Since we began offering yoga here in Olean I have had the opportunity to watch the health and agility of our students improve.  In several of you these changes have been quite dramatic and more than a little satisfying to us. 

   In addition to improving your overall health yoga raises your energy levels. You may not have noticed the degree to which this has occurred because it happened gradually and because you are probably using much of that new energy up.  

  It is a little like getting a raise.  Just because you get another $100 doesn’t mean you will save $100 more.  If you are like everyone else,  you will undoubtedly spend most of it.  Likewise, when you get more energy from yoga this doesn’t automatically  translate into a store of energy because you are likely to use most of it up as fast as it is created, especially at the beginning of your studies.

  In the early stages of yoga the extra energy will most likely translate into your getting more done though that is not necessarily true .  Simply having more energy does not mean it will be spent wisely any more than the mere possession of money guarantees anything useful will be done with that.

  In fact, sudden riches can buy you a lot of trouble.  History is replete with stories of people who weathered adversity well but could not handle success when they suddenly acquired wealth and fame.

  You rarely hear about it,  but most lottery winners quickly squander their windfalls and in a very few years find themselves in the same or worse circumstances than they began with.  The same thing can and does happen sometimes to people who suddenly acquire new abilities and powers.   There are a number of reasons for this, and there are a number of things which may be done about it.

  In our situation here at the yoga center the first of these things lies in gaining an understanding of the power each of you is now cultivating.  For each of you is cultivating a power you did not previously have and probably do not understand very well.   I wonder if you have any respect for that new power?

    Each of you is a different, stronger and more vital person than you were one or two or three or five years ago when we began this study.

  What we wish to bring to your attention now is the fact that this new energy you are developing will, in effect, turn on you if it is not used constructively.   This will not be the result of some  magical agency extracting vengeance but rather will be the consequence of perfectly obvious and natural changes.  At least they will be perfectly obvious if you stop and think about them.

   Power must always be kept under control and it is all the more dangerous if that power is not recognized.

  As you progress in your studies of yoga your health and the strength in your body will improve.   Anyone would have expected this or they would never have taken the class in the first place.   But there are other things which will change within you that are not so obvious.   Your energy levels will increase and your balance, intuition and focus will sharpen.

  You are going to discover that you can do things you simply could not do before and this will include far more than stretching and straining.   As your ability to focus and concentrate improves, as you learn to remain calm in the midst of distraction and stress you are going to be able to bring about changes in your life and surroundings that you could not do before.  For you are changing the level at which your energy system operates and you are starting to use it in a different way.  You began that new way on the day you experienced your first meditation.

   It is important that you use this energy to bring things into your life that you really want to be there.  Of course none of you would deliberately bring unpleasant, evil things into your lives but I must warn you that it is now more important than ever to keep your mind focused on positive constructive things than it was in the past. Whether you have realized it yet or not, you now have a more developed and powerful mind than it used to be.  A mind which is beginning to open to the possibilities of a broader and vastly richer existence and a mind more likely to bring the things it focuses on into existence.  Meditation will do this.  So be sure to keep your mind focused on things you really want to be there.

   It is also important that you be told at this time about the law of AMRA so that you can more effectively fulfill your responsibilities as a receiver of the light.  You have probably never thought of yourself as a receiver of the light but this is exactly what you are doing right now.  Moreover, you are also going to become what we might call a carrier of the flame yourself in the not too distant future, if you are not doing so already.

  This does not involve doing great and heroic things.  It involves a life well lived.  It involves giving a kind word and a helping hand where that is needed and deserved and just being a good person.  It involves doing the things enlightened beings have always done through out history.   

   This does not require any special training, at least none of the ordinary kind we would associate with doing so called important things.  In our society we venerate technical skills and social position but the fact is that many people who found themselves in very humble positions with limited education have done far more for the advancement of civilization and the general well being of mankind than some of the individuals who normally get credit for such things.

   We humans are ill equipped to understand what our real place and contributions to this world are.  For example, the people who invented and developed and installed the flush toilet probably saved more lives than all of the doctors who ever lived.  Their work may not have seemed like it was very glorious, but in the grand scheme of things it turns out that it was a lot more important than any of them thought it was.

  Consequently it is important that you do not underestimate the importance of what you might have to contribute to the world and it is with that in mind that we are going to tell you about the law of AMRA .

   The Law of AMRA mandates that we always share some portion of what has benefited us with others.   It also requires that we contribute to the general good and that we avoid living a totally selfish existence. 

  In proposing this we are not suggesting that there is any reason you should not share in the abundance of this earth,  or have your own basic needs met and enjoy some or many of the luxuries of life.  But it is important to share some of that good fortune with others or you may find the abundance to be less forthcoming at some time in the future.

   This is one of the reasons we hold high lodge sessions.  It is a way of uniting in our efforts and sharing what we have learned and gained with others.   The real purpose of a high lodge session is for sharing our energy and radiating light and love into the world.

  You have already been cautioned not to underestimate the importance of what you could contribute to the world, for what you have to give and share here tonight is important.  In uniting thusly we constitute a force for good that is more powerful than you can possibly imagine at this point.

  In the weeks ahead we will begin to study the bodies energy system and workings but for tonight we shall proceed with what we already have and know.  

  Let us then begin and unite in meditation. Let us radiate energy and love into the world and thus share with others some portion of what we have each gained from our studies here.

  In doing this you will learn a great lesson for it is unlikely that many of you realized  you could radiate peace,  love and joy into the world until this very moment.