April 2018

Meditation & Yoga Center:
CSE south county meditation center

4-30-2018

Finding Our Place In the Universe

Paula Whang-Ramos

"As a part of the universe you have an essential place in it. If necessary,

shake up the world to find your work! Don't give up and you will succeed."
~ Paramahansa Yogananda

Almost 100 years ago, Paramahansa Yogananda was one of the first Yogis to leave the comfort and familiarity of his family and spiritual home in India and come to America where he supported the establishment of Yoga and Meditation Centers across the country and around the world. At 27 years of age and with English as a second language, Yogananda arrived on the shores of USA to do the work he was called to do. He was fulfilling his role in the universal divine plan. How did a young man who spoke and looked and lived so differently from the lifestyle of United Stated citizens have the courage, vision, maturity, and faith to undertake such a journey and to fulfill such a huge calling? What can we learn about the realization of own lives and the work we took birth to complete, from the life of this Yoga Master?

I invite you to save the dates for the upcoming spiritual book study of Autobiography of a Yogi, that begins next month. Join us as we read, inwardly explore and meditate into the amazing life of this humble and powerful spiritual teacher. Be inspired and open into your own intuition as we experience the spiritual journey and awakening of this beloved teacher in the CSE and BLC lineage.

Join us at Blue Lotus Center and accept the divine invitation to consciously live in divine grace. 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. Beginning and experienced participants from all traditions are welcome at all gatherings.

4-23-2018

Live In Divine Wholeness

Paula Whang-Ramos

"Even in times of difficulty, the transformative work of the soul goes on. We are always connected to Divine Wholeness
whether we feel it to be so or not. The times when we are challenged to find our way can be the opening to a new life inspired by divine grace."

~ Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian

Amidst life change and loss, we can become preoccupied with worldly based mental, emotional and physical coping strategies. And, while these solutions may provide temporary comfort or escape from change, they eventually lack the insight, courage and maturity needed to transcend our reactivity to future life losses. Rather than defining our lives based on life challenges, we can experience change as a universal process that can help clarify, not define, what we are and how to live in the highest way - especially during difficult times.

Classical Yoga is a life philosophy that shows us how to move beyond the limitations of our experiences and our reactions to them. A Yogic life is one that consciously returns into the grace of divine Wholeness in which we dwell. When unexpected change arises, Classical Yoga offers an abundance of holistic practices to help us return and respond from the boundless wisdom, creativity and power of divine grace that is always present within and around us. From this broader, deeper view of life, we can grow into the divine possibility available in the space created from life change and loss. We can be receptive to the direct experience of the Divine wholeness that thrives to support our lives into the peace, love and wholeness that we are, and that we deserve to live in this lifetime!

Join us at Blue Lotus Center and accept the divine invitation to consciously live in divine grace. 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. Beginning and experienced participants from all traditions are welcome at all gatherings.

4-16-2018

Living In Unconditional Peace

Paula Whang-Ramos

"Divine peace within us is unconditional. It isn’t ours when something happens, or when something is resolved—

it is unchanging, always available. Nothing can take that peace from us without our consent."

~ Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian

Our daily practice of sitting meditation supports the direct experience of our indwelling peace that is not weakened, compromised or depleted from thoughts in the mind or experiences in our lives. But the purpose of meditation is not to meditate. The purpose of meditation is to live in and from the peace and Wholeness that we experience in our sitting practice.

How do we take the peace from meditation into our daily interactions and activities? How do we return to the indwelling peace when we have wandered into the mind's fear, judgment and reactivity? In addition to daily meditation, the ancient teachings of Yoga offer specific daily living practices to cultivate and deepen our lives in unshakable peace and Wholeness.

If you are called to live in deeper peace, then join us this Thursday, for the Living Peace group. Each month, we meditate, study, and explore a specific ancient Yogic practice to carry the peace cultivated in meditation into our daily lives. Be part of a spiritual practice community dedicated to living in and from the essential Wholeness, goodness and peace that infuses every being and every situation. Consciously consent to live in the peace that we all yearn for and deserve now.

Join us at Blue Lotus Center. 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. Beginning and experienced participants from all traditions are welcome at all gatherings.

4-9-2018

The Best Meditation Practice

Paula Whang-Ramos

"The most illuminating answer to the question,'what is the best meditation practice?' is 'steady practice'.”
~ Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian

Thirty years ago, when I first learned to meditate, the popular press typically ignored meditation as a viable wellness practice, or labeled it a passing "new age" fad. In contrast, today, there are so many publications on different types of meditation that it can be difficult to discern which meditation practice is best. What is meditation? What are the basic steps of an effective meditation practice? What are the benefits that a meditation practice can offer? Can individuals from any or no spiritual background meditate?

If you are new to meditation, or if you would like to refresh your daily practice, then join us at Blue Lotus Center this Thursday evening for our free "Learn to Meditate" class. We will answer these questions, be led through a meditation experience, and offer resources so participants can immediately set up their daily meditation practice at home. Learn how to establish a simple, steady meditation practice and return daily into the peace, clarity and joy within you. And, watch how your life can steadily change for the better.

Join us at Blue Lotus Center. 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. Beginning and experienced participants from all traditions are welcome at all gatherings.

4-2-2018

Spiritual Matters

Paula Whang-Ramos

"In our spiritual life, it is not only what we do, but also what we fail to do, that matters."
~ Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian

Early on my spiritual path, I interacted with a dear friend in a potentially harmful manner. As I matured spiritually, I realized my unskillfulness and apologized to her for my previous disrespectful interactions. In her usual loving way, she said, "Oh, you didn't have to say that." I said, "Oh, yes. I did."

Now, some might say that I was being overly sensitive, and that I should stop living in the past. Others might say that, since my friend never mentioned it, then I should forget about it and let sleeping dogs lie. And, at the time of the interactions years ago, I might have agreed with them. At the level of the mind, there were many justifications to just remain silent.

However, as I continued to learn and live Yoga teachings of Wholeness, I realized that my ego's defense for my unkindness reflected a lack of integrity unworthy of the Wholeness that flows through my friend, our relationship, and me. Once I realized this Truth, I was blessed with the opportunity to stand up for the Divine that infuses and joins us in our sisterhood of the soul. My apology was not an attempt to appease ego guilt, or to gain my friend's favor, or to play a martyr in the story of my life. It was an invitation to turn into the light of Wholeness, and to hold the gift of spiritual friendship in the loving, joy filled integrity it deserves.

Join us at Blue Lotus Center. Meditate with others devoted to thriving in peace, love and wholeness. Experience ancient Yogic practices to live from our compassionate, courageous hearts. 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. Beginning and experienced participants from all traditions are welcome at all gatherings.

Blue Lotus