PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA-Who is He ?

PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA – Who is He ?
See Part TWO = posted on October 12, 2016

We are so fortunate that His history is so recent, mostly within the last 100+ years. We have clear records of His life from His own writings and those of so many witnesses who personally knew Him very well. There are some who wrote of amazing incidents/encounters with the Master who were not always devotees of His. In fact, I myself have had the good fortune of hearing many first hand facts about the Master from those who knew Him well. They that had lived and worked with Him. Those who really understood his mission and legacy wisely remained at Self-Realization Fellowship to continue His great work of restoring the higher spiritual teachings of East and West. Their loyalty and wisdom has left the world its latest greatest scriptures and biography [and “Autobiography of a Yogi” ] of a living Christ.

And more will come to SRF to serve the devotees of these great souls.
As for many of those who left – they still had their own egos to struggle with for many many years. What a sad story that was.
Yoganandaji did so many things right, with a balanced approach. Being so far ahead of His time on all things spiritual, psychological, and health-wise. For those of you who have experienced some of the life enhancing blessings or yoga practice, please also take that greater step into the science of Raja Yoga, known on this path as Kriya Yoga which is supported by the founders of SRF.
This community [SRF/YSS] is the channel through which the great ones now work with all who are loyal and attuned.

Anyone who is wise enough to take and faithfully regularly practice the SRF Lessons course will have a much better life. Yogananda is the premier life coach par excellence! My own life has been immeasurably enriched by SRF Lessons.
His attunement to the English language just added a great deal more to all that He teaches in the world’s most widely understood language. This is a first for a new
divine dispensation and NRM.

Yogananda is the man they couldn’t shut down! There were a few betrayals while the master was building this Church of all Religions, and there have been some after His demise. There is no shortage either of ambitious persons who have copied the masters works and/or ideas and want their own followers. This is where devotees often are misled into mistakenly believing that every impressive talker is a real Guru. It is seldom so, especially when still in the body.

This is the divine Fellowship of “the few”, in reference to when Jesus speaks about the way of the many and the way of the few. Although, like all religious movements it contains a mixture of persons who are at very different levels of understanding along this path. Yet the results in SRF/YSS short history is very impressive and speaks volumes about the Masters and wisdom of this path!
   This masterwork on Yoga as the scientific approach to the Spiritual life and awakening of human consciousness is now available in over 50 languages, and is revolutionizing religion, psychology, and philosophy world wide.
The only edition published according to Yogananda’s wishes and plans is the one shown above! The author Himself began this revising of the
original 1946 edition shortly after the first edition.

Long before Paramahansa Yogananda was reborn as Mukunda Lal Ghosh, before He came to America, even before He reconnected with His illustrious Guru Swami Sri Yukteswar, this yogi was already a great saint. This lifetime as we knew Him as PY was final debut as the Avatar of this noble Kriya Yoga path. This lifetime was also our great blessing and lifesaving opportunity. Many time He suggests to us “don’t waste this great opportunity.”

I know it is the simple habit of devotees of so many paths to imagine that “their teacher ” is a Guru or an avatar. For the most part they do not even really know what these things mean! They just like to imagine that the choices they made in life are the ultimate ones!
Time, practice, attunement, devotion, and spiritual growth of ones consciousness eventually clarifies this matter. It all takes a lot of time and dedicated practice.

Why was Paramahansa Yogananda chosen as the interface and inspiration to share the science of Yoga with the world? He was by nature a born educator and master teacher. This is very evident in His compassionate guidance to all devotees and His eloquently poetic wisdom books. His first efforts to serve His fellow man/woman was to set up a successful new education system in eastern India.

While this project was just taking off – Divine Mother [via the Gurus of this path] sends Him to America in 1920. What a shocker!
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Discussing a”Second Coming of Christ” review by a Christian about Yogananda’s concepts/interpretations;

1.0 out of 5 stars Reviewer says.………………………..
Author attempts to misleadingly fit Bible teachings into his Hindu beliefs
ByreThinkon March 5, 2016
Format: Paperback of The Second Coming of Christ;Resurrecting /////////
This book is an interpretation of Biblical teachings completely fabricated by Yogananda based on his Hindu background.

This is a man who is delusional about his yogic accomplishments calling himself a master and dared to interpret Christian scriptures so flagrantly and misleadingly for truth-seekers.

PYislove replies —————————— March 17, 2016
Yogananda was not in the habit of calling Himself a Master, although He was one in every sense…He is another Living Christ……………..
“The author, Paramahansa Yogananda, does never attempt to mislead anyone about the teachings of Jesus a Christ !
I have deeply studied both the bible and the Hindu scriptures, and like millions of others have found those teachings to be the same, only those of “the many” who are still bound up in the churchianity programming will be unable to see the harmony and unity of these teachings.
The reviewer must understand that even in his own circles [or church] many persons will have their own unique interpretations of these teachings – it does not mean they are misleading anyone.
Hint- Consider the source and the level of consciousness of that source – it makes all the difference!
Yogananda does in fact supply ample evidence in writing and by His life’s examples of the efficacy and truth of His presentation of the teachings of Jesus as we have from scriptural records both in and out of the biblical canon.

What we have in Yogananda’s “The Second Coming of Christ ” commentaries and lectures are no less that a new world scripture that will stand the test of scholars and time. I highly recommend comparative religion students and seekers of truth to make use of these writings for the bigger picture of the value of the Sacred.
Yogananda’s work on scriptural interpretation and teachings are the very best I have found in the world.
Comparative religion is my field of study for a lifetime. He is possibly the greatest Avatar since Sankara and Jesus…..and the upline of His Gurus as described in the recent spiritual classic from Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers “The Autobiography of a Yogi” (Orange Cover only is up to date and complete.)
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Just a note of mention; Great Avatars (Christs) never return for second coming public debuts, they only return individually to advanced spiritual devotees.
Heed what the masters say about “the few and the many”!
by pyislove………….just a note. You will see various comments by persons not fully understanding Yogananda’s work who use similar comments to attempt to discredit Him. I like to respond at times. …..end of review response.

PART TWO; >PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA as a Jagadguru….
Jagadaguru = means a world teacher. This term represents a great souls who fulfilled a Global Mission considerably beyond the scope of most saints.
His mission to spread India’s highest Yoga,”Kriya Yoga” in the West was only an area of initial introduction of this most complete spiritual science to the world a large. The stage for Yoganandaji’s great mission was already set by another great Yogi many years earlier, and by the arrival of many copies of the Holy Bhagavad Gita[Sir Edwin Arnold’s translation] about a hundred years before the Master’s arrival in America in 1920.

Yogananda’s personal skill was that of a natural born teacher, and a fully divinely Self-Realized Yogi. Whose consciousness was one with the Infinite Reality.
He left a vast legacy of His saintly life example, and many volumes of spiritual directions for future generations for all time. In His effort to show the mutual harmony of the essence of all religion beyond local cultural differences, He was able to write a remarkable commentary on the NT Gospels for the Caucasian world that will stand as a corrective and enlightening balanced guide for the Christian world for millennia.
For the Orientals from India eastward He left us a commentary on the worlds most precise and beloved scripture “The Bhagavad Gita”. A remarkable work by any standard on the Science of God Realization .
And for the Arabic [Islamic] World He left us a beautiful commentary on the Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam called “Wine of the Mystic”. This generally covers the needs of most of humanity.
Thus arises an interesting question! Why did Paramahansa Yogananda not make a commentary on the Koran for the Arabic world? Even though the Master did praise the initial work of Muhammad and the Koran, it is not in the same class of scripture was were the Gita and The Gospels.
Not to lessen the stature of that Prophet, but the role He was to play was to take place among a hoard of socially primitive, unorganized, peoples. The level of their message was roughly equivalent to what Moses brought to the Hebrews 2 millennia earlier. Whereas the level of teaching brought by Jesus, Krishna, and Omar Khayyam was of a more advanced level than one finds in predominantly sociological dispensations. Which lacked the self-realization science details and sophistication of the interior life, and the consciousness changing understandings, terms, and techniques. These methods are uniquely from the Yogis of India!
Religious dispensations can be progressive, but sometimes mainly for the specific cultures to which they are introduced. eg- the message of Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita in 3000 BC was more advanced than what Moses brought the Hebrews in 1500 BC, or what Muhammad brought the Arabs in the 7th century AD.

It is essentially a pipe dream of so many religionists wherein they like to imagine that “their holy book” is the greatest one in the worlds history. It just ain’t so….! Perhaps such claims are a promotional gimmick. That is why it is so important to change yourself before you travel across land and sea to convert the world to your blind way. Jesus advises on this matter as follows -“first remove the beam of wood from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” thus said JC….
“Progressive revelation” may not always apply on a global scale, so much as to the specific cultures for which it was intended.

Even the type of “God ” portrayed in dispensations of these different levels of religious teachings varies greatly, as does the understanding of this term. And the clarity of the mysteries of life and death.

So it is with this vast and all encompassing legacy left by Yogananda and supremely edited by His spiritually advanced apostles [helpers], that these very advanced teachings of Yogic sciences for accelerating human evolution are transforming the lives of millions of devotees in all the worlds cultures and faith traditions around this beautiful planet.

If you have seen the film “Awake – The Life of Yogananda” biopic, that short documentary film barely touches the surface of this Yogis transforming influences on religion in the 3rd millennium. Future films and publications will more fully reveal to the world the true genius and blessings left by this “world teacher.” A true Jagadguru.

If you have any doubts or Questions about all this- just try reading Yogananda’s “Autobiography of a Yogi” available in 45 languages from Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers, LA USA. One of many acclaimed titles coming from the same publisher. Or see the films on You tube and netflix, etc.
© of this essay in the name of Federico Parente, London, Canada.

To be Continued in another month …….There is an expanded version of this essay on this site, check it out!……fp