April 28, 2024
A Grace Filled Life
Paula Whang-Ramos
“We live by grace, life's inherent irrepressible support, and not by self-effort alone.”
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian, The Jewel of Abundance, p. 163
Yogacharya O’Brian says “The winning combination for a prosperous life is grace met by effort.” (JOA, p. 61) First, we actively look for grace in our lives. Initially, we may experience grace as two seemingly unrelated events that simultaneously occur beyond our control. But grace is much more than these synchronicities. Grace is the ever-present experience of divine Wholeness, continually expressing Itself through us and every aspect of all life, all the time. When we live in the flow of this divine harmony, our minds are clear, discernment is easier, and peace and love prevail in our lives.
Our self-effort then becomes learning how to recognize, follow, and live in divine grace. Instead of narrowing our focus to the solution for a specific life challenge, we learn to open and expand our consciousness into all the divine possibilities that grace can offer. Instead of seeking answers from others, we learn to go within and listen to our own innate guidance first. Instead of trying to manage external factors beyond our control, we seek inner awareness and control of the stressed, distracted mind.
Our daily practice of meditation and non-attachment to the limiting stories and their outcomes are two practices that can help us meet grace in our lives. Meditation helps us learn to listen to that still, small inner voice and pay attention to our intuition. Non-attachment can help us refrain from trying to control factors that are not useful in cultivating the clarity and peace we seek. Instead, we slow down, go within, open into divine possibility, and actively realize where grace is already present in our lives, ready to support us through life’s blessings and challenges, right here where we are.
Thrive in prosperity consciousness this year at Blue Lotus Center onsite (Wednesday evenings only) and online (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays). Experience a time of meditation, study, contemplation, and divine remembrance in a spiritual community devoted to realizing and thriving in our innate peace, love, and wisdom. Contribute to the realization of peace in our minds, our hearts, our families, our community, and our world. Blue Lotus Kriya Yoga Meditation Center welcomes sincere seekers from all backgrounds. Beginning and experienced participants from all traditions are welcome at all gatherings.
April 21, 2024
Open To Divine Intelligence
Paula Whang-Ramos
"An illumined mind has the capacity to wisely make difficult choices - choices that require discrimination and willpower.
When we are calm and clear, we can decide to do what will provide long-term benefits, rather than taking 'easier' shortcuts that cost more later
with diminishment of our well-being and disconnection from the soul." ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian, The Jewel of Abundance, pg. 238
I recall a story of His Holiness the Dali Lama once being told that he had an extremely busy daily schedule. His Aide asked what His Holiness would like to do first from his long to-do list. As I listened to this story, I could hear the ego's call to action saying, "Let's get these meetings and tasks completed! The sooner we get started, the more we will get accomplished." But that is not how His Holiness responded. Rather than jump into action, His Holiness replied that he would first choose to meditate twice as long before stepping into his scheduled activities.
When we meditate, we intentionally stop exacerbating difficult circumstances made worse when we impulsively react to them. Instead, our daily meditation practice helps quiet and calm the over-extended mind. As we proceed through our meditation practice, the mind becomes quiet enough for us to open into the divine intelligence within us. We experience it as silence, stillness, peace, intuition, and clarity. Instead of reacting emotionally, we can respond from a wisdom-guided Source that inspires choices to serve the highest good of all. His Holiness chose the inner path of meditation, accessing that divine inner peace and clarity to joyfully and intelligently guide him through this busy day. And the same inner peace, power, and wisdom that indwells His Holiness is available and accessible within each of us.
Thrive in prosperity consciousness this year at Blue Lotus Center onsite (Wednesday evenings only) and online (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays). Experience a time of meditation, study, contemplation, and divine remembrance in a spiritual community devoted to realizing and thriving in our innate peace, love, and wisdom. Contribute to the realization of peace in our minds, our hearts, our families, our community, and our world. Blue Lotus Kriya Yoga Meditation Center welcomes sincere seekers from all backgrounds. Beginning and experienced participants from all traditions are welcome at all gatherings.
April 14, 2024
Divine Potential In This Moment
Paula Whang-Ramos
"We recall that infinite creative possibility exists within us." ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian, The Jewel of Abundance, pg. 200
Have you ever had that experience where you unsuccessfully struggled to come up with a solution to a problem in your life? And, then when you've all but given up, the perfect alternative just pops into your head? For me, the inspiration often arises during the performance of a mundane activity, like washing the dishes or admiring our beautiful garden. Now, we know it is not clean dishes that elicit wisdom. So, how is it that inspiration arises when we least expect it?
By conscious choice or simply fatigue, when we stop trying to rearrange mental and physical circumstances and force solutions, we give the mind a break from such arduous work. We step away from the endless mind stories of "what if, if only, and shoulda, woulda, coulda". As the mind relaxes into dishwashing, gazing at the garden, or petting our beloved furry family member, our attention and awareness can relax into the present moment. And the divine creative potential within us all needs only that moment to whisper the insight or intuition that we need to consciously respond, instead of emotionally react, to a situation. In that moment of inner peace, if we can stop and listen, we can hear divinely inspired possibilities arising from within us, calling us into the innate joy, clarity, and peace that indwells us all.
Thrive in prosperity consciousness this year at Blue Lotus Center onsite (Wednesday evenings only) and online (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays). Experience a time of meditation, study, contemplation, and divine remembrance in a spiritual community devoted to realizing and thriving in our innate peace, love, and wisdom. Contribute to the realization of peace in our minds, our hearts, our families, our community, and our world. Blue Lotus Kriya Yoga Meditation Center welcomes sincere seekers from all backgrounds. Beginning and experienced participants from all traditions are welcome at all gatherings.
April 7, 2024
The Journey Into Wholeness
Paula Whang-Ramos
"The journey of spiritual awakening includes times of forgetting the truth of our being as well as times of remembering."
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian, The Jewel of Abundance, p. 73
As individual expressions of the Source of wholeness, Yoga is a spiritual path and practice of consciously remembering and living as the unique expressions of wholeness that we all are. Inherent in Yoga is the realization that every single one of us will forget that we are whole. At some point in our lives, we will mistakenly believe that we are broken, unworthy, and/or separate from the Source of life. As odd as it may sound, this is one of the many strengths of a yogic life. In yoga, the Source of life shines Its absolutely clear, nonjudgmental light of wholeness through us, as us, all the time, everywhere, even when we forget. The Source holds compassionate space for the forgetful chaos of the mind, all the while never believing the scary stories we tell ourselves.
Even more, Yoga offers ancient, time-tested practices to help us remember and live in our essential wholeness. With the steadfast compassionate practice of Yoga, the bumps in the road of forgetting get smaller as the divinely inspired inner path of remembrance becomes more illumined within. Living from this illumination naturally reveals more inner peace, grateful joy, unconditional love, and clear wisdom to inspire our daily lives. But don’t take my word for it. Join other steadfast travelers of Yoga at CSE and BLC, and experience this freedom for yourself. We'll save a seat for you!
Thrive in prosperity consciousness this year at Blue Lotus Center onsite (Wednesday evenings only) and online (Tuesdays and Wednesdays). Experience a time of meditation, study, contemplation, and divine remembrance in a spiritual community devoted to realizing and thriving in our innate peace, love, and wisdom. Contribute to the realization of peace in our minds, our hearts, our families, our community, and our world. Blue Lotus Kriya Yoga Meditation Center welcomes sincere seekers from all backgrounds. Beginning and experienced participants from all traditions are welcome at all gatherings.