(not necessarily in that order)
I had kind of a rushed morning, so when I got to the office I felt the need to sit quietly for a few minutes in meditation.
By the time I finished my screensaver had kicked in…and these were the photos that greeted me — all in a row — when I opened my eyes.
I felt Master’s and Swamiji’s loving presence so strong in that moment.
And what a blessed moment it was.
No matter how much I struggle to stick with my day-to-day routines (including meditation), I’m always grateful for the boost of bliss and inspiration I feel after a Kriya initiation!
Ramesha often wakes up in the wee hours of the night and can’t go back to sleep, so he gets up and does his morning meditation practices — at 2:30 or 3:30 am — then goes back to bed.
Well, last night was my turn to have trouble sleeping, finally getting up at 3:30 am. I read my book for a while; drank some chamomile tea; and meditated.
But instead of going back to bed I figured it was a rare opportunity to shift myself to more of an “early to bed and early to rise” routine.
I was pretty pooped all day, but I’m hoping it will prove to be worth it.
In order to share what’s making a comeback, I first have to confess that I had been struggling with my sadhana (meditation practices) for some time.
The good news is that things have shifted and I’m thrilled to be back in a regular meditation flow once again.
It’s just as Paramhansa Yogananda said: “The more you meditate, the more you’ll want to meditate. But the less you meditate, the less you’ll want to meditate.”
This small but powerful card is one of my favorite Christmas gifts this year.
It was tucked inside a Christmas greeting card. When it fell out into my hands I did a double-take and then tears filled my eyes.
It’s a phrase that is particularly meaningful for those who follow my particular spiritual path. And the reason I found it to be so moving is that I’ve been rebuilding my meditation practice this winter after a frustratingly long dry spell.
It’s almost as if Divine Mother sent me this beautiful little card as her way of reassuring me and encouraging my efforts.
How lovely it’s been to be relatively still and inward on the winter solstice.
And a rare blessing it is, as we’re usually up to our eyeballs in Christmas prep during this week. But with the concert behind us and (for once) not being in charge of Christmas Eve music, we were quick to take this opportunity.
I’m so grateful we did, as I’ve enjoyed some deep meditations with important insights.
Bring on the light!
I find it very interesting that the day after I decided to pause the nourishing cleanse, the following happened:
I meditated much longer than usual.
I did dry skin brushing before my shower.
I ended my shower with hydrotherapy (alternating hot and cold several times at the end).
It seems that — having stopped putting pressure on myself — a part of me now feels free to go ahead and do these nurturing activities.
Go figure!
I started the day by making it to the Temple of Light to meditate. I was a little behind schedule, but it was a beautiful meditation, so I’m not complaining!
Ramesha and I also meditated in the Moksha Mandir this afternoon. This is where Swamiji is buried; it has an amazingly powerful, beautiful, and expansive vibration.
Then we gathered as a community in the lower gardens at Crystal Hermitage and celebrated Swamiji’s birthday with choir and a small group, a joyful sing-along, brief talks by Jyotish and Devi, birthday cake, and lots of love and laughter.
It was an altogether lovely day!
I had just arrived at the Infusion Center to receive my weekly Velcade injection and was waiting for my nurse to come and get me.
While still in the waiting area, I heard over the intercom: “Attention. Code blue in the Infusion Center, Room 210.” The announcement was repeated three times, which allowed me to slowly process that this was happening just steps away from where I was seated.
I’ve heard the term “code blue” on TV shows and in movies, but realized I didn’t know exactly what it meant. So I looked it up: “Cardiac or respiratory arrest or medical emergency that cannot be moved.”
Over the next little while I gained a whole new appreciation for just how “professional” the medical professionals were in responding to the emergency. If I hadn’t heard the announcement, I wouldn’t have immediately been able to tell by the noise or activity level; it was more a matter of feeling the intensity ratchet up to very high levels.
That intensity level definitely affected me. I closed my eyes to meditate and focus on my breath so that I could stay calm enough to pray and send love and healing energy to the situation. But it wasn’t easy to stay centered.
Gradually I could tell there was more coming and going. At one point, a hospital employee escorted a young man into the room and I realized that Ramesha and I had seen him, together with a young pregnant woman and an elderly man, in the oncology waiting room just the day before.
We noticed them in particular because the young people (married couple? brother and sister? friends? We have no way of knowing) seemed really kind and considerate of the elderly man (father? grandfather? Again, no way of knowing); while he, in turn, was a very refined, articulate, good-humored gentleman with a lovely voice.
This made it feel personal enough that I found myself sinking into a more emotional space and had to work to raise my consciousness again.
They helicoptered the gentleman to another hospital and of course, I don’t know if he made it. I sure hope so.
But what a beautiful opportunity it was to bring our techniques and understanding to the situation by quietly sitting off to the side and praying and meditating.
And then, once the immediate crisis had passed and the nurse came to get me, I felt blessed to be able to offer her even a little support and understanding. Also to observe the way they calmly went back to their usual tasks (after all, the Infusion Center was still full of other patients!), while checking in with one another and making sure each of them was okay.
All in all, a beautiful and deeply moving experience filled, I’m sure, with God’s grace and the presence of angels.
Today we celebrated Swami Kriyananda with an online group meditation; a vows ceremony for devotees deepening their commitment to Ananda as their spiritual path; the launch of the Ananda Music Oral History Videos; and — finally — an amazing worldwide concert!
The above video starts off the series, with photos of Yogananda and Kriyananda together with a number of quotes explaining the importance of music at Ananda — and on the spiritual path in general.
A video of the concert will be available for me to share tomorrow. So all I’ll say for now is that it was beyond amazing. More tomorrow…