And, it will be better than before…hey now, hey now…the True Yoga Blog is back. :)

Hello…I’m so happy to be writing.  I felt like I needed to take a little break for a while because I’ve been really working on writing the Fresh Fruit Cleanse book.  This has been one of the most incredible journeys of my life.  I wish I could summarize in words everything it has been but it would take me a while to express all of the profound and life-changing revelations I’ve had throughout this process.  Mostly, that God is Good.  In fact, God is AWESOME.  What an incredible gift to realize that if we are making a spiritual effort now, everything in future will improve.  That was said by Paramahansa Yogananda’s guru Sri Yuketswarji.  I love that quote. Writing the Fresh Fruit Cleanse has been a tremendous spiritual effort in my life and everything in my life is improving.  I’m so grateful for God’s grace and blessings.  Did you know the name of the publicist, who works for the publisher who is publishing the Fresh Fruit Cleanse book, is Karma?  Isn’t that fantastic.  God bless Karma.  Karma is actually meant to be a good force in our lives.  So often we hear it associated as something negative.  When we are taking the best steps we can in life, which doesn’t imply perfection, but when we are earnestly seeking to grow in a better way and making healthier and better choices in our lives, karma reveals to us that we reap what we sow.  If we aren’t sowing healthy things in our life, the result will be that things are unhealthy or not well.  But, when we make healthy choices, everything grows well.

The first quote in the first chapter of the Fresh Fruit Cleanse book is by one of the leading raw foodists in the world, David Wolfe.  I first heard David at a Tony Robbins seminar about 7 years ago.  He says:

“When your health improves, every other aspect of your life improves simultaneously.” – David Wolfe

This has been one of the guiding messages which has supported me in making better choices over the years.  I’m amazed at all of the incredible things I’ve learned about health and well-being through writing this book.  I’ve learned how to care for every part of my body, mind and spirit better from my cells, to my organs and even my skin, hair and face.  And, the Fresh Fruit Cleanse book will have all of this information in it.  I washed my face with soap for almost my entire life.  During the process of writing the book, I learned soap is unhealthy for the skin.  It dries the skin and breaks down cells.  So, I finally stopped using soap and it feels amazing.  I’m using all-natural products and my skin feels better than ever, and so do I.  

I’ve also learned about milk-thistle and many other incredible and potent herbs for awakening optimal health and well-being.  I’m looking forward to sharing all of this information with you when the book is finally published in April 2011.  

Pre-order for the Fresh Fruit Cleanse is now available online at amazon.com. 

I am going to be doing my best to update the True Yoga Blog a bit more regularly now again.  I have made some major strides with writing the book so I’m feeling better able to focus my energy, once again, on all the other things I love like sharing with you, including, all the insights and inspirations that move, touch and inspire me along the way.  I love hearing from you and receiving your comments on the True Yoga Blogs.  Please keep them coming.  It means so much to me to know you enjoy reading the blog and find the information here beneficial to you and your life…

I do want to share some news with you which I felt saddened by this week.  The leader of the Self-Realization Fellowship, Sri Daya Mata, passed away on November 30, 2010.  This is how I expressed my feelings about it to a friend tonight.  I know she is in a Divine place, and yet, I was surprised I felt the loss of her passing away as I did considering I didn’t ever meet her. I want you to know about it because it is significant to the SRF spiritual family and our global family.  Thousands and thousands of people, including Gandhi and George Harrison, follow the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, one of the greatest spiritual teachers to walk the planet in more recent years.  He passed away in 1952 and Sri Daya Mata was one of his closest disciples.  I’m inspired by her work, devotion and her loving presence on the planet. 

This is what I said to my friend:

I heard her speak briefly, as i recall, last year when i was at convocation.  I don’t remember if i saw her there or not but i think she was…but they might have just read a message from her now that I’m remembering.  I think so because as I remember she wasn’t in great health…ok…but not great because she was elderly. 
 
Anyways…she’s been the president of SRF for a long time…I think since yogananda passed away.  She was there with him when he died. 
 
Anyhow…I’m actually feeling sad about it.  It’s a surreal thing…I never thought about it but now that I am I wouldn’t have thought I would have felt sadness or grief over her passing…but I do.  I feel like I knew her on some level and I miss her even though I didn’t actually know her.
 
I thought you’d undrerstand.  They called her Ma.  her name is Sri Daya Mata but she was called Ma.  Anyways….I loved her and I didn’t even realize I did.  But, I loved her a lot.  Feels like she was the world’s mother on some level and her love helped to uplift the world. 
 
I had been feeling like I had needed to cry all week but I hadn’t been able to but I didn’t really know why.  Perhaps it also had something to do with Ma’s passing.  When I finally wrote that to my friend I was able to cry and it was a healing relief.  I am grateful to be blessed with these incredible teachings in my life.  We all are.  Let’s give thanks for all the ways Spirit blesses and graces our lives because we are all so blessed, no matter what our circumstances in life, we are blessed.  When we do make healthy choices in our lives, we do grow well with God’s grace and love and the love of all of those incredible souls in our lives encouraging us with each breath we breath.
 
Om namah shivaya gurave…blessings to all of us.  May the Light of God heal each of us and all of us in body, mind and spirit one Divinely Light-filled breath at a time.   Thank you, Ma, for the love you showed us we can be. 
 
And, here is what the SRF board of directors expressd about her transition from this world to the world beyond form.
 
Dear Ones, 
 
Late last evening, our beloved Sri Daya Mataji, president and sanghamataof Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, peacefully left her mortal form. Her life, so radiant with the light and love of God, has joined the vast ocean of His omnipresent love. How grateful we are that Divine Mother allowed her to stay for so many years to bless this world with her motherly love and compassion, which have touched the lives of us all. Our hearts long to have her with us still. Yet we would not mar with grief the heavenly joy of the divine welcome she has received in the realm beyond this world, or begrudge her the bliss beyond imagining that her soul knows now for having so nobly, courageously, and perfectly fulfilled the vast spiritual responsibilities Gurudeva placed on her shoulders.

From the very beginning when she came to the ashram as a shy young girl of seventeen, Guruji saw in her a disciple in whom he could place his utmost trust ? a true devotee who yearned for God above all else, who would be the “nest egg” of his work, and mother to countless souls on the spiritual path. Through her heart’s receptivity, he guided the unfolding of her life, infusing in her the spiritual strength that enabled her to face every challenge the years would bring with utter faith in God, and with the sole desire to do her Guru’s will. Through the years, she laid a firm foundation for his work in both East and West and guided it from her complete attunement with his intent and spirit. She faithfully recorded his words of wisdom and steadfastly upheld the purity of his sacred teachings for all the generations of devotees to come.

Our beloved Daya Mataji stirred our hearts with yearning for the Divine, as Gurudeva stirred hers, by living to the fullest his words: “Be so drunk with the love of God that you will know nothing but God; and give that love to all.” Immersed in that joyous consciousness, she felt for all of God’s children. Souls from around the world poured out to her their deepest feelings and cares, and with the tender love of Divine Mother she held them in her thoughts and prayers. Through her outreaching heart many experienced, perhaps for the first time, what it meant to be loved unconditionally. She wanted only to serve, and her thought was never of self, but “How can I help that soul?”  

The essence of her being was love itself and our souls deeply responded. In reverent thankfulness for the blessed gift of her life we bow to God and Guru. And we invite you to join us in prayer as we inwardly strew her soul’s path with flowers of gratitude for all that she has given to each one of us, to our blessed Guru’s work, and to this world. Let us honor our beloved Ma by going forward with courage and with the divine enthusiasm she instilled in us, laying at her feet the greatest tribute ? our resolve to follow her example by living divinely, loving God selflessly, and loving one another as part of Him. With invisible bonds of purest love, we will keep her close in our hearts until one day we meet again in His boundless joy. 

  

Yours in divine friendship, 
Mrinalini Mata signature gif file
Mrinalini Mata, Vice President 
 
For the Board of Directors of SRF/YSS

 (Picture of Ma)

Also, these lyrics seemed fitting for this post.

Lyrics to God Is God :
(Steve Earle)

I believe in prophecy.
Some folks see things not everybody can see.
And,once in a while,they pass the secret along to you and me.

And I believe in miracles.
Something sacred burning in every bush and tree.
We can all learn to sing the songs the angels sing.

Yeah, I believe in God, and God ain’t me.

I’ve traveled around the world,
Stood on mighty mountains and gazed across the wilderness.
Never seen a line in the sand or a diamond in the dust.

And as our fate unfurls,
Every day that passes I’m sure about a little bit less.
Even my money keeps telling me it’s God I need to trust.

And I believe in God, but God ain’t us.

God,in my little understanding, don’t care what name I call.
Whether or not I believe doesn’t matter at all.

I receive the blessings.
That every day on Earth’s another chance to get it right.
Let this little light of mine shine and rage against the night.

Just another lesson
Maybe someone’s watching and wondering what I got.
Maybe this is why I’m here on Earth, and maybe not.
Chorus:
But I believe in God, and God is God.