AWAKE

Paramahamsa Yogananda's last words before his final Samadhi were "Where ganges, woods, himalayan caves, and men dream God- I am hallowed; my body touched that sod."  He then rolled his eyes upwards with a beautiful smile upon his face, transcending into his Maha Samadhi and passed away in front of a crowd of more then 100 people.

I watched the documentary "AWAKE" last night and have read "Autobiography of a Yogi and "The Yoga of Jesus."  The documentary brought it all together for me.  Hearing his powerful voice and his message of self realization that he brought to the west in the 1920's was inspiring to say the least.  

It was Yogananda's guidance and dream to bring the teaching of self realization to the west, to teach people that it is imperative to recognize the connection of our supposed waking reality and the connection to spiritual existence through meditation.  He taught hatha yoga as a means of preparing the body for mediation which I believe is part of the reason hatha yoga was brought to America.  I know for many including myself it is a challenge to take time to sit for meditation when there are 100 things left to do in that day.  Hatha yoga, the physical practice of yoga prepares the the mind, body, and spirit by opening and clearing the 72,000 nadis and the 7 main chakras which relate to every aspect of our physical being including our muscles and systems of the body.  You could say Hatha Yoga is a purification process.  I have always felt drawn to the purification process. Purification of mind and body to connect to the soul, that is the great transformation of a more traditional yoga practice, purifying the mind and body over and over again to new levels of awareness in body, mind, and spirit.  

Without awareness we remain asleep.  The life and teachings of Yogananada, of Neem Karoli Baba, of Sri Swami Satchidanada, of Jesus, of Buddha, of the Dalai Lama, of Thich Nhat Hanh, of Mahatma Ghandi, of countless others teach us over and over again that WE are  peace and love.  That we as humans posses the means to connect to the energy of the universe/God, within ourselves because it exists in every cell of our being. Connect is not even the right word because we are always connected but to heighten that connection through forms of meditation and self awareness and self realization.  It is our duty to recognize this and genuinely care about this life that has been given to us and the lives of everyone else we share this planet with.  You are unique in your own right. It's up to you to figure out what your uniqueness is through some form of meditation and create from that point while continuing to hone your awake-ness, and awareness.  

Ram Dass says "We are all god dressed in drag and we are all just walking each other home."