Brij Mohan Sharma
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.
This philosophical stanza culled from the poem “Voices of the Night: A psalm of Life” penned by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a preeminent poet of 19th century America is indeed thought-provoking and worth universal abidance.
These superb four lines of the poem unequivocally highlight the need for all of us to be sublime in our behaviour, so that our children and their successors could take a cue from our lives, and make this noble attitude a usual manner of behaviour which could serve as a polestar for the overall good of humanity. By imbibing this noble trait in our lives, our political and social processes, scientific and religious programmes could get a stupendous boost and stave off all the present worrisome misgivings which the humanity is presently faced with. It will also enable every one of us to work in tandem and no misunderstandings or underhand intrigues could hamper the peaceful environment generated by our noble and sublime behaviour. It may also not be out of place to mention here that this very doctrine of sublimity and humility has been preached and taught by prophets and avatars, saints and sages, peers and faqirs of all true religions, which stand recorded in our holy scriptures.
Nevertheless, question arises- do we follow this noble ideal of sublimity and other pious teachings in our day to day activities ? The answer is a big NO. To be perfectly honest, there exists a significant gulf between these lofty ideals and our mundane realities.
Isn’t it, therefore, our ethical responsibility to ponder over this sad state of affairs and find out ways means to eliminate the bottlenecks that hide and hinder the expression of the beauty of spirit’s nobility.
As mentioned earlier, our rishis and seers have shown us the way to come over such self-centered materialistic tendencies by giving God, who is our Creator, His due place in our lives, in our hopes, in our achievements and accomplishments. We are all immutably a part of God and this realization of oneness with our Creator is the whole essence and purpose of life. It is He and only He who can bestow and equip us with all such lofty proprieties and attributes which we, as human beings, must possess. The understanding of man’s inescapable need for God in every aspect of living removes the other worldliness from his life, and makes knowing God the basis of a scientific and practical approach to life. We must always remember that a soul is always pure but it is the mindest of a physical body that makes it impure.
Paramahansa Yoganandaji, whose birth anniversary is being celebrated today all over the world, is one such God-realized master who has shown humanity the way to God realization. As a man of God, and as an authority on the ancient diving science of yoga, Paramahansaji has received the highest credentials from his spiritual contemporaries, and from readers of his works in all parts of the world. His book ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ which has been written with unforgettable sincerity, incisive wit and divine fervour has transformed lives of his numberless devotees all over the world.
Paramahansa Yogananda was born in India on January 5, 1893. He had a remarkable childhood that clearly indicated his life was marked for a divine destiny. It may interest the readers to know that on the very first page of his Autobiography he mentions : “I find my earliest memories covering the anachronistic features of a previous incarnation. Clear recollections came to me of a distant life in which I had been a yogi amid the Himalayan snows. These glimpses of the past, by some dimensionless link, also afforded me a glimpse of the future”.
The loss of his mother, whom he loved above all else in the world made firm his inherent resolve to find God. He became a disciple of Swami Sri Yuketswar Giri, who was the disciple of Sri Lahiri Mahasaya, a Self -realized master of his time. Sri Lahiri himself was a discipled of Mahavatar Babaji, the deathless master.
The readers may be wonderstruck to know that the northern crags near Badrinarayan are said to be still blessed by the living presence of Babaji. The secluded master has retained his physical form for centuries, perhaps for millenniums. Babaji’s spiritual state is beyond comprehension. It is said that Babaji gave yoga initiation to Shankara, the reorganizer of Swami order, and to Sant Kabir, the famous medieval master.
It was Mahavatar Babaji who revived in this age the ancient science of Kriya Yoga. Kriya Yoga is both a transcendent technique of meditation and an art of living that leads the union of the soul with God. Babaji revealed the sacred Kriya to Lahiri Mahasaya, who handed it down to Yuketswar Giri, who taught it to Yoganandaji.
When in 1920 Yoganandaji was deemed to begin his world mission, Mahavatar Babaji told him of the divine responsibility that was to be his : “You are the one I have chosen to spread the message of Kriya Yoga.. in the West.”
Paramahansa Yogananda began his mission in America as a delegate to the International Congress of Religious Liberals in Boston. It came as no small revelation to the West that Yoga-so eloquently expounded and clearly interpreted by Yoganandaji is a universal science, which is indeed the ‘essence’ of all the religions. Paramahansaji was the first Indian saint who lived in America continuously for thirty years, and left his mortal remains there on March 7, 1952.
Kriya Yoga is a scientific yogic technique by which one can have union with the Infinite. A yogi who faithfully practices the technique is gradually freed from Karma or the lawful chain of cause-effect equilibriums. However, the actual technique has to be learnt from an authorised Kriyaban.
Just to satisfy the readers’ curiosity, it may be stated that Kriya Yoga is a simple pschophysiological method by which human blood is decarbonized and recharged with oxygen. The atoms of the extra oxygen are transmuted into life current to rejuvenate the brain and spinal centres. The science of Kriya has been referred to by Lord Krishna twice in the Bhagavad Gita. (BG. IV-1,2,29 and V: 27-28).
According to Patanjali, Kriya Yoga consists of body discipline, mental control and meditation on God. By practising this technique correctly, faithfully and regularly one can get in communion with supernal realms. By this technique, one overcomes the tug of war between the mind and the matter-entangled senses. He is no longer brought back to the mundane sphere of rowdy sensations and restlessness. All his actions are directed by the soul. He knows himself one with God, not in imagination but in actual experience of Divine Omnipresence.
All such yogis are, in real sense, the ‘Men of God’, and as human beings it is incumbent upon us to follow their footsteps, so that whatever we do, we do it without ego, without lust, without envy, and always perform our duties with love, compassion and devotion.
(The author is former Additional Secretary to Govt)
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