Inspirational Messages

5-28-2018

Open Into Divine Guidance

Paula Whang-Ramos

"Make a receptacle in your consciousness for divine guidance through prayer and meditation.
It doesn’t always come at that time, but reliably, it comes.

Where there is an opening to receive, it comes."

~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian

Our daily practice of meditation opens our consciousness into the divine wisdom that indwells every one of us. Our ability to hear this Still Small Voice Within is based on our steadfast daily commitment to sit in silence so It can be heard by us. Every day take time to let the mind sink into the heart in meditation and prayer. Let your inner receptivity expand. Make space for inspiration and insight to be revealed. Step off of the confusing path of the reactive mind, and turn within to the clarity, peace and love that naturally arises in a life that is divinely guided.

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.

5-21-2018

Improve Our Future Now!

Paula Whang-Ramos

"Forget the past. Human conduct is ever unreliable until man is anchored in the Divine.
Everything in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort now."
~ Swami Sri Yukteswar

Swami Sri Yukteswar, Paramahansa Yogananda's Spiritual Teacher, offers hope to us all! In Yoga Wholeness, our past conduct and experiences, and even our sense of brokenness, cannot diminish the wholeness that still flows through us. Even when we feel ungrounded in our earth lives, we remain anchored in Divine Wholeness. Instead of seeing our lives as a glass half empty, or even half full, Sri Yukteswar reminds us of the power that arises when we learn to live in and from the entire glass - the whole container in which earth life unfolds.

To the best of our ability, every time we sit in meditation, or live an ancient Yogic practice, such as harmlessness or truthfulness, we are turning towards that inherent divine wholeness and goodness that we are. Regardless of our judgment of their size or worth, every conscious shift of our thoughts, words and actions towards our spiritual wholeness is one step into the peace, love and joy that we all seek in our lives now and in our future.

Join us this week, as we listen into and share inspirations like this one from Autobiography of a Yogi. Open your heart into Sri Yukteswar and Yogananda's wisdom to guide our constructive spiritual effort 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. Beginning and experienced participants from all traditions are welcome at all gatherings.

5-14-2018

Experience Great Peace and Happiness

Paula Whang-Ramos

"The more you meditate, the more you will realize there is Something behind the kingdom

of ordinary consciousness where a great peace and happiness reign."
~ Paramahansa Yogananda

When we live in the never-ending energy, activity, and chaos of ordinary consciousness, we may believe that we lack peace, wisdom, clarity and joy in our lives. Many seekers are called to meditation in the hope of increasing these qualities. And yet, based on the oldest meditation teachings in the history of the world, Paramahansa Yogananda tells us that the purpose of meditation is not to help us become more peaceful, loving, happy or whole.

The purpose of meditation is to remove the obstacles (such as wrong thinking, fear, stress, attachment/control, a sense of isolation and overwhelm) that prevent us from directly experiencing the essential peace, love, joy and wholeness that already indwells every one of us. Through our daily practice of meditation and meditative living, we learn to release our habitual grip on ordinary, reactive thinking. We learn to consciously step into the deeper wholeness within and around us where harmony, wholeness, and peace await our return. And we follow this course correction into a freedom of inner peace and happiness that transcends the chaos of daily life.

In addition to our ongoing meditation groups, join us this week, as we deepen our journey into great peace and happiness.

Living Peace Group this Thursday
Begin or continue reading Autobiography of a Yogi. Be inspired at how Yogananda learned to walk the talk of unshakable peace and happiness. Learn from the wisdom and unconditionally loving presence of this powerful teacher devoted to the spiritual awakening of us all.
Join us next Wednesday for the inspirational spiritual book study of Autobiography of a Yogi.

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.

5-7-2018

Our Portable Paradise

Paula Whang-Ramos

"By the practice of meditation you will find that you are carrying within your heart a portable paradise."
~ Paramahansa Yogananda

Paramahansa Yogananda, a well loved and respected Yoga Master and Teacher, was a lifetime meditator. He came from a family of meditators. He even had a special room in his childhood home dedicated to his meditation practice. When we hear these stories of the richly supported meditative life of Yogananda, it is easy to imagine his ability to effortlessly access his portable meditative paradise. But, what about those of us who were not raised in a meditative home, who began our meditation practice well into our adult years, and who don't have the physical space or housemates that could afford an entire room in our home dedicated to meditation? In the face of our daily life challenges, how do we access our inner portable paradise?

In Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda does more than share his positive, life transforming experiences. He also describes personal challenges on his spiritual path, and how he used meditation and yogic practices to mature into his portable paradise. In this way, Yogananda's growing edge stories are as inspiring as his uplifting ones because they reveal what is possible for us all, when we remain steadfast in our daily meditation practice, even through difficult times. But, don't take my word for it. Read the book for yourself. See how the words of this beloved Spiritual Teacher touch your heart and call you back into the portable paradise that indwells us all.

This month join us at CSE and Blue Lotus Center for rare opportunities to dive deeply into the life lessons and spiritual teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda. Learn from the wisdom and unconditionally loving presence of this powerful teacher devoted to the spiritual awakening of us all. 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.

Blue Lotus

Meditation & Yoga Center:
CSE south county meditation center