Tag: Peace

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The peace of God is my one goal

Days like today are such a wonderful opportunity to remember…

….that, no matter what, every person on the planet is my spiritual brother and sister.

….that, no matter what the world looks like, the ultimate reality is that it’s all made out of God. As my Science of Mind practitioner used to say: “There is no spot where God is not.” and “You can’t get outside of God.”

….that, no matter the centuries of misunderstandings to the contrary, God is love, God is light, God is Peace. And if there’s no spot where God is not, that means there’s no spot — anywhere — where love is not present. True, we human beings are really, really good at hiding it and disguising it and denying it, but love is still there. Just being love and waiting for us to allow it in.

Even though I don’t particularly enjoy it, I do appreciate the fact that times like these are a blessing in the sense that they force me to build up my spiritual muscle. It’s not always fun, but it is getting me closer to the goal.

I’ve cherished this postcard (pictured above) for more than thirty years because it touched me so deeply when I first saw it, even years and years before I found my true spiritual path. And I’m feeling it more and more with each passing year.

The peace of God is my one goal
the aim of all my living here,
the end I seek,
my purpose and my function and my life.

Quote from A Course in Miracles (Foundation for Inner Peace)
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Light that all strife reconciles

Way back in the day — when I first found Ananda — brochures and program guides were a huge part of how I tuned into the essence of what Ananda was and what it meant. But the class schedule and calendar of events weren’t what conveyed that essence. I was struck more than anything by the light in people’s eyes.

I didn’t consciously identify that what I saw shining in their eyes was JOY, but I sure as heck knew that I wanted what they had.

Which brings me to this most recent video of our Ananda Worldwide Virtual Choir. Created in honor of Swami Kriyananda’s 72nd discipleship anniversary, it features one of Swamiji’s most beautiful songs: Peace.

I watched it repeatedly when it was finished, soothed by the melody, harmonies, and lyrics. And I realized something…

Videos featuring Ananda devotees (in this instance, singing) are the new, updated version of the program guide/brochure. And, more than the content of the video, it’s the light shining in the eyes of sincere devotees that draws people.

I invite you to listen to this beautiful music while gazing at faces filled with sweetness and listening to voices expressing joy. See the light beaming from their eyes and know that all is well.

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A musical prayer for Peace

So here’s the musical prayer appeal that we’ll be sharing tomorrow…

Dear friends,

Our hearts are breaking to see the devastation that California is enduring at this time. And it’s compounded by our awareness of so many other crises piling up, one on top of the other. It would be easy to give in to despair, to feel helpless in the face of so much destruction and negativity. But we feel called to do what we can!

That means praying, of course, and we hope to join with many others around the world in praying intensely for mitigation of these fires and healing of our planet. But something else we can do is to spread peace through music: namely, the soothing, healing vibration of Swami Kriyananda singing Peace — one of his most beautiful, powerful, and beloved songs.

We plan to share the video of this song with our Ananda Music mailing list; with all our Ananda singers, chanters, and musicians around the globe; and with our Ananda Sangha Worldwide.

We will also ask everyone who listens to this song and feels more calm and peaceful as a result to please share it with 5-10 of their friends…asking those friends to then share it as well. It is our belief that the healing vibration of this song can help to calm the winds and cool the flames, within ourselves and in our external environment.
We hope you’ll join us.

In divine peace,

Bhagavati & Ramesha

PEACE by Swami Kriyananda
Peace gave us the mountains.
Peace gave us the sky.
Nightly, when starlight enfolds us,
Peace is its lullaby.
Amen. Amen.

Peace gave us the morning.
Peace gave us the sun.
Bird songs that call us to welcome
Day, and fresh labors begun.
Amen. Amen.

Peace gave us the seasons.
Peace gave us the rain—
Cool clouds that gather to bless us,
Mist hands that soothe away pain.
Amen. Amen.

Peace gave us our hearts’ love.
Peace gave us our smiles:
Rays of God’s presence within us.
Light that all strife reconciles.
Amen. Amen.

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Cool clouds & mist hands

Feeling deeply impacted by fires everywhere and the heat and smoke and predictions of more lightning storms…and hearing deep within myself: BASTA! Enough!

Unfortunately, I don’t get to be the one to decide when it’s “enough.” Darn!

But it does seem like we need to take some concerted action to help bring it all back from the brink somehow. I found myself thinking that a major prayer vigil is perhaps in order. People of all faith traditions praying intensely for peace and calm and healing… Ahhhh, I just felt myself take a deep breath as I typed those words!

Of course, I don’t know how to get a bunch of different groups united in doing a prayer vigil; that’s not my area of connection and strength. But then I heard these words in my mind:

Cool clouds that gather to bless us. Mist hands that soothe away pain.

And I thought maybe we can flood the world with Peace, as sung by Swamiji, and help cool down, calm, and sooth our planet and everyone/everything on it.

This is something I can do my best to make happen!

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The Real Meaning Of Peace

The story below was posted by my friend, Kavita, in New Zealand. In these times of crisis on top of crisis, and crazy added to more crazy, it really struck a deep chord in me. So I’ve decided to share it in its entirety.

The Real Meaning Of Peace
Author Unknown

There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. The contest stirred the imagination of artists everywhere. Many artists wanted a chance at winning the prize. Paintings from far and wide began to arrive.

The king looked at all the pictures, uncovering one peaceful scene after another as the on-lookers clapped and cheered. The tensions grew as only two pictures remained veiled. As the king pulled the cover from one, a hush fell over the crowd.

It was a picture of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a beautiful blue sky with fluffy white clouds. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed undisturbed. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace. Surely this was the winner.

The king uncovered the last painting, and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace? This picture had mountains like the previous painting but these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall; the crowd could almost feel its cold, penetrating spray. This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the king looked closely, he saw a little bird had built a nest on a branch of a tree. A tree that reached out in the direction of the tumultuous waterfall. Yet there, in the midst of the rush of angry water, undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, sat the mother bird on her nest – in perfect peace.

The king chose the last picture.

“Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

🙏 I’m grateful for this beautiful reminder to find my peace within. 🙏

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Sharing the peace

Today was mostly a day off, so we took the opportunity for some downtime at Crystal Hermitage.

I thoroughly enjoyed just “sitting and being” for a while, and wanted to share some of the peace with you!

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Secret weapon

Lots of thoughts and ideas chasing themselves through my mind, but I’m finding it difficult to grab hold of any particular one long enough to figure out what i want to say about it!

Of course, the more I try the more my mind veers away in yet another direction, until all I’m feeling is increasing restlessness. What to do?!?

Time to utilize my “secret weapon”: music. Swamiji singing Peace never fails to calm my heart and still my mind. Just what the doctor ordered!

Peace by Swami Kriyananda (aka J. Donald Walters)