October 2013 Newsletter

A man I don't know recently did something that really hurt others and me emotionally, and I have to admit that my first response was not forgiveness. I'm not proud of it, but my immediate reaction was to want to hurt him back.

A friend said he saw this man and commented: “He looked like a guy in his first human incarnation.” That funny comment helped to remind me of the teaching that we all have lived lives we would not be proud of. How much can I fault someone who simply doesn't know better?

So once again the issue of forgiveness has come to the fore. If we really could forgive others (and ourselves) on the spot, our own hurt would probably disappear.

It clearly is easier to forgive what we see as transgressions after some time has passed. But I believe the great ones – as Swami Kriyananda demonstrated for us – have done better than that. They forgive in the moment. In fact, I don't think they even think of it as forgiveness. They simply love.

My work is always mine to do. Blaming others – no matter how they behave – will never help me grow.

All blessings,

Timothy

Meditation Teacher Training
October 18 – October 27

Inspiration from Kriyananda

[Yogananda] once scolded Rev. Stanley, the minister at the SRF Lake Shrine. “But please, Sir, ” Stanley pleaded, “you will forgive me, won't you?”
“Well,” Master replied, astonished, “what else can I do?”

There was a man who for years, out of intense jealousy, had slandered Master. One day, a few days before the end of Master's life, the two of them met at a formal gathering.
“Remember,” Master said, gazing into the man's eyes with deep forgiveness, “I will always love you!”

Ananda Yoga® Teacher Training
A Spiritual Approach to Yoga

October 27 - November 22, 2013

“Ananda Yoga is not a work-out, it's a work-in.”
– Nayaswami Gyandev, Director of Ananda Yoga

Inspiration from Yogananda

The highest sattwic attitude, of course, is to be impersonal; to forgive, pity, feel contentment, and love truth and God - all these, impersonally, without referring anything back to your own ego. In forgiveness, for example, never think, “I am doing the forgiving,” for in that thought, pride can enter the mind. Direct the flow of all your energy and attention outward, toward the person you are forgiving.

from Essence of the Bhagavad Gita.

Also an audiobook

Achieving Inner Peace & Tranquility

October 18 - 20, 2013

This course is filled with experiential exercises, discussion, and living examples. It also includes the Full Circle Emotional Awareness Exercises. These exceptional exercises, based on Secrets of Emotional Healing by Swami Kriyananda, explore 26 different emotions, showing underlying causes and effective techniques to work with each of them. Led by Nayaswami Mantradevi.

The "happiness retreat" pic of the month

Barbara Bingham and daughter Bailey

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