* * * ERERERERE DDR IORD YOGODA SAT-SANCA FORTNIGHTLY INSTRUCTION BY PARAMHANSA SWAMI YOGANANDA ane eae RR RE ee « * THY BIRD OF PARADISE With golden plumes of unfoldment, © . With the softest down of tenderness, “And wearing a costume Of grace, colour, and beaut,’ of form, I am.Thy Soul-Bira of Paradise. wy wihes Of insatiable desire for progress, Beat their way through Life's sombre skies, Continually seeking To approach the Paradise of Peace. Despondency!s darkness Daubs the fragile feathers of my sunny mind. 04 Bathe Thy blackened Bird of Paradise With the cleansing sun-rays of Insight, And the soft-singing Waters of Peace. LEAR OM tee eae ane * ee eee a » * a * * * * *‘ *. @ _ * “ee 4 ‘ERAEOUETUM. PRAYER "Let me be Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jéw, Mohammedan, or Sufi: Ieare not what my religion, my race, my creed, or my colour be, if only I can win my way to Thee! But let me be none of these, if it enmesh me in labyrinthine ways of religious formalities. Let’ me travel the royal road of realization; which leads to Thee, I care not what bypaths of religion I follow, if at last I can trevel by the One Highway of common Realization which straightway leads to Thee, Send the sunshine of Thy Wisdom to guide me in the daylight of my dawning powers; and the moon of Thy merey, if I travel in the dark night of sorrow." Reepa THE SECRET OF RELIGION Part I Religions, or opinions and beliefs of men,about Religion, are many, but true Religion, or real Spiritual experiente by any human being, whether Hindu, Christian, or member of any sect or school of thought, will be discovered, in the course of realizing God or Truth, to be one and the same, There is only one Truth; there cannot be two or more truths. ep Religion mostly has been handled by dogmatists, selfchosen reformers, and self-elected members of God's mystic counsel. Reli- gion has been patented, trademarked and peddled by duack Spiritual doctors with unscientific bit profuse advertisements of its effi- cacy. "Mine is the only one, the best," is the declaration of most cults, But there should be a standard for judging what is best, just as the standard of quality of goods determines which store is the best in town, even though all claim to be the best. The good that Religion has done through the Ages, by remind- ing people of an Ideal, either through Religion or reasoning, or through fear and fanatioiem, can never be denied, Yet, unscienti- fic Religion has been the cause of the tyranny of the caste system, and so forth, in the East, and of the class system, Spanish Inquisi- tion, and the burning of martyrs, in the West. a HOW TO AVOID Like the slaves of yore, Religion is impri- BIGOTRY IN RELIGION. soned and enslaved in the house of dark dog mas -A great war on ignorance must be launched in order to declare the freedom of the bond-siave Relicion *ro7 the hand of supersti- tion, Primeval Religion wat bo1a in tt) vm) of the unscientific seeking of man for the origin of the mysteries of his Keing, future life, Nature's violent phenomena, God, and so'forth, A few pro= phets have risen during the Ages, wiih theif intuitive wisdom, ex- horting people to believe in their doctrines, but did science ever uphold their doctrines by actual investigation? Bigotry in religion, @ivision in race, aid diversity in un- tested beliefs have kept orientals and occidentals, brother and bro- ther, divided, “We often concentrate upon ridiculing each other, and that is why we do not see the better qualitics in each other, Ignorance is fifty-fifty in the East and the West. When ignorant people of the Hast and West meet, they quarrdl and never agrée,) due» to their blind delf-laudation, But when Wise people of the Bast + * and the West meet, they agree that everything in the East and, the West is not perfect, nor is everything in the Bast, or the West,bad, »To develop a perfect civilization, the best of the East vand thé West . fist be combined in the national traits, Both the orientais dud tne «© opcidentals must remember that they are made in the. image of God ax ; Set in all nations flows the one blood, and a © ares childie 4 : 8 : the Mother aiyip Pe ita ‘Bese Bigotry is the death of Truth; wisdom is the portal through which all races must pass to reach the one Kingdom of Truth, The reason that Religion is not universal, either et school or at home, is because it is not scientific, because its principles have not been put to the acid test of universal experience, Religion mst be taken out of the hands of bigoted clergies and put into the hands of unprejudiced scientists who are trying to find the best method of living for developing a race of supermen, When dogma is sifted out of Religion, we pan have a Religion that will inspire us not only on Sunday or on any other particular time, but which will also be of supreme use in rejuvenating the body, strengthening the | mind, and recharging the Soul with unlimited wisdom and happiness, PUTTING THE CHURCH ON A FIRM FOUNDATION ‘he usual method of most churches has been to hold their people by virtue of inbred church-going religious habits, or by holy threats, or by lecture, and musical, or festive entertain- ments; The church cannot compete with professignal entertainment and cannot long hold its members by the parroting of the same untes- ted statements in sermons, even when given in new, interesting ways and accompanied by good musical programs, The Church should offer a distinct, individual, and characteristic form of social service by giving peace, enlightenment) and Spiritual strength, and not merely offer temporary pleasure or outward stimulation, for these can be better afforded by the theaters and other pleasure agencies. The churches, instead of arguing with one another about the infellibility of théir individual dogmas, and spending money in decorating the temples, should get together and find the real mean- ing of Life, and through psycho-ethical laws try to discover the jersal standard of the art of living, waich can really dail; oT an Mp Une Bocas . . enol Above all, church funds, instead of being completely tied up in heavy mortgages and ornamental edifices, could be better emplo- yed in inducing the greatest scientists of the East and West to make real investigations for a practical technique of making the body, mind, and Soul of man perfect, harmonious, ever-strong, quickly developing, better, and happier. Dogmatic church members succumb to the influence of parental religious habits, or to a sense of religious fear, or festive reli- gious entertainments, or to a repetition of the same grand theore- _ tical sermons over and over again, Most intellectual people are straying out of the church fold because they do not find any pro- gressive interest there. Huge sums of money are tied up in some , church ‘edifices just to impress people with the grandeur of archi- tecture, but that is all. Architectural appeal or comfortable church pews, or sermons of Spiritual victrolas, or big advertising campaigns for drawing large crowds to church festivities, are not producing permanent results, for people do not get any new know- jedge in the church, which can sufficiently awaken their interest and spontaneously bring them there, What is the use of trying to take church members believe in untested dogmas. Instead of peddling untested dogmas and urging people to believe, the church should convert ite premises into universities of experimental psychology. Ancient India built the biggest and ‘Most gorgeous temples in the world, but now they have mostly become tarts for’priests to ply thoir religious trades and to shear the “pilgrims 6f money for their own @iabolical uses. India is now ~ going through a ‘new evolution and getting rid of this false growth. » In little secluded hermitages unmarked by any religious trade-mark, % ', Fedl Spiritual reactiers, who live the life, are experimenting with . +" sthe worthwhile) effect of Spiritual Jaws on the lives of true sack- ers and not on floating curiosity seekers. ‘THE APOLOGUE HOW THE MASTERS OF INDIA TEACH THE SCRIPTURES If what you listen to, and what you read in books is valua~ ble; meditate upon it long enough to become one with the thought of the author, Then try to manifest that Realization in practice. Realization comes from constant wide-awake meditation, with ever- busy, ever-searching mentality to convert theory into solid know- ledge through practice. All beliefs must be thoroughly scrutinized, Overstudy must be avoided, Indiscriminate study, especially of religious books written by novices or untried enthusiasts, mostly results in indig- estible hashes of imagination, emotional outbursts, and diluted Realization, Patanjali Yoga Philosophy, the Christian Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, and a few other books written only by men of real Realization, must be studied, a little at a time, and meditated upon for hours or for days together, The best time to read Scrip- tures is after practising meditation, when the intuitive feeling is awake, My Master, Swami Sriyukteswar Giriji, once told me one of his experiences in the real study of the Scriptures, in a hermitage, His great Savant Guru (teacher of Bhagavad Gita) was sitting surr- bunded by his disciples, ‘The sacred book was open before them all, They were all looking steadfastly at one passage. Half an hour ed, then closed their eyes, Another half hour passed, then the explained fora few moments the same passage upon which they were concentrating, They all meditated motionless for an hour, then the Master asked a question: "Have you understood?" One of them answered: "Yes sir.” The Master replied: "No, you didn't, Let us meditate again.” ; ’ They meditated for another half hour, then the Master asked his disciples again: "Do you all now understand what you read?” No one spoke, then the Master said: "Our study today is over," He turned then to my Master and asked: "Have you read the Bhagavad Gita?" My Master replied: "No sir, although my eyes and mind have run through its pages." Eis Guru smiled, and with great joy said: "You are the only one of the thousands I have met who said that, but indecd you have read it, When one 1s engrossed in knowing, he does not have the time to think whether he knows or to say thet he knows. He is too busy knowing - others are too busy saying that they know; that's why they have no time to make the effort to know," Saored and inspiring books are helpful in stimulating the desire for Realization if a little ata time is assimilated, Other- wise, overstudy of books produces vanity and a false satisfaction that one knows when he does not know at all, — . Ramakrishna said: "Z pity the ignorant; I love unread fan of Realization, but I consider as acbit of straw the gan of Gook learning who is without Realization. I can blow him away by a puff * _ of questioning about Realization, I admire, love,and respect. @)man * 3 . .* a? * * Se s|who has Realization as well as the intellectual kmowledge of diffe- rent Seriptures.” Do not let a love of book reading or ceremonial diversions be the delusion to divert you from Realization, God Realization must come first; books and everything else are of secondary importance. Have God and you have everything, Seek ye the kingdom of God first, and all things will be added unto you ~ all wisdom, prosperity, and beauty. Get the tree of all life, and you shall have each of its fruits too, see HEALTH CULTURE NUTS (cont.) For the preparation of nut butters, the nutsshould be dried or dehydrated at a moderate temperature, in order to make the mts crisp, but not hot enough to destroy the vitamins. "Nut butters made from well-prepared, unroasted nuts are superior in mtritive and hygienic value to the best cuts of meat.” Very little if any salt should be used with nuts. Nuts are very rich in fats - the pecan containing the most and the chestnut the least. They are also a very good source of proteins, The pignolia contains the largest percentage (33.9) and the peanut next with 29,8, Many other nuts contain over 20 per cent and thus excel the best cuts of meat in that respect. The almond contains 21.4 per cent protein and no starch and is especially good in the form of almond milk, The dry chestnut contains only 10 per cent protein and 70 per cent starch and is often ground into flour for making bread in Ttaly and Spain, ~a FAKED CURRIED CORN n 2 cans (or equal amount of freshly cooked) golden bantam corn 4 tablespoons butter 1 egg yolk 1 teaspoon curry powder % cup cream * 4 large tomatoes Vegetized salt and paprike Beat egg yolk, add cream and melted butter. Season with ve~ getized salt, paprika and curry powder, Heat mixture thoroughly over very low fite. in Wash, peel and cut the tomatoes into eighths; Ina large, buttered earthen casserole put a layer of corn, then a layer of t-ma+ toes. Repeat layers until all is used and finish with corn on top. Pour cream mixture over all and bake in a slow oven for 30 minutes, Serve from casserole, Sauted mushrooms uay be added to this dish ir esired, RED PIMIENTOS STUFFED WITH SPINACH | (a Spanish Dish) a Cut the top off of each fresh, sweet red pepper, or pimienta, and remove seeds. Cook them in olive or sesame seed oil until ten- der and then stuff them with the spinach mixture which is prepared as follows: Wash spinach thoroughly and put into a heavy saucepan without water, Adda little vegetized salt, cover and cook over a slow fire for about 5 minuted. Drain and squeeze out all the water, Then put spinach into a frying pan witha little oil and 1 chopped clove of garlic. . Stir well and cook about 5 minutes. Fill the pimientos with the spinach mixture and stand them in a baking dish. Moisten them with a little well seasoned vegetable stock and bake for 10 minutes, % . ’ ‘GRILLED MUSHROOMS SPANISH STYLE 2 Sprinkle the cleaned mushrooms freely with olive oil and a little vegetized salt. Let stand for about 3 hours and then grill them and put them ona hot dish, Heat the oil in which the mush- rooms were marinated and add a finely chopped clove of garlic and a little chopped parsley and cloves and cook slowly for 2 or & minutes, Add a little lemon juice and pour over the mushrooms. DATE CARAMEL PUDDING 1g cups milk, scalded 4 cup brown suagr } oup dates, sliced i teaspoon vanilla 1 eee 4 cup chopped nuts 2 eggs yolks 24 tablespoons cornstarch pinch salt % oup cold milk Scald dates with milk in double boiler. Mix cornstarch with cold milk, add salt, and stir into the hot milk, Stir continuously until thickened. Cover tightly and cook for 15 minutes. Beat egg and yolks slightly; stir in sugar and a little of the hot pudding. Stir this mixture into the milk and date mixture and stir for 1 minute, Remove from fire and allow to cool. Ada vanilla and nuts and put into molds, Chill and serve with cream, SERERERRER PRAEGERTUM DNSPIRATION ‘THE CHURCH OF GOD py . One moon gives more light than all the stars. Every tem, or church does some good, but all the temples or churches must get * together and become one - the "Temple of God." If we love all churches the same, then we shall find God, We must have fellowship, not for self, but for Self-Realization, to know that God talks to us, through our body, mind, and soul, The time has come when no new denomination asserting a new imaginary idea about Truth is necess- ary, but, what is necessary is to organize get-together fellowship meeting of all religionists in order to discuss and test the vari- ous spiritual beliefs and ideas abort Truth in the experience and * self of man. Pa India is the home of all religions,’ Not one religion exists today that didn't take some of its fundamental »rinciples from India, Here true religious teachers téach the sviritual methods which will absolutely give you Self-Realization. ‘The people of India take instruction only from those ‘teachers who live the life. The time will ‘come when only those souls who haye lived the life will draw souls and crowds . totot PRAECEPTUM AFFIRMATION "uy highest ambition is to establish a Temple of Silence in every soul I meet.” in : om BLISS * om FoF oot o%o® Re .