Paramhansa Yogananda’s advice to be actively calm and calmly active is so important for our well-being and success in life.
Yogananda wrote: Apply the experiences of peace and poise received during concentration and meditation to your daily life. Maintain your equilibrium amidst trying circumstances, and stand unshaken by others’ violent emotions or by adverse events.
Swami Kriyananda’s secret to creativity and accomplishment was to remain always peaceful inside. He never allowed anything to shake his inner peace.
Swami wrote: The yogi sees all movement in the universe as proceeding from the heart of eternal stillness. Effective action springs from a center of stillness.
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Naidhruva writes: Calmness and self-control are essential aspects of strong will power. The will does not become will power until it is directed calmly and with control. Calmness gives us a sense of proportion and renders us less vulnerable to wrong impulses. We will have strong will power when calmly, without mental strain, we are able to control our behavior and focus our full attention on our goal.
Yogananda wrote: The aspiring yogi must keep his mind steadily fixed on the inner perception acquired by meditation, and should not allow his mind to be ruffled by the temporary outbursts of superconscious joy, or the temporary explosions of subconscious restlessness. Such a yogi finds his unchangeable altar of calmness the resting place of the ever-new joyous spirit.
The resolute, even-minded moral individual moves steadily forward until he reaches his goal of complete self-mastery. An unruffled calmness can be gained by deeper and deeper meditation.
Application: Insert moments of stillness into your day
During the day, especially when you are very busy, try to insert moments of stillness.
Pause, and take a moment of stillness. Then continue with your activity.
Adding moments of stillness will help you to connect with peace. It will infuse your day with peace and improve your next meditation. Regular deposits of peace into your life’s bank account will help you to create the habit of being peaceful and will reinforce the benefit of meditation. You will feel calmer and happier. Try it and see for yourself.
Affirmation for Calmness by Paramhansa Yogananda
“The moment my mind is agitated, restless, or disturbed, I will retire to
silence, discrimination, and concentration until calmness is restored.”
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