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Outwitting the Stars
A guru’s work in the world is to alleviate the sorrows of mankind, whether through spiritual means or intellectual counsel or will power or physical transfer of disease. Escaping to the superconsciousness whenever he so desires, a master can become oblivious of physical illness; sometimes, to set an example for disciples, he chooses to bear bodily pain stoically. By putting on the ailments of others, a yogi can satisfy, for them, the karmic law of cause and effect. This law is mechanically or mathematically operative; its workings may be scientifically manipulated by men of divine wisdom.
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“Every religious or philosophical practice means a psychological discipline, that is, a method of mental hygiene. The manifold, purely bodily procedures of Yoga11 also mean a physiological hygiene which is superior to ordinary gymnastics and breathing exercises, inasmuch as it is not merely mechanistic and scientific, but also philosophical; in its training of the parts of the body, it unites them with the whole of the spirit, as is quite clear, for instance, in the Pranayama exercises where Prana is both the breath and the universal dynamics of the cosmos….
CHAPTER 26 The Science of Kriya Yoga
Kriya Yoga is thus “union (yoga) with the Infinite through a certain action or rite (kriya).” A yogi who faithfully practices the technique is gradually freed from karma or the lawful chain of cause-effect equilibriums.
Chapter 26 is very technical and refers to medical therapy to control the breathing function.
CHAPTER 27 Founding a Yoga School in Ranchi
The boys at Ranchi responded well to Yogoda training, developing extraordinary ability to shift the life force from one part of the body to another part and to sit in perfect poise in difficult asanas (postures).2 They performed feats of strength and endurance that many powerful adults could not equal.
CHAPTER 28 Kashi, Reborn and Discovered
The equilibrating law of karma, as expounded in the Hindu scriptures, is that of action and reaction, cause and effect, sowing and reaping. In the course of natural righteousness (rita), each man, by his thoughts and
CHAPTER 29 Rabindranath Tagore and I Compare Schools
“The scholars severely flayed Tagore for introducing a new style into Bengali poetry,” I began. “He mixed colloquial and classical expressions, ignoring all the prescribed limitations dear to the pundits’ hearts. His songs embody deep philosophic truth in emotionally
Tagore and I were soon deep in a comparative study of our schools, both founded along unorthodox lines. We discovered many identical features — outdoor instruction, simplicity, ample scope for the child’s creative spirit. Rabindranath, however, laid considerable stress on the study of literature and poetry, and on the self-expression through music and song that I had already noted in the case of Bhola. The Santiniketan children observed periods of silence but were given no special yoga training.
This conception brings us to the law of miracles.
In this chapter I have given the Vedic explanation of maya, the magical power of illusion that underlies the phenomenal worlds. Western science has already discovered that a “magic” of unreality pervades atomic “matter.” However, it is not only Nature, but man also (in his mortal aspect) who is subject to maya: the principle of relativity, contrast, duality, inversion, oppositional states.
Sri Yukteswar went on to read the marvelous story of Lazarus’ resurrection.
“Lahiri Mahasaya resurrected one of my friends from the dead.”
“My first meeting with Babaji took place
Kriya Yoga is more than a meditation technique; it is also a way of life, and requires acceptance by the initiate of certain spiritual disciplines and injunctions.
The testimony of the Hindu scriptures, however, is that the science of Yoga has been known in India for untold millenniums.
“‘Child,’ the master said, though apparently I was nearly twice his own age, ‘for the faults of the many, judge not the whole. Everything on earth is of mixed character, like a mingling of sand and sugar. Be like the wise ant that seizes only the sugar, and leaves the sand untouched. Though many sadhus here still wander in delusion, yet the mela is blessed by a few men of God-realization.’
DURING HIS 32 YEARS IN THE WEST, THE GREAT GURU INITIATED MORE THAN 100,000 STUDENTS IN YOGA
PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA AT THE WHITE HOUSE Paramahansa Yogananda and Mr. John Balfour leaving the White House after a call on President Calvin Coolidge, who is looking out of the window. The Washington Herald, January 25, 1927, reported: “Swami Yogananda was...greeted with evident pleasure by Mr. Coolidge, who told him he had been reading a great deal about him. This is the first time in the history of India that a Swami has been received officially by the President.”
The great scientist had received Kriya initiation during one of my earlier visits. “I practice the technique devoutly, Swamiji,” he said.
Listing “burbank” as a transitive verb, Webster’s New International Dictionary defines it: “To cross or graft (a plant).
“The Little Flower.” Later Therese Neumann’s limbs were instantaneously healed. (3) From 1923 onward, Therese has abstained completely from food and drink, except for the daily swallowing of one small consecrated wafer. (4) The stigmata, sacred wounds of Christ, appeared in 1926 on Therese’s head, breast, hands, and feet. Every Friday1 she experiences the Passion of Christ, suffering in her own body all his historic agonies. (5) Knowing ordinarily only the simple German of her village, during her Friday trances Therese utters phrases which scholars have identified as ancient Aramaic. At
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and truth. Evil is pointed out to them as being that which produces misery; good as those actions which result in true happiness.
State of Mysore. The Maharaja’s2 heir, H.H. the Yuvaraja, Sri Kantheerava Narasimharaja Wadiyar, had invited my secretary and me to visit his enlightened and progressive realm.
The yogi received calmly this fairly compulsive invitation, and “did not so much as lift up
Swami Keshabananda (standing, left), a ninety-year-old disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya; Yoganandaji; and C. Richard Wright, Sri Yogananda’s secretary, at Keshabananda’s ashram, Brindaban, 1936
“Have you heard that your Master is gone?”
vows taken by all of the Mahatma’s earnest followers (satyagrahis):
“The more weapons of violence, the more misery to mankind,” Lao-tzu taught. “The triumph of violence ends in a festival of mourning.”
6 Harmlessness; nonviolence; the foundation rock of Gandhi’s creed.
“I think the greatest discovery will be made along spiritual lines,” Steinmetz replied. “Here is a force which history clearly teaches has been the greatest power in the development of men. Yet we have merely been playing with it and have never seriously studied it as we have the
1 Ananda Moyi Ma was born in 1896 in the village of Kheora in the Tripura District of east Bengal.
“Sir, whither are we bound this morning?”
“God willing,” I replied devoutly, “we are on our way to see an eighth wonder of the world — a woman saint whose diet is thin air!”
“It is true.” His gaze was open and honorable. “In more than five decades I have never seen her eat a morsel.
“Tell me, Mother, from your own lips — do you live without food?” “That is true.” She was silent for a few moments; her next remark showed that she had been struggling with mental arithmetic. “From the age of twelve years four months down to my present age of sixty-eight — a period of over fifty-six years — I have not eaten food or taken liquids.”
CHAPTER 47 I Return to the West
The London yoga students loyally organized themselves, after my departure, into a Self-Realization Fellowship center, holding their meditation meetings weekly throughout the bitter war years.
CHAPTER 48 At Encinitas in California
A mantel over the huge fireplace of the hall holds pictures of Christ, Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Sri Yukteswar; bestowing, I feel, their blessings on this tranquil Western ashram.
The large estate in Encinitas, California, is a gift to Self-Realization Fellowship from Mr. James J. Lynn, a faithful Kriya Yogi since his initiation in January 1932. An American businessman of endless responsibilities (as head of vast oil interests and as president of the world’s largest reciprocal fire-insurance exchange), Mr. Lynn nevertheless finds time daily for long and deep Kriya Yoga meditation. Leading thus a balanced life, he has attained in samadhi the grace of unshakable peace.
man cannot meditate.’ That is not true,” Yoganandaji said. “Since Mr. Lynn first received Kriya Yoga, I have never seen him when he was not inwardly communing with God.”
A Church of All Religions in Hollywood, California, was built by Self-Realization Fellowship workers and dedicated in 1942. A year later another temple was founded in San Diego, California; and, in 1947, one in Long Beach, California.
The Indian Ambassador to the United States, Mr. Binay Ranjan Sen, with Sri Yogananda at Self-Realization Fellowship International Headquarters, Los Angeles, March 4, 1952 — three days before the passing of the great yogi. In a eulogy at the funeral on March 11, Ambassador Sen said: “If we had a man like Paramahansa Yogananda in the United Nations today, probably the world would be a better place than it is. To my knowledge, no one has worked more, has given more of himself, to bind the peoples of India and America together.”
