December 2019

Meditation & Yoga Center:

CSE south county meditation center

Blue Lotus

December 29, 2019

Yogananda's New Year's Blessing

Paula Whang-Ramos

"This is my New Year's wish for you: that you all reach the land beyond your dreams, where there is peace and joy eternal.
May you realize the fulfillment of whatever strong good wish you release in the ether."
Paramahansa Yogananda, 01/01/1938.
Journey to Self-Realization (1997), pg.308

Eighty-two years ago, Paramahansa Yogananda offered this timeless New Year's blessing that can inspire and guide us into 2020. Yogananda reminds us that the realization of eternal peace, joy and fulfillment arises in the Oneness consciousness beyond physical space, linear time, and gravity. He invites us to raise our consciousness into the land of inner Wholeness, beyond changing circumstances and our reactions to them. And he teaches us that when we intend to live from this deeper inner consciousness, then divine grace carries our 2020 intentions from possibility into opportunity.

Meditation is the pathway into the inner terrain of eternal peace, joy and fulfillment. On 12/31/19, join us at BLC as we meditate one last time in 2019. And join us at CSE for the New Year's Meditation Retreat honoring Yogananda's Birthday. Be inspired, restored, and clarified in the timeless space for us to consciously listen into the ways in which soul peace, joy, and fulfillment can be realized in 2020.

Meditate superconsciously with us at Blue Lotus Center. Awaken, study, and be inspired in a meditative Kriya Yoga community committed to reclaim and to live from the spiritual integrity and wholeness that we all are. Contribute to the realization of peace in our minds, our hearts, our families, our community and our world. Blue Lotus Meditation & Yoga Center welcomes sincere seekers and newcomers from all backgrounds.

December 22, 2019

Timeless Wisdom

Paula Whang-Ramos

Once in a while you must get away from the world and meditate."

Paramahansa Yogananda, 12/18/1939.

Journey to Self-Realization (1997), pg. 114

Eighty years ago, as part of his Holy Days message, Paramahansa Yogananda offered guidance on how we can transcend challenging experiences in our lives and in our country. His timeless wisdom remains as vital today as it was 80 years ago. If we want to consciously address life issues, then we need to be more conscious, and less reactive, in our approach to life.

Meditation is the time-tested practice to support conscious living. In meditation, we practice the inner discipline of withdrawing our attention and awareness from life challenges and our reactions to them. Instead, we direct the mind to focus on a single point within, which allows the mind to naturally calm down. Beneath the noise of the mind, we can directly experience the inner peace, clarity and divine intelligence that we need to consciously be with life circumstances. And, from this deeper inner consciousness, we can be inwardly guided by the inherent force for good that waits for our cooperation to express as gratitude, peace, and joy during this time of year.

Meditate superconsciously with us at Blue Lotus Center. Awaken, study, and be inspired in a meditative Kriya Yoga community committed to reclaim and to live from the spiritual integrity and wholeness that we all are. Contribute to the realization of peace in our minds, our hearts, our families, our community and our world. Blue Lotus Meditation & Yoga Center welcomes sincere seekers and newcomers from all backgrounds.

December 15, 2019

Outrageous Grace

Paula Whang-Ramos

"Every good thing that is intended for you according to God's grace will come to you;
nothing can prevent it...Right now, your life is filled with grace"
Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian, 01/03/2018

There are 2 aspects of grace that are outrageous to me. The first is that there is a power and presence of unconditional Wholeness and goodness that is available to all of us 24/7 - regardless of what we have done, or failed to do, or had done to us in our lives. The second is how easy it is for us to overlook grace at work in our lives 24/7. At times, it seems that we would rather believe the worst about ourselves or our lives, rather than choose to actively seek and find that which is good and restorative. It is like hoping and praying for the best gift we could imagine, and then not recognizing it when we actually receive it.

Join us this morning at CSE as we explore the power and presence of grace in our lives, and how we can have spiritual eyes to see and receive it. Let your heart open into this holy time of year when grace abounds!

Meditate superconsciously with us at Blue Lotus Center. Awaken, study, and be inspired in a meditative Kriya Yoga community committed to reclaim and to live from the spiritual integrity and wholeness that we all are. Contribute to the realization of peace in our minds, our hearts, our families, our community and our world. Blue Lotus Meditation & Yoga Center welcomes sincere seekers and newcomers from all backgrounds.

December 8, 2019

Meditation For the Holy Days

Paula Whang-Ramos

"Christ was born in the cradle of tenderness. Greater than the destructive force of hate is the compassionate power of love.
Whatever you say or do to others, let it be with love."

Paramahansa Yogananda (1997), Journey To Self-Realization, p. 173

Almost 85 years ago, Paramahansa Yogananda, a Spiritual Teacher in our tradition, shared this inspiration at a Meditation for the Holy Days gathering. Yogananda offered Meditation for the Holy Days as a remedy for the increased materialism that he witnessed during the Christmas season in 1934. At his meditation center, Yogananda offered extended periods of inspiration and meditation to help meditators return inward and remember the indwelling One within us all.

Join us this week at Blue Lotus Center and at CSE for Meditation for the Holy Days, as we accept Yogananda's timeless invitation to return to the Reality of Wholeness that indwells us all. Gift your Self time in silence and divine remembrance of the spiritual meaning of this time of year. Allow your Self to be restored in this holy season of hope, instead of the holiday hurry, in faith, instead of frenzy, and tenderness, instead of tension. Join us for all or part of the evening. All are welcome.

Meditate superconsciously with us at Blue Lotus Center. Awaken, study, and be inspired in a meditative Kriya Yoga community committed to reclaim and to live from the spiritual integrity and wholeness that we all are. Contribute to the realization of peace in our minds, our hearts, our families, our community and our world. Blue Lotus Meditation & Yoga Center welcomes sincere seekers and newcomers from all backgrounds.

December 1, 2019

Remembering the Holy in the Holidays

Paula Whang-Ramos

"Spiritual practice helps us distinguish between our needs and our wants.

We learn to choose what pleases the soul nature over the passing whims of the ego."
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian

As we step into the season of Holy Days that is honored in many wisdom traditions, it is easy to get distracted by the mentality of holiday consumerism. Suddenly, it seems that everywhere we turn, there are advertisers telling us what we need to be happy. If we listen to them long enough, then we may come to believe that their product will make us happier. And, it may, for a while, at least. But, as we step into these Holy Days, I invite you to join me on a different path.

The energy of this Holy season is ripe with soul awakening opportunities. In the Oneness of Yoga, we can freely share the divine qualities of peace, love, joy, and wisdom, with and without the purchase of a material item. These soul gifts can be generously shared, as they are not dependent upon the size of our bank accounts. We offer these soul gifts through our presence, our silence, and our conscious use of our thoughts, words, and actions. We can freely share them with our loved ones, as well as the rushed strangers in the long store lines, the person who took the parking place we wanted, and the on-line operator who can't find the item we want to order.

Before the rush of Black Friday holiday sales was the hush of the Holy Days, and the remembrance of the sacredness in which we live. Will you join me in remembering the heart and not just the hurry of this holy time of year?

Meditate superconsciously with us at Blue Lotus Center. Awaken, study, and be inspired in a meditative Kriya Yoga community committed to reclaim and to live from the spiritual integrity and wholeness that we all are. Contribute to the realization of peace in our minds, our hearts, our families, our community and our world. Blue Lotus Meditation & Yoga Center welcomes sincere seekers and newcomers from all backgrounds.