The Cross and The Lotus JournalThe Cross and The Lotus Journal Page 3 Dear Friends, There are times in life when we question our purpose in living. Im-plicit in this search for meaning

The Cross and The

Lotus Journal

March 2017, Vol. 18 No. 1

Dedicated to the Realization of God and Service to Him in All Forms

Mother Hamilton, Easter, 1976

The cross and lotus symbolizes the unity between East and West. The lotus is the sign of illumined consciousness, the thousand petal lotus of the crown chakra. The cross is the symbol of the body surrendered to the will of God. Following the way of the cross results in the resurrection of illumined consciousness.

The Cross and the Lotus, symbol of man. East and West blended, join hand in hand.

Marching toward the infinite light and life divine. Lift up your eyes and see the star,

descending from heaven where e’er you are. Be filled with the peace and ecstasy of God’s almighty love.

Aum-Amen. The Reverend Yogacharya Mother Hamilton

The Cross and The Lotus Journal is published by

The Cross and The Lotus Publishing U.S.A.

Website: www.crossandlotus.com

E-mail: [email protected]

© 2017 The Cross and The Lotus Publishing is dedicated to the publication of materials that promote God-realization. Our spiritual lineage begins with Jesus Christ and Babaji and flows down to us through Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Sri Yukteswar, Paramhansa Yogananda and Yogacharya Mother Hamilton.

The Reverend Yogacharya David Hickenbottom continues this lineage with the help and support of many sincere devotees. We are dedicated to realizing God and serving devotees of every race, color, creed and religion.

Mother Hamilton often said she was the product of two fully illumined Masters, her own Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, and Swami Ramdas. We therefore feature articles about Swami Ramdas and Anandashram. We bow to the feet of Saints and realized Masters of all religions.

The Cross and The Lotus Journal Page 3

Dear Friends,

There are times in life when we question our purpose in living. Im-plicit in this search for meaning is the assumption that there is a purpose, even a very high one, in this rough and tumble existence here on earth. It has been the pursuit of many of a phi-losopher, and anyone who thinks on the deeper things of life, as to what might be the answer to this ageless inquiry. This question simmered in my own life from early on and be-came a burning need in my late teens.

Back then I had no answers nor even many hints as where to look. So, I instinctively took the path of jnana-wisdom and elim-inated what it was not. When I was a dozen years in age I reject-ed the religion I was born into, acknowledging the greatness of Jesus the man, but unaccepting of Christianity being the one and only way, and that all others were sentenced to eternal hell, dam-nation and suffering; this I could not accept as just or compas-sionate of any god or God.

I considered the way of science for some time, and while I continued to hold it in high esteem, it quickly became apparent that it held the answers to many questions, but in the essentials to my quest, it admitted its inadequacy and sent me to the philoso-phy department.

As I looked around at the people I knew—many fine individu-als with good minds and leading virtuous lives, but I found no inspiration for what I could hang my hat on. And the thing is, this was not a casual inquiry done from the comfort of my arm-chair (which I did not have at the time.) In high school I paced like a caged animal; I was restless for who knows what—a something—something greater than what I had, what I knew, and what I saw.

It was only when I started reading about Eastern spiritual mas-ters and Native American teachings that I felt a spark, a consum-

Page 4 The Cross and The Lotus Journal

ing interest that led me into new understandings. When I first read about reincarnation I somehow knew that this was the truth, even though I did not have any direct memories of it. The evi-dence I had was my own inner knowing, and although not scien-tific, it was valid to me. This intuitive knowing was to become my guide in so many of the adventures that lay ahead.

Part of what intuition told me was that I was on the right track, but I was missing the essential part; reading books was not get-ting me to where I needed to be. That is when I read about a man meeting a guru. He described having tears, being bewildered, but knowing this was exactly right for him. I thought, “That is what I need, to meet someone who knows about what I am going through, who can help guide me in the proper direction, because right now I know something is missing, but I have no idea what!”

Following intuition brought me to my Guru, in a totally unex-pected form as a Western woman. But that is the thing about in-tuition, it is a completely different means for knowing than the reasoning mind. Through her teachings my life was being puri-fied and my intuitive faculties awakened even more. I was taken on journeys wholly new to me, directions I would have never gone simply following my reasoning mind. I thank God and Guru every day for having and developing this faculty.

There are those who completely discount intuition, but I do not think they have really given it a fair evaluation. There is plenty of reason to be careful using intuition, to discern what is true in-ner direction from “false prophets.” Those “false prophets” of thoughts and feelings can come from many directions: our own prejudices, fears, desires, other people’s influences, or deep sub-conscious impulses.

To separate the wheat from the chaff requires we be complete-ly sincere. Any hint of fear, greed or anger will taint intuition or completely supplant it with our own agenda. There are certainly times in life when a sudden insight hits us like a bolt of lightning without our cultivating intuition one little bit, however to make this inner knowing a reliable guide means we have to work at clearing our minds of those lower emotional impulses and preoc-cupations of the mind.


Given the difficulties encountered, one may dismiss the whole subject. However, the benefits of developed intuition are too great to ignore. The subject of intuition can be limited to a psy-chic connection to another, sensing a coming event or seeing and hearing astral phenomena. However, the highest and best use of intuition is to gain access to the Superconscious Mind, that facul-ty of intelligence that supersedes ordinary thought and reason or psychic perception and raises the level of consciousness to the realization of the universal nature of God.

The Psalmist said, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Medita-tion makes the mind quiet, allowing you to hear the “still, small voice.” It is only called “small” because it often comes in a very quiet way. Too much noise of the ordinary mind renders it un-heard. That is why emotions and thoughts need to be suspended; only then are you still enough to hear and to know God.

It may sound audacious to some to say you can know God, but that is exactly what the world’s greatest teachings proclaim. Je-sus said all that he did, you may do as well, and even greater things. And, the Vedas say, “Arise, Awake!” It is time; a new, greater realm of existence awaits you to explore its many won-ders and beauties through soul awakening intuition that will guide you to your true purpose.

It doesn’t matter what anybody else does, it only matters what you do, because you are responsible, you alone to God, Himself, for every thought, every word, every action. No one else.

…Why do we not just relax, and enjoy everybody else? You know, we don’t always have to speak. The other fella has a great deal to offer. I have many times said, and believe me it is the truth, there is not …one person who ever comes before me that I don’t learn something from, because God is in that form. And you know, no matter what experiences I’ve had in God, I don’t ever plan until the last breath I draw to stop doing exactly that, of learning from my fellow man, because God is in him and He has something very special, very unique in him to offer me, and hopefully, God willing, he can get something from God in this form. – Mother Hamilton

[From her talk, “Live in the Eternal Now” on April 9, 1978.]


Letter to a Devotee

Dear ________,

Yes, the idea-causal realm is the most subtle and pernicious villain in our story. The mind serves us well in ordinary life, but it was always meant to be an instrument of Divine Conscious-ness. However, the ego has set the mind on the altar to be wor-shiped, and this is the mischief. You have faced a test, and it is true that intellectual pride had taken the controls and was blindly driving you. When truly surrendered to the Infinite, you may ap-pear as genius or idiot; as long as you are with Him, it makes no difference. For, when aligned with the Infinite, even apparent mistakes on the human level work for the higher good. And, though you may be factually right—but spawned by ego—it can do no good. You will know only that God is informing you each and every moment. You find with experience that the outer ap-pearance of ego is no sure sign of ignorance, for God may act in arrogant ways to fulfill His ultimate purpose—even as outer signs of humility are no guarantee of it. The ultimate arbiter is truth; when all actions lead to oneness with Him—who is truth itself. Be simple in God. He may solve the most complex prob-lems in life with a single stroke, and like the greatest craftsman who makes the difficult appear easy. Be at ease, let Him create freely through you—you as the keen observer, and you as His perfectly surrendered instrument. Then the mind as well as the body and heart are all in perfect conformance with His will, and your life will be made in His likeness and image.

Ever in His service,

Prayer in Times of Difficulties

Oh Lord, You are the creator of this universe; You are of un-limited intelligence and unparalleled power. Change this situa-tion; make it right—in accordance with the highest principles of wisdom, light and love. – Yogacharya David

[From Yogacharya David’s Blog—posted January 29, 2017.]


Celebrating Sri Yukteswar By Yogacharya David

In commemoration of Sri Yukteswarji’s Mahasamadhi I will mention a few things I am particularly grateful for in having him in our lives. One thing is that we are all the beneficiaries of God-realized souls who have walked this earth, whether we know of them or not. That is because they are consciously attuned to God-consciousness and as a result they lift this world and all its inhabit-ants into higher consciousness simply through their being here on earth. Jesus once stated that if he be lifted up, he will lift up all mankind with him. That is not because of a religion that was begun in his name, but it is an actual fact, whether anyone outside his cir-cle had heard of him or not.

As a faithful disciple of his great guru, Lahiri Mahasaya, Sri Yukteswarji had a tremendous understanding of the inner mean-ings of the scriptures, even as his own Master did. How we have grown in our understanding of the Bible due to Sri Yukteswar’s insights, and consequently Master’s and Mother’s continuation of discerning the sacred inner teachings of scriptures, both East and West.

Autobiography of a Yogi is as much about Yoganandaji’s disci-pleship of Sri Yukteswarji as it is about Master. Not only what Sri Yukteswarji did for Master, but how Master immortalized him for all of us is a gift of such inestimable value that it will take, per-haps, centuries to properly know from a sociological/cultural view-point the tremendous impact this book, these teachings and these men have had on the West and on the world. However the enormi-ty of this outer change, it pales when compared to the spiritual power and upliftment upon direct disciples, such as Mother Hamil-ton, as well as succeeding generations. The headwaters for this momentous transformation comes from Jesus, Babaji, Lahiri Ma-hasaya, Sri Yukteswarji, and of course our dear Master. Mother was the natural fruit of this remarkable spiritual tree and there will certainly be future generations of realized souls that must ripen upon it as well.

Sri Yukteswarji, in line behind Master and Mother, we bow at your feet, we acknowledge the tremendous God-man you are and live in constant gratitude for extending your grace down genera-tions of disciples for their upliftment and joy of service to this world and for all mankind. Jai para-param-guru, Jai!


Easter Service An Excerpt from a Talk Given by

The Reverend Mother, Yogacharya M. Hamilton

in Seattle on March 30, 1975.

Mother’s Bible Reading is St. Matthew, Chapter 28, verses 1-20.

The Way of the Christ and the Cross

We have heard this story many, many times, ever since we were little children—we in the Christian world. And each time, just like Christmas brings a tremendous feeling of joy, of happiness because of the birth of the Christ, also at Eastertime— and the time before that comes the time of penance, of changing ourselves, of purifying ourselves, and of finally, the rejoicing, after the crucifixion of the Christ, in his resurrection.

What does resurrection mean? It means, “To renew.” You can take a glass, for instance, and you can throw it on the ground, and you know if that glass be made of anything but plastic or wood, that it will crash and be destroyed. But you can take that same glass and wash it in nice warm suds, and you can clean it and polish it and it will be free from all bacteria. You have that choice constantly before you. But what more tremendous a choice man has within himself every moment of his life.

We, as Christians, have been taught that the way of the Christ and the cross is a way of pain, and it is—because we have had


this idea of pain implanted in our consciousness since the beginning of our remembrance. It has always been so. And we have had this Christ who was crucified on the cross, held up to us as the example of that which we must follow. And each man, whether he should think so or not, does go the way of the cross and the Christ. And he must also go through the crucifixion, if he is to pick up that cross and follow the Christ in order that he might be his disciple.

There is no other way to do it. But we can do it with the way of acceptance, or we can do it the way of rejection and pain. It is better to go willingly than to be dragged because many times as we are dragged, we fall, just as many times we see in a television the picture of a man who has had a rope tied around his body, and there is a horse running away with him. And in the beginning he tries to run along with the horse. But pretty soon his legs give out and he falls to the ground, and he is dragged. And his whole body is hurt. Many times skin is rubbed from his body; he gets burns from the rope and from being dragged on the ground, and he suffers greatly. Sometimes he dies. But still, if he had not put himself in the position of having to be dragged, if he had not committed some crime which had caused someone to want to punish him, this would never have happened to him. So every moment of our lives we have the free choice to walk the path of pain or to walk the path of glory.

We have not been taught the Truth

You know in the beginning, having had all of these things told to you, you accept them as a story. But somehow they never seem to be going to be applied to you as an individual. We have never been taught the Truth, in the Christian sense, and this is the difficulty. We have been taught this idea of separation, and this was the “great fall,” when man fell from the conscious realization of his oneness with God. We are one with God now, this very moment—the separate cells of His one body. How could it not be so?—when He created everything, and nothing was created except by Him.

We cannot move; we cannot think a thought; we cannot speak; we cannot do anything without the power of the Infinite Spirit which is within us. He is that One, that Savior within each and every one of us, which takes us into every form of life. But always we have our free will that we may use to go in


accordance with His laws, to work in harmony with those laws, or to go against them.

We can be despondent; we can be melancholy. We can have great self-pity for everything, every experience which comes to us which is not of our liking, or we can take that experience as a challenge and look within that experience to see the lesson to be learned, the test that God has given to us. Why are these tests given? These tests are given to us so that we might learn to measure up, that we might learn to grow. There would never be any growth if there were not tests, never in this world.

So as we go this path of the ups and downs and the ins and the outs, the joys and the sorrows, we can meet these with the knowledge—and it is the Truth—that this is God testing us, taking the human-ness away from us in order that we too may be resurrected in Christ, heirs with Christ, to sit at His right hand at the throne of God. Or we may become miserable, snivelling worms. We may attain the road of self-mastery, or we can desire and agree to remain in this world of duality, subject to all of the pain and the torture. I know because I have gone through all of it myself, and every day I live I learn a tremendous lesson.

The Lesson of the Risen Christ

This lesson of Easter, of the risen Christ, is the most wonderful one in the world. It is man’s regeneration into a new body, into a new life, into a new consciousness, a new glory—where you know that in Truth you and your Father are one. It is not an easy path, but it can be made easy if we will only change our consciousness and put our full attention upon God through Christ, knowing that our Father, in everything that He does, does it for our highest good—our highest good.

…We are told this wonderful story of Jesus, the son of man—and that story of Jesus, the son of man, is the story of every man as he wends his way from the human to the divine.…We have been taught that this whole path is a path of pain. But we have not realized that Christ, in everything that he did, rose above pain, even the final pain of the crucifixion on the cross. We are told that his hands were nailed to the cross; his feet were nailed to the cross—that he wore a crown of thorns on his head and that he was pierced in his side. We are told the dramatic incidents of everything about this, and that which led up to it—how Judas,


one of his disciples, betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver. These are the 30 pieces of knowledge that the human consciousness wants to have.

The Symbolism of the 30 Pieces of Silver

We have three bodily jars, three sheaths, and there are 10 states of the subtle mind, we are told, and even that subtle mind must finally come to the point of crucifixion or transformation, before we are totally released from the senses. So before that time, because we have these three bodily jars and these 10 qualities of the mind connected to each one of them, 10 times 3 makes 30. And this wanting to know is the thing which Judas sells out for, so that the Christ is about to be crucified because of his perfidy, his treachery. And when he sees, after Jesus has come before Pontius Pilate, that the law has taken effect and that he is to be condemned to death—this man whom they call the “king of the Jews”—he becomes terribly despondent. He feels awful because he has betrayed the savior who gave him so much. And he takes the silver back… and he throws it on the ground. And he left, just in absolute agony. And we are told that he hung himself on the tree, upside down.

Now this too is symbolic. We are told that these people wouldn’t touch this money because it was blood money. And so they said, Let us not touch this. It is tainted with blood. Let us put it in the potter’s field. This is very, very symbolic because when the human ego realizes what it has condemned—the inner savior too, that it has condemned it to death, it, truly—it hangs itself upside down. In other words, that which was human in us is down below now. The head, which formerly thought it was God itself—it contained that consciousness of the separation from God, and thought it was God—that one is no longer there. And it is said that the body turns upside down, that the hair are the roots.

…We are told that he [Jesus] was brought before Pontius Pilate, and there was another man, Barabbas, which was there also. And the people were given a choice as to which one’s life should be saved because both had been in prison. And the High Priest had told the people to ask for Barabbas, and paid money around. And so they did. And so Barabbas went free, and Jesus was the one who was condemned to die.


So they put him on the cross, and they nailed his hands and his feet to the cross.…And all the people around said, If you truly be the Son of God, then save yourself. And the thieves had also said this to him. And he had said that the third day he would arise from the dead. And so all the people were mocking him and jeering him. They had put a crown of thorns on his head and a scepter in his hand, and they said, “All hail to the king of Jews.” But it made no difference to him, even though he said, Father, if it be Thy will remove this cup from my lips. But it was but for this hour that I came. Why did he say that? Because he knew that the human-ness in him had to die. This son of man had to die; he had to be transformed in order that he might become the Christed one, the Son of Glory.

Releasing the Christ Consciousness

As this crucifixion took place, and Jesus finally lifted his eyes to the Lord and he said, it is done, and he hung his head and “gave up the ghost,” this is a dramatic moment! And we think of this man on a wooden cross, suffering this terrible agony and finally dying and giving up the ghost. We think of this in the way that it has been taught to us in the Christian scriptures. But this means that the son of man represents the human ego, and it is that human ego which has died. And it requires pain because all that is impure within us must be done away with, must be purified. And it is a painful process because it has been with us for centuries. But when this purification has taken place, then the human ego gives up the ghost. And that ghost is truly the ghost of the Real Self, or God within us.

So after this tremendous thing, it said that the temple was rent asunder; great thunder and lightning moved in the sky, and all of the people were sore afraid. It means that this temple has to be rent asunder—this human body—in order that the Christ Consciousness might be released from each one of the three bodily jars: the physical, the mental and the spiritual. He must go out of all of them and then return, the Christed one. And the sepulcher is the heart center where man goes through this and the Christ is buried, because this heart center is the dividing center in your body, of the seven centers in which the Battle of Armageddon takes place. And so after the death of the savior, then he is entombed in your heart. The bridegroom is no longer with you.


All of this happens because, believe me, there is a renting asunder of the temple and the burying in the sepulcher. But the tremendous thing is the awakening, the resurrection on this Easter Sunday morning—the good news that the savior has risen from the tomb; the stone has been rolled away, and nobody knows how it happened. And that son of man who suffered this terrible agony, is now arisen to become the Christed one, the Son of God—he who is resurrected. And we are taught that we can never make it in this lifetime. But I tell you that you can—that what has been given to us, that all of these things happen after the physical death of the body, is erroneous. It is the story of every man when he comes to that state of consciousness where he is ready to surrender himself—physically, mentally, spiritually—at the feet of God, to give up everything he possesses because of his great yearning and longing for his Father, his oneness with Him. And when that resurrection comes, it is tremendous.

The Real Story is What Happens Within You

In the Christian faith we are told that all these saints rise from the dead, that the people rise from their graves, as though they had been kept in cold storage all of these years. Think of it in the way that we used to do: everybody, before cremation in the Western world, was put into a grave. And yet when any of these people have been exhumed and are taken out, the flesh is all disappeared; there is nothing there but a skeleton. Now God is all powerful; He can build a new body. But this not what is meant because you see, the story is the story of what happens within you. All of these things, all of the evil, everything that you want to speak of, is within yourself because you have built it there through the thoughts which you have thought, the words which you have said, the actions which have come forth as a result of all of this. And you have built your own universe, your own kingdom. And whatever you see, whatever you are, you are the product of the use or the misuse of your own free will.

So at this glorious resurrection within you, when you go through this experience, all of the dead rise and have come before the throne of God for judgment. But the saints, of course, have become purified and holy, and they are the forerunners of the new race, the new age, the new life, the new resurrection within yourself. It is a tremendous thing.


Symbolism of the Two Thieves

And then we are told about Joseph of Arimathea who asked to have the body of the Christ taken down, and he placed him in his own tomb. And this tomb is said to be the sepulcher where Jesus was placed. And it said that the legs of the two thieves were broken, but that Jesus’ legs were not broken. Now what does this truly mean? Many people can’t accept this as true. But it is true because the two thieves on your own cross are these forces of good and evil, and the good one is as much a thief as the bad one because it keeps you in the state of duality, and from realizing your oneness with the Infinite Spirit within you. And so when this wonderful event of crucifixion and resurrection happens, then these two thieves have no more power. Their power over you is broken, so that’s why this is symbolic of the breaking of the power of the forces of good and evil within yourself. But the Christ’s leg is not broken because that one is the glorious one, the one that rises above all duality, who has become one with his Father and who sits at His right hand. It is a tremendous experience.

Power to Become the Sons of God

I have had some tremendous visions in my life, and when I started to go through some of these experiences—when my love for God was so great that I wanted to surrender myself and everything I had at His feet—I was willing to go through anything and everything, even the state of death, if I could realize what the Christ had realized because his promise to me was this: that to all who received him, to them gave he the power to become the Sons of God. Not just he himself had that power, but to all who received him! We must remember that.

Each of us is a potential Christ. And I was [lifted] up during those days, and I was shown a tremendous thing: I saw my own guru as the Christ. He had come from the Far East—from the land of the Wise Men. But he had not come to teach us only about the religion over there—the Vedas—but he had come to teach us also the inner meaning, the true meaning of the Christian religion. Now there had been other swamis, other masters who had come from the East, but they had come to bring their own teachings. But he alone was the first one who came to show us the true meaning of the cross and the Christ. And many times he was seen to draw the picture of a cross on a tablecloth


or on a piece of paper, and he would say, “Do you see that here you are, each man of you, in the form of a cross? And it is upon this cross that your human ego must be crucified and transformed into the divine, in order that you too might become the Christed one.” And in the beginning when magazines were put out, it said: “This is the true second coming of the Christ.”

Master Came to Unite East and West

This made a profound impression on me because he gave us back all of the real spiritual Christian ritual. He taught the inner meaning of that which was in the scriptures. He taught us the way to attain these steps. You cannot do it—you cannot realize what these Christian scriptures contain in the way of direction, in the way of the initiate. But they are there every step of the way, just as they are in the East.

And he came for another purpose, and that is to join the East and the West together. He said that the West concentrates only on the cross and the crucifixion, and the East concentrates only on the thousand-petaled lotus of the brain, and on Krishna which also means the Christ. He said, “So in effect you have a body on one side and a head on the other.” And he said, “You can’t live without a head and you can’t live without a body, so I came to join both of them together, to bring all of the pieces of the pie together.”

Become the Arisen Christ

…The whole story of the resurrection applies to each and every one of us—that we can have a new body in Christ, a new consciousness in Christ, a new life in Christ—so that every moment of our lives, 24 hours a day, is lived in the bliss and the consciousness and the glory of the knowledge of our oneness with God. The choice is up to us. You can either take it or leave it. You can choose to stay in this world of ignorance and darkness. You can procrastinate from now until the end of time, but you will never become master of yourself, of your lives, or of any situation. And you will continue on in the misery of indecision, of pain and of sorrow. But you can, instead, make the choice the other way: you can give your life, that which you call your life, which is not your life at all; it is a thing of pure delusion. You can give that for Christ, and you too can become the arisen Christ, the Son of God—one with Him, in all of your glory.


Saint Veronica By John Durkin

A way to immerse ourselves in a spiritual tradition involves visualizing our participation in a particular event. You might im-agine yourself as a pilgrim in Jerusalem for Passover about 33 CE. It is Friday mid-morning and you are waiting for Passover to begin. Roman soldiers are leading another poor man to his exe-cution. His body bears the marks of scourging, his face is swol-len beyond recognition, and someone has placed a mocking crown of thorns on his head. The usual crowds are lining the road watching the spectacle. Some seem to be waiting for a mir-acle as if they expect this disfigured and exhausted man to sud-denly transform in some way; later they’ll turn into a jeering crowd when it appears that nothing is going to happen. Others are devout Jews who consider this man to be a rabbi and who value his teachings.

The condemned man stops for a few seconds in front of a group of women who are crying and praying either for him spe-cifically or because another of their sons and daughters is going to be executed. Suddenly a woman darts from the crowd, pulls the veil from her head, and wipes the man’s face of its sweat, blood, and spittle. There’s a gasp from the crowd because she has exposed herself to possible violence by the Roman soldiers and also uncovered her hair in public. You notice a blaze of grat-itude from the exhausted man before the Roman soldiers drive the woman back into the crowd. She quickly bunches the scarf and hurries away. Later you hear there is some kind of faint im-age on the cloth.

But is any of this true? There is no mention of a woman wip-ing the face of Jesus in the Bible although the Gospel of Luke describes the brief interaction between Jesus and the women along the road of sorrows. From the very beginning though such a woman has been mentioned in Christian tradition; in western Christianity the woman is known as St. Veronica while in east-ern Christianity she sometimes is called St. Berenice. The under-lying story is the same in either case and a scarf with a faint im-age of man with a swollen face and damaged eye does exist alt-hough no claims are made as to its authenticity.


Vision of Swami Ramdas (Papa)

[From our featured talk by Mother, “Easter Service,” 1975.]

It was the most tremendous vision I have ever seen, and I have come to know that this vision is a reality. I sat at the feet, in India, of a man who had nothing but God in him. And his face was the vision that I had seen long before I ever met him. And you can read anything that this man has written—and many of you are receiving his Vision magazine every month—and you will find there nothing but the purity of God in its highest, its truest essence. And he came with the Divine Mother on the continent of India.

Swami Ramdas’ Jayanti (birthday) is celebrated April 11th.

Authentic or not, St. Veronica’s legend can lead us to im-portant insights. The legend tells of a woman who feels such in-tense empathy for another that she must act even though this act-ing exposes her to danger and public censure. Perhaps we also have experienced the intense physical pain of seeing others suf-fer and had to act.

Many individuals from all spiritual traditions constantly feel a need to help those who are suffering, often at what appears to be great cost to themselves. Those few who have had their stories told, claim that an unanticipated effect of their acts of kindness has been to experience an ever-deepening flow of divine love.


A Letter by Sister Gyanamata [In this excerpt from the talk, “Let Go and Let God” given on Sept. 29, 1976, Mother speaks about Sister Gyanamata and reads her letter to a devotee.]

I found some things, in looking over some old magazines today, that I thought you might be inter-ested in hearing. Sister Gyanama-ta, as you know, was Master’s chief woman disciple, and I had the very great privilege of knowing her intimately. She was the wife of Professor Bissett here, who was Professor of Law at the University of Washington for a good many

years. And at the time he was there the president in charge of the University’s name was Spencer, and he made the statement that she had the most brilliant mind of any woman he’d ever come in contact with. Yet this highly intelligent woman chose to give up everything in her personal life and the life of the world, and fi-nally, when she had met the Master, to go and be with him. And I can truthfully say that of all of the disciples that I have ever met, she was the perfect one. Every time you would see her any-where around Master, you would never see her with her back turned to him but always, no matter how many people were around him, she was always facing him. She felt that it was dis-respectful to turn her back on the Guru.

…I had the privilege of visiting her home many, many times, of being intimately associated with her, so I know what this woman was, and she was indeed great. For some time, there ap-peared in the magazines an article entitled, “A Letter from a Dis-ciple.” This was after she had left the body:

Dear one,

I want to finish my talk this way because it is not likely that I will have a chance alone with you. Besides, I do not want to discuss personalities but to lay down some principals that I know will help you, for they are true, basic, timeless:

First, the meeting with the Guru is not for pleasure. It is a hand‑to‑hand conflict between his God‑conscious soul, and the


newly awakening soul of the disciple. Second, a Master does not care whether you suffer or not, whether your feelings are hurt or not, because he knows that when his work for your soul is accomplished, all suffering will be over for you.

One night at dinner not long ago, our Guru said, “All suffer-ing is from Satan.” It was some time before I got the meaning, though it is obvious. A God‑realized soul has the power to rise above suffering.

Third, your feelings were hurt? What of it? Resolve that for you will dawn the day of absolute liberation from all petty feelings.

Fourth, do you remember my telling you that when I first came to the center, I determined that whatever happened I would not be daunted nor ask explanations? I would try to see eye‑to‑eye with the Guru. The result has justified the experi-ment, and not long ago he praised me because he has never had to explain anything to me.

Fifth, make a few simple rules for yourself. If the Guru seems to be displeased with you, ask him to show you wherein you were wrong, if you do not already know, that you may improve. If you wish to explain yourself, do so, for he always welcomes explanations, but do it respectfully, with sincerity that cannot be mistaken, and with humility.

Now what does that word “humility” mean? Nothing worm-like, nor groveling. It means the simple straightforward admis-sion that you are not perfect and that you know you get noth-ing in the way of blame or discipline that you do not deserve. Never stay away from him, as you have done. If you get only suffering, come just the same. Remember how the saint kept coming when his Guru, to test him, would not speak to him.

Sixth, and quoting from Gibran: “When love beckons to you, follow him, though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you, yield to him, though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. And when he speaks to you, believe on him, though his words may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.”

Dear one, the above is just the experience you are having. Please do not throw this letter away, even if you do not like or understand it. Keep it until you do. – Gyanamata


A Saint, a Dog and a Miracle [This is a story Mother tells in her talk, “Live in the Eternal

Now” given on April 9, 1978. ]

I may have told you a story years ago which Swami Ashoka-nanda in India told me. This happened at the ashram of the great saint, Chaitanya; the presiding master at that time was a very great soul and he had great faith in God, and he also had the spir-itual perception to know exactly what was going on at all times.

So, one day a dog came to his ashram and all the rest of the people in the ashram paid absolutely no attention to him, but the saint welcomed him, took him in his arms, loved him, insisted that he be given a private room—a bed in which to sleep and all the best food of the ashram. And the people thought the saint was crazy. How come all of these things were being given to this dog, when here were all these people ’round, many of them per-haps hungry? (And, you know, in secret, as sometimes happens behind the back of the saint or the guru, they were talking about how he shouldn’t do this, and how he should do this, and all the things that were wrong, but the saint went right on doing it.)

Finally, one day this dog died, and the saint just absolutely mourned and mourned; he cried and cried. And he ordered a spe-cial ceremony, and he sent a couple of his devotees out to invite all the dogs he could find to come to the funeral service. And he ordered a big banquet prepared. And the people in the ashram thought surely he had lost his mind; he had gone mad. And how in the world were these devotees going to communicate with all the dogs, and see that they all got there at one time? It was liter-ally impossible, they thought.

And so the time came; there were seats for the dogs, even the food was spread out, everything was ready for the ceremony. And so those disciples, who had been talking behind the saint’s back, sat there and snickered to themselves as the time went by, and they got closer and closer and closer, and not one dog had appeared. And so they felt very justified in their criticism of him. But all of a sudden right on the stroke of when they were sup-posed to be there, there was a whole army of dogs filed in and very quietly each one of them took their seats; they sat there through the whole ceremony; they partook of the banquet, and then they all filed silently out.


Meetings with Sri Yukteswar [A letter by Richard Wright, who accompanied Master on his re-turn to India, published May 1936 in “Inner Culture Magazine.”]

Dear All,

No doubt, you are quite puzzled, perplexed, and annoyed at my apparently greedy silence regarding Swami Sri Yukteswarji; and in one sense I don’t blame you. But in another sense I be-lieve you would not blame me, for this is the reason. I felt this way: far be it from me to attempt to describe one so great and saintly with my limited understanding and superficial glances. I could write reams and reams perhaps about his appearance and the outward aspect of the man, but would I be doing justice to the Saint within? So I waited and waited, hoping to glean more and more of the Saint, the true Swami Sri Yukteswarji.

On every visit we made to his humble Ashrama out in Serampore, just 15 miles outside of Calcutta, I tried and tried to penetrate the Bengali conversation between the two Swamijis, for English is null and void when they are together, although Swamiji Maharaj (as called by others) can and sometimes does speak English, although every time I’ve been present every pre-cious moment is devoted to an exchange of expressions and not wasted on merely passing the time of day. I’ve felt so privileged and elated at just being present in their company, that to utter a word or question in English would have been sacrilegious. But to a certain extent, much less than desired, I’ve had a chance to taste the saintliness of this Great One, in his jovial smile and twinkling eyes.

And the devotees finally went to the saint, and they said, “We do not understand this miracle that has happened. What has hap-pened?” And the saint said, “There was a great saint, a great soul, in the body of that dog. He had just that much to go before he got his final illumination. He chose that form in which to do it, and God showed me that so I paid him great respect. But you did not know that because your doors were closed; your eyes were so blinded that you could not see the Light.”

It’s a very strange story, but he told it as the truth: that there is a part of the Indian history, and it is all over India.


One quality I have discerned in his merry, seri-ous conversation, is a decided posi-tiveness in his statements—the mark of a wise man, who knows he knows, be-cause he knows God. And so it is,

anything I could write would only be based upon the limited external impressions and perception, and not upon the true basis of the saint—his spir-itual glory. So, if I’m forgiven for my inaptitude and inability to do the inner man or saint justice, I shall begin my tale (from my notes) on a certain day back in September, as a matter of fact on the 30th.

On this day we left Calcutta, filled with the highest anticipa-tion and full of the great joy that we had been experiencing in the receptions here and there. Our journey to Serampore, just 15 miles out among the villages outside of Calcutta, led us over very picturesque roads crowded with heedless pedestrians or rag-clad natives and most insolent and inert “hump-shouldered” cows and dogs. One common scene that is always of fascination is the water buffaloes with their huge bulkiness, climaxed by a crown of flesh and bone on their shoulders, “worn so,” or created so, by the heavy poles stretching across their necks in the form of a yoke, for centuries and centuries; at least, one would be led to believe that this physiological characteristic had been formed from the constant burden they had to bear over so many centu-ries, and yet they appear docilely vicious in their huge black, scarcely-haired hides, with long horns swooping and dipping back toward their shoulders, so meek and so fierce, in appear-ance only, however. It is not uncommon to see herds of them standing majestically in ponds of mud or dirty water out in the villages.

Well, enough of the cows, or at least of the way I described them, so on we went through the conglomerated, congested, and

Sri Yukteswar, Master and Richard Wright


“un-white-winged” villages, and entering Serampore we passed by the queer shops and motley mass of humanity, turned to the right, and proceeded past the adobe, tile-roofed and thatched-roof huts or hovels, past the favorite eating haunt (a shop) of Swamiji during his school days at the college in Serampore, and suddenly turned to the right again down a narrow, walled lane, then a sudden left turn and there before us towered the humble, but inspiring two-story Ashrama of Swami Sri Yukteswarji, with a Spanish-style verandah on the upper floor or balcony, and the most impressive thing about it was its humble solitude. In grave humbleness I strode behind Swamiji into the courtyard or patio within the Ashrama walls, and likewise the inner portion of the upper story was lined on three sides by a verandah. We proceed-ed up some old stone steps, hearts pounding, up steps no doubt trod by myriad of Truth-drinkers; up through this crumbling, but sacredly humble abode we continued, the tension growing keen-er and keener, when suddenly, without ostentation or fore-preparation, there before us near the head of the stairs of this quaint verandah, appeared the Great One, Swami Sri Yuk-teswarji, standing in his noble pose of great wisdom. He has a decidedly sloping forehead, indicative of a lofty vision and sin-cerity of purpose, a decided purpose, and God-Wisdom.

Then my heart heaved and swelled as I felt myself blessed by the privilege of being in his sublime presence. Tears nearly blurred my eager sight when Swamiji [Yogananda] dropped to his knees, and with bowed head offered his Soul’s gratitude and greeting, touching his feet, and then his own head in humble obeisance to his Guru; he arose and was embraced on both sides of the bosom. It was like the joyous greeting of father and prodi-gal son, but in this case, triumphant son; no words passed, but the most intense feeling was expressed in the silent words of the heart.

How their eyes sparkled and fired with the warmth of renewed Soul-union! A most tender feeling surged throughout this hum-ble patio; even the sun seemed to elude the clouds to add his blaze of glory to the sublime occasion. Then my humbleness waxed high, and on bended knee and dropped head, I added my Soul’s love and thanks for all I’ve thrilled to and hope to thrill to; touching his feet, calloused by Time and Sacrifice, and re-ceiving his blessings by touching my own head after rising, I


stood to face two beautiful, deep eyes, sparkling with joy and wisdom, and introspectively smoldering; the brown iris of his eyes glistened in a ring of ethereal blue.

We were then taken into his sitting room, the whole side of which opened to the outer verandah or balcony, first seen from down below, shoes were removed, and as he braced himself against his very simple bed, sitting on a straw mattress on the cement floor, we all circled ourselves about him, (Swamiji near his feet) and with pillows to lean on or ease our positions on the straw mat. With a quick, cursory glance, I noted this rather dilap-idated room, suggestive of the owner’s non attachment to materi-al comfort or objects, a room with fading white walls and fading stripes of blue plaster, with an old picture of Lahiri Mahasaya, at one end of the room, garlanded in simple devotion, and an old picture of Swamiji (Yogananda) as he arrived in Boston with the other religious representatives; another old picture of Swami Sri Yukteswarji that appeared in an old issue of East-West Maga-zine, and through the doors opening out onto the outside veran-dah I could see plantain (banana) and coconut palm trees tower-ing over the roof of the Ashrama in peaceful protection; I saw a strange occurrence of modernity and antiquity, namely, a huge, cut-glass, electric chandelier, covered with cobwebs through dis-use, and a “Singer sewing machine” calendar: all in all, a quiet, trim room breathing peace and calmness supreme, rustic but pleasant, plain but comfortable.

Swami Sri Yukteswarji seems overjoyed, though his predomi-nance of wisdom hinders his flow of feeling, at least outwardly, as well as I can discern from the Bengali conversation. He is of a large, athletic stature, hardened by the trials and sacrifices of re-nunciation, with majestic and divine poise at all times—a slop-ing forehead as if seeking the heavens, a divine look or counte-nance, with a large, homely nose, with which he apparently amuses himself by flipping and wiggling it with his fingers in idle moments, like a child; powerful sepia eyes haloed by an ethereal blue hazy ring; clad in simple dress—the common “Dhuti” and a shirt called “Punjabi” (similar to our woollen un-der-shirts with buttons), both once dyed a strong ochre color, but now only a faded orange shade. He has quite a jovial and rollick-ing laugh deep in his chest, causing him to shake and quiver throughout his body—very cheerful and sincere. Great wisdom


and strength of purpose and determination are very apparent, alt-hough I spent every visit in stupid amazement, not knowing the language; his face and stature denote sublime power; he moves with a firm tread and erect posture; hands and fingers also appear powerful. It is interesting to note that he has to merely clap his hands together and ere finishing he is served or attended by some small disciple; incidentally, I am very much attracted by one of his disciples, a thin lad with long black hair to his shoulders and a most penetrating pair of black sparkling eyes, and a heavenly smile through pearly teeth; his eyes twinkle, as the corners of his mouth rise, like the stars and the crescent moon appearing at twi-light.

Swami Sri Yukteswarji’s joy seems quite intense at the return of his “product,” [his disciple, Yogananda] and he seems to be somewhat inquisitive about “the product’s product.” Swamiji presented him with some gifts, as is the custom when the disci-ple goes to his master; they were received with appreciation and joy, for he seemed quite proud to show them to all visitors. Sri Yukteswarji’s thinning hair is parted in the middle, begins a sil-ver, and changes to streaks of silvery-gold and silvery-gray and silvery-black, ending in ringlets or curls at his shoulders; his beard and moustache also are scant or thinned out, but it enhanc-es his character as deep and light at the same time. Pigeons are sharing our quarters in the Ashrama up in the eaves, under the red tile roof.

Next on the program; We were thrilled by sitting down to a larder as guests of Sri Yukteswarji, good, tasty, simple, and plain, all “vegetable and rice” combinations. Sri Yukteswarji was pleased at my grasping onto India’s customs, as “finger-eating,” for example. It all seems like a fairy dream, and any ex-pression of gratitude or emotion on my part would appear coarse in the atmosphere of such divine blessings.

Well, after several hours of Bengali and the exchange of warmth, we bade adieu with a pronam, “saluted” at his feet, or rather, paid obeisance at his feet, and departed with an everlasting memory of a truly divine greeting and meeting and feeding. My only regret was my ignorance of the language, which isolated me from the inner man, the Saint, but I felt, and shall carry that feel-ing, as my divine blessing.


Ministers’ Message [This column features the thoughts and inspirations of our three

ordained ministers.]

Spending Your Time With God

By Rev. Jill Hough

If God remembrance leads to God realization how do we spend more time with God?

Every hour of the day we have a choice. Do we spend our time alone, cut off from God or do we spend our time walking with God? We’ve all had those days, or perhaps just moments, where everything flows easily, it just falls into place. These are times when we are walking with God. We may not even be aware of it, but God is easily flowing through us. If we imagine ourselves as a fine writing instrument and God is the author, indeed the Au-thor of our very existence, we easily relax into God’s firm hand. He picks us up with joy and uses us to create our lives as He has envisioned. Imagine in the alternate reality, the one we often live in, where we are unaware that it is God who has lifted us up and is beginning to write. In this scenario we struggle, we fight to get back to the “desk top” and to be left alone. You can imagine the mess that the paper would hold in this case. The pen flailing about, attempting to wrench itself free of the Author’s knowing hand. Our lives often look like that mess the unwilling pen has helped create on the page.

Being the instrument in God’s able grasp is easier than you might imagine. We’ve all heard the saying “Let Go, and Let God” but really, it is as simple as that. A little trick I use is to let God decide how I will get from place to place, should I turn left here or right there? I will let intuition, that still, small voice in-side, steer my course. Sometimes it would lead to a wonderful discovery, something I had never experienced before, other times nothing extraordinary, but what it did do in each case was to increase my attunement with God and with that attunement comes joy.

I would invite you to find one place in your life where you can truly “Let go and let God.” Practice listening to that inner voice and trust that it will direct you. It may be counterintuitive to fol-low its direction, but do it anyway. What have you got to lose?


You will make missteps, don’t beat yourself up, just take no-tice and you might have more clarity the next time. Each time you make the right step it will anchor you in the knowledge of what God realization truly is. Remember it is God’s good pleas-ure to give you the keys to His kingdom, but it is your job to choose them.

The Unseen Church By Paramhansa Yogananda

On the soil of Eternity, I built an Unseen Church where all might worship. Here, under the blue dome, illu-mined by sun, moon, aurora, milky way, and wisdom lights, are gathered the assembled star families, island universes, solar systems, and the little earth with its millions of families of many religions.

…Then a silent sermon of the Infinite was heard in the Silence—a silent song of mirth filled the chalice of all lives. A silent smile of light drove the hidden gloom away from all.

Under the silent spell of His Sermon, love embraced hate, light hugged gloom, wisdom transmuted igno-rance, good charmed bad, many religions embraced His one Faith of Truth, many hearts dissolved into one altar of Heart, many loves became His One Pure Love, and many souls became One Spirit.

And all of them sang with one voice the chorus of one religion, one life, one truth, one goal, one devotion, one love, and One Spirit.

[This is a portion of the poem Mother read in her talk, “Easter Ser-vice,” which is featured in this issue.]

We celebrate Master’s Mahasamadhi Day on March 7th.

Jai Master!


Joyful Journey By Rebecca Harvey

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”… some years later He created a bridge between the two. And He proceeded to call it “Anandashram.”

Many of you reading this are familiar with Anandashram, and you might well understand why I describe it as a snapshot of heaven on earth. The air resounds with a chorus of voices contin-uously singing the name of God. Surrounded by trees and tropi-cal flowers, saintly souls clothed in white are wafting around the pristine grounds, ever ready for the chance to love and to serve.

I have been incredibly blessed to have stayed here for six weeks since the beginning of this new year. Those who have vis-ited the Ashram themselves may also have noticed that interwo-ven with the experience of God’s sublime sweetness, peace and bliss are found also many challenging inner experiences as God seizes the opportunity to effect a great deal of ego-shattering and purification of the little self, stripping away layers of lifetimes of self-imposed limitation at an accelerated rate.

As a devotee of Mother Hamilton, one cannot help but con-template the supremely difficult experiences that she underwent during her time here at the Ashram. It is awe-inspiring just to be at the place where that dramatic chapter in Mother’s ascension to the Divine was enacted. Anandashram is truly sacred ground, as it has been blessed by the touch of countless Mahatmas and sin-cere devotees. What a legacy Beloved Papa has left for the world!

While here, I had the opportunity to be a part of commemorat-ing the Mahasamadhi Day of both our own Mother Hamilton on January 31st, and Mother Krishnabai (Pujya Mataji) on February 3rd. It was wonderful to see how much genuine honor and rever-ence was paid to Mother Hamilton by so many of the inmates here. Mataji’s celebration included lots of colorful flower gar-lands on her Samadhi Shrine, and food was served to crowds of local residents along with numerous devotees who had come from far away to pay homage to Pujya Mataji.

One of the joys of being here for an extended period has been that of meeting people from all over the world, some who knew Mataji personally and have been coming for decades. With first-


time visitors, it is delightful to observe how the Ashram’s in-clusive, expansive, Universal Vision softens the heart of even the most skeptical newcomer. (Even as it captured me on my first visit in 2013.)

Perhaps the greatest blessing of this time here has been that of “meeting” Swami Satchidananda. Again, many of you read-ing this spent time with Swamiji, and knew him well, prior to his passing in 2008. I say I have “met” him now, in part, as a result of plying everyone I’ve encountered who knew Swamiji to tell me something of their experiences with him. In this way I have caught a glimpse of what a beautiful saint he was. I’ve heard of his kindness to animals, his total equanimity under all circumstances, his standard of perfection in every detail of dai-ly activity, how he taught so much with so few words.

When asked, “What was Swamiji like?” one long-time in-mate simply replied, “He was sat-chid-ananda!” (Pure exist-ence, pure consciousness, bliss absolute!)

At the time of this writing, there is still one week left here before Ram and I depart for destinations in the north of India. My heart is so full of gratitude and I am truly humbled to have felt in communion with the Great Masters who have hallowed these grounds: Papa Ramdas, Mataji Krishnabai, Swami Satchidananda as the founders and builders of this heaven on earth, our own Mother Hamilton and Yogacharya David who each blessed it with their presence, and John who gave me such a unique connection to the Ashram.

Thank you and loving pronams to all of you who gave your bless-ings and happy wishes for a pro-ductive pilgrim-age. You are all with me here, every step of the way.

Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram. Hari Om! Rebecca in the middle of group of Ashram Mothers


In Business with God “When you are in business with God, you are in business

with the whole world.” – Mother Hamilton

The Best Employers—God, Christ and Guru

By Connie Meisner

It was in 2005 that I found myself exploring and searching for something that would allow me to give back to those around me with similar health problems. My health had continued to deteri-orate and my personal life was not in good shape either. I began to attend some local yoga classes in my community but found I was not able to meet my personal needs and so began the jour-ney to become a certified Yoga instructor. After obtaining my certification to teach Yoga, I wondered what type of clientele I wanted to attract and would attract. Remaining in my full-time regular job, I offered weekend classes and soon they were full. This was much more than I ever dreamed could happen.

But with success comes inner struggles and there have been many. I had to find a way to achieve balance for myself in con-nection with my Guruji, David, and the path of Kriya. Learning to balance my full time career and that of instructing meant I had to realign my personal life to honour my commitment to my Guru and the Kriya path. Many times I would simply sit in my meditation room and ask God in what direction was I to move forward. Along the way the guidance would come but not al-ways did I hear or listen and continued to bump along.

I retired from my regular job in 2011 and relocated to Port Moody where I soon took another step forward as a teacher and realized this was another perfect opportunity to ask God for di-rection. Returning to school for more yoga training, I discovered there were still many tests along the way, being constantly re-minded to place my trust in God and the Guru and keep my fo-cus. I remained committed to maintain my yogic focus on offer-ing and creating programs for those who did not always enjoy good physical health. This has been rewarding for me. It led to creating classes allowing me to work with students who might have MS, fibromyalgia, stroke and brain recovery, seniors, and generally those whose health might not be what it once was. In January of 2013, the Recreation Department in Port Moody of-


fered me this opportunity and I have been there since. My class size is limited, allowing the per-sonal aspect to remain and the number of classes I teach has in-creased fourfold.

In 2016, I partnered with the local Legion to offer classes for families and seniors. Along with these classes a more specialized setting has been created where we offer techniques to First Respond-ers, (police, firefighters, paramed-ics) and returning Vets who may be suffering from PTSD. More than ever, now when I sit to create a lesson plan, prepare new write-ups, submit advertising, meet with students and/or employers, my fo-cus and intention is to ask for guidance and direction from my inner source. I like to perform these tasks in a harmonious work space and have pictures of Saints, Master, Mother, and David. Often I will play some devotional music helping me to place my mind upon God as I work with the necessary duties to be suc-cessful, not only in the role as a teacher, but how to offer service to those in need. This is not always an easy task for me and I must work at it continuously like a never ending student. Em-bracing these duties, knowing that it is through God’s grace that the financial rewards have continued to flow, I am continually reminded that everything is possible through God.

Whatever it is that I find myself doing, I know that the best employer that I have ever “worked” for is God. Truly I cannot imagine anything else and I no longer feel a need to look back. There is no comparison.

Connie designs & sells jewelry, like the mala she is wearing.

If your mind is fully identified with your activities, you cannot be conscious of the Lord, but if you are calm and receptive to Him within while being active without, you are rightly active.

– Paramhansa Yogananda


Memories of Mother

God Arranges Everything

By Judy Ellis

[Part two about meeting Mother—see Dec. journal for part one.]

Strangely enough, when the idea of meeting Mother Hamilton was presented that evening, it was as if it hadn’t even entered my mind until that moment; yet at the same time I couldn’t possibly have desired anything more! So in September of 1977, with a copy of Kirpal Singh’s “Morning Talks” as an introduction to what would become THE most important day of our lives, Ric and I headed south to Seattle.

Through our center leader’s encouragement, we’d written Mother earlier, asking if She’d perform a spiritual wedding for us. We hadn’t received any response—no email in those days—but then the day before Sunday Service the phone rang in our hostess’s home. After hanging up, this jubilant devotee returned to convey a message from Mother: “Tell Ric and Judy I will mar-ry them tomorrow.”

Well, truth be known, I hadn’t the faintest clue that afternoon as I shopped for something nice to wear to meet Mother in, that I’d just purchased my wedding dress—a floor-length, off-white gown. And to think I’d worried it might be a bit too fancy!

Arriving at Bonnie’s [where services were held for many years] the next morning, both nervous and excited, we joined others in deep meditation and waited for this Perfect Master’s arrival. You could hear a pin drop in that room, such was the feeling of holiness and anticipation. Fifteen extremely long minutes passed by. Then Mother’s gentle but purposeful foot-steps proceeded up the aisle. Standing before us in all Power and Majesty, Mother began speaking to us about “Discipleship,” as my thirsty soul drank in every word, every nuance, every pause, every expression... Not a speck of doubt entered in on that day, nor has doubt ever assailed me. Through Grace, I knew I had ar-rived HOME at last.

She arose and came to her Mother. But when she was yet a great way off, her Mother saw her and had great compassion and ran and embraced her and kissed her. And the daughter said to Her: Mother, I have sinned against Heaven and in


your eyes, and I am no more worthy to be called your daugh-ter. But the Mother said to Her servants, Bring forth the best robe and put it on her, and let us eat and be merry, for this my daughter was dead, and is alive again; she was lost and is found. And they began to be merry. (see St. Luke, Ch. 15)

I could never come close to ex-pressing how much this story of the Prodigal Son is my story too, the miracle of the coming of the Guru, the Christed One, into my life. I was an unimaginably long way off, yet She saw me. I had sinned and continue to sin against Heaven and in Her eyes, yet She treated me with such honor. Yes, in countless ways I was and still am being given “the best robe.”

When Mother finished speaking, as was custom She walked to the back of the room, ready to embrace each one of us in turn. Needless to say, I was at a loss for words. Up until then I hadn’t known that Mother Hamilton had held the ONLY key to my heart. And now because of Her, this heart had begun to open. Someone asked, “Why the crying?” What could I say? These were tears of immeasurable gratitude.

We stood before our Beloved Teacher, Her arms reaching out to both of us simultaneously. We had returned to God-in-Mother’s-Form together, and with Her guidance we would con-tinue our spiritual journey as this threesome.

It’s impossible to recall the words that were exchanged then; in an instant words became totally superfluous. I can only re-member introducing myself as Ric’s “husband,” so you can im-agine the state I was in! Mother totally overwhelmed me. Soul communicated with Soul on a level about which I knew nothing. I did, though, have an inkling of what Kirpal Singh was talking about when he said, “You can reflect your own self in It.”

Later that day, a wedding took place, in which I was to wear Mother’s ring! Aum Mother, Aum Mother, Aum Mother, Aum Mother. Victory to God in my Divine Guru’s form.


Celebration of the 26th Anniversary of Mother’s Mahasamadhi

By Cate Koler

It gave us great joy to mark the anniversary of our beloved Guru’s Mahasamadhi once again this year. 2017 celebrations included the following:

• A booklet entitled “The Summit of God-realization” was printed and distributed featuring a letter Mother wrote to Swami Ashokananda in 1968. In it Mother gives a basic out-line of her teachings and thought. The booklet can also be read on the Cross and Lotus website.

• Reverend Larry conducted a service commemorating Moth-er’s Mahasamadhi on Sunday, January 29. The program in-cluded chanting and listening to a talk Yogacharya David gave in 2014 for Mother’s Mahasamadhi Day anniversary. Other Centers also used the talk as part of their services.

• On January 31, Rev. Larry led a graveside service which in-cluded meditation music, a flower offering, and readings from Mother’s funeral rites and Davidji’s Mahasamadhi mes-sage, “Glints of Light.”

L-R: Larry, flowers for Moth-er’s grave, group at grave


Mahasamadhi Day Message: “Glints of Light”

Over the many years since Mother’s Mahasamadhi, her life and teachings have taken on so many hues, colors, and subtle-ties—like a multi-faceted diamond that manifests glints of light with unending variation and beauty. New truths, understanding, wisdom-thoughts, Divine Mother’s love, joy, humor, the every-thingness of God is constantly revealing itself to the attuned mind. Each revelation of Mother’s immense Spirit adds to our comprehension what a truly extraordinary God-being our Moth-er was, and is.…Even amongst the greatest of spiritual Masters, Mother stands among them—each one a shining jewel on God’s necklace of spiritual splendor.

In deepest reverence I bow at the feet of my beloved Guru. My prayer for you: that you might also receive glints of Moth-er’s pure God-light, and thereby be lifted higher and higher, un-til you, like she, merge into our Infinite Beloved and ever know that you and your Heavenly Father-Divine Mother are ever one.

– Excerpted from Yogacharya David’s blog, January 31, 2017

Above: Mother looks very happy between Papa and Mataji in the Bhajan Hall.

Below: Mother’s picture, Swami Muktananda & Rebecca in the Centenary Hall.

• Anandashram also held a celebration again this year. Mother’s picture was displayed and gar-landed in the Bhajan Hall and during the daily Satsang, Swami Muk-tananda read from our new memorial booklet and Rebecca Harvey from Ashland, who was visiting the ashram, spoke about Mother.


Yoga and Health

Stargazer Balance

By Briana Jones

Props: Even, firm, non-slip floor space, yoga mat

Inspiration: This pose came clearly into my mind in medita-tion one evening, and the next day I received an email from Cate with a deadline for the journal article—O timely Ram! Along with the pose came a wonderful thought picture of David and Carla in the desert—under a dark sky jeweled with countless stars and the purest vibration of silence. Let us be with them and them with us in the practice of this simple and lovely balance.

Practice: Begin standing in Mountain pose, feet parallel and arms at your sides. Find a level pelvis with the tailbone drawn slightly down and under. Feel your spine lengthen, your lower ribs draw in and your upper chest open to receive. Attune to your breath and allow it to flow all the way down to the low bel-ly in a natural rhythm. Transfer your weight slowly to your right foot with both feet still grounded. When you are ready, move the top of the left foot into the palm of your left hand with some pressure, and point your left knee straight down. Keep on breathing and soften-ing at the belly as you lift your gaze and find a still point out in front and above you.

If you feel steady, you may lift your right hand upward with your gaze, reaching the fingertips as if towards the stars. Be a witness to the workings of balance within the body and allow yourself to be supported from within, below, above, and all


around you. Enjoy the deep silence and stillness as you gaze into the infinite expanse. To come out, lower your right hand and mindfully release the left foot from the left hand. Return to Mountain pose and take a moment to

integrate before moving to the left side.

Modification for Chair Yoga:

Begin standing with your right side parallel to the back of your chair (or other edge/wall for support.) Follow the above steps, holding on to the edge of the back of your chair with your right hand instead of lifting it into the sky. Feel free to modify the knee position if the foot in hand is too intense: (i.e. Bend the knee to your level and rest the inside of the left foot against the inside of the left leg. You may lift the left hand into the sky in this case.) For the left side, turn around so that your right hand can use the support of your chair.

Benefits: Aligns the body, lengthens the quadriceps muscles, opens the hip flexors, improves posture, provides weight bearing benefits, improves concentration and equanimity of mind in dif-ficult situations, uplifts the mood and consciousness. Blessed stargazing to all. Namaste.

Let the waters settle and you will see the moon and the stars mirrored in your own being.

– Jalaluddin Rumi


From the Master’s Kitchen Spring Soup

Fresh spinach: 2 c. when cooked

Minced dandelion greens: 1 tbsp.

Minced parsley: 1 tsp.

Minced green onion: 1 tbsp.

Whole wheat flour: 1 tsp.

Whole milk: 2 cups

Butter: 1 tbsp.

Wash the fresh spinach, put in a large uncovered kettle. Do not add any water. Put on medium heat for 5 minutes. When the leaves wilt, drain at once and chop. Melt butter in another pan, toss in the dandelion greens, green onions and parsley. Cook in butter for 2 minutes, do not brown. Dust in the flour and slowly stir in the milk. When well blended, add the 2 cups of chopped spinach. Season lightly, simmer, but do not boil, for 3 minutes.

Comments from our C&L chef, Angela Victory

I took Master’s recipe ingredients and created a spinach soup as I would prepare it: leaving out the gluten, substituting un-sweetened coconut milk for dairy milk, coconut oil for butter. I love that Master cooked vegetarian food in the ’30s. Today it’s still popular but with more vegetari-

ans becoming vegans. I have been cooking vegan meals for Mike as he loves how he feels when he eats that way.

I heated the coconut oil, added green onion and parsley, sau-téed for a few minutes, added 4 cups packed raw organic spinach to the pot and a 1/3 cup of water, wilted the spinach, then added 1/2 cup coconut milk and some herbamare salt. To finish, I pu-réed it with my Braun hand blender, garnished it with home-grown alfalfa and radish sprouts plus added raw pumpkins seeds.

This is a very satisfying soup, packed with nutrients: spinach is high in many vitamins and minerals; the pumpkin seeds add magnesium and zinc and the sprouts provide digestive enzymes. Let this soup heal your soul and bring perfect health to your body.


Journal Editors: Larry & Cate Koler

Calendar of Events

Mar. 1 Ash Wednesday (First day of Lent)

7 Paramhansa Yogananda’s Mahasamadhi (1952)

9 Swami Sri Yukteswar’s Mahasamadhi (1936)

20 Spring Equinox (3:29 a.m. PDT)

Apr. 10 Passover

11 Swami Ramdas’ Birthday (1884)

14 Good Friday

16 Easter

May 14 Mother’s Day

10 Swami Sri Yukteswar’s Birthday (1855)

29 Memorial Day

June 18 Father’s Day

20 Summer Solstice (9:24 p.m. PDT)

Let us Hear from You Dear Readers,

The Cross and the Lotus journal is published to inspire devo-tees through the teachings of Mother Hamilton and Yogacharya David and all Gurus of our lineage. We also include the writings of other saints and stories about saints. It also exists to connect the devotees of this path, by both reporting on spiritual events and offering articles on spiritual lessons and healthy living.

We have found that our readers really enjoy hearing about how other devotees practice their Sadhana and learn to overcome ob-stacles along the way. We have incorporated a number of regular “features” in the journal and would love to have your contribu-tion. Each quarter we need submissions for “Memories of Moth-er” and “In Business with God” and also welcome articles for the following: “Out of the Mouths of Babes,” pilgrimage trips, spir-itual book reviews, write-ups about Western or Eastern Saints, poems, excerpts from letters received from Mother, Swamiji or David or your own personal story of walking the path. Artwork is also most welcome. Please send ideas/articles to Cate at [email protected]. Thank you. – the editors

The path to the source of your and the world’s being is not without. You have to go with-in yourself. You must go past your senses, mind, and intel-lect; you must traverse beyond all your ideas and ideals; you must transcend all limits, con-ditions, and tastes, and then alone will you have the fullest vision and realization of your immortal root. This immortal root is also the root of all that exists—the visible and the in-visible worlds and all beings and creatures in them.

Swami Ramdas

Christ is God’s Infinite Intel-ligence that is present in all creation. The Infinite Christ is the “only begotten son” of God the Father, the only pure Reflection of Spirit in the created realm. That Universal Intelligence, the Kutastha Chaitanya or Krishna Con-sciousness of the Hindu scriptures, was fully mani-fested in the incarnation of Jesus, Krishna, and other di-vine ones; and it can be man-ifested also in your con-sciousness.

Paramhansa Yogananda

Each one of us has a narrative he or she tells about life. Your

point of view in the story may give you strength, or take you

into a pit of darkness—it all depends on the story you tell your-

self. Take control of your narrative and know that God is or-

chestrating all events in your life to take you to the summit of

Self-realization. This state of mind aligns you with life’s great-

est secret and will guide you in times of confusion and keep

you pointed toward your true goal. It is all in how you tell the

story of your life that that keeps your direction true.

Yogacharya David Hickenbottom

Documents

The Cross and The Lotus JournalThe Cross and The Lotus Journal Page 3 Dear Friends, There are times in life when we question our purpose in living. Im-plicit in this search for meaning