• by Diane Hope (photo by Dawn King) • In the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, friendship is far more than personality, preference, or shared interests. Divine friendship is a sacred companionship, one that helps us remember who we truly are—souls walking one path back to God.
In worldly friendships, we often bond through stories, struggles, humor, and mutual support. These are beautiful and human. But divine friendship adds something luminous, the intention to uplift one another spiritually. A divine friend doesn’t just listen; they remind you of your highest self. They don’t just comfort you; they encourage you to return to stillness, to prayer, to meditation, to truth.
In a spiritual community, divine friendship becomes one of the quiet miracles of daily life. It might look like a gentle check-in after a hard week. It might be a shared walk in nature where both hearts feel closer to the Infinite. It might be a moment in group meditation where you sense, without words, that you are not alone.
Yogananda often spoke of the power of sangha, holy company. When we surround ourselves with sincere seekers, we begin to absorb the vibration of devotion. We grow stronger in our discipline, softer in our hearts, and steadier in our faith.
Divine friendship is not possessive. It is freeing. It is not about being needed. It is about being reminded. When friendship is rooted in God, it becomes a bridge—between two souls, and between the soul and Spirit.
May we cherish these friendships as blessings. May we become the kind of friend who brings peace, truth, and light.
When souls seek progress together in God, then divine friendship flowers. – Paramahansa Yogananda
• by Norman Paulsen • We have all asked ourselves where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going when we leave. Are there any real answers to these questions? We can read, we can hear, and we can try to believe. But we are the ones, right now at this moment, who are faced with ourselves and what we are doing with our lives up to the time when we are most assuredly going to leave.
We want to believe that God is alive, that God hears our prayers, that God is somehow going to attend to us when we take our last breath here. But what is really going to happen on that moment when we leave here to face the great beyond, of which we know so little?
We spend our lives pursuing self-conscious desires, growing up, raising our families. But is it possible to see and meet and know, personally, this Divine Being, this intelligence who has fashioned the world that we are riding upon, this very body that we sit in? Is it possible to see and know God?
Records state that some men and women have seen and known God. But for each one of us, records and statements are not enough to convince us or give us the experience. We need to have it happen for us personally. I believe in a meditation tool that will give each individual the ability, according to their own will and desire, to go within and meet the Divine face to face. Yes, a simple meditation tool, if practiced faithfully, with love you can grow to feel for God—whatever your own image of God is—will lead you to the Divine. What a wonderful thing! This has been my experience, and this is the experience for each one who cares to pursue it.
This is not a new religion. This is never going to be an “ism” of any sort. It is going to be people who know within themselves, who are guided within themselves, each one guided by that same light, that same divine intelligence, that same wisdom. We, as a human race, now stand upon the threshold of a quantum leap into a dimension of consciousness we have only dreamed of, a state of consciousness wherein we begin to experience God, I Am That I Am, existing everywhere.
God is love. God is that love that each one of us feels for another, for many. We all have attributes of the Divine. We now need this consciousness, this vision that enables us to see into the interior of all created images, to see God in everything. God is life! God fills the molecules of air that separate our bodies, one from another…the space between the atoms is filled with God.
You have the equipment atomically, molecularly, cellularly, right in your own body now at this very moment to totally experience Cosmic consciousness, divine illumination, oneness with God. You don’t have to go anywhere, it is all right within you, the whole creation is right within you. How can you see it? Meditate on it.
• Diane Hope • photo at Sunburst 11/14 • There’s something deeply humbling about the feeling of mud between your toes. It’s soft yet firm, cool yet alive — a reminder that no matter how far we drift into the speed and noise of modern life, the earth is always there beneath us, waiting for our return. Grounding isn’t about stability as much as it is about relationship — a remembering of where we come from, what we’re made of, and how deeply we are held by something larger than ourselves.
We spend much of our lives hovering — in thought, in worry, in what’s next. But the moment our feet meet the ground, something shifts. The stories quiet. The breath deepens. The heart softens. Mud doesn’t care who you are or what you’ve done; it simply receives you. There’s no separation between the soil that nourishes a tree and the soil that welcomes your feet. It’s the same living matter that holds the seeds of growth, decay, and renewal — the full rhythm of existence.
When we allow ourselves to truly feel the ground — not as a surface we walk on, but as a living being we’re in relationship with — something ancient awakens. We begin to sense that grounding isn’t just a human need; it’s a universal language. Every creature, every root, every raindrop is part of the same pulse, the same quiet heartbeat of the earth.
And in that remembrance comes tenderness. The kind that doesn’t need to fix or strive, but simply to be. When we reconnect with the ground, empathy naturally follows — not as an idea, but as an embodied truth. We remember that what supports us also supports everything else. That the same mud we stand in holds the worms that aerate the soil, the water that nourishes crops, the minerals that become food. Our belonging isn’t personal — it’s shared.
So this November, as the light fades and the air turns inward, take a moment to pause and feel the weight of your own feet. Imagine the roots beneath them, the layers of life below the surface — ancient, unseen, but always present. Let the mud remind you that you don’t have to reach for belonging. You’ve been home all along.
• by Diane Hope •
As October deepens, the sanctuary takes on a softer rhythm. Mornings are hushed, evenings stretch longer, and the world seems to slow, inviting us to listen more closely.
There are places here where silence holds its own presence: the bench beneath an ancient oak, where all generations have sat in wonder and reflection; the meditation hall just before dawn, where breath and stillness seem to weave together; hidden paths where the sound of footsteps blend with the wind. These spaces remind us that peace is never far — that it lives within us, waiting for us to return.
We spend so much of life searching — for answers, for clarity, for meaning — yet again and again, the path leads inward. There is a sanctuary within us that has always been whole, untouched by circumstance, unchanged by time. When we pause long enough to rest there, even for a moment, the weight we’ve been carrying softens.
The journey isn’t about becoming someone new; it’s about remembering who we already are. Beneath all the striving and the noise, there is a steady presence, a quiet belonging, a light that has never gone out.
Within me, there is a sanctuary of light, quiet, and belonging. When I rest there, I am home.
• Sri Chinmoy, adapted • To be actively calm and calmly active is the essence of a balanced life. We need to be active, but undertake activity with inner peace. As well as working and achieving things, we should not ignore the importance of looking after ourselves and paying attention to our inner life. Here’s some suggestions for being actively calm and calmly active.
1. One Thing at A Time – Whatever you do, you should give it your full attention and focus. With only one thing to do and think about, it is easier for your limited mind to cope. With several things on your mind, you flit from one problem to another and can become overwhelmed at how difficult life seems.
By doing several things at once, you won’t get more done; you will just feel busier and more important. Try to do only one thing at a time and see the difference it makes. Start off with your most important task, breaking it into smaller parts; gradually tick off the things you need to do.
2. Take Time for Relaxation – It’s very easy to feel that life is too busy to spend 20 minutes cultivating inner peace. However, the success of your outer activity depends on your inner state. If the mind is confused and brimming with conflicting thoughts, outer activity will be hard work and you’ll be victim to your own insecurities. If you can clear the mind and achieve an inner state of peace, you will be able to work much more effectively. Time set aside for yourself will not reduce potential, it will give you increased productivity.
• An Ancient Tale, as recounted by Dawn King • A wise woman who was traveling in the high mountains of Kashmir found a special stone in a stream, as she crossed. Holding it up to the light, she could see it was a precious sapphire crystal, highly valued for its beautiful blue color. She thanked God, and tucked it into her pack.
The next day she encountered another traveler. This was a man ill prepared for his journey. He appeared tired and hungry. The compassionate woman opened her pack to share her food.
After they ate, she stowed her cook pot away and the man caught a glimpse of the glittering precious crystal. “What is that?” he asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing important,” she replied.
“Then give it to me to examine,” he demanded. She did so without hesitation while looking deep into his eyes.
Soon, with a self-satisfied smile, the traveler tucked the crystal into his pocket. “It’s valuable to me,” he said and quickly left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime.
The woman thanked God that she and the stone were of help to a stranger. She was also thankful that after their meal, her load was lightened, and she no longer had to guard and care for the valuable sapphire.
A few days later as the wise woman was continuing her lengthy journey, she found the same man coming toward her up the trail. He looked confused. Approaching, he called out to her. “As I was leaving you several days ago, I heard you praying aloud to God, just like I was, giving thanks for good fortune. But for you, this was after I’d taken what must have been your most valuable physical possession.”
The woman shrugged, and smiled.
“I came back to apologize to you, and to learn how you gained your truly most valuable possessions: compassion and peace of mind. Since I left you, I’ve had none of these, although I now have money.”
The man then spent his days accompanying the woman on her further trips, as he learned of the virtue, inner peace, and contentment we all need to value most. These are the hidden gems within us that we must polish and treasure in this life time.
NOTE: About Ayurvedic planets and gemstones: Saturn is the Law-of-Karma planet that brings us to our senses (usually by hard knocks). Its gemstone is blue sapphire.
