Moving back to this sweet little blog home

I'll be moving many of my articles that were written for "A Place Called Ananda" to this blog spot for now. That wasn't considered quite the right venue for the breadth and/or depth of some of my themes. There may be other venues in the future that will be a good fit - but for now - this works.

I will write mostly about two major areas. One is on applying Paramhansa Yogananda's vast array of teachings on healing body, mind and soul. This is a big topic... Sometimes I will write about praying for individuals, or our planet, and other times about applying his teachings in family life. This also becomes a form of healing, for each other and for the world.

Perhaps I may need to create 2 blog areas to organize it. If I do go that direction - you will be able to check the side bar and find either section. (I feel that right now I can only manage one spot...so I hope you'll understand!) The common thread is that both streams of thought are very deeply inspired by love of God, Christ, Guru, and by deep love and appreciation for all that Swami Kriyananda has given to me, my family, and to each one of us, far and near.

God speaks through us all in many ways...There is so much to share, over time. Sometimes the things that happen day to day inspire me to write down, finally, things that have been in my mind a long time. Often times I have said them or taught them before...and this is a place to write them down - that they may be of help to others.

In closing, this prayer comes to mind, a blessing for all who read it:

The Blessing of St. Francis of Assisi to Brother Leo

The Lord bless you and keep you.
May He show His face to you and have mercy.
May He turn His countenance to you and give you peace.
The Lord bless you!

May your journey be blessed.

Love in Him,

Mary

(Mary H. Kretzmann)

Divine Protection, Psalm 91

Over the years, in the Ananda Healing Prayer Ministry, I have recommended Psalm 91 for people who needed protection. One time it was a for a couple facing a very unfair lawsuit, in which they stood to lose everything. Psalm 91, recited daily, was a source of strength and comfort. (In the end the case was settled peacefully.)

I have been wanting to write about it for some time, and make available a free recording of Psalm 91 (below). I got the nudge I needed this morning when, after meditation*, I opened the Second Coming of Christ (written by Paramhansa Yogananda) and found this brief reference to Psalm 91:

"One who finds within himself that "secret place of the most high" becomes suffused with supreme happiness and divine security...God's Kingdom is within you..." (The Second Coming of Christ, The Resurrection of the Christ Within You, p. 1187 )

These words reminded me, once again, that the highest realm of divine protection is in God union. Not quite there yet? Then invoke the power of those holy ones who are united with God's Presence. This psalm, and all the psalms, are best understood from this perspective.

"Soldier's Psalm"

There are numerous miraculous stories attributed to Psalm 91, many of them from soldiers. Where does this protective power come from? The highest level comes from God union, Paramhansa Yogananda states above. In addition, Edgar Cayce, the renowned psychic, said that Jesus Christ led his apostles through Psalm 91 at the end of the Last Supper, to protect his apostles from harm on Good Friday. It was his time to go - but not yet their time.

Christ's blessing further imbued the psalm with divine power. You can call on His divine protection as you recite Psalm 91, for you are His child.

A few years ago, Jeff B., from Wyoming, was due to return to Iraq for his 3rd tour of duty. He was a big, strong, brave and capable young man, and the commander of a large group of Special Forces. And he was the son of Jack B., a longterm member on the Ananda Healing Prayer Council.

Jeff felt strangely vulnerable this time at the thought of returning to Iraq. His father, a deeply intuitive and prayerful man, hadn't worried about him on his first two tours of duty. But when he called me, I realized, even after he spoke only a few words, that he wasn't sure if he would see his son alive again.

Sometimes we go through times of karmic vulnerability. It doesn't mean we must meet our doom at that time, but it may mean we are much less likely to avoid catastrophe. Since Jeff could not avoid going back to Iraq, we needed to strengthen his aura and faith with any tools he would accept. His father was a devotee of Paramhansa Yogananda, but Jeff was a regular Wyoming guy. He believed in Jesus, deep down, but nothing too fancy or metaphysical.

I put Jeff on the healing prayer list to the whole group - about 600 people.

I also told his Dad about Soldier's Psalm, and it's reputed protection. He gave it to Jeff, who was ready to leave for Iraq. He received it gratefully. The biggest miracle may be that Jeff got most of his men to recite it daily. (A few blew him off; remember - these are the tough guys: Special Forces.)

Several seeks later, Jeff called his Dad from Iraq, and said, "Dad, I need a new watch."

His Dad replied, "What? I just got you that watch! What happened?"

Jeff: "I can't tell you on the phone, but I'll explain later."

It turns out that Jeff led his group on a very dangerous mission that day, going door to door in a dense, dangerous area, looking for terrorists. Suddenly there was an intense fire fight in a tight alley, and from shooters above them. Such conditions normally create many fatalities. Miraculously, only one soldier from the group was killed. It is always a deep tragedy, but it was a battle, after all.

Jeff, as commander, was normally the one to be right out in front, leading his men. He's just that kind of guy. They were taking cover behind one of their trucks, and in the excitement, the driver reversed the truck - right on to Jeff's wrist! He was pinned there! So, in a moment when Jeff would have normally thrown himself into intense battle, he simply had to lay there!

That was the karmic moment, I believe. It appears that much was mitigated through the psalm, healing prayers, and his father's love and prayers. He lost the watch, but not the arm (and not his life) - by God's grace. He was kept from harm.

Jeff showed great faith in God by doing the psalm, and also by getting his men to do it, too. Life is a school, and sometimes we barely know which lessons we are being tested on. God knows the full score, but I am guessing Jeff did very well.

Listen to Psalm 91

right here

Psalm 91; Divine Protection (often called the “Soldier’s Psalm”)

click link above

Thou Art With Me CD; Voice: Tim Kretzmann;
Music: "Brave Were The People" by Swami Kriyananda

The Holy Bible: King James Version
Psalm 91

1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the LORD,
He is my refuge and my fortress:
my God; in him will I trust.

3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,
and from the noisome pestilence.

4 He shall cover thee with his feathers,
and under his wings shalt thou trust:
his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night;
nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

6 nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness;
nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side,
and ten thousand at thy right hand;
but it shall not come nigh thee.

8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold
and see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge,
even the Most High, thy habitation;

10 there shall no evil befall thee,
neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee,
to keep thee in all thy ways.

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands,
lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder:
the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

14 Because he hath set his love upon me,
therefore will I deliver him:
I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him:
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him, and honor him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him,
and show him my salvation.

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* For further inspiration:
Watch this lovely 5 minute movie/meditation:
The Gift of Inner Peace

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Inauguration Day

I received a lovely note from a member of our healing prayer team today:

Mary,

Today is a very special day, President Obama and his family are at the White House and I feel a lot of Joy. I'm wondering if you are guiding people to send prayers and blessing to them? I have being sending love and Divine light and I wish we will all get the morning habit to pray for our President, this is the right moment, we, united in peace and hope.

Much joy and blessings to you,

Luz

I've gotten a few messages like this, and I have responded that I have been part of the Presidential Prayer Team since 2001, because I believe that we should pray for the President whether we agree with him or not...It is a tough job. The prayers help to uplift the President when he has to make tough decisions. Anyway -have I been perfect in my prayers? No - but I do keep returning to it...

The principles outlined in this blog can help to formulate prayers to guide the President and the Congress. I must say, that I very much appreciated the prayer before the inauguration. I believe it was Rick Warren. He prayed with a deep sense of invoking God's blessing and power on the day and on the momentous occasion. It was refreshing, when these days people have become very squeamish about even breathing the word "God", to have a minister so powerfully invoke the presence of God on this day of national and historical importance.

May God bless America, and may God bless us all...everywhere...

Mahavatar Babaji and Jesus Christ

"...Babaji's mission in India has been to assist prophets in carrying out their special dispensations. He thus qualifies for the scriptural classification of Mahavatar (Great Avatar). He has stated that he gave yoga initiation to Shankara, ancient founder of the Swami Order, and to Kabir, famous medieval saint. His chief nineteenth-century disciple was, as we know, Lahiri Mahasaya, revivalist of the lost Kriya art.

The Mahavatar is in constant communion with Christ; together they send out vibrations of redemption, and have planned the spiritual technique of salvation for this age. The work of these two fully-illumined masters-one with the body, and one without it-is to inspire the nations to forsake suicidal wars, race hatreds, religious sectarianism, and the boomerang-evils of materialism. Babaji is well aware of the trend of modern times, especially of the influence and complexities of Western civilization, and realizes the necessity of spreading the self-liberations of yoga equally in the West and in the East.

That there is no historical reference to Babaji need not surprise us. The great guru has never openly appeared in any century; the misinterpreting glare of publicity has no place in his millennial plans. Like the Creator, the sole but silent Power, Babaji works in a humble obscurity.

Great prophets like Christ and Krishna come to earth for a specific and spectacular purpose; they depart as soon as it is accomplished. Other avatars, like Babaji, undertake work which is concerned more with the slow evolutionary progress of man during the centuries than with any one outstanding event of history. Such masters always veil themselves from the gross public gaze, and have the power to become invisible at will. For these reasons, and because they generally instruct their disciples to maintain silence about them, a number of towering spiritual figures remain world-unknown..."

From Autobiography of a Yogi, Chapter 33 By Paramhansa Yogananda

Visualize the Radiant, Cosmic Christ above the US Capitol

This is a prayer visualization that I have been doing for the last few weeks, and it has been very helpful for me during these challenging times. So much is being decided in Washington right now...and always, but the karma seems more intense these days. I realized that I needed a visualization that would be powerful and effective, yet also uplifted me me even in the process of doing it indefinitely. So, I chose to visualize the radiant Christ very tall above the US Capitol Building - His Divine Being dwarfing the Building below Him...I see this as a Divine magnet that helps each person working there to be lifted into his or her own high potential, magnetized toward their higher chakras as they serve the nation. Each person has a higher self, even if they are not in the habit of aspiring to relate to it!

Because I am focusing deeply at the spiritual eye to do this visualization, it is very powerful and blissful, and it helps me to rise above worry or fear for our nation. I feel more like a beacon of Light rather than a magnet for worry!

Frank Laubach, author of Letters of a Modern Mystic, had a prayer group in Washington, DC after he retired from his missionary efforts. Their purpose was to pray about issues of State, in order to bring about the best possible outcome. He said later about this prayer experiment, "It is uncanny what can happen when you pray in this way, but we learned that you have to keep it up every day."

When I first found this quote by him, I had already realized the same thing! It is uncanny what can happen, and I appreciated his remark that "you have to keep it up every day"...and why is that? It is because decisions and deals are made every day...and they are being made by people who have the karma and the desire to be in that role at this time, and hopefully some of that desire is to serve...but ego can easily cloud their judgment.

So, these prayers hold Divine magnetism above the whole Capitol Building to create a higher possibility of decisions being made from wisdom and truth. Policies made in the Capitol Building can affect people the world over, so I see this visualization also blessing people everywhere. I also sometimes visualize rays of Light going out toward the White House, as well. (However, I chose to focus primarily over the Capitol Building to emphasize the group effort involved..."of the people".) I have come to realize that the visualization is not limited to those who happen to be in the building at the time. The building itself serves as a symbol for the work that is done there, and the people who serve in that role. Think of the Radiant Christ Shining above all of that - lifting up their thoughts, and actions and insights.

One final note, in the teachings, Paramhansa Yogananda said that Jesus Christ watches over and guides the West, while Mahavatar Babaji does the same to the East. I don't know where the exact "border" would be, and I am quite sure there must be some overlap - but I do keep this in mind when I am doing these big visualizations for the world...Over time I will share some other prayers instances in which I gained insights into how to pray for international issues.

Our Tiny Planet Home

December 4, 308 Dwapara

Thank you for your continued prayers…There seems to be a special link right now between Ananda and the tragedy of the attacks in Mumbai, ..and I feel that link calls us to continued prayer to bless and uplift the world. One link that defies all the odds is that two visitors from India were at Ananda Village at the day of the attack and they counted as their friends three of the people killed in Mumbai that day. One woman, Gayatri, knew one of the policemen who died, and the other young woman, Simran, lost two friends: an older professor friend, and a young journalist friend. (These two Indian guests came here separately for different programs.) So, the way this tragedy hit them in a personal manner, while visiting Ananda Village, brings home the point that this world is one global village, after all. The things that happen on the other side of the world are really quite close…Paramhansa Yogananda says that in Dwapara Yuga distance seems to disappear, for we can transcend it (even now) in so many ways.