Editor’s
Letter
Dear Friends,
There are some spiritual truths that everyone can relate to. Love, for instance, is
universally acknowledged to be among the
most uplifting of human emotions. Why is
that? Think about the experience of being
in love—your attention is consumed with
thoughts of your beloved, with concern for
their happiness and wellbeing. Many people
look back on such a situation as one of the
happiest periods in their lives, even though
it may also have been the time during which
they thought the least about themselves.
Compare this with the many other ways in
which we try to make ourselves happy. We
accumulate money, material possessions, exhilarating experiences. Or we try to “relax”
by going passive, shutting out the world.
These things may seem to work temporarily, but they don’t have the same profound
effect on us.
This is a clue we can all observe in our own
lives, hinting to us that the way to true happiness is through expansion beyond our
individual egos. The more one loves, the
more that expansion can continue. Love for
a romantic partner often grows into love for
the family you raise together. Care for the
wellbeing of others often expands into social work, volunteer projects, or even political activism.
Spiritual masters of all religions, and throughout the ages, have taken this expansion of
the heart to its logical conclusion. They care
for all souls equally, and their sense of identity has expanded to infinity, no longer limited to the single body that they happen to
be responsible for at the moment.
During Swami Kriyananda’s last visit to East
West, two customers who were in the store at
the same time found themselves powerfully
drawn to him, though they had never even
heard of him before. They ended up buying
one of his books and asking him to sign it
for them. When he wrote “love, Swami Kriyananda,” he commented that “when I say
‘love,’ that is not insincere; I really do love
everybody.” It was that love—not confined
to an individual ego—that gave even his
mere presence such a magnetic and uplifting
effect on the people around him.
In his commentaries on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras,
Swami Kriyananda states that “the best way
to get out of ego is to serve others with love
and sensitive attention to their needs.” We
can find the same teaching in all great scriptures. The Bhagavad Gita praises the yogi
“who feels the needs of others, their sorrows,
their joys, as though these were his own.”
(VI:32) Jesus, though taking the role of a
great savior, also washed his disciples’ feet.
Of the disciples’ own service to others, he
says “whatever you did for one of the least of
these brothers and sisters of mine, you did
for me.” (Matthew, 25:40)
Service of any kind—through our jobs, volunteer work, caring for our families—becomes even more fulfilling if we keep in mind
this deeper spiritual purpose.
Paramhansa Yogananda, the
great Indian avatar, and author of
the spiritual classic Autobiography
of a Yogi, brought the art and
science of Yoga to the West in the
1920s, teaching the foundational
unity of all true religions.
And if you’re looking for a place to volunteer your service, let us know! One fun way
to help out at East West is with our larger
events: A bit of time setting up chairs, taking tickets, etc., will help everyone have an
enjoyable time, and you get to attend a popular concert or lecture for free, as well. Just
drop us a note at volunteering@eastwest.
com, and we’ll keep you posted about these
or other opportunities!
Even when we’re “off duty,” though, its
worth remembering that we can offer our
very presence in the world as a service to
others. Whether at East West or anywhere
else, we can strive to share our vibration of
love and joy with those around us.
Joy to you!
Brahmachari Tandava
Co-Manager, Editor
Nooshin Zarkabir
Co-Manager, Head Buyer
Nayaswami Kriyananda,
the foremost disciple of Paramhansa
Yogananda and founder of
Ananda &