Stillness is the Altar of Spirit

As a child in Los Angeles, Nayaswami Dhyana, Ananda Sangha India’s Spiritual Director, attended church every Sunday with her mother.  African American congregations are noted for their exuberance and lively spirit and her church was no exception. Dhyanaji once laughingly commented upon her minister’s Sunday discourse on the oft-quoted Biblical verse, “Be still and know that I am God.” “I can assure you,” she said, “Nobody was ever still in my church!” 

“Stillness is the altar of Spirit. Where motion ceases, Spirit begins to manifest.” Paramhansa Yogananda was referring to the “inner stillness” behind the outer world of emotions, sense enjoyments, desires and restless thoughts. At the still center of all vibratory motion, the soul perceives love, bliss, infinite peace and the mystical sounds of Aum. 

Sri Yukteswar tells of his once meeting Mahavatar Babaji in Serampore. When he excitedly rushed home to return with an offering of sweets, Babaji had disappeared. The great guru later explained, “I assure you that I was fairly extinguished in the ether by the gust of your restlessness.” So it is with us, a hundred-fold. Only when motion ceases is God revealed.   

It's not possible to hear God’s whispers if we fidget and make only restless appeals. Stillness within comes when we first learn to be still without. I have found my daily meditation greatly improved simply by keeping my body absolutely still for an extended time. This is the essence of Patanjali’s meaning of asana in his Yoga Sutras, the ability to hold the body absolutely steady. Physical, mental and emotional movement draws our attention away from the stillness residing at the heart of all creation. 

Try this when you next meditate. Sit upright in a comfortable position, one that allows you to both relax your body while also maintaining a straight spine. With your eyes gently uplifted toward the spiritual eye, calm the breath and feel yourself to be a solid block of stone or a mighty mountain, immovable and rooted to your seat, impervious to the winds of change. Relax into this image and become infinitely heavy beyond the point of possible movement. Let not the slightest muscle move while you mentally affirm, “My mind is steadfast as a rock.” You will soon begin to forget your body as your spirit soars. 

Eventually, your attention will be drawn to one remaining obstacle to perfect physical stillness, the breath. Watch it intently. Lose yourself in concentration upon the breath and the pauses between. You will find it naturally and effortlessly calming until, at last, it too ceases to move. What freedom you will then feel. In breathlessness is deathlessness. 

Guruji said, “Free the mind with the steel knife of stillness. Cut loose your consciousness from the body. Use it no more as an excuse to accept limitations.” In the mirror of inner stillness, we will see God’s face reflected.

Magnetism

Walking past a bookstore in Guangzhou, China, a lady I know glanced at the display of newly released books in the front window.   Her attention was drawn to a picture of a long-haired man in robes.  Stopping, she studied the face more closely and spontaneously began to weep, overcome by an unexplained emotion.   Collecting herself, she continued her walk, but within a short distance she stopped again and was drawn back for second look at what had so moved her.  Again, tears came to her eyes as she entered and purchased a copy.  That book was the “Autobiography of a Yogi.”  

Dramatic as this story is, it‘s not unique.  I’ve heard similar accounts and, in fact, my own introduction to “The Autobiography” was much the same.  A recent graduate from college, I had been drifting aimlessly toward a career when I came upon the “AY” and my life radically changed course.  It was as if a door had opened, inviting me into another realm.  Swami Kriyananda too had a similar experience and later asked Yogananda about the book’s influence.  “Yes,” the Master said, “It’s because I put my ‘vibrations’ into it.”  

What did Yogananda mean by that?   Just as we know spoken words convey a speaker’s consciousness, so too does the written “voice” reveal an author’s character.  Some immediately attract us while others do the opposite, repelling us like a magnet.  That woman in China was sensitive to Yogananda’s “magnetism” which awakened long buried feelings and “memories”.  

The analogy of a magnet is particularly apt in the study of yoga.  From physics we learn of two ways to create one. The first is to place a bar of iron in close proximity to a strong magnet.  In time, the bar too becomes magnetized simply by being in association with the strong magnet.  For a spiritual aspirant, the lesson is obvious; put yourself in the company of those who are spiritually strong and your own strength increases. 

Yogananda often quoted a phrase from the Bible, “To all those who receivedhim, gave He power to become the Sons of God.” When with close disciples, rarely did he speak of philosophy or techniques, but instead he emphasized attunement to the guru.  “Be in tune,” he repeatedly advised.  To the receptive and willing heart that is “in tune”, the guru magnetically transfers his blessings.  

There is a second way to create a magnet.  By rotating a current of electricity around an iron bar, the bar’s molecules align themselves in a uniform north/south polarity to create a magnetic field.   Applying this principle to meditation and pranayam gives us the science of Kriya Yoga. Subtle pranic currents associated with the breath are rotated around the central “bar” of the spine, thereby aligning our scattered energies to create a magnetic pull upon the outward flow of life force which normally moves toward the senses and outward involvement.  Through daily practice and living in harmony with Nature’s Laws, the yogi withdraws his attention away from the bodily senses into the inner spine and from there, directs his life force upward toward the brain and superconscious bliss.

Magnetism is the secret of all spiritual and material success and is within our power to increase or change.  We draw to us those people, circumstances and opportunities with which we and our karma resonate.  Ask yourself, “To what am I magnetically attuned?”  Prosperity and health come not by karma alone but also by our power of attraction.  Change your magnetism and you will change your life.  

First published in 2016, Speaking Tree, Times of India