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on the teachings of Paramhansa... reikiblessings.com | Official Site of Paramahansa Yogananda's Life and... yogananda-srf.org | Divine Consciousness- Paramhansa... yogaforjoy.com |
Paramahansa Yogananda (Bengali: পরমহংস যোগানন্দ Pôromohôngsho Joganondo, Sanskrit: परमहंस योगानंद Paramahaṃsa Yogānaṃda; January 5, 1893–March 7, 1952), born Mukunda Lal Ghosh (Bengali: মুকুন্দ লাল ঘোষ Mukundo Lal Ghosh), was an Indian yogi and guru who introduced many westerners to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his book, Autobiography of a Yogi.[1]
[edit] Biography[edit] Youth Yogananda was born in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India into a devout Bengali kshatriya family.[2] According to his younger brother, Sananda,[3] 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.[4] 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 Yukteswar as a rekindling of a relationship that had lasted for many lifetimes:
Later on Sri Yukteswar informed Yogananda that he had been sent to him by Mahavatar Babaji for a special purpose.[7] After passing his Intermediate Examination in Arts from the Scottish Church College, Calcutta, in June 1915, he graduated with a degree similar to a current day "Bachelor of Arts" or B.A. (which at the time was referred to as an A.B.), from the Serampore College, a constituent college of the University of Calcutta. This allowed him to spend time at Yukteswar's ashram in Serampore. In 1915, he took formal vows into the monastic Swami Order and became 'Swami Yogananda Giri'.[8] In 1917, Yogananda founded a school for boys in Dihika, West Bengal that combined modern educational techniques with yoga training and spiritual ideals. A year later, the school relocated to Ranchi.[9] This school would later become Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, the Indian branch of Yogananda's American organization. [edit] Move to AmericaIn 1920, he went to the United States aboard the ship City of Sparta, as India's delegate to an International Congress of Religious Liberals convening in Boston. That same year he founded the 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.[10] The following year, he established in Los Angeles, 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, with the exception of his trip abroad in 1935–1936.[11] [edit] Visit to India, 1935-6 In 1935, he returned to India to visit 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 Anandamoyi Ma, Nobel-winning physicist Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, and several disciples of Yukteswar's Guru Lahiri Mahasaya.[12] While in India, Yukteswar gave Yogananda the monastic title of Paramhansa (the spelling was later changed to "Paramahansa").[13] Paramahansa means "supreme swan" and is a title indicating the highest spiritual attainment.[14][15] In 1936, while Yogananda was visiting Kolkata, Sri Yukteswar died in the town of Puri. [edit] DeathAfter returning to America, he continued to lecture, write, and establish churches in Southern California. In the days leading up to his death, he began hinting that it was time for him to leave the world.[16] On March 7, 1952, he attended a dinner for the visiting Indian Ambassador to the U.S., Binay Ranjan Sen and his wife at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. At the conclusion of the banquet Yogananda spoke of India and America, their contributions to world peace and human progress, and their future cooperation,[17] expressing his hope for a "United World" that would combine the best qualities of "efficient America" and "spiritual India."[18] According to two eyewitnesses—long-time disciples Swami Kriyananda and Daya Mata—as Yogananda ended his speech, he read from his poem My India, concluding with the words "Where Ganges, woods, Himalayan caves, and men dream God—I am hallowed; my body touched that sod".[17][19] At the very last words, he slid to the floor,[17] dead from a heart attack.[20] Kriyananda wrote that Yogananda had once stated in a lecture, "A heart attack is the easiest way to die. That is how I choose to die."[17] Yogananda is buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. [edit] 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.”[21] Echoing traditional Hindu teachings, he taught that the entire universe is God's cosmic motion picture, and that individuals are merely actors in the divine play who change roles through reincarnation. 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.[22] He taught Kriya Yoga and other meditation practices to help people achieve that understanding, which he called Self-realization:
[edit] Kriya YogaMain article: Kriya Yoga Kriya 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 Yukteswar, Yogananda's Guru. Because of ancient yogic injunctions, "the actual technique must be learned from a Kriyaban or Kriya Yogi", according to Yogananda.[24] He gave a general description of Kriya Yoga in his Autobiography:
[edit] Autobiography of a YogiMain article: Autobiography of a Yogi
In 1946, Yogananda published his life story, Autobiography of a Yogi. It has since been translated into twenty-five languages. In 1999, it was designated one of the "100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century" by a panel of spiritual authors convened by Philip Zaleski and HarperCollins publishers.[26] Autobiography of a Yogi describes Yogananda's spiritual search for enlightenment, in addition to encounters with notable spiritual figures such as Therese Neumann, 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.[27] [edit] Bodily incorruptibilityAs 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 Yogananda's body was embalmed,[28][29] stated in a notarized letter:
[edit] Organizational legacyYogananda'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 Daya Mata, a direct disciple of Yogananda. [30] Ananda Village, near Nevada City, California, was founded by Swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple of Yogananda. Ananda expresses an aspect of Yogananda's vision for World Brotherhood Colonies, an idea for spiritual intentional communities that Yogananda often recommended to his students. At Ananda's Expanding Light Yoga & Meditation Retreat, [31], courses are offered in meditation, spiritual topics, healthy lifestyle and Ananda yoga; a style of hatha yoga based on Yogananda's teachings as developed by Kriyananda. Ananda also has centers and meditation groups throughout the world including: Palo Alto, California; Sacramento, California; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Assisi, Italy and Pune, India.[32] Song of the Morning Retreat Center, near Vanderbilt, Michigan, was founded by Yogacharya Oliver Black, a direct disciple of Yogananda. The retreat center offers classes on yoga and meditation and hosts programs featuring visiting spiritual teachers.[33] 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.[34] See also: Yogoda Satsanga Society of India [edit] Noted disciplesThe members of this list were drawn from Yogananda's book "Journey to Self-Realization", unless otherwise noted.[35]
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Categories: Modern Hindu writers | 1893 births | 1952 deaths | Indian autobiographers | Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) | Hindu gurus | Hindu monks | Indian religious leaders | Indian spiritual writers | People from Kolkata | Yogis | American Hindus | Americans of Indian descent | Alumni of Scottish Church College, Calcutta | University of Calcutta alumni | Hindu missionaries | People from Gorakhpur | Indian memoirists | Indian Hindu missionaries | Kriya yogis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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