To cultivate inner stillness, speak calmly, cultivate Self-contentment, and avoid activities and situations that overly stimulate the senses, weaken vital forces, or activate harmful subconscious or addictive tendencies.
~Roy Eugene Davis
What we do during the rest of the day after meditation is just as important as our meditation practice. Life can be joyful, even filled with bliss, when we move from one activity to another, just doing what we know is the right thing in each situation. Our own inner wisdom says that what we really crave is contentment, not excitement. Life lived in this way strengthens our meditation, and our meditation practice allows us to move with grace through life.
We live in the world of pure possibility. Open the window of your mind.
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Everything is possible in our life. Whatever we decide that we want to accomplish is possible, especially if that accomplishment supports the greater good of all. Roy Eugene Davis has said, "There is an power for good that flows through the universe, all we have to do is cooperate with it." Cooperating with that power for good is not difficult, but it takes willingness and focus. Through our meditation practice our thoughts are quieted so that we can hear that still, small voice of our inner knowing. Meditation puts us in a positive frame of mind and supports us in achieving our worthy goals. Meditation is key to opening the window of our mind to the possibilities in our life.
Meditation is not difficult. Getting beyond the ego's resistance to meditation -- that can be difficult. For this, nothing but commitment realized through daily practice will suffice.
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
The joyous self-discipline of daily meditation over time enables us to enjoy the many benefits of meditation. Daily practice for at least twenty minutes is the entry price. The initial difficulty of sticking to our practice has the added benefit of teaching us about the ego. We slowly learn to recognize when it is giving us bad advice and understand just how many useless and ridiculous thoughts it casts into our mind. As
time goes on we realize how to differentiate between the short sighted demands of the ego and the inspired intuition that meditation reveals. Meditation is both a school for graceful discipline and a pathway to inspired guidance.
Learn to meditate superconsciously and do it every day. Do not make excuses for not meditating or sit passively with your thoughts aimlessly wandering. Alertly observe subtle processes and changes in awareness that occur. Proficiency will improve with daily, intentional practice.
~Roy Eugene Davis
When beginning a meditation practice, we are often surprised by the restless nature of the mind. As we continue the practice with intention, neuroplasticity in the brain allows us to create new neural pathways that enhance our ability to concentrate and focus. After just a few month of meditating at least twenty minutes a day, we can get the mind to settle down for longer periods of time. Our self-awareness is enhanced during daily activities and we begin to get control over the interior monologue in our mind. Intuition becomes more keen and we act more in harmony with the graceful flow of events in our life.
Be very attentive and more curious about what is occurring and what might be perceived or experienced. Sit upright and stay alert. Stay with your technique until your attention is focused. If you attention wavers, bring it back to the process. Regular, attentive practice will be most helpful.
~Roy Eugene Davis
During meditation we use a technique such as following the breath to enable concentration, but the key to success is our continuous awareness of our inner state. First we watch for distractions and use technique to return to the point of focus. Then we watch what occurs during focus and wait for the subtle shift from concentration into meditation. We recognize this shift when we reach a state of deep peacefulness and boundaries fall away. If we fall back out of meditation, we can always pick up the technique to reach concentration and meditation again.
Worry stirs up the mind and blocks our access to inner peace and, ultimately, right action. When worry arises, acknowledge the concern and then bring forth the self-care that will restore balance and inner peace.
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Worry is something that we all struggle with from time to time. Sometimes about big things, sometimes about small things. Sometimes it can be quite debilitating. When we are worried about something, often we take it into our meditation practice and have trouble focusing because of the worry. Most of us have heard that saying about worry, that it is like a rocking chair — moving and moving and going nowhere.
On the other hand, as part of our daily self-care of a healthy diet and exercise, our regular, focused meditation practice supports us in letting go of the worry. Through our meditation practice we learn to live in the present moment, at all moments and control the thoughts in our mind. We remember that we are not able to control the future. Actions that are required are done to the best of our ability and then we let go of the outcome. Over time, more and more, we can let go of past regrets and concerns for the future. We are able to live in the present moment, knowing that the present moment is all that is real.
Meditation that produces psychological transformation can be practiced with benefit by [almost] anyone who learns how to do it and follows through with consistent participation. When one saint was asked about the right way to meditate he replied "steady practice."
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
The key to beneficial meditation is consistency. Meditate in the same place and at the same time every day. For most of us it is best to meditate early in the morning before we become involved with too many tasks. Meditate at least twenty minutes every time, or begin with a shorter time and move steadily up to twenty minutes or more. To quiet the mind, focus your attention on the breath, and when you find your mind wandering, bring it back to the point of focus on the breath. Look for a shift into a calm state of deep peacefulness and then you can drop the technique. Steady practice is the secret of success.
In the presence of one whose thoughts and actions are harmless, all living things become peaceful and harmless.
~Yoga Sutra of Patanjali2:35
The promise from this ancient spiritual text tells us that when we are are harmless in our thoughts, words and actions, peaceful energy radiates out from us and affects all those around us and calms their minds and emotions as well. At the core of our being we are a peaceful, calm, person who doesn't want to do any harm to those around us, to our community, to our environment and also to ourselves. The practice of harmlessness begins by being kind to ourselves.
Our practice of meditation goes hand in hand with our practice of harmlessness. We become more aware of our thoughts, our words and our actions. We become more aware of how they affect ourselves and those around us. Through our meditation practice we experience the peace that is our nature and realize that we want to live from that place and share the peaceful, kind energy we experience with others. As Mahatma Gandhi said, we can be the peace that we want to see in the world.
Meditate more and more deeply, until calmness and joy become second
nature to you. It is thinking that it is difficult that holds you apart from it. Never
think of joy as distant from you, and it will be with you always.
~Paramahansa Yogananda
The key to meditation is simply to meditate every day, to use those techniques like following the breath that still the mind, and to lengthen our time of meditation as the weeks and months go by. One day we fall into a well of joy that is our own true nature and we begin to share this inner joy with all those around us.
The human mind, free from the static of restlessness, can perform through its antenna of intuition all the functions of complicated radio mechanisms-sending and receiving thoughts, and tuning out undesirable ones. As the power of a radio depends on the amount of electrical current it can utilize, so the human radio is energized according to the power of will possessed by each individual.
~Paramahansa YoganandaThe Autobiography of a Yogi
When Paramahansa Yogananda was writing these words, the radio was still the main form of mass communication. Those of us who remember tuning in the radio station with a dial can understand the power of this teaching and can visualize his metaphor. We can use a similar metaphor in this current time of mobile devices, computers and social media — paying attention to the positive, letting that influence us, and letting go of the negative. Our daily meditation practice frees our mind from the static of restlessness. This along with taking care of our bodies and mind in a healthy way and living a life that is worthy of us, strengthens our will. As our will be comes strengthened we can more easily tune into positive thoughts and feelings, thoughts that will support us and energize us and the world around us.
One of the great benefits of deep meditation is that after awhile you become more discerning and your intellect becomes more refined, and while you can still enjoy relationships and enjoy experience, you are not obsessive or compulsive about it; you don’t have these needs that must be satisfied. You are not caught up or frantic in relationships.
~Roy Eugene Davis
A steady meditation practice frees us from false dependencies on external sources of happiness, and even the illusion that relationships with others will bring us what we are truly seeking. We gain the intuitive insight that makes life so much more graceful. Meditation is the highest form of self care because it opens us to the profound inner joy that is our true nature. Start or strengthen you meditation practice today.
Discovering the sacred in our life requires "fresh eyes"— seeing things as they are and not as we think, want, or assume them to be. The ability to transform our lives and our relationships is contained in something as simple as the way we perceive.
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Any experience, good or bad, makes an impression in our mind. Most of what we see and perceive is colored by our past experiences. We often don't see or experience things for what they truly are. We know this because we each experience things differently. I might really love a piece of music, while the person next to me hears the same music, but can't stand the sound.
Our perceptions of what is "real" can create suffering in our lives. Our regular meditation practice, healthy lifestyle practices and living a life with integrity can support us in really seeing and appreciating the good that is all around and within us. These practices give us "fresh eyes". Discover the sacred.
Connect with your soul and decide to act from it. When you do, you will feel a river moving in you, a boundless joy.
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
A steady meditation practice puts us in touch with deeper levels of intuition and allows us to sense those moments when we have made the right choice at important decision points in life. A deep peacefulness pervades when we have made the right choice at the soul level. The bliss which we touch in meditation can to flow through our life any time we stop to take a conscious breath. Paramahansa Yogananda called this his "portable paradise."
The use of a mantra, or prayer word, allows us to channel our energy toward our divine nature. When negative mind states arise such as anxiety, anger, or fear we can use the energy of these emotions in a positive way through introducing the mantra into the mental field. The “fire” or energy of the emotion then becomes a transforming fire instead of a destructive fire.
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Mantra is a sacred sound or word formula that creates a vibration that supports us to get beyond our thinking mind. A mantra can be as simple as the repetition of the word love or peace. Something that resonates with us. Many traditions have a form of mantra. Paramahansa Yogananda taught the mantra Hong Saw. It doesn't have a particular meaning, but allows us to focus our attention inward as we repeat Hong on the in-breath, and Saw on the out-breath. We can say it to ourselves as we begin our meditation, using it as our point of focus. The vibration of the word formula allows us to move from the state of concentration to the state of meditation.
As we use the same mantra over and over, it can resonate in the back of our mind even when we are not sitting to meditate. When negative emotions arise we can then use the tool of mantra to burn them away.
Let go of thinking that things need to be different than they are and watch what happens.
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
A steady daily meditation practice helps us see into the heart of things
and perceive the beauty in the world around us. We realize that when we
do not put an emotional color on events and our surroundings, we naturally reach a state of bliss that is our true nature, and that this is reflected in the world around us everywhere we look. Deepen your meditation practice and reap the rewards now.
Retire to the center of your being, which is calmness.
~Paramahansa Yogananda
For many of us, the desire to learn to meditate comes from our wanting to have a calmer, more peaceful life. We want to be less reactive and have a happier outlook on life. This contributes to our mental, physical and spiritual well-being. Our regular meditation practice takes us to the center of our being, which is calmness, and with that, our entire life is changed for the better.
Be as simple as you can be; you will be astonished to see how uncomplicated and happy your life can become.
~Paramahansa Yogananda
Most of the complications and stress in our life come from the uncontrolled interior monologue in our mind. A steady daily meditation practice enables us to control the contents of the mind, which is incredibly liberating. When the complicated thoughts in our mind settle down, we realize our own true nature which is bliss. As this becomes a habit throughout the day, the world around us reflects this natural bliss in all situations.
Desire—wanting what we want when we want it, or striving for results—is a great contributor to stress. When we are caught up in it, it seems we only need to work harder to get the desired results. What if we actually need to do less? Less doing, less pushing, and instead, more letting go and being present?
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Often we create stress in our lives by pushing ourselves to create or achieve results that we think we should have. Often we desire something that may not be attainable, or if we do attain it, we realize that it hasn't offered us the happiness or satisfaction that we thought we would have, and that creates stress.
A regular daily meditation practice trains us to live more in the present moment. The practice of a one pointed focus on a single object, like our breath, trains us to be present and to allow the abundance of life to reveal itself to us. Our practice of meditation allows us to listen to our inner knowing which tells us what is our right action to do. If something is really important we don't need to push. We just do the best that we can and trust that the right outcome will happen, at the right time.
I will be calmly active, actively calm. I will not become lazy and
mentally ossified. Nor will I be overactive, able to earn money but
unable to enjoy life. I will meditate regularly to maintain true balance.
~Paramahansa Yogananda
Our regular meditation practice opens up the witness consciousness that
lets us examine the contents of our mind and enables us to nurture those
thoughts which are useful and discard those which are not. Meditation
provides the mental distance that helps us refrain from over-reacting to
what others say and do. When we notice we have lost that true balance,
meditation can bring us back into harmony with all of life.
