July 26, 2020

A Pathway to Peace and Clarity

Paula Whang-Ramos

"When mental fluctuations that fragment awareness have been stilled by effective practice,

soul unfoldment is spontaneously continuous because of the innate inclination of consciousness to be unrestricted."
Mr. Roy Eugene Davis, The Eternal Way: The Inner Meaning of the Bhagavad Gita,1969, p. 117

During this time of turbulent change, wouldn't it be restorative to have a way to regain and live from our inner peace and wisdom? The ancient practice of meditation offers an inner pathway into the clarity and calmness that can be so difficult to experience today.

In its most ancient form, meditation is not practiced to be more peaceful or more wise or more calm or more happy. Ancient teachings tell us that these inherent soul qualities already indwell us. As individual expressions of a greater Wholeness in which we live that is eternally peaceful, wise, calm, and blissful, it could be no other way.

We meditate to remove the wrong thinking that we are less than whole. We unplug from the stories that tell us we are not worthy of the wisdom or calmness we so need now. We stop feeding the inner and outer stories that peace is not possible. In meditation, we withdraw our attention and awareness from this wrong thinking. When we do, then the inner peace, wisdom, clarity, and happiness that indwells us can directly be experienced by us.

Even a glimpse of this direct inner experience of our essential inner peace, clarity, wisdom, and calmness can be enough to remind us of what is possible in our lives and all of life.

Join us this Thursday for Living in Freedom when we explore deeper teachings on meditation from the meditation classic The Bhagavad Gita. Newcomers to meditation and The Gita are welcome. Meditate with us and remember the integrity of the Wholeness that you are.

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.

July 19, 2020

Illumined By Intuition

Paula Whang-Ramos

"The still small voice of revealed knowledge is perceived through the faculty of intuition.
To receive inner guidance, sit attentively until the thought waves in the mind settle and the light of soul inspiration shines forth."
~ Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian,
Living for the Sake of the Soul, pg. 55

It is true that meditation is not a cure for COVID-19. Meditation cannot assure job security, or economic stability, or racial equity and equality. And, a daily meditation practice does not guarantee instant enlightenment to transcend these ever-changing world conditions. Why, then, should we meditate now?

Our daily meditation practice can help us learn to be less emotionally reactive and more consciously responsive to the ever-changing conditions in which we live. We can learn to apply the even-minded consciousness developed during our sitting practice into our daily experiences. Amidst unexpected change or loss, we can skillfully stop and re-center ourselves within.

In those moments of inward turning, we stop feeding fear and open into the silence from which our indwelling intuition can be heard by us. Intuition turns us towards inner clarity, calmness and compassion that can illumine a more peaceful and intelligent way to navigate through these ever-changing times. During moments of confusion and overwhelm, meditation can do more than help us distinguish “the forest from the trees". It reconnects our consciousness with the Source of wisdom that enlivens the forest and the trees and all of life.

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.

July 12, 2020

Cultivate Divine Guidance

Paula Whang-Ramos

"To welcome divine guidance, we must cultivate the willingness to venture beyond the limits of what is comfortable and familiar

and let ourselves be guided by truth. How do we know when guidance is correct? The soul's peace tells us.

We feel it when the waves of worry and doubt subside.

Even if the guidance leads us toward a difficult choice, if it is truly right for us, we experience that peace."
~ Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian,
Living for the Sake of the Soul, pg. 53

Wouldn't it be lovely if we could clearly know how to respond to what used to be simple choices in our lives? Can we shop in a clothing store, or not? Are we allowed to eat at a restaurant, or not? And, will we ever be able to get our hair cut and styled again?

If we tell the truth, couldn't we all benefit from a bit of divine guidance now? To receive divine guidance, I find it useful to stop asking and start listening...within. The daily practice of meditation helps us learn to quiet the mind and open the heart into inner clarity and insight that serves the highest good of all. From this deeper inner consciousness, we hear different questions: How can my thoughts, words and actions serve the well-being of all? To the best of my ability, what choices can I make that respect the highest good of myself and others? How can I respond to challenging situations in the peace, love, and clarity that I seek in my own life?

As we listen into these deeper, more universal questions, we can open into intuition, inspiration, and the basic regard for life that can clarify how we should proceed through these ever-changing times. When we choose to stop living in fear and choose instead to live from this deeper indwelling intelligence, then the waves of confusion settle into doing what we know we should do. And the courage it takes to live from the integrity that we are, inspires our path into truth.

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.

July 5, 2020

Meditation For Inner Peace

Paula Whang-Ramos

"Developing one-pointed attention is valuable on the meditation cushion and off.
When the mind is calm, not flitting from one thought to the next, energy is conserved and
vital force is available for the task at hand."
~ Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian 11/08/2013

The sitting practice of meditation helps us learn to focus the distracted mind so it can relax and calm down. And, yes, it is worth the patience and kindness it takes to learn this practice. Because every single time we return our distracted mind to an inner point of focus, we are deepening neural pathways into calmness and clarity, and opening our hearts into divine possibility.

From our sitting practice of meditation, we can experience an inner peace and strength that can be very useful in consciously navigating through the blessings and challenges of our daily lives. We can realize that we do not have to immediately react to every unexpected change. We do not have to believe every story of limitation that comes from the mind - whether it is our mind or someone else's. Instead of fear or frustration, we can choose to respond from our inner courage and clarity. Instead of thinking we are out of options, we learn to open into divine possibility. During these uncertain and stressful times, we all need and deserve more inner peace, calmness, clarity, courage, and compassion, don't we? If you agree, then join us for meditation.

Also, join us this Thursday for BLC's free Learn to Meditate class. Develop or refine your practice as you experience the benefits of meditation. Gift your Self the opportunity to return, rest and be restored in an endless inner Source of peace, love, and wisdom within you.

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.

Meditation & Yoga Center:

CSE south county meditation center

“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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