BANAT BANAT BANJAI – How to lighten our daily load Experiences and reflections from a disciple In the last blog, we explained that Lahiri Mahashaya‘s phrase: banat, banat, banjai (keep doing, doing, one day it will be done!) is his immortal promise for achieving our goals. We have seen how the four P’s: Passion, Perseverance, Patience and Presence, can lead … Read More
BANAT BANAT BANJAI – How to reach our goal Experiences and reflections from a disciple One day, I was asked to prepare a short speech for an evening dedicated to Lahiri Mahasaya, and comment on a specific phrase of his. I chose “banat banat banjai”: doing, doing, one day it will be done! I find it so encouraging and perfect! … Read More
Since childhood I had been taught by my parents to say “thank you” whenever someone gave me a gift or had a kind word towards me. I had always felt that word resonating inside me as a light, humble sound, as if it was supposed to tiptoe in… By pronouncing it, it was as if something changed in me, I … Read More
When someone asks about your earliest childhood memory, what comes to mind? For me, it was fear. Specifically, fear that I would be drafted into the army and killed in battle. I remember making myself sick in the back seat of the car, lost in an overwhelming sense of doom, while everyone else seemed perfectly fine, happily chatting away. Even … Read More
If you, thinking of God, take one step towards Him, in response, He, who is more kind than a mother, thinking of you, takes nine steps—such a long distance—and accepts you. So great is His grace. (Ramana Maharishi) Yogananda’s encounter with Ramana Maharishi, whom he named “the enlightened Rishi of South India,” highlights the universal power hidden behind Jesus’s parable … Read More
“Keep doing everything with an eye on God and guru. Inherent in that is your good since Atma or your soul is your real guru.” Lahiri Mahasaya For the spiritual seeker wishing to understand the need for a guru (or more specifically to understand the guru-discipleship relationship), there are many expositions of this in the writings of Paramhansa Yogananda and … Read More
God’s love is like that of a mother who, on seeing her child fall and bruise its knee, knows it’s only a momentary and means very little to the child’s over-all well-being. Nevertheless, she expresses sympathy and does her best to comfort the child, at the same time encouraging the child to embrace a broader reality. “Come on, darling,” she … Read More
Failure is the jumping off point to success. When a door closes in your life, don’t beat on it, hoping it will open back up…look for the open doors. There are no obstacles, only opportunities. These were my unconscious directives in 1973, when my 4-year marriage ended: I didn’t want to dwell on my “failed” marriage and I sensed that … Read More
