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I suggest that you give this a try: Make waking from the dream your first priority. Then act immediately on the whispers from your conscience.

There are no shortcuts on the spiritual path. God cannot be deceived by outward gestures when the heart remains entangled in worldly attachments. A sincere seeker must strive to rise above external distractions and desires, placing God at the center of their life.

The story of how Jyotish began painting.

Once we’ve found our guru, the next stage in the journey is to develop deeper self-offering and attunement to him.

A single theme runs through spiritual teachings like a string that connects the beads of a mala. That theme is: Pay attention, focus on what you are doing, be here now. At this time of year many people make resolutions for the new year. Generally, these are about creating new, healthy habits or leaving behind harmful ones. They’re typically about something on the physical plane—diet, say, or exercise. A few people may resolve to improve mental or emotional habits: changing attitudes or controlling emotions. Fewer still make resolutions about their spiritual lives. All of these are helpful, especially the spiritual resolutions. These help us transcend the endless dualities of maya rather than, as Swami Kriyananda occasionally put it, “trying to improve the mud puddle we’re sitting in.”

We are all “works in progress,” and while we need to build on our successes, let’s not be discouraged about where we fell short. Take some time now to introspect and see in what ways you have succeeded; analyze where you could have done better; and decide on the goals you want to set for 2025. Let’s look at these three components.

The Christmas season is an ideal time of year to expand our hearts and minds. As Paramhansa Yogananda wrote, “This Christmas morning we invoke the spirit of Jesus, the spirit of Christ to descend upon our consciousness and give us the realization of infinity.”

Recently after meditation I found myself grappling with such discouraging thoughts about my own progress. At that moment an uplifting realization entered my mind and changed my perspective: “Once you realize that the material world can never provide the happiness you seek, you have crossed a threshold that inevitably leads to soul freedom.” Yoganandaji talks about the “anguishing monotony” we experience after countless incarnations of thwarted attempts to find lasting happiness in the world. Once we sincerely begin to seek higher realities and remain steadfast, our goal of finding God will itself help guide us toward fulfillment. Though we may not perceive any progress or changes in ourself, every effort we make breaks down inner barriers and moves us closer to God.

During this holy season, take time to reflect on the attributes of Christ that have touched your life. If you feel inspired, share with the other readers one of his qualities, along with some practical tips for becoming a channel of Christ Consciousness.

One of the most useful truths taught by Paramhansa Yogananda is: “The greater the will, the greater the flow of energy.” By pouring our energy into everything we do, we draw even more energy to accomplish it. Over time we discover that this increased energy flow comes from a higher source and enables us to succeed at whatever we’re doing.

Most of us have family, job, and social responsibilities. If we perform these in a dharmic and non-attached way, they will lead us toward our soul’s destined freedom from the dream-world of maya. We have, after all, incarnated at the exact time and place that gives us the opportunity to evolve toward the final goal of Self-realization.

Now is the time to remember our innate power to rise above whatever challenges lie before us. Perhaps we can’t change the world, but then again, united in faith in God, perhaps we can. Swami Kriyananda said that those seeking God have chosen to incarnate at this time for a purpose—to balance the downward-flowing energy around us with light and faith in a higher reality.

Let us not limit our vision to our individual spiritual search, or to the challenges in our daily life. We are a part of a great family of God, come together to help others, too, to find their way to truth. Master closed his Autobiography of a Yogi with these words: “Lord, Thou hast given this monk a large family!” United in his love, let us carry his banner forward.

During our travels in India over the past two months, we’ve been launching the latest compilation of our blogs, A Touch of Inner Power. Recently at the Ananda center in Pune, Jyotish and I spoke about different expressions of inner power and how they can uplift our life. Here are a few of the thoughts that we shared.

uring our recent travels, I’ve come across some quotes on the internet credited to Abraham Lincoln. None of them, as it happens, can be reliably, or for the most part even plausibly, attributed to that great man. Such is the age we live in. A lot of what we read or hear these days is of questionable reliability, and we need to use our own discrimination and common sense. There is a difference, however, between fact and truth. Regardless of who first uttered these quotes, they each contain a kernel of truth, which is eternal and can never be created but only perceived. Here are a few of them, both witty and wise, along with my comments.

I felt to share with you my journey with forgiveness in the hope that it will help you, too, to experience the release of subconscious negative feelings. The goal of life is to find freedom from every pattern of action or thought that keeps us in bondage.

How can we know whether or not we’ve led a victorious life? Generally, victory implies a comparison—one team outscores the other; one party or country wins a battle; someone rises to the top of the corporate ladder and becomes wealthy. But when it comes to the battle of life, it is fruitless to compare one person’s life against another’s. Does material wealth, high position, or an easy existence mean that you have led a victorious life?

How do we please God and Gurus? Swamiji's life and service to his master, Paramhansa Yogananda, is an example of discipleship for us all.

Is there anything that we can do to quicken the ripening of the fruit of Self-realization? While faith and patience are the most important attitudes, self-effort is also needed. There is, in nature, a wonderful symbol of the balance between the effort and the patience that are required. In Italian, the sunflower is called “girasole,” or “sun-turner.” While a plant cannot force its seeds to ripen, the humble sunflower can turn itself to keep facing the sun. Here are a few ways we can stay turned toward the Divine Light.

What is the story behind this holy place L'Ermo?

It is not enough, of course, just to receive this grace in the form of a golden cord. We must also pass it on to all those we meet during the day. Whether through visualization, or simply an inner sense of connection, we should see ourselves as both recipients and channels of a golden cord of Divine Grace. The world needs channels for this light now more than ever.

Here are five practical ways to express this key concept, Crystal Clarity, which is at the heart of Ananda communities.

Wouldn’t we all like to be able to be happy whenever we chose? Here are some keys to bringing that power under the control of your will.

Swami Kriyananda once shared a remarkable experience he’d had while giving a Kriya Yoga initiation. After the ceremony he told a small group of us who had gathered around him, “As each one of you came up for the blessing, I could feel your unique path to God.” His words were thrilling on two levels: first, that we would find God; and secondly, that our path to soul freedom lay before us and could be seen by one with higher awareness.

What can we do to help overcome darkness? Let’s become lighthouses of uplifted thoughts and actions. Here are some suggestions.

Swami Kriyananda lived with his guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, for the last three and a half years of the great master’s life. The teachings and training that Swamiji received from him during that time have inspired and guided the work of Ananda, which now reaches countless souls throughout the world. Here are two stories from Swamiji’s early days with his guru that can help us in our spiritual as well as our everyday life.

The phrase “God is watching” often comes across as a stern warning, an admonition that any misstep will be punished by an ever-alert, ever-vengeful Divine Judge. This perspective can fill us with a sense of dread. But let’s flip it around and view it as it truly is. God is our Father/Mother, ever ready to help when we need it. This idea sounds simple, and it is. Yet, until we truly accept this on all levels—body, mind, heart, and soul—we will find it hard to open ourselves to God. Hearing simple stories of divine intervention can help. Here is one that was sent to us by Rima, the manager of Ananda’s award-winning café in Mumbai, just last week...

What had happened? I believe that there were two factors at work in this healing: the blessings of a saint and the healing power of positive thoughts. Swamiji could have said, “You’ll feel better in the morning,” and then silently prayed for my healing. Instead, by asking me what was going to happen, he elicited my active, positive affirmation that I would be well. Add to that the power of his blessings, and I received a permanent healing.

I recently found out that Yogananda visited Padre Pio while in Europe in 1936, but kept his visit secret because Padre Pio was being persecuted by the Church at that time. Devi and I have recently been reading a very inspiring book, Padre Pio and I, by Adolfo Affattato, one of Padre Pio’s “spiritual children”—disciples, in our terminology. This is one of the few books I’ve read that gets into the heart and spiritual essence of a saint, rather than viewing saints and their miracles from the outside.

Master said, “As long as you question if you will win or lose, you will lose.” This is a daunting statement, but one that motivates us to develop the firm conviction that we will succeed. He suggested that we keep a mental diary, and every night before sleep analyze how we fared on life’s battlefield that day. Figure out how you can improve your efforts, then act on that understanding.

How much happier we would be if we could throw ourselves into life?

One of Yogananda’s most important teachings was how to use the power of will to draw success in any undertaking. Many religions have taught that we are weak sinners, passive and incapable of helping ourselves. But understanding how to use will power to draw energy from a cosmic source is the key to accomplishing our goals—both in the world and in our spiritual search.

We recently did an interview with Richard Dugan for a program called Tell Me Your Story. At the end of his interviews, he asks his guests these three questions: Who are you? What gets you up in the morning? What was your best day? What interesting and deeply spiritual questions! Of course, everyone will answer in their own way, and we answered them spontaneously at the end of the program. But since then, I’ve thought about them more deeply. You, too, might benefit if you ponder them, and discover what emerges from your heart and soul.

With an outpouring of wisdom and compassion, Paramhansa Yogananda gave us a sure, do-able path to soul freedom. “If you practice even 1/100th of what I teach, you will find God,” he told his disciples. Add to these techniques and many others, the practice of meditation and Kriya Yoga, and we have all that we need to achieve our spiritual goals.

Every day we’re faced with dozens of choices. Some are large ones requiring thoughtful decisions, but many are so small they never even register on a conscious level, but come more as feelings and reactions. In all of these choices, be they mental or emotional, there is an option that expands and lifts us, and one that contracts us into greater self-centeredness. When our reactive processes get aroused, they block our ability to make any choice, let alone the right one. At these times the best strategy is to do a reset: take a few deep breaths, step away from the problem for a bit, or even get a night’s sleep.

With his awareness of who we were, Swamiji helped us to reach our own potential also by suggesting challenging new areas of service. To each one, he gave assignments according to what we needed to learn, and stood beside us as we sometimes fumbled our way forward. Opening new vistas to reach for, Swamiji often worked silently and unseen beside us, guiding us forward toward the goal. If all he had accomplished was a legacy of inspiring books and lectures, it would have been a remarkable offering to his guru. But what was perhaps most precious was that he gave of himself in so personal a way to help countless individuals on their journey to God.

A friend recently shared an analogy that not only gave me a good chuckle, but provided a completely new meaning to the term “divine guidance.” Usually we think of this as intuitive answers or inner guidance. But he compared it to the GPS (Global Positioning System). When we’re travelling, the first step is to enter our destination into Google Maps. Then it does its magic and gives us a detailed route to follow. If we wander off from the recommended path, the GPS doesn’t get upset with us, it simply recalculates the route and offers new directions. It’s similar with the Divine.

What does the battle of the Bhagavad Gita represent in our own spiritual life?

What are the qualities Swamiji modelled for all of us and how might we model them in our own lives?

What stops us from starting the “ascent” to greater awareness?

The theme of the evolution of consciousness is woven repeatedly throughout the great teachings of India. First there is the long, more-or-less automatic, evolution through the reincarnations prior to reaching the human form. This passage through the dim corridors of waking consciousness reaches its pinnacle in the higher animals, who can sometimes demonstrate extraordinary intelligence.

When confronted with the effects of our past bad actions, how should we respond?

How we work with others is an indication of how we work with ourselves. We can apply these principles to our own lives.

The doors to this sacred realm are always open. The choice is ours whether we want to dwell there. Living in our guru’s ashram is a state of mind, and much more: It is constantly reaching out for union with God, until we realize that the guru’s ashram has always resided in our own heart.

How can we learn to cultivate friendships everywhere and see our unity? It’s always a joy to share inspiring events that come into our lives, especially when they come unbidden and filled with “education and entertainment”—the purpose of all our life’s experiences, according to Paramhansa Yogananda.

Why does memory exist at all? Researchers are trying to discover what the mechanism is that holds and releases our memories.

Every soul yearns for the light, and will find a way to grow toward it. No matter what the obstacles, the soul will find its way upward just as a blade of grass will sometimes grow through a slab of concrete. What follows is taken from the journal of a young woman who lives in an area where it is nearly impossible for young women to find a quality education.

How can we save ourselves endless trouble and heartache? Before any important choice, we ask, “Will this help my spiritual evolution?”

It is helpful to recognize that we have two dharmas: the timeless dharma of the soul aiming to reunite with God, and the dharma of our current life. Happiness and success will follow only if we align the actions of this life with the eternal dharma of our soul.

There are times when life seems to bear down on us. It’s difficult then to remain positive amidst the challenges in our life, and that we see in the lives of others, and in the world at large. Yet in this world of duality, the alternating waves of joy and sorrow are a constant. It's how we deal with them that keeps us either forever tossed on the crashing waves of maya, or resting in the unmoving peace of God.