Christmas message 2018

This Christ of Everywhere is sleeping in the breast of Eternity; He loves to take new birth at anytime, anywhere, especially in the warmth of our true affection. Though the Infinite Christ is present in every speck of space as the splendor of ever new wisdom and creative expression, we can never see Him unless He chooses to be seen in the cradle of our unceasing devotion.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Should Christians celebrate Christmas?

The debate about whether or not Christians should celebrate Christmas has been raging for centuries. There are equally sincere and committed Christians on both sides of the issue, each with multiple reasons why or why not Christmas should be celebrated in Christian homes. But what does the Bible say? Does the Bible give clear direction as to whether Christmas is a holiday to be celebrated by Christians?

First, let’s look at the reasons why some Christians do not celebrate Christmas. One argument against Christmas is that the traditions surrounding the holiday have origins in paganism. Searching for reliable information on this topic is difficult because the origins of many of our traditions are so obscure that sources often contradict one another. Bells, candles, holly, and yuletide/yule decorations are mentioned in the history of pagan worship, but the use of such in one’s home certainly does not indicate a return to paganism. While there are definitely pagan roots to some traditions, there are many more traditions associated with the true meaning of Christmas—the birth of the Savior of the world in Bethlehem. Bells are played to ring out the joyous news, candles are lit to remind us that Christ is the Light of the world (John 1:4-9), a star is placed on the top of a Christmas tree to remember the Star of Bethlehem, and gifts are exchanged to remind us of the gifts of the Magi to Jesus, the greatest gift of God to mankind.

Another argument against Christmas, especially having a Christmas tree, is that the Bible forbids bringing trees into our homes and decorating them. The passage often cited is Jeremiah 10:1-16, but this passage refers to cutting down trees, chiseling the wood to make an idol, and then decorating the idol with silver and gold for the purpose of bowing down before it to worship it (see also Isaiah 44:9-18). The passage in Jeremiah cannot be taken out of its context and used to make a legitimate argument against Christmas trees.

Christians who choose to ignore Christmas point to the fact that the Bible doesn’t give us the date of Christ’s birth, which is certainly true. December 25 may not be even close to the time Jesus was born, and arguments on both sides are legion, some relating to climate in Israel, the practices of shepherds in winter, and the dates of Roman census-taking. None of these points are without a certain amount of conjecture, which brings us back to the fact that the Bible doesn’t tell us when Jesus was born. Some see this as proof positive that God didn’t want us to celebrate the birth, while others see the Bible’s silence on the issue as tacit approval.

Some Christians say that since the world celebrates Christmas—although it is becoming more and more politically correct to refer to it as “the holidays”—Christians should avoid it. But that is the same argument made by false religions that deny Christ altogether, as well as cults such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses who deny His deity. Those Christians who do celebrate Christmas often see the occasion as an opportunity to proclaim Christ as “the reason for the season” among the nations and to those trapped in false religions.

As we have seen, there is no legitimate scriptural reason not to celebrate Christmas. At the same time, there is no biblical mandate to celebrate it, either. In the end, of course, whether or not to celebrate Christmas is a personal decision. Whatever Christians decide to do regarding Christmas, their views should not be used as a club with which to beat down or denigrate those with opposing views, nor should either view be used as a badge of honor inducing pride over celebrating or not celebrating. As in all things, we seek wisdom from Him who gives it liberally to all who ask (James 1:5) and accept one another in Christian love and grace, regardless of our views on Christmas.

The Cosmic Christ

The mystery of Christ is much bigger than Christianity. Christ is not a personality but a Divine Essence. It is a spiritual emanation from Godhead. The Son of God or the Godhead in its creative aspect is that power or principle which begets and animates all manifestation of life. It is the Divine creative force, a great stream of life giving essence which manifests in all things, on all planes as the animating principle of the one life.

The Christ spirit therefore is an animating power of all life, physical, mental and spiritual.

In nature, it is the unquestionable urge toward perfection, which adapts the organism to its environment

Among man it is the urge toward union with God, the effort to bring the Divine in them into harmony with the Divine in the universe. It is this mystic forming verifying principle, the Christ force manifesting in and through Jesus, when he said: “I am the bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” John 6:51 NLT.

"He who eats my flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life”

Such statement could not apply to any human flesh and blood or any personality, but figuratively to that immortal universal principle, which the personality of Jesus embodied. Eternal life cannot be obtained by merely observing or studying spiritual truth, for they must be assimilated (eaten) in one’s total being and be a part of life. Just as physical food must be assimilated by the body and manifest as love, tolerance, charity and purity. In this way we have truly eaten of the body of Christ. Only as the Christ force in us can we have eternal life.

To grow spiritually is not enough to lead ethical, moral and blameless lives. We must also drink of the blood and eat of the flesh of Christ, that is, drink of the spiritual creative power or Divine life force which shall re-create us. This divine life force shall make our lives not only mortal models, but dynamic, radiant centers of the force for good.

 We must distinguish between the mystic Christ principle and the personality of Jesus who manifested an individual manifestation of this force. This distinction is plainly made in the New Testament that only the lack of knowledge concerning the mystery of Christ can account for the incomplete teachings of the church leaders. Most teachers only talk about the personality of Jesus and his suffering. If they stop here, they don’t even touch the hem of his garment. They worship a picture and are doomed to disappointment. They see their ideal crucified, cast out and destroyed. The Pauline picture of Christ is for those who need no historic personality as a model, but to open their heart to the Christ and have the Holy teachings revealed through spirit.

The story of Jesus is not just a story of a great teacher, but the story of the perfected man, the growth and perfection of the soul. The story of Jesus is the story of which each personality must pass through. Most people live in their mind which is dual by nature and for the most part vacillates between higher and lower expressions. The Jesus man becomes a Christ only when the human mind is uplifted and blended with Christ Consciousness, the discriminating intellect; the Self and the Father in heaven.

Christ consciousness according to Paramahansa Yogananda is the projected consciousness of God immanent in all creation. In Christian scripture, the "only begotten son," the only pure reflection in creation of God the Father; in Hindu scripture, Kutastha Chaitanya or Tat, the universal consciousness, or cosmic intelligence, of Spirit everywhere present in creation. (The terms "Christ Consciousness" and "Christ Intelligence" are synonymous, as also "Cosmic Christ" and "Infinite Christ.") It is the universal consciousness, oneness with God, manifested by Jesus, Krishna, and other avatars. Great saints and yogis know it as the state of samadhi (ecstasy) meditation wherein their consciousness has become identified with the divine intelligence in every particle of creation; they feel the entire universe as their own body.

The resurrection of Jesus was the symbolic way of saying that his presence was beyond any limits of physical space and time. Jesus was historically bound; the Christ is omnipresent.

What Is Love? Understanding of the 3 Spiritual Levels of Love

What is Love? As much as we might like to, we can't force love to happen. But we can understand its many levels and connect more easily to its source.

Love Is a Many-Leveled Thing

Most of us have been confused about love all of our lives. In fact, we often begin the inner life as a search—conscious or unconscious—for a source of love that can't be taken away. We may have grown up feeling unloved or believing we had to perform heroic feats to deserve love. Our parents, the movies we see, our cultural and religious milieu give us ideas about love that go on influencing us long after we have forgotten their source. When we read spiritual books and encounter teachers, our understanding about love can get even more complicated, because depending on what we read or with whom we study, we get slightly different ideas on what love means in spiritual life.

Some teachers tell us that our essence is love; others say love is a passion, an emotion that leads to addiction and clinging. If we're on a devotional path like bhakti yoga, Sufism, or mystical Christianity, we're often taught that the way to enlightenment is to fall in love with God and let that love grow until it engulfs us and we become one with the Beloved. If we're on a more knowledge-based yogic path, we may be taught to look at the feelings of bliss and love that arise in practice, because, we're told, the spaciousness that is our goal is beyond such feelings.

We are soon left to wonder where the truth lies in all of this. When spiritual teachers use the word love, what kind of love are they talking about? Is Eros (romantic or sexual love) really different from agape, the so-called unconditional or spiritual love? Is devotional love the same as compassion, or love for humanity? Is love something we have to feel, or is it enough to offer kindness and direct positive thoughts toward ourselves and others? And how is it that some teachers tell us that love is both the path and the goal, while others seem to ignore the subject altogether?

In spiritual life alone, the word love is used in at least three ways, and our experience and understanding of love will differ according to which aspect of it we are thinking about. For the sake of discussion, let's refer to these three aspects of love as (1) Absolute Love, or the Great Love, which Ramakrishna, Rumi, and the teachers of the bhakti yoga and nondualism Tantra traditions tell us is ever- present, impersonal, and the very underpinning of the universe; (2) our individual experience of love, which is personal, and usually directed at something or someone; and (3) love as practice.

1. Absolute Love

Love with a capital L: That's the Great Love, love as the source of everything, love as radical unity. At this level, love is another name for Absolute Reality, Supreme Consciousness, God, Brahman, the Tao, the Source—that vast presence called the Heart. The yoga tradition often describes Absolute Reality as Satchidananda—meaning that it is pure beingness, present everywhere and in everything (sat), that it is innately conscious (chit), and that it is the essence of joy and love (ananda).

As ananda, the Great Love is woven into the fabric of the universe, which of course also puts it at the center of our own being. Most of us get glimpses of the Great Love at some time in our lives—perhaps in nature, or with an intimate partner, or in the moment of bonding with our children. We remember these experiences for years afterward, often for the rest of our lives. We remember the feeling of deep connectedness they give us, and the fact that even when the love we feel seems inspired by someone or something in particular, it has a profoundly impersonal, universal quality. And sometimes, the Great Love hits us unveiled, as it were, and changes our lives.

2. Individual Love

All of us, throughout our lives, constantly project onto other people and things the feelings of love that actually come from within. "It was the music," we say. It was the surf! It was my teacher's presence!" Yet the yogic view is that all of our experiences of human love are actually glimpses of the Great Love, God’s joy. It is only when love gets filtered through the prism of the human psyche that it begins to look specific and limited. It becomes veiled by our thoughts and feelings, and we start to think that love comes and goes, that we can feel it only for certain people, or that there's not enough love to go around. We can't help doing this.

Our senses, mind and ego are hardwired to give us the experience of separateness and distinction, set us up to think that love is outside us, that some people and places and things are lovable and others are not, and furthermore, that love has different flavors: mother love, romantic love, love of movies, love of nature, compassionate love, sexual love, love of the cozy feeling of being under the covers at the end of a long day.

In short, if the Great Love is naturally unifying, our individual, human experience of love is subject to change and loss, moods and tides, attachments and aversions. It doesn't matter who or what we love; at some point, the object of our love will disappear from our life or disappoint us or stop being lovable, simply because change is the nature of existence. So individual love is always touched with suffering, even when the love we feel is "spiritual."

3. Love as Spiritual Practice

The third kind of love, love as a practice is the medicine for the terrible discrepancy we sometimes feel between our sense of what love can be and the actuality of our ordinary experience of it. The practice of love is actions and attitudes that create an atmosphere of kindness, acceptance, and unity in us and in those around us. It is not only the basis of spiritual life, it is also the basis of civilization. We can't always feel gratitude, but we can remember to say thank you. We can't always like other people, but we can try to pay attention when they talk to us and help them out when they're in trouble. We may not feel good about ourselves all the time, but we can practice treating ourselves gently, slowing down and breathing when we want to rush, or talking back to our inner voices of self-criticism and judgment. When it comes to daily life, feeling love may actually be less important than acting loving.

This isn't meant as an argument for pasted-on smiles, or for the common game of hiding anger and judgment behind a mask of false sweetness. The practice of loving is never about presenting a false front. Instead, it's an active answer to one of life's greatest questions: How can I, in spite of what I may be feeling at a particular moment, offer my best to myself and other people.

If we pose this question to ourselves, how would we act if we were feeling love? We will eventually discover the practice that helps melt our frozen heart, so the love that always hides behind our emotional barricades can show its face.

How to Connect to the Source of Love

We may consider two practices that can help reconnect to the source of love. Both cultivate the feeling of unity. One is based on the insight to bypass the ego, which cuts us off from love.

The second is, the Great Love, the love that is the source of everything, is present in everything, peeking out during every moment in which we feel a spark of tenderness, appreciation, or affection.

Preparing for Death

When a person enters the final stage of the dying process, two different dynamics are at work, which are closely interrelated and interdependent. On the physical plane, the body begins the final process of shutting down, which will end when all the physical systems cease to function. Usually this is an orderly and un-dramatic progressive series of physical changes which are not medical emergencies requiring invasive interventions. These physical changes are a normal, natural way in which the body prepares itself to stop, and the most appropriate kinds of responses are comfort enhancing measures.

The other dynamic of the dying process at work is on the emotional-spiritual-mental plane, and is a different kind of process. The spirit of the dying person begins the final process of release from the body, its immediate environment, and all attachments. This release also tends to follow its own priorities, which may include the resolution of whatever is unfinished of a practical nature and reception of permission to “let go” from family members. These events are the normal, natural way in which the spirit prepares to move from this existence into the next dimension of life. The most appropriate kinds of responses to the emotional-spiritual-mental changes are those which support and encourage this release and transition.

When a person’s body is ready and wanting to stop, but the person is still unresolved or un-reconciled over some important issue or with some significant relationship, he or she may tend to linger in order to finish whatever needs finishing even though he or she may be uncomfortable or debilitated. On the other hand, when a person is emotionally-spiritually-mentally resolved and ready for this release, but his or her body has not completed its final physical shut down, the person will continue to live until that shut down process ceases.

The emotional-spiritual-mental and physical signs and symptoms of impending death

Not all these signs and symptoms will occur with every person, nor will they occur in this particular sequence. Each person is unique and needs to do things in his or her own way. This is not the time to try to change your loved one, but the time to give full acceptance, support, and comfort.

Coolness

The person's hands and arms, feet and then legs may be increasingly cool to the touch, and at the same time the color of the skin may change. This is a normal indication that the circulation of blood is decreasing to the body’s extremities and being reserved for the most vital organs. Keep the person warm with a blanket, but do not use one that is electric.

Sleeping

The person may spend an increasing amount of time sleeping, and appear to be uncommunicative or unresponsive and at times be difficult to arouse. This normal change is due in part to changes in the metabolism of the body. Sit with your loved one, hold his or her hand, but do not shake it or speak loudly. Speak softly and naturally. Plan to spend time with your loved one during those times when he or she seems most alert or awake. Do not talk about the person in the person’s presence. Speak to him or her directly as you normally would, even though there may be no response. Never assume the person cannot hear; hearing is the last of the senses to be lost.

Disorientation

The person may seem to be confused about the time, place, and identity of people surrounding him or her including close and familiar people. This is also due in part to the metabolism changes. Identify yourself by name before you speak rather than to ask the person to guess who you are. Speak softly, clearly, and truthfully when you need to communicate something important for the patient’s comfort, such as, It is time to take your medication, and explain the reason for the communication, such as, so you won’t begin to hurt. Do not use this method to try to manipulate the patient to meet your needs.

Incontinence

The person may lose control of urine and/or bowel matter as the muscles in that area begin to relax. Discuss with your nurse what can be done to protect the bed and keep your loved one clean and comfortable.

Congestion

The person may have gurgling sounds coming from his or her chest as though marbles were rolling around inside these sounds may become very loud. This normal change is due to the decrease of fluid intake and an inability to cough up normal secretions. Suctioning usually only increases the secretions and causes sharp discomfort. Gently turn the person’s head to the side and allow gravity to drain the secretions. You may also gently wipe the mouth with a moist cloth. The sound of the congestion does not indicate the onset of severe or new pain.

Restlessness

The person may make restless and repetitive motions such as pulling at bed linen or clothing. This often happens and is due in part to the decrease in oxygen circulation to the brain and to metabolism changes. Do not interfere with or try to restrain such motions. To have a calming effect, speak in a quiet, natural way, lightly massage the forehead, read to the person, or play some soothing music.

Urine Decrease

The person´s urine output normally decreases and may become tea colored referred to as concentrated urine. This is due to the decreased fluid intake as well as decrease in circulation through the kidneys. Consult with your Hospice nurse to determine whether there may be a need to insert or irrigate a catheter.

Fluid and Food Decrease

The person may have a decrease in appetite and thirst, wanting little or no food or fluid. The body will naturally begin to conserve energy which is expended on these tasks. Do not try to force food or drink into the person, or try to use guilt to manipulate them into eating or drinking something. To do this only makes the person much more uncomfortable. Small chips of ice, frozen Gatorade or juice may be refreshing in the mouth. If the person is able to swallow, fluids may be given in small amounts by syringe (ask the nurse for guidance). Glycerin swabs may help keep the mouth and lips moist and comfortable. A cool, moist washcloth on the forehead may also increase physical comfort.

Breathing Pattern Change

The person s regular breathing pattern may change with the onset of a different breathing pace. A particular pattern consists of breathing irregularly, i.e., shallow breaths with periods of no breathing of five to thirty seconds and up to a full minute. The person may also experience periods of rapid shallow breathing. These patterns are very common and indicate decrease in circulation in the internal organs. Elevating the head, and/or turning the person onto his or her side may bring comfort. Hold your loved one’s hand. Speak gently.

Normal Emotional, Spiritual, and Mental Signs and Symptoms with Appropriate Responses

Withdrawal

The person may seem unresponsive, withdrawn, or in a comatose-like state. This indicates preparation for release, a detaching from surroundings and relationships, and a beginning of letting go. Since hearing remains all the way to the end, speak to your loved one in your normal tone of voice, identifying yourself by name when you speak, hold his or her hand, and say whatever you need to say that will help the person let go.

Vision-like Experiences

The person may speak or claim to have spoken to persons, who have already died, or to see or have seen places not presently accessible or visible to you. This does not indicate a hallucination or a drug reaction. The person is beginning to detach from this life and is being prepared for the transition so it will not be frightening. Do not contradict, explain away, belittle or argue about what the person claims to have seen or heard. Just because you cannot see or hear it does not mean it is not real to your loved one. Affirm his or her experience. They are normal and common. If they frighten your loved one, explain that they are normal occurrences.

Decreased Socialization

The person may only want to be with a very few or even just one person. This is a sign of preparation for release and affirms from whom the support is most needed in order to make the appropriate transition. If you are not part of this inner circle at the end, it does not mean you are not loved or are unimportant. It means you have already fulfilled your task with your loved one, and it is the time for you to say Good-bye. If you are part of the final inner circle of support, the person needs your affirmation, support, and permission.

Unusual Communication

The person may make a seemingly out of character or non sequitur statement, gesture, or request. This indicates that he or she is ready to say Good-bye and is testing you to see if you are ready to let him or her go. Accept the moment as a beautiful gift when it is offered. Kiss, hug, hold, cry, and say whatever you most need to say.

Giving Permission

Giving permission to your loved one to let go, without making him or her guilty for leaving or trying to keep him or her with you to meet your own needs, can be difficult. A dying person will normally try to hold on, even though it brings prolonged discomfort, in order to be sure those who are going to be left behind will be all right. Therefore, your ability to release the dying person from this concern and give him or her assurance that it is all right to let go whenever he or she is ready is one of the greatest gifts you have to give your loved one at this time.

Saying Good-bye

When the person is ready to die and you are able to let go, then is the time to say good-bye. Saying good-bye is your final gift of love to your loved one, for it achieves closure and makes the final release possible. It may be helpful to lie in bed and hold the person, or to take his or her hand and then say everything you need to say.

It may be as simple as saying, I love you. It may include recounting favorite memories, places, and activities you shared. It may include saying, I ’m sorry for whatever I contributed to any tension or difficulties in our relationship. It may also include saying, Thank you for...

Tears are a normal and natural part of saying good-bye. Tears do not need to be hidden from your loved one or apologized for. Tears express your love and help you to let go.

How Will You Know When Death Has Occurred?

Although you may be prepared for the death process, you may not be prepared for the actual death moment. It may be helpful for you and your family to think about and discuss what you would do if you were the one present at the death moment. The death of a person is not an emergency. Nothing must be done immediately.

The signs of death include such things as no breathing, no heartbeat, release of bowel and bladder, no response, eyelids slightly open, pupils enlarged, eyes fixed on a certain spot, no blinking, jaw relaxed and mouth slightly open. If the person is in the hospital, a nurse will come to assist if needed or desired.

Guiding the dying process

Sit comfortably, go into your inner nature, and visualize the radiant light of Jesus, the Saints, the Yogis or the Holy Spirit, whichever Divine being you feel close to.

For those who do not feel a connection to a Divine figure, you can imagine a golden light in your forehead or the sky before you. Feel what you visualize is the body of truth, wisdom and compassion. Don’t worry if you have difficulties visualizing  just fill your heart with the presence you have invoked and pray: through your blessings, grace and guidance, to the power of the light that streams from you, may all my imperfections, destructive emotions, blockages be purified and removed. Now, consider yourself completely purified and completely made whole by the presence. Consider that your body is now ready to dissolve into the light. Now your body of light soars into the heavenly realms. Imagine, that the deity is so moved by your prayer, that it responds by sending out streams of light touching you and you see and feel that you are totally immersed in the light. Imagine that you are flying out of your body like a shooting star and into the Divine presence. Merge your consciousness with the presence.

So be it.

The Present Moment, by Paramahansa Yogananda

I will tell you how I live and work in the world. My body and the world are my office; and my inner Self is my home. My mind always dwells within. I live from day to day. There is no consciousness of past or future; I am living in the eternally happy present. It is not a mundane happiness, which becomes boring after a while so that you welcome a little difficulty just for a change. The joy that has come upon me is a thousand million times more intoxicating—ever-changing, ever-new. In that consciousness you feel all the happiness in the world passing through you. Your love is all-encompassing. That is the experience of God's love. I see people suffering from sickness and poverty and all kinds of misery, and I yearn to bring them all where I am: Whether I laugh or cry at the scenes of this earthly drama, a current of bliss is ever moving underneath my outer consciousness. At first it was different. I would try to be happy, but then some sadness would come inside. But I continued in meditation to make the effort to know God, and now it is happiness all the time. My body and mind respond to what my heart feels. It is filled with divine love no matter whether I talk to people of peace or business—always God's joy bubbling within me.

In search of myself

The Christ within

To all who read this, I speak.

This message is to you, who, through long years and much running to and fro, have been eagerly seeking, in books and teachings, in philosophy and religion, because you were in search for Truth, Happiness, Freedom and God.

To you who’s Soul is weary and discouraged and almost destitute in hope;

To you, who many times has obtained a glimpse of that "Truth" only to find, when you followed and tried to reach it, it disappeared again into the beyond, and now resides in your memory like a mirage.

To you, who thought you had found the truth in some great teacher, who was perhaps the acknowledged head of some Society, Fraternity or Religion, and who appeared to you to be the one who’s apparent wisdom was so marvelously taught, only to awaken later to the realization that that he was but a human personality, with the same faults, weaknesses, and impurities, of those to whom he spoke, even though that personality may have been a channel that revealed many beautiful teachings, which seemed to reveal the highest truth.

Now know you are a Soul, one with Spirit. You may be weary and hungry, and not knowing where to turn. But there is hope, as long as you persist in your search for truth and inner joy.

The answer will come to you from within your own Self, from your Soul, the Christ within, but you must learn to listen to its still voice and follow its prompting. It will reveal itself to you as intuition, as well as conscience.  

In preparation, you need to still your mind. You also need to ask yourself, who or what am I. Am I this body, am I this mind or do I have a body and a mind? And what is this I, which speaks with such seeming knowledge and authority.

It is that inner essence of you who is and knows; who knows all things, always knew, and always was.

It is your true Self; it is that part of you who says I am. I am, existence itself.

It is that transcendent, innermost part of you which awakens and which recognizes all Truth and discards all error wherever it is found.

It is your real teacher, the only real one you will ever really know, the only master, your divine Self.

This I, the I am of you, is your true guide. It is the true teacher because it is a part of God, Who is and always has been providing you not only with all your needs, but also all physical, mental and spiritual growth.

In the past what may have primarily appealed to you, was coming from some outward stimuli and manifested in objects of your choosing. These objects were ego based, I want this, I want that. Without knowing, this same process placed you into bondage of your own making, from which you now must free yourself. 

The I AM of you is not your human mind, it is the Divine in you.

Weigh and study these words carefully.

Rise up and free yourself from all impure teachings which dominated your personality. From now on, your mind and intellect must become the servant to your Soul.

If you are strong and want to maintain this path you need to examine and put aside many of your personal beliefs and opinions, which you have gathered from what can be spoken of as the dumping grounds of society.

If you cast it all away, then this message will be to you a source of endless Joy and Blessing.

Yet be prepared to have to have periods of doubts concerning these teachings, if they are new to you. For your ego will be threatened, as it knows that it cannot live and thrive and no longer dominate your thinking, your feelings, your going and coming, as it did in the past.

This message will speak to your heart and make you conscious of its presence.

I always spoke to you, but you may not have always listened to it.

Your essence has purposely led you through the wilderness of books and teaching, of religions and philosophies, keeping ever before your Soul's eye the vision and promise of soul freedom which it could not provide, in order that you might remember you freedom in God’s Spirit.

Now the time has come for you consciously know the Self that you really are. For the start, you must learn to be still. As the scriptures teach, “Be still and know that I am God”.

It is in total stillness, that you will realize your true Self and eventually the presence of God.

You will recognize the presence of God as an expression of great inner peace and joy that no word can describe. Once you have tasted this presence you will always want to be in it. This peace will weaken your desires for sense gratification, since they cannot be compared to the joy of God. God is the only power that exists and at the same time it is love, peace, joy, righteousness and more.

Above all, it cannot be mentioned often enough, that God is within you.

Many people have given up on organized religion as a result of unpleasant experience. But those who have written in the scriptures have had personal experiences, (see below) experiences, which you can have also as long as you keep your heart open.

Isaiah 41:10

    Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

1 Corinthians 3:16

    Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

John 14:16-17

    And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Psalm 23:4

    Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Put you trust not in man, but in the God within, whom you can experience and the God without Who rules all of His creation of which you are a part. Creation is of Spirit and Matter. Matter, energy is nothing but Spirit in expression.

Put your trust in God, for all your needs, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. God is imminent in all and let God manifest through you His will. Trust and all things will be given unto you.

When you turn to God, you will always find Him, as He is just a thought away. He is your own consciousness. You only need to be still and allow Him to express. Not mine, but Thy will be done.

This Knowledge, this Realization, will not come at once. It may not come for years, yet it may come at any moment. It depends upon no one, but on your readiness.

Not upon your personality, with its human desires and human understanding, but upon the “I AM of you, the God within”.

The Science of Kriya Yoga

The science of Kriya Yoga, mentioned so often in these pages, became widely known in modern India through Lahiri Mahasaya. The Sanskrit root of Kriya is kri, to do, to act and react; the same root is found in the word karma, the natural principle of cause and effect. Kriya Yoga is thus “union (yoga) with the Infinite through a certain action or rite.” A yogi who faithfully follows its technique is gradually freed from karma or the universal chain of causation.

Because of certain ancient yogic agreements, a full explanation of Kriya Yoga is not available to the general public. The actual technique must be learned from an authorized instructor.

It may suffice to say Kriya Yoga is a method by which the human blood is decarbonized and recharged with oxygen. The atoms of this extra oxygen are transmuted into life current to rejuvenate the brain and spinal centers. By stopping the accumulation of venous blood, the yogi is able to lessen or prevent the decay of tissues; the advanced yogi transmutes his cells into pure energy. It is suggested, that Elijah, Jesus, Kabir and other prophets were familiar with Kriya or a similar technique.

Kriya was a science that was forgotten for a long time but was re-enacted by Lahiri Mahasaya who received it from his guru, Mahavatar Babaji, who rediscovered and clarified the technique after it had been lost in the Dark Ages.

Kriya Yoga was given to the West century by the author of the best selling classic, The Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952) who is considered one of the preeminent spiritual figures of modern times.

Yogananda came to America in 1920 from his native India, and was the first great master of yoga to live and teach in the West for more than 30 years. He is now widely recognized as the Father of Yoga in the West. He founded Self-Realization Fellowship in 1920.  

Babaji told Lahiri Mahasaya, “is a revival of the same science which Krishna gave, millenniums ago, to Arjuna, and which was later known to Patanjali, and to Christ, St. John, St. Paul, and other disciples.”

Kriya Yoga is referred to by Krishna, India’s greatest prophet, in a stanza of the Bhagavad Gita: “Offering inhaling breath into the outgoing breath, and offering the outgoing breath into the inhaling breath, the yogi neutralizes both these breaths; he thus releases the life force from the heart and brings it under his control.” The interpretation is: “The yogi arrests decay in the body by an addition of life force, and arrests the mutations of growth in the body by apana (eliminating current). Thus neutralizing decay and growth, by quieting the heart, the yogi learns life control.”

Kriya Yoga is mentioned twice by the ancient sage Patanjali, foremost exponent of yoga, who wrote: “Kriya Yoga consists of body discipline, mental control, and meditating on Aum.“ Patanjali speaks of God as the actual Cosmic Sound of Aum heard in meditation. Aum is the Creative Word. Even the yoga-beginner soon inwardly hears the wondrous sound of Aum. Receiving this blissful spiritual encouragement, the devotee becomes assured that he is in actual touch with divine realms.

Patanjali refers a second time to the life-control or Kriya technique thus: “Liberation can be accomplished by that pranayama which is attained by disjoining the course of inspiration and expiration.”

St. Paul knew Kriya Yoga, or a technique very similar to it, by which he could switch life currents to and from the senses. He was therefore able to say: “Verily, I protest by our rejoicing which I have in Christ, I die daily.” By daily withdrawing his bodily life force, he united it by yoga union with the rejoicing (eternal bliss) of the Christ consciousness. In that felicitous state, he was consciously aware of being dead to the delusive sensory world of maya.

In the initial states of God-contact (savikalpa samadhi) the devotee’s consciousness merges with the Cosmic Spirit; his life force is withdrawn from the body, which appears “dead,” or motionless and rigid. The yogi is fully aware of his bodily condition of suspended animation. As he progresses to higher spiritual states (nirvikalpa samadhi), however, he communes with God without bodily fixation, and in his ordinary waking consciousness, even in the midst of exacting worldly duties.

“Kriya Yoga is an instrument through which human evolution can be quickened,” Sri Yukteswar explained to his students. “The ancient yogis discovered that the secret of cosmic consciousness is intimately linked with breath mastery. This is India’s unique and deathless contribution to the world’s treasury of knowledge. The life force, which is ordinarily absorbed in maintaining the heart-pump, must be freed for higher activities by a method of calming and stilling the ceaseless demands of the breath.”

The Kriya Yogi mentally directs his life energy to revolve, upward and downward, around the six spinal centers (medullary, cervical, dorsal, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal plexuses) which correspond to the twelve astral signs of the zodiac, the symbolic Cosmic Man. One-half minute of revolution of energy around the sensitive spinal cord of man effects subtle progress in his evolution; that half-minute of Kriya equals one year of natural spiritual unfoldment.

One thousand Kriya practiced in eight hours gives the yogi, in one day, the equivalent of one thousand years of natural evolution: 365,000 years of evolution in one year. In three years, a Kriya Yogi can thus accomplish by intelligent self-effort the same result which nature brings to pass in a million years. The Kriya short cut, of course, can be taken only by deeply developed yogis. With the guidance of a guru, such yogis have carefully prepared their bodies and brains to receive the power created by intensive practice.

The Kriya beginner employs his yogic exercise only fourteen to twenty-eight times, twice daily. A number of yogis achieve emancipation in six or twelve or twenty-four or forty-eight years. A yogi who dies before achieving full realization carries with him the good karma of his past Kriya effort; in his new life he is harmoniously propelled toward his Infinite Goal.

The body of the average man is like a fifty-watt lamp, which cannot accommodate the billion watts of power roused by an excessive practice of Kriya. Through gradual and regular increase of the simple and “foolproof” methods of Kriya, man’s body becomes astral transformed day by day, and is finally fitted to express the infinite potentials of cosmic energy the first materially active expression of Spirit.

Kriya Yoga has nothing in common with the unscientific breathing exercises taught by a number of misguided zealots. Their attempts to forcibly hold breath in the lungs is not only unnatural but decidedly unpleasant. Kriya, on the other hand, is accompanied from the very beginning by an accession of peace, and by soothing sensations of regenerative effect in the spine.

The ancient yogic technique converts the breath into mind. By spiritual advancement, one is able to cognize the breath as an act of mind a dream-breath.

Many illustrations could be given of the mathematical relationship between man’s respiratory rate and the variations in his states of consciousness. A person whose attention is wholly engrossed, as in following some closely knit intellectual argument, or in attempting some delicate or difficult physical feat, automatically breathes very slowly. Fixity of attention depends on slow breathing; quick or uneven breaths are an inevitable accompaniment of harmful emotional states: fear, lust, anger. The restless monkey breathes at the rate of 32 times a minute, in contrast to man’s average of 18 times. The elephant, tortoise, snake and other animals noted for their longevity have a respiratory rate which is less than man’s. The tortoise, for instance, who may attain the age of 300 years, breathes only 4 times per minute.

The rejuvenating effects of sleep are due to man’s temporary unawareness of body and breathing. The sleeping man becomes a yogi; each night he unconsciously performs the yogic rite of releasing himself from bodily identification, and of merging the life force with healing currents in the main brain region and the six sub-dynamos of his spinal centers. The sleeper thus dips unknowingly into the reservoir of cosmic energy which sustains all life.

The voluntary yogi performs a simple, natural process consciously, not unconsciously like the slow-paced sleeper. The Kriya Yogi uses his technique to saturate and feed all his physical cells with un-decaying light and keep them in a magnetized state. He scientifically makes breath unnecessary, without producing the states of subconscious sleep or unconsciousness.

By Kriya, the outgoing life force is not wasted and abused in the senses, but constrained to reunite with subtler spinal energies. By such reinforcement of life, the yogi’s body and brain cells are electrified with the spiritual elixir. Thus he removes himself from studied observance of natural laws, which can only take him, means as given by proper food, sunlight and harmonious thoughts by circuitous means as given by proper food, sunlight, and harmonious thoughts to a million-year Goal. It needs twelve years of normal healthful living to effect even slight perceptible change in brain structure, and a million solar returns are exacted to sufficiently refine the cerebral tenement for manifestation of cosmic consciousness.

Untying the cord of breath which binds the soul to the body, Kriya serves to prolong life and enlarge the consciousness to infinity. The yoga method overcomes the tug of war between the mind and the matter-bound senses, and frees the devotee to reinherit his eternal kingdom. He knows his real nature is bound neither by physical encasement nor by breath, symbol of the mortal enslavement to air, to nature’s elemental compulsions.

Introspection, or “sitting in the silence,” is an unscientific way of trying to force apart the mind and senses, tied together by the life force. The contemplative mind, attempting its return to divinity, is constantly dragged back toward the senses by the life currents. Kriya, controlling the mind directly through the life force, is the easiest, most effective, and most scientific avenue of approach to the Infinite. In contrast to the slow, uncertain “bullock cart” theological path to God, Kriya may justly be called the “airplane” route.

The yogic science is based on an empirical consideration of all forms of concentration and meditation exercises. Yoga enables the devotee to switch off or on, at will, life current from the five sense telephones of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Attaining this power of sense-disconnection, the yogi finds it simple to unite his mind at will with divine realms or with the world of matter. No longer is he unwillingly brought back by the life force to the mundane sphere of rowdy sensations and restless thoughts. Master of his body and mind, the Kriya Yogi ultimately achieves victory over the “last enemy,” death.

Spiritual Levels of Love

Can we force love to happen? Each one must ask him/herself to obtain an answer to this question.

How does one start the questioning process?

Many people start with examining their inner life for a source of love. Some people may have grown up without experiencing parental love through a lack of early bonding; others may feel that they have to engage in actions that deserve love. Still other may turn to Religion in search of love.

Perhaps we ought to start by defining what love is, if this is possible.

Many people show love in the ways they hope to receive love (the golden rule of doing unto others as you would have others do unto you) but this assumes ones partner defines love the same way. But in reality people make different assumptions about love.

One wants physical connection, the other wants to go on a walk together; one wants to buy gifts to show affection but the other would rather have him put the money in the bank, or do the dishes, do the laundry because that's to them a definition of love.

When couples start speaking the same language, they begin to feel understood, acknowledged and appreciated. When couples stop making assumptions about what love means to their partner, they start having better conversations and they begin to relate more consciously. Funny how something that seems so simple is actually quite complicated.

God and Jesus

The prompting of this paper is based on my great love for the Triune God and the apocalyptic view with which so many Christians are currently preoccupied.

My wish is that the Christian community expands its vision of God and Christ to embrace the whole of creation. I trust that in this paper I am able to keep the mystery of God alive.

Ezekiel 12:2

“Son of man, you are living in a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.

Jesus sent his first disciples on the road to preach to “all the nations” (Matthew 28:19 (NIV) -19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” and Luke 24:47 - and to “all creation” (Mark 16:15) 15 “He was also training them to take risk by leaving their own security behind. This becomes even clearer in his instruction for them “not to take anything with them” (Mark 6:8)  "Take nothing for the journey except a staff--no bread, no bag, no money in your belts and to submit to the hospitality and even the hostility of others” (Mark 6:10 -11). 10 “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them”. Jesus says the same of himself in John’s Gospel (10:7) where he calls himself “the gate” where people “will go freely in and out, and find green pasture” (10:9).

What an amazing permission! He sees himself more as a place of entrance and exit than a place of settlement. It is strange that pastors only notice the going “in” but never the going “out” message.

There is a place and time for being outside, or we never really understand or appreciate the inside. A gatekeeper keeps the gate open in both directions, and knows the right motivation and timing for opening both. Like a good shepherd, he/she leads one to the best pasture at the best time.

Jesus clearly was much more concerned with the journey and integrity, than with presenting mere ideas or belonging to the correct group. 

Jesus was not only teaching or maintaining a purity system (which is to say a “belonging system”); but Jesus used everything, even people’s mistakes and impurity, to bring them to God. That’s good news for everyone. He practiced a process of transformation more than a belonging system.

For example, he says lovingly to an inquisitive scribe, “And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, you are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions. ”(Mark12:34).

Jesus was affirming his particular stage on the journey, without telling him that he must travel all the way.

He wanted searchers more than settlers, prophets more than priests, He wanted honest journeyers.

All of these situations are describing the unique and rare position of one who is in tune with the Spirit of God. He/she is always on the edge of the inside. Not an outsider throwing rocks, nor a comfortable insider who defends the status quo, but one who lives precariously with two perspectives held tightly together: the faithful insider and the critical outsider at the same time. Not established safely inside, but not so far outside as to lose compassion or understanding.

The true disciple must hold these perspectives in a loving and necessary creative tension.  It is a unique kind of seeing and living, which will largely leave the disciple with “nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58) while easily meriting the “hatred of all”—who have invariably taken sides in opposing groups (Luke 21:16 -17) - 16 “You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me.                   . 

The true disciple clings to God, and almost no one else.

People hiding inside of belonging systems are very threatened by those who are not within that group.  They are threatened by anyone who has found the answer to his/her being in places they cannot control. 

Matthew’s Gospel refers to this larger place as “the kingdom of heaven.” Where one has found his/her treasure, and is utterly grounded in the “passion” of the transcendent God, which is indestructible and uncontrollable by worldly systems. 

People being attached to the world, will seek their treasures and payoffs in the world. We need to let self centered opportunism pass and focus instead on loving God then all things will be given unto us.

Instead of loving God, many are watching life happen from afar and judging it in accordance with their limited understanding.

Yet God is inherent in life itself? God is the Life Force of everything? God is not an object like any other object. God is the Life Energy in each and everything, which we call Love or Spirit.

No longer should we hold punitive images of God or one that impels us to think that God is apart from us, which has long dominated the Western churches. But instead of the triune God who flows through everything, without exception, and who has done so since the beginning of time. In this regard everything is Holy, for those who have learned how to see with their inner vision. The implications of such a spiritual shift are staggering: every vital impulse, every force toward the future, every creative momentum, every loving surge, every dash toward beauty, every running toward truth, every ecstasy before simple goodness, every bit of ambition for humanity and the earth, for wholeness and holiness, is the eternally-flowing life of the Triune God.

Whether we know it or not! This is not an invitation that one can agree with or disagree with. It is a description of what is already happening in God and in everything created in God’s image and likeness. This triune God allows us, impels us, to live easily with God everywhere and all the time: in the budding of a plant, the smile of a gardener, the excitement of a teenage boy over his new girlfriend, the loving nuzzling of horses, the tenderness with which eagles feed their chicks, and the downward flow of every mountain stream.

This God is found even in suffering and in death of those very things! How could this not be the life-energy of God? How could it be anything else? Such a big definition of life must include death in its great embrace, so that none of our labors will be wasted. In the chirp of every bird excited about a new morning, in the hard beauty of every cliff, in the deep satisfaction at every job well done and even in a clerk’s gratuitous smile to a department store customer or in the passivity of the hospital bed, “the world, life or death, the present or the future—all belong to us; and we belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God,”

That’s the great moment in all divine revelation, when beautiful ideas drop in through intuition to the mind and to the heart, which happens when we move from the level of dogma to the level of experience; when it is not something that we merely believe, but in a real sense something that we know. This is how the divine dance of God can be experience by us all, believers and non believers alike.  

God’s joyous unveiling can melt even the most hardened constrictions, illuminating the way toward union of Spirit, Self, yes even society.

Let us be clear that God is not a being among other beings, but rather Being itself. Nothing human can stop the flow of divine love; we cannot undo the eternal pattern even by our worst indiscretions. God is always winning, and God’s love will win. Love does not lose, nor does God lose. No one can stop the relentless outpouring force of the Divine grace.

God is relationship itself. Our task is to trustfully receive and then gradually reflect the inner image of God unto the world around us.

This divine mirroring will never stop; mirroring is how the whole transformation process is personally initiated and finally achieved. But we have to be taught how to “gaze steadily into this law of perfect inner freedom, and make this our habit.

Jesus the enlightened one:

John 12:35-37 (ESV)

35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

We must realize that we can know and love God on many levels. Some are the transpersonal level (“Father”), the Personal level (“Jesus”), and the Impersonal level (“Holy Spirit”) and never forget to love our neighbor and all of God’s manifestation.

May the peace that transcends all understanding be with us Amen.