Article Highlights:

  • What is a Divine Friendship?
  • Do you have any Divine Friends?
  • How to discover your Divine Friends

divine friendsI’m offering a new phone/zoom NorthStar session at a special price. It’s 50- minutes long and tailored to your individual needs.  Practical yet inspired information comes through from numerous sources to assist you.  See the PS below for details. 

Dear Potential Divine Friend,

There are friendships that grow through a succession of lifetimes, not just in this one.  Such a friendship has an unusual opportunity to become a Divine Friendship, a type of friendship that the Indian guru, Yogananda, often spoke about: 

“Make every effort to rediscover your friends of past incarnations, whom you may recognize through familiar physical, mental, and spiritual qualities. Try to resume such friendships, begun in a preceding incarnation, and perfect them into divine friendship.”

He speaks of friendships that continue through lifetimes in this way,

“Many, many people that I have met in this country, and in India and elsewhere, I have known before. The friendship is even stronger now. It was not finished in past lives, and continues to evolve in this life. Friendship is the highest form of love. As such, it is meant to evolve into the divine manifestation of God’s eternal love.”

He elaborated on the nature of divine friendships by saying,

“When true friendship exists between two souls and they seek spiritual love and God’s love together, when their only wish is to be of service to each other, their friendship produces the flame of Spirit. Through perfected divine friendship, mutually seeking spiritual perfection, they find the one Great Friend.”

When he says “friendship that produces the flame of Spirit,” he’s speaking of one that centers around shared spiritual commitment and goals. Famously, Rumi had such a friend, Shams of Tabriz. His writings about and to Shams are filled with love.  Shams is generally credited with being Rumi’s teacher.  So it was a Teacher-student friendship that progressed to divine friendship. This can happen but is less common.   

They apparently used the powerful technique of gazing together – each seeing with and expressing the Divine Light of God though their eyes.  This is reported to be the means by which Rumi actually achieved enlightenment.

Yogananda, living in celibacy in spiritual community (for lifetimes) naturally calls friendship the highest form of relationship. But of course, relationships with the potential to become divine friendships may express first as friendships, then perhaps as one’s life partner, or another life time as parent or child of one’s developing divine friendship.

How then do you discover such a friend?  On this, Yogananda has a suggestion,

“Seek your friends of past incarnations in order that you may continue your friendship with them in this life, and perfect it into divine friendship. One lifetime is not always sufficient to achieve the perfection of unconditional divine love between friends.

… If you are seeking such friends, pray to God: “Lord, lead me to those who are friends of the past, that I may continue with them the friendship that was interrupted through separation by death. Send such friends to me, because I want to help them with thought of Thee.  (and visa versa, I might interject)

That is a wonderful ideal, isn’t it? To have friendship not for idle talk and useless pastimes, but to develop the ultimate friendship with God. Only on that plane of sincere friendship will you find lasting happiness with any other soul.  … As such, it is meant to evolve into the divine manifestation of God’s eternal love.”

In the first paragraph I shared of his he gives pointers on recognizing such a friend but here are a few added words on this – and how to be such a friend,

If you can be a friend to all, unconditionally, that is divine love. Not many in this world find true friends; 

It is an unconditional relationship between two or more souls: they may be unrelated, or family members, or marriage partners. It is best formed between souls who are seeking God or who have found God.

True friendship may be developed between woman and woman, man and man, or man and woman. The important consideration is that it be based upon soul qualities, not only worldly qualities or attractions of the flesh.

… Friends that harmonize spiritually with you are therefore very important. No matter what difference of opinion there is between you and such friends, there is always understanding and communication. In that relationship, regardless of differing views, you have mutual respect and cherish your friendship above everything else.

So, when you meet people, be watchful. Notice your first reaction to them. This tells you much about whether you knew those individuals before. It is not an emotion. When you feel in your heart a deep harmony with another person, then you know that you knew each other before.   

Yogananda  — Read more

Obviously, the opportunity to develop as divine friends doesn’t exist with all friends, only a very few – only those with whom, firstly, there ultimately develops an equal interest in fulling knowing and expressing that which is God.  

Secondly each must have the maturity to lovingly consider one another’s spiritual advancement as primary to any friction and problems that occur, knowing that every difficulty is a unique opportunity to grow together in higher Divine Love. 

The exchange within such friendship, then, creates moments for expression and deepening in spirit – they may receive divine messages for one another, make ceremony together, share struggles and triumphs on their spiritual path.  And above all, they are committed to offering Love to one another – as unconditionally in every moment as possible. 

Look at your friendships now, which might have the potential to become this. 

Remember, such a friendship is a development over time. And so in a given lifetime it might not be fully developed. Sometimes you are sharing intensities or difficulties that form a bond but don’t go further. So a divine relationship in progress might not even appear spiritual right now. Other lifetimes you might build on that by sharing a project or experience for a while, or having the same spiritual teacher at some point along the way, or being siblings.

As a final thought, I wonder… when we are longing for the bond of community – as discussed last week – could it be Divine relationship with others that is the real basis for that longing? If so, when longing for community – or praying to have a divine relationship – it’s good to wonder, “Am I capable of deep commitment to Love and ready to truly challenge myself to offer unconditional loving during personality struggles rather than judgment, gossip and affront?” Something to think about.

Friendship. Yumm.  (And ouch!) It’s something wonderful to consider, isn’t it?

In loving friendship, 

X💜Mayet MaHulili Leilani 

PS – If you have resistant patterns or pressing questions and concerns that are interfering with your joy, my new special is a good session for you.  If you have health concerns, it’s a great session for healing.  If you have a goal or project you’d like to explore, or you want to understand your current focus and direction better, it’s a good session for these too.  Until the end of February, the session is only $69.  Write me at MayetLeilani@icloud.com for information or to schedule. 

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