The Best Way to Worship
Mercy Entails Empathy
Reading and Affirmation for May
From the book The Beatitudes: Their Inner Meaning by Swami Kriyananda
The Best Way to Worship
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 Chapter 4 of the Gospel of St. John, the woman of Samaria asks Jesus, Where is the best place to worship? This question might be expanded to include: What is the best church? What is the best religion? Is it important to go on pilgrimage to holy shrines? What is the best ritual? What is the best mantra or prayer?
Jesus cut across all such questioning with his reply:
The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
It was not that outer considerations of place, church, ritual, etc., are irrelevant. Each person should find those practices and observances which are compatible with his own nature – one might say, with his own vibrations. Not everyone’s natural path is the same. God sent different religions into the world to satisfy different human needs.
The overarching concern, however, considering that the goal is to find God, is to include in one’s worship daily, inner communion with the Lord. God is Silence: He must be sought, therefore, in inner silence. God is Absolute Love: He must be sought, therefore, in the silence of love. God is Spirit, and thus immaterial: He must be sought, above all, in the expanding peace of deep meditation.
Thus, the Bhagavad Gita states in the sixth Chapter:
Sequestered should he sit, Steadfastly meditating, solitary, His thoughts controlled, his passions laid away, From every craving for possession freed.
Wherever you are, whatever your outward beliefs and observances, seek God in the silence of your own soul.
Thus, through holy Scripture, God has spoken to mankind.
Whispers From Eternity
213. The Rocket of my Love
I withdrew the life force from my body. The breath, which had kept me tied to the burden of flesh, no longer shook my awareness. My rocket of life penetrated through the star in the all-seeing eye of light in my forehead. The rocket soared outward; its cone of focused concentration and deep feeling exploded to oneness with the countless atoms of space, and with the little points of self-awareness in all beings. At last, like an expanding cloud-nebula, I embraced the vast Spirit beyond space itself, to enter the heart of Thine omnipresent silence!
Paramhansa Yogananda
Inspiration from the Rays of One Light
God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
John 4:24
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
This week, I was inspired by John 4:24 "God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."
When I come before God, I am reminded that He is Spirit, and that means I don’t need walls, rituals, or perfect words to connect with Him. True worship begins deep within, in the stillness of meditation, where the Divine Eternal Truth, the one voice, meets my heart in ways I can’t always see or explain. When we go beyond the idea of worship as a performance, we begin to see it as a way of life, a daily practice through which we honour ourselves, one another, and the divine sacred presence that is always with us. Here is a short poem called “When Hearts are Clear”.
When Hearts are Clear
O Divine Eternal Truth
We seek God inwardly
In spirit deep, pure and true
There’s freedom in truth
Where no walls need to be displayed
Spirit moves freely in a way that we can’t see
Yet brings a guarantee
Our hearts will be free
In light and in truth
Just like the holy wonder of our youth
He calls us ever close
A love no ritual can hold
For God is Spirit
Always present and near
The Divine Eternal truth
A way of life that is pure and clear
Where worship becomes a promise
When hearts are clear
Aum Peace Amen
