The Eternal Now (with Tyagi Atman)

Sunday Service at Ananda Village

Sunday Service with Tyagi Atman and Tyagi Bhaktimarg at Ananda Village, recorded June 19th 2022. Atman shares many stories about his recent pilgrimage to India and what attitudes he learned there which are useful for breaking down the ramparts of the ego. This week's reading from Swami Kriyananda's book "Rays of the One Light" is: The Eternal Now Truth is one and eternal. Realize oneness with it in your deathless Self, within. The following commentary is based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda. “When will I find God?” Many devotees have asked this question. Because worldly goals require time, usually, for their fulfillment, we imagine time to be a factor on the spiritual path. And so it is, but only because we think it is! God is as much with us now as He will ever be. It is not He who needs to come to us: We need to come to Him! And that process of coming is a matter of transforming our self-perception. In the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 4, Jesus Christ says: Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. There is a practical teaching in these words, apart from their statement that we have God already, and have only to realize that truth. Jesus is saying, “Lift up your eyes and look. . . .” To hold the eyes uplifted is the best position for meditation. For the seat of superconsciousness lies at a point midway between the eyebrows – in the frontal lobe of the brain just behind that point. This point is known also as the Christ center. By lifting up your eyes and concentrating there, you will find it easier to enter the state of ecstasy. That is why saints in every religion have often been observed, during states of deep inner communion, with their eyes uplifted, focused on the inner light – ”white,” as Jesus said, “already to harvest.” The Bhagavad Gita goes further into this meditative teaching. In the sixth Chapter it states: Holding the spine firm, the neck and head erect and motionless, let the yogi focus his eyes at the starting place of the nose [the point between the eyebrows]. Let not his gaze roam elsewhere. In meditation, tell yourself: “I have Him already! I am alive forever in the Divine Light.” Thus, through holy Scripture, God has spoken to mankind.