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Yogananda, Paramahansa, 1893-1952We have 1 book for this author.
Paramahansa Yogananda (Bengali: পরমহংস যোগানন্দ Pôromôhongsho Joganondo, Hindi: परमहंस योगानन्द; January 5, 1893–March 7, 1952), was an Indian yogi and guru. He was instrumental in bringing the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga to the West. His book, Autobiography of a Yogi, has introduced several generations of readers to the teachings of yoga and Hinduism. LifeYouthYogananda was born Mukunda Lal Ghosh in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India into a devout Bengali family.[1] According to his younger brother, Sananda[1], from his earliest years young Mukunda's awareness and experience of the spiritual was far beyond the ordinary. In his youth he sought out many of India's Hindu sages and saints, hoping to find an illuminated teacher to guide him in his spiritual quest.[2] In Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, he relates numerous stories of saints, scientists, and miracle workers that he visited as a youth, including the renowned scientist Jagdish Chandra Bose, his personal tutor Mahendranath Gupta (biographer of Ramakrishna), the Nobel winning Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, the 'Tiger Swami', the 'Perfume Saint', the 'Saint with Two Bodies', the 'Levitating Saint', and others.[2] Yogananda's seeking after various saints mostly ended when he met his guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, in 1910, at the age of 17. He describes his first meeting with Sri Yukteswar as a rekindling of a relationship that had lasted for many lifetimes:
After passing his Intermediate Examination in Arts from the Scottish Church College, Calcutta, he did his graduation in religious studies from the Serampore College, a constituent college of the University of Calcutta. This allowed him to spend time at Sri Yukteswar's ashram in Serampore. In 1915, he took formal vows into the monastic Swami Order and became 'Swami Yogananda Giri'.[2] In 1917, Yogananda began his life's mission with the founding and running of a school for boys in a remote hamlet of Bengal, called Dihika, by the side of river Damodar, that combined modern educational techniques with yoga training and spiritual ideals. A year later, the school relocated to Ranchi. This school would later become Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, the Indian branch of Yogananda's American organization. Move to AmericaIn 1920, he went to the United States as India's delegate to an International Congress of Religious Liberals convening in Boston. That same year he founded Self-Realization Fellowship to disseminate worldwide his teachings on India's ancient practices and philosophy of Yoga and its tradition of meditation. For the next several years, he lectured and taught on the East coast and in 1924 embarked on a cross-continental speaking tour. Thousands came to his lectures. [2] The following year, he established in Encinitas, California, an international headquarters for Self-Realization Fellowship, which became the spiritual and administrative heart of his growing work. Yogananda was the first Hindu teacher of yoga to make his permanent home in America, living there from 1920-1952. Visit to India, 1935-6In 1935, he returned to India to visit Sri Yukteswar and to help establish his Yogoda Satsanga work in India. During this visit, as told in his autobiography, he met with Mahatma Gandhi, the Bengali saint Sri Anandamoyi Ma, Nobel winning physicist Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, and several disciples of Sri Yukteswar's Guru Lahiri Mahasaya.[2] While in India, Sri Yukteswar gave Yogananda the additional title of Paramhansa[3] (the spelling was later changed to 'Paramahansa'). Paramahansa is a title given to enlightened teachers in Hinduism, and literally translates as 'supreme swan.'[2] In 1936, while Yogananda was visiting Kolkata, Sri Yukteswar died in the town of Puri. Back in AmericaAfter returning to America, he continued to lecture, write, and establish churches in Southern California. On March 7, 1952, he attained mahasamadhi while attending a dinner for the visiting Indian Ambassador at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Teachings
 Yogananda taught his students the need for direct experience of truth, as opposed to blind belief. He said that “The true basis of religion is not belief, but intuitive experience. Intuition is the soul’s power of knowing God. To know what religion is really all about, one must know God.” [4] Echoing traditional Hindu teachings, he taught that the entire universe is God's cosmic "movie show", and that individuals are merely actors in the "divine play" who change "roles" through reincarnation. Any harm that would befall an innocent person would therefore be the result of karma from a past life. Yogananda advised against taking this "divine delusion" any more seriously than a movie theater or television presentation because life is secondary to our own understanding. He taught that mankind's deep suffering is rooted in identifying too closely with one's current 'role', rather than with the movie's 'director', or God. This could also be a result of karma and therefore not identifying with the 'director.' To that end, he taught certain yoga techniques that help people achieve self-realization. He said that “self-realization is the knowing in all parts of body, mind, and soul that you are now in possession of the kingdom of God; that you do not have to pray that it come to you; that God’s omnipresence is your omnipresence; and that all that you need to do is improve your knowing.” [4] Therefore knowing yourself is the key to understanding God because God is within. God is within. God is without. God is. God is everywhere in all things, around all things, above and below all things, within and without all things, including oneself which is but a miniature God-head waiting to be discovered and rediscovered and therefore known by each and every soul that repeatedly walks the face of the Earth. Yogananda's work is continued by several of his disciples and organizations. Self-Realization Fellowship, which he founded, is headquartered in Los Angeles and has meditation centers and temples across the world. The current head is Sri Daya Mata, a direct disciple of Yogananda. Ananda, near Nevada City, California, was founded by Swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple of Yogananda. Ananda is unique in that it expresses an aspect of Yogananda's vision for World Brotherhood Colonies, an idea for spiritual intentional communities that Yogananda often recommended to his students. Ananda Village is located in Nevada City, California, with six other Ananda World Brotherhood Colonies worldwide. Ananda also has centers and meditation groups throughout the world. Song of the Morning Retreat Center, near Vanderbilt, Michigan, was founded by Yogacharya Oliver Black, a direct disciple of Yogananda. As of September 2004 work is continuing on building the Clear Light Community on the 800 acre (3 km²) retreat property. The retreat center offers classes on yoga and meditation and hosts programs featuring visiting spiritual teachers. The Center for Spiritual Awareness, located in Lakemont, Georgia, was founded by Roy Eugene Davis, a direct disciple of Yogananda. The CSA publishes books and audio cassettes, and offers meditation seminars at its retreat center headquarters on a voluntary donation basis. The Puri, India, ashram of Yogananda's guru Sri Yukteswar Giri continues to this day. George Harrison of the Beatles was a devotee of Yogananda[citation needed], and Yogananda's image appears on the cover of the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya and Swami Sri Yukteswar, other gurus in Yogananda's lineage, are also on the album cover. In the liner notes of the album Tales from Topographic Oceans by the British rock group Yes, main lyricist and singer Jon Anderson refers to a footnote in Yogananda's autobiography as the main source of inspiration for said record. Kriya YogaKriya Yoga is a set of yoga techniques that are the main discipline of Yogananda's meditation teachings. Kriya Yoga was passed down through Yogananda's guru lineage — Mahavatar Babaji taught Kriya Yoga to Lahiri Mahasaya, who taught it to his disciple Sri Yukteswar, Yogananda's Guru. Because of ancient yogic injunctions, the techniques of Kriya must be learned from a Kriya Yogi, according to Yogananda.[2] He gave a general description of Kriya Yoga in his Autobiography:
Autobiography of a Yogi In 1946, Yogananda published his life story, Autobiography of a Yogi [5], which was instrumental in introducing meditation and yoga to the West. It has since been translated into eighteen languages and remains a best seller. It includes Yogananda's and Sri Yukteswar's attempts to explain certain verses and events of the Bible such as the Garden of Eden story, and descriptions of Yogananda's encounters with leading spiritual figures such as Therese Neumann, the Indian saint Sri Anandamoyi Ma, Mohandas Gandhi, Nobel laureate in literature Rabindranath Tagore, noted plant scientist Luther Burbank (the book is 'Dedicated to the Memory of Luther Burbank, An American Saint'), famous Indian scientist Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose and Nobel Prize winning physicist Sir C. V. Raman.
Claims of bodily incorruptibilitySome of Yogananda's followers have made claims of his bodily incorruptibility. As reported in Time Magazine on August 4, 1952, Harry T. Rowe, Los Angeles Mortuary Director of the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California where he is interred, stated in a notarized letter:
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This biographical information was gathered from the Paramahansa_Yogananda page, courtesy of the Wikipedia project. BooksAutobiography of a Yogi |
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