Whispers from Eternity: A Book of Answered Prayers

Back of the Book One of the greatest prayer scriptures ever written.

any poetic works can inspire, but few, like this one, have the power to change your life. These verses rank with the greatest mystical poetry of all time: the works of St. John of the Cross, Rumi, Kabir, Mirabai, and Omar Khayyam. In this book Paramhansa Yogananda -the great master of yoga and author of the classic Autobiography of a Yogi-shares his exquisitely beautiful thoughts and words filled with longing for the divine. Yogananda was not only a spiritual master, but a master poet, whose poems revealed the hidden divine presence behind even everyday things.

Each of these prayer-poems has been spiritualized by this great man of God. Open this book, pick a poem at random, and read it. Mentally repeat whatever phrase appeals to you. Within a short time, you will see your consciousness transformed. This book has the power to rapidly accelerate your spiritual growth, and provides hundreds of delightful ways for you to begin your own conversation with God.

About the Book FOR THOSE OF ALL RELIGIONS looking for a practical way to feel God more closely in their lives, here is a nonsectarian devotional scripture that honors God in the form of Jesus Christ, Buddha, Moses, Mohammed, Krishna, and nature, and points us toward the singular spiritual highway of Self-realization. With imagery that is vividly beautiful and powerfully alive, Yogananda's prayers draw God into all aspects of everyday life, as the nearest and dearest Beloved.

Yogananda encouraged his disciples to read his Whispers from Eternity every day-that through these prayers, he would guide them after his passing. But this deeply moving book is not only for his disciples. As explained in the book's foreword: "The followers of all religions can drink from this fountain of universal prayers. These invocations are an answer to the modern scientific mind, which seeks God intelligently. The prayers in this book are presented in great variety, and therefore enable each one of us to choose those prayers best suited and helpful to our own particular needs." Whatever your spiritual path or religious tradition, you will find comfort and inspiration in Yogananda's Whispers from Eternity.

About the Author Paramhansa Yogananda was one of the best-known spiritual teachers of the twentieth century. His Autobiography of a Yogi, published in 1946 and printed in more than 20 languages, has touched the hearts of millions and remains the best-selling spiritual autobiography of all time. Yogananda was the first true yoga master to settle in the West. He lived in America from 1920 until his death in 1952. During the early years he crisscrossed the United States extensively on lecture tours during which many thou-sands thronged to hear the yoga master from India. He spent his later life teaching, writing, and directing an expanding world-wide work. Today, hundreds of thousands of seekers around the world consider them-selves to be his disciples.

About the Editor Swami Kriyananda has been a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda since 1948, and is widely considered one of the world's foremost experts on meditation, yoga, and spiritual practice. He has authored over 90 books on these topics, and is also the founder of Ananda Sangha, a worldwide organization that disseminates Yogananda's teachings. Ananda includes eight spiritual cooperative communities, in the U.S., Europe, and India; several guest retreat centers; and over 100 meditation groups worldwide.

Foreword In Whispers from Eternity, by Paramhansa Yo ananda, we are taught to pray to Our Heavenly Father by demanding, not begging, and thus not to limit ourselves to the way of beggary. The author explains at the start why our prayers are not always answered. All the property a father owns can be claimed by his son, but not by a beggar. That is why the author tells us that, in order to demand, we must first realize our forgotten identity with the Father in deep meditation; we must, by right living, remember that God made us in His image.

In this sacred book we are shown how to resurrect dead, old-fashioned-ironed prayers, and through their living qualities bring response from the Silent Almighty. Instead of parroting dead prayers, this book teaches us how to saturate our prayers with God-invoking love.

We are taught her how to avoid two extremes-egotistical guidance from the little self, and blind, passive dependence on God. It teaches us how to use our own God-given will power and concentration, guided not by our egos but by God, in making life successful in every way. Consequently, the author writes: "I will reason, I will, I will act; but guide you my reason, will, and activity to the right thing that I should do in everything."

The prayers in this book help to bring God closer by describing feelings that arise from direct God-contact. God is expressed here as something definite and tangible. The Cosmic Idol is a grand concept of the Infinite and Invisible made finite, tangible, and visible. Nature, man, mind, and all visible objects are taken as materials to build a magnificent Divine Idol on which we can con-cent rate easily.

The followers of all religions can drink from this fountain of universal prayers. These invocations are an answer to the modern scientific mind, which seeks God intelligently. The prayers in this book are presented in great variety, and therefore enable each one of us to choose those prayers best suited and helpful to his own particular needs.

My humble request to the reader is expressed in the following lines:

Pass not by, with hurried intellectual reading, the mines of realization hidden in the soil nourishing the word-plants in this sacred book. As the author tells us, dig into them deeply, daily and repeatedly, with the pickaxe of attentive, reverential, and meditative study. Then you will find the priceless gem of Self-realization.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages