Tag: East-West Magazine

Divine Love

by Paramhansa Yogananda

Thou art the mystic echo from the caverns of heart, and the inaudible voice of feeling.

Thou unseen charmer of souls, Thou art the fountain flowing from the bosom of friendship.

Thou are the unseen cord of self-bound souls and the rays of secret warmth which break buds of feeling into blossoms of endearing, soulful words of poesy and loyalty.

Thou art the Divine Cupid, enticing mystic souls to pierce the heart of all living things.

Thou art the silent language of souls, and the invisible ink which lovers use to write letters on the pages of their hearts.

Thou art the mother of all affections, and in Thy breast of love throbs the heart of God.

Love is the heart-beat of all life, and the angel of incarnation.

Love is the silent conversation between two hearts, and it is the call of God to all creatures, animate and inanimate, to return to His house of Oneness.

Love is born in the garden of soul progress, and it sleeps behind the darkness of outer attachments. It is the oldest and the sweetest nectar, preserved in the bottle of hearts.

It is the flame which burns all weeds of selfishness, and destroys the walls of family and patriotic narrowness.

It is the light which dissolves all walls between souls, families, and nations.

It is the unfading blossom of pure friendship in the garden of both young and mature souls.

Love is the door to heaven, the complete song of souls.

Love is the echo of God’s voice trying to reverberate through mute stones, through rain, wind, fragrance, vitalizing light and plumed songbirds; it reverberates through the cries and laughter of babies, through unconditioned mother love, and through dumb and articulate hearts.

— From East-West Magazine, August 1932

Prayers

Divine Joy

by Paramhansa Yogananda

Bless us with Thy intoxicating, ever-new, joyous, supremely satisfying contact.

Teach us to drink Thee, that every blood cell, every thought, and every feeling

may become saturated with Thy joy and have their pleasure-thirst quenched

forever.

After tasting Thee, lead us to temptation if Thou wilt.

After we are sure of Thy most tempting, everlasting gift of Thyself,

then test us with all Thy temptations if Thou wilt.

Teach us by comparison between felicity and sense distraction to completely

remove, of our own accord, all material pleasures from our hearts.

Bless us first with the light of Godly habits, so that whenever the darkness of bad

habits approaches, it will be spontaneously driven away.

Teach us to forsake the misery-making ignorant ways of living by letting us know

and feel the comforting ways of wise living.

Teach us to be so attached to Thee that we can not be at all attracted to

material pleasures.

Teach us by Thy love to conquer all loves for worldly life.

Millions do not love Thee because they know not of Thy alluring Love.

Millions love matter because they meet it first.

Divine Beloved, why dost Thou not come first in human life?

Oh, Father, how canst Thou expect frail Souls, ignorant of Thee and burdened with bad habits, to know Thy all-healing Joy.

Of all Thy punishments, forgetfulness of Thee is greatest.

Punish us not, therefore, with forgetfulness.

No matter what our tests may be, teach us to bear them joyously by feeling Thy Presence all the time in our hearts.

For the knowledge of Thy Presence in the heart makes all our tragedies and comedies of life but dramas of extremely ecstatic entertainment.

— From East-West Magazine, August 1933

Poems

The Awakening

by Paramhansa Yogananda

Make me transparent with purity, that Thou mayest shine through me.

Make me luminous with wisdom, that I may behold Thee in me.

Still the moving mirror of my mind, that I may behold Thy

Mooned Face, undistorted by my restlessness, ever reflected there.

Open all the windows of Faith, that I may behold Thee in the

Mansion of Peace.

Fling open the Doors of Silence, that I may enter Thy Temple

of Bliss.

Awaken the memory of past Incarnations,(no cap on I?) wherein I sought

Thee and loved Thee.

Remember when I met Thee in the bower of the Milky Way

and worshipped Thee in the ever-changing, living Temple of Nature(?)

Beloved Divine, make me know at once and forever that Thou

hast always been mine, ever mine.

My error dreams are past and buried beneath the sepulcher

of oblivion, and I am awake basking in the sunlight of Thy

Awakening.

While I slept this sleep of earthly life,

I dreamt this Nature dream.

I awoke, and now I dream of Thee alone.

I was the small bee seeking the honey of Thy Happiness,

So I drank from the many blossoms of human life and Nature,

But it was when I drank the fragrant sweetness from Thy Lotus Feet,

That I hummed with desires no more.

— From East-West Magazine, March 1934

How to be Happy

Creating Your Happiness

by Paramhansa Yogananda

It is easier to spend than to earn.

Also, it is harder to save than to earn.

Most people spend thirty dollars a week when their income is only twenty. The extra ten dollars is acquired by borrowing, or by buying with promises to pay in the future, on installment plans and such systems. You must not always feel that you have to “keep up with the Joneses.” To try to own more than your purse will allow is to live in constant mental worry, and under such conditions happiness, like a will-o’-the-wisp, has to be chased foolishly all over the boggy surface of bottomless desires.

To spend more than you earn is to live in perpetual slavery. To spend more now in the hope of making more later on is the harbinger of all material suffering. An expensive car, together with a good dress suit anda beautiful home are very pleasant to have, but the loss of your car because you cannot meet the so-soon-recurring installments due, foreclosure of the mortgage on your home, built and paid for by many years of labor and saving; the publicity, dishonor, and heavy heart that comes after such occurrences — all these are very unpleasant. Is it not better to have an inexpensive car all paid for, a cozy cottage, a low-priced, clean suit, and a comfortable bank account than to have a big outward show with only borrowed money in your pocket?

Remember that along with the art of money-making, it is well to learn the art of money-saving,for a large income is of no lasting good to you if it creates only habits of luxury and no reserve fund. Think for a moment. If you should get sick suddenly, how would you continue your luxurious habits, without the usual income, if you have no savings put away? It is a bad thing to cultivate luxurious habits if you have only a small income. Is it not better to live simply and frugally and grow rich in reality? You should use one-fourth of your income on plain living, save three-fourths, and be at ease in your mind with a feeling of future security. Keep what you earn legitimately, and don’t gamble or lose it in trying to “get rich quick.”

The present depression has taught you to buy lower-priced things, to save for a “rainy day,” and not to spend on mere material comforts more than you are earning.

Happiness can be had by the exercise of self-control, by cultivating habits of plain living and high thinking, by spending less even though earning more. Make an effort to earn more so that you can be the means of helping others to help themselves, for one of the unwritten laws decrees that he who helps others to abundance and happiness always will be helped in return by them, and he will become more and more prosperous and happy himself. This is a law of happiness which cannot be broken.

— From East-West Magazine, August 1932