(The body as rechargeable battery: will draws cosmic energy)
“Realising that man’s body is like an electric battery, I reasoned that it could be recharged with energy through the direct agency of the human will. As no action, slight or large, is possible without willing, man can avail himself of his prime mover, will, to renew his bodily tissues without burdensome apparatus or mechanical exercises. I therefore taught the Ranchi students my simple Yogoda techniques by which the life force, centred in man’s medulla oblongata, can be consciously and instantly recharged from the unlimited supply of cosmic energy.”
The Energisation Exercises are to be practised twice a day every day. The 39 exercises are practised in a specific order and their practice takes between 12 to 15 minutes. The simplicity of these exercises is that they can all be practised from a standing position in a very small space. You do not need to use a Yoga mat or even wear Yoga clothes.
These techniques systematically purify and strengthen all the body parts with vital force (prāṇa), giving health, strength and vitality to the body.
Yogananda said, “Will power is what makes you divine. When you give up using that will, you become a mortal man… If you continuously use your will power, no matter what reverses come, it will produce success and health and power to help people, and above all, it will produce communion with God.”
(Meditation as daily transformation toward the inner Self)
Kriya Initiation and the Blessings of the Guru When Babaji gave Lahiri Mahasaya permission to initiate others into Kriyā Yoga, he also told him to advise each new initiate in the words of Krishna (Bhāgavad Gīta, 2:40): “Even a little of the practice of this dharma will save you from great fear.”
Regular daily practice of meditation will transform you from within. It will help you to perform all your worldly duties and attend to your responsibilities serenely, saturated with inner calmness and peace. Remember, true happiness and lasting fulfilment is not found outwardly in the world of the senses and restless desires, but in the silent depths of your being, the inner changeless Self.
Spiritually awakening to realisation of your pure essential nature (the indwelling Self) and knowledge of ultimate Reality, God, should be your highest aim in life, for the whole of the universe and human life is constructed on the reality of God. You hold within yourself that which you are seeking. The primary cause of lack of Self-awareness is a mistaken perception of self-identity.
Meditation brings an end to separation and unites you with that supreme bliss of the inner God-Self. Regular daily practice of meditation will purify and strengthen your mind and bring clarity to it. Once
We all want freedom in joy! Not the short-lived joys that we get from sensual pleasures, attachments, frustrated desires, fame and praise, but
the ever-lasting and perfect joy that is non-dependent and is free from likes and dislikes. A true joy and real happiness that is the very nature of your own inner Self and is the essence of every living being.
How often do you practise them? Twice a day without fail just before morning and evening meditations (sometimes a third time if I feel I need an ‘energy boost’ in the middle of the day). Do you feel the energy immediately after practising them? Absolutely, and all throughout the day. How does it affect your meditation? Meditation is always very much deeper when I energise first – the difference is like night and day. Easy to feel the difference!
“You should practice the Energisation Exercises with more determination, energy and will power!” From that point onward, I said to myself, “I may never be the world’s greatest meditator, but I KNOW I can become a ‘World Champion Energiser’!” So from that point onward, I began to Energie with greater and greater ‘willingness power’ and with all my heart. And, it worked! My meditations became stronger, longer and much deeper almost immediately. I now consider myself to be a ‘World Champion Energiser’. (Smile) Onward and upward!
Nayaswami Shivani – co-founder Yogananda Academy of Europe. “I rarely miss a day without doing the Energisation Exercises. Yogananda had said if you were stranded on a desert island and only had the time for practicing one technique, that would be the one. It is that essential and helpful. Those practising it know how it gets blood flow to the whole body to energise it and prepare it for meditation.
(How cosmic energy enters the body through the medulla and chakras)
Consciousness and Cosmic Energy “The conscious cosmic energy first enters through the medulla oblongata (in the brain stem) and remains concentrated in the brain as the thousand-petalled lotus. Then it descends into the body through the spinal cord and sympathetic nervous system.” Paramhansa Yogananda.
Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695), the Dutch mathematician, astronomer and physicist, founded the wave theory of light. In his Treatise on Light, he argued a revised version of Descartes views, in which the speed of light is infinite and propagated by means of spherical waves emitted along the wave front.
yogi is guided by the heart and wants to ‘merge’ with the Truth and not just intellectually know it.
The View of the Ancient Spiritual Sages The ancient spiritual Sages of the East such as Lao Tzu, the Chinese Sage and legendary father of Taoism, who wrote the Tao Te Ching around the sixth century BCE, and the great Indian Sage Veda Vyasa, who wrote the Mahabharata, of which the Bhagavad Gita is a part of this great work, conclude that there was never a beginning of time, matter or space.
According to the Bhagavad Gita the external world is unreal, not because it does not exist, but because it is unstable and ever-changing. Since it is based upon impermanence, it cannot be relied upon as a vehicle of truth, and it should not become the purpose of our existence. The teachings of the Bhagavad Gita show us a prominent reality that makes life more stable, peaceful and purposeful that is aligned to the central purpose of God’s eternal Dharma, which is order and regularity.
The entire universe was in an unmanifest condition before the current manifestation and will again become unmanifest.
further progress is still possible to unlock the door of the nature of Reality and to realise our own true nature as pure Consciousness. To do that we have to go beyond concepts and into the formlessness itself, to the direct realisation of oneself as that Consciousness.
Our chakras act as dynamos of Cosmic Energy, allowing our subtle bodies to plug in to the universal power source. They serve as transformers and regulators to receive, assimilate and distribute prāṇa to the astral body, which then distributes it to the spinal nerve plexuses, where it is, in turn, transferred to the blood and organs of the physical body. The prāṇa enters the body at the base of the brain in the brain stem, (an area known as the medulla oblongata. Yogananda referred to it as the ‘mouth of God’, the finite opening in the body through which God breathes His Cosmic Energy or Life into physical flesh) and flows to the higher brain centres.
Sahasrāra (also known as Brahmarandhra ‘the door of God’) the main generator of the energies that power these six chakras, is located at the crown, above the medulla oblongata, and operates on a higher plane of consciousness.
These are essential ‘states’ of matter, not to be confused with the periodic elements of modern chemistry, and they represent he stages of creation from Spirit to matter.
“The spinal cord may be likened to a wire. In it are located these seven centres of light which are the sub-centres for the conduction and distribution of life current throughout the body. The body is nothing but a condensation of this spinal energy. Just as invisible hydrogen and oxygen atoms can be condensed into visible vapour, water and ice, so light can be transformed into body which is nothing but frozen energy.” Paramhansa Yogananda.
(Will as the active channel for limitless energy and healing)
My guru, Paramhansa Yogananda said, “The stronger the will, the greater the flow of energy!” The centre of positive will in the human body is the spiritual eye located at the eyebrow centre, the positive pole of the sixth centre of consciousness (ājñā chakra), and the seat of spiritual perception and intuition. If you concentrate strongly with determination at that point between the eyebrows, you can draw on that limitless flow of Cosmic Energy through your medulla oblongata, the negative pole of the ājñā chakra and the seat of the ego, located in the brainstem at the base of the brain.
Feeling and Directing the Energy Yogananda said that the medulla oblongata is fed by conscious Cosmic Energy which surrounds the body and which is drawn into the body by the power of will. Therefore, you should never say or think you are tired, for by doing so you become even more tired. Your will becomes paralysed with thoughts of tiredness and fatigue and cuts off the supply of energy. The will must be active in order to draw Cosmic Energy into the body. We all have will power, but not all of us use it in a conscious way to draw energy into the body.
Using ‘Will and Energy’ to Heal When your energy level is high, it will be easier for you to feel and direct the energy flow toward the person you are praying for. Also, your willingness and empathy will be greater, allowing your concentration to stay focused and your heart open. To be an effective channel for the Divine Will and to keep your energy level high, practise Yogananda’s Energisation Exercises first, and then you will be able to act, pray and be divinely charged with greater energy!
The following technique of using energy for healing is a method that Paramhansa Yogananda taught. Sit upright in a comfortable position. As you inhale deeply, slowly and gently tense all the muscles in your body. While tensing your body muscles, hold your breath in for a few seconds, and then exhale with a double breath (ha-haaa) through your mouth. Then relax and feel the energy flow into your body. Now remain relaxed and calm. Touch your medulla oblongata at the base of the brain (the indentation at the back of the head, where the neck meets the skull) in order to make easier to concentrate on it. Then visualise Cosmic Energy surrounding and entering your body through the medulla and at the point between your eyebrows and flowing down into your spine. Feel the energy flowing down the whole length of your arms into your hands. Continue tensing and relaxing your body and feeling the life force flow from the medulla and the point between your eyebrows through the spine to your hands.
Then stop tensing and relaxing, and by using your right palm, firmly rub your entire bare left arm up and down several times. Do the same to your right arm with your left palm. Then relax, continuously visualising and willing Cosmic Energy to descend from the medulla through your arms into your hands. Now, with closed eyes with your attention at the eyebrow centre, rapidly but gently rub your palms together about twenty times. Then separate your hands and raise them upward. You will feel the life…
Now that your hands are magnetised with energy, they can be used either for healing any diseased part of your own body or some other person’s. If it is for another person, they need not be present, they can even be on the other side of the world. This Cosmic Energy or prāṇic energy passing through your hands has infinite power of projection. Energy follows thought. However, Yogananda said to visualise the person you are sending healing to. In other words, hold that person in God’s…
Be like Jesus, who saw a person’s wholeness, not their illness. See them with renewed life…
To send that healing force of energy through the ether or space after following the above steps, you can then raise your energy charged hands above your head with the palms facing forward. And with your eyes closed, and with your concentration at the eyebrow centre, send out through the palms of your hands divine currents of healing rays to the person who is unwell or diseased. As you do this, chant Aum aloud or…
Once the embodied soul has seen the true nature of the Self, it becomes complete, fulfilled and free from sorrow. That divine inner Self is bliss, is love, is peace, and is harmony; that is its true divine essential nature, and it can be understood only after we attain that.
Overcome the false sense of separation from God, by praying not to God but in God. Feel that you are immersed in the Divine Presence that is God, here and now, and allow that Light and Love to shine in and through you as you pray.
Understanding Your Mind What Is the Mind?
(The mind as instrument: consciousness as the true witness)
“The mind is not self-luminous because it is a perceptible object.” Patañjali Yoga Sutra, 4:19. The mind cannot explain itself, neither can it reveal the Self (pure Consciousness), because the Self transcends the mind and intellect. The Self is always the witness of the mind and senses, it is always the centre in all your activities, but as an instrument the mind can help to establish the Self by logic and reasoning.
The mind is so fine and subtle that it cannot be distinguished from the Consciousness, the indwelling Self. It is transparent and reflects the Consciousness without distortion, and so it is difficult to distinguish mind from the Consciousness. In its true nature, this is what the mind really is – pure mind, filled with the luminous reflection of the pure Consciousness.
The body acts, the senses perceive, and the mind thinks and feels. The mind always functions in conjunction with the sense organs, without which neither forms nor thoughts can appear. Within all these activities, the changeless ‘I’-principle (the centre of life) or Consciousness is found to be present, silently witnessing and knowing every one of them.
Thought and feeling must have an object but Consciousness, the witnessing Self, has none, because the ‘I’-principle is experience itself, and is beyond subject-object relationship. Consciousness is always your true centre, your Being in all activities; it is the knowingness that is never parted from you; it is the Experiencer who witnesses and knows the transient actions, perceptions, thoughts and feelings that flow in and out of the mind.
The inner subtle mind pervades throughout the body, but it has three main places in which it resides during the states of waking, deep sleep and dream. In the waking state, the mind resides at the eyebrow centre in the ājñā chakra. During deep sleep, the mind resides in a subtle state in the heart, anāhata chakra. In dream, it resides in the throat, viśuddha chakra. In dreamless sleep there are no thoughts; the distracting world of duality temporarily disappears.
It is in the dreamless sleep state that we get a taste of the nature of absolute bliss. It is only the mind that creates differences, sorrow, duality and separateness. The inner mind or feeling nature – your feelings, thoughts, sensations, memories and past impressions – is located in the heart (hṛdaya). It is this heart that makes you experience yourself as an individual with distinct characteristics and a personality.
Mind, Thoughts and Feelings “The mind, coloured by countless latent tendencies, comes to depend on things other than itself owing to interactions with them.” Patanjali Yoga Sutra 4:24.
All objects, thoughts and feelings are known through the mind, but when these are absent, the mind cannot be said to exist. That which is existing beyond the mind is Consciousness, the changeless all-witnessing ‘I’-principle. Thoughts rise in Consciousness, exist in Consciousness and disappear in Consciousness, beyond the mind. When Consciousness is limited or objectified, then it is called thought. Just as waves are made of water, so thoughts are pure Consciousness.
(Desire, anger, and delusion: how the mind loses its way)
In Chapter Three of the Bhāgavad Gīta (3.36), Arjuna asks this question: “By what is one impelled, even against his will, to do wrong, constrained as it were by force?” We may also ask, what is it that makes the mind go astray? Why should it behave like this? “By dwelling on the sense objects, a person develops an attachment to them. From attachment arises desire, and when desire is obstructed anger arises. From anger arises
delusion. And from delusion comes forgetfulness of the Self, and from loss of memory comes the loss of the faculty of discrimination, resulting in annihilation of all right understanding.” Bhāgavad Gīta (2:62–63) Krishna gives this answer: “It is desire; it is anger, both of which are impelled by rajoguṇa (quality of activity or passion). Desire and anger are related, because desire itself under certain circumstances, gains expression as anger. Desire is a constant agitation of the mind, expressing as an uncontrollable impatience to gain something or someone.
Desire and Will Desire and will are completely different from each other. Desire is a strong feeling of wanting or longing to have something or wishing for something to happen. Will is the power of determination without any motive whatsoever to enjoy anything. Mere wishing for the attainment of a desired thing will not be adequate; you will have to add to it a definite purpose. A wish or desire is only a small ripple in the mind-lake, whereas will is that power which puts into effect the desires. Will is volition – the power of choosing or determining.
When the Self determines the activity, uninfluenced by likes and dislikes towards surrounding objects, the will manifests. When likes and dislikes determine the activity and the person is pulled in various directions by them, unaware of the inner Reality – the Self – then desire manifests.
It is a vicious cycle; restlessness creates desires, which creates further restlessness. These desires create deep active impressions (saṁskāras) in the subconscious mind. They are like seeds sown into the ground, and at the right time, they sprout and appear above the ground as a plant.
When we are preoccupied only with seeking pleasure through sense-gratification, then there is a loss of will and desire to know the Truth, the reality of our true essential nature as the blissful, peaceful Self within us. The mind becomes dissipated and a slave to the senses. With such an unrestrained mind, there can be no inner peace, no true happiness and joy, and no spiritual fulfilment or success in concentration and meditation. It is only when your mind, senses, action and speech are disciplined, mastered and directed toward the spiritual goal that you can attain inner and outer freedom. You, the spiritual Self, are an infinite being expressing as life through your material, physical mind, body and senses. All the negative and positive impulses that arise within you – desires, emotions and feelings – can be traced either to affirming your true nature or denial of it. All desires are our longing for the divine Self within, and until we look to the kingdom within, we will never find real happiness, for the external world is not the source of our spiritual fulfilment.
(Samskaras: how past impressions seed future compulsions)
Latent Impression (saṁskāra) Every experience or past thoughts, feelings, perceptions and actions forms an imprint in the mind, and influences your subsequent activities. Your desires leave an impression deep within the mind, and they sprout, creating an impulse within you to repeat the same experience of which they were impressions. In Sanskrit and Yoga terminology, these impressions are called saṁskāra.
Similarly, saṁskāra also remain dormant if they are not connected with the mind, senses and objects. As soon as a dormant seed becomes activated by the warmth of the soil and is watered by the rain, it begins to grow. Similarly, saṁskāra wait for an opportunity to manifest: a recollection of pleasure, a memory of a sensation from something that gave us momentary satisfaction can occupy and churn the mind.
The more powerful and deeply embedded saṁskāras are known as vāsanās, which means ‘colouring’. Vāsanās are your unmanifested tendencies that colour the mind affecting your desires, feelings, thoughts and intentions; they shape your mind and colour it, and dominate it, and create your character and life.
When a negative thought enters your mind, immediately and totally reject it, and substitute an opposite positive thought. Never leave your mind idle, weak or vacant. To prevent negative and useless thoughts from invading your mind, fill your mind with positive and optimistic thoughts, and creative ideas, that will create good habits to purify and transform your mind both mentally and spiritually, bringing you inner and outer fulfilment and true happiness. When the saṁskāras of your real nature become strong enough to subdue the old ones by their very presence, desires will no longer tempt you away from the Truth.
(Habits, addiction, and the weakening of will)
Habits “Change the trend of your thoughts – cast out all negative mental habits. Replace them with wholesome, courageous thought habits, and apply them in daily life with unshakable confidence.”
Habits also create addictions, that temporarily give us a sense of comfort, but ultimately, they disempower us; we lose our wise discrimination and will power. Addiction is a symptom of a much deeper problem that a person struggles to deal with and suffers from. An addictive pattern can be a long and difficult process to get out of. Those who fall under the power of addictive habits become enslaved by them – drugs, alcohol, smoking and sex can enslave the will to the body. The will power becomes weak. Drugs and alcohol paralyse the will. Without the power of the will, Self-realisation is not possible. It is the will power and enthusiastic energy that keeps us moving forward to achieve our worthy goals and to accomplish them successfully. When there is a lack of enthusiasm, there is no will. Remember, energy and will go together. To develop your will, you have to discipline your mind and eradicate reluctance to give up bad habits – moods, anger, wrong attitudes, likes and dislikes – that are controlling you and holding you back in your lower nature. Renounce the undesirable tendencies of the mind, and hold to those great virtues – courage, determination, perseverance, patience and concentration – that strengthen your mind and uplift your spirit go give you unshakable balance through all the challenges of daily life. To strengthen your will, perform all your actions with discipline and renounce the illusions of the world.
The behaviour is so ingrained in us that we act without thinking about what we are saying or doing.
Changing Negative Habits “Powerful bad habits can be displaced by opposite good habits if the latter are patiently cultured. First crowd out all bad habits by good habits in everything, then cultivate the consciousness of being free from all habits.”
To overcome a bad habit, the first thing you need to do is ask yourself: What is missing from life? What gap in my life am I trying to fill by doing this habit? Is boredom, loneliness, or stress a factor involved? Or is there something deeper that is causing you to hold on to something that is bad for you? Perhaps a fear, an event, or a limiting belief? Some deeply rooted habits or beliefs may take longer to eliminate from your consciousness. This habitual energy that has lingered from the past can resurface and throw you off balance, distracting and stressing you. Remember that you have come to your present condition through errors and mistakes lasting lifetimes, so do not expect in one day, or one week, or even one month to root out old beliefs and old and tenacious bad habits, and break free from the cyclic force of habitual activity.
If you are to conquer the foe of bad habits that drive you to act in ways to maintain suffering, then you must banish them completely from the kingdom of your mind, and establish the rightful ruler, the indwelling divine Self, on the throne to guide you with wisdom and understanding.
Methods of Overcoming Bad Habits “When the habit of delusion precedes the habit of wisdom and settles in the soul, the only way out is to use will power to meditate deeply and daily until the all-alluring, bliss- contact of God is definitely achieved and can be reproduced in the consciousness at will.”
Memories are the reactivation of the imprints (saṁskāra) of sense objects that one has experienced and recognised in the past.
The power to hold steady. The power to hold steady is really a part of memory. When you have the power to hold it means you have fixed and steady ideas that cannot be changed by anyone; an unwavering mind. Holding a thought with determined will power means holding to it until that thought pattern develops dynamic force. When you have unwavering one-pointed attention, stillness is reached.
(Willpower defined: converting thought into action aligned with divine will)
Will Power “The supreme will power belongs to consciousness, Not to the ego or personal self. That supreme Will power arises through aligning ourselves With the Divine will and inherent power of existence.” David Frawley. (‘The Art and Science of Vedic Counselling’
Paramhansa Yogananda gave this definition of will power: “Will power is that which changes thought into energy.” In other words, this means convert your thoughts into will power and your will into action. Will is the dynamo of existence; without it, evolution is impossible.
In the states of dream, drowsiness and being intoxicated, the will does not function because of the vagueness of self-awareness. In those states in which one has no self-control only unrestrained emotion and imagination prevail.
Will power is the inner strength that boosts your self-confidence, enabling you to overcome obstacles, difficulties and challenges in life, and to overcome harmful habits. Will power gives you the ability to delay gratification and resist short-term temptations in order to meet long-term goals. You cannot think without willing to think and you cannot act without willing to act.
A person with strong will power has the capacity to override unwanted thoughts, feelings or impulses and is able to assert decisions even in the face of strong opposition, whereas a person with weak energy and little will power gives in easily.
Paramhansa Yogananda said, “Environment is stronger than will power.” Unless your wisdom-guided
guided will power is stronger, your environment can tempt and seduce you, forming bad habits in you.
Affirmation: I possess the wisdom, will power, motivation, inspiration and the energy to accomplish anything and everything. I can do whatever I set my mind to, no matter how difficult or challenging the task is. I am willing to tackle difficult challenges. I value integrity and get done what I have promised myself to do. I keep my goal constantly present in my mind and overcome any resistance to it. I act now.
Laziness “Idleness is extremely detrimental to spiritual realisation. Laziness in body or mind must be driven away before you can emerge to the kingdom of God.” Paramhansa Yogananda.
A lazy sloth-like person clings to inactivity, procrastination, with no effort or enthusiasm to do anything. A lack of motivation and not knowing what to do with your life can also be factors in laziness and lethargy. Being lethargic or unproductive is ultimately just a habit, so by breaking out of your old habit patterns and creating new ones, you will be more motivated to find something more fulfilling. You could start by making a checklist of the desires, goals and motivations you want to move towards, this will help you to stay focused and motivated.
(Restlessness, fear, and won’t power: practical tools for overcoming obstacles)
Restlessness “Never let your mind be seduced by restlessness, through joking too much, too many distractions and so on. Be deep. As soon as you succumb to restlessness, all the old troubles will begin to exert their pull on the mind once again: sex, wine and money.” Paramhansa Yogananda.
Mental restlessness is caused by strong desires, likes or dislikes, negative thoughts and ambition. Restlessness is also a common symptom of anxiety. It is the feeling of discontentment, being unable to sit still, your attention is distracted by all kinds of thoughts; you are unable to focus or concentrate. Or it can be the feeling as though you are on edge and something is about to or needs to happen. When we have constant thoughts of discontent, worry, fear, melancholy, anger hatred and resentment, a lack of purpose in life, the mind becomes restless.
How to Overcome Restlessness First, ask yourself what’s going on in your life that could be causing the restless feelings. Why am I feeling this way? It may be a signal that something wrong is going on. Try to understand why you are feeling restless. Put your thoughts or worries to paper – write them down, so you can get them out of your head and see them objectively and more clearly. By first acknowledging your own mental chatter, you can move away from it. Practice the following practices to relax and calm your body–breath–mind; Practice Yogananda’s ‘Tense with will, relax and feel’ exercise; Breathe in with a double breath through your nose, and while holding the breath in, tense all the muscles in your body, and feel the energy vibrating in all the body parts, energising and revitalising. Then exhale the breath, relax the tension, and feel the energy and vitality in the recharged muscles. In feeling the energy, feel that you are not the physical body but that you are the life which sustains the body. Mental peace is attained when the body is relaxed and calm. Restless feelings can be calmed by conscious breathing. Here is a simple breathing exercise to the ratio of 6:6:6; Inhale through the nostrils to a slow count of six; Hold the breath in for count of six; Exhale slowly to the count of six. Practice nine rounds of the 6:6:6 breathing, then sit quiet and still, and with your eyes closed with your attention at the point between the eyebrows on the forehead, practice the Hong-Sau Technique (see page 111), which calms the mind and deepens concentration.
Unwillingness can apply to different situations such as: unwilling to forgive, unwilling to work, unwilling to meditate, unwilling to make an effort and so on. Willingness requires effort, energy and enthusiasm. For example, waking up on a cold dark winter morning, you may not feel the enthusiasm and willingness to sit for meditation. Perhaps, you would rather spend that extra hour in bed. In comparison, a person with willingness, enthusiasm, will power and energy will feel eager to meditate no matter what conditions arise. He or she will have an inner strength that overcomes all difficulties.
Each time you are faced with a difficult situation or challenge, instead of seeing it as an insurmountable obstacle and creating a resistance to it, welcome it as an opportunity to use your courage and will power to summon up the energy to overcome it. Doubt and failure should not enter your mind; once your will is strong, and you are focused and determined to succeed, there should be no turning back. Never give up; persevere until you succeed. To increase your energy flow practise Swami Kriyananda’s Superconscious Living Exercises (see page 000) and Paramhansa Yogananda’s Energisation Exercises (see page 000).
Fear “Fear is destructive to mental initiative, courage, judgement, common sense and will power. Fear shrouds the soul’s all-conquering confidence and power.” Paramhansa Yogananda.
How to Overcome Fear To deal with fear, start by naming your fears; bring them out into the open. Question your fears by writing them down on paper: “Why am I afraid of that happening? What are the chances that would really happen?” Banish fear from your mind by refusing to be afraid; do not allow it to become a subconscious habit that asserts itself and disempowers you. Affirm aloud, softly and then mentally: “God is my Source, my strength, my courage and my power. Divine light shines through every problem and circumstance, dissolving any obstacles and comforting my heart. I am always safe and secure with and in God.”
Paramhansa Yogananda said that fear comes from the heart and that if ever you feel overcome by fear, you should breathe deeply and rhythmically several times, relaxing with each exhalation.
Being decisive is about making choices, measuring feedback and acting on it. When making a decision, you have to be very clear on what you are trying to achieve, why you are trying to achieve it and how you plan on achieving it. When you know your purpose in life and have a clear vision of your long-term vision, all the smaller, day-to-day decisions will become much easier. You will be guided intuitively in the right direction.
Yogananda’s guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar said, “Look fear in the face and it will cease to trouble you”.
Set aside time to deal with worries There are many people who have trouble in concentrating during the day because they are constantly worrying about other things, causing the attention to become distracted and divided. So if you find yourself distracted by worries, download the worries from your mind by noting them down on paper. In this way, you will not retain them in your mind. Then schedule time to deal with the worrying issues.
‘Won’t power’ “If you haven’t enough will power, try developing ‘won’t power’,” said Yogananda. His advice was that when temptation comes you first have to stop the action or the force. Then when the temptation has gone, you must reason, otherwise temptation will overcome all reason. This is ’won’t power’ – you just say firmly and with conviction ’No’ and get up and go. Then as the mind gets stronger it yields vision, equanimity, courage, endurance, steadiness, cheerfulness and other blessed qualities.
When you practise these Energization Exercises, do them with the will, the power of God within you. Usually when we use the word will, we think of tension in an effortful way, so use the word, willingness. The greater the willingness, the greater the flow of energy. Yogananda defined will as desire plus energy, directed toward fulfilment. In other words, it is something you should enthusiastically want to do. In that way, practise these Energisation Exercises with willingness, with the desire that your body be filled with energy and joy! The positive will centre in the body is the spiritual eye, at the point between the eyebrows. By strong concentration at this point, will power can be exerted to draw a limitless flow of energy through the medulla oblongata.
The great Kriyā Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda (1893–1952) as a young boy named Mukunda, would sit in meditation and practise Hong-Sau meditation technique for seven hours at a time, until he achieved a deep breathless state. Yogananda said that we can reach states of spiritual bliss in longer, deeper practice of the Hong-Sau Technique, and that to become a master in this life, you should practice Hong-Sau for two hours a day. To master your mind and transform your life so that you become inwardly free, practise Hong-Sau.