November 28, 2021

The Heart Of Thanksgiving

Paula Whang-Ramos

"Have you spotted any miracles lately? Can you name one or two?
Our willingness to do that—to notice divine grace, speak of it, and give thanks for it, is an entry into the heart of Thanksgiving."
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian, Thanksgiving Blessing, 11/24/2021

One of the qualities I love about the Thanksgiving holiday is the way it calls me to listen into the heart of Thanksgiving. Unlike the holiday, the heart of thanksgiving lasts longer than one day. The heart of thanksgiving is a conscious way of living every day. And, as we open into this holy season honored by spiritual traditions around the world, the energy and activity of this time of year can inspire us to open into gratitude for all we have received in the Source of Life.

For example, we can be grateful for a safe place to live; for family, friends, and neighbors we love and trust; for our health; and the resources we have for our daily lives. We can be grateful for wisdom-based truth traditions that guide us to our inner Wholeness, and for opportunities to gather and freely worship in spiritual community.

I invite you to join me and make the conscious choice to live into the grateful heart of thanksgiving. Let's actively look through spiritual eyes to see how Wholeness continually rises up to reveal Itself in our lives. Let's be replenished as we take a breath into gratitude for all we have and what we are in this moment, even knowing that this too shall pass.

And, at the deepest level, let's surrender into the direct experience of the Source of gratitude, as the most powerful provider of peace, joy, and clarity within us all. Will you join me and spread a little gratitude and peace as we enter these holy days? I hope you will.

Meditate and study Yoga with us at Blue Lotus Center. Study, grow, and celebrate 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.

November 21, 2021

Commit to Sit

Paula Whang-Ramos

"Commit to meditating every day. Meet your divine Self in the inner sanctum of surrendered devotion.
Vow that you will not miss a day no matter what, and you won't."
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian, CSE Daily Inspiration 11/13/2021

Here we are at Thanksgiving and the threshold of the Holy Day season for spiritual traditions around the world. This may be a very busy time as we slowly return to community life and being with loved ones again. During this increased activity, it is especially important to make or keep our daily commitment to sit in the inner restoration and remembrance of meditation.

Even when we are busy, we make time every day to brush and floss our teeth. Since the mouth is a popular entry point for infection into the body, this daily oral hygiene practice helps keep the entire body healthy and strong. Conversely, when we don't brush and floss daily, then we risk infection, not just in the mouth but throughout the body and brain.

In the same way, our daily meditation practice keeps us soul-grounded in the inner peace, clarity, and wholeness that is immune to earth life stressors and our reactions to them. When we meditate daily, we can more easily live from the soul. And the after-effects of our daily meditation practice can help us remember and return to our inner integrity, instead of our mental reactivity, when we are faced with life challenges. In this way, meditation can serve as another important hygiene practice to prevent imbalances in our mental field and throughout our lives.

As we step into this busy time of year, all are invited to join us at BLC to learn to, return to, or continue to meditate every day. During this holy day season and for the highest good of all, let's celebrate healthy hygiene on all levels and in all realms! BLC offers Holy Day blessings to all beings in all traditions.

Meditate and study Yoga with us at Blue Lotus Center. Study, grow, and celebrate 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.

November 14, 2021

New Vistas of Freedom

Paula Whang-Ramos

"Suspending the driver's license of the senses takes courage. We become used to the familiar places they take us and

we imagine we will suffer if we do not follow their lead. But when the soul leads the journey, the senses follow along.
New vistas of freedom and joy open up before us."
-Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian

Do you ever notice how our egos like to take the path of least resistance, to keep life seemingly safe, controllable, and predictable? When we think we know what to expect and how to react, we risk going into "auto-pilot" in our lives. We stop paying attention to the present moment and what we are thinking, saying, or doing in it. Surprisingly, this path may bring us temporary comfort, as we stop noticing the deeper impact of our mindlessness.

In reality, living from this level of unconsciousness can lead us into a circular path of suffering as we are always seeking and never really finding, always yearning and never deeply fed. This way of living reminds me of the saying: If we always do what we have always done, then we will always get what we've already got. And, at the end of the day, an important question is: What have we got? And how can we consciously shift the trajectory of our lives from reactive sense-driven patterns into soul-guided, divine expressions of wholeness and love that spiritual teachings say we are?

If you are living these questions, then join us for Tuesday afternoon meditation group and contemplative study of The Bhagavad Gita. Experience this beautiful, universal story of how we can stop being spiritual "seekers" and authentically live in the world as the spiritual beings that we are. Meditate with us. Quiet the busy mind. Listen within for the eternal still small voice of divine wisdom, guiding us to consciously pilot our own lives into the indwelling peace, clarity, and wholeness that we already are. Open into divine possibilities of joy and fulfillment that await you right now!

November 7, 2021

Happy 7th Birthday Blue Lotus Center!

Paula Whang-Ramos

"Peace in our homes, community, and world begins with a vision of it, faith in it, and the commitment to realize it by working for it.

Bring forth the light of peace by first experiencing it directly in meditation and then transmit divine peace to others."
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian, CSE Daily Inspiration 10/19/2021

On November 6, 2014, Yogacharya O'Brian blessed Blue Lotus Kriya Yoga Meditation Center into being in Gilroy, CA. For the past 7 years, BLC has thrived in the divine grace and wisdom of the Spiritual Teachers in our tradition: Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Sri Yukteswar, Paramahansa Yogananda, Mr. Roy Eugene Davis, and Yogacharya O'Brian. Today BLC continues to serve as an outreach Meditation Center for The Center for Spiritual Enlightenment located in San Jose CA.

The manifestation of BLC expresses through the devoted hearts of volunteers committed to the long vision of learning, living, and helping to make available these teachings of peace and freedom to all sincere seekers. On behalf of all of us who serve at Blue Lotus Center, we offer our deep bows of gratitude to each of you. Thank you for joining us in the vision of peace and the willingness to live it from the inside out. Your presence makes BLC's peace work possible. We look forward to continuing to learn and live in freedom with you for many years to come.

This Wednesday, BLC offers a special evening of meditation and celebration of Blue Lotus Center's 7th anniversary as an oasis of peace for sincere seekers. Join us in this stream of divine grace and spiritual community committed to the realization of peace and freedom for all - in this lifetime. Learn about BLC's 2022 plan to continue to live into the vision of spiritual awakening in the blessing and guidance of Yogacharya O'Brian and CSE. Find out how you can support this vision of a spiritually awakened world.

Meditate and study Yoga with us at Blue Lotus Center. Study, grow, and celebrate 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

Inspirational Messages

Blue Lotus

“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