The Only Constant is Change

​The last week or so I’ve been going through an internal shift.  The kids’ summer break has been coming to a close - culminating in them boarding the school bus this morning for their first day at their new school, in a new country, and for that matter taking a much more independent route to school via the bus rather than walking with me.  As I’ve been preparing for that change, I’ve also been thinking about how that changes the structure of my day, allowing me more time to focus more fully on my own meditation practice and teaching.  It’s always a bit sad to have the summer break come to an end, but the blessing of time and structure is certainly one to embrace.

The second, and bigger, reason for a feeling of internal transition is that last week I was in California for my initiation into Kriya Yoga.  I was at the Ananda ashram called Expanding Light during Spiritual Renewal Week.  It was such an uplifting experience.  SRW is an exceptionally busy time at Expanding Light, and there are daily inspirational talks broadcast from there all around the globe.  There were also various courses throughout the week to further prepare me for the receiving of Kriya.  I met many new friends who are, like me, inspired by the teachings of Parmahansa Yogananda, who love to meditate and are striving to incorporate yogic principles into the various corners of their lives.  It was also wonderful to connect with so many of the teachers I have worked with over the last couple of years online, on this path to Kriya.

So the Spiritual Renewal Week in and of itself I think would have caused an internal shift of feeling my heart open more fully and feeling more, well, spiritually renewed, but putting the Kriya initiation on top of that really makes me feel like I have an almost palpable change in my being.  I have been actively on the “path to Kriya” for a year and a half.  Kriya Yoga is the highest meditation technique on the path of my guru, Parmahansa Yogananda, and the highest meditation technique of which I am aware, generally.  It requires the completion of several courses (gratefully I was able to take these online, as I do not/have not live/d near an Ananda center) to prepare the body, mind, and spirit for the technique.  Then, once you have this technique and incorporate it into your meditation practice it allows you to go much deeper, quicker.  Yogananda called it the jet plane to God.   

And now here I sit, back in “reality”.  My kids are in the process of shifting their focus back to their educational growth.  I therefore have been given a few hours in the day where I can take the things I was able to learn/relearn last week into practice, be it the Kriya technique itself, engaging in active periods of silence, serving others in joy, listening to uplifting music or talks, or taking some time in nature.  I pray that through these acts and my memory of SRW I can take these high vibrations I am still feeling 3 days after my return home, and bring them deeply within my being.  I pray that as I continue to merge out of this shift I am in and back into this “reality” - my blessed reality, make no mistake, but of course typically revolving much more around the material plane than the astral - I can manage to continue to feel this attunement to my Higher Self, to my guru, to the Universe and God.  May you also be able to take more and more steps throughout your days toward the discovery of your Higher Self, achieving greater and greater attunement with the realm of all knowing.  Aum, peace, shanti.