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| Paramhansa Yogananda ( January 5 1893 - March 7 1952) |
Overview
Paramhansa Yogananda was named Mukunda Lal Ghosh and was the fourth of his siblings. At his 11 years of age, he lost his mother, and soon after he had a vision of Divine Mother. He told,
It is I who have watched over thee, life after life, in the tenderness of many mothers.Divine Mother remained the center of his devotion for the rest of his life.
Entering into Oneness
Mukunda Lal, was in search for his Guru, seeking after various saints mostly ended when he met, at his age of 17, his Guru, Swami Yukteswar Giri
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| Yogananda With Swami Yurteswar Giri |
In the Autobiography of a Yogi , it is quoted as
We entered a oneness of silence, words seemed the rankest superfluities. Eloquence flowed in soundless chant from heart of master to disciple. With an antenna of irrefragable insight I sensed that my Guru knew God and would lead me to Him. The obscuration of this life disappeared in a fragile dawn of prenatal memories. Dramatic time! Past, present and future are its cycling scenes. This was not the first sun to find me at these holy feet.
His Legacy
The Los Angeles Times regarded Paramhansa Yogananda as the
20th Century's first super star guruEven toady, almost a century after Yogananda's arrival in the United States,
he is still the best known and most beloved of all the Indian spiritual teachers who have come to the westaccording to Philip Goldberg, author of American Veda and the Life of Yogananda. Although Yogananda left this world in year 1952, his legacy still continues with million of devotees following his teachings on spirituality and Kriya Yoga all over the world.
Lahiri Mahasaya
Shyama Charan Lahiri , popularly known as Lahiri Mahasaya was an Indian Yogi and a disciple of |
| Shyama Charan Lahiri (September 30 1828 - September 26 1895) |
Mahavatar Babaji. He revived the yogic science of Kriya Yoga when he learned it from Mahavatar Babaji in 1861. SRF Magazine had published an article in 1961 One Hundred Years of Kriya Yoga. The article stated the prayer of Lahiri Mahasaya as
I pray that you permit me to communicate Kriya to all sincere seekers, even though at first they may not be able to vow themselves to complete inner renunciation. The tortured men and women of the world, pursued by the threefold suffering, need special encouragement. They may never attempt the road to freedom if Kriya initiation be withheld from them.Lahiri Mahasaya was also the initiator of Yukteswar Giri. Lahiri Mahaysaya was unlike traditional Gurus, he was a householder, married and raising his own family, He worked as an accountant for the Military Engineering Department of the British Indian Government. Lahiri lived with his family in Varanasi. He was regarded substantial spiritual Guru in the 19th Century.
He became known in the world again through Paramhansa Yogananda. In the Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda wrote that Mahavatar Babaji had chosen Lahiri Mahasaya to reintroduce the lost practice of Kriya Yoga to the world.
Lahiri Mahasaya prophesied that the infant Mukunda would become a yogi, and
as a spiritual engine, he will carry many souls to God's Kingdom.Trailanga Swami, the famous Indian saint, had acknowledged Lahiri Mahasaya as
Lahiri Mahasaya is like a divine kitten, remaining wherever the Cosmic Mother has placed him. While dutifully playing the part of a worldly man, he has received that perfect Self-realization which I have sought by renouncing everything – even my loincloth !He continued his role as an accountant, supporter of family and a teacher of Kriya Yoga until 1886, when he was able to retire on a pension. More and more visitors came to see him and he guided them sitting on his own home.
Over the years he gave initiations to variety of people from gardeners to kings to sanyasis to householders of all castes and religions.
His Guru's Influence
Both of his parents were followers of Lahiri Mahasaya, whose preeminent disciple, Sri Yukteswar Giri, later became Mukunda's guru. Although Mukunda wanted to join his guru's ashram right after graduating from school, Sri Yukteswar persuaded Mukunda to go to college and complete his studies. Sri Yukteswar believed Mukunda's higher studies was going to help him when he went to the West, as he was destined to do.
Mukunda heeded his guru's advice and graduated from Calcutta University in 1915. After his graduation. Mukunda was initiated into the monastic life and was ordained by Sri Yukteswar as Yogananda.
In 1920 Yogananda left for the United States in order to speak at the International Congress of Religious Liberals in Boston on October 6, 1920. According to the records that are available documenting his speech entitled The Science of Religion, Yogananda's talk was very well received. His speech was described as being fluent, forceful, deeply philosophical, and thought provoking. Very much like Swami Vivekananda before him. Yogananda asserted that he had not brought a creed or a dogma but rather a set of universal principles. He shared his vision of religion by stating that
religion is universal and it is one. we cannot possibly universalize particular customs and conventions, but the common element in religion can be universalized, and we can ask all alike to follow and obey it
Settlement in the US
After arriving in Boston, Yogananda fell to establish his home in the city itself. For this reason, he gave talks for a fee at venues like Boston's Jordon Hall, Havard University and the iconic Park Street Church and in New York at Town Hall, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and other major venues. By this time, Yogananda had already earned quite a name for himself as an eminent spiritual leader. Several famous people became his devotees.
On January 13, 1925, Yogananda gave his first lecture in Los Angeles at the prestigious Los Angeles Philharmonic Auditorium. The topic of the talk was
Mastering the Subconscious by Super-consciousnessThe Los Angeles Times reported that it was a sold out event, filling all 3000 seats in the auditorium. Yogananda fell in love with Los Angeles with its close proximity to the spectacular mountains and the majestic Pacific Ocean, and decided to relocate there. With donations from affluent disciples, Yogananda purchased a twelve acre land on a hill top near downtown Los Angeles, which became the
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| SRF International Headquarters |
International Center for Self-Realization Fellowship.
Yogananda told about the fellowship
Self-Realization is the knowing - in body, mind and soul - that we are one with the omnipresence of GodHis wealthy disciples also helped him to purchase other magnificent properties in different parts of Southern California in order to build monasteries, temples and administrative offices.
Among all the crown jewel is definitely the 10-acre property located in Pacific Palisades, which is known as the Lake Shrine Temple.
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| Lake Shrine Temple |
Its picturesque setting and serene ambience has made the Temple a favorite destination for tourists from all over the world.
The Book that Sparked A Spiritual Revolution
In 1846, Yogananda published Autobiography of a Yogi ( a free online reading link is available with the link)), which has changed the lives of millions. This book has been recognized as one of the 10
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| AY |
Commenting on Autobiography of a Yogi, Geoge Harrison said
If I hadn't read [the book], I wouldn't have a life
Even after more than seven decades since its publication, Autobiography of a Yogi has a wide appeal among the seekers.
Richard Salva commented that
Imagine Christ, Buddha or Krishna telling their life story in their own words. That is what you get when you read Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi
March 7, 1952
Yogananda left this world on this day, at Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, where he was attending a banquet to honour the Indian Ambassador Binay Ranjan Sen. According to several disciples, Yogananda had announced on March 6 that it was
Just matter of hours and [he] will be gone from this earthRight before Yogananda passed away. he had looked tenderly at his disciples in a way that suggested it was his last darshan (appearance). Yogananda had predicted, just before his demise, he prayed to God and recited a few lines from his own poems on India. With great emotion and a stirring delivery style, demonstrating yet once again his great oratorical prowess, he uttered the following lines,
Mortalfires may raze all her(quoted in Life of Yogananda)
homes and golden paddy fields;
Yet to sleep on her ashes and
dream immortality.
O India, I will be there!
God made the earth, and
man made confining countries
And their fancy-frozen
boundaries. Where Ganges,
woods, Himalayan
Caves, and men dream God
- I am hollowed' my body
touched that sod.
These were his last words. In the Life of Yogananda, Goldberg describes Yogananda's passing ;
His gaze went up to the kutastha chakra (Ajna Chakra) - the point between the eyebrows where attention was directed in his meditation techniques - and he collapsed on the floor.Based on the notarized statement of the mortuary director, Harry T Rowe, it's a mystery as to how Yogananda's did not show any
visual signs of decay, any physical disintegration, or any odor of decayfor several days after his demise.
Kriya Yoga
The science of Kriya Yoga is the foundation of Yogananda's teachings.
Kriya Yoga is union (yoga) with infinite through a certain action or the rite (kriya). The Sanskrit root of kriya is kri, to do. to act and react.
Yogananda gave a general description of Kriya Yoga in his Autobiography
The Kriya Yogi mentally directs his life energy to revolve, upward and downward, around the six spinal centers (medullary, cervical, dorsal, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal plexuses) which correspond to the twelve astral signs of the zodiac, the symbolic Cosmic Man. One-half minute of revolution of energy around the sensitive spinal cord of man effects subtle progress in his evolution; that half-minute of Kriya equals one year of natural spiritual unfoldmentSri Mrinalini Mata, the former president of SRF/YSS said,
Kriya Yoga is so effective, so complete, because it brings God's love – the universal power through which God draws all souls back to reunion with Him – into operation in the devotee's life
However Yogananda advocated in his Autobiography that actual technique should be learned from an authorized Kriyaban ( Kriya Yogi).
Paramhansa Yogananda's Perspective on Universal Spirituality
It is indeed remarkable that thousands of American became Yogananda's devoted followers at a time when the United States was extremely xenophobic and bigoted, especially towards non-Christian Spiritual Teachers who were often perceived as heathens and a threat to American culture. It was Yogananda's brilliant communication skill and marketing acumen that helped him to reach out to the American people despite the prevailing climate of prejudice and xenophobia.
He realized very early on that his predominantly Christian audience would reject a message that was all about Indian spirituality. So he made his rhetoric simple and relatable. He frequently referred the Bible and quoted Jesus Christ in his teachings to show the commonalities between the two religious traditions.
Since the congregation consisted mostly of educated Americans who appreciated scientific and rational thinking, Yogananda approached Kriya Yoga from a scientific perspective, persuading his congregation that the scientific Kriya Yoga of its lineage was the answer to freeing up the spiritual self from physical and mental distractions. Yogananda used advertising to promote his message to the American audience. He even broadcast Radio talks.
In his endeavors to persuade Americans to take up Kriya Yoga, he published his lessons in a catalogue form. Yogananda was a gifted speaker who came across as being warm, intimate, compassionate and most importantly genuine. It was his enthusiastic embrace of Jesus Christ and the Judeo Christian tradition that was a major reason for his acceptance in America.
In the highly acclaimed book Life of Yogananda, Philip Goldberg writes,
Yogananda was a strong man from the East who crossed the earth to stand face to face with the mighty West, saying Namaste with hands joined at his chest. But he was neither East nor West. He represented the universal Spirit that knows no border, breed, or birth. Through the strength of his character and his skillful transmission of perennial wisdom, he showed the way for millions
to transcend those and other barriers to the liberation of the soul.
Yogananda wrote down his aims and ideals for Self-Realization Fellowship / Yogada Satsanga Society as
In the conversation with Swami Kriyananda, Yogananda advocated Meditation practice
- To disseminate among the nations a knowledge of definite scientific techniques for attaining direct personal experience of God.
- To teach that the purpose of life is the evolution, through self-effort, of man’s limited mortal consciousness into God Consciousness; and to this end to establish Self-Realization Fellowship temples for God-communion throughout the world, and to encourage the establishment of individual temples of God in the homes and in the hearts of men.
- To reveal the complete harmony and basic oneness of original Christianity as taught by Jesus Christ and original Yoga as taught by Bhagavan Krishna; and to show that these principles of truth are the common scientific foundation of all true religions.
- To point out the one divine highway to which all paths of true religious beliefs eventually lead: the highway of daily, scientific, devotional meditation on God.
- To liberate man from his threefold suffering: physical disease, mental inharmonies, and spiritual ignorance.
- To encourage “plain living and high thinking”; and to spread a spirit of brotherhood among all peoples by teaching the eternal basis of their unity: kinship with God.
- To demonstrate the superiority of mind over body, of soul over mind.
- To overcome evil by good, sorrow by joy, cruelty by kindness, ignorance by wisdom.
- To unite science and religion through realization of the unity of their underlying principles.
- To advocate cultural and spiritual understanding between East and West, and the exchange of their finest distinctive features.
- To serve mankind as one’s larger Self.
How is the spiritual path is, if you give even a little time each day to meditation. Meditate intensely, morning and evening. Even fifteen minutes of meditation is better than no time at all.He has given 9 meditation guidelines also in the conversation . It can be seen here
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