In the Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda lists this Cosmic Chant as being among “a number of my compositions.”
He frequently used the expression “temple of silence”. Here are a few examples:
In his Praecepta Lessons, he writes: “The Christ-like Guru-preceptor, intuition, must come with the whip of self-control to drive away the materially busy, restless thoughts, and make the Temple of silence into a Temple of God…. Remember, until you have built the Temple of silence within yourself, until you have broken down the ramparts with which environment has surrounded you, you will never see the glory of God, you will never have real peace and lasting joy… Build the Temple of silence within yourself. There you will find God on the altar of your love, and there you will hear His voice.”
Again for the Praecepta Lessons he wrote a special prayer:
“I started to enter the temple of silence.
I switched off the dazzling, diverting lights
in the bulbs of eyes, ears, taste, smell, touch;
I told the blood-cleansing breath to make no noise,
I told the heart that it should enslave
my myriad cells with physical blood no longer,
for I heard Thy footsteps, o Divine Mother,
as Thou didst come,
bearing with Thee a cupful
of life-sustaining spiritual rays.
Feed me with them, o Divine Mother, ever more!
The heart, the cells, the mind, the thoughts,
will no longer waste with decay
for they are immortalized
with Thy everlasting Life.”
In Whispers of Eternity, he wrote: “In Thine one temple of silence, we are singing unto Thee a chorus of many-voiced religions.”
In Inner Culture (Nov. 1936), he prays: “All our devotion, all our love, all our soul’s craving, all our ambitions, we lay at Thy feet. Rouse our devotion, rouse our love, and in the light of Self-Realization teach us to behold Thy face within and without, in everything. Teach us to demand Thy presence, Thy contact, until we actually know that Thou are with us in the temple of activity, in the temple of silence, in the temple of every thought, every feeling, and, above all, in the temple of our love.”
LYRICS:
In the temple of Silence,
In the temple of Peace
I will meet Thee
I will touch Thee
I will love Thee
and coax Thee to my altar of Peace
and coax Thee to my altar of Peace.
In the temple of Samadhi
In the temple of Bliss
In the temple of Samadhi
In the temple of Bliss
I will meet Thee
I will touch Thee
I will love Thee
and coax Thee to my altar of Bliss.
WHEN TO USE THIS SONG:
Chant when restless, worried or angered.
SING ALONG:
Listen to the Master himself as he sings it in Bengali and English. The full album can (and should!) be purchased here.