Holy
Ghost!
“So
the AUM, or Holy Ghost creates all things, preserves them in the
myriad forms, and ultimately dissolves them in the sea-bosom of God
to be again re-created—a continuing process of renewal of life and
form in the ongoing cosmic dreaming of God.”
Paramahansa
Yogananda (The Yoga of Jesus)
When
I was a child, I thought the “Holy Ghost” was creeping around
watching me and would know right away if I made a sinful mistake.
Just the name made me feel exposed. This all-powerful, invisible,
omnipresent 'ghoulie' was everywhere. Even today, I prefer the name
“Holy Spirit” when I want to think about the aspect of God that
cannot be seen and yet permeates all that is.
In
the language of Yogananda, AUM signifies spirit's role in the
creative process. The A stands for akara, or creative
vibration; U for ukara, or preservative vibration; and M for
makara, the vibrational power of dissolution. We can think of
the “Holy Ghost” then as the creator, preserver and receiver of
life. When we understand it that way, it's not so creepy after all.
Other words attached to it are Amen (And so it is, or may it be so.)
and “Word”. In the Vedas of Yogananda's Hindu religion, Word is
Vak, and just as in the Gospel of John (“In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”), Vak is
the creator, and the Brahman, God.
In
our day-to-day life, we tend not to think about any of this; but if
we were to put it into our awareness, how different ordinary things
would seem. If we saw a tree and realized that it radiates holiness,
or a squirrel, also a creation of Vak, would we feel differently
about them? Would we somehow come to realize what a perfect world God
has created—one with rivers and oceans, mountains and valleys,
winged ones and finned-ones and fleet-footed, all vibrating with
spirit. Seasons, infused with creative energy, that come and go as
the Earth turns. Creation, preservation, dissolution, rebirth. How
holy is that when you really think about it?
Spring
is upon us. The the season of rebirth. The earth wakes up, nature
comes alive and we, ourselves, feel an up-tic in our vitality. Let us
be aware that the “Holy Ghost” is alive and well on planet Earth.
In
the spirit,
Jane
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