The Peace of God Transcends All Understanding

Dharmadevi and I met Denise and her daughter, Annya, about 14 years ago. They both attended Swami Kriyananda’s book launch of The New Path at the Ford Amphitheater in Los Angeles. Annya was only seven years old at the time and Denise brought her along more so because she did not have a babysitter. She didn’t think her daughter would have any great interest in a lecture on spirituality.

About one thousand people attended the book launch. Although they did not get to talk to Swamiji, Denise felt the spiritual vibrations through his lecture that evening. Little did she know, Swami Kriyananda also made a profound impression on her daughter. A few days after that first meeting, Annya told her mother something she would never forget. 

“Mommy, let’s go see Swamiji again. I haven’t been angry in the three days since we saw him. I want to see him again!”

Denise couldn’t believe her ears. Three days after the event, her daughter was still basking in the peaceful vibrations that emanated through Swami Kriyananda. As Jesus Christ said, “Out of the mouth of babes thou hast perfected praise.” Annya spoke from her direct experience of Swami Kriyananda’s “peace that surpasses all understanding.” Denise credits Annya as the catalyst that brought them both onto the spiritual path and one of the main reasons they became part of Ananda.

It was not the words Swami spoke but the “Word” of his divine vibrations that changed the course of Denise and Annya’s lives.

In order to transform our lives, we need to be open and receptive to spiritual energy and magnetism. How do we do that?

First, we have to be willing to give it a try. Like Denise and Annya, you have to attend the lecture. But that’s not enough. Next we have to practice paying attention to what is being said behind outer words. As a seven year old girl, I don’t think Annya understood all of the outward content of Swamiji’s talk. However, she certainly received the essence of his message: divine peace. Lastly, we need to act on the divine inspiration received. As Annya did, follow up on any spark of inspiration so you can go deeper. 

We could think of this as our ABA (attend to what is behind and act to bring you closer to divine inspiration) formula. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that “Aba” means Father in Hebrew.

So let’s attend Aba's upcoming lecture. When your inspiration says, “Let’s go and see Him again,” listen and attend to that infinite one behind all outward forms. Listening to Aba never gets boring. He lectures through the cask of silence His “Peace that surpasses all understanding.”