She lay in the hospital bed in extreme pain. A bad fall had shattered her ankle, and she’d been taken to a small, nearby hospital. The night was stormy, with many medical emergencies, and the staff was scrambling to care for the twenty-one patients in their nine-bed hospital. Because of the seriousness of her injury, she was eventually given a bed, in a room with an elderly woman whose slow, labored breathing made it clear that she was dying.

With this woman was her adult son, who was loudly crying through his tears, “Mama, Mama, don’t leave me!” This continued throughout the night. The intense pain from her ankle, combined with the tragic scene unfolding beside her, made it impossible to get the sleep her body so desperately needed.

The woman with the broken ankle was our friend, Nayaswami Uma—one of Ananda’s spiritual lights, now serving in Ananda Assisi. I had been concerned about her, and finally a few days ago, we talked and she shared her experience with us:

“I was immobile and in a lot of pain, and at first the elderly woman’s labored breathing and her son’s crying were difficult to deal with. Then I thought, ‘What can I do to help?’ I immediately began praying for them. I prayed throughout the night, and began to feel light and grace surrounding them and others waiting for medical care. The son began to calm down, and his mother quietly left her body.

“The following morning, the hospital staff bought to the bed next to me another dying woman. Still in extreme pain, I began praying for her, and felt her soul lifted into the light as she passed. Shortly afterwards, a few of my friends came to visit me, and were distressed to see the dead woman lying there in the room. ‘We must call the staff,’ they insisted. ‘You can’t be in this room with her body lying there.’

“‘Don’t worry about me,’ I told them. ‘I realize now why I broke my ankle, and was brought to this hospital.’ It felt like a dark force had been pressing down, and prayers were needed for many souls. Over the succeeding days, as I continuously offered prayers, I felt increasingly filled with joy, and the darkness lifted.”

Transcendence and self-forgetfulness are the answers to every problem that life presents us. Blame, self-pity, and anger only deepen our suffering. How often do we think, “This isn’t fair. Why do I need to suffer like this?” But if we ask, as Uma did, “What can I do to help?” then we break the hold that darkness and suffering have on us.

The intricacies of past karma and suffering—both personal and global—are difficult to understand or reconcile. But if we live with faith in God, and do our part to bring His light into the world, we can experience the divine hand in everything.

Recently I came upon some wonderful words from Master to help us understand God’s ways:

“You will not be able to understand His laws until you become one with Him. So why waste time trying to understand them by an intellectual approach? If you are reading a novel in which the hero is being mistreated, the villain is winning, and each chapter seems to contradict the preceding one, you will feel frustrated and angry with the author. But when you read the last chapter you are satisfied, and you think, how wonderful that novel was because it was so complex. So God is the Master-Novelist, and one is wonderstruck at the paradoxes and intricate plot of His creation. When you find Him, in that last chapter, He will give you the solutions to all the enigmas of human life. That I know!”

This “Master-Novelist” may write an intricate plot, but if we can enjoy the story and wait until the last chapter, the drama of life ends in a simple truth: “God’s light and love are the only realities.”

With joy and blessings,

Nayaswami Devi

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A first-time visitor to The Expanding Light once asked Swami Kriyananda, “I feel so happy here. Is it being in your presence? Or this beautiful Retreat setting? Or the wonderful people I’ve met?”

Swami replied simply, “You are experiencing the joy of your own self.”

Right now, Jyotish and I are experiencing great joy—and a good deal of relief—as we’ve both just completed books that we’ve been working on for over seven months. These books will be released next year in honor of Swamiji’s birth centennial. Though my heart is soaring, I keep reminding myself, “Enjoy this feeling of joy, but don’t limit it to the completion of the books. Try to live in it all the time, because that’s the reality of who you are.”

Paramhansa Yogananda put it beautifully: “No matter what causes it, whenever a little bubble of joy appears in your invisible sea of consciousness, take hold of it, and keep expanding it. . . . Keep puffing at the bubble of joy until it breaks its confining walls and becomes the sea of joy.”

If we tie our joy to a particular event or experience, when that ends we inevitably slide down the slope of sadness. Yogananda explained that most people live in an endless cycle: happiness when desires are fulfilled, sadness when those desires aren’t met or stop bringing satisfaction, and boredom in between. This is a roller coaster that we definitely want to avoid.

But if we can attune ourselves to what Master called “causeless joy,” then our happiness no longer depends on external circumstances. Try this: Think of something that once brought you joy, and then separate the feeling from the event. Simply feel this joy as a reality in and of itself. Recall this feeling as often as you can, and let it permeate your consciousness.

Maya, or delusion, tricks us into thinking that happiness depends on things outside ourselves. But we can turn the tables on delusion by affirming that joy is who we are. Joy is a choice we can make, in every moment, under all circumstances. As Swamiji once said, “Joy is the solution, not the reward.”

This principle also applies to our practice of meditation. If we meditate absentmindedly, or with grim determination, the results will be just what we’ve brought to it: a distracted mind, or inner tension. But when we bring joy into our meditation, then we awaken it within ourselves.

In a talk on Kriya Yoga, Swamiji said: “The feeling you get in the spine from Kriya is very blissful. If you imagine or affirm the spine to be blissful already, it will help bliss manifest itself in reality. If you practice Kriya with joy, you’ll find it goes much better. Hong-Sau should be practiced with the consciousness of peace, and with the enjoyment of peace and breathlessness.” I’ve been practicing his suggestion, and imagining or affirming joy in the spine during Kriya practice brings wonderful results.

I’ll close with a delightful story told by Nayaswami Nitai, the founder of Ananda’s “How-to-Live” schools. One day, he was reading the Ramayana to a group of children of varying ages. He came to the line: “Rama was sitting in the forest in samadhi.” He stopped and asked, “Does anyone know what samadhi means?”

The youngest child, four-year-old Nicole, raised her hand and answered, “It’s when you are sitting there really still, and someone comes up to you, and says, ‘Nicole, Nicole,’ and there is nobody there to answer.”

Let’s all sing our own “ode to joy” until all that remains is God’s bliss.

With joy and blessings,

Nayaswami Devi

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Our world today is filled with increasing instability and upheaval: extremes in the environment, polarized political climate, wars, and human suffering on a global scale. These conditions are producing anxiety, fear, and a sense of helplessness in people everywhere.

Many friends from around the world have been writing Ananda asking for prayers, guidance, and words of comfort. To offer hope and an understanding of what’s happening, we’ve chosen as the focus this year for our annual Spiritual Renewal Week “The Time for Knowing God Has Come.”  

On Monday Jyotish and I gave the opening talks, on the topic “The Search for God in Today’s World.” It’s easy to slide down the treacherous slope leading to anxiety about world conditions, so I’d like to share some tools of understanding from our class to help you stand on the firm ground of inner peace and strength.

First, we need to understand that we’re in the early stages of an ascending age, Dwapara Yuga, which is a part of the great 24,000-year yuga cycle. Dwapara Yuga is an age in which old ways of thinking, of government, religion, and national boundaries all begin to shift in the growing awareness that energy, not form, is the more fundamental reality.

This shift, though leading in a good direction, produces great uncertainty, as humanity seeks to redefine things in more expansive, fluid, and unified ways. Old definitions and ways of doing things no longer seem to fit the present, but what the future looks like can’t yet be clearly seen.

Fortunately God, in His compassion and wisdom, has sent us divine guides to lead us forward into new social models for the planet. Never before has a lineage of five masters worked together to launch such a global wave. Let’s look in turn at what each of these avatars brought, and how we can use their gifts to deal with the world around us today.

Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within you.” Searching for God within leads us to experience in ourselves the peace, the love, and the joy that we’ve been seeking externally. These cannot be found in the world of duality, but are accessible to those who seek them in themselves. The chaos of the world can affect only superficially anyone who has truly found inner peace.

Babaji brings us two gifts of understanding. Because he is eternal, having vowed “never to leave my physical body,” we can learn from him to live in longer rhythms. The turmoil that seems so overwhelming in the moment becomes negligible when viewed in the context of eternity. This, too, shall pass.

A second gift of Babaji’s to us was his revival of the lost technique of Kriya Yoga: the preeminent tool in this age for finding God and transcending the waves of duality.

Lahiri Mahasaya was a fully liberated master, who, to set an example for others, lived the life of an ordinary man with a job and family. Through his intercession with Babaji, the strict requirement that Kriya be given only to those fully ready to renounce the world was lifted. He showed us how to live always in God remembrance, and remain centered in Him no matter how heavy the responsibilities and demands placed upon us.

Sri Yukteswar gave us the gifts of wisdom, objectivity, and non-attachment. Once, after Master had disobeyed him by leaving the ashram to seek out a saint in the Himalayas, he returned shamefacedly to his guru. Sri Yukteswar welcomed him with open arms.

“Master,” Yogananda said, “I thought that you might be angry with me.”

Sri Yukteswar replied, “I do not expect anything from others, so their actions cannot be in opposition to my wishes.” He showed us how to live in such a way that no matter what is happening around us, we have the ability not to react, but to remain centered in the peace within.

Paramhansa Yogananda came to the West in 1920, just as Dwapara Yuga was dawning. He was sent by his line of masters as the way-shower for the new age of energy—not to his devotees alone, but to an entire civilization, as every social institution, and people’s very understanding of the world, began to undergo revolutionary change.

One gift in particular that he brought was the widespread dissemination of Kriya Yoga. “I wasn’t sent to the West by Christ and the great masters of India,” he often told his audiences, “to dogmatize you with a new theology. Jesus himself asked Babaji to send someone here to teach you the science of Kriya Yoga, that people might learn how to commune with God directly. I want to help you toward the attainment of actual experience of Him, through your daily practice of Kriya Yoga. The time for knowing God has come!”

He gave us also his example of unconditional love, acceptance, and forgiveness for all. He wrote: “I will love all races as my own countrymen, living in the United States of the World with Truth as our President.” And equally important, he was a spiritual warrior in this life, and past ones as well. He upheld the banner of Truth and Dharma over the armies of darkness.

God has given us these masters now to help us navigate the stormy seas of our times. They are steering the ship of humanity forward until we reach the shores of a world united in peace and understanding. Civilization as a whole will reach those shores only in future ages. But by their grace, all who are open to receiving their gifts, and who put them into practice in their lives, can—even in these tumultuous times—achieve here and now that true peace which “surpasses all understanding.”

We are blessed by their presence.

With gratitude,

Nayaswami Devi

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In 1998 four of us accompanied Swami Kriyananda on a trip to India. This was to be my first time there, and well-meaning friends gave me cautionary advice about how to stay healthy. “Drink only bottled water.” “Don’t eat food from street vendors.” “Don’t eat lime pickle.” Their warnings were both specific and extensive.

All this counsel produced in me a certain amount of anxiety. I was determined to eat only minute amounts of food, and not to drink water or even breathe the air unless it was absolutely necessary. Then we arrived.

We landed at the New Delhi Airport, which at that time was not the modern, efficient Indira Gandhi Airport that exists today. As we waited at a gate for a connecting flight, I noticed in front of us a rough stone wall about three feet high with a rusty, dripping faucet jutting out from it. Someone had painted in very crude letters over the faucet: “Drinkable Water.”

Recalling all the advice I’d received about contaminated water, my first thought was, “Oh, yeah, I’m really going to drink that water.” Fortunately for me, I was sitting next to Swamiji, who must have picked up on both my thought and the fear behind it.

He turned to me holding out a cup, and said, “I forgot to take my pills this morning. Could you get me some water from that faucet?” Silently I fulfilled his request and watched as he drank the suspect water with no ill side effects—then nor even days later.

This little incident totally changed my experience of being in India. I realized that I could either “hold my breath” and live in fear, or follow reasonable precautions and enjoy the trip. I chose the latter. We traveled throughout the country, visited holy shrines, and fell in love with the spiritual depth and beauty of India and her people. None of our group ever got so much as a sniffle.

Our minds are powerful receiving stations, and we’re constantly being bombarded by thoughts vibrating in the ether. Love, compassion, fear, anger—they’re all out there, waiting to be picked up by minds receptive to their vibration. It’s up to us to choose.

Once a friend of ours was talking with someone who was complaining to her about everything. Finally, having had enough, our friend asked, “What radio station are you tuned in to?”

Master advised us to be cautious, but not fearful. He said, “Fear was given to man as a cautionary device to spare him pain; it is not meant to be cultivated and abused. . . . Dread of disease precipitates disease. Through the very thought of sickness, you bring it on yourself. Do not paralyze your will and nerves with fear. When anxiety persists in spite of your will, you are helping to create the very experience you are dreading.” These are words to take seriously.

The Heavenly Father is with me; I am protected.

Yoganandaji gave specific techniques for tuning out fear. First, whatever you fear, don’t dwell on it, but leave it in God’s hands. Have faith in His protection, and push worry determinedly aside. So many of our problems are rooted in fear. If we live with faith, we will be free of them. Yogananda advised, “Every night before you sleep, affirm: ‘The Heavenly Father is with me; I am protected.’ Chant ‘AUM’ three times, or the word ‘God.’ This will shield you.”

He also taught that whenever you feel afraid, put your hand over your heart against the skin, and rub from left to right, saying, “Father, I am free. Tune out this fear from my heart-radio.”

Sri Yukteswar told Yogananda this story from his childhood: “My mother once tried to frighten me with an appalling story of a ghost in a dark chamber. I went there immediately, and expressed my disappointment at having missed the ghost. Mother never told me another horror-tale. Moral: Look fear in the face and it will cease to trouble you.”

It’s up to us to tune out the static of fear from our mind radios. The more we feel God’s presence within, the more we are impervious to negative energy in and around us. Then we can stand as pillars of strength and joy, showing others the way to inner freedom. How fortunate we are to have such great teachers and teachings!

This stanza from Master’s poem, “God! God! God!,” perfectly sums up these thoughts:

When boisterous storms of trials shriek,

With joy and blessings,

Nayaswami Devi

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The bride was beautiful. We had known her since she was a little girl, when she and her family moved to Ananda Village. The groom was a fine young man who’d been born and had grown up in the community. Remarkably, they had met in preschool and had often played house together. Though the intervening years had separated them, when they reconnected in their mid-twenties they knew they were meant to be together. Now Jyotish and I were officiating at their wedding.

The ceremony took place a few weeks ago in the beautiful gardens at Crystal Hermitage. Waiting for the wedding to begin, I began to think how starting a marriage is very much like starting a garden. Embarking on the journey of life is also, even more so, like creating a garden. 

You need to start with a vision. The head gardeners here had received only scant details from Swami Kriyananda about what he envisioned—only to create “world-class” gardens. They offered the vision of the gardens to God, and bit by bit over the years, the flower beds, paths, trellises, and waterfalls took shape.

With our life, too, we need to have a vision, a goal that we’re headed toward. It’s important to keep referring our actions and choices back to our initial plan. If we become complacent, or begin straying from our goals, we need to renew our efforts to stay true to the vision.

Faith is also needed. How often over the years have I planted a tiny seed, a small, gnarled root, or a lifeless-looking bulb, only to watch a beautiful flower or vibrant vegetable emerge. I’ve seen others plant tiny sticks in the ground and watched how they grew into graceful trees over time, giving fruit, shade, and homes for nesting birds.

Life, too, is about planting seeds, even though we may be uncertain of the outcome. If we believe that our actions are in tune with God, then we need faith to let the “Master Gardener” do His job. In time, our actions will bear fruit.

Regular watering is also vitally important, for water provides the flow of energy that allows a garden to flourish. On our life journey, too, we need to add energy and vitality regularly: to our body for physical health and well-being; to our mind for clarity and creativity; and to our soul for deepening inspiration and devotion to God. Then we will flourish on all levels over the years.

The ability to adapt to change and challenges, whether building a garden or a fulfilling life, is also necessary. The range of temperatures, the amount of rainfall, the invasion of destructive insects—all are subject to change. The unexpected, but inevitable, setbacks in life must also be faced with courage and strength. If we hold to our vision, each challenge brings us greater understanding of how to move forward.

Watching Crystal Hermitage Gardens develop over the years, we could feel that there was always a divine plan that, step-by-step, we were able to tune in to and manifest. We can remember a time when there was nothing but weeds and dying trees in an infertile, rough landscape. Now, after years of dedication, creativity, and love, thousands of people’s lives are changed by the beauty and peace of these gardens.

Watching devotees develop spiritually over the years is a similar experience. One sees lives growing increasingly beautiful, as their radiant higher selves emerge. These souls, too, are changing people’s lives through the beauty of who they are—providing hope and faith that everyone can grow spiritually.

Paramhansa Yogananda wrote a beautiful poem, “The Garden of the New Year,” from which I’ll share a few stanzas:

The echoes of last year, its sorrow and laughter,

Abandon the weeds of old worries.

Sow in the fresh soil of each new day

With joy-enlivened, unendingly united mind

May you watch the beauty of your garden grow radiant in God’s light.

Nayaswami Devi

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There’s a story about a man who woke up one morning to find he had only three long hairs left on his head. After a moment’s thought, he smiled and said, “Today I think I’ll wear my hair in a braid.”

The next morning, he looked in the mirror and saw only two hairs. Undeterred, he decided, “Today I’ll part my hair down the middle.”

On the third morning, there was just one solitary hair left. “Perfect,” he said cheerfully. “Now I can make a ponytail.”

Finally, on the fourth morning, he saw no hair left at all on his shiny bald head. “Thank goodness,” he said. “Now I don’t have to worry about how to wear my hair anymore!”

Life often seems to bring a steady stream of setbacks. Our efforts are met with challenges, and even the things we believed were solid can suddenly fall apart. But here’s the key: It’s not the setbacks themselves that define us—it’s the choices we make in response to them. As Yogananda said, “There are no obstacles, only opportunities.”

If, when in the face of difficulties, we choose to be positive, undaunted, and filled with hope, then little by little we’re transformed into a person of such strength and courage that nothing can defeat us. This is the opportunity that obstacles offer us: to become our own highest self.

Throughout its history, Ananda has been faced with innumerable difficulties. But Swami Kriyananda always chose to meet them in the highest way possible: with faith in God and a song in his heart. As a matter of fact, this was literally true when once in the early years of our community the first temple at the Meditation Retreat burned to the ground. The next morning Swamiji walked into a small local store, happily humming one of his songs.

The shopkeeper, who had heard about the fire, was astonished. “You are singing?” she asked. “When my house burned down, I cried for six months.”

Swamiji replied with a smile, “I lost my temple—I didn’t lose my voice.”

His response was a profound reminder: Everything external may be taken from us, but the joy we carry within is ours to keep—if we so choose.

There’s a beautiful book, God Alone, which is a collection of letters by Yoganandaji’s most advanced woman disciple, Sister Gyanamata. In one of the letters, she wrote: “See nothing, look at nothing but your goal, ever shining before you. The things that happen to us do not matter; what we become through them does. Each day, accept everything as coming to you from God. At night, give everything back into His hands.”

Recently a friend of ours in the UK sent us a remarkable prayer—perhaps the most powerful expression I’ve ever encountered of choosing God in the face of profound suffering. The prayer was found on a piece of wrapping paper near the body of a dead child in the Ravensbrück Nazi concentration camp, where 92,000 women and children died.

O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will but also those of ill will. But do not only remember all the suffering they have inflicted on us; remember the fruits we bought, thanks to this suffering: our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, the courage, the generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of all this. And when they come to judgment, let all the fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness.

So when life brings you trials—and it surely will—remember the transcendence of the soul who wrote that prayer, and the words of Gyanamata: “The things that happen to us do not matter; what we become through them does.”

With blessings on your journey toward inner freedom,

Nayaswami Devi

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I wish that I could fully share with you the beauty and joy that are radiating now from the Crystal Hermitage gardens as we celebrate our annual tulip festival, “Springtime at Ananda.” The twenty-one thousand tulips that Ananda gardeners planted in autumn are now blooming in a glorious variety of colors, sizes, and shapes. Each winter, the gardening team spends months planning the layout of every bed, ensuring that the display will be fresh and filled with never-before-seen combinations of color.

This year one of the team added a special touch of love to the gardens. Small bedding plants—pansies and forget-me-nots—are usually planted around the tulips to enhance the display with additional color and fullness. To our surprise, the nursery that usually provides us with bedding plants said that the flats weren’t available this year. Undeterred, our gardener lovingly planted by hand ten thousand individual seeds of pansies and forget-me-nots. (Don’t worry, little flowers, we will never forget you.) The result is simply glorious.

Why do we do all this? Crystal Hermitage, Swami Kriyananda’s residence at Ananda Village, originally had pleasant, but simple, landscaping. Years ago Swamiji told our team, “Let’s turn the grounds into world-class tulip gardens. In the future, busloads of people will come.” Though not quite convinced about the busloads coming, we began the transformation. With each passing year, more flowers were planted, and with each passing year, more people came. Over twenty thousand people visited last year—and this year, it looks like even more will follow. And those busloads? They are arriving daily.

Why do the people come? The serenity, peace, and beauty of the gardens uplift the spirit and quiet the mind and soul. Visitors come from all over the West Coast, bringing multigenerational families and diverse cultural traditions. On any one day, you can hear a medley of languages, and see folks in traditional dress from many lands.

People respond to the gardens in many ways. Some are content merely to take photos of the beautiful flowers. Others are filled with a joy and wonder that bubbles over. A few years ago, a class of autistic children were visiting. One little boy suddenly began waving his arms enthusiastically, and shouted, “Can’t you see how happy I am?”

Others come because they are seeking peace. Last year as I was leaving the gardens, I saw a family just arriving. A young couple pushed a baby in a stroller, accompanied by an older man and woman, who looked anxious. I greeted them, and the young father returned my “hello,” with a slight accent.

“Where are you from?” I asked.

Hesitatingly, he replied, “Ukraine.” Then he added, “I’ve been here for a few years on a work visa, and I was just able to bring my parents over,” gesturing to the older couple. “They don’t speak English.”

I went over to the older man, took his hands, and though I knew he couldn’t understand my words, I said, “Your soul can be at rest here. This is a place of peace.” He burst into tears, and put his arms around me, sobbing. I could feel his entire being begin to relax.

And still others come because they are moved by something deeper from the flowers themselves. A few days ago one of our team was showing a photographer around the gardens. She eagerly snapped photos, but then paused, lowered her camera, and turned to him with tears streaming down her cheeks. “I can feel the flowers,” she said softly. “They’re speaking in my heart.”

In the kitchen of Crystal Hermitage, the staff has placed a poster of a page from the book Winnie the Pooh, by A. A. Milne. It shows Pooh and his little friend, Piglet, walking hand in hand through the woods having this conversation:

Turning to Piglet, Pooh asks, “What day is it?”

“It’s today,” squeaks Piglet.

“My favorite day,” says Pooh.

When we realize that the world is filled with timeless beauty, inexpressible joy, and love, then every day can be “our favorite day.” This is what the tulip gardens can teach us.

With joy and gratitude for God’s gifts,

Nayaswami Devi

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“How do I maintain my peace amidst all the struggles and demands of my daily life?” This question, which has probably arisen for all of us, was asked at a satsang during our recent visit to the Ananda Community in Portland, Oregon.

It’s easier to feel calm and centered during our practice of meditation, but as soon as the day’s activities begin, our peace can be blown away like flower petals in a strong wind. Rather than bemoaning this fact, a better response is to create a strategy for staying centered under all circumstances. In this way we can prevent our descent down the dark, slippery slope of clamoring demands and remain calmly sure-footed throughout the day.

Here’s a three-step strategy for remaining centered, taken from some suggestions in Swami Kriyananda’s book, Secrets of Inner Peace. Step One is regular meditation. Swamiji wrote: “The secret of inner peace is raising your consciousness: directing energy to the brain, then centering it at the seat of higher awareness between the eyebrows.” Raising our consciousness brings both clarity of mind and inner detachment with which to face life’s challenges. The ability to stand back from a problem allows one to have an entirely different perspective than when you’re immersed in it. With detachment, creative solutions can readily be found for every challenge.

Unfortunately, meditation can sometimes become just one more thing that we have to do. Then inner tension and restlessness follow. Step Two is to remember to breathe, relax, and release tension. Kriyananda wrote: “The secret of inner peace is inner relaxation—physically, emotionally, mentally, then spiritually.” Give yourself the luxury (yes, luxury) of sitting for a period of time at the end of your meditation with a sense of timeless awareness of the present moment. Watch how your breath and whole body relax on their own. Now, here’s the trick: Remember that feeling. Consciously return to it throughout the day, especially when the challenges come to threaten your peace.

Swami Kriyananda composed over four hundred pieces of inspirational music, and his songs are a wonderful way to stay in tune with a higher vibration. Recently at a concert of his music in Portland, I noticed how the person leading the choir first tuned the strings of her own guitar, and then gave all the choir members their note to help them stay in tune.

This is what we can do to maintain our peace of mind: As a reference point, keep using the calmness and joy that you felt in a relaxed state of meditation. Return to that “note,” that feeling, again and again throughout the day. It’s subtle, intangible, but nevertheless, it’s the underlying reality of who we are, and it’s more real than all the problems that try to destroy our peace.

It was deeply inspiring listening to the Portland choir as they sang Swamiji’s music: First they attuned their own voice to their note, and then they attuned their note to that of all the other singers. Together they created a wonderful harmony and unison, as though one beautiful voice were singing.

This brings us to Step Three: working in harmony with others who are also seeking to maintain peace within. Swamiji wrote: “The secret of inner peace is cultivating harmonious friendships, and shunning the company of peaceless persons.” I had a very powerful experience in this regard during the early years of Ananda. Before breakfast one morning, I received the news that my father had passed away. My mind was in turmoil, with many emotions of sadness, loss, and concern for my mother’s well-being.

Because we observed silence during breakfast, when I entered the dining room to tell my friends, they were all in silence. Not wanting to disturb them, I stood quietly in their midst, and was soon enveloped in a great wave of peace and calmness. This lasted for the entire time I was away: flying back to be with my family, helping my mother, and handling the details of my father’s passing. No one had said a word of comfort or consolation to me, but the depth of their inner peace gave me much more than words could ever have conveyed.

So find your “note” of inner peace; remember to keep listening to it throughout the day; and sing in harmony with those who are also seeking to lift their voices in devotion to God. At the end of the day, sit in stillness once again, and realize that life is a grand adventure meant only to awaken us to the truth that God’s joyful presence is always with us.

In divine friendship,

Nayaswami Devi

Listen to Devi as she first reads the blog, then expands on its meaning and messages for readers with behind-the-blog commentary. Subscribe to the podcast or download the audio recording by right-clicking here. Or listen to it here (10:53):

Since Jyotish and I just celebrated our fiftieth wedding anniversary, and have both written blogs about it, I thought I’d play a little joke on you. The “I do” that I’m talking about today is not the one that the bride and groom say to each other as they stand before the altar during a wedding ceremony. Nor is the “dilemma” the sometimes difficult choice as to whether a person is the right one for you.

Rather, the “I do” I’m referring to is an attitude of the ego that holds us back spiritually. Recently I read an interesting definition of egoism that got me thinking along these lines. The ego-principle, ahankara in Sanskrit, literally means “I do.” By falsely thinking that we are the doer, we separate ourselves from God, who is the creator of everything. When we try to feel that God is acting through us in all that we do, we draw closer to Him.

Here’s a story that illustrates this. Some years ago a well-respected Indian teacher, Swami Shankarananda from Rishikesh, was visiting Ananda Village. Swami Kriyananda was in Italy at the time, so Jyotish and I showed him around the community. Shankarananda was struck by the beauty and harmony he saw everywhere: the well-placed and designed houses; the beautiful gardens and natural environment; the welcoming Expanding Light Retreat and guest facilities; the charming schools filled with exuberant children; the radiant, happy people.

At one point he became quiet, and his countenance grew pensive. This was soon followed by a beaming smile, and he subsequently shared his thoughts with us. “I was wondering,” Shankarananda said, “how Swami Kriyananda was able to do all this. Then I realized he didn’t! God did it!”

He was right. Although Swamiji’s vision, guidance, and energy were behind all aspects of the community, one never sensed that he felt he was doing any of it. He knew that God and Guru were really running the show.

In fact, towards the end of his life, when he was leaving India to return to Assisi, Nayaswami Dhyana, the co-director of Ananda India, asked him, “Sir, how can we carry on after you leave?” He answered simply, “Always remember that this isn’t my work, and it isn’t your work. This is the work of Babaji and Master, and they will guide it forward.”

This expansive thought—that God, not we, is the Doer—is at the heart of any human endeavor that has lasting value. When I think of any great work of music, or art, or literature—of any significant human accomplishment—there is always a timeless sense to it. One can feel that it wasn’t created by any individual’s efforts, but by an impersonal power: the creative power of God.

Getting ourself out of the picture and feeling that a greater power is flowing through us can be done in any circumstance: We aren’t talking, or cooking, or walking, or helping others, but God is doing it through us. Especially when I sit to meditate, I’ve found that if I can feel that God is enjoying this peaceful state, then I can get myself out of the way and enjoy it more within my deeper self.

Sometimes this concept confuses people; they feel it’s beyond their reach. A friend of ours recently shared a helpful comment in this regard: “I can’t always feel that God is the Doer, but I can feel that I’m doing it with Him.” This is probably true for all of us, and is a very good interim step that brings us closer to the full experience.

It’s particularly helpful to think that God is the Doer when you are faced with a task that seems beyond your ability. Swami Kriyananda wrote: “Focus on seeking to channel a higher power. Whenever I’ve really wanted to do something well, I’ve found that, by asking God to guide my understanding rather than asking for the blessing to succeed, I’ve done many things for which no amount of experience could have better prepared me. I’ve told myself, ‘Even though I don’t see how I can do that, I know God can do anything, even through the poorest instrument!’”

We are put into this world to learn God’s ways, to absorb His wisdom, and to feel His love. Our life’s experiences have no other purpose than this. The ups and downs of life are not real in and of themselves. The more we can realize that this is God’s show, the sooner we will feel His joy and love behind everything. So let’s solve the “I Do” dilemma with the simple thought: “I do give God my willing cooperation, that He take charge of my life.”

Yoganandaji expressed it beautifully in this prayer: “Beloved Lord, teach me to feel that Thou art the sole activating power, and that in recognition of Thee as the Doer lies the value of all my life’s experiences.”

With joy,

Nayaswami Devi

Listen to Devi as she first reads the blog, then expands on its meaning and messages for readers with behind-the-blog commentary. Subscribe to the podcast or download the audio recording by right-clicking here. Or listen to it here (9:09):

Once when Jyotish and I were with Swami Kriyananda in India, we began discussing the topic of arranged marriages. He felt that this custom was basically a very good one that led to happy unions, though like everything in the world, it had its positive and negative sides.

This led me to comment, “You sort of arranged our marriage.” “What do you mean ‘sort of’?” Swamiji answered indignantly. “I did arrange your marriage.”

The story behind his comment was this: For years Jyotish and I had lived alone at Ananda Village, our lives being mainly focused on our search for God through sadhana and service. Though others may have seen a compatibility and potential relationship between us, and we may have felt a latent recognition of this as well, our interactions with each other were always impersonal and respectful.

In early 1975, we were part of a small team that Swamiji sent out to do seminars in various cities on how to prepare for upcoming hard times. Each of us spoke on different topics such as building spiritual communities, food storage, and economic investments to help weather depression.

At the end of a few months, we were all about to return to Ananda Village, when Jyotish approached me and asked if we could talk. I thought it was something to do with the seminars on which we’d been working. To my surprise, he said, “I was thinking that we might get to know each other more personally.” Caught a bit off guard, but with tremendous respect for Jyotish, I replied, “Why don’t you ask Swamiji what he thinks?”

Shortly afterwards when the opportunity arose, Jyotish said to Swamiji, “I was thinking of asking Devi out on a date.” Without missing a beat, Swamiji replied, “Why bother with all that? Just get married.” He immediately consulted an astrologer friend of his to find an auspicious day and time for the wedding to take place. So without ever having had that first date, we were married three weeks later on March 27, 1975.

This was the beginning of a lifelong relationship that started as only a tiny ember of love, but over the years has grown into a beautiful flame which illumines both of our lives, and perhaps the lives of others as well. As we approach the celebration of our fiftieth anniversary, Jyotish recently wrote a blog about what he has learned through our five decades together. I thought I’d follow his lead and share a few thoughts as well.

I’ve learned that the best way to form a deep bond of love with another person—be it a partner, friend, or child—is always to see the highest in them. As Master said once to some of his disciples who were helping him, “God is helping God.”

Over the years, the love I have for Jyotish has expanded to the feeling that it is God within me loving the God within him. Swamiji wrote a beautiful song, “What Is Love?,” of which the first stanza is:

What is love? Is it only ours?

By tuning in to God’s power of love, which resides within each of us, we open a portal for beautiful, ever-deepening relationships. And by embracing an unconditional, selfless love for another, we discover that marriage can be a path to finding God.

For Jyotish and me, our commitment to one another is one of the central pillars of our life, because in essence it is a commitment to God. Though we lead busy, demanding lives in our service to Ananda, we never neglect to enjoy the great gift of each other’s company. Joy, too, is a quality of God, and how beautifully it can be expressed in a smile, an unexpected act of kindness, shared enjoyment of beauty in nature, or a bit of humor.

By keeping God at the center of our life, we’ve experienced so many divine qualities in our marriage: love, joy, peace, wisdom, and more. The marriage vows that Swami Kriyananda wrote for Ananda’s Wedding Ceremony conclude with these words: “May our love grow ever deeper, purer, more expansive, until, in our perfected love, we find the perfect love of God.”

Thank you, Swamiji, for arranging our marriage. Thank you, Jyotish, for being a true soul companion. And thank you, dear reader, for your continuing friendship in God.

May His blessings be with you always.

Nayaswami Devi

Watch Jyotish and Devi’s 50th Anniversary Celebration online here.

Listen to Devi as she first reads the blog, then expands on its meaning and messages for readers with behind-the-blog commentary. Subscribe to the podcast or download the audio recording by right-clicking here. Or listen to it here (9:35):