Don’t Waste Time Counting Cars

In his posthumously published book, I Became My Heart, Leo Cocks tell stories of his experiences with Paramahansa Yogananda in the three years before the guru’s passing in 1952.

At one point, while Leo was living at Lake Shrine, a temple and spiritual sanctuary owned by Yogananda’s organization, Self-Realization Fellowship, he professed a desire to go for a car ride with Yogananda (who was called “Master’ by devotees).

Here is an excerpt that tells how Leo’s desire was granted:

I was thinking I would finally get my ride with Master. I would just be there with him and enjoy his presence. So we got in the car and headed for the Lake. I waited for him to bless me and tell me some stories. But he didn’t do that. He was looking at a newspaper! Then he would put the paper down and see a car coming. Then he would ask me, “What kind of car is that?” Now when I was a kid, I was pretty interested in cars. I used to go down to the showrooms and see the new models and all of that stuff. I’d tell Master what kind of car it was and then I’d sit quietly again. Then he’d do the same thing!

Another car came and another. It seemed like he did that six, eight, ten times! And finally it came to the point where I realized, “Well, I’m not going to be able to meditate and just be with him like I thought I would. I might just as well relax.” I thought I would start to figure out what kind of car it was as it approached. That way, Master wouldn’t have to wait for the answer. I stopped trying to meditate and started watching the approaching cars. Right at that point, he reached

The Plane Truth About Happiness

Lenny Dykstra then

In the March 12, 2012 issue of Sports Illustrated, a special report by writer David Epstein explains how former baseball star Lenny Dykstra, now forty-nine, lost millions of dollars and wound up being sentenced to three years in jail for fraud. Here’s an excerpt:

In the unreleased documentary, filmed after his bankruptcy filing, the former Met and Phillie explains the importance of a private plane to his contentedness. “I said, O.K., I know I’ll be happy when I buy my own Gulfstream,” says Dykstra, reflecting on the place he purchased in 2007. “But I got down to the end of the nose, I looked back and I said, O.K., happy, come on, come on. So it’s not about the Gulfstream. But it is about the Gulfstream. Meaning it just wasn’t as good a Gulfstream as I wanted.”

Um, Lenny, there’s something you should know. The day a Gulfstream buys anyone happiness is the day

Like Two Golden Birds

Detachment is a natural consequence of spiritual advancement; it cannot be hurried along or forced.

The sages call that man wise whose pursuits are all without selfish plan or longings for results, and whose activities are purified by the fire of wisdom.
Bhagavad Gita 4:19

Allow your ego to rule your mind and detachment will remain a mystery. Allow your

Rejoice In the Way Things Are

Everything that comes your way presents an opportunity to learn and evolve, which further expands your capacity to receive.

Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.
Lao Tzu

When a desire surfaces, examine it objectively and learn what you can from it. If a desire leads to

Growing Happiness Under Your Feet

Fulfilling your desires can produce occasional bursts of happiness, but the pleasures of the material world are both fickle and fleeting. Getting exactly what you want may make you happy today, but it may be the opposite of what will make you happy tomorrow.

More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.
Saint Teresa of Avila

Instead of fretting about having what you want, you will be happier and more peaceful if you focus on wanting what you have.

The foolish man seeks

A Package You May Not Recognize

Every prayer is answered. Heaven’s response, however, is often misinterpreted because the universe responds to the essence of your request rather than the specifics of it. Therefore, what you asked for may be delivered at a time you may not expect and in a package you may not recognize.

Be thankful that God’s answers are wiser than your answers.
William Culbertson

If you pray for a romantic relationship, for instance, perhaps what you truly desire

Your Feeling Is the Prayer

When you ask the universe for something, it’s important that you feel throughout your body—physically and emotionally—every aspect of what you are praying for and visualizing.

What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.
Plutarch

The unified field—that grid of conscious, living intelligence we call creation—responds far more vigorously

You Will Cast Just Two Votes

Aligning your free will with God’s will presents an intriguing paradox. On one hand, the more attuned you are to divine consciousness, the more accessible are the riches of the universe. On the other hand, the material things you longed for before you put God first in your life now seem like insignificant trinkets.

Riches, like glory or health, have no more beauty or pleasure than their possessor is pleased to lend them.
Michel de Montaigne

Your soul yearns not for what is external but for what

Beseeching the Heavens

If you have trouble imagining a life of abundance, remember that every child of God is deserving of all the riches of the universe.

No matter how qualified and deserving we are, we will never reach a better life until we can imagine it for ourselves and allow ourselves to have it.
Richard Bach

If this were not so, your first instinct would not be lifting

You Possess Exactly What You Desire

When you ask the universe for what you want, it is not your thoughts and words but the conviction behind them that carry the most weight, that ensure that you and your desire become a vibrational match. Such conviction requires that you also have faith in yourself, that you believe in your innate worthiness to receive life’s gifts.

Believe in your dreams and they may come true; believe in yourself and they will come true.
Unknown

If you sense any resistance on your part, you may be blocking