The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly. . . Live each moment completely and the future will take care of itself. Fully enjoy the wonder and beauty of each moment. ~Paramahansa Yogananda
When we first begin to meditate we notice the whirlwind of thoughts that move through an uncontrolled mind. As our meditation practice becomes more steady, we bring the mind to a single point of focus on the breath and experience longer and longer moments of peaceful rest. In meditation we form the habit of being fully present. Then in daily life we can observe events and act appropriately without the stress of upsetting reactions to what is happening. We begin to live the freedom that we seek.
Sweep away negative and self-defeating thoughts with a conscious out-breath. Welcome happiness back into your heart and mind with a conscious in-breath. It only takes a moment. One transforming moment. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
We all have those times when we are feeling down. We may be having negative thoughts about a relationship or something that is happening around us. We may be worried or frustrated. Whatever the situation we can change change our thoughts by changing our mind. All it takes is one conscious breath. We can visualize that breath as clearing away the negative and then bringing in the positive. We can discern our next right actions from a place of peace. Breathe out the negative, breathe in the positive.
Ahimsa points to love, compassion, and kindness as the logical and necessary arc of acting nonviolently. To be truly nonviolent, to refrain from harming another being, oneself, or the environment is to act with kindness. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
On this weekend as we honor the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King we celebrate how he placed nonviolent action as the center of his work. Ahimsa is the Sanskrit word for nonviolence or not harming. Ahimsa is a deep practice that we can all bring into our lives in many ways. Of course, the obvious is that we don't physically harm another being but it is also a more subtle practice. Do we participate in gossip or speaking ill of another? Do we speak ill of ourselves when we are frustrated with ourselves for some reason? Are we quick to anger? Our meditation practice teaches us to slow down and to observe our thoughts, speech and actions. As in meditation when we notice we have lost our focus, we observe ourselves in our daily lives and notice and gently make a course correction if needed. As we become more aware, thinking, speaking and acting with kindness is effortless and comes naturally. Kindness is who we are. This is our gift to the world.
We celebrate the 100th anniversary of Paramahansa Yogananda coming to the U.S.
The season of failure is the best time for sowing the seeds of success. ~Paramahansa Yogananda
Our daily meditation practice helps us minimize the waste of energy when things do not work out as planned because we learn to control the contents of our mind. Then an understanding of non-attachment can be even more helpful. When things do work out as planned, fine. But when our plans do not come to fruition, a supportive universe is just giving us helpful feedback. This is a great opportunity for learning and encourages us to welcome change. The key is in embracing this helpful advice.
Be observant of moods, not mastered by them. Be guided by the steady lamp of truth, not by flashes of emotion or intellectual opinion. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Our life and our relationships are so much easier and peaceful if we can observe our moods and control them. Letting our moods and emotions control us is like sitting in buggy and letting the horses run wherever they want to go. It is up to us to control them and go where we want to go. Our meditation practice teaches us to observe our thoughts. Then during the day we can be in more control—acting, speaking and thinking in harmony with what we know is wise and right. That is the lamp of truth that guides us.
We can mobilize the power of our determination by setting an intention, making a declaration, and offering it as a sacred vow.... A vow becomes sacred when it draws upon our deepest desire, is connected with our life purpose, and serves the greater good. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian from her book The Jewel of Abundance
We can take our new year's resolutions to a higher level by using the technique of affirmation. Create a positive verbal affirmation such as "I easily find all the resources I need to carry out my useful intentions." Repeat this verbally and in silence until it resonates by itself. Then rest in the conviction that helpful resolutions are gracefully supported by a friendly universe.
You are Love itself. Live that way. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
At this time of the year we are surrounded by messages of love. We get holiday cards and hear from family and friends that we may not have heard from for a long time. We see movies, such as It's a Wonderful Life that remind us of love. We buy and receive gifts, that are given with love. Strangers say hello and wish us happy holidays. It can also be a difficult, stressful time for some of us. Our meditation practice helps us to slow down and notice the good around us. We are moving from the shortest day of the year into longer days, more light. In many ways and many traditions, even for those without a religion, the coming of the light is celebrated at this time of year. Even if this is a difficult time of the year, if we remember that the light is hope, the light is peace, the light is love we can live from that place, we can bring joy to ourselves, our families and to the world.
The belief “I need this or that to bring me happiness or security” affirms lack. Realize your wholeness now. Then watch what is added unto you from your abundance consciousness. Watch. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Our daily meditation practice makes us aware of the contents of our mind and gives us the power to change what goes on in the mind. When we catch ourselves complaining, we can recall the principle that 'like attracts like.' Thoughts of lack attract that experience in the real world. A strong gratitude practice can liberate us from lack and attract abundance in an entirely graceful way. Try it every day for a week and you may be surprised. Affirm abundance.
It is on the inward condition that the outer reality depends. ~Roy Eugene Davis
Why is it that life just seems a bit harder on days we do not meditate? The inner peace we carry with us not only colors our perception of events in the world, but impacts them. When we listen to our intuition and just do what we know we should do, we find that most people and situations are naturally friendly and supportive. Even when things do not turn out as we planned, we get a welcoming chance to learn and adapt with an inner smile. This virtuous cycle begins with our meditation practice and follows us into the world. Then we naturally return the favor to all around us.
A grateful heart is a magnet that draws us to what is harmonious and good.... When our hearts are grateful, when we approach others and life itself with gratitude for all that is given, we generally reap more of the same. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian from her book The Jewel of Abundance.
At this time of the year the Thanksgiving holiday is wonderful reminder to take some time to reflect on what we are thankful for. We can look at our life, at the ups and downs, the good and the bad and find that there is something to be thankful for even in the bad. I realize that I would not be the person I am today without those difficult times. I can look at the mistakes I have made in my life and see how I have learned from them. Then of course there are all of the wonderful gifts that I have been given—the gift of the people in my life, the gift of the beautiful area I live in, the gift of the birds singing in the garden, the gift the air I breathe. Life is always so much more joyful when we approach our lives each day with gratitude.
Speech is an intermediate step in the creative process between thought and action or material substance. Let your words be instrumental in bringing forth the highest good you desire. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Our daily meditation practice teaches us to watch and control the thoughts that occur in the mind. In daily life we can encourage useful thoughts and let others fall away. We can observe the impact as thoughts move into the active stage of speech. When our speech is firmly based in truth, it has the power of manifestation. The classic text, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, states that "One who is truthful experiences quick results of actions." [translation by Roy Eugene Davis] At the very least, our meditation helps us become better on not saying things that might get us into trouble later.
When a home is a place of peace—of caring, love, awareness, and appreciation for life—we can feel it when we walk through the door. Make your home a sanctuary of divine peace today. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Our home is our sanctuary. Our peaceful energy is the main thing that contributes to that place of peace. Our peaceful energy supports our conscious effort to bring kindness, love and appreciation to others but also to ourselves. Loving ourselves—caring for ourselves is most important because if we don't love ourselves we can't give love and appreciation to others. Our peaceful energy comes from deep inside and is made apparent with our regular meditation practice. Contemplate what you need to do for yourself so that your home can be a place of peace. Consider how you care for your body and mind, paying attention to your diet, exercise, what you read and watch on TV. Consider how you care for your spirit, paying attention to having some time in silence each day. That meditative energy fills your home. Look for the joy around you throughout your day and bring the remembrance of those joyful moments home. Consider how you care for your surroundings. Is your home clean and uncluttered? Do the things around you "bring you joy", as the decluttering expert Marie Kondo teaches? If not, why do you keep them? Light a candle. Bring in some nature. Create that space of peace so that when you walk in the door you feel the big hug that it gives you. Your home is your sanctuary.
Remember, people suffer only because they think things ought to be different from what they are. ~Paramahansa Yogananda
Non-attachment is the mental practice which frees us from the pain caused by the cycle of likes and dislikes that trouble the mind. Our meditation practice gives us the freedom to let thoughts fall away which we do not find useful because they strongly attract or repulse us. This is not to say that we condone or ignore negative occurrences. We simply do not let our mental field be colored by them. The resulting equanimity gives us the freedom to take right action whatever circumstances we face. Acceptance of reality is a bit like our final exam on the path of meditation.
Being fully present in the moment dismantles worry. It is not possible to be fully present to what is now and worry at the same time. Notice. Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
This message from Yogacharya O'Brian is so timely for us right now in Sonoma County. We have recently been dealing with power outages, fires and evacuations. This of course brings back the trauma that many of us lived through two years ago. It is so easy to fall into a worried, anxious state of mind. It is easy to panic. Yogacharya is reminding us to notice and acknowledge our feelings. Once we understand what and why we are feeling worried or anxious we can deal with our feelings in a way that is calm so we don't react with inappropriate anger or fear. Also, from that place of calmness we can make the right decisions. Once we become present to our feelings, all we may need to do is take a deep breath and feel our minds and our bodies in this present moment. A single breath is all it takes. Dismantle worry.
True meditation occurs spontaneously. Wait with keen, focused, attention to observe the moment it begins. Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
The most obvious goal of our daily meditation practice is to attain meditative awareness but it is almost ironic to realize that we cannot make this happen. We begin with intentionality and proper posture. We turn our attention inside and next we use a focus technique like following the breath to quiet the mind. Then we have to let go and merely wait for the transition from concentration to meditation. Desire for this to happen simply gets in the way. Because of this our daily practice is a great exercise in non-attachment to outcomes.
Just as anxiety about results (of our meditation practice) should be avoided when meditating, so there should be no anxiety about results after meditation. ~Roy Eugene Davis (from his book A Master Guide to Meditation & Spiritual Growth)
When we begin a meditation practice, we may expect our meditations to go a certain way. We may be expecting certain results during our meditation sitting time and then become disappointed or think that we can't meditate when we don't think that we experience those outcomes. We can't know all that is happening during our meditation time because our conscious perceptions are narrow compared to the vastness of our minds and consciousness. If we enter our practice with open-minded, open-hearted intention our time of practice will be fruitful, whether or not we think it is. Let go of any anxiety about your practice. Set an intention that your time of practice brings all good things to you, the beings around you and to the world. Then just relax into the practice and trust. Enjoy your practice. Enjoy your life.
Our thoughts and intentions are powerful; let us direct them toward our highest aspirations. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
What we think and what we intend is powerful. Let go of negative thinking. Our positive thoughts and intentions support our highest good, the good of others and the good of the world. They do manifest. As more of us think, speak and act from that positive, loving, compassionate place towards ourselves, all people and all situations, we align with the loving, compassionate power of the universe. Take time each day in silence to align with the flow of the universe. Together we can change the world!
Live each moment completely and the future will take care of itself. Fully enjoy the wonder and beauty of each moment. ~Paramahansa Yogananda
This advice from Yogananda does not advocate an indulgent approach to life, but is based on this powerful truth: when we live mindfully and make rightly guided decisions, we act in harmony with all of life. Fear of the future and regret about the past can fall away. Our daily meditation practice gives us the tools to let thoughts arise and fall away which are not useful. We can come to live in the joy which is our true inner nature and enjoy the freedom of a peaceful life.
There is a great universal good now unfolding, and you are a part of it. Everyone is. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
In this day and age when we are bombarded with bad news, divisive news and angry news we think that is all there is going on in this world. But there is so much more good in the world. We can each accept our responsibility to be a part of the universal good. We can each be attentive to small kindnesses that we receive and to offer those small kindnesses ourselves, each day. Our regular meditation practice calms our minds and opens our hearts to the good all around us. Poet Danusha Lameris said "What if they (small kindnesses) are the true dwelling of the holy, these fleeting temples we make together when we say 'Here have my seat.' 'Go ahead, you first.' 'I like your hat."* Be attentive. You are a part of the universal good.
*Lameris, Danusha, Moons of August, Autumn House 2014
Notice the way attention moves from thought to thought and sometimes, in-between thoughts, comes to rest in the heart. Look there. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Scripture reassures us, saying we are not alone in noticing that the mind is as restless as the wind. When we use the technique of focusing on the breath to quiet the mind, it can help to watch for the space between breaths. As we enter the time between the inhalation and exhalation, there is the peacefulness of no thought, just deep stillness. As we continue this practice, this time of stillness lengthens and we can drop into the heart space of peacefulness. This is our natural state of meditative awareness, free of thought. Later when we notice that this stillness is interrupted by thoughts, sound or sensations, we can always pick up the technique again. Rest in the heart of stillness.
