Nayaswami Jyotish, Author at Nayaswami Jyotish and Nayaswami Devi

We have just returned from Hyderabad and the last of three joyous celebrations honoring the centennial of Swami Kriyananda’s birth. The journey—from Ananda Village to Assisi, culminating in India—was magnificent. 

During a small gathering, Devi complimented a woman on her beautiful sari. To our surprise, the woman’s eyes filled with tears. She had worn it intentionally, she explained, and shared her story: 

“A few years ago, I had a dream about you and Jyotish. I was surprised because, at the time, I barely knew who you were. In the dream, I was wearing this very sari, and we were walking together, holding hands. Jyotish was walking a few steps ahead. I asked how many languages you spoke, and you answered, ‘Twelve.’” 

She added, “I’ve always believed significant dreams are true. Tonight, when you noticed my sari, I knew it again.” 

Our rational minds might immediately object: “But Devi doesn’t speak twelve languages.” Yet dreams are the soul’s way of touching the astral world. Across all our past incarnations, who is to say how many languages we have spoken? 

Dreams have the power to change a life. Let me share two of my own. 

The first came while I was considering whether to accept Swamiji’s request that I quit my job and become his assistant. In the dream, I was fishing in an underground stream and caught a multicolored sunfish. As I carefully worked the hook from its lip, it transformed into a posterized sun, with rosy cheeks and flames for hair. Then it changed again, into the baby Jesus. He looked deeply into my eyes and said, “If you want to know what it feels like to be a fish, you’ll never know by sitting on the bank.” 

Then he became a fish once more, flopped into the stream, and swam away. 

I woke immediately, still held in a superconscious state, and knew my answer. I accepted Swamiji’s offer. 

The astral world is a realm where such shape-shifting is as natural as changing clothes on the physical plane. So is flying, or walking on water, as we so often do in dreams. Are these dreams true? I would say they are at least as true as the dream we call the physical world. 

My second dream was of Master. I was sitting with a small group of devotees when someone mentioned that I had never received his Kriya blessing. He beckoned me forward, touched his finger to my forehead, and blessed me. I have always held that blessing to be real. 

We can also reach the astral plane while awake. Master wrote: “Imagination is a portal through which you can transcend the imposed limitations of this world. All creative persons use this power. With wisdom and will, whatever you can imagine, and continue to imagine, can become real.” 

So, here is my suggestion: Since significant dreams come to us from a higher plane, let us treat them as true. And since the astral body powers everything we do while awake, let us empower it in return through strong, focused imagination. 

To paraphrase Master’s poem “God! God! God!”: In waking, eating, working, dreaming, sleeping, serving, meditating, chanting, divinely loving, my mind will constantly imagine: God! God! God! 

In joy, 

Nayaswami Jyotish 

Listen to Jyotish as he 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 (9:13):

Devi and I recently gave a talk to a standing-room-only audience of nearly seven hundred people in Delhi. It was called “How to Achieve Your Highest Potential,” a vital subject for all seekers, whether new or experienced. I thought you might enjoy exploring some of the themes we discussed.

First, we must recognize that we are complex, multileveled beings with a physical body, an energy body, a mind, emotions, and, most importantly, a soul. And although each of us is unique, Master said that we all share a common motivation—to be happy and to avoid pain. All of our facets must be nurtured if we are to find happiness and fulfillment.

Most people try to find happiness outside themselves: a better job, new possessions, a compatible partner. We must avoid this trap, because happiness lies within, and nothing outside ourselves can give us more than fleeting contentment.

Let’s start with improving ourselves on the physical level, since that is the easiest and, by far, the most common area of people’s focus. There are three areas especially that are important: proper diet, good exercise and sleep, and avoidance of alcohol, drugs, tobacco, and other substances that will destroy our health.

Right eating should focus not on feeding our taste buds but on filling the cells with prana. So let’s choose foods that are full of it: fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains. Avoid meat, which introduces toxins into the body, and learn to leave the table before you’re full.

A healthy body is like a launching pad for a rocket. It needs to be strong so that we can leave it behind. Ultimately, we must recognize that the body—“Brother Donkey,” as St. Francis called it—is only a vehicle for our consciousness.

Much more important is our energy, or astral, body. Developing awareness and control of subtle energy is the key to higher states of consciousness. Yogananda’s teachings are based upon pranayama, or control of energy. It starts with the energization exercises, a form of pranayama that Master gave us. If we’re serious, we must establish a daily practice. Devi and I always do them first thing in the morning before we meditate. In addition, pay attention to the principle “The greater the will (willingness), the greater the flow of energy.” Develop your will by taking on challenges that are difficult but achievable. Then see them through!

Next come two even more important factors: positive thinking and positive emotions. Our minds, as extensions of God’s consciousness, have unlimited potential. Our thoughts become self-fulfilling, as Jesus told his disciples:

“Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

Our spiritual practices, especially pranayama and Kriya, give us control over our reactive process. Negative, contractive reactions such as criticism and judgment will be transmuted into supportive friendship to all. Swami Kriyananda said, “Maturity is the ability to relate appropriately to other realities than one’s own.”

Finally, we come to the soul, the level of our true self and essential nature. It incarnates in countless bodies and personalities. As long as we are deluded into thinking that our present body and personality are who we are, we can only inch toward our highest potential.

Meditation—the deeper the better—is the way to break this hypnosis. Master defined meditation as “deep concentration on God or one of His eight aspects, such as love, joy, light, or sound.” Identifying with our eternal, infinite nature ultimately frees us from bobbing helplessly on the endless waves of the sea of delusion.

If we pay attention to each of these layers, we can make this life healthy, happy, beautiful, and joy-filled. Then, as we awaken to our true potential, we share our joy and wealth with everyone.

In joy,

Nayaswami Jyotish

Listen to Jyotish as he 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 (8:54):

While we were in Italy before coming to India, we talked with MayaDevi, a dear friend of ours who is the head of our Kriya ministry in Europe. She also meets weekly with a small group of prisoners, teaching them meditation and yoga to help them cope with their life in prison. Although two or three of them are very interested, several of the others seem rather indifferent to the practices. She asked us, “What argument can I use to motivate them?”

We hit upon the idea of asking Joe Hunt (Jairam), a good friend, Kriyaban, and long-term prisoner, whether he had any suggestions that could help. He wrote the prisoners a letter so profound that we felt inspired to share it with you:

Good morning, Brothers,

Why should I learn to meditate? Why learn Raja Yoga from Sri Paramhansa Yogananda?

I found myself asking these questions thirty-nine years ago in a vast and dreary place called Los Angeles County Main Jail. At just twenty-seven years of age, I was staring at the near certainty of a sentence of life without possibility of parole. Already I had experienced over a year inside. Trapped within walls of cement and rebar, isolated in a seven-by-ten-foot cell, with nothing other than the clothes on my back and a few toiletries, it came to me that I would do well to learn how to be happy with things just as they were. It seemed Raja Yoga, which required nothing more than my human body and mind, potentially offered a solution.

There were going to be no movie theaters, romantic escapades, late-night runs to restaurants, or long drives near the ocean or through the mountains of California. This was it. It was going to be just me living in a room no bigger than a closet.

But what if that was an opportunity? What if the Kingdom of God truly was within? What if those men who chose Himalayan caves and incessant meditation weren’t crazy? What if the prison was the world and the way out was within?

These ideas arose spontaneously as I read Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramhansa Yogananda.

And so began my journey away from the world. I found that there was an intense joy that flowed like a secret spring when I crossed my legs and closed my eyes and did as Yogananda told me to do. My chakras came alive. Soon I was so preoccupied with the inner work that I scarcely cared whether they opened my cell door or not.

So that is why I learned to meditate and why the life offered to me by Yogananda took hold within me. Through meditation and the techniques and vantage point of Raja Yoga, I found freedom in isolation, and liberation in the poverty of prison. It is now thirty-nine years later. My body is still in prison, but I am nevertheless free.

I wrote this letter at the request of my friends and gurubhais at Ananda. May it be a lamp to your souls as you consider the apparently forlorn predicament of prison.

I am, yours truly,

Joe Hunt

Nayaswami Jyotish, Jairam and Nayaswami Devi.

Don’t you feel inspired when you read his letter? I certainly did. As he implies, we are all prisoners for life without possibility of parole. Yes, our cell is larger, and better decorated with forests and oceans, but this earthly plane of existence is, ultimately, a prison.

There is no release except by going within and finding spiritual freedom. Yogananda incarnated to show us how to escape our cells, and gave us meditation, service to others, and right attitude—the tools we can use to open our prison’s doors. If we employ them well, we will come to realize that we were confined by nothing but the fears and limits of our own minds.

Master ends his prayer-demand “The Imprisoned Bird of Omnipresence Was Released” with these words: “O bird of eternity, take heart! Break out forever from that little prison of imaginary security, and soar up to thy barless home in everything!”

I pray that we all fly to freedom in God.

With joy,

Nayaswami Jyotish

Listen to Jyotish as he 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 (8:33):

What is the purpose of life and, specifically, of my present incarnation? What is the essence of the techniques of our path? How do we form a stronger connection with our Guru? These are the questions we were exploring during our talk on “The Essential Elements of Kriya” at the annual Kriya Renaissance week here in Assisi.

We’ve all read that the goal of life is to find God or, alternatively, to dissolve the ego. But do we have a clear idea of what this means? Who is God? Where is He located? We know that He isn’t an angry man condemning sinners to hell, as Michelangelo painted Him. Nor can He be depicted only as one of the many deities of the Hindu religion. All forms show aspects of Him, but none is able to capture His essence.

The problem is that He is pure consciousness, and because the human mind can’t picture such an abstraction, we substitute a form that we can see and touch. Or perhaps we’ve been taught that to be spiritual we must live a life filled with “Do this” and “Don’t do that.” How, then, if He is pure consciousness, can we find Him? It can only be by expanding our consciousness until we can directly experience God. But this experience, too, is hard to visualize.

Paramhansa Yogananda solves this dilemma for us by giving us a clear image. In Autobiography of a Yogi, the chapter “An Experience in Cosmic Consciousness” is surely one of the clearest descriptions of Divinity in all literature. That chapter, which I read just as I was beginning my spiritual quest, changed my life forever. Master also gave us the poem “Samadhi,” which again provides a crystal-clear portrayal. Let’s then restate things: The purpose of my spiritual search is to achieve samadhi. This, for me, brings clarity to the goal.

What about the techniques we practice? Yoga has hundreds, probably thousands, of them. If we approach each one as separate and unrelated, we end up with a jumble, like a bowl full of loose beads. Even if we limit the number to just the four main techniques of our path—the Energization Exercises, Hong-Sau, Kriya, and AUM—we still have a group of seemingly separate practices. But we can string all the beads together by saying that each one helps us control our life-force, withdraw it from its fixation on external experiences, and focus it at the spiritual eye so we can attain samadhi.

King of the Infinite by Nayaswami Jyotish.

Why do we need a guru? The delusions of the ego are like a labyrinth, and the mind is too limited to find its own way out. The guru knows the way and can lead us to freedom if we open our hearts and minds to him.

So now the essence of the spiritual path seems much clearer: I am trying to attain the state of samadhi. In order to do so, I need to withdraw the energy from the senses and focus it completely at the spiritual eye. And Master will give me the inner guidance and the grace to accomplish this.

Although the goal and the method may be clear, it is still not easy to accomplish. Lest we despair, here are some comforting words from Master that apply to every one of us: “If ever you have a desire for God, it can never be crushed. I want you to know that. This is a message of hope to you: If you have had the desire to be redeemed, you will find salvation. You may delay your development, but sooner or later that desire will lead you to Him. Why wait? Why let anyone shake your determination? You must find Him. Let no one dilute that desire.”**

In His light,

Nayaswami Jyotish

*Solving the Mystery of Life, Self-Realization Fellowship, p. 135.

Listen to Jyotish as he 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 (9:57):

During our talks and satsangs, we are often asked, “How do I know what to do? How can I make the right decision?”

There is a good joke about this: A young man comes to the sage of the neighborhood and asks, “How is it that you always have such good judgment?”

The sage replies, “Well, son, good judgment comes from experience.”

“How do you get experience?” the young man asks.

“From bad judgment!”

We’ve all faced the complications caused by making a bad decision. After many years of doing relationship counseling, Devi and I jokingly said that we should have T-shirts made—the front saying, Why did you do such a thing? What were you thinking? On the back it would say, It seemed like a good idea at the time.

There must be a better way to make decisions than to blunder our way through life. Various traditions give general guidelines for right behavior: Patanjali’s yamas and niyamas, the Bible’s Ten Commandments, Buddhism’s five precepts, and Islam’s five pillars. But these universal teachings only take us so far. We often feel the need for more immediate advice, for more personal guidance.

Here is the method Paramhansa Yogananda recommends for developing wisdom-guided intuition: When you have the urge to do something that might be unwise, stop for a moment and mentally list the reasons you shouldn’t do it. If you do this, he says, you will gradually develop your intuition, and then you will be guided by your inborn wisdom.

This seems almost too easy. But it works! Give it a try. Lately I’ve been using this method to help me drop the habit of snacking between meals. Each time the urge arises, I list the reasons I should use self-control. You will find that the more you do it, the more powerful it becomes.

You can also use this method to help you make bigger decisions. When our strong-willed son was an adolescent, he became quite rebellious, and several people suggested that we send him away to boarding school. We mentally listed the reasons this might be a good idea and, just as importantly, the reasons why it might be unwise. We finally decided it would be better to have him stay with us so we could help guide him through these turbulent years. It turned out to be the bedrock of what has become a strong and loving relationship.

This method will help you develop wisdom-guided intuition, but there is a higher level—soul-guided intuition. For this, we must advance spiritually, especially developing the ability to concentrate deeply at the spiritual eye. By concentrating there, and by lovingly attuning our individual will to the will of God and Guru, we allow their light to illuminate our path forward. Our teachings also show how to develop this power of concentration.

First, we should use techniques of pranayama—Hong-Sau and Kriya—to withdraw the energy into the deep spine, allowing us to calm the restless thoughts. Next, we should look into the light we see in the forehead. Then, without allowing the mental processes to become activated, “float” the issue into the light. You don’t need to be too specific; the light has its own intelligence, greater even than that of our own mind. Now, see if guidance comes to you as a solution or a feeling in the heart.

Once you receive the intuition, act on it. This will help you develop confidence in your soul’s abilities. But you should also continue to be open to further inner guidance. As Swami Kriyananda humorously said, “Just because you get the guidance to go north, it doesn’t mean that you have to go all the way to the North Pole.”

Intuition, whether wisdom-born or soul-born, is an innate ability. We don’t have to pray that it come to us; we need only improve what is already there. Believe in yourself. A positive mindset allows the energy to flow unimpeded.

As Swamiji says in his affirmation for discrimination, “Resolutely I quell my inclinations, that my mind be open to the wisdom-guidance of my soul.”

With the light of God,

Nayaswami Jyotish

Listen to Jyotish as he 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 (9:11):

Lahiri Mahashaya

There is an instructive story in Autobiography of a Yogi. Ramu, who had been blind from birth, was urged by fellow disciples to ask his guru, Lahiri Mahasaya, to heal him.

“Master, the Illuminator of the cosmos is in you. I pray you to bring His light into my eyes, that I perceive the sun’s lesser glow.”

“Ramu, someone has connived to put me in a difficult position. I have no healing power.”

“Sir, the Infinite One within you can certainly heal.”

“That is indeed different, Ramu. God’s limit is nowhere! He who ignites the stars and the cells of flesh with mysterious life-effulgence can surely bring luster of vision into your eyes.”

A week later, after faithfully following Lahiri’s instructions, Ramu saw the light of the dawn for the first time.

Luther Burbank, Swami Paramhansa Yogananda and others posing in front of the Burbank home

Elsewhere in Autobiography of a Yogi, Master writes about his dear friend Luther Burbank.

Intimate communion with nature, who unlocked to him many of her jealously guarded secrets, had given Burbank a boundless spiritual reverence.

“Sometimes I feel very close to the Infinite Power,” he confided shyly. His sensitive, beautifully modeled face lit with his memories. “Then I have been able to heal sick persons around me, as well as many ailing plants.”

These stories illustrate a very important principle: To the extent we realize that God is the doer, we are given the capacity to be channels of His power. Then we are only a step away from Master’s definition of our ultimate goal: “Self-realization is the knowing in all parts of body, mind, and soul that you are now in possession of the kingdom of God; that you do not have to pray that it come to you; that God’s omnipresence is your omnipresence; and that all you need to do is improve your knowing.”

Whether in meditation or in activity, we shouldn’t so much pray that Divine Mother come to us, as realize that She is already present, helping us to accomplish our goals. Master is very reassuring about our journey. He says, “There are many pathways in life through which we may move toward God. In fact, all constructive pursuits we undertake—any activity performed with the desire to do good either to self or to others—ultimately lead us from the limitations of the little self, or ego, to realization of our divine Self, one with God.”

Once a swami from India, visiting Ananda Village, looked around in amazement at what he saw. Referring to Swami Kriyananda, he marveled, “How could one man do all of this? Oh, I know—he didn’t do it; God did it through him.”

“Dark Eyes,” by Nayaswami Jyotish

For us, the crucial question is: How can we increase our awareness of Divine Mother’s perpetual presence in our lives? The most important way is to continually affirm that God is acting through us. He is the writer of this blog, and He is the reader. He is the screen we are seeing, and the eyes with which we see. The more we do this, the stronger the realization of His presence will become. Here are three other keys:

God has given us free will. Can we see ourselves as channels of Divine Mother’s power and continue to expand toward infinity? Or do we mistakenly think we are the doer, and thereby cut ourselves off from the divine flow? The choice, friends, is ours to make.

In joy,

Nayaswami Jyotish

Listen to Jyotish as he 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 (8:57):

From time to time you hear or read something that makes a deep impression on you. This happened to me recently when I revisited a story I have read many times, one of the most dramatic in Autobiography of a Yogi.

“Sir, you must be the great Babaji.” The man’s face was lit with inexpressible reverence. “For months I have pursued a ceaseless search for you among these forbidding crags. I implore you to accept me as a disciple.”

When the great guru made no response, the man pointed to the rocky chasm at his feet.

“If you refuse me, I will jump from this mountain. Life has no further value if I cannot win your guidance to the Divine.”

“Jump then,” Babaji said unemotionally. “I cannot accept you in your present state of development.”

The man immediately hurled himself over the cliff. Babaji instructed the shocked disciples to fetch the stranger’s body. When they returned with the mangled form, the master placed his divine hand on the dead man. Lo! he opened his eyes and prostrated himself humbly before the omnipotent one.

“You are now ready for discipleship.” Babaji beamed lovingly on his resurrected chela.

In the past I have read this story as an observer, marveling at Babaji’s behavior and the ensuing miracle. This time I read it as a participant, imagining myself in the role of that man. Fortunately, his story is untold—no details of age, nationality, or family circumstances were given, which leaves space for me to reimagine it as if it were my own.

To be so near liberation, where a life in the world had no further value, he must, like us, have had many lifetimes seeking God. In this life he must have been sufficiently successful that he could depart without fleeing from unfulfilled desires or running from regrets.

Can’t many of us relate to his yearning, where a life without God no longer holds our interest, where unfulfilled desires no longer motivate us? If we haven’t yet reached the state where we are ready to take the final leap of faith, we can at least see that high state shining on the horizon. We feel intuitively that, if we keep trying, we can reach it in this incarnation, or before many more have passed. After all, Swami Kriyananda told us that we should all try to be jivan muktas in this life.

Vastness, by Nayaswami Jyotish.

Our leap of faith will not be made from some forbidding mountain crag, but by soaring through the spiritual eye into a realm where no earthly ego remains except as a mangled memory. We must all take that final flight alone, but happily we are part of a group of friends eager to journey together toward those spiritual heights.

Don’t you, too, feel drawn to a time when your desires fall away, and you want nothing more than to live in God’s light and to do His will? One of my favorite prayer-demands from Whispers from Eternity relates perfectly to that man’s story—and our own.

“I am crying in a wilderness of loneliness. With eyes closed I have long knocked at doors of darkness, praying that they will open and reveal Thy light. With a million thirsty cravings of my heart, I long for Thee. Oh, wilt Thou come?”

Nayaswami Jyotish

Listen to Jyotish as he 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 (8:58): 

We have just finished the incredibly inspiring Centennial Celebration of Swami Kriyananda’s birth. It was a week filled with classes, song, and joy. The Temple of Light at Ananda Village was filled to capacity with over 750 participants, while another 5,000 people from 79 countries signed up to receive the events online. The reality of Ananda as a worldwide family became unmistakable. Perhaps the most inspiring feature of all was the palpable presence of Swamiji and Master.

But now everyone has dispersed and returned to their usual places and the patterns of their everyday lives. How do we hold on to the inspiration we experienced during those precious days? This question suggests others: How do we hold on to the inspiration of a particularly deep meditation, an uplifting sensation, or a peak experience?

We have all confronted the wavelike nature of duality, the rise and fall of inspiration. Grace lingers for a while and then, usually, slowly fades away. But there is an interval when we can cooperate with that grace to prolong the blessings. In our final summation, I suggested that participants had about a week in which to act on it or lose the opportunity.

There are a few fundamental elements that will help us stay in a bubble of grace. First of all, everything will depend on our attunement to the will of God and Guru. There is a deep reality to the words spoken in our Purification Ceremony: The Master says, “Open your heart to me, and I will enter and take charge of your life.” If we open ourselves to him, he will guide us toward two things especially: service and satsang. Through service we act as his instruments to support and uplift others; through satsang we realize the power of environment—positive or negative—to influence our lives.

Attunement is central, but we must then act on the guidance we receive. We should do our best to practice the techniques and to meditate with ever-deepening concentration. But remember, sincerity is more important than success. Because we have free will, God and Guru can only amplify our own efforts. If we want to feel Divine Mother’s love, then let’s prime the pump by meditating with devotion. If we want to feel joy, then we need to practice with joy.

Devotees from near and far gathered for this year’s Centennial celebration. Here are Ananda New Zealand and Ananda Australia having satsang with Jyotish and Devi.

There are also some practical ways to prolong our periods of inspiration. Here are five important ones:

We don’t need to be helpless victims. With a little effort on our part, and with the grace of God and Guru, we can take control of our fate. We can live in alignment with our soul-nature, which exists in a constant state of inspiration.

In divine friendship,

Nayaswami Jyotish

P.S. If you didn’t attend the celebration and would like a powerful boost to your spiritual efforts, you can receive the whole experience for free in your own home by registering here: ananda.org/swami-100. 

Listen to Jyotish as he 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 (7:59): 

My entire adult life has been lived in the orbit of Swami Kriyananda. He danced through life like a virtuoso, displaying so many varied talents—creativity, leadership, ingenuity, spiritual dedication. But when I set aside what he did, and go into my heart to feel what he was, the word that pops into my mind is friend.

He treated me as a friend from the very first moment I met him, inviting me into his apartment and including me in a group about to share a picnic in sun-filled Golden Gate Park. Strangely enough, before I knew he was my spiritual father and teacher, I knew he was my friend. Over the years I’ve met dozens of people who have said he was their closest friend, though many of them spent very little time with him. How did he radiate this magical quality, and how can we follow in his footsteps?

Swamiji accepted and supported everyone from where they were, rather than where they “should” be.

First of all, he accepted and supported everyone from where they were, rather than where they “should” be. We’ve mentioned the story of a time when Devi and I were severely criticized by someone. When we asked him if we were at fault, he replied, “You’re doing the best you can for who you are.” This was more than a one-time comment; it was his way of looking at people, his way of accepting and supporting them.

He rarely criticized anyone, no matter how obvious their shortcomings. Nor did he quickly offer advice. He always waited until a person was ready, even eager, to hear how they might change. It wasn’t that he withheld guidance—his method was to give clear counsel in a lecture, usually without looking at the person he was guiding. This gave them the freedom to affirm the advice in principle before realizing it applied to them personally.

Even though he knew I welcomed his guidance, I can count on my fingers the number of times he corrected me directly or strongly. I remember one interesting instance. I was the Ananda Village Manager for many years, and each year the residents elected a Village Council. Haanel Cassidy was a mentor to many, the head of the gardens, and a dignified lifelong disciple of Master. He asked to vote, since he worked at the Village, even though he resided at the Seclusion Retreat. Being young and overly logical, I decided he could have a half-vote. This, of course, insulted him greatly.

When Swamiji heard about my decision, he immediately pulled me aside and asked, “What in the world were you thinking? Couldn’t you see how it would offend him? You need to use your common sense!” Yet even in his reprimand, I felt his abiding friendship.

Swamiji, you see, unlike me in my youth, cared about friendship, not logic. He always asked himself, “Will my words help this person spiritually? Will they make him feel supported and befriended?”

If we want to feel close to God, let’s treat Him like our dearest friend.

We normally think of friendship as a way of relating to other people. But friendship is even more important spiritually. If we want to feel close to God, let’s treat Him like our dearest friend. We can’t hide our flaws—He sees them anyway. We should come to Him, or to our guru (God’s visible form on earth), with an open heart. Then He will whisper to us, “You’re doing the best you can for who you are. Let me help you grow into an even more beautiful expression of yourself.”

As Master says in his lovely poem “Friendship”:

Ah, friendship! Flowering, heaven-born plant!

Let us, like Swamiji, smooth the way for everyone we meet.

In divine friendship,

Nayaswami Jyotish

Listen to Jyotish as he 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 (8:35):

We live in a sea of miracles, though we recognize only the big ones and ignore the small ones. In fact, most people can accept only big ones as true miracles at all. One of these occurred with Swami Kriyananda.

Malka, an elderly Indian woman, had come to Ananda Village with a pilgrimage group. After the pilgrimage ended, she went on to visit her sister in New York. Then tragedy struck—she fell and shattered her arm so badly that the surgeon didn’t know if he could set it. It might require amputation. Alone in a foreign country, frightened and in pain, she was unable to sleep. That night Swami Kriyananda walked into her room, sat on her bed, and began to gently stroke her arm. “Don’t worry, Malka, everything is going to be all right.” And so it was. The next day’s operation was a complete success.

The miracle part of the story was that Swamiji was in California at the time. When we told him about Malka, he said, “I have no knowledge of the event.” Then he added something we’ve never forgotten: “But the soul is perfectly capable of acting without permission from the ego.”

Big miracles are so obvious that only the hardened cynics can doubt, but small miracles happen to us every day, and usually we dismiss them as “lucky coincidences.” Such a miracle recently occurred in my own life.

I have a niece with a Ph.D. from Harvard. I got a message from her a few weeks ago. She has a daughter with autism and, being a scientist, was developing a protocol to work with autistic children. Many years ago, while a student in Washington state, she had studied Ananda Yoga. She now wanted to know if there were any yoga teachers whom she could work with online. We connected her to one of our main instructors at The Expanding Light, who also has an autistic child. Finding such a mutually beneficial pairing is, alone, a minor miracle.

But the story doesn’t end there. While at dinner in Seattle just two days ago, we mentioned this to our companions. It turns out that one of them was the very yoga teacher who trained my niece fifteen years ago. Not only that, but he has a Ph.D. in yoga from a university in Bangalore, India, where many studies have been done about yoga and autism. The combination is a match made in heaven!

Life itself is a miracle that God performs daily for us. Additionally, if we channel our willpower in a positive direction, God often subtly augments it. One time Devi wanted to buy a particular game, Apples to Apples, as a Christmas present for our family. She had searched in many stores to no avail. Giving up, she stopped to pick up a few items before coming home. In one of the checkout lines there was a mother struggling with a tired and whiny child. The other frazzled shoppers were avoiding that line, but Devi chose instead to stand behind them and offer silent prayers. When she was about to check out, she noticed the very game she had been searching for beside the cash register. “Is that available?” she asked. “Yes,” the clerk replied, “someone decided they didn’t want it, and we haven’t had time to return it to its shelf.” Mission accomplished—and another quiet miracle.

These small miracles, I would suggest, are more important than the big ones. They are a constant connection between us and God. But like a shy magician, He performs His small miracles without fanfare. It is up to us to be alert enough to recognize His hidden marvels in our lives.

Master begins his great book, Whispers from Eternity, with this prayer: “O Father, when I was blind I found not a door which led to Thee, but now that Thou hast opened my eyes I find doors everywhere: through the hearts of flowers, through the voice of friendship, through sweet memories of all lovely experiences. Every gust of my prayer opens a new door in the vast temple of Thy presence.”

In the presence of miracles,

Nayaswami Jyotish

Listen to Jyotish as he 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 (8:21):