Peace as Ever New Joy- #7 in the Peace Collection

I had been in a bit of a creative whirlwind.

The inspiration was coming faster than I could keep up. I would sit down to begin one painting, and another would land in my mind’s eye more urgently.

I didn’t want to lose the flow, so I followed it… but somewhere in there, I started to feel like I was falling behind.

This piece came right in the middle of that.

It was exhilarating and exhausting at the same time – have you ever felt that?

At the time of painting, I was about to begin a Kriya Yoga online course with Ananda. That thread was very much alive in me, and it was shaping what was coming through in my work.

Peace as Ever-New Joy is about self-realization, direct communion with the Divine.

The word yoga means union—union with God or whatever language feels true to you.

What many think of as yoga – the physical postures – that’s meant as preparation for comfortable seated meditation.

And meditation? That’s meant for communion.

This painting reflects that ultimate inner process of meditation.

Meditation is also enhanced by the work we do of bringing awareness, balance, and openness to the first six chakras (energy centres in our astral spine). But the seventh… that opening happens on its own, when the others are ready.

At the crown of the head, the lotus opens.

That opening points to a real moment in meditation—when awareness lifts beyond the body and mind, and there is a direct experience of union with the Divine.

It’s not about reaching for something outside of ourselves, but recognizing what has always been there.

It’s what Jesus, Yogananda, saints and other great masters have achieved. Christ Consciousness. And it’s what meditators across the planet are sitting for.

I’ve yet to come close to a calm mind when meditating in this fashion.

I can sit working on a painting with total focus for 18 hours, but sitting even 30 minutes with my eyes closed, focused on my breath and keeping a calm mind…. nope!

And that’s exactly why I joined the Kriya Yoga preparation course.

I’m hoping this style of meditation will help me on my journey.

The structure in this painting delighted me as it emerged.

The form was inspired by the roofs of the Ananda temples, which I had always found incredibly beautiful. You may remember it from my Temple Drum.

Here, it represents both the human body as a temple and the framework of a sacred life.

It holds the meditator.
It holds the practice.
It holds the path that brings us inward.

Above the meditator, the soul is surrounded by a circle of light.

What felt essential was that this light did not stay contained within the structure.

It expanded beyond the inner blue frame of the temple… into the gold, into all that is, connected with Truth, in union with the Divine.

Self-realization is not about perfecting techniques or staying within a structure. It is about letting go of all techniques and realizing oneness with all that is.

At the same time, the teachings remind us that the techniques prepare us. They steady the mind, open the body, and guide awareness—so that eventually, we can let them go and rest in the bliss of oneness.

There is peace here, but it is not static.

As Paramahansa Yogananda taught, when we are anchored in inner peace, we begin to experience an ever-renewing joy.

It’s a quiet, steady, living joy that continues to arise from within.

That is what this painting points to.

This painting sold before it was even finished.

It will be making its way to a collector in Newfoundland, along with three other pieces from my Peace Collection when I return on May 15th to the island to manage the Universal Law Mandala collection.

To have a painting find its home while it is still in process is an amazing feeling – a dream come true. It supports me as I keep going, keep trusting the flow, and continue painting what is being given.

This original painting may have found its home, but others in the collection are still available. You’re welcome to explore all my available pieces here in my online shop.  Prints on paper or canvas are also available of this painting and of many of my new paintings in my print-on-demand shop.

Is there one or more calling you?