guru, Krishna, “What are the signs of the one who has achieved liberation?” In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, he describes numerous signs of enlightenment which demonstrate power of nature and power over life and death. But again, such things are beyond the experience of most people.

“He who says he knows, doesn’t. He who says he doesn’t, doesn’t. He who knows, knows.”

I have purposely avoided attempting to define enlightenment. I would have to quote my guru and others who are Self-realized and consistent in their roundabout descriptions. But I cannot speak of it from my own experience. But how can I “know” who is Self-realized. We can point at the blue sky above, but until we can fly, we remain earth bound.

It is foolish to buy into the clever and ego-affirming dogma that enlightenment is easy of attainment; that it costs nothing (in terms of effort or discipline); that it eschews the need for religion, spiritual teachings, prayer, meditation, or a spiritual teacher. Such assertions will always be made by some but simply examine their lives and see with what degree of non-attachment, even-mindedness, inner peace, compassion and wisdom do they conduct their lives? Their philosophy is simply a state of self-delusion, for it comforts and coddles the ego and excuses it of any meaningful effort, devotion to anything greater than themselves, or grateful, compassionate service to others. In Oneness we see all life as a part of ourselves.

In the duality of human life, we have the opposites but this does not mean that anger is just as valuable as love. We find greater happiness in love than in hatred. They may be opposites but what separates them from Oneness is the link to ego desire and involvement. Love connects and unites; hatred, separates.

Peace and love draw one closer to Oneness because the ego-active principle is soothed and smoothed. As we express more and more virtue and self-less-ness we become calmer and stronger in ourselves. At the center point between opposites is the still state of Oneness and while logic dictates that the opposites should be equal as well as opposing, goodness brings us closer to ego transcendence than evil.

But there is a catch, for “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” As long as even our goodness is ego-centric and ego-affirming, we are still caught and the pendulum of duality will, in time, force us back. Only when we consciously give ourselves to God with love and self-offering can the power of grace (of Oneness, of nonduality) meet us halfway to draw us ever deeply toward the still point within. Only when we consciously surrender into Oneness with an open heart can we enter, and, when we are ready, remain, in that beatitude.

So don’t let your scoffer brother-in-law get to you. Disdain and contempt is difficult to bear, but only by the ego. Instead, consider it a glorious path to God. Meet disdain with love and even-mindedness. Indeed, feel but compassion, for a dry, loveless heart and overly intellectual mind has no room, no appetite for God, no chance for true happiness. Like one used to eating stale cheese, the armchair philosopher substitutes his cleverness for truth and, in time, finds the harvest but a bitter fruit of stillborn emptiness, devoid of happiness.

Be of good cheer! The truth shall make you free!

Blessings,

Nayaswami Hriman

Reflections from a Retreat to Inner Silence!

Recently some thirty plus folks went on a silent meditation and yoga retreat at the Ananda Community in Lynnwood, WA.

On Saturday afternoon we conducted an inspiration-writing exercise and I am hoping others will share their experiences and let me share them sometime.

In these exercises, each person had a book of inspiration and most of those books were purposely made available to retreatants and consisted of one of the six books in the Wisdom of Yogananda series published by Crystal Clarity Publishers.

In the first exercise we each held our book with eyes closed in meditation. This was an effort to tune into the subtler vibrations of the book and to ask for a personal message for each of us. Then, when we were individually ready, we opened the book at random and read the first thing we saw. After we had absorbed its message we then were invited to write whatever thoughts came to us.

My experience, and I believe that of many others present that day, was very touching and validating. In my case, the night before, after the retreat orientation and meditation, I came back to my apartment in the Community and after some additional meditation was inspired to write a blog article on “How to Know God.”

And yes, sure enough, the next afternoon (still on retreat), when I opened my book at random my eyes fell upon the title of the next selection in my book which was, How to Know God! But there was a bonus in store because the message was essentially a point that I hadn’t included, at least not so directly, in my article the previous night. It was that God can be known by those whose hearts are pure, like that of a child. The theme of that message was importance of simplicity. The author (who is my teacher and founder of Ananda, Swami Kriyananda) went on to write that to have the simplicity of a child one must not prejudge other people or life’s challenges and circumstances. We must approach life with the eyes of faith, hope, and charity! Not only was the message a valid contribution to the topic but, better still, a much valued message for me.

The next exercise was for each person to look through the book and select a segment that appealed or spoke to you. Then, after a brief meditation on what you had selected, we were encouraged to write whatever thoughts came. Not wanting to deplete the selection of books provided to other retreatants, I had brought from home Swami Kriyananda’s popular book, Living Wisely, Living Well. It has an inspirational and instructional thought for each day of the year. So, I simply turned to the days noted for our retreat: November 2 and 3^rd. The topic for those two days were reflections upon the difference between “egoism” and “egotism.” The latter reflects pride but the former refers to ego itself: a much more subtle and (spiritually) insidious aspect of consciousness. As I began to write my thoughts what came to me is a definition of Kundalini that occurs in Kriyananda’s class text on Raja Yoga. In that book he describes the Kundalini life force as “the entrenched vitality of our mortal delusion.” This, I saw, is another way of viewing egoism: our commitment to our separateness. It empowers our life and with its innate power re-directed upward towards soul consciousness and freedom in God, it is our savior.

In my most recent Sunday Service talk, I spoke of how transcendence of ego(ism) implies no loss of anything but an expansion into everything. Thus, in Kriyananda’s thoughts for these two days from the book he notes that the cure for both egoism and egotism is an attitude of self-giving, or as I put it in my talk, self-expansion.

Again: a wonderful gift and a personally meaningful message.

The third exercise was to meditate and come up with some spiritual challenge or spiritual quality that is meaningful to you and hold the book and meditate asking that, through one’s book, some personal message on this challenge or quality be received. When each of us were ready, we individually opened our book at random to see what it had to say. Once more, we were invited to write at will those thoughts that came to us.

In this case, I hold my exercise and personal message to be a private one. But I will say that, at first, I was disappointed because it didn’t seem that the words that I read from the book addressed my spiritual challenge for which I sought inspiration. But, with faith that grace wouldn’t fail me, it only took a brief moment to look more deeply and I instantly saw that its message (which was that one should affirm inner peace when tempted or challenged and that one should live more from one’s own center) was, in fact, exactly perfect for my need.

At this point in the program, I realized we had moved more quickly through the allotted time than I had planned. So, “necessity being the mother of invention," there dawned upon me the idea to suggest a fourth and final exercise. I asked everyone to use this technique and the book in each of our hands to pray for inspiration to help each of us cope with our frustration over the world’s ills and problems. The question to ask of our “book” was, “What can I do to be an instrument of peace in this peaceless world of ours?

Once again I found delight and inspiration because when I opened the book at random there was a selection for one of the days of the year on the subject of the color WHITE! Hmmm, you might say, and???? Well, Kriyananda describes the positive and negative aspects of the color white: the positive aspect of white is a reference to a rising current of energy in the spine. Now for those who are yogis, you know exactly what this! In meditation and especially using advanced meditation techniques such as Kriya Yoga, one can experience a flow of energy rising in the subtle spine. (The negative aspect of the color white, Kriyananda wrote, is sinking into passivity.) But for me, as a Kriya Yoga and Raja Yoga teacher (one who has dedicated his life to teaching such techniques), what more perfect answer to my question! My way of serving God and humanity in challenging times is to share the deeper aspects of meditation! As most of my readers know all too well, I am a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda’, and his mission to the West was to bring the practice of kriya yoga into the world to help mankind cope with the challenges of a new and connected world—finding peace in a world turning faster and faster. All I can say is WOW!

Try these exercises yourself sometime on some quiet, personal retreat day of your own.

As a kind of postscript, one of the retreatants reported to me her zen koan “Aha” moment was related to raking of leaves. For an hour or so on Saturday, and in silence, we were invited to partake in some simple task like cleaning or raking leaves and doing so in a mindful manner. Imagine her delight when she later realized, after lunch and after the wind came up, that all the raking she had done had been erased as if it had never happened. Talk about non-attachment and living as if “writing on water!”

Ready for a retreat for your Self?

Blessings,

Nayaswami Hriman

How Can I Know God?

The Indian scriptures state that “God cannot be proved.” Jesus said “No man hath seen God.”

But neither tradition is remotely atheistical and great saints of East and West have faithfully told of their experiences of mystical union with God in many forms and in many ways.

When I was a boy I read the lives of the Christian saints but I despaired for the fact that they all lived long ago. “Where is Jesus Christ now” I wondered? “Why are there no saints living today” I cried! But no one could answer me.

Most orthodox faiths pray to or praise God, Christ or others but few affirm that we can know God. Fewer instruct their adherents in how to know God. Instead we are counseled to obey the scriptures, go to church or temple, be good, help others and, with a little luck (grace), we will go to heaven and receive our reward!

Admittedly that’s a lot like what happens on earth. We are taught to study hard, work hard, and, if we are very good, we will be successful, we will be liked and respected, and if we save our money we can retire and live happily ever after at our cottage by the sea.

Hmmmm……makes you wonder, don’t it?

It might work that way on earth, or, it might not. It depends. So why would we believe that line in regards to something we don’t know and can’t see: heaven?

One of my favorite chapters in “Autobiography of a Yogi” contains a story wherein Paramhansa Yogananda has this mind-blowing experience of cosmic consciousness given to him by his guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar. 

Sometime afterwards however, he begins to doubt and question his experience. One day he asks his guru, “When will I find God?” His guru chuckled merrily saying, “What did you expect to find, a venerable personage sitting on a throne in some antiseptic corner of the universe?”

Then, consolingly he explained to young Mukunda (Yogananda’s birth name) that God is the joy born of meditation and the adequate response to every need.

God is not limited to these manifestations (God is infinite and all pervading, eh?) but certainly that quiet, bubbly life giving joy one can feel in and as a result of deep meditation is as tangible as the fingers of my right hand. Further, a life of faith yields in every circumstance the subtle and hidden guidance, comfort, and insight of the divine hand.

It was a stunning revelation to me when I first read Yogananda’s autobiography that God could be known as joy, as peace, as a deep and pure love in my heart, as an expanding light or an expanding sense of power or calmness. No more would I have to pine away thinking God as “other” and beyond the pale of possible knowing.

Later as a disciple of Yogananda and as my attunement to him (and his life and teachings) grew, I began to see that in knowing him, and in feeling his presence in subtle but consistent ways, by this too, I had the direct perception of God’s presence. For as Yogananda said to his disciples, “I killed Yogananda long ago. No one dwells in this form but He.”

Many people like to imagine or feel God’s presence in nature, in kindness, and in creativity. This too is possible, certainly, and saints have so testified.

How can we distinguish our desire and active imagination or subconscious promptings from the real deal?

That takes practice, calmness, and intense self-honesty. But it is not as difficult as you might think. To know God, we must be still and very quiet; humble and reverent; we must ask that He come to us; we must be open to His coming in any form but especially open to His coming in the form of those whom he sends: those Christ-like saviors who in every age descend for the upliftment of mankind.

To “worship God in spirit and in truth” means also that we must act in God-like ways: charitably, without ego, unselfishly, acting in moderation and self-control, and actively seeking His will in everything we do.

As Krishna promises devotees everywhere, “Even a little practice of this inward religion will free you from dire fears and colossal sufferings.” And as St. John the Apostle wrote in the first chapter of his gospel, “As many as received Him gave He the power to become the sons of God.”

Meditation is the science of religion. If we will learn a tried and true technique and follow the counsel given above in attitude and in activity, we WILL KNOW GOD. Paramhansa Yogananda said, “The time for knowing God has come!” The means he brought from India for this is the technique he called Kriya Yoga.

For more information on Kriya Yoga, you can begin at our website: www.AnandaWashington.org

Blessings and joy to you,

Nayaswami Hriman

How to Lead a Balanced Life?

Did Mahatma Gandhi lead a balanced life? Did Jesus Christ? Thomas Edison? George Washington?

No, I don’t think any great man or woman can be said to have led a balanced life. To accomplish great things you have to be something of a nut, a fanatic, a zealot. It’s true that few people are destined or even desirous of accomplishing anything greater than living to a ripe old age and not running out of money before they turn in their lunch pail.

Nonetheless the question gets asked repeatedly: how can I lead a more balanced life?

I’m not sure you really can! Think of the millions or billions who live in or on the edge of poverty. Think of those who live on the pinnacle of success. Think of those who slave and toil working with their hands, holding down two or three jobs to support a family. Are they asking that question? Probably not. Why? Because their circumstances don’t permit that question to be one that’s practical to ask.

The odds are you, too, though you may be asking the question, don’t have that much choice. 

Oh sure, you’d like to walk away from your crazy, unhappy, or stressed out life and go out into the woods, or ride off into the sunset of a foreign country. But let’s face it, you’d either hurt yourself or hurt others or otherwise end up doing something you might very much regret and pay for in spades.

So why the heck are you still asking that useless question? Hmmm, you’re no dummy so maybe it’s not entirely useless? Maybe we should give it some more thought?

“What would Gandhi do?” Or, “What would Jesus do?” Or, in my life, I would ask “What would Paramhansa Yogananda do?” Or, “What would (my teacher) Swami Kriyananda do?”

Balanced does not necessarily refer to the order of affairs in your daily routine. Normally we think a balanced life is exercise, rest, learning, working, playing, loving, serving, and eating healthy. I would throw in developing an inner, spiritual life, love for God and service to God in my fellow man. And, golly, who’s going to argue with that logic?

Problem is, we don’t necessarily have free will or choice in these circumstances. Key aspects of our life may be somewhat, or entirely, outside our control.

So I offer to you that a balanced life is balancing one’s inner life with one’s outer life. Egads! What are you talking about? You ask?

It goes like this: you may not be able to do much about the fact that you have a serious or chronic illness or an abusive supervisor in a job you cannot afford to walk away from. But you do have (or can learn to develop) control over your inner environment, to wit, your response to life’s challenges. Remember the book that started it all? “Relaxation Response!” (I never read it.)

Paramhansa Yogananda once went running down the street because he was late for a lecture he was to give. A friend yelled after him, “Don’t be nervous!” His response was, “I can run nervously or calmly, but not to run when I am late would be unconscionable.”

We can work hard, concentrate, and even be required by circumstance to multi-task, but, believe it or not, we can learn to do what we have to do and remain calmly active and actively calm.

A devotee can even better accomplish her duties during the day if she will seek silent and inward God remembrance as frequently as possible by inward chanting or mindfulness. For God remembrance brings calmness and inspiration to bear upon one’s duties.

Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita teaches us (through his disciple, Arjuna) that right action is that action conducted without attachment to the results. Most people work for pay. Few render grateful service to God through his fellow man. “Even a leaf I accept” if offered with devotion, God says through the words of Krishna.

Even in the hard scrabble of investing I have seen that the most successful traders were those who invested “for fun” and who accepted their losses as evenly as their gains. The “small guy” panics when prices drop and graspingly leaps in as prices rise toward their zenith. Why, because he decides based on emotion, attachment, greed or fear.

If Krishna’s counsel is true in the trading halls of Wall Street, how more so on the Main Street of our hearts?

A balanced life is one that gives to God every act in a spirit of love, and conducts each act with honor, dignity, and in response to the call of legitimate duty. A balanced life is one in which we act with as much enthusiasm as with nonattachment. With joy as with calmness. With creativity as with dutifulness.

Blessings to you,
Nayaswami Hriman

Invest in the Future! Hope for Tomorrow!

The other day I wrote some reflections on "Hope for a Better World." Today, the day after the second debate between presidential hopefuls, Obama and Romney, I reflect on "How can we invest in the future?"

Here we are, and together with a handful of economically important nations in Europe, with more national debt than we can afford to pay. We are spending more, as a nation, than we are earning: not just in governmental coffers, but in far too many corporate and private lives as well.

Our presidential candidates are sparring off with two basic and opposite approaches: Barack Obama wants to pull ourselves out of our economic doldrums saying the government must lead the way with continued deficit spending. This was the now famous approach of FDR during the Depression which I believe originated the term "deficit spending" under the heading of Keynesian economics. It is debated to this day whether it this approach is what took the U.S. out of the Depression, or whether it was World War II itself. (During the War the government was able to control the economy in ways far beyond anything even the Depression could justify.) I can't possibly weigh in on this debate that professional economists themselves can't agree on. Yet, how much more debt can our government possibly take on before our currency collapses under evaporating consumer and global confidence in our sanity and economic common sense?

The Republicans seem to say that we must bring out spending under control. In its simplest terms, this is a good policy and is reasonable when it comes to a family or a business. They seem to indicate that we need to cut government spending to reduce the deficit while also reducing taxes to spur the economy. But unless the tax reductions or other causes spur the economy to increase tax revenues to cover most if not all of the tax cuts, it will backfire. And, in the meantime as we wait for it to succeed, we might find that massive spending cuts in the federal budget could put a lot of people out of work and a lot of others out in the street. Easy to imagine social unrest and a very short four-year term for Governor Romney!

Either way, then, we are in a pickle. Whether we cut our way back to prosperity or spend our way there we could be doomed never to arrive. This is why it could also be said it doesn't really matter much which party wins the election because neither solution can float over the tsunami that's building and running rapidly towards our financial shores.

Is there, perhaps, a third alternative? If spending, both government and private, were re-directed towards investing in our future, it wouldn't be fast or an easy cure, but it could be a solid boost to confidence in the future. We could  INVEST IN OUR OWN FUTURE! Society and economists are beginning to realize that expectation and confidence are more important than so-called financial reality in determining economic activity and decision making. Creating a culture of innovation and optimism can do more for our current problems than paralyzing debates.

Now if that sounds a little bit like the same snake oil the politicians are selling, well, I would sympathize with your skepticism. But let's explore it, anyway. We've little to lose.

When I go to college, or start a business, or move "out west," or embark on a new career, in each case I am investing in my future with pluck, luck, vim and vigor. This inborn optimism to launch ahead into a new direction attracts to itself opportunity and success. By contrast, belt tightening is boring and a downer and continued excessive spending feels like one is coming apart at the seams. But an investment strategy is bound to inspire much more confidence and support than either slash and burn deficit reductions or spend and borrow towards currency collapse. In fact, this investment-in-the-future campaign would combine elements of each in order to work. That's what makes it so magnetic and potentially successful.

Under current conditions consumers are necessarily cautious. But what if we find incentives to encourage home improvements, energy cost savings, better diet and health maintenance, higher education, job retraining, and new, small (family and home-based) businesses? Get people going in new and interesting directions.

What if government re-directed some of its funding for social, farm, and military subsidies and entitlements (by attrition, delay of projects, cost reductions or holding back cost of living adjustments) and, instead, moved funds towards infrastructure repair and improvements, mass transit development, broadband highways, job retraining, higher education support, and research & development in emerging or much needed fields and technologies? I know none of these specifics are new but if we consciously re-direct funds this can inspire confidence rather than deflate it. Those areas being asked to pare down would be making a sacrifice for a greater good and a better future.

Here is a more or less random collection of incentives and dis-incentives we could consider to encourage investment in our national future:

1. Higher taxes on consumption of food and other goods or services which are unhealthy or energy consumers or otherwise unhelpful economically or socially. For example, if there was a way to increase the cost of fast food (some kind of national excise tax on ingredients or removal of farm subsidies?) and at the same time create incentives for healthier meals and foods and education, then we all could benefit. Sacrifices would be for the common good. An increased gas tax that directed the proceeds to areas of new investment (road improvements, research in fuel and driving efficiencies, and mass transits, esp in low tech solutions). Luxury goods, resorts, and services should pitch in an extra share to help the nation invest in its future.
2. A new program to re-direct big business agricultural to healthier foods and sustainable farming techniques. Support re-training and experimental farming techniques that preserve and improve soils and expand farmland through micro-farms. A whole new and younger generation of people would rise to the occasion to start a new industry and reform one in much need of long-term changes.
3. Liberal investment tax credits or write-offs for investments in research and development, energy efficient equipment and related facilities.
4. Creation of a national public service network operated at state and local level but guided by national goals and broad principles. Service could earn participants credits toward higher education while simultaneously providing skills training to participants and providing services to local needs. Sacrifices from existing unions or employment interests that would make provision for enrollees to serve in schools, municipal services, elder care, or farming would be, again, seen for the greater good. People of all ages could obtain new opportunities for service and skills, sacrificing by way of subsistence earnings but serving both a public need and their own future.
5. How about offering student loans for higher education that are repaid back, in whole or part, by the simple fact that such students become taxpayers by virtue of their skills and higher earning capacity? We'd be investing in taxpayers which are needed for reducing national debt. The student loan reduction would be tied to level of taxes paid on salaries earned in the future.
6. Too much emphasis and value is placed upon monetary wealth as a measure of personal worth. Research is taking place around the world for measuring happiness and success in ways more important than money. An active national dialogue and research is needed to help people understand that what we seek is happiness, not just things, consumption, or pleasure. A new culture and emphasis on sustainability in energy and resources, health, diet and exercise, the value of serving one's family and community, and other time tested social values needs to be developed for our schools, families, entertainment and culture.
7. Short-term financial speculation erodes the underlying value and utility of the financial markets to provide jobs and goods and services to society. Speculation, therefore, needs to be curbed. Holding periods for financial instruments should be lengthened, regulated and restricted to valid business purposes. Restricting or eliminating short sales, complex derivative instruments whose real value is all but entirely speculative....all of these require a tough stance to help focus the financial markets on serving the greater good of society at large and not just personal financial greed or self-interest. 
8. Guidelines for reasonable executive compensation should be established by industry-wide analysis and representative participation of stake holders, including with government oversight. Industry guidelines should establish how boards of publicly traded corporations can more fairly represent all major stakeholders (employees, public, vendors, customers, creditors and stock holders.)
9. As referenced above, a form of voluntary national service, complete with training, can help utilize the energies of young adults, perhaps even older adults, for basic subsistence pay and credit for future higher education, pension benefits, or even health care benefits.
10. If America is to remain both true to its founding principles of freedom and a strong leader of nations, we must recognize the importance of acting cooperatively with other nations for the common good. Unilateral actions, especially military, are corrosive to our political, social and moral influence and, most importantly, to our own moral standards at home. Therefore...
11. Commitments to size and readiness of armed services needs to be reviewed with intent to scale back our tendency to intervene unilaterally in conflicts abroad. 
12. Participation in U.N. should be scaled back in favor of working cooperatively with nations of like mind in programs and policies that provide aid, education, protection, investment, or relief to other nations. Why argue all the time with negative nations and leaders. Work with people who share a broader and more expansive outlook!
13. More resources and dialogue should go to work and support emerging economies, cultures, and governments who are moderate and forward thinking rather than just fighting those who are stuck in narrow mindedness and tribal politics. Freedom and democracy is a direction, not a goal or a mere fact. It exists only in a cultural context not a vacuum. Work with positive leaders and nations and peoples. Nothing succeeds like success, cooperation, and strength in numbers. Active cultural exchanges should be encouraged and funded with creative partnership strategies between business, government and NGO's.
14. Investment in future technologies and cleaner energy should be encouraged by tax incentives which are put into place for a long enough term that businesses and individuals can depend on them and can make pragmatic investment decisions.
15. Instead of deducting home mortgage interest, what about deducting (e.g. via depreciation allowances) home improvements for weatherization, energy efficiency, and other valuable improvements (rather than luxuries like spas and pools etc.). Subsidies for home ownership seem excessive and thus have bred misuse. A fast changing economy and culture can benefit by greater mobility and flexibility, especially among younger people. Home ownership is surely a good social policy but it has become excessive and obsessive in a time when mobility and flexibility are the hallmark of success and creativity. 
16. Limit travel and meal deductions for business to 50% of the amount paid. This would approximate eliminating a tax deduction for the personal, non-deductible aspect of such expenditures.
17. Eliminate statutory depletion allowances for extraction industries (oil, gas, etc.). Let extraction industries use their actual costs like other industries as expenses or as amortized or depreciated in accordance with standard accounting and tax principles.
18. Eliminate depreciation allowances for passenger vehicles used for business. Personal aspects of such expenses render their fair business use difficult to monitor and why subsidize it?
19. Establish national guidelines for encouraging use of mass transit in high density environments. Evaluate the energy and fuel (and time and cost) trade off in short inter-city flights with inter-city high speed transit. Set guidelines for premium charges for short flights with proceeds to support the more efficient ground transportation (assuming it is more fuel and other efficient!) Private auto usage should help subsidize or make local mass transit free at least in high density environments.
20. Help homeowners who are financially "under water" by allowing a reduction of their mortgage payment in proportion to the reduction in value based on the ratio of their current assessed value to their original purchase cost. Crude but simple. At the same adjust mortgage interest rate to current 30-year fixed rate by national average. Allow the banks to "bank" the resulting write-off as a kind of future second mortgage which would stay on the books and stay on the deed (separately) for a contingent and future recovery, sharing in future value increases with the homeowners in proportion.  Banks would be allowed to carry these contingent assets at book value for tax and financial accounting purposes. Would be allowed to bundle for sale such instruments under certain conditions. Each sale of the property in the future would determine a fair paydown of the deferred debt.
21. Citizens abroad resent paying double taxes to resident country and U.S. Review policies to be more fair and equitable to our citizens working abroad. Same with corporations. It's important to at least be neutral in regards to incentives or penalties for working or operating overseas. 
22. The health care debate is stuck on a theme of "socialism" vs. free enterprise. But neither fit the reality of human health care needs. Health insurance should be a mutual savings rather than a private company so all policy holders benefit or not according to their own participation. People of shared interests or healthy lifestyles should be allowed to pool resources and benefit thereby. Most hospitals should be run not for profit but for the benefit of those served. We need to look honestly at health needs, balancing individual initiative and responsibility with compassion and social benefits at large. 
23. A three-tiered health care system might provide a bridge between the extremes: We need basic health care free for all, better health care for those who participate in funding their care and make the effort to take care of themselves, and room, too, for private health care for those with greater resources. Let's make allowance for genuine charity from individuals, faith groups, or NGO's for those for whom the basic free care is insufficient or at least beyond what the society can reasonably afford to or at least agree upon to provide. Perfect? Heck no. But is it now? One size does not fit all.
24. Phase out social security benefits to those who really don't need them based on their assets and retirement income. Sure they earned them but gee whiz, they are lucky not have to have to draw on them and to let others have their share.
25. Reinstitute more dignified levels of asset retention for those who have to spend down to receive gov't assistance for health care or retirement. Don't make liars or paupers out of people. If they choose to enhance the level of basic care they receive by using what remains of their assets then let them.
26. Whenever possible, and when national policies make the most sense, let the states or other smaller entities handle the details subject only to broad guidelines and goals.
27. Get the federal government out of primary education except for research and development and for giving general broad guidelines for public education that fairly benefits all citizens.
28. Nothing beggars a person more or creates more resentment than to live on the crums of society. Handouts, as a way of life, demean both giver and recipient. Give recipients the opportunity and hold out the expectation that there are services they can render to society in return for their support until such time as they no longer need some or all of it. Dependency breeds contempt and discontent. Along with a handout, lend a hand to help a person stand up and give back. Being engaged and active can bring dignity and self-worth, while being idle is degrading. This will take some skill and tact but it is both fair and reasonable. Employment related vested interests will have to be convinced that for the greater good such recipients can be integrated into the workforce and all will benefit.
29. Recipients of workmens compensation and unemployment should also, as and where appropriate, be expected to pitch in with community service.
30. Re-structure tax deductions for charity "above the line" so that we encourage citizens (including lower and middle income) to participate financially in helping others around them.
31. A comment about labor provided by national service or by welfare recipients: federal, state, and local governments are sorely pressed to meet service levels and this workforce can provide some measure of relief. Further, provision should be made for businesses (all sizes) to have access to this workforce. This will require re-aligning our attitudes and employment boundaries towards a more flexible paradigm. Community service should be seen as not merely limited to public services but as a way to help businesses get back to business. 

 Well, I've said enough, surely.

Nayaswami Hriman

The Road Ahead: Hope or Hopelessness?

This is our last day here in Frankfurt Germany at the annual Book Messe (Fair). For several years we witnessed the obvious decline in business and attendance and general economic activity. This is linked with serious changes and challenges to the world of publishing which includes several things not least of which is the uncertainty and impact of the internet and e-book publishing.

But publishing is not my concern here. Hopelessness, however, is. Our hosts where we stay each year here in Frankfurt are the patriarch and matriarch of a wonderful and growing family of talented and energetic children and grandchildren. Both came of age in Germany at the end of the WWII and have seen many things in their lifetime. The comment at dinner last evening was made that more challenging to the young generation of today than job insecurity and the many other issues facing the human race is the feeling they have and are left with of hopelessness.

The 20th century saw two major wars and many others of equal or at least tragic consequences. Yet for much of that time, except perhaps the dark years of WWII, the general direction of expectations for the future had been, for the generations born in that century, has been  positive. Now, however, I have come to wonder whether for the young generation of today whether that is true. Yes, for up and coming countries like India, China, and Brazil things may seem rosy for the time but in the countries of the west (formerly known as the "first world!"), dark clouds loom and threaten on every major front: economic, ecological, environmental, political, cultural and religious, just to name the most obvious. Institutions of learning and health care face an uncertain future. War and terrorism threats continue as oil and the middle east are as fractious, if not more so, than ever before.

So where is there to be found hope for a better world? Interestingly, "Hope for A Better World" is the title of a book by Swami Kriyananda who is my teacher and who is the founder of the worldwide network of intentional communities (called Ananda). Swami Kriyananda is one of the best known direct disciples of Paramhansa Yogananda -- himself a world renown author of the spiritual classic, "Autobiography of a Yogi."

In this book and in Kriyananda's life work (of which I am a part) he writes that hope for the future lies in the direction of individual initiative. Hope lies in the energy, high mindedness, creativity and cooperative spirit of individuals who come together to find solutions to the challenges of modern life and who are not dependent on others, or on their government to make those changes. One of the principal forms this takes for those of us who are involved in the worldwide work of Ananda is the establishment of a network of intentional spiritual communities. These core communities are formed by disciples of Paramhansa Yogananda. But this work of intentional communities is not seen by us as limited to any faith or spiritual interest. Yogananda himself predicated that communities would some day "spread like wildfire." We have no reason to believe he meant that such future communities would be limited to those who follow his teachings. The very way in which he phrased his prediction suggests otherwise!

Though he gave no specifics as to time or place or form, it has become increasingly clear that such communities are the most obvious way for humanity to re-invent itself. With increasing urgency, humanity needs a new expression of core and universal human values. We need to learn how to live in harmony with one another and with all life on our planet. We need to learn how to use natural and human resources in a balanced and sustainable way. This means living closer and in harmony with the natural world of our fair planet as well as among races, nations, cultures and religions.

Such changes cannot be legislated. A new way of living and thinking can only come from changes in human attitudes and consciousness. Such changes will, and have always been, initiated by pioneers and creative spirits working together in harmony and cooperation. Cooperation is the only solution to war or ruthless competition and exploitation (of man, matter, and all living creatures).

At Ananda we see our communities as laboratories in cooperative living and hope that what we have learned can be used by others regardless of other persuasions, spiritual or otherwise. We feel that the trend and impulse for people of like mind to come together to create new patterns of living is the single most important trend at this time in history. No other solution appears to exist in the world for the great challenges we face.

No single nation, government, NGO, or corporate body possesses either the vision or the influence to lead citizens of earth to a more sustainable and harmonious way of life. Even religion seems most inclined to separate and fight. A new form of religion -- spiritual but not religious -- one based not on creeds or dogma but on direct perception and experience is needed. Yogananda called this "Self-realization." No existing power base of money or political power has the will or the vision to make fundamental changes. Existing institutions of all types are more focused on survival and self-interest.

As symbolized by the internet itself, which is carrying this message as I type it, people individually and in small groups will have to make the changes necessary. "Small" can be a wide range of numbers, however, from voluntary associations that are international to a handful or few dozen like-minded spirits in a given city or town. Small communities will also reflect what will become both a trend and necessity for survival: moving from the high density, resource-consuming cities to rural or at least nature-integrated locations. This will become a leaderless, grass-roots movement.

One can be fearful, pessimistic or gloomy, but none of those does one any good. Better it is to have faith in a Higher Power and faith in acting with high ideals and in the company of those of like-mind. Realistically, it is the only solution I can imagine. I know few will read this; few will embrace this, but the great changes in history have always been accomplished, at first, by a handful of pioneers. This is as true in science and the arts, as it is in politics or religion. So, do not lose hope but "think globally, while acting locally."

Joy to you,

Nayaswami Hriman

What does it mean to "Worship"?

The word "worship" is second only to the word "God" in creating a slight flutter somewhere deep inside me. I'm fairly well past the "God" word flutter at this point in my life, for I see it as a kind of shorthand and an arrow pointing to something very sacred and deep, even if I can't give it a more complete name and "it" has no form. But I feel God's presence in my heart and that's all that matters to me. I have put the intellect and past baggage back in the baggage car at the rear.

But "worship" conjures up mindless followers bowing and scraping to a man-made statue or image. "Thou shalt not worship false gods!" As if I wanted to worship anyone at all!

As the world integrates and we have the inflow of Indian culture and people throughout America and elsewhere, one encounters the phrase "worship of the idol." Sometimes just the word "idol" and other times only "worship." Wow. A Christian will bristle at the thought of worshiping idols and there is no distinction between false ones and real ones!

Students who come to Ananda see the pictures of the gurus of Self-realization (which includes Jesus Christ) and sometimes say, "Do you worship them?"

The feeling of God's presence and the more abstract experience of sacredness and reverence (however stimulated) naturally and appropriate inclines one in the direction of "worship." Oh, perhaps not at first but if we are drawn magnetically and repeatedly back to such a state of consciousness, the experience causes us to approach an attitude that might reasonably be called "worshipful."

Think of it as a state of hushed reverence, quiet, inward joy, gratitude, self-forgetfulness in the Presence, and a kind of love that does not derive from excitement, pleasure, or anticipation of reward.

From the experience (and even from the concept) of God's presence can come the realization that God is present in the world in innumerable forms and places, and certainly within ourselves. There can come a time when it appears in one's intuitive awareness that perhaps God has incarnated into human form: and not just theoretically, as in the of God being in everyone. Rather, the possibility occurs to one that God might actually incarnate into the human form of one who partakes in the Godhead presence.

Now many scoff of course at the very possibility. Some, like the Jewish priests of Jesus' time, consider it blasphemous. I'm not interested in debating the theology of such a possibility, for I am referring to an intuitive awakening to the presence of such a one, or even just to the possibility of such an incarnation.

Now, just to be clear, my reference point is not to the idea that God Himself squeezes himself down into a human body suit, saying "Ta-da! It's magic and here I am!" No I am referring to the possibility that one human being, through many lives, through the effort that attracts divine grace (God's power and presence), incarnates on earth to bring God-consciousness into human form. Not in a theatrical or dramatic way but in the very way many people live: sometimes simply and unnoticed othertimes more openly and dramatically, but always as a human being living in a very human way.

Only those who have "eyes to see" and "ears to hear" will detect the God presence of such a one. God does not reveal himself unto the "prudent and the wise, but unto babes." This avatar (divine incarnation) doesn't limit God nor act as God's soul, solitary or exclusive mouthpiece, but instead comes more like a family emissary, appropriate to the time and the clime of space and time and to specific individuals and groups of individuals.

The very thought of this possibility unleashes joy, admiration, gratitude and much more. To return to worshipfulness, let us say that we have here in this thought of or actual presence of such a soul, the awakening of each of these attitudes: gratitude, reverence and so on. With this, then, we can try to understand the words, writing, voice, image, and being-ness of such a one as emanating God consciousness in order to transmit this to us, personally and relevantly.

This understanding of "worship" is not the worship of a person as a mere human being but arises from the recognition of a quality, a presence, a vibration of consciousness that is so magnetic, so joyful, so wise, so compassionate, so safe and true that one cannot but help to desire to take into oneself the vibration and consciousness being transmitted through such a one (again: through his image, voice, teachings, example, etc.). This kind of worship is a thus the magnetic draw and intention to enter into and BE that consciousness. The intention, feeling and attraction is, ultimately, nothing less than an act of pure love.

There is no sense of loss of self but, rather of Self discovery, like the prodigal son returning to his father. It is a sense of coming home and of Being. There is no sense of self-abnegation but of Self-fulfillment. There is no sense that something is being taken from you but that everything is being given to you. God-consciousness has no desire and is above doing harm. It is love pure and simple and merges into joy and into bliss.

Thus true worship is the joy of the soul finding itself: at first, in the Being of another but ultimately in Being of Self. Therefore, think of worship as that draw within you for complete and permanent fulfillment, inner contentment, unending and ever-new satisfaction, and as that which exists everywhere, in everything and as the Being of everything and everyone. That's not so difficult, now, is it?

Blessings to you,

Nayaswami Hriman