Who Is Your Best Friend?
Jan 13, 2026I had a cool experience this holiday season. I was traveling, like so many others this time of year, but my trip started inauspiciously with the sudden hospitalization and terminal diagnosis of a close family member. The trip, already uncomfortably long, was being extended for a period of time yet to be defined.
When armed with only a suitcase in an unfamiliar space, I generally cannot feel at ease until I have figured out where I am going to meditate.
I examined the credenza at the foot of the guest bed – littered with a sea of knick-knacks. A porcelain bird, a glass table clock, a picture of a llama (yes, a llama), and some inspirational quotes about faith. Here I would set up what I like to call the “poor man’s altar” – a cardboard picture of the masters, a couple of cheap LED candles, and my trusty mala.
Observing the kitschy knick-knacks that I had failed to remove – the bird, the quotes… the llama… it was obvious these items didn’t support the energy I was trying to create. There was nothing bad about the items; they just weren’t my vibe – much less, I believe, the vibe of the Masters. Nor did it feel appropriate for the masters to share any space with them. One by one, the items went into a drawer, and the altar slowly started to look like an actual altar.
Busily worrying about what challenges the trip would soon present, when they would unfold, and how, I noticed I had missed an item: a porcelain sign hiding discreetly behind the picture of the masters. It said:
I get by with a little help from my friends.
Hmmm… perhaps this should stay… I thought to myself, chuckling, briefly recalling the catchy Beatles tune that inspired it.
I had never before thought to use the common word “friend” to describe individuals so exalted as our gurus. “Friend” more closely connoted the affable “chum”, the lovable “pal”, or perhaps the fair-weather “bar buddy”. The descriptor seemed too casual for God-Realized avatars like Jesus, Yogananda, Sri Yukteswar, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Babaji. But considering the label more carefully, I realized that these are my friends – my best friends, in fact. For they are uniquely dedicated to helping me achieve the one goal from which all other goals derive their meaning: finding God.
Ananda East LA’s theme for 2026 is In Divine Friendship. But what is a friend, in this context? The answer is described in the compilation of Swamiji’s collected letters of counsel and reflection, also titled In Divine Friendship…Coincidentally, the only book that I packed before hurrying off to the airport.
Imagine someone who never judges, who loves you despite your faults, who sees you in terms of your highest spiritual potential, and is totally committed to helping you realize that potential.
Imagine someone who gives strength and understanding, seeking nothing in return, who offers, but never imposes, his views. Imagine someone who is always forgiving, respectful, and loving, even under the most adverse circumstances.
Receiving this type of friendship can be difficult because these Friends – our gurus – are here to help us uncover our own forgotten divinity, not to indulge the whims and fancies of our little ego, as would the aforementioned pals and chums. Human friendship generally asks for mutual comfort, shared identity, and a degree of ego-validation to help get through life. Divine friendship asks only for trust in God’s boundless intelligence. The Masters see past what we are to what we are meant to become – and then gently but firmly hold us to that standard, despite the discomfort that such expansion invariably brings.
Sometimes, when faced with challenging or especially scary karma, I shamelessly ask the masters if I can have a “pass” on it. That is, if I can somehow absorb the lessons that karma offers without having to endure the karma itself. The masters have not let me skip this karma, as I asked (they rarely do), but I have felt them very clearly with me, walking me through each day of it – and that is the greatest blessing of all.
2026 is all but guaranteed to bring us each our own unique set of trials and challenges, but we will get through them all… With a little help from our Friends.
In Joy,
Tony Gilbert
