To try and make ourselves fitting temples to receive God and Guru on the occasion of Avirbhav Anniversary of our Guru Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda, YSDK Bangalore conducted *SADHANA SAPTHAHA* from December 28th to 4th January. Around 40 devotees actively participated on each day and enjoyed long meditations on various aspects of God.
28.12.16 1st day
Service from 4pm to 7pm.
Theme- PEACE - Meditation is on the aspect of "God as Peace"
Opening Prayer
Beloved 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.
Chants
1.I am Om
2.In the temple of silence
3. In the land beyond my dreams.
Guruji's words on Peace from the Metaphysical Meditations
Fix your mind inwardly between the eyebrows (as in meditation) on the shoreless lake of peace. Watch the eternal circle of rippling peace around you. The more you watch intently, the more you will feel the wavelets of peace spreading from the eyebrows to the forehead, from the forehead to the heart ,and on to every cell in your body. Now the waters of peace are overflowing the banks of your body and inundating the vast territory of your mind. The flood of peace flows over the boundaries of your mind and moves on in infinite directions.
Affirmation
1) Peace flows through my heart
and blows through me as a zephyrs
Peace fills me like a fragrance.
Peace runs through me like rays.
Peace stabs the heart of noises and worries.
2) Behind the Throb of my heart I shall find the throb of Gods Peace.
Closing Prayer
May thy love shine for ever on the sanctuary of our devotion and we be able to awaken thy love in all hearts.
29.12.16 2nd day.
Meditation -4pm to 7pm
Theme: JOY - Meditation is on the aspect of "God as Joy"
Opening Prayer
Divine Mother,Thou art sacred perennial joy
Thou art the joy I seek;
Thou art the lasting joy of the Soul. Teach me to worship Thee through the joy born of meditation and doing good, and not through pleasures born of the misguided senses.
The Devotee's Aspiration
-By Sri Sri Paramahamsa Yogananda
I shall be a Niagara falls, my joy thundering in a ceaseless cascade. The powerful flood will sweep away the heavy logs of others' difficulties.
I shall be a tornado of laughter, toppling the timbers and towers of sorrow. Zooming over endless miles of mentalities, I shall demolish their troubles.
I shall be lightning flashes in the night, breathtakingly bringing to view the panorama of Thy beauty- long hidden by the darkness of unseeing eyes.
I shall be moonbeams of bliss, banishing melancholy from the earth.
I shall be rays of light,putting to flight the gloom that lurks in recesses of human thought.
Through Thy grace the sudden shafts of wisdom will dispel error accumulations of countless centuries.
- Whispers from Eternity
Chants
1.I will sing Thy name
2. Joy Joy
3. O thou king of the infinite
Affirmation
From joy I come, for joy I live and in Thy sacred joy I shall melt again.
Closing Prayer
May thy love shine for ever on the sanctuary of our devotion and we be able to awaken thy love in all hearts.
30.12.16: 3rd day.
Meditation- 4pm to 7pm
Theme: BEAUTY - Meditation is on the aspect of "God as Beauty"
Opening Prayer
Divine Mother make me feel Thee through the touch of breeze and the sunshine upon my body. Enter into me through the fragrance of the flowers. Make me ever feel Thee through my inner most thoughts. Forget me not, though I forget Thee Remember me, though I remember Thee not. Be with me always- always- always.
Guruji's words on Beauty
Teach me to behave like the orange which, though crushed and bitten, fails not to impart its sweetness. Crushed by unkindness, bitten by carping criticism, or hewed with hard words and cruel behaviour, teach me yet to pour the unceasing sweetness of my love.
Guruji said that nature's beauty reminds us of God's existence. In the book, 'Journey to self-realization', he had written 'Beholding the blossoms of the earth and the starry flowers in the infinite field of the sky, how can one not wonder, "Is there a hidden beauty behind these finite patterns? Is there an intelligence behind man's intellect?" The blossoms of life in the garden of earthly existence are enchanting to behold. But somewhere there is a fount of Beauty and Intelligence, even more enthralling, from which we have come and into which we shall merge again." He then said that the ultimate proof of God's existence will come through your own experience of meditation.
In a prayer (Whispers from Eternity) Guruji has prayed "O spirit reveal thyself as Thou art. Thou are just behind the veil of Nature's splendours. In the sympathetic glance of flowers, in the zest of sustaining food, and in all Thine other bounties lies hidden the essence of Thy being. Thine eternal sweetness. Will Thou not come out from behind the screens of human feelings and creations elaborate displays? O Inscrutable by mortals! Open my Divine eye that sees Thee as Thou art."
Chants
1. O God Beautiful
2. O Thou blue sky
3. O Life is sweet
Affirmation
It is Thy smile which is in the dawn, on the lips of roses, and on the smiling faces of noble and good men.
Closing Prayer:
May thy love shine for ever on the sanctuary of our devotion and we be able to awaken thy love in all hearts.
31.12.16 4th day.
Meditation: 9am to 1pm & 2pm to 6pm.
Theme: GURU - Meditation is on the aspect of *God as Guru*.
FIRST HALF
Opening Prayer
Dear Father, I came from Thy Home in Heaven, to
play a while on earth. Someday I shall return to my Real Home with Thee.
I want Thee to welcome me with open arms, so in
the world I will keep myself clean and holy. To do this I will constantly think of Thee. I bow at Thy feet. AUM
O Divine Beloved, I have nothing to offer Thee
for all things are Thine. I grieve not that I cannot give For nothing is mine,
For nothing is mine. Here I lay at Thy feet my life,my limbs,my thought and
speech. For they are Thine, For they are Thine.
My Guru, Sri Yukteswar
By Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
- From "Whispers from Eternity"
O Light of my Life! thou didst spread wisdom's glow over my soul path. Centuries of darkness vanished before the luminous shafts of thy help.
As a naughty baby, I had cried for my Mother Divine, and She came to me as thee- Swami Sri Yukteswar. At that meeting, O my Guru, a sacred spark flew from thee; and the fagots of my God-cravings, gathered through incarnations, ignited and blazed into bliss. At thy flaming, golden touch all my questions were answered.
As a response to my soul-cries, after years of waiting I found thee. Our hearts trembled with an omnipresent thrill. Beloved Guru, we met in this life because we had met before.
If all the Gods are wroth, and yet thou art satisfied with me, I am safe in the fortress of thy pleasure. And if all the Gods protect me by the parapets of their blessings and yet I receive not Thy benediction, I am an orphan, left to pine spiritually in the ruins of Thy displeasure.
O Guru, thou didst lift me out of the land of bewilderment into the paradise of peace. My slumber of sorrow is ended, and I am awake in joy.
Dissolving forever our finitude, together we shall merge in the Infinite Life. O Immortal Teacher, I bow to thee as speaking voice of silent God. I bow to thee as the divine door leading to the temple of salvation.
I lay flowers of devotion at thy feet; and before the altar of thy Guru, Lahiri Mahasaya, harbinger of modern yoga; and of his Master, deathless omnipresent Babaji.
Chants
1. Think Ye
2. So Do Thou My Lord
3. My Lord I will be Thine
4. Guru Yogananda Sharanam
SECOND HALF
God's Boatman
-By Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
I want to ply my boat, many times,
Across the gulf-after-death,
And return to earth's shores
From my home in heaven.
I want to load my boat
With those waiting, thirsty ones
Who are left behind,
And carry them by the opal pool
Of iridescent joy
Where my Father distributes
His all-desire-quenching liquid peace.
Oh, I will come again and again!
Crossing a million crags of suffering,
With bleeding feet, I will come
If need be, a trillion times-
So long as I know
One stray brother is left behind.
I want Thee, O God,
That I may give Thee to all.
I want salvation,
That I may give it to all,.
Free me, then, O God,
From the bondage of the body,
That I may show others
How they can free themselves.
I want Thine everlasting bliss
Only that I may share it with others;
That I may show all my brothers
The way to happiness
Forever and forever, in Thee.
Chants
1. Door of my Heart
2. Help me come back
3. Jai Guru
4. Jai Yogananda
Affirmation:-
O Master Mine, O Friend Divine, I came alone, I go alone; With Thee alone, with Thee alone.
Closing Prayer -May thy love shine for ever on the sanctuary of our devotion and we be able to awaken thy love in all hearts.
02.01.17 -5th day.
Meditation: 4 pm to 7 pm
Theme: LIGHT- Meditation is on the aspect of *God as Light*.
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, Divine Mother, Friend, Beloved God Bhagwan Krishna, Jesus Christ, Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Sri Yukteswarji and our beloved Gurudeva Paramahansa Yoganandaji, saints of all religions, we bow to You all.
O Divine Teacher, let me realize that though the gloom of my ignorance be age-old, with the dawn of Thy light the darkness will vanish as though it had never been.
Lotus of Light:
By Sri Sri Paramhansa Yogananda
A million salutations at Thy petaled feet, O Lotus of Light! I pour my heart at Thy feet. I pour all my soul at Thy feet. I pour all the fragrant musk of my love at Thy feet of Omni Presence.
O precious, Blessed One, ever pipe the song of Thy bliss in the dark bower of my heart.
I am all Thine own! I shall be Thine forever! I will laugh at all dangers, for always I hold Thy protecting love in the golden chalice of my constant remembrance of Thee.
I throw all my passions and earthly pleasures on Thy sacrificial fire, as the offerings and oblations of my devotion to Thee. In Thy blessed light I shall burn all shadows and fears of my imaginaton. In Thy blessed light I shall remain awake forever; watching Thy precious, omni present face with ever vigilant eyes, through all the aeons of eternity.
May Thy love shine for ever on the sanctuary of my devotion, and may I be able to awaken Thy love in all hearts.
Make my soul Thy temple! Make my heart Thine altar! Make my love Thy home!
Chants
1. Who is in my Temple
2. Who tells me Thou Art Dark
3. In my House
Affirmation
The Soul's Secret door Suddenly opens, and _Oh, what bliss_, I feel at the Sight of Thy Light.
Closing Prayer
May thy love shine for ever on the sanctuary of our devotion and we be able to awaken thy love in all hearts.
03.01.17 6th day.
Meditation: 4 pm to 7 pm
Theme: WISDOM - Meditation is on the aspect of *God as Wisdom*.
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, Divine Mother, Friend, Beloved God Bhagwan Krishna, Jesus Christ, Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Sri Yukteswarji and our beloved Gurudeva Paramahansa Yoganandaji, saints of all religions, we bow to You all.
Divine Mother, Dressed with Thy luster, clean and holy, Thou didst send me to play. I played in darkness, with ignorance and lost myself in the mire of suffering. I went out clean, but I came back to thee all besmirched with the mud of delusion.O Divine Mother, wash me with Thy wisdom and make me clean again.
Guruji's words on wisdom from spiritual diary
Every day you should sit quietly and affirm, with deep conviction: "No birth, no death,no caste have I: Father, Mother, have I none. Blessed Spirit , I am He. I am the Infinite Happiness." If you again and again repeat these thoughts, day and night, you will eventually realize what you really are : an immortal soul.
-Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda, "Man's Eternal Quest."
Chants
1. No birth, No death, No caste have I
2. Will that day o come to me Ma
3. From this sleep Lord will You wake
Affirmation
I will reason, I will will, I will act; but guide Thou my reason, will, and activity to the right things that I should do.
Closing Prayer
May thy love shine for ever on the sanctuary of our devotion and we be able to awaken thy love in all hearts.
04.01.17 7th day.
Meditation: 4 pm to 7 pm
Theme: LOVE - Meditation is on the aspect of *God as Love*.
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, Divine Mother, Friend, Beloved God Bhagwan Krishna, Jesus Christ, Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Sri Yukteswarji and our beloved Gurudeva Paramahansa Yoganandaji, saints of all religions, we bow to You all.
O Spirit, I care not, if all suffering comes to me, or if all things are taken from me, I pray only that my love for Thee may never fade through my own negligence.May my love for Thee forever burn on the altar of my memory. O Heavenly Father be Thou the polestar of my ship wrecked thoughts, and guide them to eternal bliss
*When I Take the Vow of Silence*
By Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
When I take the Wow of silence
To remain enlocked with my Beloved
In the arms of His everywhereness,
I shall be busy listening to His symphony
Of creation's bliss songs, and beholding hidden wondrous visions
Yet i shall not be oblivious of you all.
I shall mutely watch you
Walking o'er me in the fresh grass-blades
And seeing me in my living leafy presences.
I shall behold you with mothering tenderness
Through every crimson blossom
That wears a blush of love to brings you delight.
I shall caress you with the enfolding breeze
To reveal your worries and fears;
And enwrap you in Sun warmth
When the chill of delusive loneliness strays into your heart.
When you gaze at the ocean
You will be looking right at me,
United with my beloved in the altar of the horizon,
Sky-canopied with silver rays o'er the azure wavy hazy sanctuary.
I shall not speak except through your reason,
Nor scold except through your conscience
I shall persuade only through your love
And your heart's longing to seek the Beloved only.
I shall tempt you-but with the sole temptation
To enjoy the Beloved's love alone.
Forget me if you will, but not my Beloved!
Remembering Him, you cannot forget me.
Chants
1. Do not dry The Ocean of My Love...
2. In This World Mother...
3. Thou Art My Life....
Affirmation
Today I will forgive all those who ever offended me and I will give my love to all thirsty hearts - both to those who love me and to those who do not love me.
Closing Prayer
May thy love shine for ever on the sanctuary of our devotion and we be able to awaken thy love in all hearts.
