I heard so much about the success of, Self-Healing Shoulder Pain with Yoga, that I thought you might like to try this intermediate yoga headstand position.

Three of the many benefits for you are:

1. You will increase circulation to your brain, which will improve your memory and brain function. If you find this a bit difficult, be gentle and slowly increase your time in the pose. 

2. You will be in a posture that helps to heal rotator cuff and shoulder pain. See my Self-Healing Shoulder Pain with Yoga post for a simple, easy-to-do version, and an explanation of how this works based upon the discovery by Loren Fishman, MD.

3. You will learn the first two positions of the Triangular Forearm Base Headstand. Don’t worry. You don’t have to go all the way into the HeadStand to get a lot of benefit.

If you find yourself reluctant to practice, remind yourself that the headstand is recommended to anyone who wants an alert and sharp mind.

If you have seen me lately, you will notice that my hair is not as dark as it is in this clip. This video was shot some years ago in analog format so you might find that there are some dropped frames along with an occasional white butterfly.

Also you might notice some other differences, for while the clip was old, alas, I was younger.

Enjoy your yoga practice,……Norm

If you are experiencing pain when you practice yoga, it may be that you really don’t understand what yoga is. Let’s begin with

When Are You Not Practicing Yoga?

If you are straining, pushing, forcing or competing in your yoga practice, you are not practicing yoga.

If you end your yoga session with pulled muscles, torn tendons and ligaments, painful joints, or a sore body, you are not practicing yoga.

At the end of your yoga session, if you collapse in a pool of sweat, exhausted, you are not practicing yoga.

Why Not?

Because Yoga is about peace, calmness, and harmony.

The moment that you disturb your peace, you are no longer practicing yoga.

Yoga is about stillness. In fact the goal of all of Yoga is to culminate in stillness, as stated in Psalm 46:10.

 Be still, and know that I am God 

To achieve this, the ancient Rishis (God-Realized Beings) developed Yoga. In this age the most popular Yoga is Hatha Yoga, which is what they called the practice of the Asanas. 

Asanas are not exercises in the modern, or Western, sense, but are postures, poses, positions.

By definition an asana should be steady, comfortable, and pleasant in a way that you can hold it for a long time.

The best way to understand Asana is to look at the Self-Realization Fellowship website, Correct Posture: Instructions on Posture for Effective Meditation, where it states,

“If the correct posture has been assumed, the body will be stable yet relaxed, so that it is easily possible to remain completely still, without moving a muscle.”

Why Look to Meditation Posture as the Key to Hatha Yoga Practice?

1-We look at meditation practice because it is the ultimate goal of all yoga practice. Raja Yoga, Meditation, is called the last Yoga, or the highest  Yoga, and teaches us that our Hatha Yoga practice should contribute to, not distract from, Meditation.  

2-We look to meditation practice because it will give us the wisdom to not hurt ourselves while practicing Hatha Yoga.

Here is some wisdom from Paramahansa Yogananda:

“No one should try to meditate in the lotus posture unless he is at ease in that position. To meditate in a strained posture keeps the mind on the discomfort of the body.”

This is also true in your Hatha Yoga practice. If you are in a strained posture, your mind will be on that strained place, and not come within, where it should be.

Yogananada further states, “The proper bodily posture, one which produces calmness in body and mind, is necessary to help the yogi shift his mind from matter to spirit.”

Where There Is Strain, There Is No Yoga.

Where Strain Begins, Yoga Ends.

Once when I was at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine Retreat in Pacific Palisades, California, I had the opportunity to talk with Brother Achalananda.  “Brother, I teach asanas (Hatha Yoga Postures) at the SRF Boys Youth Program Camp, and I wonder if you could give me some advice on how to do a better job?”

“Just remember, he said, “ Where there is strain, there is no Yoga. Where strain begins, Yoga ends.”

Wow. Just what I needed to know. So simply stated and yet so important.

This can be your key also. Remind yourself of this often and you won’t hurt yourself when practicing yoga.

Namasté,…..Norm

This video post is by Karen Dardick, who received many years of counseling and training by Durga Mata at Self-Realization Fellowship Mother Center, Mount Washington, Los Angeles, California.

I greatly appreciate this insight into a direct Disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, and I hope that you will find some value here also, as I am sure many SRF members will.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Thank you, Karen Dardick and blessings of God and Gurus,

Namasté….Norm

Are you stuck in your self-healing progress?

Maybe it is time to examine the Spiritual Aspects of Yoga.

For example, in one of Daya Mata’s talks she quoted Paramahansa Yogananda as saying,

“Never, ever blame anyone for anything. Accept all as coming from God and Guru for your growth.”

My immediate reaction was,

This would really be freeing. Imagine not wasting time or energy on negativity, on blaming, resenting or hating anyone.

My second immediate thought was,

But I am not there yet. In fact, I don’t completely understand it.

How do you feel about this? Should you put any effort into practicing not blaming anyone or anything?

A minister of metaphysical Christianity once said,

“If you want to heal yourself, sit down and don’t get up until you find out who you have to forgive.”

Maybe you feel that your anger is justified. Can you understand that it may be crippling you? Consider this comment.

“Remember, when you hold anger, resentment or unforgiveness toward anyone, it is like you drinking poison and hoping it will hurt the other guy.”

I am sorry I am not quoting this exactly. I don’t know who gets credit for this quote. I do know that I like this very much.  I remind myself of it whenever I feel resentment toward anyone.

This may not be so easy to understand. In fact, if you are like me, you may be getting glimpses of understanding the rest of your life.

What I have done is to keep meditating for understanding and then sometimes I encounter the same idea expressed differently to shed more light from a different angle.

Someone sent me an email with Mother Teresa’s Anyway Poem, which I really liked. So I researched it and came upon this version on The Prayer Foundation site, where there is other information about the origin of the poem.

The version found written on the wall in Mother Teresa’s home for children in Calcutta:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.

So this poem that Mother Teresa liked, helped me to understand a little better this quote by Saint Francis of Assisi.

“Learn to accept blame, criticism, and accusation silently, without retaliation even though  untrue and unjustified.”

Try practicing this and you may find where a lot of blocks to your self-healing are.

But don’t worry if you find this difficult. I’ve been at this a long time and I am still not there yet.

However, the understanding and the practice of not blaming are getting better.

I wish you the best.   Namasté…….Norm

Guest writer Mark Du Bois practices Kriya Yoga and is a member of Paramahansa Yogananda’s Self-Realization Fellowship.

Norm,

I just read the article and comments regarding Danielle’s knee problems. It’s nice to hear of others successes using the techniques you provide to students.

I have been experiencing some knee problems myself recently.

I was an athlete in school and a golf professional during the late 60′s to the early 70′s, so I used to get plenty of exercise and in general, was in excellent health.

Due to some back problems, I began practicing hatha yoga under your supervision in the mid 80′s.

I attribute my somewhat irregular practice of hatha yoga for continuing good health through the 80′s and 90′s.

I began playing golf again in the early 2000′s and always walked when I played. This was excellent exercise and I supplemented it with the occasional practice of hatha yoga.

In 2005 for financial reasons, I quit playing golf again and for the last few years, I have made a good part of my income from eBay and thus,

I have been spending a lot of hours sitting at the computer… and getting very little exercise.

I am now what some call a “fidgeter”…because the only exercise I seem to get is “fidgeting” while sitting at the computer!

I know this is detrimental to my health and as I get older (I’m now 64) I am beginning to see the results of about five years of sitting all day (and often deep into the night) without much exercise except shuffling to the other side of my office to photograph an item to list on eBay! Not the healthiest lifestyle!

This brings me to the main point of this comment. I have been experiencing similar pain in my knees to what Danielle describes in her comments.

I notice this primarily in my left knee because I seem to have developed the habit of crossing my left ankle over my right ankle while sitting at the computer. This allows my left knee to “dangle” to the left thus putting sideways pressure on the left knee as it sort of twists to the left.

I don’t notice pain until I move my legs (often after a very long period of time) and realize that the movement causes intense pain on both sides of my left knee due to stiffness.

And as a side note, I had rheumatic fever as a child and was diagnosed with “fibromyalgia” in my 40′s by an orthopedic surgeon, so I am not a stranger to inflammation.

Finally, the knee pain became too much for me to ignore ( I have a high tolerance for pain) and I realized that I needed to start getting some exercise, eating healthier and doing some hatha yoga again.

After just a few sessions of hatha, my knee pain went away almost entirely.

…and lately, even when I make the mistake of allowing myself to fall back into the habit of crossing my legs while “computering” my life away, there is no pain!

Then, several weeks ago, out of nowhere, your email came with the knee stretching and strengthening exercises! Since then, I have been doing them sporadically and they have increased my flexibility.

Plus, I no longer wake up with intense pain in my knees at night.

In short, I recommend to anyone with knee problems to try some hatha yoga, especially the forward bending positions which stretch the muscles and ligaments on the sides and back of the legs.

I hope students who read this blog will take every advantage of the very simple techniques you demonstrate on the knee video.

To the novice, they may appear so simple that one might think they couldn’t possibly produce any positive results.

To the contrary, if practiced with concentration they can work wonders! They are truly priceless!

I have been to my share of orthopedic doctors and surgeons in my life and what I have found is that they generally prefer to treat the symptoms with pills and the scalpel.

Occasionally I have found one or two who suggested stretching exercises…and I have even heard them say, “just do it while you’re watching TV”!

But mindlessly stretching while watching TV is one thing, and hatha yoga is yet another, because when practicing hatha yoga one actively uses the mind to concentrate the energy on the particular body part.

With your body calm and your mind calm and concentrated, you send life giving energy to the injured or weak cells. That’s when the real healing and strengthening take place.

The human body is an amazing machine and it can do miraculous things, including healing almost any infirmity.

But it works best when we actively engage our mind and energy into the process.

My sincere hope is that many others in need of healing are directed here. And once here, I hope many open the door to the mind using the keys which you provide to all through this wonderful blogsite.

Those who take advantage of your decades of experience in healthful living through hatha yoga and holistic, natural living will be ever so grateful. I know I am!

Thank you so much, Norm, for all you have done for me and for all you continue to do to help others!

Namasté
Mark Du Bois
Bisbee, Arizona

“Yoga exercises, the postures or asanas of Hatha Yoga, are an excellent means of adjusting the spinal vertebrae to release the pressure on the spinal nerves and bring about the normal flow of life force in the nervous system, promoting healing of many diseases.” – Paramahansa Yogananda, Page 417 in The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You

One of the most satisfying aspects of Yoga Therapy for me is to teach people how to heal themselves of chronic and/or severe back pain. Often they have been suffering for many years and have not found a solution.

A few days ago I received this email with the subject:

Healing Story

Dear Mr. Popovsky,

I am writing to you to inform you of another success story that merged from your DVD “Heal Your Back Now!”.

I have an acquaintance in the building where I work, I saw him a week or so ago, looking at him I felt something was definitely wrong so I ask him, he said ” Trevor, my back is killing me, has been killing me for a long time and it is getting worse and worse, the doctors don’t understand what is wrong, but they say surgery “might” help”.

Needless to say, I told him about your DVD, but I said there is only one catch, by just getting the DVD won’t help, you have to do it and you have to practice according Mr. Popovsky instructions on the tape.

He said “Please when can I have it”. It was Friday the 10th when we had this conversation.

Two days later, on Monday, I gave him the DVD… and very next day in the afternoon I saw him. He was walking with confidence, so I ask him how he felt.

He said “It is unreal, I feel great! there is no more pain, I even took the braces off (I didn’t know he was wearing braces) and I am getting ready to play tennis again”.

Asked him “how long did you practice” he answered “Three hours non stop”.

When I saw him again few days later, he said “I did play tennis with someone who always beats me. This time I was able to beat him”.

Now this guy is not a praying type, but his last words were “I been praying for you guys every day”.

I thought you would be interested in hearing this story.

IDF,

Trevor Pilibosian

Because I am well aware of how valuable success stories such as this can be to inspire others to practice and succeed in healing themselves with yoga, I asked Mr. Pilibosian if he would be comfortable allowing me to publish his email on this blog and in emails that I send out. Here is his response.

By all means, I am very comfortable with the idea of you using my letter in any way you may wish. Because I am convinced that with your DVDs you are doing much good and helping many people that couldn’t be helped otherwise. Especially what you have done with “Heal Your Back Now!“ DVD only good results can come from it. IT is so thoughtful and so well planned with such keen common sense and deep knowhow and intuitive feelings that whoever applies it will benefit from it, providing they do the exercises correctly according to the instructions.

I know this first hand. I didn’t have any serious back problem but I did have light lower and upper back pain that made me uncomfortable. When I did the exercises as instructed on your DVD the results were immediate. not only my pains were gone but my whole body was relaxed and felt good. Because of this every time I see someone suffering with this type of pain I highly recommend your DVD and whoever have used it the results have been immediate.

One such case was my niece. She was suffering from a back pain, she has been going to massage therapist and chiropractors on and off for a long time, they all have helped but few days later she was in pain again.

Finally I was able to convince her to apply the exercises that are on “Heal Your Back Now!“ DVD.

The very next day she comes in smiling and dancing, she was feeling so good she couldn’t contain herself, and the best part was she didn’t have to go anywhere to get the therapy, she could do it right in her own house… anytime.

In Master’s Love and divine friendship,

Trevor Pilibosian   www.anidiamonddesigns.com

Mr. Pilibosian is a member of Self-Realization Fellowship and a group leader in Paramahansa Yogananda’s How-to-Live Program at the SRF Boys Youth Program Camp. He owns Ani Diamond Designs, in San Francisco CA.

Patience & A Big Note

The two people that Mr. Pilibosian gave the dvd to, as well as he himself, achieved pain-free results the first day. However, please note that the man Mr. Pilibosian talked about did “Three hours non stop”.

While I do tell people that they can expect a reduction in pain soon, usually in the first session, I do not say that the pain will be completely gone in the first session. If there is one thing I try to help all of my students to learn, it is patience.

As Bob Mullen, founder of Mullen Advertising in Phoeniz, Arizona once said to me, “You understand what you are in for when you try to teach patience to Americans, don’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Americans are people who believe that instant gratification takes too long.”

So along with, and as a part of, self-healing, I try to teach all my students Patience, without which there is no real progress in Yoga.

In fact, there is a saying in Yoga that goes, “The fastest progress in Yoga comes slowly.” But the good news is that it tends to be permanent.

While this article was created in response to a question from writer Rick Skwiot about how yoga might help him heal his painful knee, many of the principles and practices will apply to the healing of other joints and conditions as well.

1 > First: STOP whatever activity is aggravating the joint and causing the pain.

One of the most difficult challenges I face when doing therapy with tennis players to heal a bad back, twisted knee, or tennis elbow is to get the person to stop playing long enough for the painful joint to heal.

If you are young and have not had a painful knee for very long, there is a good chance that you are dealing with a temporary condition, which will heal fairly rapidly, if given a rest from more aggravation along with proper Yoga Therapy.

If you are an older player with a long-term chronic condition, and your doctor has told you that your knee is damaged to the point of no return, there is no cartilage left, and the knee is in bone-on-bone condition, complete cessation of tennis may be necessary to stop an on-going destruction in order to allow the joint to return to a healthy, pain free condition.

If you find a lot of resistance in yourself to stop playing tennis, then you need to ask yourself why you want to continue an activity that is not just creating pain and preventing healing, but which may end in future crippling.

Perhaps it may help you to deal with this better if you treat this as an addiction.

You may find yourself saying, “But exercise is healthy. I need to exercise, don’t? I really enjoy playing tennis.”

How can any exercise be healthy when it is damaging your body?

THINK!

From a yoga perspective Any activity that you continue to do that is damaging to your body or mind can be considered an addiction.

Instead of wondering about other people’s addictions, Yoga Science teaches us to deal with our own.

2 > Elevate the legs up a wall to improve circulation and reduce swelling, inflammation, and pain.

This variation of the Hatha Yoga Shoulderstand Asana (posture) will reduce pain and promote healing. While the Shoulderstand offers more benefits, the ability to hold your legs up a wall much longer than you can or should in the Shoulderstand will somewhat make up for this. The longer you stay in this position and the more frequently you practice the faster the results. You will get many other benefits. Inverted poses like this improve circulation of both blood and lymph, strengthen your immune system, prevent and reverse varicose veins including hemorrhoids, help to reduce enlarged prostate, and much more.

The student I mentioned in an earlier post who ended up with a serious infection as a result of “simple knee surgery” used this practice to reduce swelling in his knee and to get off crutches.

When we started therapy, his swollen knee was huge. I had him spend time at the beginning and at the end of our first session with his legs up the wall. I suggested that he should practice this at home to speed up his healing, since this would help him reduce the swelling in his knee.

He asked, “How long or how often should I do this.”

I said, “The more the better. You can stay in this position for hours without any ill effects.”

The next day he said that his knee felt so much better. When I asked him if he spent time with his legs up a wall, he said he had spent a total of 4 hours with his legs up the wall. Swelling had reduced considerably and pain had diminished.

Surprised, I asked how was able to spend so many hours with his legs up the wall.

He said, “I found that I could put my laptop on my stomach and I got a lot of work done in that position.”

He arrived for the third session without crutches and continued to heal his knee rapidly.

Obviously, this student had a lot of commitment to self-healing. But what important activities in your life don’t require commitment? The same drive that helped this man become a successful businessman, also helped him heal his knee.

3 > Practice Deep Relaxation

Wondering where you will get the time to practice all of these techniques? You can practice Deep Relaxation while you have your legs up the wall.

To the extent that you can relax, you will not feel pain, and healing progresses.

If you have the equipment and know how, you can record a relaxation technique in your own voice to play when you want to practice relaxation. If you do not have the ability to record your own relaxation CD, you might consider getting my Deep Relaxation CD. (Soon available to order online. Currently only from me in San Miguel.)

For those of you who have no knee or leg problems but who want to practice relaxation, you will still receive extra benefit if you practice with your legs elevated up a wall.

4 > Practice visualization and affirmations.

This also can be practiced while your legs are up the wall after you have gotten deeply relaxed.

See how you are saving more time as you do these practices at the same time?

When you are more relaxed, the critical conscious mind is not as active and it is much easier to penetrate the subconscious mind. Then the subconscious mind will come back to influence the conscious mind in a very positive way.

The best times to practice Affirmations and Visualizations are

• when you have relaxed yourself,
• near the end of a meditation session,
• just as you awaken in the morning, and
• just before you drift off to sleep at night.

There is an old metaphysical saying,

Quit seeing what you don’t want and start seeing what you do want.

Visualize your knee healthy and perfect.

See the knee joint opening up, the space between the bones increasing.

Visualize yourself pain free and happily walking, dancing, playing.

Recognize a great healing energy within you.

Visualize yourself removing any blocks to that healing energy.

See yourself getting in tune with that energy, cooperating with it, and enjoying the healing.

Practice affirmations like

Day by day, in every way, I getting better and better

I am happy, I am healthy, I am strong

To really understand the Techniques and Power of Affirmations get this  Great Healing Book by Paramahansa Yogananda called Scientific Healing Affirmations: Theory and Practice of Concentration. This little booklet is the most complete comment on healing that I know of.

5 > Use your knee joint in ways that increase activity and movement without aggravating the condition.

If walking causes you pain, greatly limit. Be careful not to move suddenly or with a jerk, which will aggravate the knee joint. This is why healing often does not come when indulging in sports or activities which require sudden, twisting, or forceful movements.

Substitute activities which are not weight bearing, and which do not aggravate the joint, like swimming and the Non-Standing Yoga Asanas. There are so many Hatha Yoga Asanas that you could do enough non-weight-bearing-on-the-knee poses to fill several hours of practice.

At the beginning of my EASY YOGA for Home, Office, & Studio DVD, I take you through some very simple, easy-on-the-knees, passive techniques while you are sitting in a chair. These simple exercises  are designed to improve range of motion and circulation without stressing your joint or aggravating the condition.

See the free Knee Healing Video post.

Be Creative

Discover movements that will give motion to your knee without causing pain. The more you move your knee joint without pain, the faster the healing.

If you find that putting weight on your knee is not painful, then you may find that you can easily do the Triangle and other Standing Yoga Asanas (postures).

6 > Practice This Technique to Open the Knee Joint

1. Get down on the floor on hands and knees. If your knee is sensitive to weight in this position, put extra padding under the knee.
2. Take your hands and body forward so that the back of your knee opens up. Point your toes back.
3. Place a pillow or rolled towel behind your knee joint. The tighter or more painful your knee feels, the larger the pillow needed.
4. Sit back on the cushion, which now works as a wedge to open up the knee joint. If your ankles are very tight and uncomfortable, place a pillow under the ankles.
5. As always, move slowly into position and stop before you feel pain.
6. Stay in this position as long as it feels good to you.

My HEAL YOUR BACK NOW! DVD will take you to another deeper level of relaxation and teach you how to move to lessen pain and accelerate healing, and how to develop the proper attitude for doing the regular Hatha Yoga Asanas.

7 > Adopt an Anti-inflammatory Diet

I have recommended a healthy, low fat, vegetarian diet in a previous post. This is not a vegan diet because it includes milk, cheese,  and eggs as recommended by Paramahansa Yogananda, and other highly advanced yogis. Yogananda also recommends up to one tablespoonful of Olive Oil a day to keep the joints well lubricated.

Since dairy and eggs are contrary to the advice of many popular doctors who say that no animal foods should be consumed, you might want to study this some and then make up your own mind. (See the post, Peter Berquist on Raw, Low-Fat Vegan Diet, on this site.)

In any case the Yoga Diet, like the Anti-inflammatory Diet, is a plant-based diet consisting of mostly fresh, whole, raw fruits and vegetables with the addition of small amounts of nuts, seeds and whole grains.

This means NO refined, processed, packaged, canned, old, chemically preserved, colored, or altered foods.

No alcohol, meat, caffeine, cola/carbonated/soft drinks, drugs, or strongly salted or spiced foods. And

NO OVEREATiNG.

Understand we are not talking about whether or not you are a good or bad person based upon your eating habits. These are just guidelines to help you reduce inflammation and improve your health.

Now there is evidence from research at Ohio State University in an article published in Science Daily, “Yoga Reduces Cytokine Levels Known to Promote Inflammation, Study Shows”, that Yoga reduces inflammation.

8 > Use Fasting and Detox to Reduce Pain and Increase Flexibility

I have explained the value of Fasting and Detox in my article Improving Your Eliminations Will Improve Your Nutrition.

If this interests you, you might also like to try a yogic cleansing technique given in my article How Lemons and Limes Keep Your Healthy

You can fast on water or fruit juice. You can also take one fruit, such as watermelon, and just eat that for one day. Watermelon will flush the kidneys and remove toxins.

I have always enjoyed how much more flexibility I had and how much easier the Hatha Yoga Asanas were for me when I have been on a fast.

Remember, the Yoga Asanas work scientifically to remove toxins by compression, extension, and inversion.

9 > Reduce Excess Weight

Obviously, if you put excess weight on a sore joint, it will feel worse, and if you reduce the weight on a painful joint, it should feel better. In fact, this is so obvious that you might wonder why it was not listed first.

Or you might be saying to me right now, “I wish it was that easy. Of all the advice you have just given this would probably be the most difficult for me to do. I have been trying to get my weight down for several years now with no success. Now that I have a bad knee and can’t even walk, much less run, how am I going to lose weight?’

Here is the good news:

If you do everything else that is listed above, you don’t have to worry about how to lose weight, your weight will normalize naturally.

10 > Keep Connected to This Website

You can use this site as a resource to help you to heal yourself.

Many of the points that you will be working with to heal your knee will be further explained in other articles. Even the healing of a condition that you are not dealing with can be beneficial because there are principles that apply to all healing.

In the stories of others who have healed themselves you will find inspiration and guidance for your own healing.

Then, hopefully, one day you will share the story of your own healing to help others to heal themselves.

Namaste’

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Please feel free to ask questions and make comments below, which will require you to sign in with your name and email address in order to prevent spam comments. Your email will not be posted on this blog nor will it ever be sold or otherwise distributed without your permission. I dislike spam as much as you do…Norm

In college we would get exam questions like “List the Causes Leading up to the Civil War.” Or, “What Caused the Great Depression of the 1930s?”

Although we would be graded according to our correct or incorrect answers, I always thought that these were questions without definite answers. Each discipline could give answers from its perspective so that you could have the differing viewpoints of an historian, a sociologist, a philosopher, a psychologist, an economist, and so forth.

It wasn’t until I had gotten deeper into the spiritual aspects of Yoga that I discovered the reasons given by enlightened masters.

Paramahansa Yogananda has stated

The earth would be a veritable heaven if nations as well as individuals would heed Jesus’ admonition to make God the primary aim of life. When people concentrate on political and business selfishness for national and personal accumulation of power and luxuries at the expense of others, the divine law of happiness and prosperity is broken, creating disorder and want in the family, the nation, the world. If the leaders of different nations, instead of extolling aggression and patriotic selfishness, turned the minds of their citizens toward the acquirement of inner peace, love of God and neighbor, and bliss of meditation, then material prosperity, health, and international harmony would automatically be added unto the spiritual treasures of the nations. (Excerpt from The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You, Discourse 56 – commentary on the words of Jesus in Luke 12: 22-31) By Paramahansa Yogananda

Yogananda also gives advice for the creation of Prosperity that you can practice as an individual.

Those who seek prosperity for themselves alone are in the end bound to become poor, or to suffer from mental inharmony; but those who consider the whole world as their home, and who really care and work for group or world prosperity, activate astral forces that lead them ultimately to the place where they can find the individual prosperity that is legitimately theirs. This is a sure and secret law. – Self Realization Fellowship Lessons

For a lot more about understanding and dealing with this current crisis, take a look at Paramahansa Yogananda”s Guidance for These Times of Economic Crisis

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Please feel free to ask questions and make comments below, which will require you to sign in with your name and email address in order to prevent spam comments. Your email will not be posted on this blog nor will it ever be sold or otherwise distributed without your permission. I dislike spam as much as you do…Norm