October 2004

Inspirations
a poem by Elaine Upton

Feature article
by Paramahansa Yogananda

News
updates from the Meditation Society

Campaigns
Care2 click to donate

From the Readers

a poem

We need you
to submit to the meditation e-zine

From the Editor

Hello! After a month-long absence from the editors desk (and consequently no e-zine for September), i'm back. For those eagerly awaiting the appearance of the meditation e-zine in their inbox (!), i do apologize for the missing episode. I had to drop everything in my life to concentrate on finishing my PhD thesis, and i'm happy to report that it is over!

So, as much for my sake as yours, i have enjoyed collecting the various poems and articles offered below. Dream on with contemporary poet Elaine Maria Upton, our Inspirational artist below. Paramahansa Yogananda lets us in on the secret to effortless work in our Feature Article. The same theme is developed in class 13 of our online classes, and is a beautiful thing to keep in mind on busy days. ...A few busy days have been had also with our website, as you will read in the News section.

I invite you to check out the forums on our website and join the community that is steadily growing...

in peace,

sabine

Inspirations

Feature Article

"Paramahansa Yogananda brought to the West not only India's perennial promise of God-realization, but also a practical method by which spiritual aspirants from all walks of life may progress rapidly toward their goal."

The following is an excerpt from "How to work without fatigue", a talk given in March 1940 by Sri Paramahansa Yogananda and presented in his book The Divine Romance.

The Secret of Vitality

It takes hours for the body to convert food into energy, but anything that stimulates your will generates energy instantly.

...We draw most of the current for our actions from the physical supply of the body battery - energy distilled from food, oxygen, and sunshine. We don't draw enough energy from the invisible cosmic source, through the conscious use of will.

Will and Energy Go Hand-in-Hand

There is a difference between consciously applied will and imagination. Imagination is a conception of something that one desires to manifest. By imagining day and night that you are feeling more vitality, you will gain some strength, because imagination requires at least a small degree of will. By contrast, when one wills vitality, the energy is actually there at once.

...you can draw, by the use of will power, unlimited energy from the cosmic source. Since the body is simply a cluster of cells, if it lacks energy and you thus energize the whole body with will, those cells are recharged instantly and continuously. Will is the switch that lets more energy into the body from the divine source.

...Will is thus a potent factor in maintaining youth and vigor. If you convince yourself you are old, the will becomes paralyzed and you do become old. Never say you are tired; it paralyzes the will and then you are tired. Say, "My body needs rest." The body must not be allowed to dictate its limitations to your soul. The soul must rule the body, because the soul is neither caused by nor dependent on the body. In the soul's will lies all power.

...Therefore, we must realize that energy and will go together. It is a very simple formula. We have been so conditioned to the idea that energy comes only from material sources, that we fail to believe in and draw upon the cosmic source, which responds instantly to will.

Love Is One of the Greatest Stimulants to the Will

Whatever I do, I do with the greatest love that I have in me. Try this, and you will see that you do not become fatigued at all. Love is one of the greatest stimulants to the will. Under the influence of love the will can do almost anything.

...I do believe strongly in will power. I have proven it works. When I am with people, I am with them wholly, with the greatest joy; and when I am alone, I am alone with that joy. When I work, I work with the greatest will and happiness. No matter what your task, do it joyously and willingly. If you don't you only devitalize yourself. And remember to be always sincere. Through sincerity you can work more harmoniously with others. Develop sincerity along with will power.

...When your will becomes strong, united with divine will, you can indeed, as Jesus said, lift mountains and cast them into the depths of the sea. Our will is part of the divine will; and when we develop the will that is within us, we can create universes, and we can demonstrate that there is no death, no decay, but that all matter is eternal energy. Then there can be no fatigue.

The purpose of life is to find God. Under no circumstances allow yourself to become buried in the debris of mortal habits and limitations and all the other humiliating experiences of delusion. Use your determination to wrench your will free, and attain mastery over your body and the universe. In the development of your will lies the ability to discover the hidden image of God within you.

More information on Yogananda can be found on https://www.yogananda-srf.org

News (and fun stuff!)

Good news and bad news about our website https://meditation.org.au.

Unfortunately we recently had a website and computer crash, and have had to revert to older back-up data, so please be patient if this arrives in your wrong email address or even if you have previously unsubscribed. Just email me in reply and i'll fix it up. All our email correspondences were lost as well, so those cyber-friendships we've developed will have be restarted from your end, dear readers, as we've lost track of you i'm afraid! The good news is that now is a good opportunity for you to write to us with articles, poems, and just things you want to share about life in general. Also, i recommend utilising the forums, to keep in touch with an online community of meditators..

Some good news is we have had to upgrade our server because we have so many people doing the online course now that our service provider complained! The bad news is that it is costing us more to keep the site up. But the Ads on the site help provide us with the income to finance this upgrade - so please continue clicking and you'll help us keep the site free.

A joke from from https://www.joke-archives.com/spirit.html

A kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's artwork. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.

The girl replied, "I'm drawing God."

The teacher paused and said, "but no one knows what God looks like."

Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing the girl replied, "They will in a minute."

Campaigns

From the readers

Thank you Dr. Leo Rebello for the following poem:

I'd be but a voice
That I may sing the songs
That wing the souls of men
So that they rise from wrongs.

I'd be but a voice
To prophesy and warn
That men may shun the dark
And hearing, seek the morn.

I'd be but a voice
Repeating once again
The words of power and love
That greed and hurt restrain.

I'd be but a voice
Impersonal and just,
That those who doubt may hear,
And hearing, see and trust.

more poetry is available on our website: https://meditation.org.au/poems.asp

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