Meditation & Yoga Center:

CSE south county meditation center

August 29, 2021

Established In Right Action

Paula Whang-Ramos

"When we take our stand for right action, we center ourselves spiritually by establishing ourselves
in awareness of our true nature as an individualized expression of pure consciousness."
~Mr. Roy Eugene Davis, The Eternal Way: The Inner Meaning Of The Bhagavad Gita, (1996), p. 37

When we are called to make a choice during times of great change and controversy, it can be difficult to know how to proceed. Perhaps our loved ones have one opinion that conflicts with popular news stories. We may see merit in both sides of the issue, which can increase our confusion instead of our clarity. How do we determine what we should do?

Meditation and study of sacred scriptures are two daily practices to help us consciously live in the Wholeness of peace, love, and wisdom that is Yoga. Meditation teaches us to calm and discipline the reactive, emotional, distracted, ever-changing mind, so we can hear the still small voice of indwelling divine wisdom that waits to be heard by us. From within our own inner silence, inspiration and insight can guide us to serve our highest good and the highest good of all.

Daily study and contemplation of sacred texts can serve as spiritual mirrors that reflect the way in which Divine Wholeness uniquely expresses as us. Daily study can help us mature our spiritual ears to hear and eyes to see how Wholeness lives in and around us all the time. Instead of trying to fit into the opinions of others, we can appreciate and respect the unique ways in which Wholeness expresses Itself in so many diverse life forms, as we inwardly listen and follow the way in which It guides us to serve the highest Wholeness in us all.

This week, I invite you to join the BLC community as we meditate and begin our daily spiritual study and contemplation of the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient foundational text in yoga and meditation. Experience how this universal love story of spiritual awakening can personally open our hearts into a freedom beyond suffering. Join us as we learn to listen and to live into the peace, love, and wisdom that we all need and deserve now.

Study, meditate and grow with others devoted to thriving in peace, love, and wholeness. Make this the year that we affirm and skillfully live in peace - in our minds, our hearts, our families, our community, and our world. Blue Lotus Meditation & Yoga Center welcomes sincere seekers from all backgrounds.

August 22, 2021

This Is A Yoga Moment

Paula Whang-Ramos

"Because the confusion and despair that some devotees experience during early stages of spiritual growth may indicate

that necessary transformative changes must occur if the devotee is to be restored to right understanding,

this temporary phase of despondence is also called yoga."
~Mr. Roy Eugene Davis, The Eternal Way: The Inner Meaning Of The Bhagavad Gita, (1996), p. 29

Yoga is the yoking or returning of our attention and awareness within, to our essential Self. It is the intentional remembrance and direct experience of the indwelling peace, love, and wisdom that we are, as individual expressions of the Source of all that is. In this tradition of Kriya Yoga, we learn and live many beautiful, ancient time-tested practices that support this inward turning into Wholeness. From this beautiful, powerful practice of yoga, it is easy to forget that times of stress and difficulty are also yoga moments.

In yoga, life challenges are spiritual forks in the road. Will we choose to emotionally and mentally react to these stressors? Or, will we choose to compassionately stop, look and listen within for the opportunity to deepen our spiritual ears to hear and eyes to see Wholeness obscured by our mental and emotional reactivity?

This choice to turn within, towards the indwelling Source of all that is, is the practice of yoga. Especially during difficult times, we have repeated opportunities to practice returning to the Self. In Wholeness, every moment of our lives is a yoga moment. It is within our power to compassionately choose to live this moment as a yoga moment. Again and again, may we choose this moment as a yoga moment - for our own peace and the highest good of all.

Study, meditate and grow with others devoted to thriving in peace, love, and wholeness. Make this the year that we affirm and skillfully live in peace - in our minds, our hearts, our families, our community, and our world. Blue Lotus Meditation & Yoga Center welcomes sincere seekers from all backgrounds.

August 15, 2021

Awaken To Divine Potential

Paula Whang-Ramos

"In every situation, we have the opportunity to walk by faith, to call upon the divine potential for good
that exists even when we cannot see it. Our limiting thoughts of “not enough” can be healed
by the abundant reality of God’s grace. Look there."
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian, CSE Daily Inspiration 08/14/2021

Have you heard the saying, "Seeing is believing"? It means that we will believe something is true once we see its demonstration in our earth lives. This view is grounded in the mind's need to define reality and possibility based on physical world evidence. It is useful in scientific research, such as seeking an effective treatment for a disease.

The challenge arises when we live our lives like a scientific experiment. In so doing, we prematurely narrow our life focus into the limited thinking of the mind that seeks experiences to validate its beliefs...to prove what it already hopes is true. We rob ourselves of the opportunity to first open, listen and live into all the spacious divine abundance available to guide us through life.

The good news is that the spiritual practice of "Believing is seeing" opens into divine possibility. Its presence remains available to us each moment we stop, listen, and look for It, within and around us. We only need to broaden and deepen our vision, into the divine potential for good that waits to reveal and restore wholeness, peace, and clarity in our lives. When we live from this spiritual view, we stop living our life as an unfulfilling experiment and celebrate it as a divinely guided experience!

Study, meditate and grow with others devoted to thriving in peace, love, and wholeness. Make this the year that we affirm and skillfully live in peace - in our minds, our hearts, our families, our community, and our world. Blue Lotus Meditation & Yoga Center welcomes sincere seekers from all backgrounds.

August 8, 2021

Cultivate Equanimity

Paula Whang-Ramos

"Children are encouraged to build a healthy ego by learning to discover and express what they like and do not like,
what they want and do not want. The mature adult on the spiritual path must put away this childhood task and
learn to focus on being even-minded, on going beyond likes and dislikes. Then, peace is possible."
~ Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian, CSE Daily Inspiration, 07/20/2017

In Yogic teachings, it is said that everything we see, experience, feel, and think in our mind and bodies, in this earth life, and even in the cosmos and beyond, originates from an energy that is always inherently changing. Rooted in change, this means that everything in our minds, bodies, and lives is always changing. Regardless of whether we like or dislike our circumstances and our reactions to them, all this will change. Unfortunately, since the circumstances on which we base our likes and dislikes are temporary and will change, it means that our happiness and avoidance of suffering are also temporary and will change as well. As we mature on the spiritual path, we realize that when we seek permanent peace, timeless wisdom, and unconditional love from a source that is always changing, then we are setting ourselves up for frustration, confusion, and heartache.

Equanimity is the spiritual practice of learning to stop this futile search for permanent peace in temporary circumstances. We learn to stop making life decisions based on our emotional or mental reactions to change. Instead, we intentionally practice even-mindedness by learning to not react to thoughts and emotions, ours and other people.

Meditation helps us learn to quiet the reactive, emotional, opinionated mind. We redirect our attention and awareness within, where the Source of that which does not change indwells us. As we return and rest within, the peace and stillness we seek can be experienced by us. And from within that inner, eternal peace, we can listen for the still small voice within us all, whispering divine wisdom to guide us through all the ever-changing circumstances in our lives today.

Study, meditate and grow with others devoted to thriving in peace, love, and wholeness. Make this the year that we affirm and skillfully live in peace - in our minds, our hearts, our families, our community, and our world. Blue Lotus Meditation & Yoga Center welcomes sincere seekers from all backgrounds.

August 1, 2021

Step Into Spiritual Freedom

Paula Whang-Ramos

"Our destiny is freedom. When we walk toward it, God helps us. But we have to take that step.
Most of us already know what that step is. We need the courage and determination to do it."
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian, CSE Daily Inspiration 07/30/2021

Spiritual teachings from many traditions tell us that it is possible for us to live in the freedom of the soul, unencumbered by the tyranny of the ever-changing, reactive, emotional mind. When we make intentional course corrections toward the highest good, then we can realize Wholeness rising up to meet us, guide us, and love us all the way into soul freedom. Yay!

But what if those course corrections call us to change our comfortable habits and expectations? What if those changes are met with criticism from family and friends, whose opinions matter to us? What if they risk tarnishing our reputation or our material abundance? What if they reveal our vulnerabilities? What if those vulnerabilities are publicly exposed to the scrutiny of our community, our country, and the world?

Sometimes it is those very vulnerabilities that nudge us towards that spiritual step into freedom. At this precipice of change, we know in our soul, that prior pathways will not serve the highest good in this present moment. And yet, if we choose to step onto this new path, we may be met with resistance from those whose expectations we are failing to meet.

But still, stepping on to this path of divine possibility can deepen our integrity, purify our clarity, and open our hearts into a wisdom-guided life blessed with peace and joy. And that one step that may have initially appeared as cowardice to some, may actually be remembered as the integrity of the courageous soul light brightly shining as a blessing and inspiration for us all.

“If anything disturbs your peace, practice having faith that divine grace is already actively at work restoring wholeness and well-being.

Then make any necessary adjustments in harmony with that insight.”
Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian, Spiritual Director, Center for Spiritual Enlightenment

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