When PY meets PY: Political Yogi meets Paramahansa Yogananda

On 27^th September 2014 when Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi spoke at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he espoused the idea of celebrating International Yoga Day, besides focusing on many other critical issues relevant for all in today’s interconnected world. Now, mention of Yoga at a global geopolitical event could have sounded a bit out of sync to some cynics but for Indians who pride themselves on their Indian-ness, it was music to their ears. What better message could the prime minister of India give to the world than talking about Yoga, India’s biggest gift to the humanity!

And the setting was perfect! The concept was of Yoga. The countries involved were India and America – world’s largest and oldest democracy respectively. As the history chronicles, there has always been a divine connection between these two powerful and functional democracies of the world, set and strengthened around Yoga. The person propagating the message of Yoga was himself a yogi – a political one albeit. 

  

Whenever mention of Yoga is made anywhere in the world, one remembers two most revered spiritual Gurus from India - Swami Vivekananda and Paramahansa Yogananda. PM Modi mentions his namesake’s – Narendra Nath Datta alias Vivekananda – contribution in spread of Yoga worldwide but so far he hasn’t talked about the Yogi from whom the world learnt to practice Yoga and meditation i.e. Yoganandaji. Not his fault entirely because still many Indians aren’t fully aware of this most famous Indian abroad, besides Mahatma Gandhi, and his monumental works in the field of Spirituality and Yoga. For the world population, Paramahansa Yogananda is synonymous with Yoga.

I am sure that when our respected prime minister initiates his International Yoga Day celebrations, he will revolve his concept around the teachings of Yoganandaji as well and involve the disciples from his spiritual headquarters in America – SRF-YSS in Los Angeles, California – and spearhead the mission worldwide.    

It’s been 120 years since Swami Vivekananda swept America off its feet! The date was 9/11 – 11^th September, 1893. The city was Chicago. The venue was the Arts Institute of Chicago. The event was the opening day of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. And sitting on the dais was a young turbaned Hindu Monk whose holy handsomeness defied his deep spiritual stature. India, a predominantly Hindu nation, was still under the British rule.

The world had a strong sense of India as a wealthy nation and thus the desire for every explorer-voyager to discover it for its treasures and thus had inspired Christopher Columbus earlier and then Vasco da Gama to set sail for Indian shores from Spain and Portugal respectively in different points in time. As we know, Columbus instead ended up discovering the US; da Gama was fortunate to set his foot on the beaches of Calicut in southern India. India’s invasions were continued by Muslims and Mughals and then came the Britishers. Britain decided to deceive India into becoming its richest colony because of its ‘Golden Bird’ image. When we look into the history book pages, we realize that all these plunderers remained poor in spite of looting Indian wealth. The fact that they could not learn from the vast spiritual heritage of India is testimony to their almost blind-like vision and mindset. And therefore we see that when Vivekananda was chosen to represent India at Chicago World Congress, the world had very little idea about the most ancient and the complete religion of the humans i.e. Hinduism.

Swami Vivekananda got up from his chair and overcame his nervousness by inwardly bowing to Goddess Saraswati and began his talk: “Brothers and Sisters of America!” The entire arena burst into loud applause! Never before had any preacher got this kind of reception in the world convention on religions. After two minutes of rapturous and heart-warming response, Vivekananda resumed speaking. And as they say, the world got its first and full glimpse into the Hinduism. The audience was mesmerised by the divine knowledge of spirituality flowing from the spell-binding oratory of the Hindu Monk! After familiarizing the rapt spectators with the cornerstones of Hinduism and Vedic Philosophy, he talked about Yoga, and for the first time in their life the West became aware about this concept – the focal point of Spirituality – and about which they were to learn more from another Hindu Monk twenty seven years from then – in 1920 – who was to devote his life in the Divine Duty of teaching and spreading Yoga to the Western Populace, from his base in America. This seer was Paramahansa Yogananda.

In fact, on the 11^th September of 1893 when Swami Vivekananda was speaking at the Parliament of World’s Religions at the Arts Institute of Chicago, back home in India in Gorakhpur, an 8 month old infant by name of Mukunda Lal Ghosh had already been predicted by his parents’ Guru Lahiri Mahasaya as the Divinely destined Yogi to undertake the Divine Mission of teaching and spreading Kriya Yoga beyond the shores of the country. This Divine Design had been told to Lahiri Mahasaya by his Guru, the deathless Babaji, who had been living in the Himalayas for almost 2000 years and had chosen the advanced soul of Mukunda based on the request of Jesus Christ. Unbelievable? Yes, it could be so for the ignorants but not for the spiritually conscious souls.

Therefore, as predicted by Babaji and Lahiri Mahasaya in 1893, twenty seven years later on 3^rd August in 1920, another Hindu Monk left the shores of India from the city of Calcutta via Bombay on the ship City of Sparta as an Indian delegate at the International Congress of Religious Liberals being held in the city of Boston.

The scene of 1893 was repeating itself. The date was 10/6 – 6^th October, 1920. The city was Boston. The venue was the Unity House in Boston. The event was the opening day of the International Congress of Religious Liberals. And sitting on the dais was a young turbaned Hindu Monk whose holy handsomeness defied his deep spiritual stature. India, a predominantly Hindu nation, was still under the British rule.

Swami Yogananda got up from his chair and got over his nervousness by inwardly sending prayers to his Guru and Mother Divine to help him sail through his maiden speech in America in English. The reception to his talk on ‘The Science of Religion’ can be gauged by the comments of the secretary of the American Unitarian Association: ‘Swami Yogananda, delegate from the Brahmacharya Ashram of Ranchi, …In fluent English and with a forceful delivery he gave an address of a philosophical character … which has been printed in pamphlet form for a wider distribution. …’ Soon after, his talk was published in a book under the same title.

And as was destined and divinely designed for him, Paramahansa Yogananda remained in America for the rest of his years and dedicated his life in dissemination of timeless teachings of ancient Hindu Philosophy and God Realization through the practice of scientific method of Kriya Yoga.

His Boston lecture was so enthusiastically received that soon he became the most sought after speaker in the country! He gave public lectures, conducted Kriya Yoga classes and wrote a book of poems ‘Songs of the Soul’. As was said by Sri Yukteswar, Yoganandaji’s Guru, his words on yoga were being heard in the West by thousands of thronging seekers! Babaji’s prophecy was coming true: ‘Kriya Yoga, 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.’

Under the divine guidance, Paramahansa Yogananda made America his base and established SRF-YSS – Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsang Society – headquartered in Los Angeles, California. There residing in one of his SRF-YSS centers at Encinitas in 1946 he penned down his Autobiography of a Yogi, the book which is credited as ‘the book which changed the lives of millions’ and became the best-selling book on spirituality and autobiography globally and has remained so since then. Paramahansa Yogananda’s spiritual brilliance earned him many celebrity followers, a few noted ones being the Beatles, Mark Twain’s daughter Clara Clemens, nobel botanist Luther Burbank, soprano Amelita Galli-Curci, tenor Vladimir Rosing, and the sitarist Pandit Ravi Shankar. Mahatma Gandhi took initiation in the liberating techniques of Kriya Yoga from Yoganandaji when he visited him at his Wardha Ashram in August of 1935. Yoganandaji took Mahasamadhi on 7^th March, 1952. His spiritual legacy has since been shining all over the world and has transformed the lives of millions of humans and continues to do so.

The modern age celebrity follower of Paramahansa Yogananda was the legendary Steve Jobs whose entire spiritual mooring was centered on the Autobiography of a Yogi, the only download he had on his iPad and the book which had inspired him in his early quest for spirituality and the book which continued to guide him even later – in his super successful days as the CEO of the iconic Apple; he used to read the Autobiography once every year.

Therefore, if India of today has to stake its claim to its rich heritage of Spirituality and Yoga for the world population, it has to do so through Paramahansa Yogananda’s teachings because then only the world will be able to connect with this noble initiative wholeheartedly.

  

Mr. Prime Minister, may God and Gurus bless you and guide you in your International Yoga Day mission … 

Resurrecting Spiritual India, the NaMo way !

At the outset I join billion plus Indians and congratulate Mr. Narendra Modi for a spectacular victory! The credit is his entirely! After all ‘abki baar Modi Sarkar’! I am proud of the ‘thinking’ Indian voters who voted decisively and prevented the parliament from once again falling into the chaos of coalition politics and its inevitable adverse effects! Great job, India!

Soon the celebrations will cool down and so will the heat of having ‘arrived’ for Mr. Modi. He is at 7 Race Course Road, trying to settle down as the 15^th prime minister of India. Sitting alone, provided he gets to spend some time with himself in the midst of the conundrum of hectic national politics and governance, I am sure he is going to look back at his life and feel proud of his life’s journey from being absolutely ordinary to becoming extraordinary. His transformation from an individual with a humble family background to becoming an idealist RSS pracharak to being regarded as a crucial cog in the BJP’s national politics to garnering his mentors’ – LK Advani and AB Vajpayee – confidence and completing successive successful terms as the Chief Minister of Gujarat and along the way getting national and global recognition for his Modinomics and Gujarat Model of Development despite the stubborn stains of post Godhra riots of 2002 and finally arriving in a grand style in Delhi to fulfil his national top-job responsibilities – is almost complete. Now the country and the world are waiting with their fingers crossed to see if this new butterfly will retain its beautiful colours and wings and for how long …

The world knows about the factors which led to the unstoppable rise of Narendra Modi in the Indian national landscape otherwise littered with political mediocrity all around, with a few bright spots nevertheless; and how he emerged as the most credible alternative for the prime ministerial post in a period when India was suffering a perpetually silent and subservient prime minister to an arrogant grand old party stalwarts, rampant corruption and unprecedented scales of scams being unearthed almost on a daily-basis and reeling with policy paralysis being served unapologetically under the garb of coalition compulsions. Therefore, in the 2014 General Elections the common agenda the voters of India followed was to get rid of the Indian National Congress and its equally inefficient allies. And whole-heartedly gave a thumping majority to the Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of Namo: ‘Abki Baar Modi Sarkar’ and ‘Achhe din Ayenge’ slogans caught the national imagination. So we have the Modi Sarkar; now the wait is on for the assured achhe din …

We Indians expect Mr. Modi to steer India to a magnificent future which he has promised to do so. How successful he will be the time will tell. So far, he has shown a grand start with an unprecedented show at his swearing-in ceremony with all SAARC nations heads’ presence, pulling a diplomatic coup smoothly. From Day1 he has made his presence felt strongly all across the world. He has articulated his intentions clear and loud both within the country and abroad, especially in the neighbourhood. He is being received with open arms by the global leaders. All of a sudden India has become a favourite destination for the powerful presidents and prime ministers. So, everything seems to be in place and progressing as per the plans and expectations. And knowing about Mr. Modi’s personality and characteristics as a political leader, I am sure that he will succeed and soon. His determination and aspirations will continue to drive him – and India – on the right path.

However, today I want to touch upon another less talked about aspect of his being elected which caught my attention in his Varanasi Victory acceptance speech. It was his pledge to take India back to its glorious era of spiritual splendour, besides economic dominance. And as a first step he prodded the people of the spiritual capital of India – now his constituency – to keep the country’s oldest city clean. He assured the Benarasi-babus and all fellow Indians that he will undertake Ganga-cleansing as one of his first few priorities as the prime minister of India. On that evening his short speech threw a never before seen spiritual side of his personality which if he is able to take forward he will re-catapult our country into the sphere of spiritual dominance alongside a strong economic place on the global high table.

I really don’t know how the majority of the Indians would have reacted to his promises of spiritual endeavours but I for sure was elated because as a proud Indian I want to see my great country once again shine in the world as the once-upon-a-time ancient Bharat i.e. Sone-ki-Chidiya with a spiritual core!

India’s unmatched spiritual legacy and treasures are known to the world but I feel those have got lost with majority of Indians, the blessed heirs of the heritage. As the land which gave humans their first life’s philosophy i.e. Vedic Philosophy which went on to evolve as a religion as Hinduism, and based on its spiritual teachings all the other religions of the world came into existence, it was not so long ago that India had retained its place under the Sun before its spiritual core started to get eroded with faulty religious interpretations and social ill-practices.

Coupled with it came the cloak of secularism in a Hindu-dominated divided India, a large chunk of which was annexed by the departing Britishers leaving behind a bloody trail of mangled and lost lives among both Hindus & Muslims. To compound the situation further, as the politics became competitive over a few decades after Independence, political parties of all hues started to exploit secularism and democracy for their narrow gains and an unfortunate pattern of minority appeasement started which was nothing but fooling them into believing about their betterment. The result was further alienation of the people belonging to the smaller religious communities, Muslims relatively being in a worse state of existence due to their cocooned mentality and unwillingness to mingle with the rest of the country-folks. Their orthodox and closed religious approach and lack of proper education made them survive on the fringes of the society. The Hindu-Muslim mental divide was not easy to patch as the latter were strongly regarded as the ones being responsible for severe anti-Hindu activities by the Muslim invaders.     

Secularism also perpetrated a strange public behaviour among the so-called literate strata of the society which primarily comprised of England-educated politicians, bureaucracy, academics and the media; they tried to keep themselves away – in public - from anything having Indian-ness lest they got branded as ‘anti-secular’ because almost all things ‘Indian’ had strong essence of Hinduism. And why not because India has been a Hindu nation since its origin; the other religions as and when they came into existence also came to India and flourished due to the tolerant religious environment of the country, a scenario not seen anywhere else in the world then, and even now. Strangely, the same set of highly placed, educated class was deeply Indian in their private lives. The Great Indian Hypocrisy? 

Therefore, the biggest casualty of this post-Independence acquired characteristic of India was its age-old treasure of Spirituality. As Spirituality was the foundation of Hinduism and in a newly legally secular India, it became a sin to be seen or display one’s religion, primarily among its influential people – the elites and the powerful. Bizarre as it may sound but the truth is bitter. The ancient Holy Scriptures of India viz. Vedas, Puranas and Upanishads which were the foundational stones of the Hinduism were forgotten completely and with them we lost the immeasurable treasure of ancient wisdom and knowledge. The seemingly more popular and easier to read ones viz. Ramayana, Mahabharata and the greatest of them all The Gita were relegated into prayer rooms of homes, worshipped in private but seldom read or discussed in public. The Gita found another purpose in an Independent India; not yet convicted criminals were made to take oath of truth by putting their hand on the holy book of Gita: ‘Main Gita pe hath rakh ke kasam khata hoon ki main sach kahunga aur sach ke siva kuch nahin kahunga!’ … Ved-Vyasa would have never ever imagined even in his wildest dreams that his divine composition of the never-revealed-before universal wisdom by Lord Krishna to his blessed disciple Arjuna would be treated in this fashion in his own country!

In all countries of the world it is normal to teach and learn about their official state religion in their schools but not in India! However, in the same India, exceptions are the minority religion-based missionaries-run schools which unapologetically teach their about their religion to students. But just talk about including Indian Spirituality in the school curriculum and the entire country will come down tumbling with the fear of having seen to be so-called hurting the so-called sentiments of the so-called minorities! Why should any person feel hurt by having to learn about Indian spirituality when every Indian belonging to whichever religion is originally an Indian? Why should there be different standards of judgement in India for various groups of Indians, just because they practice different religions?

Mr. Modi has made the start to his spiritual mission by creating a new ministry dedicated to the mammoth and urgent task of cleaning the Ganga. But this is just one of the many initiatives he needs to undertake to resurrect the spiritual India.

Whenever anybody talks about India in a positive tone, he mentions about our country’s gift of spirituality; and the foreigners talk also about Yoga which is a spiritual method of attaining The Spirit. And besides the desire to see the beautiful Taj Mahal, majority of the tourists visiting India are here to experience its spirituality and learn yoga. Their favourite place is of course Varanasi, now the Prime Minister’s constituency.

Therefore, Varanasi was the natural choice of place for Mr. Modi to start his spiritual resurrection of India. Varanasi, or Benares as is its local name, is the oldest city of India, and the most evolved one. Mark Twain had once remarked reverentially that Benares is more ancient than anything ancient and yet more modern than any place on the earth! The city has been the center of spiritual evolution of India and has shaped the contours of Hinduism and Bharat - India. All the stalwart saints and philosophers of India, whether from south or east or west or north, have gained spiritual knowledge at Benares. Many of them made Benares their permanent abode as Gurus and many others spread across the country and taught and took the Vedic Philosophy to the core of every countryman. Still many seers chose the path of complete renunciation and headed towards the Himalayas to spend their life in search for the God through the path of meditation.

Benares is the holy city which saw emergence of the spiritual greats of our country: Babaji – Guru Nagaraj, Shankaracharya, Patanjali, Lahiri Mahasaya, Sri Yukteswar Giri, Paramahansa Nikhileshwar Giri, … There are hundreds of exalted spiritual gurus whose names I do not know or remember now, for which I offer my sincere apologies.

So, as we know, Benares is the spiritual headquarters of India. Every part and path and corner and monument and Ganga ghat and temple and ashram reflects spirituality. But Benares is not religious; it is hard core spiritual. And this is the prime reason that we see the city retain its spiritual structure in spite of repeated attempts by Muslim invaders to destroy it. In fact, the influence of Benares was so strong that the Islam also got integrated into the city’s spiritual way of life. The foundation of a Secular India was laid at Benares by its spiritual gurus and the legacy carried forwarded by their followers.

So, simultaneously to cleaning the Ganga and restoring the city of Varanasi to its ancient glory, Mr. Modi has to take Benares – Varanasi – to the world, and to the rest of India. I suggest he creates a special ministry for this noble mission – Ministry of Spirituality under his direct supervision. He should set up spiritual centers all across the globe. He should also integrate the already established spiritual centers in India and abroad. He could make the start by taking the help of the immensely popular Yogoda Satsang Society founded by Paramahansa Yogananda, with its headquarters in Ranchi in India and in California, US. The association of Mr. Modi’s spiritual mission with Yoganandaji’s YSS-SRF would give it the best start and acceptance globally.

Paramahansa Yogananda is one of the two Indians revered and followed by the world population; the second figure, of course, is Mahatma Gandhi. Yoganandaji took the ancient form of scientific meditation, Kriya Yoga, taught by Lord Krishna to Arjuna but got lost over centuries, to the West under the spiritual guidance and blessings of the greatest of all Indian Gurus – Babaji and his line of disciples Lahiri Mahasaya and Sri Yukteswar Giri. Babaji was born a couple of centuries in BC and has retained his human form and lives in the Himalayas.

Mr. Modi has to boost spiritual tourism back home.

• He has to ensure that all spiritually aligned cities are neat and clean with good infrastructure and connectivity, coupled with the assurance of security and safety of visitors.
• Dedicated websites with complete information about the Vedic Philosophy in various global languages have to be created.
• The Holy Scriptures – Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads, Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata - and thus the vast wealth of spiritual knowledge need to be translated and made accessible to the global seekers, both as static information and through regular distant learning courses.
• The social networking sites – Facebook, Twitter, Blogs - have to be utilized to their full potential.
• Spiritual international bestsellers like Autobiography of a Yogi and The Gita should be used as a tool to initiate the beginners. Movies, television programs, newspaper columns, advertisements, plays, music and books should be used as mediums to spread Indian spirituality.
• Yoga and meditation being integral parts of spirituality, these should be taught at all spiritual centers.
• Credible ‘living’ gurus should be made spiritual ambassadors and spiritual speakers for lecture tours and road shows abroad.
• Spiritual literary festivals should be organized globally.
• In fact, every Indian embassy and high commission should have a spiritual consulate in-charge of the spiritual mission.
• International Spiritual Congregations and Conferences should be held and participated in, with celebrations of special spiritual occasions.
• Spiritual theme parks, spiritual museums with wax statues of ancient founding spiritual gurus, spiritual theme cafes should be set up all across the world.
• Spiritual souvenirs – mugs, fridge magnets, albums, post cards, t-shirts, bags, pens, paintings, photographs, figurines, handbooks, calendars, diaries, DVDs, CDs, wrist bands, pendants, shawls, wall hangings, ties, notebooks, writing pads, mobile phone covers, umbrellas, stickers, tattoos, etc. – should be merchandised in these centers and also online.
• Simultaneously, all these spiritual efforts should be replicated back home. Because, if anyone needs a strong dose of spirituality to infuse ‘life’ in living, it is an average Indian, who is today bereft of the benefits of his ancient heritage!

Well, if the prime minister Mr. Narendra Modi ever gets to read my spiritual suggestions, I am sure he would find something good and implementable from the list of probable initiatives and adopt them to resurrect the spiritual India … I wish you, Mr. Modi, all the Divine Blessings in your – our, every Indian’s – spiritual mission … Aum … :)    

Meeting the Yogi - finally !

The Gita puts it succinctly: ‘Jab Jab Jo Hona Hai, Tab Tab Wo Hoga.’ For Hindi-ignorant Souls, ‘Whenever Something Has To Happen, It Will Happen Only Then.’  And it happened exactly like that!

Wandering through the corridors of Connaught Place with a friend, I finally picked up my copy of ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’. It took me 4 decades to come face-to-face with the Manuscript on Life; and another two months to start reading it. And, to put it simply, the book spellbound me and pushed me into the realm of Cosmic Consciousness! The liberating shock of Cosmic Vision was so powerful that I took time to absorb the whole meaning of ever-present, omniscient nature of the nurturer of Life in the ever-expanding Cosmos!

The impact was felt immensely because, being a book-lover with a good collection of books (including on religion and spirituality) and most of my ‘free-time’ spent in reading, I couldn’t believe that I had kept away from the Life Book all along. By the time I reached the end of those magical pages, I felt blessed but simultaneously ignored: I was quarreling with the God that how could It be so cruel in keeping me deprived for so long!

My inner reactions were strong because besides being a book-lover, I am primarily a Life-lover! I love Life immensely and, therefore, I try to be the change that I want to see in Life. And Paramhansa Yogananda’s account of his life is Life-Changing! 

As a spiritually ever-evolving being, overcoming my limitations of 5 sensory organs and using my inner eyes to perceive the world around me, the essence of my Life has been in Living: living in the Soul with a beating heart and a functional mind to support my Life; living with peace, love, dignity, health & wealth; living an absolutely a normal life – mundane, day-to-day life of a mere mortal. If the world says that you in effect live in your mind (It’s all in the mind), I say, you actually live in your Soul!  

With a Soul-centered approach towards Life, since my beginning I have strongly believed that the common thread running through Life – human and all other forms of life including the inanimate life-supporting objects – is The Spirit, the One Wave who flows through all, ensuring inner-connectedness of Life per se, controlling and connecting Life throughout the Universe through Universal Laws of Nature; that essentially Life is an interplay of energy at various levels. And that we mortals, in spite of having landed on the Moon 4 decades ago, will take at least a couple of millennia more to get a grip on the true definition of Life.

By the time I was at the end of his magical memoir, I experienced a strong soul-stirring emotion; I felt transformed as a human being. My outlook towards my own life and Life per se appeared to undergo seismic alterations; things/aspects which were so dear and crucial for my survival, all of a sudden seemed to dissolve into oblivion; those felt trivial in the Grand Cosmic Scheme of my Life; glancing around I saw people struggling with their ordinary state of living with an eternal quest for ‘something else’ to bring them complete and unending happiness - and I prayed for each of them for the much needed Divine Guidance.

I was hearing Yogananda-ji’s words: “ … You realize that all along that there was something tremendous within you, and you did not know it…”  

The beauty lies in Yogananda-ji’s narrative; he doesn’t sound preachy, rather far from it; the saint’s tone is human-like, with expressions extremely close to that of a divinely blessed author; the difference, nevertheless, lies in the content which clearly establishes the fact that he was indeed The Chosen One! And he was indeed the chosen one for spreading the concept of ancient Kriya Yoga in the West (America).

Through his life-story, he unveils the long forgotten secrets of Life and its universal cycles which had got faded from the humanity’s canvas in the daily millings of ordinary survival, and, which was otherwise well understood by the ancient yogis and gurus in the spiritual crucible of the world i.e. India. The revelations are so profound and extraordinary that I, a self-believing spiritually evolving being, marveled at the miracle called Life! How shallow was my knowledge about Life! My mind- prism which spread rainbow understanding even before, however, the real expanse of those lights was actually narrow all along! Today, post reading his autobiography, I am conscious of the veil over my Cosmic Vision earlier.

“When you go beyond the consciousness of this world, knowing that you are not the body or the mind, and yet aware as never before that you exist— that divine consciousness is what you are. You are That in which is rooted everything in the universe.” 

Yogananda-ji smoothly initiates his readers into the sphere of the higher beings – the yogis - and their miracles, explaining every aspect with solid scientific evidences through the fundamental theories and laws in Physics viz. Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, Newton’s Laws of Gravitation, Electromagnetism, Optics, etc.; his explanation of Cosmic Illusion presents the otherwise incomprehensible - Supernatural ! - as purely logical!

Yogananda-ji became what he became because of his Masters: an eclectic array of enlightened entities! Reading about his Masters - Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Sri Yukteswar Giri and others – I sensed little bit of Cosmic Intelligence wrapping around me! He intelligently explains that the things – which an ordinary human perception calls as miracles – are accomplished by the great gurus by summoning the basic particles of the Nature and transforming them into the objects of desire -- Babaji being the greatest amongst them all! Introduction to Babaji, the Maha Avatar, transported me into the higher spaces of Infinite Existence!

…The northern Himalayan crags near Badrinarayan are still blessed by the living presence of Babaji, guru of Lahiri Mahasaya. The secluded master has retained his physical form for centuries, perhaps for millenniums. The deathless Babaji is an avatara. This Sanskrit word means "descent"; its roots are ava, "down," and tri, "to pass." In the Hindu scriptures, avatara signifies the descent of Divinity into flesh.  

"Babaji's spiritual state is beyond human comprehension," Sri Yukteswar explained to me. "The dwarfed vision of men cannot pierce to his transcendental star. One attempts in vain even to picture the avatar's attainment. It is inconceivable."  

The Upanishads have minutely classified every stage of spiritual advancement. A siddha ("perfected being") has progressed from the state of a jivanmukta ("freed while living") to that of a paramukta ("supremely free"-full power over death); the latter has completely escaped from the mayic thralldom and its reincarnational round. The paramukta therefore seldom returns to a physical body; if he does, he is an avatar, a divinely appointed medium of supernal blessings on the world.  

An avatar is unsubject to the universal economy; his pure body, visible as a light image, is free from any debt to nature. The casual gaze may see nothing extraordinary in an avatar's form but it casts no shadow nor makes any footprint on the ground. These are outward symbolic proofs of an inward lack of darkness and material bondage. Such a God-man alone knows the Truth behind the relativities of life and death… 

My Net search on these Great Souls further established my ignorant state of being so far; The Beatles had them on their cover of their album ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club’; Rajnikant had tried to spread his reverence towards these great saints through his movie ‘Baba’ in 2004.

Thunderbolt hit me while reading the Chapter 43 “The Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar”! Howsoever mindblowing the content – conversation between Yoganand-ji and his resurrected Guru – sounded, but never for a moment did I doubt the pouring Cosmic Revelations! This is a must read for all souls inhabiting the planet earth; the experience is going to be earth-shattering! His Guru shared indepth knowledge about the three phases of a Soul's Life before it merges into the One Soul - which begins on earth (physical) lives, which is followed by astral lives and finally the causal stage of life. Though most of us have a basic understanding about life and its cycles but the details in the chapter is simply out of this world, literally! I had to read it a couple of times before i could get a broader insight into it.

After reading the chapter I was on a celestial journey, floating among the stars and the moons in the Infinite Cosmos beyond my humanly horizons, experiencing a fraction of the Infinite Cosmic Joy, simultaneously trying to get into my past lives and imagine myself in various avatars - I mean, in various humble life-forms possible for a mortal creature like me!

Becoming deeply aware about the real side i.e. the spiritual aspects of Life and its Cycles through Yogananda-ji, I felt immensely sorry for the humanity and especially for the Indians; India, the crucible of culture and spirituality, today is so far removed from all what it realized thousands of years ago and contributed majorly to the evolution of Homo sapiens into humans that it amazes me enormously that how could we lose almost all of our treasure!

That how could we be led to a life so superficial and hollow, devoid of spiritual moorings? That how could we forget the meaning of religion and get into the chaos of dogmas and rituals and castes and other divisive pathways? That how could we, the teachers to the world, forget about the purpose of human life in its transitory phase on earth? That how could we continue to suffer from collective Cosmic Amnesia?

Today, most of the Indians do not even know the definition of spirituality or even religion; for them it is laughable and for either the elderly or for those who “have nothing else to do” or for the “conmen” (India has them in abundance!). The same people, however, regularly resort to religion and flock to places of worship whenever they feel the “need” for it. No wonder it is said that “Ignorance is Bliss”!

Shashi Tharoor describes it comprehensively: “India is not, as people keep calling it, an underdeveloped country, but rather, in the context of its history and cultural heritage, a highly developed one in an advanced state of decay.”  

And when I say Indians, I also include myself but only to a limited extent. And, when I say humanity, I mean the entire human race in every part of the world - the conduct has been equally confused and irrational. I wish every human on this earth gets to meet his/her yogi and evolves into a liberated being and soul and enjoys the all-pervading Cosmic Bliss …And for myself, I pray that I complete my journey of life with Cosmic Blessings ... :)