Brij Mohan Sharma
Paramahansa Yogananda ji needs no introduction. Born on January 5, 1893, he was one of the most revered self- realized Masters of India. His ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ and the yogic technique of self- realization known as ‘Kriya Yoga’ have learned world-wide recognition and are highly applauded in spiritual and yogic circles.
Self-realization means knowing your real self beyond the physical body and mind leading to divine bliss, happiness and free from illusions. In fact, it is a liberating knowledge of the true self merging with the universal soul. This realization of oneness with the Creator is the whole essence of yoga.
In his autobiography, Paramahansa Yoganandaji explains how Mahavatar Babaji, a supreme and deathless master re-discovered and clarified an ancient science of communion with God and gave it back to the world. It had been lost in the Dark Ages. He renamed it simply ‘Kriya Yoga’, because it means the active approach to union (yoga) with the Infinite.
Kriya Yoga is a simple psychophysiological method by which 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 centres. 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 energy.
Kriya yoga has nothing in common with the unscientific breathing exercises taught by some charlatans. Attempts to hold breath forcibly in the lungs are unnatural and decidedly unpleasant. The actual technique should, therefore, be learned from an authorized Kriya Yogi. Through gradual and regular practice of kriya, man’s body becomes astrally transformed day by day, and is finally fitted to express the infinite potentials of cosmic energy. Kriya yoga practice is accompanied from the very beginning by feelings of peace and soothing sensations.
People try to find happiness in drink, sex and money, but they always face disillusionment. Many persons hesitate to seek God imagining that life will then have to be gloomy, This is all humbug.
Paramahansa ji explains why and how man was created by God, and how he is immutably a part of God, and what this means to each one personally. Any one who seeks Him sincerely will know Him. Man can have no life or power to act, think, or feel without borrowing that power from God. Knowing God, therefore, is not only a privilege and a divine duty, but a practical necessity.
Paramahansaji further explains that everything in creation is a temptation to lure you from God. But He is more tempting than any earthly temptation. If you attain even a glimpse of Him you will realize this. But you can find Him by inner prayer, meditation and by strong determination. Your resolution with God must by firm; He will not come so long as your mind is roaming elsewhere. The masters of India, by attaining God-communion, found answers to life’s riddles through inner-realization, and showed us how we can do likewise.
Paramahansa ji was very straightforward in pointing out that the intellectual religionist delights in hearing about various theological or philosophical concepts, flattering himself that he is on a higher rung of divine understanding than the emotional religionist. In his view, intellectual stimulation is only another kind of ‘drug’, a different form of mental juggling that does not give the seeker what he really needs. He, therefore, advises not to settle for intellectual satisfaction about truth. Convert truth into experience, and you will know God through your own self-realization.
The only purpose of life is to find God. As time marches on, you must eventually realize that you are a part of God. Make God realization your goal. He does not require you to be stoic or morose. This is not the right concept of God, nor the way to please Him. The more peaceful you are, the greater will be your attunement with Him. Those who know Him are always happy, because God is joy itself.
Paramahansa Yogananda ji was the first great Master of India to live in the west for a long period (over thirty years). He breathed his last in America in 1952.
He founded his work in India in 1917 as Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, and in the West he named his society Self-Realization Fellowship.
As a man of God, and as an authority on the ancient science of yoga, Paramahansaji received highest credentials from his spiritual contemporaries and readers of his works. Swami Sivanandaji founder of the Divine Life Society of India describes Yoganandaji as “a rare gem of inestimable value, the like of whom the world is yet to witness…. ” In the same vein, His Holiness the Shankaracharya of Kanchipuram articulars “as a bright light shining in the midst of darkness, so was Yogananda’s presence in this world. Such a great soul comes on earth only rarely..” One of our the then Ambassadors in US, Shri Binay R Sen, observes ” If we had a man like Paramahansa Yogananda in the United Nation today, probably the world would be a better place than it is.”…..
It may also interest the readers to know that Yoganandaji was an accomplished poet. He has composed many spiritual songs and cosmic chanta, and asserts that “he who chants these songs with great devotion, in solitude or in group chanting, will later discover that the chants are repeating themselves in the subconcsious background of his mind, bringing an ineffable joy even while he is in the thick of the daily battle of activity. One such captivating chants is..
Door of my heart,
Open wide I keep for Thee.
Will Thou come, will Thou come?
Just for once, come to me.
Will my days fly away
Without seeing Thee, my Lord?
Night and day, (oh) night and day,
I look for Thee night and day.
Just sing this chant with all your heart and soul repeatedly, and find the result for yourself.
(The writer is former Addl. Secy. to Govt-a 1991 retiree)
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