War and Peace : reflections on American culture under attack

Although there is no lack of killings, suicide-bombings, and terrorist attacks around the world, the shootings at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, FL, have hit home for Americans. The worst such shooting yet in American history has sparked a firestorm in part because the tragedy combines the volatile and extreme perceptions related to LGBT culture, ISIS ideology, and the hedonistic decadence symbolized by the nightclub scene.

What cries out to me as an allegory or a dramatic story is the contrast between the self-righteous and angry self-appointed upholder of moral law bringing down punishment upon the wild and crazy hedonists. It is reminiscent of a movie scene right out of Cecil B. DeMille's TEN COMMANDMENTS where Moses comes down the mountain to find his people worshiping the golden calf and engaging in all manner of immorality to the beat of drums, dancing disheveled and half-naked.

Is not the so-called loose morals of modern times a major gripe with the fundamentalist mentality everywhere and anywhere? (Christian, Moslem, Hindu, etc.) In the shootings in Paris last year, didn't the main focus of the shooting take place at a rock concert with a group whose name was something like "Eagles of Death?" Such places make easy targets, and not merely literally, but symbolically.

In Orlando, FL, the allegory is far richer than that. Alcohol, perhaps drugs, sex, LGBT's, and sensual music! What an incendiary target. (For the record, for all I know, the music at the Pulse Club was mellow and the atmosphere one of calm, table conversation! I'm speaking of perception, not necessarily reality.)

Our nation itself is struggling with these contrasts. It's not just east vs west in the way the killer and most people are defining this. Our nation has been struggling for decades, if not since its birth over two centuries ago, over the balance between personal liberties and social mores.

I believe that the long term direction of the evolution of human consciousness is weighted in favor of personal liberties, including their misuse. But I also believe that where the affirmation of personal liberties is strongest, the counterweight of individual responsibilities is needed. I'm not talking about nightclubs, here, but something much larger. Our national dialogue has been over balanced in the direction of "me, me, me."

Whether selfishness, corruption and greed are greater now than before, or, as I think is more likely, our tolerance of them in public life has steadily shrunk, the national conversation needs to emphasize our individual responsibilities toward the greater good of all.

Where is the conversation about the responsibilities of citizenship? I hear too frequently, "What's in it for me?" Where is the conversation of decency, moderation, reason, respect, sobriety, modesty, self-discipline, and cooperation -- all the attitudes and behaviors which, like oil in a motor, lubricates the commerce and intercourse of society at large? [In mentioning citizenship, I accept that at the present time in history, we weave a delicate balance between enfranchising people to vote and encouraging citizens to be educated about the machinery of government and the principles upon which it is founded.]

As a nation and as an example to other peoples, we've far too often affirmed our freedom and right to "do what we want" again and again. How about affirming the freedom to make the choice to do what is right and good: by the health of our body; the integrity of our commitments and relationships; the honesty and quality of our commerce; the beneficial results of our science; and our genuine interest in the welfare of all nations and peoples.

Where is the acknowledgement in social and political conversation that we should strive towards maturity? How often do we say that self-indulgence is immature and harmful: to ourselves but also to others. When and where, besides church, do we remind ourselves that a mature adult is one who, inter alia, holds in check-and-balance emotions such as lust, greed, anger and negativity? Is it not natural that maturity clothes itself in modesty (of dress, behavior, and self-expression)?

Has anyone ever mentioned that human happiness comes not from technology, high position, money or talent but from maturity, and not from immaturity? When will our national self-image and culture grow out of the adolescence of the 20th century? The "cowboy" image of America is not something to be proud of: boastful, insensitive, and aggressive as it is. [Not a slur on real cowboys, mind you!]

In other words, lets shift the America dialogue about who "we are" from "what I want" to "what is right and good for me and others." We don't need legislation or rules for this. It takes, instead, a shift in consciousness. (How much more smoothly would our legislative bodies function if its members were actually this mature?)

Let the tragedy of Orlando result not only in an outpouring of sympathy, but let us recognize that an attack upon our nation and culture (whether from within or without) cannot be sustained if our national character reflects universal values that all people respect and admire. Such values necessarily result in peace, health, and prosperity.

May the light of wisdom shine upon you,

Nayaswami Hriman

Why We Need Community

Note to friends: Ananda Community Open House: Tomorrow!  http://www.anandawashington.org/event/solstice-open-house/?instance_id=132275. Stay tuned for a follow up article with some reflections about American society. "Just sayin' "

Our nation mourns for the latest victims of violence in our country even as calls go forth for finding preventative solutions for the future. Could this Saturday’s annual Open House and Solstice Celebration held by Ananda Community in Lynnwood  be relevant to the serious challenges in our time?

We certainly think so. The modern trend of globalism is neither all “good” nor all “bad.” It is complex and besides being an historical fact and a cultural fait accompli, it is, among other things, a trend that is bringing people of every race and nation in contact with one another.

What we see in decline, however, is a sense of community. Our urban and suburban neighborhoods tend to be a transient admixture of people and families with little in common, and their paths rarely cross.

On July 30, 1949, at a speech given in Beverly Hills, Paramhansa Yogananda proclaimed that “I am sowing into the ether” the seeds of the community ideal for the future. He predicted that a new pattern of conscious, intentional and sustainable living would “spread like wildfire.” The “wildfire” part still awaits a future ignition but the increasing violence in the world will unquestionably be one of the sparks. Economic challenges, no doubt, will be another.

The stage is being set and Ananda’s founder, Swami Kriyananda, who was present in the audience that fateful day, vowed to do his part. Before his passing in 2013, Swami Kriyananda had founded nine such communities throughout the world, including the Ananda Community in nearby Lynnwood.

The concept of intentional communities is not limited to its residential forms. Virtual communities or associations of those inspired and committed to serve their own local area or the world at large, all count as “communities.”

Our invitation to you, therefore, for this Saturday’s Solstice Celebration and Open House is an opportunity for all of us to register “our answer” to mindless violence by coming together to affirm our kinship with one another and all life. The power of harmony and friendship will always win, but it takes conscious efforts on our part. 

Since time immemorial, the Summer Solstice has drawn people together, recognizing intuitively that the powerful rays of the sun at its diurnal zenith symbolize the healing and energizing rays of the Divine Light within and without.

Blessings to all,

Nayaswamis Hriman and Padma McGilloway

Note details of the Open House:

Come rain, sun, thunderstorms! It will be fun and memorable no matter what!

Saturday, June 18, 3 to 7 p.m. 20715 Larch Way, Lynnwood 98036

3 p.m. Grounds are open; parking in the back. Tours, refreshments, childrens activities, music, summer fun faire booths with food, organic produce, clothing, gifts, books and healing services!

5 p.m. Solstice Celebration : a theme of family featuring music & ceremony

6 p.m. Vegetarian dinner (free)

Beam Me Up! How We Rise Spiritually!

I am Underwater:

A fish doesn't necessarily know that it is in water. The medium of water becomes the "given" and is assumed. "If there was a sound, continuous since birth and omnipresent until death, what would you call it?" "Silence." If there is a YOU, consistent since birth, identified with the same, if slowly changing body, a family, an environment, culture and customs, what do you call it? ME. 

You are Other:

If I am ME, then you must be YOU, and you are NOT ME! When, therefore, we contemplate God, we contemplate that which is not ME. As I cannot BE YOU, then I cannot BE God. Or so says logic.

Out of the Labyrinth:

If we encounter the Vedantic and metaphysical teaching that we are children of God and that our destiny is to reclaim our divinity and soul freedom by becoming ONE with God just as a wave is in separable from the great ocean, how then do we find our way out of the labyrinth of ME vs YOU?

My Help Cometh from the Lord:

There has been no time in known history where nations, tribes and peoples were not guided by spiritual teachers, prophets, or guides. In all walks of human life, there are leaders among whom there are, however rarely, great and inspired geniuses. In any successful group dynamic and enterprise, leadership emerges and proves essential. "Help" as if "from above" enters the picture at every crucial juncture of human history. As our intellect and intuition are centered in the heart and the brain (and not the stomach), and as ideas appear as ideas in our mind or heart, so too is all life guided silently and invisibly from a higher realm which we cannot see. 

While you may justly claim that "I had an idea," you cannot say from "Whence cometh" the idea. We do not know where our inspiration and good ideas come from. We only know they simply appear, full blown (sometimes) whether in dreams or in our waking hours. It is true that we usually attract ideas by putting out the effort to think things through, to put our mind to the task of solving problems, and otherwise by intense mental or physical effort in a given direction, but the solution itself, we cannot otherwise account for its timing or substance. At the same time, only Einstein received E=mc2. I didn't. No poet did. Neither did a composer or a housewife. We get inspirations (usually) that are personal and pertinent to my life. [Habitual dreamers, those who live in make believe worlds of their own imaginings, may receive all sorts of ideas but they never bear fruit.]

From Whence Cometh the Lord?

Just as you cannot account for the appearance of an idea in your mind, neither can you account for your own existence. You, too, simply appeared: to yourself as an infant, toddler, child and an adult. If however, "you" are a soul and not a body, then we are like prodigal children caught in a foreign land, seeking our way home. We need a spiritual "Einstein," an alchemist, to show us how to convert flesh into spirit. We need a guide. Only one with the proven power to go between the two worlds of Spirit and Matter can teach you how to do it. Do you need to eat? To breathe? Can you stop your heart and breath at will and leave your physical form behind, and then return at will? Why then imagine you do not need an enlightened teacher to show you the way?

Letting Go

We cannot fall asleep consciously for the simple fact that the subconscious state is not the conscious state. To enter the state of sleep we must "let go" of the conscious mind and "fall into" sleep. Sleep is a lower state of awareness. In sleep we are either unaware or our dreams are an incoherent jumble (most of the time). 

Superconsciousness lies at the opposite end of the consciousness spectrum. Unlike sleep, we are, in superconsciousness, vibrantly alive and awake. But like sleep, superconsciousness is not under the control of the conscious mind. And, therefore, like sleep, it also entails a kind of letting go. Swami Kriyananda, in his landmark book on consciousness, "Awaken to Superconsciousness," describes this process as "upward relaxation [back] into superconsciousness." The conscious and subconscious states are but derivatives of the superconscious mind.

The experience of superconsciousness is not the product of an intellectual assent or mere affirmation of will. It is a state of being which is very subtle relative to the vibration or frequency of ordinary thoughts and emotions. Superconsciousness lies as a horizon line between the lower state of sleep and the conscious state of wakefulness. To use another image: think of superconsciousness as the top point of a pyramid: the two lower and opposite corners are the states of the conscious and subconscious mind. To ascend to superconsciousness we must strip away the heavy baggage of passing thoughts, heaving emotions and body awareness that the very light balloon of pure awareness might rise.

The Movie

Our conscious mind and subconscious mind are more like the appearance of reality on a movie screen: the hero and the villain, as it were; day and night. Both emerge from the singular beam of superconsciousness from the projection booth of Spirit. The images are caused by the darkening imprinted dots on the film. These are our restless, body-bound thoughts and emotions. The beam of light is otherwise unaffected by the film crossing over it. The images on the screen continue until the film is over or the operator removes the film to reveal just the pure beam of light on the screen.

The Transmission

To switch metaphors, but like a transmission of radio signals, superconsciousness requires a sender and a receiver. The sender has to have a sending "unit," which is to say, must be already in superconsciousness, while you, the receiver, have to be turning your dial to the frequency of the sender. Bit by bit you refine, clarify, and purify the frequency of your receiver, thus showing your readiness and attunement to the sender's wavelength and frequency. This is the guru-disciple relationship. As St. John in Chapter One of his gospel writes of Jesus Christ: "To as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God." 

In meditation we learn to focus calmly but deeply and intently, at the point of singularity (this horizon line) in the forehead. There, awaiting the transmission "signal" given to us by the guru's invisible presence, our breath can be snatched away (temporarily, at first) as we enter into this sacred land of the soul. [It is not necessary that the guru be in a human body at that time or physically present for us to receive his transmission, for we are speaking of higher states of consciousness which are independent, indeed the very source of, material and physical realities.] 

Being

Superconsciousness is not born of ego. It is a state unto itself: universal and omnipresent, stripped of the characteristics of ego (memory, desires, senses, personality, and bodily identification). The ego therefore does not possess the right frequency to tap into superconsciousness alone. The ego frequency is, as stated earlier, derived FROM superconsciousness and is a lower vibration, rate of frequency and so on. 

No mere book or course or ordinary (if brilliant, witty, and even wise) teacher can take us to this "land beyond our dreams" (as Paramhansa Yogananda called it). A true teacher is one who already is awake and living in superconsciousness and who can transmit it at (the command of divine) will.

"Beam me up, Scotty!"

Joy to you!

Swami Hrimananda

Bhagavad Gita : The Voice of the Ancients “Calls to Us to Awaken in Him”

Once again, the following article is taken from an email to Ananda members in the Seattle-area Sangha:

Each Sunday at the weekly Service we read a stanza from the Bhagavad Gita. What is this text, this “The Song of God,” quoted by so many great people of influence?

Ralph Waldo Emerson said of the Bhagavad Gita:  "It was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us.”

Henry David Thoreau wrote, "In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial.”

Mahatma Gandhi confessed that "When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day".

And finally, J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and director of the Manhattan Project (that created the world’s first atom bomb), learned Sanskrit in 1933 and read the Bhagavad Gita in the original, citing it as one of the most influential books in his life. Upon witnessing the first nuclear test in 1945, he quoted the Gita: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”

What is this extraordinary work of literature, allegory and divine inspiration? The “Gita” is the most beloved of the great scriptures of India. It is one chapter in the midst of the world’s longest epic, the Mahabharata (over 100,000 couplets). The Gita itself has about 700 verses arranged in 18 chapters: not very long in itself. The Mahabharata makes an allegory of an actual historic and apocalyptic battle that took place not far from what is now New Delhi sometime after the first millennia B.C.  It’s a “good guys” vs the “bad guys” story, with the good guys winning, but just barely.

The Gita itself consists of a dialogue between Lord Krishna, the charioteer and guru for Prince Arjuna (a good guy), one of the fiercest warriors of the two opposing clans. Their conversation takes place on the eve of battle.

Arrayed against his own cousins (who usurped his and his brothers’ rule of the kingdom), Arjuna asks his guru, “What virtue, what victory is there to be found in killing my own family? They are far from perfect, but I don’t seek riches or power? Why must I fight?”

And thus begins the greatest story ever told: your story, and mine. This is the story of the challenges we face, the victories and defeats we experience, and our quest for the Holy Grail of Happiness.

The greatest work ever written by Swami Kriyananda, “Essence of the Bhagavad Gita,” was inspired by the commentary on the Gita dictated by Paramhansa Yogananda in the early months of 1950 at his desert retreat in 29 Palms, CA. This book will change your life. At the completion of his dictation efforts, Paramhansa Yogananda declared to Swamiji “Millions will find God through this work. Not just thousands: millions! I have seen it. I know!”

Joy to you,

Nayaswamis Hriman and Padma

What is Kriya Yoga?

Padma and I (and others) just returned from a four-day retreat at Ananda Village whose theme was the art and science of kriya yoga. Kriya Yoga is the central practice of the meditation teachings brought from India to the West by Paramhansa Yogananda and which are at the heart of the spirituality of Ananda worldwide. This article was sent to Ananda members in the Seattle area.

Kriya Yoga is an advanced form of meditation known and recognized throughout the world. It was re-introduced to the world in 1861 to a humble Hindu accountant, Shyama Charan Lahiri (aka Lahiri Mahasaya) by the mysterious Himalayan saint known only as “Babaji” who gave “Lahiri” permission to initiate any sincere seeker of any faith whether monk or householder.

Through the traditional transmission from teacher to student-disciple-teacher, the spread of Kriya Yoga was destined to encircle the globe. It is well suited to the modern age where the emphasis is upon personal experience over belief. Paramhansa Yogananda’s now famous life story, Autobiography of a Yogi, put Kriya Yoga on the world map of popular meditation techniques.

Both by tradition and by intention, Kriya Yoga (KY) has been given only to those who have received preparation and training using various preparatory meditation techniques. Traditional yoga training includes a healthy diet, right attitude and moderation in sense faculties, study of spiritual teachings, and physical exercises in addition to a spectrum of meditation and purification practices such as yoga postures and breath control.

The basic purpose of this training is both to test the aspirant’s sincerity AND to prepare the body, nervous system, and the mind for deeper and more advanced meditation practices and experiences. With the popularity of meditation ever growing, most people naturally seek physical and mental benefits. For this purpose, mindfulness techniques (such as the Hong Sau - "Watching the Breath" - technique taught by Yogananda) are more than adequate. Kriya Yoga is for those seeking enlightenment (using any number of other possible words or terminology).

The other prerequisite intended by the reintroduction of KY into popular use is the recognition ­— part in gratitude and part as a transmission of actual spiritual awakening — of the need for a God-realized guru or preceptor. Such a person is no mere ordinary spiritual teacher; nor is the intended transmission thwarted by the guru’s no longer being in living, human form. Any technique given as initiation, including the Kriya technique, functions as much as a “channel” for the transmission of higher consciousness as it does a technique of meditation. Without the former, the latter is only partly effective. As we are “Spirit” and not merely a body with a personality, so the spiritual freedom we seek cannot come through merely material means or psychological efforts alone.

The true Goal of advanced meditation practices transcends ego, personality, body and matter: it “lives” in a realm without second, without form, and in unconditional consciousness. Such a state is therefore its source and being beyond ordinary perception must be channeled and received bit-by-bit just as a computer or a cell phone conversation carries information bit-by-bit. The technique is to the goal as a cell phone is to the substance of a conversation. The cell phone alone cannot substitute for the conversation even as the cell phone makes the conversation possible.

But as the guru or preceptor is a transmitting station, a sub-station and transformer, for the ultimate Goal, we must recognize that the preceptor, too, has no substantive personality. Our “discipleship” is not to a person but to an “instrument” (a rather “conscious” cell phone tower, if you will) sending us transmissions from Infinity. In this somewhat limited sense, then, the technique itself can become our guide and guru because it allows the transmission of higher consciousness to reach us. As Yogananda said of himself in the role of guru, “God is the guru. I killed Yogananda long ago.” Just as we can no more pick up our cell phone and call the President of the United States, so we must call the switchboard and talk to one of God's reps! Eventually, by building a relationship of trust with those who have His ear, we’ll get through to “the top.”

Yogananda, as the guru, is no longer present in a human form. Far too much is made these days by prospective and otherwise sincere devotees of the fear or doubt surrounding a discipleship relationship with him since it must needs be an inner relationship alone. Recognizing that through kriya yoga practice one can consciously draw on the spiritual power of Yogananda’s omnipresent consciousness is hardly a threat, except perhaps to the obstructive, no-saying donkey we call the ego!

Nor does such a relationship prohibit the recognition of other God-realized channels, for in God consciousness, there are no distinctions and no competition for loyalty. Whether world teacher or unknown, a free-soul is no more, or no less, free in God.

Given, however, that few devotees, even among the most committed, can spend more than an hour or two each day in the practice of kriya yoga, it must be recognized that the company of other (and especially more advanced) devotees is one of the most important ways of drawing on that spiritual transmission. This outward “transmission” is necessary so long as we are “outward” in our consciousness and self-definitions. Serving the outward work of the guru’s transmission with fellow devotees is easily one of the most important ways to advance spiritually and transcend ego consciousness. It doesn’t necessarily mean being a teacher: there are many ways to serve, each according to what is best spiritually for him. If one’s life circumstances permits such association but one balks at this opportunity, one would do well to question his spiritual readiness.

A wonderful description of Kriya Yoga can be found in Chapter 26 of “Autobiography of a Yogi.” The book can be read online for free at www.Ananda.org. You can also watch several video presentations by Padma and I on our own website: www.AnandaWA.org/kriya-yoga/ .

Sincerely and with unceasing blessings,

Nayaswamis Hriman and Padma