Thursday 26 January 2017

The Experience of God - in the words of Paramahamsa Yogananda

THE LORD’S PRAYER
by Paramahansa Yogananda  from "Whispers from' Eternity"
  
O Heavenly Father, Mother, Friend, Beloved God! may our
ceaseless silent utterance of Thy holy Name transform us to Thy
likeness.
Inspire us/ that our matter worship be changed to adoration
of Thee. Through our purified hearts may Thy perfect kingdom
come on earth, and all nations be liberated from misery. Let the
soul freedom within us be manifested outwardly.
May our wills grow strong in overcoming worldly desires and
finally be attuned to Thy faultless will.
Give us our daily bread: food, health, and prosperity for
the body; efficiency for the mind; and, above all, Thy love and
wisdom for the soul.
It is Thy law that "with the same measure ye mete, it shall
be measured to you." May we forgive those who offend us/ ever
mindful of our own need for Thine unmerited mercy. ,
Leave us not in the pit of temptations into which we have
fallen through our misuse of Thy gift of reason. Shouldst Thou
wish to test us O Spirit, may we realize Thou art enchanting beyond
any earthly temptation.
Help us to deliver ourselves from the shadowy bonds of the
sole evil: ignorance of Thee.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.

IN THE NIGHTLY GARDEN OF DREAMS

In the nightly garden of my dreams grow many blossoms:
the rarest flowers of my fancy. There, warmed by
the astral dream-light, unopened buds of earthly hopes
audaciously spread petals of fulfillment.
In the dream glow I spy specters of beloved forgotten
faces; and sprites of dear, dead feelings, long
buried in the soil of subconsciousness. All arise in
shining robes.At the trumpet call of dream angels I
behold the resurrection of all past experiences.
Lord, Thou hast given us freedom to forget our daily
troubles by nightly visits to dreamland. May we escape
from mortal sorrows forever by awakening in Thee.

 THE DIVINE GYPSY

I will be a gypsy—
Roam,roam, and roam.
I will sing a song that none has sung!
I will sing to the sky,
I will sing to the winds,
I'll sing to my red clouds!
I'll roam, roam, and roam--
King of the lands through which I roam.

By day, the shady trees will be my tent,
At night, the stars shall be
My candles, twinkling in the firmament;
And I will call the moon to be my lamp
And light my silver, skyey camp.
I will be a gypsy--
Roam, roam, and roam.

I will eat the food that chance may bring;
I will drink from crystal sparkling spring;
I will doff my cap and off will go,
Like a wayward brook of long ago;
I will roll o'er the green
And scatter the joy of all my heart
To birds, leaves, winds, hills--then depart
 To stranger and stranger lands, from East to West.
Oh! I will be a gypsy--
Roam, roam, and roam!

But always, when I lay me down to rest,
I'll sing to Thee my gypsy prayer,
And find Thee, always, everywhere (within me).

PRAYER
O Divine Mother, .I often heard Thy gentle voice saying:
"Come home," but it was drowned in the noises of the wild cravings
of many ·lives. Now I have forsaken the jostling crowds of
desires. In the solitude of my mind, my devotion is bursting to
hear Thy voice again.

AFFIRMATION
I will make a bonfire of all my desires for
material possessions and burn them in the one
great ever-increasing flame of desire that seeks
only to know Thee.

DIVINE LOVE

O Love, thou art the mystic echo from the caverns of heart,
And the inaudible voice of feeling.
Thou art the unseen charmer of souls.
Thou art the fountain flowing from the bosom of friendship.
Thou art the Divine Cupid, enticing mystic souls
To pierce the heart of all living things.
Thou art the silent language of souls,
And the invisible ink that lovers use
To write letters on the pages of their hearts.
Thou art the mother of all affections,
And in Thy breast throbs the heart of God.
Love is the silent conversation between two hearts,
And it is the call of God to all creatures,
Animate and inanimate,
To return to His house of Oneness.
Love is the heartbeat of all life,
And the angel of incarnation.
Love is born in the garden of soul progress,
And it sleeps behind the darkness of outer attachments.
It is the oldest and the sweetest nectar,
Preserved in the bottles of hearts.
Love is the light that dissolves all walls
Between souls, families, and nations.
Love is the unfading blossom of pure friendship
In the garden of both young and mature souls".
Love is the door to heaven, the completed songs of souls.

PRAYER
I come to Thee with the song of my smiles.
Whatever treasures lie in the secret safe of my
soul, I have brought eagerly to Thee. I have
brought all the honey from the hive of my
heart. Whatsoever is mine, that also is Thine.
The taper of my happiness will merge with Thy
blaze of Bliss.

 AFFIRMATION
I am the resistless fire of smiles. I shall fan myself
with the breeze of God-Joy and shall blaze my way through the
darkness of all minds. My smiles will bear His smiles, and
whoever meets me will catch my divine joy. I shall strew fragrant
purifying torches of smiles in all hearts.

GOD! GOD! GOD!

From the depths of slumber,
As I ascend the spiral stairway of wakefulness,
I whisper:
God! God! God!
Thou art the food, and when I break my fast
Of nightly separation from Thee,
I taste Thee, and mentally say:
God! God! God!
No matter where I go, the spotlight of my mind
Ever keeps turning on Thee;
And in the battle din of activity, my silent war-cry is ever:
God! God! God!
When boisterous storms of trials shriek
And worries howl at me,
I drown their noises, loudly chanting:
God! God! God!
When my mind weaves dreams
With threads of memories,
On that magic cloth I do emboss:
God! God! God!
Every night, in time of deepest sleep,
My peace dreams and calls: Joy! Joy! Joy!
And my joy comes singing evermore:
God! God! God!
In waking, eating, working, dreaming, sleeping,
Serving, meditating, chanting, divinely loving,
My soul constantly hums, unheard by any:
God! God! God!

PRAYER
Teach me, O God, to sow the seeds of wisdom, health,
prosperity, and happiness in the garden of my life.

FOR THEE I WAS MADE

I was made for Thee alone. I was made for dropping
flowers of devotion gently at Thy feet on the altar of the morning.

My hands were made to serve Thee willingly; to remain
folded in adoration, waiting for Thy coming; and
when Thou comest, to bathe Thy feet with my tears.

My voice was made to sing Thy glory.

My feet were made to seek Thy temples everywhere.

My eyes were made a chalice to hold Thy burning love
and the wisdom falling from Thy nature's hands.

My ears were made to catch the music of Thy footsteps
echoing through the halls of space, and to hear Thy
divine melodies flowing through all heart-tracts of devotion.

My lips were made to breathe forth Thy praises and Thine
intoxicating inspirations.

My love was made to throw incandescent searchlight flames
to find Thee hidden in the forest of my desires.

My heart was made to respond to Thy call alone.

My soul was made to be the channel through which Thy
love might flow uninterruptedly into all thirsty souls.

PRAYER
O Divine Sculptor, chisel
Thou my life to Thy design.

AFFIRMATION
,
All my powers are but powers borrowed from Thee.
No one is greater than Thou, O my Father. I cease to
live and express without Thy wisdom and strength. Thou
art so big; I am so little. Teach me not to be proud.
THY MAGIC POWER

Make my eyes behold what Thou dost see.
Make my ears catch the bursting of Thy voice
In the billows of all creation.
Make my speech the fountain of nectared words
Showered over souls scorched with bitterness.
Make my lips utter naught but the songs
Of Thy love and joy.

Beloved, work through me the work of truth.
Keep my hands busy serving all my brothers.
Keep my voice forever casting seeds of love
For Thee on the soil of seeking souls.
Keep my feet ever moving on the pathway
Of right action.
Lead me from dark ignorance to Thy light of wisdom,
Lead me from temporary pleasures
To Thine ever new joy within.
Make my love Thy love,
That I may know all things as mine.

Father, throb through my heart and make me feel
Sympathy for all living creatures.
Kindle in me the flame of Thy wisdom
And burn the dark forest of my mundane desires.
Let Thy reason be the preceptor of my reason.
Think through my thoughts,
For it is Thy magic power
Which uses my mind as Thy mind,
My hands as Thy hands,
My feet as Thy feet,
My soul as Thy spirit to perform Thy holy works.


PRAYER
Divine Mother, teach me to till
the soil of my mind with discipline,
and sow the seeds of good habits.

AFFIRMATION
I form new habits of thinking by seeing the
good everywhere, and in beholding all things as
the perfect idea of God made manifest.

THE ONLY REALITY

I take a sacred vow!
Never will I throw my love's gaze
Below the horizon of my constant thought of Thee!
Never will I take down the vision of my lifted eyes
And place it on aught but Thee!
Never will I turn my mind to do anything
Which reminds me not of Thee!

I will abhor nightmares of ignorant acts.
I will love dreams of noble achievements.
I will love all dreams of goodness,
For they are Thy dreams.
I may dream many dreams.
But I am ever awake thinking of Thee.
In the sacred fire of constant remembrance
Burning on my soul's altar,
I will ever behold Thy face
With my ever watchful eyes of love.

Through Thy grace, I know that health and sickness,
Life and death, are but dreams.
When I finish my dream story of good dreams
And awaken behind the world-painted screen of delusion,
I shall behold Thee as the One Reality.

PRAYER
O Divine Shepherd of Infinite Perception, rescue the lambkins
of my thoughts, lost in the wilderness of restlessness, and lead
them into the fold of silence.
***
AFFIRMATION
I will find Thy presence on the altar
of my constant peace, and in the joy that
springs from deep meditation.

PRAYER
Divine Mother, let the magic wand of my intuition stop the
gale of passions and unnecessary desires, and in the rippleless
lake of my mind, let me behold the undistorted reflection of the
moon of my soul, glistening with the light of Thy presence.
***

MAY I ACT FROM FREE CHOICE, NOT HABIT

Teach me, O Father, to seek the soul's
lasting happiness rather than temporary sense pleasures.

Strengthen my will power, that I escape
from bad habits and reform myself by meditation
and the influence of spiritually minded companions.

Give me the wisdom to follow happily the
ways of righteousness. May I develop the soul
faculty of discrimination that detects evil, in
even its subtlest forms; and that guides me to
the humble paths of goodness.

I would direct my life by the God-given
power of free choice, not by the compulsions of
hardened habits.

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, teach me to contact Thee first and thus
harness my will and activity to the right goal.

YOU WERE HIDING FROM HIM

Forsake the tipsy dance of forgetfulness! Be sobered by
the understanding that you must not neglect to honor the Silent
Guest in your temple. Forgive your enemies but not yourself-the
greatest enemy of your own Self, who forgets to befriend
your Best Friend waiting in the temporary parlor of your life.

The light of life is waning, and darkness is approaching
fast. Kindle the unextinguishable lamp of love, that by its
light you may behold Him when the chimerical gloom of death
throws its curtain of darkness around you.

You were away and He was here in your heart, always waiting
and waiting for you, and now you come whining that you
have been waiting for Him. It is you who have been hiding
from Him. And now that you have found Him, you must lose
sight of Him no more in the self-woven cocoon of your own unknowing.
Open your error-drunken eyes and behold the light,
tapping at the gates of your closed eyelids. Open the inner
eye of silence! Behold Him spread allover your being. Pull
off the veil of sorrow, and find His blissful presence. Remove
the self-created darkness of delusion and behold aim right
within your bosom.

You ran away from your all-containing soul-home to stay in
the dark hovel of evanescent pleasure. Now come and behold
your home of all-fulfillment within you. He has not been hiding
from you--you have ever been hiding from Him!

PRAYER
O Father, teach me to realize Thy nearness behind the voice of
my prayer. Teach me to breathe Thy breath in my own breathing.
***

I WILL DRINK OF THEE

O Divine Gardener, till the wild soil of my mind with
the plough of Thy wisdom and sow therein the seeds of my
devotion. Under Thine unvarying vigilance, the seeds will
sprout and yield a harvest of Thy blessings.

In the winepress of my heart I will convert those luscious
blessings into the nectar of Thy love. I will fill
the spacious bottle of my soul with the aged wine of Thy
love, and I will ask all my thoughts and feelings, and all
my wisdom and intuition, to be joyous with the intoxicating
wine of Thy constant affection.

I shall never be content drinking Thee out of the cask
of silence. I want to pour Thee into the truth-thirsty
mouths of all minds. I want to drink Thee and dance with
Thee. Young and old, man and woman, all my brothers and
sisters, must drink Thee with me, for it is more thrilling
to drink Thee with others whom we love, and with all Thy
children whom we should love.

I will dance, filled with Thee, and I will dance with
all those who are saturated with Thee. We will dance with
Thee and Lady Blossoms, Mother Moon, Sister Stars, and the
Guardian Sun--all will join us in our joyous, ever new,
rhythmic dance of Eternity in cadence with the soul-melting
melody of the music of the spheres.
Ah, I will drink Thee and will dance with Thee eternally
in the ever changing scenes of time.

AFFIRMATION
I will acquire divinely deep concentration
and then use its unlimited power
to meet life's God-given demands.

THE DEVOTEE"S ASPIRATION

I shall be a Niagara Falls, my joy thundering
in a ceaseless cascade. The powerful flood will
sweep away the heavy logs of others' difficulties.

I shall be a tornado of laughter, toppling
the timbers and towers of sorrow. Zooming over
endless miles of mentalities, I shall demolish
their troubles.

I shall be lightning flashes in the night,
breathtakingly bringing to view the panorama of
Thy beauty--long hidden by the darkness of unseeing eyes.

I shall be moonbeams of bliss, banishing
melancholy from the earth.

I shall be rays of light, putting to flight
the gloom that lurks in recesses of human thought.
Through Thy grace the sudden shafts of wisdom will
dispel error accumulations of countless centuries.

PRAYER
SUPERIOR LASTING HAPPINESS
Thou art sacred perennial joy; Thou art the joy I seek;
Thou art the lasting joy of the soul. Teach me to worship Thee
through the joy born of meditation and doing good, and not
through pleasures born of the misguided senses.
***

AFFIRMATION
O Prodigious Power, I am renewed
and strengthened by Thine inexhaustible
 life giving energy.

MY LOVE TOLD ME TO LOVE THEE ALONE

As winter came with its garment of cold lily flakes,
My desires for summer joys were dulled
And I was told to seek the warmth of Thy heart.

As spring came dancing, decked with myriad flowers
And sprinkled with wild perfumes,
It told me to love Thee.

Summer came singing through leaves and swishing through pines,
Urging me to sing of Thee.
Even the soft-hearted sod caressed my hasty footsteps
And cautioned them tenderly to approach Thy temple everywhere.

And the fragrance told me to follow its trail
To Thy secret cloister in the forest of pollen.
And the birds told me I should try to sing of Thee as they were doing.
And the breeze, blowing over the lake,
Roused the ripples of my devotion to play over Thy bosom.
And with the bowed blades of grass I learned to bow my head to Thee.
The incense told me how fragrant Thou art
And that I should make my heart perpetually burn with sweet-scented goodness
Before Thy throne everywhere.

The mute, downtrodden, uncomplaining little stones
Told me to behold Thee in those people
Who try to tread upon my happiness.
And the foolish forgotten years told me
To send a message of love encased in every second.
And every thought told me to seek Thy hiding place in their hearts.

And my love told me to love all things in Thee,
And my love whispered to me to love Thee alone.

PRAYER
O Spirit, teach me to relax and cast aside all
mental burdens, allowing Thee to express through me
as perfect health, peace, love, and wisdom.

O SPIRIT, I WORSHIP THEE IN ALL SHRINES

Into the temple of peace come Thou, O Lord of Joy!
Enter my shrine of meditation, O Bliss God! Sanctify me with Thy presence.

Eternal Allah, hover over the lone minaret of my holy aspiration. The mosque of my mind exudes a frankincense of stillness.

On the altar of my inner vihara I place flowers of desirelessness. Their chaste beauty is Thine, O Spirit!

In a tabernacle not made with hands, I bow before the sacred ark and vow to keep Thy commandments.

Heavenly Father, in an invisible church built of devotion granite, receive Thou my humble heart offerings, daily renewed by prayer.

---From “Whispers of Eternity”---

By Paramahamsa Yogananda