PRESCIOUS SHORT CUTS FOR OUR SPIRITUAL PATHS!
In the Eastern religious point of view, the spiritual path can be a lengthy one. Some of the scriptures say that we must undergo 5-8 million incarnations, in progressively more advanced life forms, before we can achieve a human birth (“The New Path,” by Swami Kriyananda). After achieving a human birth, in the “Autobiography of a Yogi,” Swami Paramahansa Yogananda says it is then necessary to undergo 1 million years of cycles around the sun -- with pure and clean living -- before the nervous system naturally evolves to allow the state of God realization to unfold. (How many of our days on Earth can we say we lived purely in mind and body? So 1 million years can turn into many million years, depending on how we live them.)
So, the spiritual path seems like a very long and difficult road, but luckily, there are means available to greatly speed up our progress and greatly shorten it’s length. Although there is no “Lazy Man’s Guide to Enlightenment,” and true spiritual growth and progress depend upon our consistency of practice, our great patience, and our persistence, there are some amazing short-cuts which the Masters say we can all use to achieve freedom and God Realization, perhaps, even in this very lifetime!
(1) Most Important Short-cut': Find a Fully Liberated Spiritual Master - Ammachi (The Holy Mother) says if we were to do 18 hours of intense spiritual practices per day for our entire lives, it would possibly reduce the amount of lifetimes we need to incarnate in the future by less than 100, before we could ultimately reach God Realization. But Ammachi further explains that by just becoming Her student, She will lovingly take on 90 % of our karmic burden, and this will take away more than 1000 lives we would otherwise have to live to attain Liberation, which could perhaps make God Realization possible in this vey life!
(2) Perform Practices Recommended By A Spiritual Master —
(a)Integrated Amrita Meditation technique (IAM technique) -
Ammachi says it may be possible to reach God Realization more
quickly through dedicated and devoted practice of this technique.
It combines meditation, certain yoga stretches, breathing, and
visualization methods all in one. It is taught free, on-line, several
times per month.
https://us.amma.org/groups/north-america/iam-meditation
(b) Kriya Yoga – Taught through ‘Self Realization Fellowship’ (SRF)-
This particular technique was handed down through the lineage of
Paramahansa Yogananda, and is given to students after a period of
study of the SRF weekly lessons series, and deepening meditation
practice. It greatly purifies the subtle nervous system, and brings
the mind to one pointedness, and our attention fully Godward.
Yogananda says using Kriya Yoga can make God Realization
possible in just 1 lifetime! There are many “teachers” claiming to
offer “kriya yoga,” however many of these offerings do not reflect
the purity of the SRF lineage teachings. For more information see
https://yogananda.org/kriya-yoga-path-of-meditation
(c) Mantra Recitation – Many masters say that in this current age,
repeating a mantra is the fastest path for most disciples to God
Realization. Initiation must be obtained from a Liberated Spiritual
Masters, who energizes the Mantra while literally planting a seed
of their own Divine Energy into the disciple when initiation is
given. Regular practice of using this mantra will quiet the mind,
help burn our karma, tune us into the Divine frequency (like we
tune-in a radio station), and lead us to God within.
(d) ‘Darshan’ With A Spiritual Master – Darshan, or Divine
Blessings, can be given by a Master via a touch, a glance, or a
thought directed toward us. Ammachi says that a single
blessing hug from Her can be worth up to 10 years of our own
intense spiritual practices! Even on-line, we are able to obtain
such blessings if we participate in programs with a Spiritual
Master. For information about such opportunities see…
https://www.ljhealing.com/blog/opportunities-for-daily-darshan
(e) Seva – Selfless or Dedicated Service, will attract instant Divine
blessings, if performed to help an Enlightened Spiritual Master,
their organization, or programs which they have set up to help
humanity. Purely performing such selfless service (Karma Yoga),
alone, has been deemed a direct path to dissolve the ego and
attain God Realization.
(f) Doing ‘Clearing’ Practices – Ammachi says 5 minutes of crying
can be worth hours of meditation. While most meditation
methods try to transcend and ‘by-pass’ the mind — and go above
our emotional pain and upsets — crying, venting, and certain
practices which release pain, worry, and fear, actually work to
cleanse and transform the mind. This reduces our emotional and
karmic burdens. Young children set an inspiring example for us,
by being able to fully vent their upsets and in minutes, return to
a state of lightheartness and joy. At no other stage of life is our
natural rate of growth faster. Few meditation processes alone
can truly transform the mind, but some do, especially if
performed with the blessings and guidance of a Spiritual Master.
I have also developed many self-help simple practices for clients
to introduce them to an ‘adult way’ to quickly vent their burdens
— just like we used to do naturally when we were children. This
helps adults to let go of their pain and problems, remove blocks,
and find greater peace, joy, and love in the midst of life’s
challenges and relationships.
(g) Meditation – meditation, or processes to still or transcend the
mind, can help us go above our problems and feel immediate
Divine Communion and bliss. Meditation reminds us that
happiness comes from within, and thus we lose more and more
of our attachments to needing and depending on fulfilment from
outer things and people. This new found inner fountain of bliss
helps us to intensify our spiritual desire and search, bringing
about a greater freedom and detachment needed to grow more
quickly spiritually.
(h) Pujas and Homas (Fire Ceremonies) – these rituals, especially
done in the presence of a Spiritual Master, or with their blessings
and strictly according to their instructions, can reduce our Karma
and bring rapid blessings to our lives. Sri Karunamayi explains
that if Fire rituals and ceremonies are undertaken without a
Master’s blessings, and without special intensive training,
there can be a lot of adverse effects to us and the planet!
(i) “Goddgames” – these are video experiences for us to use, created
by a great Enlightened Master, E.J. Gold. They are fun to engage
with, and they act like ‘virtual pujas’ and can reduce our Karma,
bring physical healing, and bring blessings and prosperity for our
spiritual and material lives. For more information, please read
my post or go to His website:
https://www.ljhealing.com/ej-gold-tools or www.urthgame.com
(3) SPIRITUAL ‘NO-BRAINERS’ - Wearing blessed items, sacred beads, or astrological gemstones, are a more passive and helpful way to speed through our karma, and move forward on the spiritual path, with little to no effort!
(a) Blessed objects from a Spiritual Master – if we are fortunate
enough to have an item blessed by a Master, it’s effects will work
on us daily as we wear it. Some items have a healing effect, some
have a karma reducing effect, and some keep us on our path and
protect us from undesirable influences. It is a rare opportunity to
be able to receive a blessed object like this, and we don’t know
exactly what blessing a Master will give. There is one Spiritual
Master, however, by the name of E.J. Gold who offers blessed
“Amulets” on-line, whose properties & blessings you can actually
pick and choose!
https://www.ljhealing.com/ej-gold-tools
(b) Astrological Gemstones – Having a vedic astrological reading can
be very valuable. A good vedic astrologer can rec0mmend certain
pujas, practices, and gemstones which could aid us on our spiritual
path. Certain gemstones of a particular type, size, and quality have
been recommended in Vedic Astrology to help mitigate negative
influences from the planets over the course of our lives. Such
gemstones should be recommended by well trained and intuitive
Vedic astrologer, after having carefully analyzed our charts.
Inexpensive and very accurate readings can be obtained through
the following link to Ammachi’s website:
https://static.amritapuja.org/jyotish.html
(c) Statues, Icons, & Yantras - placing blessed statues in our homes,
Yantras (sacred symbols), and holy items can bring spiritual
upliftment, cleansing, and protection to our day-to-day living
spaces.
(d) Wearing sacred beads — Rudraksha, Sandalwood, &|
Lotus Seeds
Certain seeds of plants and trees are known for their deeply
healing, spiritual, and transformative effects when worn on
our bodies. They have been written about in the scriptures
of India for thousands of years, and their properties and value
are expounded upon even today by world-renowned spiritual
masters. When worn next to the skin, they exert their greatest
influence.
https://www.ljhealing.com/blessed-sacred-consecrated-items
(e) Consuming Blessed Food (Prasad), Holy Ash, & Holy Water -
Taking consecrated food from temples, churches, and holy
ceremonies can confer wonderful spiritual blessings. Also saying
a mantra while preparing our food or a prayer before eating it, can
help purify us. Blessed items, including sacred ash (Vibhuti) and
holy water — blessed by a Master or a ceremony — can also purify
and uplift us, remove karma, and even physical and emotional
pain and disease.
Short Cut Miracle Stories
There are a lot of miracle stories of Spiritual Masters conferring tremendous boons which shorten the paths of their devotees, or even people who they seemed to have just casually encountered. In the biography of Sri Swaminarayan, an Indian saint of the 18th century, there are frequent tales of Him granting liberation and/or enlightenment experiences to people who — perhaps merely just brought Him a glass of water — along His pilgrimmage across India.
At Sri Ramana Maharshi’s ashram, there are ‘samadhi shrines’ commemorating the enlightenment He bestowed not only upon His mother, but also suprisingly even upon certain animals which lived their lives on the ashram grounds! Such stories illustrate the incredible blessing potential possible by just having contact with a fully God Realized being. Saint Padre Pio often referred to Himself as “Jesus’ donkey.” While most people considered this statement to be the saint just humbling Himself, Swami Shivananda of Italy explained that Padre Pio attained sainthood by having actually been Jesus’ donkey!
Amma Sri Karunamayi often gives hints and offers for amazing ‘short cuts’ in some of Her discourses during programs She conducts world-wide. Once She indicated that if were to purchase a ‘jade meru Sri Chakra’ which had been blessed at the Fire Puja that day, just by keeping it in our home, it would grant us the boon of this being our last life!
3-D ‘Meru’ Jade Sri Chakra
I think the cost of the Sri Chakra was about $375 which included sponsorship for this charity event, but I saw only a few people run to get one ;-).
At another one of Sri Karunamayi’s programs, a 10 day event (Maha Yagnam) which included daily Fire Ceremonies, Pujas, and prayer, She offered people a rare opportunity to make a charitable donation to purchase the holy water which had been blessed over the course of the entire event. She said it now contained the equivalent blessing of having done 2.4 billion lengthy prayer ceremonies, and that pouring it over your head would grant you liberation in this life. The cost was $250 for one vessel, and She made them available even to those people who didn’t attend all 10 days of the program, however I saw several people in the audience still decide not to purchase this…
There is another great Enlightened spiritual master who offers ‘Shaktipat’ initiation both in person and at times, in-absentia. Her name is Sri Anandi Ma. I personally underwent this initiation, and it was one of the most powerful experiences I ever felt of energy transmission. I experienced a feeling of lightning was coursing through my whole body. She explained that this blessing unlocks the dormant energy at the base of our spine, and it will result in our being able to achieve God Realization within this life, or within our next 3 lives. Anandi Ma says it is recommended for people from all backgrounds, no matter what spiritual path they are on, and no matter which Master they follow. Please see this link for more information: https://www.ljhealing.com/blog/opportunities-for-daily-darshan
So, I believe Spiritual Masters come into our world as great Saints and Enlightened Teachers, to help uplift us, and free us from the burdens we are carrying, and the challenges involved in walking the spiritual path to eventually reach freedom. Ammachi has said we are all on such a spiritual path, the difference is only the speed in which we are traveling — we can move along at an ox cart rate of progress, or at the speed of a jet airplane. I hope some of these ‘short cuts’ will lighten our loads, help us grow more quickly, and that we can all have the greatest fortune of all, which is coming to find and accept the help of a fully Liberated Enlightened Spiritual Master!
