| Autobiography of a Yogi |
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| Written by Amita Sarwal | |||||||
| Wednesday, 06 February 2008 | |||||||
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By Parmahansa Yogananda © 1946 renewed 1974 Self-Realization Fellowship Jaico Publishing House, India  I won’t say Autobiography of a Yogi ‘changed my life’, but yes, it made me believe that miracles do happen to those who are on a higher plane, like my Gurumaa is – for as the author Parmahansa Yogananda says, “The method [to analyze], alas, is beyond the reach of the world’s hungry hordes.” Written in first person in an anecdotal manner, Yogananda’s first personal trauma was when his mother died. The 11-year-old lad considered had lost his “dearest friend on earth”. He had a vision of her, beckoning him and his father, the night before she died. Later, Yogananda, born in India in 1893, states that in a spiritual vision God, in the aspect of Divine Mother, told him, "It is I who have watched over thee, life after life, in the tenderness of many mothers. See in My gaze the two black eyes, the lost beautiful eyes, thou seekest." The first indication that the young Mukunda (Yogananda) was ‘special’ is from his mother’s letter which he gets 14 months after her death. She speaks of the “phenomenal events following your birth. I first knew your destined path when you were but a babe in my arms.” She had taken him to the home of her guru Lahiri Mahasaya in Banaras, who on blessing him says: “Little mother, thy son will be a yogi. As a spiritual engine, he will carry many souls to God’s kingdom.” As a student Mukunda and his three friends tried to run away from home to find their guru in the Himalayas. But he met his guru Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri later when he was 17 years old. Prior to that it was his parents’ guru, Lahiri Mahasaya, who was also Sri Yukteswar's guru. These two sages had a far-reaching collective influence on the young Yogananda. Once Parmahansa Yogananda asked his Master: “Please permit me to go to the Himalayas. I hope in unbroken solitude to achieve continuous divine communion.” And his Guru replied: “Many hillmen live in the Himalayas, yet possess no God-perception. Wisdom is better sought from a man of realization than from an inert mountain.” Taking this as consent, rather than the fact that he, the Guru was the teacher rather than an inert mountain, Yogananda prepared to go to the mountains. While on his journey, a stranger met him and in the course of the conversation said “Masters are under no cosmic compulsion to live on mountains only. As soon as the devotee is willing to go even to the ends of the earth for spiritual enlightenment, his guru appears nearby.” This reminded the seeker of his earlier meeting with Sri Yukteshwar in Banaras (Varanasi) when he asked: “Are you able to have a little room where you can close the door and be alone?” And to the boy’s “Yes”, the guru continued: “That is your sacred mountain. That is where you will find the kingdom of God.” The memory of these words, and the words of the stranger (a form of Swami Yukteshwar?), instantaneously banished Yogananda’s lifelong obsession for the Himalayas! Yogananda's relationship with Sri Yukteswar was a strongly binding one. The young man spent almost 10 years imbibing the teachings of his guru – and what was his ultimate goal, that of spreading the science of Kriya Yoga to the west. Yogananda manifested this in the form of a boys’ yoga home in the plains of Ranchi, India; an American headquarters on a hilltop in Los Angeles, and finally a Pacific-facing hermitage in Encinitas, California. Kriya Yoga is explained as "… an ancient science. A simple, psycho-physiological method by which the human blood is decarbonized and recharged with oxygen. The atoms of this extra oxygen are transmuted into life current to rejuvenate the brain and spinal centers. By stopping the accumulation of venous blood, the yogi is able to lessen or prevent the decay of tissues; the advanced yogi transmutes his cells into pure energy. Elijah, Jesus, Kabir and other prophets were past masters in the use of Kriya or a similar technique, by which they caused their bodies to dematerialize at will.” The book is studded with miraculous events which Yogananda's experienced or knew of. Yet, he tries to give a logical understanding of these by analyzing and explaining the rationale between the super powers of saints, and the association between God, science and religion. In 1920, the 27-year-old Swami Yogananda left for America to attend a religious conference, and then spent the rest of his life there, with a brief visit to India in 1935-1936. Seeking his guru’s permission to go, he was told: "All doors are open for you. It is now or never." The Swami then received finance for the trip from his father who said "I give you this money not in my role as a father but as a faithful disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya. Go then to that far Western land spread there the creedless teachings of Kriya Yoga." Swami Yogananda continued to set-up centres to propagate his teachings but his prime interest was in guiding individuals to direct communion with Divinity. The Swami also recounts his meetings with illustrious personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose, Luther Burbank, among many others from across the world. A memorable book which will make you have more faith in yourself | |||||||
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