Resurrection for Every Soul (Easter)
Righteousness Is Not Self-Righteousness
Reading and Affirmation for April
From the book The Beatitudes: Their Inner Meaning by Swami Kriyananda
Resurrection for Every Soul (Easter)
Truth is one and eternal. Realize oneness with it in your deathless Self, within.
The following commentary is based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda.
In the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 20, we read the inspiring account of Jesus’ resurrection:
The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord! . . .
Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in their midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
The resurrection of Jesus, doubted by many but affirmed by those who were close to him, was a miraculous event, though one not unique in history. For many great saints of other religions have appeared to their disciples after death. Sometimes their appearances have been, as that of Jesus was, in flesh-and-blood form, and not only in vision.
Paramhansa Yogananda relates in Autobiography of a Yogi the account of his guru Sri Yukteswar’s resurrection after his earthly passing. Miracles of this type are revealed only rarely to the masses, but accounts of them, related by men and women of reputed truthfulness, have inspired many devotees with faith in the reality of subtler-than-material states of existence.
Resurrection, Yogananda explained, means transformation, ultimately, from any lower state of being to a higher one. Worldly consciousness cannot imagine such transformation except in terms of, perhaps, an improvement of the present mess of potage with the addition of a new flavoring. Divine consciousness, however, is capable of taking the base metal of worldliness and transforming it into the spiritual gold of divine wisdom and love.
In keeping with this truth, the Bhagavad Gita, in the ninth Chapter, tells us:
Ah! ye who into this ill world are come – fleeting and false – set your faith fast on Me! Fix heart and thought on Me! Adore Me! Bring Offerings to Me! Make Me prostrations! Make Me your supremest joy! and, undivided, unto My rest your spirits shall be guided.
Thus, through holy Scripture, God has spoken to mankind.
Whispers From Eternity
34. Make Me Thy Butterfly of Eternity
I have burnt my past, destroying every seed of evil destiny. I have stridden bravely through the strewn ashes of my past and future fears.
I am the Eternal NOW, having torn to shreds my enclosing cocoon of ignorance with the sharp knife of free will.
Now I am Thy soaring butterfly of eternity, flitting freely through immeasurable skies of time. The beauty of my wings I spread out through Nature everywhere, to entertain all beings. My wings are sprinkled with suns and stardust. Lo! I am beautiful! May every silken thread that shrouded my past folly be severed forever. See! They trail now behind me, only adding to my beauty as I wing my way to my own Self in Thee.
Paramhansa Yogananda
Inspiration from the Rays of One Light
“Resurrection for Every Soul.”
We will take these meaningful words into our meditation together for deep reflection and contemplation. But firstly, we will listen to the beautiful Psalm of David, sung by Mary Kretzmann.
Psalm of David
Listen to the Psalm of David
Reflect, Meditate and Listen to Instrumental Music
Reflection from the Rays of the One Light
Peace Sangha
“Resurrection for Every Soul.”
This week, I was inspired by the title of todays reading
When I think of resurrection, I’m reminded of St. Paul’s words: “I die daily” 1 Corinthians 15:31.
Not a physical death, but a letting go, a dying to the lower self so that something higher, truer, and more aligned with God can rise within us. Only recently did I realise that this is exactly what I’ve been doing throughout my fast.
I began fasting on the 17th of February for Ramadan, practising fasting from "sunrise to sunset", and the very next day, on my birthday, Lent began, so I intuitively decided to weave these two paths together. Looking back, I can see that I was being guided into a season of trust.
During this fast, my prayers have deepened. I’ve been praying for my family, my friends, and everyone on my healing prayer list. This time has become more than a fast, it has become a space of transformation. In the last five days, especially, I’ve been praying with a focus on resurrection, asking God to resurrect my thoughts, releasing the past, and allowing God to reshape what needed healing.
Alongside this, I’ve been reading Chapter 33: “Original Christianity” from the book “The New Path” by Swami Kriyananda, which reflects on the roots of original Christianity. One line from Jesus that he highlights struck me deeply: “The disciple is not above his master, but everyone that is perfect shall be as his master.” (Luke 6:40)
Those words helped me understand my faith and fast in a new way. Resurrection isn’t only something Christ experienced, it is something He invites us into. To “be as the Master” is to walk the same inner path He walked, a path of surrender, purification, and rising into a higher consciousness. My fast became a way of aligning myself with that journey, of allowing the old to fall away so that something Christ like could be born within me.
And through this process, I’ve come to see something else “God heals our affections”. He not only heals our bodies or our circumstances. He heals the places inside of us that we can't see, where our desires, attachments, and emotions have been wounded or misdirected. Through this fast, I’ve felt God gently reordering, positioning me like a "yoga posture" in my inner world, softening what had become hardened, lifting what had become heavy, and redirecting my affections toward what gives life rather than what drains it.
Fasting has revealed to me what I cling to. But God, in His healing love and compassion, doesn’t just expose those things, He heals them with unconditional love and no judgments. He teaches us to love differently, to desire differently, to hope differently. In that sense, resurrection is not only about rising, it’s also about having our inner compass reset towards God.
This is the longest I’ve fasted in a very long time, and it has been challenging and powerful. Not because of the strength I have gained, but because God met me in the quiet places, in the discipline, in the letting go, in the daily dying and rising again.
As I prepare to end my fast tomorrow, I’m still praying about how to close this chapter with intention. But what I do know is this:
“Resurrection isn’t just an event we celebrate. It’s a work God does in us, again and again. A rising that follows every surrender. A newness that follows every letting go. A healing that reaches even into our deepest affections”.
And in this season, I’ve experienced that truth in a very real way.
Prayer of Resurrection and Hope
Holy God Christ,
Giver of life and Restorer of every Soul
We come before you with open minds and hearts.
Teach us, as St. Paul said, to “die daily” to release what no longer serves you, to let go of the lower self, so that your life may rise within us.
Thank you for guiding us through seasons of fasting, seasons of trust, seasons where we discover that you are closer than our own breath.
Lord, resurrect our thoughts and heal the memories we still carry.
Lift the burdens we have held for too long.
As Jesus taught, “The disciple is not above his master, but everyone who walks the same inner path He walked will be like his master.” Shape us into that likeness. Lead us along the new path He walked the path of surrender, purification, and rising again.
God, heal our affections. Touch the places where our desires have been wounded, where our attachments have been misplaced, where our emotions have been tangled or heavy. Reorder our inner world with your gentle loving hands. Soften what has hardened. Turn our hearts toward what gives life.
May every letting go become an opening for your grace. May every surrender become a doorway to resurrection. May every quiet moment become a place where you meet us and make us new.
Holy Beloved One, continue your work in us, the work of rising, the work of healing, the work of transforming our lives until our inner compass points fully toward you.
We offer this prayer in trust, in peace, in gratitude, and in hope.
Aum Jesus Christ Amen.
