July 27, 2025
The Power Of Letting Go
Paula Whang-Ramos
"Renounce any false ideas and attachments to people, circumstances, or things as the source
of your happiness...Embrace the exhilaration that comes with letting go."
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian, Living For The Sake Of The Soul, p. 112
The next time you feel unhappy or frustrated, consider if your reaction is due to something not going the way you wanted it to go. Perhaps a person did not behave as you desired, or an unexpected change occurred. When we experience negative reactions due to undesired circumstances, we are attaching our inner well-being to a source outside ourselves.
As an alternative, we can choose the spiritual practice of letting go. We do not let go of the roles, responsibilities, and blessings of our lives. Rather, we repeatedly let go of misguided mental habits that wrongly believe our inner integrity and happiness could be authentically sourced from anything outside ourselves.
Instead, we inwardly open into the indwelling Source of fulfillment and happiness within. And we learn to consciously respond instead of mentally react to life. The more we let go of our wrong thinking, the more we can experience even greater power as we source our joy from the Source of joy within.
Blue Lotus Kriya Yoga Meditation Center welcomes sincere seekers from all backgrounds. Beginning and experienced meditators from all traditions are welcome at all gatherings.
July 20, 2025
Open To Divine Possibilities
Paula Whang-Ramos
"Sometimes we hold on so tight to what we want, or think is right, that we cannot see the divine possibilities before us."
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian, Living For The Sake Of The Soul, p. 110
Living from the limited ego mind can cause us to forget our unlimited soul nature. From the mind's narrow view of earth life, we come to believe our limiting thoughts as Truth, and can miss divine opportunities that the mind could never think of by itself.
Our meditation practice quiets the busy mind so we can directly experience the peace and wisdom of our soul. During and after meditation, we become receptive to divinely inspired opportunities to view, experience, and even appreciate our lives in new ways. To live from this more fulfilling way of life, we let go of mental, emotional, and behavioral habits that feed our mind's comfort and obstruct our soul's expression. Instead, we learn to listen within and follow inner divine guidance into the next step for our highest good. Even during challenging moments, soul inspiration waits to be heard by us, to lead us into divine possibilities beyond our mind's imagination.
Blue Lotus Kriya Yoga Meditation Center welcomes sincere seekers from all backgrounds. Beginning and experienced meditators from all traditions are welcome at all gatherings.
July 13, 2025
Live Into Soul Freedom
Paula Whang-Ramos
"It is easy to believe we are even-minded, non-reactive to praise or blame - when we are showered with praise.
Our ability to learn from the heat of criticism is more telling."
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian, Living For The Sake Of The Soul, p. 106
What a powerful and humble reminder on the path of spiritual awakening. When we are surrounded by like-minded people, it can be easy to remain calm, peaceful and hopeful. Lived consciously, these uplifting relationships can serve to reflect, clarify and inspire our own thoughts, words, and actions to live in the highest way. But most of us don't live in a world where everyone agrees with us. Most of us live in the hot blessings of friends, neighbors, co-workers, and even family whose beliefs may be very different from our own.
In the face of criticism or disagreement, what do we do? Do we emotionally defend our position? If we fear confrontation, do we react in the paralyzed silence of implied consent? While these reactions may provide a sense of temporary relief, or even victory, they are, in truth, neither. As spiritual practice, instead of emotionally reacting, we can choose to use these uncomfortable moments as opportunities to practice consciously responding from a deeper peace and integrity.
The practice of equanimity, or even-mindedness helps us refrain from reacting to the ego's discomfort. Instead, we can STOP, and take as many breaths as needed to apply the inner brakes of our habitual reactions. Focusing on our breath can open us into the inner peace and wholeness that resides within us. From our inner wholeness, we stop seeking validation outside ourselves and inwardly celebrate the inner integrity that exists within us now. We can silently offer a blessing of peace to ourselves and another, as we calmly listen from a deeper integrity strong enough to hear a different perspective. When we remember and live from the essential wholeness that we all are, then that which seems like a threat to the ego, can actually be a blessing that opens us into our inner soul freedom.
Blue Lotus Kriya Yoga Meditation Center welcomes sincere seekers from all backgrounds. Beginning and experienced meditators from all traditions are welcome at all gatherings.
July 6, 2025
The Gift Of Divine Grace
Paula Whang-Ramos
"Divine grace is continually raining down in our lives. We put out a little bucket and when it doesn’t catch much rain,
we think something is wrong. Nothing is wrong. Get rid of the bucket. Step outside of limited thinking
and stand in the downpour of divine grace and possibility."
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian, Living For The Sake Of The Soul, p. 140
How do we recognize and open to the ever-present grace that fills our lives? We slow down and look for it within and around us right now. Grace is present in every moment and circumstance in our lives. It is present in the situations that we like, and in those that scare us. Grace is present in relationships that meet our needs, and in those that seem out of control. It is present in those moments we expect, and in those we did not see coming at all. Divine grace is present even when we deny its presence.
Grace is divine Wholeness freely expressing in our lives, supporting us always. It is a gift that we can unwrap at any moment when we choose to open into its expansive presence. Consciously living in divine grace, we learn to listen, follow, and flow in a deeper, more wisdom-guided, more loving, more peace-filled way of being. Grace continually blesses our lives as a steady stream of divine possibilities, deep healing, and inner peace, moment by holy moment. All we need to do is cooperate with it and step into its flow.
Blue Lotus Kriya Yoga Meditation Center welcomes sincere seekers from all backgrounds. Beginning and experienced meditators from all traditions are welcome at all gatherings.