Brij Mohan Sharma
Every man born on this planet creates a world of his own by his good or bad actions. While his goods deeds and selfless service to humanity confer infinite divine joy and glory on him, his meum and unending lust for selfish materialistic desires darken his days by distorting his basic divine nature. He makes no scruples to perform lowest of the low acts actuated by self interest. Instead of listening to the call of reason and voice of morality, he prefers to obey the demon of materialism. He is average to honest labour but versed in the cunning arts necessary to achieve his nefarious and avaricious ends. Interestingly, such persons though possessing a heart of gall have, unbelieveably, a honey tongue to fleece their victims.
By opposition to materialism, we never mean that we should neglect the improvement of our material life by honest means, which is very necessary for the development of body and mind. Nevertheless, we need to the cautious not to make materialism an end in itself, which could distract us from trhe very purpose of our existence and hamper fulfillment of our innate desire to know the supreme. An earnest realization of this truth can help us in transmuting our matter consciousness into spiritual consciousness.
The Lord abides in the hearts of all beings. If, in our ignorance, we forget this deepest truth, the truth does not alter. If we live consciously in His truth, we will resign all actions to God and escape our ego. If we do not, even then the truth will prevail,and sooner or later we shall have to listen to our inner voice and surrender ourselves to the will of God.
“People generally identify themselves with the body, which is supported by food, but they fail to realize that the basic source of bodily existence is prana (life energy). No food or other outer aid can revive a man from whom the cosmic current has withdrawn,’’ Says Paramahansa Yogananda, to whose memory this article is dedicated. As such, people desirous of following the path of truth should learn to live a life that is materially and spiritually harmonious. Physical and material comfort without mental and spiritual peace is meaningless.
To acquire such a state of mind, however, we need to have wisdom born out self-realization-knowledge of one’s own soul and of its oneness with God. This is the only knowledge that can eradicate our imperfections and unite our isolated human consciousness with the ocean of cosmic consciousness-God. In the words of Paramahansa Yogananda: “your knowledge must quench its thrist by drinking the wisdom of God; your peace can be complete only with the peace of God; your existence can be immortal only with the immortality of God; your consciousness can be unceasing only when attached to cosmic consciousness of God; your joy can be unending, ever-entertaining joy only when combined with the ever-new bliss of God.”
Great spiritual teachers of India long ago discovered a psychophysical scientific method of self-realization known as Yoga. The whole essence of Yoga is the realization of the oneness of man and his creator-the ultimate purpose of every religion and necessity of every soul.
Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) was a great master of Yoga. He received highest credentials from his spiritual contemporaries and from seekers of God in all parts of the world. His firm resolve to find God led him to his Guru Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, who taught him the ancient science of Kriya Yoga. This unique scientific technique had come to Sri Yukteswar from Lahiri Mahasaya, a disciple of Mahavatar Babaji, the deathless master who had revived and clarified this ancient science in this age. Kriya yoga is both a transcendent technique of meditation and an art of living that leads the union of soul with God.
Paramahansa Yogananda entered this world in India on January 5, 1893 and left it in America on March 7, 1952. In compliance with the wishes of his revered gurus, he began his mission in America in 1920, and was the first great master of India to live in the West for over thirty years. He initiated about one lakh students into Kriya yoga, and found people everywhere eager to received his message. The ideal of love for God and service to humanity found full expression in his life. His goal was to unite East and West by Spiritual understanding and to awaken divine yearning in every heart. He was practical in his method his teachings and life be spoke the wisdom of a true man of God.
Paramahansa Yogananda’s “Autobiography of a Yogi” is an absorbing account of a singular search for truth. The practical wisdom of this world-acclaimed spiritual classic has helped hundreds of thousands of its readres all over the world to face difficult problems with courage and unfaltering faith. Somewhere in its pages the reader finds a message of hope that seems specially meant for him. “When you resign completely to God, when you are never tempted to pray for selfish ends, and when you are sure that God is your spirit, that He is your soul and everything else-then you are free,” says Paramhansa Yogananda. However, all this cannot be achieved by mere intellectual willingness.Enlargement of consciousness by meditation and yoga practice can guide us to this divine union.
Every time you take his name, you should find a fresh flow of joy-a fresh flow of love pouring into your heart, pouring into your consciousness. Whatever you do in this world, do it with great enthusiasm and sincerity but always with the thought that “I am doing it for you, my God.”
Today, more than ever, Parmahansa Yogananda is recognized as a world teacher an enlightened exponent of the universal science of yoga, a benefactor of mankind and a great God-realized master. He lived for uniting mankind as one family, and taught us to accept the entire world as our common home and all peoples as children of God. In the words of Swami Sivananda, founder of the Divine Life Society, Paramhansa Yogananda “was a rare gem of inestimable value, the like of whom the world is yet to witness…..”
(The writer is former Additonal Secretary to Government).
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