Discourses Volume 4, 2017: Gateway to the Infinite

By Yogacharya David R Hickenbottom

"Re-union of soul and Spirit, after so long living in the Great Divorce from God, is the theme for this life-time. . . . To find the real resolution from suffering is the work we are here to do.

The key to gaining spiritual freedom . . . is the ability to learn from our experience. This ability to learn from e

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Cross and The Lotus Publishing
• Release date: Jun 20, 2024
• ISBN: 9781957811048

Yogacharya David R Hickenbottom

Yogacharya David Hickenbottom (1954-2019) met his guru Yogacharya Mother Hamilton, a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, when he was a youth of 20. Yogacharya David became a Reverend in 1984, and Mother Hamilton bestowed the Yogacharya title to David in 1989.The great Kriya Yoga lineage of India that came through Jesus, Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Sri Yukteswar to Yogananda, and then to Mother Hamilton, provides pathways to: an appreciation of, and a faith in, the everyday sacred, an understanding of higher dimensional wisdom, an integral intuitive knowing of spiritual truths, and the vibratory realms that permeate all that is, was, and will be.Yogacharya David says: "An inner pain brought me to the path most unwillingly, and this inner pain kept me on the path. I put my shoulder to the wheel." He faced the crux of the spiritual dilemma-how to shift from the ego-driven lower or smaller human nature to a larger and luminous existence, intuitively attuned to our deeper and broader-vast-spiritual nature, thereby discovering the Living Truth. With this intense striving for Truth and Bliss, and with his Guru's Grace, David was carried through many years of Mystical Crucifixion spiritual experiences. His year in silence (2000-2001) established an inner state of stillness that never left him-and finally led him to his full Self-realization.

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Preface

Yogacharya David, Puri, India, 2013.

Remember that you are a child of the Infinite, and in remembering this, you claim access to the realms of your greater Self.

Faith in God means that we keep our mind on Him; we think of His qualities of being all-powerful, all-conscious, everywhere present, all love, bliss, and joy. We know that He is above us, beside us, everywhere about us, and securely found within us. He is guiding us, and the events around us that lead us into His tremendous kingdom of heaven. Our faith brings us into harmony with Him, and we realize, in greater and greater measure, the truth of who and what He is, and of who and what we are. Faith such as this obliterates fear and makes us do all things in full confidence that He is ever with us, and we are ever in Him.

We must be mindful to keep ourselves in the current of God’s will. Getting caught in the wrong current could end in staid waters of depression, dangerous whirlpools of swirling, endless desire, or running into downed trees of painful situations that rip us to shreds. Sometimes, we must paddle hard to avoid a wayward current; other times, we are easily kept in the God-current by keeping our mind on Him. Really, once we find that passageway of God-awareness, it is much, much, easier than being subject to the world only.

Life, as we think of it, is the soul manifesting through the three bodies: physical, energetic, and causal. The purified body and mind are perfect instruments for the transcendent Divine Mind and are a blessing to ourselves and this world. Go beyond the three realms, seek out contact with the ever-pure, eternal Self — not so we can get God to do what we want, but that we may be an expression of what God wants us to be.

We are not here to lead a half-dead zombie life, sleepwalking through old habits that no longer serve us. Rather, we are here to live a dynamic life filled with love, light, and wisdom — a God-realized life.

One great lesson is that, when you make a determination and keep with it, especially when you invoke Divine Providence from the beginning, you attract invisible support for accomplishing your positive intention. Feel that you are not alone — God, the masters, angels, and invisible forces respond to your clarity and uplifting purpose. In this sense, there are no large or small goals, but only one goal, and that is the one in front of you now… Do not seek to have God on your side, but rather, know that you are on God’s side through deepened meditation and intuition. Then proceed forward and be His instrument with true purpose in all things.

— YOGACHARYA DAVID

The discourses for 2017 bring us Yogacharya David listening at even deeper levels to the God-call — the inner adesh to further explore Nature’s Cathedrals and to immerse in the dramatic healing power of wild spaces and nature’s great gifts of rocks, mountains, forests, rivers, sunshine, rain, and stars at night. It is as if his soul sought healing, solace, and wisdom from Mother Earth’s cathedrals and from the human-constructed houses of worship that he and Carla made pilgrimages to. It is as if an infinite gateway was being prepared, and that places of silence, steeped in nature’s dramatic, natural, and healthy frequency, provided an impetus for healing and repairing his body, preparing him for his ongoing dharmic path.

Yogacharya David speaks:

In truth, your life is an expression of infinite nature; you are meant to live in freedom, joy, love, and light. To tune into this greater Source, you must rise above your beliefs that you are small and your problems are big. It is true that on a human level, many things can come at you, and challenges can really stretch you, but you are not a human self only. You must remember that you are a child of the Infinite, and in remembering this, you claim access to the realms of your greater Self . . . Know yourself to be a citizen of the stars — there is no limit to consciousness . . . Your life is right-sized for you; you need only open yourself to all God wishes to manifest through you. Let go of fear, resentment, limiting beliefs, and know that your infinite Beloved is, even right now, actively manifesting all that you need to be in His likeness and in His image.

So, any time you are feeling too cramped in your living space, feeling the pressure of life, and that you are too small for the shoes you are wearing, then instantly recall who and what you truly are — a child of the Infinite — as such, you expand to be larger than the problems and challenges you face; you walk amongst the stars and vast resources are streaming to you in order for you to live your life exactly as it has been ordered from above. In that spaciousness, breathe freedom and know that God is the solution to every problem and His ingenuity for solving problems is even greater than yours for creating them! There is plenty of room for you to breathe, live your life, and be exactly who God designed you to be.

Go boldly forward, knowing that all is in His sweet hands, shaping your soul into His likeness and image with the utmost care. For you are not different from He: He cares for you even as you love the Infinite Beloved. It is love that gives to love — and the rose blooms in the desert.

In this series of Discourses, Yogacharya David blesses us with his wisdom and his deep understanding of both the perilous and glorious nature of a spiritual climb. A climb that can take us to the highest mountain summit. There, we may experience the joy that comes from attunement with Spirit; we too can learn how to reunite soul and spirit; we can reawaken to, and reclaim, our life purpose. Let us join Yogacharya David, and climb!

Gateway to the Infinite is the fourth in a six-volume series of Discourses composed by Yogacharya David between 2013 and 2019. The volumes are as follows:

Discourses — Volume One: 2013–14: Living a Spiritually Rich Life

Discourses — Volume Two: 2015: Re-Union of Soul and Spirit

Discourses — Volume Three: 2016: A True New Birth

Discourses — Volume Four: 2017: Gateway to the Infinite

Discourses — Volume Five: 2018: Standing on the Threshold of Eternity

Discourses ­ — Volume Six: 2019: Writing in the Book of Life

Regarding the use of images in this publication:

Yogacharya David put great care, creativity, time, and intention into selecting images to complement his writings in each and every posting. When preparing his Discourses for publication, we found that certain images from unknown sources or those found to be under copyright could not be included. Every effort has been made to feature replacement images as close as possible to Yogacharya David’s original selections. In a few instances where no similar substitute was available, a picture of Yogacharya David or a beloved saint has been offered instead.¹ Where we have placed substitute images is designated in the caption by a double asterisk **. For example: Yogacharya David at Anandashram, 2005.** Image attribution is in the Reference section at the end of this book

OM TAT SAT AUM

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1 Yogacharya David’s original discourses can be found at www.crossandlotus.com

Introduction

Yogacharya David, Haridwar, India, 2005.

Dear Aspirant,

Whenever you begin a journey, you usually start with a destination in mind, a means of conveyance, and a map or landmarks to indicate that you are on the right path. Those of us following this path have God (Self) Realization as our Goal of goals. Our means of conveyance is God-remembrance, such as chanting God’s Name, deepened meditation through Kriya Yoga, universal love and service, loving God, and discernment of Truth.

These writings often come in the early morning: a time when the day is quiet and fresh, an open page upon which to write. These thought-expressions come from an unfathomable Source, welling up from the quiet of the all-pervading Spirit. Reading these words has the power to lead you to the same Source from which they have flowed from within me.

The inspiration that fuels these writings comes to me with great power and clarity; however, mere words are incapable of holding all that is given. It is through inner attunement that the power in the words will lift you into the same Spirit that I experience in Super-consciousness, an uplifting power that is a passageway into realms divine.

Human words and thoughts are imperfect; it is only in pure Spirit that perfection is to be truly found. It is the purpose of these writings that we should rise together in the universal Spirit of God. Come, let us soar together and find truth and beauty unencumbered.

These discourses can act as markers upon your spiritual journey to make for safe and rapid progress. Unlike a scattered hunt and peck approach chosen by many, taking them on wild goose chases only to become thoroughly lost, you will receive teachings of the purest quality that speed you on the most direct path to realization. Obstacles arise that create challenges for your journey — you can find inspiration here to help you meet those challenges.

These writings contain notes from pilgrimages and journeys that also (reader alert here!) have lessons upon the path embedded in them.²

With deepest love and blessings on your journey,

Yogacharya David

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2 This Introduction comes from Yogacharya David’s Discourses 2013–14, Volume One: Living a Spiritually Rich Life.

Discourses

January

January 1

You All Are the Light of God

Good morning. Today is the New Year. We will have a happy New Year. You all are the light of God.

— Lillian Grace.

Little Lillian Grace’s parents found this message this morning on the family fridge. What a soul in God.

Have a blessed and joyous New Year. You truly are the Light of God.

January 4

Faith Obliterates Fear

Yogacharya David on a boat on the Ganges, Varanasi, India, 2005.**

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.³ President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (fdr) said this after the Pearl Harbor attack and at the beginning of the us entry into a world war for which it was vastly unprepared. At that moment, there were many reasons to be afraid, and yet he was exactly right in his statement. Chronic fear gets us nowhere and can render us inert or direct us in absolutely the wrong direction.

There are many triggers for fear, even at a time when we are not faced with such dire events as a world war. But whenever we are filled with fear (for whatever reason), it may as well be war. It is a war going on right within us. However, fear does have an opposite: faith. Many of the great warriors down through time had absolute faith in the fact that, if it is their time to die, nothing can stop it, and if it was not their time, nothing can bring death; so, either way, they could charge fearlessly into battle.

In modern life, most of us are not faced with mortal combat, but there are still battlefields of fear: money issues, sickness and disease, ostracizing loneliness, failure, looking stupid, and conflict; hence, so many battlegrounds upon which fear wages battle for possession of our hearts, minds, and souls. To avoid defeat in this war, we must look for allies that will enable us to win daily battles. Faith in fate, If it is meant to be, then it will be, is one ally. Faith can also be placed in the support of family or friends, societies, church, or government, and when things are desperate enough, even saints, angels, and/or God.

A favorite story of mine: a young boy was separated from his parents. The parents looked everywhere for him, then finally thought that their son had returned to their car. At last, they found him sitting on the car hood. When his dad approached his son, he asked, Were you scared? The boy responded, I was so scared, I prayed to God!

Well, it has to get pretty bad before people pray to God. It is an interesting point, and it is true, many people only turn to God when things are desperate. Why is that? Many people simply don’t see how useful it is to have a regular connection with God. Rather, prayer is something done at Sunday church, or in a crisis. Some may say a prayer before a meal; others have their children pray before sleep, but to think of conversing with God through the day would never occur to them, or this mode of God-conversation is thought to be just for religious fanatics — those people.

To see God as practical, even essential — — a workhorse in daily life — and to cultivate a faith that meets everyday needs, could be an enormous step for many. For me, it seems the most logical thing in the world. From the first thing in the morning to the last thought at night, God is part and parcel of my thoughts — of my being. Far from a weakness, it is my strength. God is my guide, friend, comforter, solver of problems, wise counselor, an ocean of love, and peace: my all in all — the most practical thing in my life.

Faith that God is guiding and controlling me, and the events in my life, frees me to act in the moment. I need only concern myself with how He is flowing through me here and now. And, if He makes me think of some future event or something from the past, then it is His Presence that is interwoven into those thoughts as well. What of finances, health, and every other possible problem area? They are in His keeping. Now, this does not mean I do not have a role to play. Quite the opposite. I am a co-creator with God, so my part is essential. However, the responsibility for how things go is not on my shoulders; it is on His. My part is to actively attune myself to His will and follow it perfectly.

Imagine floating down a river, as we used to do with our feet pointed downstream, or floating on inner tubes, or on rafts. The current is carrying us, but we must make adjustments to keep ourselves from running aground or colliding with dangerous obstacles. Being aware of currents on the river made for the safest floats. Just so, we must be mindful to keep ourselves in the current of God’s will. Getting caught in the wrong current could end in staid waters of depression, dangerous whirlpools of swirling, endless desires, or running into downed trees of painful situations that rip us to shreds. Sometimes, we must paddle hard to avoid a wayward current; other times, we are easily kept in the God-current by keeping our mind on Him. Really, once we find that passageway of God-awareness, it is much, much, easier than being subject to the world only.

Faith in God means that we trust, trust that whatever He brings is exactly right for us. We have faith in His guidance and wisdom and know that He is with us as a well-wisher, friend, and comforter. It does not mean that waters are always smooth and easy; but really, we do love an adventure. With God, the good ending of the adventure is always assured, but it is still an adventure.

Faith in God means that we keep our mind on Him; we think of His qualities of being all-powerful, all-conscious, everywhere present, all love, bliss, and joy. We know that He is above us, beside us, everywhere about us, and securely found within us. He is guiding us and the events around us that lead us into His tremendous kingdom of heaven. Our faith brings us into harmony with Him, and we realize, in greater and greater measure, the truth of who and what He is, and of who and what we are. Faith such as this obliterates fear and makes us do all things in full confidence that He is ever with us, and we are ever in Him.

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3 United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt stated this in his First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933.

January 5

The Master’s Birthday

Beloved Master Paramhansa Yogananda.**

Today, we celebrate the birth of Paramhansa Yogananda, one of the great spiritual personalities to inhabit this world, and a personal blessing to those of us who follow this Kriya path. Master Yoganandaji wrote this 70 years ago:

The characteristic features of Indian culture have long been a search for ultimate verities and the concomitant disciple-guru relationship. My own path led me to a Christlike sage whose beautiful life was chiseled for the ages. He was one of the great masters who are India’s sole remaining wealth. Emerging in every generation, they have bulwarked their land against the fate of Babylon and Egypt.

I find my earliest memories covering the anachronistic features of a previous incarnation. Clear recollections came to me of a distant life, a yogi amidst the Himalayan snows. These glimpses of the past, by some dimensionless link, also afforded me a glimpse of the future.

The helpless humiliations of infancy are not banished from my mind. I was resentfully conscious of not being able to walk or express myself freely. Prayerful surges arose within me as I realized my bodily impotence. My strong emotional life took silent form as words in many languages. Among the inward confusion of tongues, my ear gradually accustomed itself to the circumambient Bengali syllables of my people. The beguiling scope of an infant’s mind adultly considered limited to toys and toes.

Psychological ferment and my unresponsive body brought me to many obstinate crying-spells. I recall the general family bewilderment at my distress. Happier memories, too, crowd in on me: my mother’s caresses, and my first attempts at lisping phrase and toddling step. These early triumphs, usually forgotten quickly, are yet a natural basis of self-confidence.⁴

Thus begins the spiritual classic: Autobiography of a Yogi. Master continues his narrative with the time when he was eight, just after his healing of deadly Asiatic cholera by Lahiri Mahasaya.

Shortly after my healing through the potency of the guru’s picture, I had an influential spiritual vision. Sitting on my bed one morning, I fell into a deep reverie. What is behind the darkness of closed eyes? This probing thought came powerfully into my mind. An immense flash of light at once manifested to my inward gaze. Divine shapes of saints, sitting in meditation posture in mountain caves, formed like miniature cinema pictures on the large screen of radiance within my forehead.

Who are you? I spoke aloud.

We are the Himalayan yogis. The celestial response is difficult to describe; my heart was thrilled.

Ah, I long to go to the Himalayas and become like you! The vision vanished, but the silvery beams expanded in ever-widening circles to infinity.

What is this wondrous glow?

I am Iswara. I am Light. The voice was as murmuring clouds.

I want to be one with Thee!

Out of the slow dwindling of my divine ecstasy, I salvaged a permanent legacy of inspiration to seek God. He is eternal, ever-new Joy! This memory persisted long after the day of rapture.⁵

Master’s intense search for God, which took him to the feet of his great guru, Sri Yukteswarji, is now immortalized in his autobiography and has become a living testament in the changed lives of those who took Master as their guru. We are indeed blessed to have this seamless connection come to us through his beloved disciple, Mother Hamilton. The traditional guru-disciple relationship has been kept intact by Master’s and Mother’s total dedication to realizing God, and their compassion in passing that on to spiritually thirsty souls longing for that same realization. May Master’s light shine ever brighter, leading all sincere aspirants to the harbor of God-experience — eternal, ever-new Joy! Jai Guru and Happy Birthday Master!

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4 Autobiography of a Yogi (p. 3).

5 Autobiography of a Yogi (pp. 11–12).

January 12

Be an Expression of What God Wants

Mother Hamilton with David at his ordination as a minister, March 4, 1984.**

A unique feature of water is that you can find it in everyday conditions in liquid, solid, and gaseous states. This triune character of water can be compared to the nature of God’s creation on three different planes: solid being the material elements of this world, liquid references the fluid nature of life-energy, and gaseous is the subtle causal/idea realm.

The vast majority of people are focused on the solid-material nature of this world; some see the fluid-like movement of life-energy in and around things and people, and a few have the vision to see what cannot be seen by others, the thought-trons (Master’s terminology) behind all that is — a causal realm that is much larger and more profound than all other aspects of creation. We look about us and see the crystalized life-energy of this world, but there is so much more that is not visible to the naked eye.

The three aspects of creation can be polluted just like water. Today, the residents of large cities in China carry open umbrellas when it snows; the snow, as well as the rain, is so toxic that it is a health risk to the uncovered. The material, energetic, and idea realms can also become toxic and manifest as disease and darkness of every description: an energy of darkness may form around someone depressed, the mind may become filled with wicked thoughts, or the body may suffer due to past wrong actions.

The materially minded scientist says the brain manufactures the mind and consciousness: what we think, and even who we are, is a result of firing synapses. However, the spiritual scientist sees it quite differently. While it is true that a malfunctioning brain interferes with thought processes, just as a stroke destroys memory and blocks anatomical functions, the conclusion that the brain is the source of thought and awareness is a fallacy.

Think of a computer programmer creating an operational system. If the hardware stops working due to a malfunctioning circuit, the computer will no longer be able to carry out its purpose. However, though the programmer may be frustrated by this lapse in the computer, no one is substantively harmed by the glitch. Similarly, the soul operates through the physical form of a human body, and when disease makes the body unresponsive, the consciousness of the soul remains unchanged, although it cannot continue to fully operate in the body as before.

The truth of this was demonstrated to me by my Guru. Although she was deeply affected by multiple strokes, heart attacks, and a severe case of shingles on one half of her face, and she was not able to function in the body as she had before, she was still all that she had ever been in soul and Spirit. Being disturbed by what I saw as she sat in a wheelchair, paralyzed on one side, and open sores on the other, I went home to meditate. I demanded that God explain what was happening to my beloved teacher. For some time, I focused on the breath and the ajna in deepening meditation — suddenly, I saw Mother with inner sight: she was beaming and more beautiful than I had ever seen her before. A radiant light went out from her in every direction as far as I could see. Through thought transference, she said, Do you not know, I am now in my Light-body. And, indeed, she was, and is, a brilliant shining Light.

After that experience, I never again mistook Mother for her physical body; I knew she was so much more. She lived many years after that, and through sheer will, she regained so much of what she had lost during this terrible time. Mother, as with every one of us, is not limited to the body. We have an eternal soul — our part of God that is not born nor does it die — it cannot be burnt, drowned, or in any way changed or corrupted. No matter the choices we make, or the bad things we may have done (to ourselves or others), this pure element of divinity resides above the physical, energetic, and idea realms.

Life, as we think of it, is the soul manifesting through the three bodies: physical, energetic, and causal. The purified body and mind are perfect instruments for the transcendent Divine Mind and are a blessing to ourselves and to this world. Go beyond the three realms, seek out contact with the ever-pure, eternal Self — not so we can get God to do what we want, but that we may be an expression of what God wants us to be.

January 15

Listening and Learning

Swami Satchidanandaji holding Yogacharya David’s hands lifting him into bliss while love overwhelms his heart, Anandashram, 2007.

This is an email from Rebecca who has currently taken residence at our beloved Anandashram. I think that you, like me, will find inspiration and interest in her experiences. This email is used with permission. Following Rebecca’s email are some of my comments to her.

Hari Om, Dear Guruji!

Each day here is a snapshot of incredible beauty and Joy. How blessed I am that God has allowed me to have this time now to be intensely absorbed in communion with Him, within and without.

Some days ago, I asked Him, Lord, what would you like me to do today? He replied, To listen and to learn. So, I have taken this as my theme, not for that one day only, but for this whole time here. To listen I am paying close attention with my third ear, that being the medulla. I am using the technique you gave me which is to imagine it as a receptor the size of a dinner plate. One effect that has been most delightful from