Yogananda frequently advised his disciples to memorize his poem, Samadhi, which poetically describes his own experience of cosmic consciousness. He told his disciples:
Visualize yourself in that infinite state. Identify yourself with it in order to awaken within you that lost memory of what you are in reality: children of Infinity. For that alone is what you really are.
Over the years, Swami Kriyananda has also urged us to memorize the poem and to recite it daily.
I was meditating during my first seclusion in 1979 when the thought came to me very strongly that I should memorize the poem. My initial reaction was, “I could never do that!” For weeks afterward, I tried to put the thought out of my mind. Memorize the poem? The task seemed too difficult to attempt.
First of all, there was the length of the poem and the unfamiliar spiritual imagery. I had never seriously tried to memorize anything, and a poem that long and complex was daunting, to say the least.
In retrospect, I think my initial reluctance may also have been a response to the awesome challenge of samadhi itself. A vast gulf separated my state of consciousness from that ultimate state. Was it realistic to think that I could ever bridge that gap? It’s one thing to think of samadhi as something desirable in a vague, far-off future, but when actually confronted with the challenge of aspiring to that level of consciousness, it’s easy to fall into a sense of unworthiness.
I suspect this may be true for many people. I once attended a Sunday service at an Ananda colony where the minister asked for a show of hands of people who had memorized Samadhi. Interestingly, not one hand went up.
Despite all my ”legitimate” reasons for not doing it, the thought persisted: “Memorize that poem!” One day I thought, “Well, if I really wanted to memorize it, how would I go about it?” I decided to try to memorize a few lines at a time, beginning with the opening lines:
Vanished the veils of light and shade,
Lifted every vapor of sorrow,
Sailed away all dawns of fleeting joy. . . .
I wrote these lines out over and over again, until I was certain I knew them. During my morning and evening sadhana, I would repeat them silently after practicing the meditation techniques.
When the time felt right, I memorized a few more lines. And after that, a few more. In time my enthusiasm grew, and it wasn’t long before I had memorized the entire poem. Since then, reciting the poem has become a regular part of my daily sadhana.
Swami Kriyananda has often reminded us that Yogananda, in writing Samadhi, accomplished something never before done. Kriyananda explains:
Paramhansa Yogananda did something no one before him, to my knowledge, has ever done, in describing with extraordinary lucidity the state of cosmic consciousness. . . . People don’t realize what a fantastic feat that was — going into that state and then being able to bring it down to a level where he could verbalize it, and make it seem thrilling and immediate to our consciousness.
Yogananda said that “even to contemplate the cosmic vastness is expansive to the mind.” Indeed, the more we contemplate this level of reality, so very different from the material world we live in, the more dynamically real and attractive it becomes.
By reciting the poem, one gradually begins to accept on ever-deeper levels that this higher reality not only exists but is our true home, and a yearning for that state begins to arise. What initially seemed a remote possibility becomes an attainable goal, to be pursued with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Samadhi offers a wealth of possibilities not only for expanding your consciousness but also for deepening your meditations. Here are a few things that I’ve found helpful:
Getting the feel of the poem. Try listening to Swami Kriyananda’s reading of Samadhi on the CD, “Metaphysical Meditations.” Kriyananda’s voice, combined with the classical music, beautifully captures the consciousness of the poem.
Combating restlessness. Reciting the poem before you meditate gives you another tool for combating restlessness. When we find ourselves too caught up in day-to-day concerns, the poem’s cosmic depiction of reality offers a deeply comforting perspective.
Avoiding “automatic pilot.” One of the pitfalls of reciting anything repeatedly is that you begin to parrot the words absentmindedly. To keep your practice fresh, it’s very helpful to focus on a phrase you find particularly inspiring and to repeat it over and over, like a mantra. Some possibilities are:
Short and long meditations. If you have only a short time to meditate, try reciting only the second half of the poem, beginning with, “Thou art I, I am Thou.” This takes about five minutes. In longer meditations, reciting the poem several times can be very helpful in attuning more deeply to Yogananda’s consciousness.
Attuning to nature. Reciting the poem mentally during a walk immediately after meditation is a wonderful way both to keep your energy uplifted and to attune more sensitively to the divine presence in nature.
Samadhi is one of Yogananda’s greatest gifts to his disciples. Recited regularly, it becomes another way to deepen our attunement to Yogananda. Only with the Guru’s blessings can we achieve the ultimate goal of union with the Divine. For as the poem itself reminds us: “By deeper, longer, thirsty, guru-given meditation comes this celestial samadhi.”
by Paramhansa Yogananda
Vanished the veils of light and shade,
Lifted every vapor of sorrow,
Sailed away all dawns of fleeting joy,
Gone the dim sensory mirage.
Love, hate, health, disease, life, death,
Perished these false shadows on the screen of duality.
Waves of laughter, scyllas of sarcasm, melancholic whirlpools,
Melting in the vast sea of bliss.
The storm of maya stilled
By magic wand of intuition deep.
The universe, forgotten dream, subconsciously lurks,
Ready to invade my newly wakened memory divine.
I live without the cosmic shadow,
But it is not, bereft of me;
As the sea exists without the waves,
But they breathe not without the sea.
Dreams, wakings, states of deep turiya, sleep;
Present, past, future, no more for me,
But ever-present, all-flowing I, I, everywhere.
Planets, stars, stardust, earth,
Volcanic bursts of doomsday cataclysms,
Creation’s molding furnace,
Glaciers of silent x-rays, burning electron floods,
Thoughts of all men, past, present, to come,
Every blade of grass, myself, mankind,
Each particle of universal dust,
Anger, greed, good, bad, salvation, lust,
I swallowed, transmuted all
Into a vast ocean of blood of my own one Being!
Smoldering joy, oft-puffed by meditation,
Blinding my tearful eyes,
Burst into immortal flames of bliss,
Consumed my tears, my frame, my all.
Thou art I, I am Thou,
Knowing, Knower, Known, as One!
Tranquilled, unbroken thrill, eternally living, ever new peace!
Enjoyable beyond imagination of expectancy, samadhi bliss!
Not a mental chloroform
Or unconscious state without wilful return,
Samadhi but extends my conscious realm
Beyond limits of the mortal frame
To farthest boundary of eternity
Where I, the Cosmic Sea,
Watch the little ego floating in me.
The sparrow, each grain of sand, fall not without my sight.
All space like an iceberg floats within my mental sea.
Colossal Container, I, of all things made.
By deeper, longer, thirsty, guru-given meditation
Comes this celestial samadhi.
Mobile murmurs of atoms are heard,
The dark earth, mountains, vales, lo! molten liquid!
Flowing seas change into vapors of nebulae!
Aum blows upon vapors, opening wondrously their veils,
Oceans stand revealed, shining electrons,
Till, at last sound of the cosmic drum,**
Vanish the grosser lights into eternal rays
Of all-pervading bliss.
From joy I came, for joy I live, in sacred joy I melt.
Ocean of mind, I drink all Creation’s waves.
Four veils of solid, liquid, vapor, light,
Lift aright.
Myself, in everything, enters the Great Myself.
Gone forever, fitful, flickering shadows of mortal memory.
Spotless is my mental sky, below, ahead, and high above.
Eternity and I, one united ray.
A tiny bubble of laughter, I
Am become the Sea of Mirth Itself.
* Samadhi means oneness of human consciousness with cosmic consciousness. The human consciousness is subjected to relativity and dual experience. In meditation, there are the meditator, the act of meditation, and God (as the object of meditation). Samadhi is the final result of deep, continuous, right meditation, in which the above-mentioned three factors of meditation become one. Just as the wave melts in the sea, so the human soul becomes the Spirit.
Author: Nakin Lenti, a minister and long-time Ananda member, serves in the Sangha Office at Ananda Village.
Source: www.ananda.org
The valiant spiritual hero is betrothed to virtue and must not be disloyal to her. The spiritual hero who becomes disreputable before the eyes of virtue suffers a pain worse than physical death.
It is infinitely superior to die a spiritual hero fighting the soldiers of restlessness and ignorance than to allow oneself to be the victim of a living death. One who dies resisting restlessness and ignorance by repeated efforts of meditation experiences a state of high spirituality after death.
Such a soul, according to the law of cause and effect, also attracts a high spiritual consciousness in his next incarnation. But, as the Bhagavad Gita declares, if you sacrifice the lasting peace of the soul by ceasing to fight restlessness, you will always stand condemned before your own awakened spiritual perceptions.
Heroic courage is needed
Heroic courage is needed to win in this most challenging of all struggles, the victory of complete Self-realization. Only a spiritual hero can attempt the journey, even with the help of a guru who has already achieved the ultimate victory. Many devotees, after a little effort, return to the life they lived before. Incarnation after incarnation they try, fail, and eventually return. Perhaps they return with renewed will to try again, but many also struggle against discouragement and disappointment.
Discouragement can be fought and conquered by the steady, indomitable pressure of resolute courage. There is nothing masculine or feminine in this great leap of faith. Whether a householder or a renunciate, male or female, the heroism required is the courage implied in the words of the chant, “I will drown myself in the Infinite to find my true Self to be infinite.” If you think, “I simply don’t have that kind of courage,” know that you can develop it, in time.
The Bhagavad Gita says, “He who becomes dishonorable and relinquishes the fight against temptations experiences a living death.” As long as life lasts, the spiritual hero should never submit to defeat nor fly away from a difficult battle with temptation. No matter how many times the soldiers of evil tendencies invade your castle of self-control, you must again and again launch your battles of inner resistance.
Ignore every distraction
There is a story in the Mahabharata, one of India’s great epics, in which Dronacharya, supreme preceptor in the martial arts, asks Arjuna to shoot the head off a bird that has been tied to the top of a tall tree. Arjuna’s cousins and brothers, all students of the same teacher, have already tried and failed to perform this feat. When asked by their teacher, “What do you see?” each of them, in turn, gave different answers. Only Arjuna, his prize pupil, ignoring every distraction, replied, “I see only the head of the bird.” When Arjuna shot the arrow, he hit the mark.
In every undertaking, the way for the devotee to “hit the mark” of spiritual enlightenment, is to ignore every distraction and center all of his attention on the object of success. A strong will can drive away even clouds that obscure the earth’s sun. Not for the spiritual hero, the hand-wringing lament, “Oh, but think of the difficulties I face!”
Diseases of the soul — mental dullness, lack of enthusiasm — can be removed by meditation. Be a hero amidst the challenges of daily life. Whatever you do, do it with all your heart.
Silence the demands of the ego
Delusions are those thoughts which make you think you will find fulfillment in outwardness. Wrong understanding is rooted in ego. The mind is inclined to self-deception, born of wishful thinking and ego-protectiveness. You cannot perceive anything correctly so long as your very ability to perceive is overwhelmed with thoughts of self. The most important thing on the spiritual path is to silence the demands of ego.
What is the best way to do that? You will transcend the ego not by trying to purify and spiritualize every flaw, but by directing all of your energy toward the spiritual eye. The more you concentrate at that center, in meditation and throughout the day, the more you will be drawn toward a state of egolessness. However, until that finality is securely gained, you must be ever-ready to wage war with restlessness. Otherwise you are liable to fall victim again to body consciousness, sense-attachments, and restless thoughts.
A true guru can transfer his magnetism to disciples who tune in to his consciousness, and thereby help them in their effort to direct their energy increasingly upward to the spiritual eye. By rechanneling the energy in their spines, and helping it to flow ever-increasingly upward to the spiritual eye, his magnetism can help to transform every one of their faults into their opposite virtues. That strong upward flow of energy dissolves all obstructing “vrittis,” or eddies of feeling, and carries them up to the spiritual eye.
The practice of scientific yogic techniques, and especially the great, ancient science of Kriya Yoga, can greatly accelerate this process. However, although the guru’s magnetism is essential to this process, you must cooperate with his help by continuing to work on yourself spiritually.
Accept all karmic challenges
When the blows of karma strike you, no matter how heavy the blows, always try to welcome their liberating influence. Since karma is God’s law, you must learn to accept its intricate play willingly—and remain even-minded throughout. Bear those challenges cheerfully, telling God, “I live forever unshakably in Thy joy.”
There are many kinds of karma—good, bad, and indifferent, but never identify with any of them. Never huddle in the dark, moaning, “Oh, it’s my karma!” Even a little spark of deep meditation can ignite the dynamite of eternal goodness within you and explode the karma from many incarnations. When you reach the state of jivan mukta, and rise above the ego altogether, even the strongest karma will pass you by.
Contentment is described in the Mahabharata as the supreme virtue. Contentment, by placing you in harmony with divine law, actually ensures that all your needs will be provided for. Even though your past karma is very bad, if in the midst of failure, loss, and disappointment you determine to remain contented, your needs will be fulfilled. Contentment, when rightly practiced, reflects under all circumstances, an energetic, bright attitude.
Never become discouraged
Devotees who make scant spiritual progress after years of regular but absent-minded meditation often become discouraged. Such souls fail to perceive the depths of their incarnations of accumulated ignorance, and thus cannot compare it with the indifferent spiritual efforts of a few years in a single lifetime. Only those who can delve deeply into the region of the superconscious can know whether their virtuous tendencies outweigh their evil tendencies.
Even if you find yourself overpowered by evil tendencies, always remember that you can increase your virtuous tendencies by communing with God in meditation. If you die fighting restlessness and ignorance, you will have the inner satisfaction while in the astral world of not having succumbed to the onslaughts of delusion.
All evil tendencies, no matter how strong, are only mental grafts and can never destroy the mighty power of the soul. To see one’s weakness as greater than the power of the Self is sheer folly. If in all all circumstances you are able to conquer invading evil tendencies by ever-deeper meditation, you will gain eternal bliss in this life and forever.
Avoid spiritual over-confidence
When a spiritual devotee, after a few years of deep meditation, first experiences divine joy, he should not become over-confident of the lasting quality of that experience. Many devotees become self-satisfied after experiencing the superconscious joy of the soul and beholding a few astral lights, and thereafter fail to make ongoing efforts to meditate deeply.
Do not become overly elated by your first deep superconscious experience of the joy of the soul. Always keep in mind that the soldiers of restlessness can still regain your newly conquered kingdom of peace. Concentrate instead on deepening your meditations and permanently identifying yourself with the soul’s ineffable joy. You have earned this soul joy by waging many wars with restlessness. Be eternally vigilant that you never to lose it by becoming careless during invasions of sense-temptations and other delusions.
The dawn of divine fulfillment
As a devotee on the spiritual path, give little weight to the trials that beset you. No matter how many times the soldiers of restlessness or evil tendencies invade your castle of self-control, repeatedly launch battles of inner resistance. Walk with courage, and calm inner faith. Eventually, you will pass beyond every shadow of bad karma, beyond all tests and difficulties, and behold at last the dawn of divine fulfillment. In that highest of all states of consciousness you will find freedom from every last, trailing vapor of misfortune.
Author: Paramhansa Yogananda
Source: anandaclaritymagazine.com
I am continually amazed at the comprehensiveness of Paramhansa Yogananda’s teachings for the balanced development of body, mind and spirit. There is almost no aspect of our lives to which Yogananda hasn’t applied the ancient science of yoga, and given us a practical, straight-forward regime to follow—getting along with your employer, developing personality, finding the correct spouse, destroying bad habits, making friends, overcoming nervousness—to mention only a few.
The list of subjects to which Yogananda applied his cosmic vision is seemingly endless, and all this was in addition to his real mission—to bring us practical and proven techniques for soul liberation. No wonder he said,
“If you do one-hundredth of what I’ve given you, it is sufficient.”
One of Yogananda‘s practical regimes for personal improvement that I’ve taken to heart is his “Nine-Day Cleansing and Vitalizing Diet.” Since the first time I tried it many years ago, I’ve experienced remarkable results, and have tried to do it with groups, a few others, or alone each year.
What is the Nine-Day Cleansing Diet? The brief description that follows provides all the information needed for you to successfully complete the diet.
The food allowed each day for the nine days is:
1 ½ grapefruits
1 ½ lemons
5 oranges
1 cooked vegetable with juice (quantity optional)
1 raw vegetable salad
1 glass orange juice*
3 cups of Vitality Beverage (one cup at each meal)
*to be taken every night before going to bed with ½ tsp. of senna leaves or Swiss Kriss, and later increase to 1 tsp.
Vitality Beverage:
2 stalks chopped celery
5 carrots (chopped) including part of stem
1 bunch chopped parsley
½ qt. chopped dandelion, or turnip greens, or spinach
1 qt. water
No salt or spices
The vitality beverage may be prepared in two ways, the first being preferable:
1. After putting celery and carrots through food processor, or chopping them finely, lightly boil them in the water for ten minutes. Then add selected greens and parsley and boil ten minutes more. Strain by squeezing through a cheesecloth.
2. Use the same ingredients, but do not cook them. After putting them through a vegetable juicer, strain as above.
Drink one cup of the beverage, prepared by either method, at each of the three meals. That’s it—nothing more, nothing less.
The vitality beverage is essential to the cleansing action of the diet. I’ve tried both of the above two ways of preparing it and prefer the first, which involves boiling the chopped vegetables.
The raw vegetable method produces a juice similar to fresh carrot juice. The cooked method produces a bland-tasting broth similar, for those of you familiar with it, to Beiler’s “Potassium Broth” or Paavo Aerola’s broth, both of which are recommended for cleansing purposes. Try both the boiled and raw vegetable methods and decide for yourself.
What results have I experienced?
Sound too good to be true? There are, let me assure you, challenges. It takes a strong will and self-discipline to finish the full nine days.
You may experience irritability in the first few days. Whether this reaction is caused by the release of toxins, I don’t know, but it’s wise to give someone on the diet a wide berth during the first few days. My husband, Jyotish, and I have an agreement that anything said during the beginning of the diet cannot be held against us. This plan has worked well, and we’ve stayed together through many successful attempts at the cleansing diet.
Sometimes people have headaches during the first few days, especially those addicted to coffee or black tea. The headaches seem to be caused by caffeine withdrawal.
You may also find a psychological change in your attitude towards food. Although you are actually eating large quantities of food, because the food is without salt, oil, or seasonings of any kind, it doesn’t provide the sensory satisfaction that we usually get from food. You may find yourself not interested in food at all.
Interested in trying the diet?
Here are a few tips I’ve discovered:
1. Practice Yogananda’s Energization Exercises at least once a day during the diet. Your awareness of subtle life energy is greatly increased at this time, and you can feel more sensitively the flow of prana through the medulla to the body parts.
2. Take regular sunbaths exposing as much of the body as possible to direct sunlight. Yogananda said you can receive up to ten times the benefit from solar energy if you consciously draw it into your body cells.
3. I find the Nine-Day Diet easiest to complete during the spring or summer months, which seems to be a natural cleansing time for the body. Also, because of the decreased caloric intake, the body tends to feel cold during the diet, which is less of a problem in the warm weather. In the spring and summer, there is also a greater variety of vegetables available for steaming.
4. Yogananda also recommends taking nightly warm baths with Epsom salts or some other good bath salt. The cleansing and rejuvenation of the skin produced by the diet are remarkable, and these warm salt baths aid in this process.
5. The regime of food consumption that works best for me is: Breakfast—grapefruits and vitality beverage; lunch—salad and vitality beverage; and dinner—steamed vegetables, lemons and vitality beverage, with oranges eaten through the day. Experiment and find what works best for you.
6. When coming off the diet, eat lightly and simply for the first few days. Someone once said, “Any fool can fast, but it takes a wise man to end his fast well.”
Yogananda called this Nine-Day Cleansing Diet “a method for rejuvenating the body cells and awakening the latent powers of the mind and the inner forces of the soul.” I heartily encourage you to launch into this spiritual adventure and challenge, and enjoy for yourself its remarkable benefits.
Reprinted from Clarity Magazine, July 1988. Nayaswami Devi, together with her husband Nayaswami Jyotish, is Co-Acharya (Spiritual Director) for Ananda Sangha Worldwide.
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