11 Techniques To Deal With Challenges - Sri sri Paramahansa Yogananda

1) "Whenever anyone utters with reverence the name of BABAJI," Lahiri Mahasaya said, " that devotee attracts an instant spiritual blessing." - Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda.

2) "It is an old superstition of the ignorant to believe you cannot change your destiny....If you give up and think that there is no chance for you, you have pronounced your own fatal judgement...when you say there is no hope, you have failed. But when you think, "I am free, I am strong; even though bad karma strikes me, still I will not give up," then you will see your good karma coming forth." -- Paramahansa Yogananda, The Wisdom Way to Overcome Karma, Journey to Self-Realization

3) "The sunshine of divine prosperity has burst through the dark sky of my limitations. I am God's child. What He has, I have." Paramahansa Yogananda, Scientific Healing Affirmations

4) "I am submerged in...eternal light; it permeates every particle of my being. I am living in that light. Divine Spirit fills me within and without." Paramahansa Yogananda, Metaphysical Meditations

5) Imagine Guruji and other SRF Gurus at the Kutastha and after meditation imagine God and Guru's light changing wrong habits and burning bad karma in the brain. (Techniques in GTWA and DR)

6) "If the fires and mosquitoes of heat, cold, anxiety, care, fear, sickness, etc., single and singe you, seek the remedy with a quiet mind. Always keep the mind steady and indifferent." - Paramahansa Yogananda, in God Alone, The Life and Letters of a Saint

7) "Faith in divine protection, and right use of man's God-given will, are forces more formidable than are influences flowing from the heavens. The starry inscription at one's birth....is not that man is a puppet of his past. Its message is rather a prod to pride; the very heavens seek to arouse man's determination to be free from every limitation." - Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi

8) "Visualize a great fire of wisdom around which all the Masters are standing. Now feel that you have cast into that fire of wisdom all your past karma...There is Divine Mother standing right before the flaming light, and all the Masters are standing there. "O Kali, O Kali, oh, such bliss, oh such joy! Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Sri Yukteswarji, Guru-Preceptor, Mother Kali, Mother Kali, Divine Mother, before us is the fire of wisdom. And in that fire of wisdom we offer our past karma and the karma of all nations. Let that bad karma be consumed forever. Aum Swaha. Aum Swaha. Aum Swaha." - Paramahansa Yogananda, in Meditation & Vision, Self-Realization Magazine Winter 2002

9) "I am castled in God's presence. No harm can reach me, for in every situation of life -- physical, mental, financial, spiritual -- I am protected in the fortress of God's presence." -- Paramahansa Yogananda, Self-Realization Magazine, Spring 2006, Destroying the Consciousness of Fear

10) "Master had taught us, that if you want to commune with any another individual, concentrate on his spiritual eye...During...time of trial, whenever I meditated...I concentrated at my spiritual eye, and then visualized Guruji's face and concentrated on his Kutastha center. Again and again I hammered the ether with my prayerful thought, sending to Master my plea for spiritual help and assurance...After a few days of prayerful pleas to Master, he sent a cablegram back to America with these words: "Tell Faye everything will be all right." " - Sri Daya Mata, Self-Realization Magazine, Fall 2009

11) Harmony Prayer by Swami Bhaktanandaji. Especially useful to get over anger and resentment in dealing with others and approaching situations with God's intended attitude. Visualize all those in the group who hurt you, and mentally surround them in divine light. Then deeply pray, "Lord, fill them with peace and harmony, peace and harmony, peace and harmony", over and over, for a minute. Afterward, visualize yourself in divine light, and pray, "Lord, fill me with peace and harmony, peace and harmony," for about 15 seconds. Do this five times a day, and you will see a change come over those individuals.

Be Thou my Sun and Moon

Send the sunshine of Thy wisdom
to guide me in my happy days of achievement; 
and the moon of Thy mercy
when I travel in the dark nights of sorrow
                                            - Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
                                                 ( Whispers From Eternity)

A prince of peace, sitting on the throne of poise

Father,
teach me to be calmly active and actively calm.
May I be a prince of peace, sitting on the throne of poise and 
directing the kingdom of activity
                          - Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
                            (whispers from eternity)
                       

150th Anniversary of Kriya Yoga’s Revival Celebrated Worldwide

The year 2011 marked the 150th anniversary of the reintroduction of the ancient science of Kriya Yoga into the modern world. It was in 1861 that Lahiri Mahasaya met the deathless guru Mahavatar Babaji in the Himalayas and received initiation into the sacred soul-science. As Paramahansa Yogananda has written: “This auspicious event did not happen to Lahiri Mahasaya alone; it was a fortunate moment for all the human race. The lost, or long-vanished, highest art of yoga was again being brought to light.” 

Numerous events were conducted by Self-Realization Fellowship in 2011 to honor this anniversary and to help in further spreading the soul-liberating Kriya technique to truth seekers throughout the world:   

• An entire issue of Self-Realization magazine was dedicated to the science of Kriya Yoga. Interest in the Summer 2011 issuewas so great that it quickly sold out despite an overrun in printing. (This special issue has been now reprinted, and copies are available while supplies last.) A message received from one reader attested:
  “Every single page [of this issue] is overflowing with such encouraging and inspiring words. I have carried the magazine with me everywhere so that when I get a chance, I can just look at a paragraph to uplift me and to give me a thought to which I can keep returning during the day. Kriya really is ‘the royal technique of God-realization’ and, again, thank you for reiterating in this dynamo of a magazine many of its incomparable blissful blessings.”  

• A new section was added to the SRF Website highlighting the history and benefits of this sacred technique of soul liberation.
  
   
• SRF temples and centers worldwide conducted programs based on Paramahansa Yogananda’s writings on Kriya Yoga, during which a special messagefrom SRF/YSS  President Sri Mrinalini Mata was shared with the congregations. 

• During the 2011 Convocation, all classes included a special focus on the many vital facets of the Kriya science. 

• Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (YSS) featured special events throughout the subcontinent as well as special content in their magazine and on their website. Among the special events were pada yatras, or walking pilgrimages, reenacting the 1861 journey of Lahiri Mahasaya from Ranikhet to Babaji’s Cave — the site near which Lahiri Mahasaya received initiation into Kriya Yoga from his guru, Mahavatar Babaji. Two groups of YSS members and YSS monks on different occasions participated in the eleven-hour trek through the Himalayan foothills. One participating devotee wrote: 

“Our journey started bright and early at 6:00 a.m. It was a beautiful crisp morning and the pleasant weather encouraged our endeavor. As an added bonus, YSS monks who accompanied us inspired us and offered pearls of wisdom along the way. As we passed small towns and villages, we were greeted and cheered by the locals. Within six hours we reached a small town, Binta. Here we had our simple lunch. The majestic mountains, soul soothing sceneries, endless sky, cheerful sun, and floating clouds were so refreshing, we did not feel the difficulty of trekking. We passed beautiful streams and lovely forests, enjoying the peace of Mother Nature and feeling God and Guru’s love.    
“When we reached Babaji’s Cave after five hours of trekking from Binta, we could not imagine we had trekked for eleven hours from Ranikhet. Definitely Babaji’s blessings must be behind this experience. While meditating in the cave we felt the love of Babaji showering upon us, the world ceased in our consciousness, and we were consumed by ever new, pure joy. It was an enriching experience and each of us carried back unforgettable memories.” 
 

Make New Determinations: Be What You Want to Be!

The following excerpts are from a talk given on New Year’s Eve, 1934, by Paramahansa Yogananda at the International Headquarters of the society he founded, Self-Realization Fellowship. The entire talk is published inJOURNEY TO SELF-REALIZATION, Volume III of Paramahansa Yogananda’s Collected Talks and Essays.  (Published by Self-Realization Fellowship, Los Angeles, copyright © 1997.) 

Make new determinations as to what you are going to do and what you are going to be in this next year. Set a program for yourself; carry it through, and you will find how much happier you will be. Failure to keep to your schedule of improvement means you have paralyzed your will. You have no greater friend and no greater enemy than yourself. If you befriend yourself, you will find accomplishment. There is no law of God preventing you from being what you want to be and accomplishing what you want to accomplish. Nothing detrimental that happens can affect you unless you sanction it.

 

Let nothing weaken your conviction that you can be whatever you want to be. There is no one obstructing you unless it be yourself. Though my master Swami Sri Yukteswarji again and again told me that, it was hard to believe it at first. But as I used the God-given gift of will power in my life, I found it to be my savior. Not to use the will is to be inert like a stone, an inanimate object—an ineffectual human being.

 

Constructive thought will absolutely, like a great hidden searchlight, show you the pathway to success. There is always a way to be found if you think hard enough. People who give up after a little while bedim their power of thought. In order to gain your end, you must do your utmost to use thought until it is luminous enough to reveal to you the way to your goal.

Cast away all negative thoughts and fears. Remember that as a child of God you are endowed with the same potentialities as the most excellent among men. As souls, none is greater than another. Attune your will to be guided by the wisdom of God as expressed in the wisdom of the sages. If your will is yoked to wisdom, you can achieve anything. 

 

Bad habits are the worst enemies you can have. You are punished by those habits. They make you do things you do not want to do, and leave you to suffer the consequences. You must drop bad habits and leave them behind you as you move forward. Every day should be a transition from old habits to better habits. In this coming year make a solemn resolution to keep only those habits that are for your highest good.

The best way to get rid of your undesirable tendencies is not to think about them; do not acknowledge them. Never concede that a habit has a hold on you....You must develop “won't” habits. And stay away from those things that stimulate bad habits. 

 

Do not limit yourself with the narrowness of selfishness. Include others in your achievements and happiness, then you are doing the will of God. Whenever you think of yourself, think also of others. When you think of seeking peace, think of others who are in need of peace. If you do your utmost to make others happy, you will find that you are pleasing the Father.

To live in harmony, to live with strong will power to do the will of Him who sent you, is all you should be interested in. Never lose courage, and always be smiling. Have the smile of the heart and the smile of the face completely in harmony. If your body, mind, and soul register the smile of the inner consciousness of God, you can scatter smiles about you wherever you go.

 

Be always with people who inspire you; surround yourself with people who lift you up. Do not let your resolutions and positive thinking be poisoned by bad company. Even if you cannot find good company to inspire you, you can find it in meditation. The best company you can have is the joy of meditation. 

 

Your cup of life within and without is filled with the Divine Presence, but because of the lack of attention you do not perceive God’s immanence. When you are in tune, as one tunes in a radio, then you receive Spirit. It is as if you take a bottle of sea water, cork it, and put it in the ocean; although the bottle floats in the waters, its contents do not mix with its oceanic surroundings. But open the bottle, and the water inside merges with the sea. We must remove the cork of ignorance before we can come in contact with Spirit.

 

Infinity is our Home. We are just sojourning awhile in the caravanserai of the body. Those who are drunk with delusion have forgotten how to follow the trail that leads to God. But when in meditation the Divine gets hold of the prodigal child, there is no dallying anymore.

Enter the portals of the New Year with new hope. Remember you are a child of God. It lies with you as to what you are going to be. Be proud that you are a child of God. What have you to fear? No matter what comes, believe it is the Lord who is sending that to you; and you must succeed in conquering those daily challenges. Therein lies your victory. Do His will; nothing can hurt you then. He loves you everlastingly. Think that. Believe that. Know that. And suddenly one day you will find you are immortally alive in God.

Meditate more and believe in that strong consciousness that God is always with you regardless of what happens. Then you will see that the veil of delusion will be taken away and you will be one with That which is God. That is how I found my greatest happiness in life. I am not looking for anything now because I have everything in Him. Never would I part with That which is the richest of all possessions.

This is my message to you for the New Year.

Using Dynamic Will Power

Nothing is impossible, unless you think it is. 

As a mortal being you are limited, but as a child of God you are unlimited....Focus your attention on God, and you shall have all the power you want, to use in any direction.
Will is the instrument of the image of God within you. In will lies His limitless power, the power that controls all the forces of nature. As you are made in His image, that power is yours to bring about whatever you desire.

When you make up your mind to do good things, you will accomplish them if you use dynamic will power to follow through. No matter what the circumstances are, if you go on trying, God will create the means by which your will shall find its proper reward. This is the truth Jesus referred to when he said: “If ye have faith, and doubt not,...if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done.” If you continuously use your will power, no matter what reverses come, it will produce success and health and power to help people, and above all, it will produce communion with God.

Mortal man’s brain is full of “can’ts.” Being born in a family with certain characteristics and habits, he is influenced by these to think he can’t do certain things; he can’t walk much, he can’t eat this, he can’t stand that. Those “can’ts” have to be cauterized. You have within you the power to accomplish everything you want; that power lies in the will.

If you cling to a certain thought with dynamic will power, it finally assumes a tangible outward form.

Carrying a thought with dynamic will power means holding to it until that thought pattern develops dynamic force. When a thought is made dynamic by will force, it can manifest according to the mental blueprint you have created.

How can you develop will? Choose some objective that you think you cannot accomplish, and then try with all your might to do that one thing. When you have achieved success, go on to something bigger and keep on exercising your will power in this way. If your difficulty is great, deeply pray: “Lord, give me the power to conquer all my difficulties.” You must use your will power, no matter what you are, or who you are. You must make up your mind. Use this will power both in business and in meditation.

Success or failure is determined in your own mind. Even against the negative opinion of the rest of society, if you bring out by your all-conquering God-given will the conviction that you cannot be left to suffer in difficulties, you will feel a secret divine power coming upon you; and you will see that the magnetism of that conviction and power is opening up new ways for you.

True Success

Success is not a simple matter; it cannot be determined merely by the amount of money and material possessions you have. The meaning of success goes far deeper. It can only be measured by the extent to which your inner peace and mental control enable you to be happy under all circumstances. That is real success.

The secret of success and happiness is inside you. If you have found success and prosperity outside, but not inside, you are not truly successful. A millionaire who is not happy is not successful. I don’t mean that if you have a million dollars you cannot be a success. Whether you are rich or poor, if you get happiness out of life you are a real success.

Affirmations for Success

I will go forth in perfect faith in the power of Omnipresent Good to bring me what I need at the time I need it.

Within me is the Infinite Creative Power. I shall not go to the grave without some accomplishments. I am a God-man, a rational creature. I am the power of Spirit, the dynamic Source of my soul. I shall create revelations in the world of business, in the world of thought, in the world of wisdom. I and my Father are One. I can create anything I desire, even as my creative Father.

  Affirmations for Divine Abundance

O Father, I want prosperity, health, and wisdom without measure, not from earthly sources but from Thine all-possessing, all-powerful, all-bountiful hands.
I will not be a beggar, asking limited mortal prosperity, health, and knowledge. I am Thy child, and as such I demand, without limitations, a divine son’s share of Thine illimitable riches.

Divine Father, this is my prayer: I care not what I permanently possess, but give me power to acquire at will whatever I daily need.

Abundance and Prosperity

Those who seek prosperity for themselves alone are in the end bound to become poor, or to suffer from mental inharmony; but those who consider the whole world as their home, and who really care and work for group or world prosperity...find the individual prosperity that is legitimately theirs. This is a sure and secret law.

Every day, do some good to help others, even if it is only a pittance. If you want to love God you must love people. They are His children. You can be helpful materially by giving to the needy; and mentally by giving comfort to the sorrowful, courage to the fearful, divine friendship and moral support to the weak. You also sow seeds of goodness when you interest others in God, and cultivate in them greater love for God, deeper faith in Him. When you leave this world, material riches will be left behind; but every good that you have done will go with you. Wealthy people who live in miserliness, and selfish people who never help others, do not attract wealth in their next life. But those who give and share, whether they have much or little, will attract prosperity. That is the law of God.

Think of Divine Abundance as a mighty, refreshing rain; whatever receptacle you have at hand will receive it. If you hold up a tin cup, you will receive only that quantity. If you hold up a bowl, that will be filled. What kind of receptacle are you holding up to Divine Abundance? Perhaps your vessel is defective; if so, it should be repaired by casting out all fear, hate, doubt, and envy, and then cleansed by the purifying waters of peace, tranquility, devotion, and love. Divine Abundance follows the law of service and generosity. Give and then receive. Give to the world the best you have and the best will come back to you.

Creating All-Round Success

He is wisest who seeks God. He is the most successful who has found God.

Great teachers will never counsel you to be neglectful; they will teach you to be balanced. You have to work, no doubt, to feed and clothe the body. But if you allow one duty to contradict another, it is not a true duty. Thousands of businessmen are so busy gathering wealth, they forget that they are creating a lot of heart disease too! If duty to prosperity makes you forget duty to health, it is not duty. One should develop in a harmonious way. There is no use giving special attention to developing a wonderful body, if it houses a peanut brain. The mind also must be developed. And if you have excellent health and prosperity and intellect, but you are not happy, then you have still not made a success of your life. When you can truthfully say, “I am happy, and no one can take my happiness away from me,” you are a king — you have found the image of God within you.

Another qualification of success is that we not only bring harmonious and beneficial results to ourselves, but also share those benefits with others.

Life should be chiefly service. Without that ideal, the intelligence that God has given you is not reaching out toward its goal. When in service you forget the little self, you will feel the big Self of Spirit. As the vital rays of the sun nurture all, so should you spread rays of hope in the hearts of the poor and forsaken, kindle courage in the hearts of the despondent, and light a new strength in the hearts of those who think that they are failures. When you realize that life is a joyous battle of duty and at the same time a passing dream, and when you become filled with the joy of making others happy by giving them kindness and peace, in God’s eyes your life is a success.

Creativity

Tune yourself with the creative power of Spirit. You will be in contact with the Infinite Intelligence that is able to guide you and to solve all problems. Power from the dynamic Source of your being will flow uninterruptedly so that you will be able to perform creatively in any sphere of activity.

Ask yourself this question: “Have I ever tried to do anything that nobody else has done?” That is the starting point in the application of initiative. If you haven’t thought that far, you are like hundreds of others who erroneously think they have no power to act differently than they do. They are like sleepwalkers; the suggestions coming from their subconscious mind have given them the consciousness of one-horsepower people.
If you have been going through life in this somnambulistic state, you must wake yourself by affirming: “I have man’s greatest quality — initiative. Every human being has some spark of power by which he can create something that has not been created before. Yet I see how easily I could be deluded with the mortal consciousness of limitation that pervades the world, if I allowed myself to be hypnotized by environment!

What is initiative? It is a creative faculty within you, a spark of the Infinite Creator. It may give you the power to create something no one else has ever created. It urges you to do things in new ways. The accomplishments of a person of initiative may be as spectacular as a shooting star. Apparently creating something from nothing, he demonstrates that the seemingly impossible may become possible by one’s employent of the great inventive power of the Spirit.

The one who creates does not wait for an opportunity, blaming circumstances, the fates, and the gods. He seizes opportunities or creates them with the magic wand of his will, effort, and searching discrimination.

Before embarking on important undertakings, sit quietly, calm your senses and thoughts, and meditate deeply. You will then be guided by the great creative power of Spirit.

Whenever you want to produce something, do not depend upon the outside source; go deep and seek the Infinite Source. All methods of business success, all inventions, all vibrations of music, and all inspirational thoughts and writings are recorded in the annals of God.

Concentration — A Key to Success

The root cause of many failures in life is lack of concentration. Attention is like a searchlight; when its beam is spread over a vast area, its power to focus on a particular object becomes weak, but focused on one thing at a time, it becomes powerful. Great men are men of concentration. They put their whole mind on one thing at a time.

One should know the scientific method of concentration (taught in the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons) by which he may disengage his attention from objects of distraction and focus it upon one thing at a time. By the power of concentration, man can use the untold power of mind to accomplish that which he desires, and he can guard all doors through which failure may enter.

We should approach our nearest problem or duty with concentrated energy and execute it to perfection. This should be our philosophy of life.

Most people do everything half-heartedly. They use only about one-tenth of their attention. That is why they haven’t the power to succeed....[Do] everything with the power of attention. The full force of that power can be attained through meditation. When you use that focusing power of God, you can place it on anything and be a success