Peter
From SA

Hi, Is there a specific time to meditate? Also do clothes matters in meditation? Like e.g can a person meditate wearing boots and jacket due to coldness? So how can a person meditate in a cold room especially during a cold season?

Answer

Diksha
Ananda Village

Dear Peter,

The time to meditate is when you can do it regularly.

Recommended are dawn (just after awakening), twilight, high noon, and midnight. Another time is in the evening, just before bedtime. It’s also easier to meditate on an empty stomach 2 – 3 hours after meals. So set aside the same time or times each day for your meditation.

Wear comfortable clothing, which will allow your body to relax.

During the cold season, you can heat the meditation room. Make sure the room is not too warm, to prevent sleepiness.

For more imformation about practical hints for meditation, please visit Ananda’s link: http://www.ananda.org/meditation/free-meditation-support/articles/practical-hints-for-meditation/

Blessings,

Diksha

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Nina
From India

Namashkar! God is one. Could you please tell me the difference between Divine Mother and Divine Father and how can I address them separately during my prayer.

Regards.

Answer

Jayadev
Ananda Assisi, Italy

Namashkar Nina,

Yes, God is one, and in "His" true essence He is beyond any human understanding. To understand His eternal essence we have to go beyond our human level, and meet Him on His own level, by expanding with our formless soul into in "heaven", into Eternity, beyond time, space, gender, and definitions.

But as long as we are "down here" on earth with our consciousness, the one God manifests to us with many aspects and qualities, and we are free to approach Him in any way we chose, to pray to Him in the way it inspires us. For example He manifests as Divine Mother and Divine Father.

There is a talk by Yogananda on these two aspects of God in the book Man’s Eternal Quest, called, "Is God a Father or a Mother?" The Mother aspect of God is tender, unconditionally loving, all-merciful, he explains. The Father aspect of God is wisdom, truth, law, justice, cosmic, eternity.

Yogananda often addressed them both in his public prayers, saying, "Heavenly Father, Divine Mother, Friend, beloved God…." He explained that we can approach Him in all these ways: as Mother, Father, Friend, Beloved, and even as a heavenly Child (Gopala or little Jesus), if our heart feels that way, or as Eternal Spirit, if God in form doesn’t inspire us.

The supremely important thing in prayer is: LOVE. Nothing else! God watches the heart, Yogananda taught. He answers to our love, not to our prayers "chiseled to perfection". The best prayer is the one that comes spontaneously from our heart. Only love can "break His vow of silence".

You ask how to address the Heavenly Father and Divine Mother both, separately, in your prayers. Prayer of course is a completely personal issue, but generally speaking it is most effective to chose one aspect of God, either Father or Mother, and to sincerely pray to that form, to deepen that relationship, in a loving and intimate way.

Yogananda for himself chose the "Mother", because "the Mother is closer than the Father". You can find many of his teachings on prayer in the book The Essence of Self-Realization, which also contains a chapter on "How to Pray Effectively".

Love is the key to His/Her presence. A good prayer is: "Divine Mother, naughty or good, I am Your child. You must release me!"

May deep love fill your prayers,

jayadev

PS Maybe this prayer from Yogananda’s Whispers of Eternity will inspire you:

I Will Be the Naughty Baby of the Divine Mother
In the hall of life, decorated with mountains,
stormy cataracts, and wild scenery,
I have played long.
Each time, when, tired of play, I cried for Thee,
Thou didst drop down
through the skylight of my heart’s craving
some new doll of fame, friends, or prosperity
to quiet me.
This time, Divine Mother,
I will play the naughty baby.
I will sob unceasingly.
No more shall the toys of earthly pleasure stop my cries.
O Divine Mother, Thou must come soon,
or I will waken all Creation with my cries!
I will make all Thy sleeping children
wake and join me in a chorus of wails.
Forsake Thy busyness with the housework of Thy Creation!
I demand attention. I demand Thee!
I no longer want Thy playthings!

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ela singh
From India

Sir, I am meditating since January this year but I still can’t concentrate more than 2-3 seconds. My mind chatters all the time whether I am meditating or not.

But on the other hand, in spite of my failing in meditation, I am getting a lot of benefits e.g. I am now less short tempered and my attitude has started changing .....I am becoming closer to God. My relationships are a bit better now...Why is this so?

How long will I take to succeed in meditation?

Answer

Jayadev
Ananda Assisi, Italy

Dear Ela,

These are your first six month of meditation. Meditation for you is still young, like a child. It needs some time to grow up. One of the secrets of success is patience. Patience, it has been said, is the shortest way to God. "Keep going" is the best advice I can give you.

How long does it take to succeed in meditation, to "grow up", so to speak? There is no definite rule, but if you keep going, results will come, for sure. There will be better times and more difficult times with the unruly mind. But slowly slowly the mind will calm down more and more.

Fortunately you have already discovered that even if you had a restless meditation, still good results manifest in your life. This is true. Actually success in meditation is not measured by inner visions etc., but "in the cold light of day": in your relationships, reactions inner peace, and by our closeness to God in all situations. It happened to you, so pat yourself on your shoulder and say, "well done!"

There are many things you can do, to help to calm your mind which rebelliously wants to concentrate for only 2 or 3 seconds. You have to work in the outer life and inwardly, in meditation.

Outer Life:

- Try to be as little emotional as you can, practicing to be "calm and cheerful at all times". Emotionalism is the death of spirituality, Yogananda teaches. Relax.

- Avoid spicy food, coffee. Alcohol is a "de-concentrator" too. Sugar doesn’t help much either, I have found.

- Avoid TV, it makes our mind very restless.

- Avoid restless music, listen to calm melodies

- Avoid restless environments of all sorts if you can. Be in Nature whenever possible.

- Participate in group meditations and spiritual satsangs.

In Meditation:

- Try some yoga postures with deep breathing before meditation, they relax. Tensions in the body result in a restless mind.

- Yogananda taught recharging exercises. It would be good to learn them and do them before meditation. They have a calming effect.

- Pray for help at the beginning of meditation.

- Practice a pranayama after prayer. Our breath can wonderfully influence the mind. Try the even breathing: inhale, hold, exhale, all for the same length, with deep long breaths, for 12 cycles.

- Do short meditations. Quality is better than quantity. In time expand them with quality.

- Try to meditate with half open eyes, it might help you a lot.

- You may use inner visualizations, to capture your mind – use whatever image inspires you. Yogananda and Swami Kriyananda wrote such visualizations.

Remember: if your mind got distracted a 100 times, and a 100 times you brought it back to focus, that was a GOOD meditation, as you have trained your mind and concentration, like a muscle. If your mind however started wandering and you never got back to your meditation, well, that was less good. Just always try, and try again. Never give up.

In time you will be able to follow this advice of Yogananda: "Every time you meditate, sit calmly for a long time after doing the techniques. It is during this period that you will be able to deepen your awareness of God’s presence within you. Go ever deeper in your enjoyment of that presence." Your life will be blessed.

"Doing, doing, one day done!"

In divine friendship, jayadev

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Mary
From Chennai

Dear Mary

Thank you so much for your answer to my question of how to heal two families.You said healing depends on my faith and receptivity of the other family. If my faith is stronger, then will the prayer work even if their receptivity is not so strong, or is their receptivity equally important?

Answer

Mary Kretzmann
Ananda Village

Think of it this way — it is like an equation. Just as 50+50 =100, so does 99+1=100. The "99" might represent enlightened Masters who can always heal, as long as they feel it is Divinely ordained for the person involved.

So do your best. Sometimes the receptivity can simply be a quality in the heart center, some good karma from the past, but seen only by God and Guru.

For the original post, please see Healing a Family

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Andy Salgado
From America

I have been meditating for about a year. Basically since my meditation I have been feeling a constant tingling in my body, it feels as if my actions are a lot slower and I am more aware. This tingling won’t leave so I’m making sure it’s okay, right?

Answer

Hriman
Ananda Seattle

Andy, may I assume that this tingling sensation continues during your waking activities, and not just during meditation?

The experience of a tingling sensation is not at all uncommon in the practice of yoga and pranayam and meditation, though to have it all the time is a bit unusual (you didn’t say exactly how long, however).

I would say that such a sensation is a reflection of the subtle energy of the body (both physical and astral), and thus a manifestation of prana, presumably awakened by your yogic practices.

As such, it likely has no intrinsic significance, or, from your note, at least none has been intuitively revealed to you. If you find it disturbing during daily activities, or, even perhaps distracting to the point of potentially causing an accident, I suggest tensing the whole body with the “"double breath” (do you know that technique?).

I say this not because there’s anything “wrong” or harmful, but unless you are receiving a blissful uplifted state as a result of it, it would not seem to be all that helpful spiritually speaking.

If this does in fact inspire and uplift you, I would say remain centered and nonattached to it. See it as divine grace and presence and know that it can disappear at any moment and perhaps never return. So treat it with reverence and inwardness. See if you can go about your duties in a calm, focused manner even while enjoying the beatitutde of its presence.

It is generally best not to talk about these things idly to those with no experience or interest in meditation or the spiritual path. Nor is it helpful to get all excited about it or to imagine yourself somehow more highly advanced spiritually because of it. It simply is.

So, unless it is disturbing to you, calmly experience it and view it, for now, as prana: intelligent, benign, and divine! Therefore commune with it with reverence. Ask God, Christ or Master’s to reveal how you should relate to it and whether it is truly divine grace.

Blessings to you,

Nayaswami Hriman

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mary
From usa

Our abundance externally seems to be linked to our realization of our Divine abundance internally. How does Karma interface with this? Also I think that the more I love God the less I need to ask others for wisdom. And the more I realize that my “truth” is not the truth others may perceive for me. Thank you for responding. Blessings to you.

Answer

Hriman
Ananda Seattle

Dear Friend,

In your note above you’ve brought up several subjects and it may be helpful to be clear about what they are:

1. Does material abundance flow from (what you term) “Divine abundance internally”?

2. How does karma affect #1?

3. What is the relationship of love for God to inner guidance and wisdom?

4. What others think I should do is not necessarily what I feel guided to do. (This is a statement, not a question, but I assume it is, if not a question, a topic for discussion.)

So let’s step up the plate and swing at a few of your “fast balls!” (Spring and summer in America is “baseball” season!)

ABUNDANCE. Yes, indeed, our karma very much affects the relationship between our (hopefully) growing spirituality and the state of our material abundance or success. Some saints have lived in poverty; others, in abundance. Hence one could say that there is no INTRINSIC relationship between the two. (The same can be said of health.)

Yes, it’s true that as one advances spiritually one begins to demonstrate power of material things, but that cannot, or at least should not, be used for self-gratification and mere comfort or security. Those who yield to the temptation to do so “fall” spiritually, at least to some degree (not always to a great degree, however).

Therefore it is unwise to measure one’s spiritual consciousness by one’s power to manifest material prosperity. Easier said than done, however, as the world has numerous examples of spiritual seekers and teachers who tend to equate the two. It is, however, an error to do so, at least infallibly.

A devotee may have to work to overcome former lifetimes of inattention to material matters in order to achieve an appropriate level of prosperity sufficient to support his spiritual seeking and his spiritual service to others. A wealthy devotee may need to consciously be generous and non-attached to the karmic results of past success magentism; or, he may need to be careful not to squander his wealth in the name of being spiritual when it is not really useful or called for by God’s will. It can be, you see, very complicated.

LOVE FOR GOD AND WISDOM. No question about it: love for God brings to us wisdom. But be careful of being the “judge” of just how wise you are! Pride goeth before the fall, Shakespeare reminds us! (or is Proverbs, Old Testament?). Even great saints are careful to test their inner guidance by outer signs and by seeking the counsel of others, even, sometimes, those less wise than themselves, just to “test the spirits” (as Jesus put it). Inner guidance must be tested and offered tentatively up to right action and nonattachment.

The same can be said for what we might perceive to be inner guidance in opposition to the counsel of others. Yes, of course that can, and will take place. But one must be, spiritually, very careful lest we deceive ourselves in doing what we like rather than what we should. This takes practice, humility, and, of course, true intuition. We are never safe until we achieve enlightenment. So, be very careful, esp when your “inner guidance” corresponds to what you want and is in opposition to what others, especially those who are both wise and impartial, suggest.

Blessings to you,

Nayaswami Hriman

aka Swami Hrimananda!

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Mary
From Chennai

In pg 27 of “How to Love and Be Loved,” Master talks about friendships of past incarnations and doing our best to sow the seed for future. If a very good friendship has ended on a nasty note within families, with broken heart, accusation and counter-accusation, can prayer on my behalf help to restore normalcy in the relationship between the family? I hope so.

Answer

Mary Kretzmann
Ananda Village

Yes — prayer can heal your family...

Healing depends on the power of the healer and the receptivity of the patient. Paramhansa Yogananda

Strengthen yourself as a healing instrument through your pracitce of meditation, and by reading the healing prayer section on this website (left). Read a little bit each day and watch the videos. Use the prayer techniques taught there.

In addition to the regular prayers, please get a photo of the family, and hang it on the wall, or place it in a special prayer notebook. When you look at the photo, think of your family as being happy and well. Then "talk" to the feuding members, from your heart., silently or aloud. Think of your words as golden light, blessing them all. Ask them to resolve their differences for the sake of family harmony and love. Feel this light and love surround them in the photo.

We are all connected and by addressing them in this manner, they will receive the helpful thoughts, bit by bit. Everyone wants to be loved and understood... So please say the words with love and emapthy for all concerned.

You can also adapt the Peace and Harmony prayer to your family situation.

Try to inspire your family to use kind and courteous language with each other.

Unkind words are ruthless murderers of life-long friendships and of the harmony of homes. Banish unkind words from your lips forever, and make your home life safe from trouble. Sincere, sweet words are nectar to thirsty souls.

Make yourself attractive by wearing the fine garment of genuine courteous language. First, be courteous to your immediate relatives. When you can do that, you will be habitually kind to all people. Real family happiness has its foundation on the altar of understanding and kind words. Excerpt: Spiritual Relationships, by Paramhansa Yogananda

Your family is blessed that you want to pray for them all. You can also ask for prayers in the healing prayer section, to augment your own efforts. God bless you.

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