Dear One,
Warm, loving, and joyous Christmas greetings to you — and to all of Paramahansa Yogananda’s worldwide spiritual family and friends! As we celebrate the nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ during this holy season, I pray that in the stillness of your meditations you perceive ever more deeply the boundless Christ-love of this beloved avatar, which continues to bless and spiritualize the entire global family.
Jesus carried within himself the immeasurable splendour of God’s universe-sustaining consciousness, yet perhaps what touches us most deeply is the humble simplicity with which he walked among humankind — radiating all-embracing compassion for every soul and embodying virtue in thought and action. He demonstrated through his example how we too can attune our lives to the will of God and respond divinely in every circumstance, becoming emissaries of love, light, and peace in our awakening world. Let us never underestimate the power of our own spiritual transformation. Every moment of communion with God, every pure thought, every selfless act sends out ripples of healing and harmony, uplifting humanity and contributing to its sanctification.
This Christmas marks the completion of the 100th anniversary year of the SRF Mother Center, the spiritual nucleus of our Guru Paramahansa Yogananda’s worldwide mission. This is the sacred site where he inaugurated the tradition of an annual All-Day Christmas Meditation to honour Christ — an opportunity for us to realize the birth of the universal Christ Consciousness within ourselves and to more fully reflect in our lives those soul qualities that Jesus so perfectly embodied — humility, forgiveness, and unconditional love towards all. During one of these meditations, Paramahansaji expressed: “If you offer your reverence continuously, with ever-increasing intensity, you will see and feel the presence of God today as you have never experienced it before.” May it be so for you!
As you immerse yourself in the soul-nourishing inner stillness of meditation, and celebrate the outer festivities of Christmas with family and friends, may the love of Christ overflow from your heart — spreading peace, goodwill, and happiness to those who cross your path.
You have my divine friendship and good wishes for a most blessed Christmas — and a New Year filled with ever-new joy and fulfilment.
In the love of God, Christ, and Gurus,
Swami Chidananda Giri
