This personal practice guide honours the unveiling of the conceptual design for the new Temple of Light. Thank you to Swami Jyotihananda for providing these reflections. Consider joining Swami Jyotihananda for a special weekend workshop – Luminous Vision: Building Your Personal Temple of Light, July 17-19 at the Ashram. Participation in this workshop will help support the rebuilding of the new Temple of Light.

Audio

Swami Lalitananda speaks at the May 1 Annual General Meeting about the Temple as “a vision and a metaphor.”

Reflection Questions

Swami Radha often spoke of the Cathedral of Consciousness or inner temple within each of us. Use the reflections below to explore how to enter that sacred space and keep the connection alive.

  1. The first Temple of Light at the Ashram came into being through Swami Radha’s commitment to her long-term vision. What is your inner vision and how do you keep it alive?
  2. Sit quietly, focusing on your breath. With each inhalation, draw Light into your being; with each exhalation, relax and be receptive. Imagine that you are in a beautiful place; look around and see the beauty around you. See yourself walking along a path. As you turn a corner you see a beautiful, white building. It is a kind of church or temple. It has many windows and doors – it is open to the Light. Walk towards it and walk around it – what do you see inside? Know that you can come back to this sacred place any time you like. Draw and color your inner temple, using crayons.
  3. Put your drawing on a wall at eye level. Stand in front of it in the Mountain pose (Tadasana). Find your foundation in the pose. Ask yourself, what is my foundation for my inner temple? Write. Now do the Divine Light Invocation. Put your temple drawing in the Light. What do you have to do to build your inner temple? What are the building blocks? Write.
  4. In Living the Practice, Swami Radhananda says: “Divine Mother needs a sacred space to be within us. Like our Temple of Light at the Ashram. the inner temple cannot be built unless there is harmony.” (p. 200) Reflect on the following questions: How do I learn to open my mind and heart to new ways of being? How am I cultivating harmony within so there is space in my heart for a new idea, a new concept, a new person, a new form of Divine Mother?
  5. In the Divine Light Invocation book, Swami Radha says: “Before you go to sleep each night, see your body and bed surrounded by a spiral (like a cocoon) of Divine Light. In this way your physical body, which is the temple of your soul, will be protected so that the soul can do its work in safety.” (p. 54) Do this practice and write some notes upon awakening. What are your observations?

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