Feeling the presence.
What does it mean when Brother Darmananda says feel the joy in the spine when you are doing Kriya Yoga During his guided meditation? Does hearing the sound of Aum (Om) mean you are feeling the presence? Do you feel anything in the spine when you are meditating, or does that escape you? For the spiritually uninformed, and those in Rio Linda the joy in the spine springs forth from the base of the spine and trickles upward to the brain when you are in tune and you are feeling the love of God. How does one arrive at this level? It’s quite simple, if all else fails follow the words of Da Ma and the Guru “love God more.”
Are You Disappointed Because You Don’t Feel the Presence Of God? Don’t think because you are feeling a dry state that one hasn’t enough devotion. Why should you bother yourself because He is not showing Himself to you? When you feel this way think how long you have ignored Him! Remember God chooses those who choose Him. You must meditate more and go much deeper. In changing your habits in the way you meditate you will consciously awaken your memory of knowing him. What does that really mean? Still, some people stop meditating because they cannot go deep enough to achieve any results and they lose interest. With them their cross is their heavy burden of bad habits. They too have been crucified, through their bad habits and ignorance.
Second, what should be your goal, to meditate? No, your goal should be to succeed in finding and loving God. There are those who refuse to meditate without proof of God. To them “God is not proved.” It is irony that a rational man will go in a vicious circle by demanding proof of God before he believes in Him and give his precious time to meditation. Therefore, the unenlightened man, dependent on his senses for all final judgments is denied for that reason proof of the existence of God and to him God must remain non-existent and unknown. The Master tells us that even though God is invisible and silent to most people, still, as we meditate, we ceaselessly knock on the gates of heaven, we will increasingly convince His silence to penetrate the haze of our unknowing.
In following the rules by meditating deeper you will then be able too recognize the response from God. God is infinite and formless and since God is spirit, He will not talk in words, but he will manifest His awareness as divine perceptions within understandable vibratory sounds and joy realized only by disciples with heightened intuition during deep meditation.
Those on the spiritual path ask. “What is the meaning of finding God?” Some uninformed eager beginners have the expectation that there will be a response from God in a great flame of breathtaking radiance or expect to be rewarded immediately with the materialization of saints, deities and heavenly lights, forget it. There is only one way to know for sure. I will explain. I know you are not expecting some white bearded illustrious historical figure, bedecking a throne in some sterile corner of the universe.
Do you think being a great yogi possessing miraculous powers means you have found God? Think again, even if you have gained the power to control the planets you may still find Him elusive. Spiritual growth does not come with phenomenal experiences as proof of advancement and don’t think that a few answered prayers is evidence of finding Him. The ultimate way to God is love. Without devotion you cannot touch God; you keep Him at a distance. Love God more each day because God chooses those who choose Him. It is not simple to cultivate real love; you must work at it.
Only after the mind has been cleansed of sensory impediments by Yoga meditation or Kriya Yoga will you find the two-fold confirmation that you have found God. The first proof is the bliss of ever new joy in meditation and the second proof is His immediate guidance in reply to every difficulty. Then you have found Him. You can classify yourself. Once you realize your separation from Him and what you are missing you will get busy with yoga meditation.
Remember the words of the prophets “The harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few.” What does that mean? The laboring devotee must grow spiritually on the soil of his meditative life. Very few people will live a disciplined life without interruption, struggle to sit and meditate for the rewards of God-contact in this short season of life. If this is you, you must reconsider your values and realize you did not come into this world to lose yourself but to find your true self and not by blind beliefs nor an undeserved heavenly visitation or by hoping to be in His presence by the merit of death can the Lord of the harvest be attained.
At the end of life, the material man discovers he is without God-realization as well as the riches of worldly life that he sought after to protect and defend. This is my house, my children, my husband and my wife. But the instant your body drops, your money, your home, your family and everything else disappear! Why should you wait? Learn this lesson about attachment before death comes. They must be based upon the qualities of the soul not attractions of the body or worldly qualities. However, this will not come until you free yourself from the consciousness of being a man or a woman. What does that mean?
We have convinced ourselves by conceited egotistic habits into amnesia of “who” we really are and have forgotten our divine nature or soul ever since early childhood. You are not a woman or a man. Through karmic inclinations the soul is forced to incarnate not as a male or female but either with the body of a woman or a man. If you live in a boarding house you don’t call yourself a border. The body identified ego succumbs to the hypnosis of what your bodily house labels you to be. We are nothing else but pure spirit. With open eyes we identify our consciousness with our body and all its limitations and moods. We have forgotten our true self. When you leave your body, you will realize the body you were taking care of was not you. If you close your eyes and don’t see your body any longer you will feel the invisible consciousness residing in that form.
If you want happiness in your life, love God more and then you won’t have to wait for external happenings for happiness. It’s not five minutes or your money back it take time to develop real love from the heart. From the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda.
