The nature of the Holy Spirit

So what is the nature of the Holy Spirit? We have Christ telling us that the Spirit that God gives us as a gift is a counselor, comforter, advocate and helper. Christ also shows the Spirit of God to be the power by which we are ushered into the Kingdom of God which other scriptures equate with eternal life. John shows that having the Spirit is what identifies us as having God in us. Paul says the Spirit identifies our being in Christ. Paul says we should allow the Spirit to control us and not our sinful nature. Paul shows God's spirit is a spirit of power, love and sound mindedness. Paul also shows that the Spirit can be stirred up and it can be quenched.

When one looks at the many references to the Spirit of God in the scriptures, it becomes apparent that God's spirit is an expression and manifestation of what God is. God is life and imparts life to us through His Spirit. God is love and imparts love and the ability to love through His spirit. God is power and through His Spirit will manifest His power through us as He wills. God's spirit is counselor, comforter, advocate, helper and truth.

Our Soul Journey

Consider the possibility that you have desired and been given the body that is exactly right for your soul’s journey in this lifetime, the vehicle that will take you where you need to go, providing the essential life experiences along the way that contribute to Self-realization.

Love that body!

Every time we remain peaceful—are not thrown off balance by changes or become easily upset—we contribute to our own wealth of energy. We can then draw on this energy for useful purposes.

The quickest way to lose inner peace is to argue with the way things are. The quickest way to regain it is to accept what is.

We perform many supportive acts for ourselves everyday without expecting any acknowledgement. With spiritual vision, we can care for others in the same way—spontaneously and without expecting a return.

Concentration acts as a purifying agent for the mind and the heart and prepares the way for meditation.

Enlightenment is possible in this lifetime. What other lifetime is there?

Surrender of the sense of being separate from God frees us from the tyranny of self will.

.Regardless of outer accomplishments, if our life isn’t in harmony with the law of our soul, it cannot be called a success. Success is living in harmony with divine will.

Shared spiritual values provide a firm foundation for a conscious relationship. Interests change with time. Values grow stronger as we live them together.

May love shine forever in the sanctuary of our surrendered devotion to God and may we awaken that Divine love in hearts everywhere. Peace – Amen.

Prayer

O Spirit, make my soul Thy temple, but make my heart Thy beloved home where Thou wouldst dwell with me in ease and everlasting understanding.

O Bestower of unceasing bliss! I will seek to make others truly happy, in gratitude for the divine joy Thou hast given me. Through my spiritual happiness I will serve all.

Heavenly Father, teach me to remember Thee in poverty or prosperity, in sickness or health, in ignorance or wisdom. Teach me to open my closed eyes of unbelief and behold Thine instantaneously healing light.

O blazing Light! Awaken my heart, awaken my soul, ignite my darkness, tear the veil of silence, and fill my temple with Thy glory.

Heavenly Father, charge my body with Thy vitality, charge my mind with Thy spiritual power, charge my soul with Thy joy, Thine immortality.

O Father, Thine unlimited and all-healing power is in me. Manifest Thy light through the darkness of my ignorance.

O Eternal Energy, awaken in me conscious will, conscious vitality, conscious health, conscious realization.

 Heavenly Spirit, bless me that I may easily find happiness instead of becoming worried at every test and difficulty.

Teach me to feel that Thou art the power behind all well being, and the value within all things. Finding Thee first, I will find everything else in Thee.

Invincible Lord, teach me to use my will unceasingly in the performance of good actions, until the little light of my will burns as the cosmic blaze of Thine all-powerful will.

Easter 2019

The joyous Easter message of the resurrection of Jesus Christ reminds us anew of his glorious victory over every limitation of mortal life — and brings encouragement to each of us to awaken the limitless freedom, power, and joy within our own souls. As you dwell on the divine life of Jesus, may his example inspire you, and strengthen your confidence that the universal light of Christ Consciousness manifest in him is also within you. It is waiting to be resurrected from the confines of the ego, to shed the covering of ignorance accumulated in dealing with the outer world of duality and with the inner self-created environment of limiting habits and thoughts to which most persons accustom themselves.

God created our souls in the beautiful image of His love and goodness, and has given each of us the power to manifest that image in our lives. The all-inclusive consciousness of Jesus reflected perfectly that Christ-love which reaches beyond a small circle of caring to encompass all of God’s children. He did not judge people by nationality or social status; nor did he shun those who had erred. Even on the cross, he sought forgiveness for his enemies. To see and respect God in all is a wonderful way to expand our human consciousness into divine consciousness. Each time we seek to understand someone whose opinions differ from our own, or express consideration of others’ needs, we broaden the horizons of our minds and enlarge the compassion of our hearts. Paramahansa Yogananda said: “One of the greatest victories over the little self is to be sure of your capacity to be always thoughtful and loving, to be secure in the knowledge that no one can make you act differently.” The world thinks that power means the ability to control others. But God-united souls like Christ have proven that there is no greater power than to control one’s own consciousness in accord with God’s will and His laws of love and truth. When we follow that example, we no longer need to depend for our self-esteem upon the fickle world of maya or be ruled by the short-sighted ego. We know the inner assurance and freedom of a calm mind and a conscience at peace. That is the consciousness in which Jesus lived.

The fullest blossoming of our immortal potential comes when, with ever-deepening yearning, we commune with God in the silent temple of the soul. Each devotional effort to touch that indwelling Divine Presence brings us closer to resurrection from human consciousness into Christ Consciousness. By feeling even a momentary contact with the all-fulfilling reality of Christ-love in our hearts, we know that there is nothing else to want or need. Whatever our outer circumstances, we find a deep security and trust within, knowing that we are in the loving hands of Him who created us in His image of immortality and joy.

May the dawn of that awareness in your soul be your blessed Easter awakening,

What is Peace?

These two questions are especially relevant today. This is a unique time we are living in. Our world is in a transition. The evolution of humanity is accelerating and while this time of change has brought with it many wonderful advancements, the speed of change has brought with it instability, insecurity, fear and turmoil. And as such, more and more people are realizing that to look for any sense of peace, any sense of security outside our-selves, in the external world, is to look in the wrong direction. Realizing this is a good thing, because it could be one of the great lessons that this time of change has come to teach us: it is to look within for answers.

        We need to look to our spiritual self, that divine nature hidden within us,. The way to this, is to meditate in order to satisfy that inner yearning of the soul with the experience of bliss, of peace, and of unconditional love. These are the aspects of the Divine and they are experiences that ultimately we all seek.

                             Scientific Technique to Experience Inner Peace

Meditation is a very effective way of experiencing this peace. True meditation brings the mind into a state of calm and focused awareness. But this is not so easy because the mind is very restless, and we need to know how to calm it. For this we need to learn a method or yoga technique to turn the consciousness within to awaken the spiritual centers located in the spine and brain. If we don’t know a meditation method, we ought to look for a competent meditation teacher.

How to Pray for Others

How can our prayers influence the lives of others? In the same way that they elevate our own: by implanting in the consciousness positive patterns of health, success, and receptivity to Divine help. Paramahansa Yogananda wrote:

“The human mind, freed from the disturbances or ‘static’ of restlessness, is empowered to perform all the functions of complicated radio mechanisms — sending as well as receiving thoughts and tuning out undesirable ones. As the power of a radio broadcasting station is regulated by the amount of electrical current it can utilize, so the effectiveness of a human radio depends on the degree of will power possessed by each person.”

The minds of illumined masters, who have perfectly attuned their will with God’s will, can transmit the divine power to bring instantaneous healing of body, mind, and spirit. The writings and lectures of Paramahansa Yogananda are abound with examples of such healings. He explained that though they seem miraculous, divine healings are the natural result of scientifically fulfilling the universal laws of creation. By conveying God’s idea patterns of perfection with sufficient will power and energy to manifest them in the minds and bodies of others, these enlightened ones follow the same process by which everything in the universe was formed.

Any person who prays according to these principles will find that his or her prayers also have a tangible influence. And though our individual power is obviously less than that which a master can convey, when the prayers of thousands are united, the powerful vibrations of peace and divine healing thus generated are of inestimable value in helping to manifest the desired results.

Utilizing the Power of Prayer

Excerpts from the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda

In the past you may have been disappointed that your prayers were not answered. But do not lose faith....God is not a mute unfeeling Being. He is love itself. If you know how to meditate to make contact with Him, He will respond to your loving demands.

To know exactly how and when to pray, according to the nature of our needs, is what brings the desired results. When the right method is applied, it sets in motion the proper laws of God; the operation of these laws scientifically bears results.

The first rule in prayer is to approach God only with legitimate desires. The second is to pray for their fulfillment, not as a beggar, but as a son: “I am Thy child. Thou art my Father. Thou and I are One.” When you pray deeply and continuously you will feel a great joy welling up in your heart. Don’t be satisfied until that joy manifests; for when you feel that all-satisfying joy in your heart, you will know that God has tuned in your prayer broadcast. Then pray to your Father: “Lord, this is my need. I am willing to work for it; please guide me and help me to have the right thoughts and to do the right things to bring about success. I will use my reason, and work with determination, but guide Thou my reason, will, and activity to the right thing that I should do.”

You should pray to God intimately, as His child, which you are. God does not object when you pray from your ego, as a stranger and a beggar, but you will find that your efforts are limited by that consciousness. God does not want you to give up your own will power, which is your divine birthright as His child.

An unceasing demand for anything, mentally whispered with unflagging zeal and unflinching courage and faith, develops into a dynamic power that so influences the entire behavior of the conscious, subconscious, and superconscious powers of man that the desired object is gained. The inner performance of mental whispers must be unceasing, undaunted by reverses. Then the desired-for the object will materialize.

Making Prayer effective

In these challenging times, there is much we can do through the power of prayer — not only for ourselves but to serve our families, our friends, our neighbors, and the world.

"Prayer is a demand of the soul. God did not make us beggars; He created us in His image.…A beggar who goes to a rich home and asks for alms receives a beggar's share; but the son can have anything he asks from his wealthy father...."Therefore we should not behave like beggars. Divine ones such as Christ, Krishna and Buddha did not lie when they said we are made in the image of God."

        — Paramahansa Yogananda

The ancient scientist sages of India discovered how to experience an overwhelming communion of joy with a loving God. Paramahansa Yogananda teaches us how we can have this same direct experience of the Divine, "I prefer the word 'demand' to 'prayer,' because the former is devoid of the primitive and medieval conception of a kingly tyrant God whom we, as beggars, have to supplicate and flatter. There is a great deal of beggary and ignorance in ordinary prayer...Few know how to pray and touch God with their prayers."

"You have a divine right inherited from God to demand from Him; and He will respond to you because you are His own. If you constantly call to Him, He cannot escape the net of your devotion. If you pray until the ether churns with the light of your prayer, then you will find God."