living soul."¹⁸ The human body is composed of chemical and metallic substances that are also found in the "dust of the ground." The flesh of man could never carry on activity nor manifest energy and motion were it not for the life currents transmitted by soul to body through the instrumentality, in unenlightened men, of the breath (gaseous energy). The life currents, operating in the human body as the fivefold prana or subtle life energies, are an expression of the Aum vibration of the omnipresent soul.
The reflection, the verisimilitude, of life that shines in the fleshly cells from the soul source is the only cause of man's attachment to his body; obviously he would not pay solicitous homage to a clod of clay. A human being falsely identifies himself with his physical form because the life currents from the soul are breath-conveyed into the flesh with such intense power that man mistakes the effect for a cause, and idolatrously imagines the body to have life of its own.
Man's conscious state is an awareness of body and breath. His subconscious state, active in sleep, is associated with his mental, and temporary, separation from body and breath. His superconscious state is a freedom from the delusion that "existence" depends on body and breath.¹⁹ God lives without breath; the soul made in His image becomes conscious of itself, for the first time, only during the breathless state. When the breath-link between soul and body is severed by evolutionary karma, the abrupt transition called "death" ensues; the physical cells revert to their natural powerlessness. For the Kriya Yogi, however, the breath-link is severed at will by scientific wisdom, not by the rude intrusion of karmic necessity. Through actual experience, the yogi is already aware of his essential incorporeity, and does not require the somewhat pointed hint given by Death that man is badly advised to place his reliance on a physical body.
Life by life, each man progresses (at his own pace, be it ever so erratic) toward the goal of his own apotheosis. Death, no interruption in this onward sweep, simply offers man the more congenial environment of an astral world in which to purify his dross. "Let not your heart be troubled....In my Father's house are many mansions."²⁰ It is indeed unlikely that God has exhausted His ingenuity in organizing this world, or that, in the next world, He will offer nothing more challenging to our interest than the strumming of harps.
Death is not a blotting-out of existence, a final escape from life; nor is death the door to immortality. He who has fled his Self in earthly joys will not recapture It amidst the gossamer charms of an astral world. There he merely accumulates finer perceptions and more sensitive responses to the beautiful and the good, which are one. It is on the anvil of this gross earth that struggling man must hammer out the imperishable gold of spiritual identity. Bearing in his hand the hard-won golden treasure, as the sole acceptable gift to greedy Death, a human being wins final freedom from the rounds of physical reincarnation.
For several years I conducted classes in Encinitas and Los Angeles on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and other profound works of Hindu philosophy. Paramahansa Yogananda in the SRF Hermitage, Encinitas, California, July 1950 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."
PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA — "THE LAST SMILE" A photograph taken an hour before his mahasamadhi (a yogi's final conscious exit from the body) at a banquet held in honor of Ambassador Binay R. Sen of India, March 7, 1952, in Los Angeles, California. The photographer has here caught a loving smile that appears to be a farewell benediction for each one of the master's millions of friends, students, and disciples. The eyes that already were gazing into Eternity are yet full of human warmth and understanding.
Death had no power of disintegration over this incomparable devotee of God; his body manifested a phenomenal state of immutability. "Why did God ever join soul and body?" a class student asked one evening. "What was His purpose in setting into initial motion this evolutionary drama of creation?" Countless other men have posed such questions; philosophers have sought, in vain, fully to answer them. "Leave a few mysteries to explore in Eternity," Sri Yukteswar used to say with a smile. "How could man's limited reasoning powers comprehend the inconceivable motives of the Uncreated Absolute?²¹ The rational faculty in man, tethered by the cause-effect principle of the phenomenal world, is baffled before the enigma of God, the Beginningless, the Uncaused. Nevertheless, though man's reason cannot fathom the riddles of creation, every mystery will ultimately be solved for the devotee by God Himself."
He who sincerely yearns for wisdom is content to start his search by humbly mastering a few simple ABC's of the divine schema, not demanding prematurely a precise mathematical graph of life's "Einstein Theory." "No man hath seen God at any time (no mortal under 'time,' the relativities of maya,²² can realize the Infinite); the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father (the reflected Christ Consciousness or outwardly projected Perfect Intelligence that, guiding all structural phenomena through Aum vibration, has issued forth from the 'bosom' or deeps of the Uncreated Divine in order to express the variety of Unity), he hath declared (subjected to form, or manifested) him."²³
"Verily, verily, I say unto you," Jesus explained, "the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise."²⁴ The threefold nature of God as He demonstrates Himself in the phenomenal worlds is symbolized in Hindu scriptures as Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer-Renovator. Their triune activities are ceaselessly displayed throughout vibratory creation. As the Absolute is beyond the conceptual powers of man, the devout Hindu worships It in the august embodiments of the Trinity.²⁵
The universal creative-preservative-destructive aspect of God, however, is not His ultimate or even His essential nature (for cosmic creation is only His līlā, creative sport).²⁶ His intrinsicality cannot be grasped even by grasping all the mysteries of the Trinity, because His outer nature, as manifested in the lawful atomic flux, merely expresses Him without revealing Him. The final nature of the Lord is known only when "the Son ascends to the Father."27 The liberated man overpasses the vibratory realms and enters the Vibrationless Original.
All great prophets have remained silent when requested to unveil the ultimate secrets. When Pilate asked: "What is truth?"28 Christ made no reply. The large ostentatious questions of intellectualists like Pilate seldom proceed from a burning spirit of inquiry. Such men speak rather with the empty arrogance that considers a lack of conviction about spiritual values29 to be a sign of "open-mindedness." "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice."30 In these few words Christ spoke volumes. A child of God "bears witness" by his life. He embodies truth; if he expound it also, that is generous redundancy.
Truth is no theory, no speculative system of philosophy, no intellectual insight. Truth is exact correspondence with reality. For man, truth is unshakable knowledge of his real nature, his Self as soul. Jesus, by every act and word of his life, proved that he knew the truth of his being — his source in God. Wholly identified with the omnipresent Christ Consciousness, he could say with simple finality: "Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice."
Buddha, too, refused to shed light on the metaphysical ultimates, dryly pointing out that man's few moments on earth are best employed in perfecting the moral nature. The Chinese mystic Lao-tzu rightly taught: "He who knows, tells it not; he who tells, knows it not." The final mysteries of God are not "open to discussion." The decipherment of His secret code is an art that man cannot communicate to man; here the Lord alone is the Teacher.
"Be still, and know that I am God."²¹ Never flaunting His omnipresence, the Lord is heard only in the immaculate silences. Reverberating throughout the universe as the creative Aum vibration, the Primal Sound instantly translates Itself into intelligible words for the devotee in attunement. The divine purpose of creation, so far as man's reason can grasp it, is expounded in the Vedas. The rishis taught that each human being has been created by God as a soul that will uniquely manifest some special attribute of the Infinite before resuming its Absolute Identity. All men, endowed thus with a facet of Divine Individuality, are equally dear to God.
The wisdom garnered by India, the eldest brother among the nations, is a heritage of all mankind. Vedic truth, as all truth, belongs to the Lord and not to India. The rishis, whose minds were pure receptacles to receive the divine profundities of the Vedas, were members of the human race, born on this earth, rather than on some other, to serve humanity as a whole. Distinctions by race or nation are meaningless in the realm of truth, where the only qualification is spiritual fitness to receive.
God is Love; His plan for creation can be rooted only in love. Does not that simple thought, rather than erudite reasonings, offer solace to the human heart? Every saint who has penetrated to the core of Reality has testified that a divine universal plan exists and that it is beautiful and full of joy. To the prophet Isaiah, God revealed His intentions in these words: So shall my word [creative Aum] be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands (Isaiah 55:11–12).
"Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace." The men of a hard-pressed twentieth century hear longingly that wondrous promise. The full truth within it is realizable by every devotee of God who strives manfully to repossess his divine heritage. The blessed role of Kriya Yoga in East and West has hardly more than just begun. May all men come to know that there exists a definite, scientific technique of Self-realization for the overcoming of all human misery!
In sending loving thought vibrations to the thousands of Kriya Yogis scattered like shining jewels over the earth, I often think gratefully: "Lord, Thou hast given this monk a large family!" established by Paramahansa Yogananda for the dissemination of the Kriya Yoga science of meditation and spiritual living. (Publisher's Note) 6 Paramahansa Yogananda, also, told his students of East and West that, after this life, he would continue to watch over the spiritual progress of all Kriyabans (students of the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons who have received Kriya initiation). The truth of his beautiful promise has been proved, since his mahasamadhi, by letters from many Kriya Yogis who have become aware of his omnipresent guidance. (Publisher's Note)
7 "That voice is round me like a bursting sea: 'And is thy earth so marred, Shattered in shard on shard? Lo, all things fly thee, for thou fliest Me!... All which I took from thee I did but take, Not for thy harms, But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms. All which thy child's mistake Fancied as lost, I have stored for thee at home. Rise, clasp My hand, and come!'"
— Francis Thompson, "The Hound of Heaven" 8 The records of history present India, up until the 18th century, as the world's wealthiest nation. Incidentally, nothing in Hindu literature or tradition tends to substantiate the current Western historical theory that the early Aryans "invaded" India from some other part of Asia or from Europe. The scholars are understandably unable to fix the starting point of this imaginary journey. The internal evidence in the Vedas, pointing to India as the immemorial home of the Hindus, has been presented in an unusual and very readable volume, Rig-Vedic India, by Abinas Chandra Das, published in 1921 by Calcutta University. Professor Das claims that emigrants from
India settled in various parts of Europe and Asia, spreading the Aryan speech and folklore. The Lithuanian tongue, for example, is in many ways strikingly similar to Sanskrit. The philosopher Kant, who knew nothing of Sanskrit, was amazed at the scientific structure of the Lithuanian language. "It possesses," he said, "the key that will open all the enigmas, not only of philology but also of history." The Bible refers to the riches of India, telling us (II Chron. 9:21,10) that the "ships of Tarshish" brought to King Solomon "gold and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks" and "algum [sandalwood] trees and precious stones" from Ophir (Sopara on the Bombay coast). Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador (4th century B.C.), has left us a detailed picture of India's prosperity. Pliny (1st century A.D.) tells us the Romans annually spent fifty million sesterces ($5,000,000) on imports from India, which was then a vast marine power.
Chinese travelers wrote vividly of the opulent Indian civilization, its widespread education and excellent government. The Chinese priest Fa-Hsien (5th century) tells us the Indian people were happy, honest, and prosperous. See Samuel Beal's Buddhist Records of the Western World (India was the "Western world" to the Chinese!), Trubner, London; and Thomas Watters' On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, A.D. 629-45, Royal Asiatic Society. Columbus, discovering the New World in the 15th century, was in reality seeking a shorter trade route to India. For centuries Europe was eager to possess the Indian exports — silks, fine cloths (of such sheerness as to deserve their descriptions: "woven air" and "invisible mist"), cotton prints, brocades, embroideries, rugs, cutlery, armor, ivory and ivory work, perfumes, incense, sandalwood, potteries, medicinal drugs and unguents, indigo, rice, spices, coral, gold, silver, pearls, rubies, emeralds, and diamonds.
Portuguese and Italian merchants have recorded their awe at the fabulous magnificence throughout the empire of Vijayanagar (1336-1565). The glory of its capital was described by the Arabian ambassador Razzak as "such that eye has not seen, nor has ear heard of, any place to equal it on earth." In the 16th century, for the first time in her long history, India as a whole fell under non-Hindu rule. The Turkish Baber invaded the country in 1524 and founded a dynasty of Moslem kings. By settling in the ancient land, the new monarchs did not drain it of its riches. Weakened, however, by internal dissensions, wealthy India became the prey in the 17th century of several European nations; England finally emerged as the ruling power. India peacefully attained her independence on August 15, 1947.
Like so many Indians, I have a now-it-can-be-told story. A group of young men, whom I had known in college, approached me during World War I and urged me to lead a revolutionary movement. I declined with these words: "Killing our English brothers cannot accomplish any good for India. Her freedom will not come through bullets, but through spiritual force." I then warned my friends that the arms-laden German ships, on which they were depending, would be intercepted by the British at Diamond Harbour, Bengal. The young men, however, went ahead with their plans, which proceeded to go awry in the manner I had foreseen. My friends were released from prison after a few years. Abandoning their belief in violence, several of them joined Gandhi's ideal nonviolent movement. In the end they saw India's victory in a way¹ "on which the sun never sets."
The sad division of the land into India and Pakistan, and the short but bloody interlude that ensued in a few parts of the country, were caused by economic factors, and not essentially by religious fanaticism (a minor reason often erroneously presented as a major one). Countless Hindus and Moslems, now as in the past, have lived side by side in amity. Men of both faiths, in immense numbers, became disciples of the "creedless" master Kabir (1450–1518); and to this day he has millions of followers (Kabir-panthis). Under the Moslem rule of Akbar the Great, the widest possible freedom of belief prevailed throughout India. Nor is there today any serious religious disharmony amongst 95% of the simple people. The real India, the India that could understand and follow a Mahatma Gandhi, is found not in the large restless cities but in the peaceful 700,000 villages, where simple and just forms of self-government by panchayats (local councils) have been a feature from time immemorial. The problems that beset a newly freed India today will surely be solved in time by those great men whom India has never failed to produce.
9 "Freely we serve, Because we freely love, as in our will To love or not; in this we stand or fall. And some are fallen, to disobedience fallen, And so from heaven to deepest hell. O fall From what high state of bliss into what woe!" —Milton, "Paradise Lost" 10 The plan of the divine lila or "sportive play" by which the phenomenal worlds have come into existence is one of reciprocity between creature and Creator. The sole gift that man can offer to God is love; it suffices to call forth His overwhelming generosity. "Ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."—Malachi 3:9-10.
11 Paramahansa Yogananda's comprehensive interpretation of the four Gospels is published in book form by Self-Realization Fellowship, entitled The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You. (Publisher's Note) But, harbored there, cannot be stirred or shook By any gravest grief, call that state 'peace,' That happy severance Yoga; call that man The perfect Yogin!" — Bhagavad Gita VI:19–23 (Arnold's translation) 18 Genesis 2:7. 19 "You never will enjoy the world aright till the sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars, and perceive yourself to be the sole heir of the whole world, and more than so, because men are in it who are every one sole heirs as well as you; till you can sing and delight and rejoice in God, as misers do in gold, and kings in scepters...till you are as familiar with the ways of God in all ages as with your walk and table; till you are intimately acquainted with that shady nothing out of which the world was made." — Thomas Traherne, "Centuries of Meditations."
20 John 14:1–2. 21 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." — Isaiah 55:8–9. Dante testified in The Divine Comedy: I have been in that heaven the most illumined By light from Him, and seen things which to utter He who returns hath neither skill nor knowledge; For as it nears the object of its yearning Our intellect is overwhelmed so deeply It never can retrace the path it followed. But whatsoever of the holy kingdom Was in the power of memory to treasure will be my theme until the song is ended.
22 The earth's diurnal cycle, from light to darkness and vice versa, is a constant reminder to man of creation's involvement in maya or oppositional states. (The transitional or equilibrated periods of the day, dawn and dusk, are therefore considered auspicious for meditation.) Rending the dual-textured veil of maya, the yogi perceives the transcendent Unity. 23 John 1:18. 24 John 5:19. 25 A different conception from that of the trinitarian Reality: Sat, Tat, Aum; or Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva represents the triune expression of God in the aspect of Tat or Son, the Christ Consciousness immanent in vibratory creation. The shaktis, energies or "consorts" of the Trinity, are symbols of Aum or the Holy Ghost, the sole causative force that upholds the cosmos through vibration.
26 "O Lord...thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." — Revelation 4:11. 27 John 14:12. 28 John 18:38. 29 "Love Virtue; she alone is free; She can teach ye how to climb Higher than the sphery chime; Or, if Virtue feeble were, Heaven itself would stoop to her." — Milton, "Comus" 30 John 18:37. 31 Psalms 46:10. The goal of the science of yoga is to obtain that necessary inner stillness by which one may truly "know God."
Paramahansa Yogananda: A Yogi in Life and Death Paramahansa Yogananda entered mahasamadhi (a yogi's final conscious exit from the body) in Los Angeles, California, on March 7, 1952, after concluding his speech at a banquet held in honor of H.E. Binay R. Sen, Ambassador of India. The great world teacher demonstrated the value of yoga (scientific techniques for God-realization) not only in life but in death. Weeks after his departure his unchanged face shone with the divine luster of incorruptibility.
Mr. Harry T. Rowe, Los Angeles Mortuary Director, Forest Lawn Memorial-Park (in which the body of the great master is temporarily placed), sent Self-Realization Fellowship a notarized letter from which the following extracts are taken: "The absence of any visual signs of decay in the dead body of Paramahansa Yogananda offers the most extraordinary case in our experience....No physical disintegration was visible in his body even twenty days after death....No indication of mold was visible on his skin, and no visible desiccation (drying up) took place in the bodily tissues. This state of perfect preservation of a body is, so far as we know from mortuary annals, an unparalleled one....At the time of receiving Yogananda's body, the Mortuary personnel expected to observe, through the glass lid of the casket, the usual progressive signs of bodily decay. Our astonishment increased as day followed day without bringing any visible change in the body under observation. Yogananda's body was apparently in a phenomenal state of immutability....
"No odor of decay emanated from his body at any time....The physical appearance of Yogananda on March 27th, just before the bronze cover of the casket was put into position, was the same as it had been on March 7th. He looked on March 27th as fresh and as unravaged by decay as he had looked on the night of his death. On March 27th there was no reason to say that his body had suffered any visible physical disintegration at all. For these reasons we state again that the case of Paramahansa Yogananda is unique in our experience."
In 1977, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the mahasamadhi of Paramahansa Yogananda, the Government of India issued this commemorative stamp in his honor. With the stamp, the government published a descriptive leaflet, which read, in part: The ideal of love for God and service to humanity found full expression in the life of Paramahansa Yogananda....Though the major part of his life was spent outside of India, still he takes his place among our great saints. His work continues to grow and shine ever more brightly, drawing people everywhere on the path of the pilgrimage of the Spirit.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ON THE KRIYA YOGA TEACHINGS OF PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA Self-Realization Fellowship is dedicated to freely assisting seekers worldwide. For information regarding our annual series of public lectures and classes, meditation and inspirational services at our temples and centers around the world, a schedule of retreats, and other activities, we invite you to visit our website or our International Headquarters: SELF-REALIZATION FELLOWSHIP LESSONS Personal guidance and instruction from Paramahansa Yogananda on the techniques of yoga meditation and principles of spiritual living
If you feel drawn to the spiritual truths described in Autobiography of a Yogi, we invite you to enroll in the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons. Paramahansa Yogananda originated this home-study series to provide sincere seekers the opportunity to learn and practice the ancient yoga meditation techniques introduced in this book — including the science of Kriya Yoga. The Lessons also present his practical guidance for attaining balanced physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. The Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons are available at a nominal fee (to cover printing and postage costs). All students are freely given personal guidance in their practice by Self-Realization Fellowship monks and nuns.
For more information... Please visit www.srflessons.org to request a comprehensive complimentary information packet about the Lessons, which includes: "An Overview of the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons: Information About Paramahansa Yogananda's Home-Study Series" "Highest Achievements Through Self-Realization," by Paramahansa Yogananda—a thorough introduction to the teachings presented in the SRF Lessons OTHER BOOKS BY PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA Available at bookstores or directly from the publisher: God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita — A New Translation and Commentary
In this monumental two-volume work, Paramahansa Yogananda reveals the innermost essence of India's most renowned scripture. Exploring its psychological, spiritual, and metaphysical depths, he presents a sweeping chronicle of the soul's journey to enlightenment through the royal science of God-realization. The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You — A revelatory commentary on the original teachings of Jesus In this unprecedented masterwork of inspiration, almost 1700 pages in length, Paramahansa Yogananda takes the reader on a profoundly enriching journey through the four Gospels. Verse by verse, he illumines the universal path to oneness with God taught by Jesus to his immediate disciples but obscured through centuries of misinterpretation: "how to become like Christ, how to resurrect the Eternal Christ within one's self."
The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita: An Introduction to India's Universal Science of God-Realization A compilation of selections from Paramahansa Yogananda's in-depth, critically acclaimed translation of and commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, God Talks With Arjuna, this book presents truth-seekers with an ideal introduction to the Gita's timeless and universal teachings. Contains Yogananda's complete translation of the Bhagavad Gita, presented for the first time in uninterrupted sequential form. The Yoga of Jesus: Understanding the Hidden Teachings of the Gospels
A selection of material from Paramahansa Yogananda's highly praised two-volume work, The Second Coming of Christ, this concise book confirms that Jesus, like the ancient sages and masters of the East, not only knew the principles of yoga but taught this universal science of God-realization to his disciples. Sri Yogananda shows that Jesus' message is not about sectarian divisiveness, but a unifying path by which seekers of all faith traditions can enter the kingdom of God.
Man's Eternal Quest Paramahansa Yogananda's Collected Talks and Essays present in-depth discussions of the vast range of inspiring and universal truths that have captivated millions in his Autobiography of a Yogi. Volume I explores little-known and seldom-understood aspects of meditation, life after death, the nature of creation, health and healing, the unlimited powers of the mind, and the eternal quest that finds fulfillment only in God. The Divine Romance Volume II of Paramahansa Yogananda's collected talks and essays. Among the wide-ranging selections: How to Cultivate Divine Love; Harmonizing Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Methods of Healing; A World Without Boundaries; Controlling Your Destiny; The Yoga Art of Overcoming Mortal Consciousness and Death; The Cosmic Lover; Finding the Joy in Life.
Journey to Self-realization Volume III of the collected talks and essays presents Sri Yogananda's unique combination of wisdom, compassion, down-to-earth guidance, and encouragement on dozens of fascinating subjects, including: Quickening Human Evolution, How to Express Everlasting Youthfulness, and Realizing God in Your Daily Life. Wine of the Mystic: The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam — A Spiritual Interpretation An inspired commentary that brings to light the mystical science of God-communion hidden behind the Rubaiyat's enigmatic imagery. Includes 50 original color illustrations. Winner of the 1995 Benjamin Franklin Award for best book in the field of religion.
Where There Is Light: Insight and Inspiration for Meeting Life's Challenges Gems of thought arranged by subject; a unique handbook to which readers can quickly turn for a reassuring sense of direction in times of uncertainty or crisis, or for a renewed awareness of the ever present power of God one can draw upon in daily life. Whispers from Eternity A collection of Paramahansa Yogananda's prayers and divine experiences in the elevated states of meditation. Expressed in a majestic rhythm and poetic beauty, his words reveal the inexhaustible variety of God's nature, and the infinite sweetness with which He responds to those who seek Him.
The Science of Religion Within every human being, Paramahansa Yogananda writes, there is one inescapable desire: to overcome suffering and attain a happiness that does not end. Explaining how it is possible to fulfill these longings, he examines the relative effectiveness of the different approaches to this goal. In the Sanctuary of the Soul: A Guide to Effective Prayer Compiled from the works of Paramahansa Yogananda, this inspiring devotional companion reveals ways of making prayer a daily source of love, strength, and guidance.
Inner Peace: How to Be Calmly Active and Actively Calm A practical and inspiring guide, compiled from the talks and writings of Paramahansa Yogananda, that demonstrates how we can be "actively calm" by creating peace through meditation, and "calmly active" — centered in the stillness and joy of our own essential nature while living a dynamic, fulfilling, and balanced life. Winner of the 2000 Benjamin Franklin Award — best book in the field of Metaphysics/ Spirituality.
How You Can Talk With God Defining God as both the transcendent, universal Spirit and the intimately personal Father, Mother, Friend, and Lover of all, Paramahansa Yogananda shows how close the Lord is to each one of us, and how He can be persuaded to "break His silence" and respond in a tangible way. Metaphysical Meditations More than 300 spiritually uplifting meditations, prayers, and affirmations that can be used to develop greater health and vitality, creativity, self-confidence, and calmness; and to live more fully in a conscious awareness of the blissful presence of God.
Scientific Healing Affirmations Paramahansa Yogananda presents here a profound explanation of the science of affirmation. He makes clear why affirmations work, and how to use the power of word and thought not only to bring about healing but to effect desired change in every area of life. Includes a wide variety of affirmations. Sayings of Paramahansa Yogananda A collection of sayings and wise counsel that conveys Paramahansa Yogananda's candid and loving responses to those who came to him for guidance. Recorded by a number of his close disciples, the anecdotes in this book give the reader an opportunity to share in their personal encounters with the Master.
Songs of the Soul Mystical poetry by Paramahansa Yogananda — an outpouring of his direct perceptions of God in the beauties of nature, in man, in everyday experiences, and in the spiritually awakened state of samadhi meditation. The Law of Success Explains dynamic principles for achieving one's goals in life, and outlines the universal laws that bring success and fulfillment — personal, professional, and spiritual. Cosmic Chants: Spiritualized Songs for Divine Communion Words and music to 60 songs of devotion, with an introduction explaining how spiritual chanting can lead to God-communion.
AUDIO RECORDINGS OF PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA • Beholding the One in All • Awake in the Cosmic Dream • Songs of My Heart • Be a Smile Millionaire • The Great Light of God • To Make Heaven on Earth • One Life Versus Reincarnation • Removing All Sorrow and Suffering • In the Glory of the Spirit • Follow the Path of Christ, Krishna, and the Masters • Self-Realization: The Inner and the Outer Path
OTHER PUBLICATIONS FROM SELF-REALIZATION FELLOWSHIP The Holy Science by Swami Sri Yukteswar Only Love: Living the Spiritual Life in a Changing World by Sri Daya Mata Finding the Joy Within You: Personal Counsel for God-Centered Living by Sri Daya Mata Enter the Quiet Heart: Creating a Loving Relationship With God by Sri Daya Mata God Alone: The Life and Letters of a Saint by Sri Gyanamata "Mejda": The Family and the Early Life of Paramahansa Yogananda by Sananda Lal Ghosh
Self-Realization (a quarterly magazine founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1925) A complete catalog describing all of the Self-Realization Fellowship publications and audio/video recordings is available at www.srfbooks.org. THE LINE OF GURUS Mahavatar Babaji is the Supreme Guru in the Indian line of masters who assume responsibility for the spiritual welfare of all members of Self-Realization Fellowship and Yogoda Satsanga Society of India who faithfully practice Kriya Yoga. "I shall remain incarnate on the earth," he has promised, "until this particular world cycle is ended." (See chapters 33 and 37.)
In 1920 Mahavatar Babaji told Paramahansa Yogananda: "You are the one I have chosen to spread the message of Kriya Yoga in the West.... The scientific technique of God-realization will ultimately spread in all lands, and aid in harmonizing the nations through man's personal, transcendental perception of the Infinite Father." Mahavatar means "Great Incarnation" or "Divine Incarnation"; Yogavatar means "Incarnation of Yoga"; Jnanavatar means "Incarnation of Wisdom." Premavatar means "Incarnation of Love" — a title bestowed in 1953 on Paramahansa Yogananda by his great disciple, Rajarsi Janakananda (James J. Lynn).
PHONETIC KEY TO PRONUNCIATION OF SANSKRIT NAMES In the phonetic examples below, which approximate the Sanskrit, the uh indicates an a pronounced as in sofa; the ah indicates an a as in father. Letters enclosed in parentheses (uh) (i) are only partially sounded. BHAGAVAN KRISHNA Sounds like: Bhuh-guh-vahn Kr(i)sh-nuh The v sound is between a v and a w. MAHAVATAR BABAJI Sounds like: Muh-hah-vuh-tahr Bah-bah-jee YOGAVATAR LAHIRI MAHASAYA Sounds like: Yog-ah-vuh-tahr Lah-hi(as in his)-ree Muh-hah-shy(uh)
JNANAVATAR SWAMI SRI YUKTESWAR Sounds like: Gyahn-ah-vuh-tahr Swah-mee Shree Yook-taysh-wuhr PREMAVATAR PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA Sounds like: Praym-ah-vuh-tahr Puh-ruh-m(uh)-hung-s(uh) Yog-ah-nun-d(uh) The han in Paramahansa is a nasalized sound, approximated by the English word hung, with a softly nasalized n and silent g. AIMS AND IDEALS OF SELF-REALIZATION FELLOWSHIP As set forth by Paramahansa Yogananda, Founder Brother Chidananda, President 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.