Brij Mohan Sharma
Spirituality, from time immemorial, has been the characteristic feature of India’s culture, or, if one may say so, the backbone of its national life. It has grown and flourished under the watchful eyes, incisive wit and divine fervour of an unending procession of self-realized masters, saints and sages, who have emerged and blessed our land in almost every generation. It should not be an overstatement, therefore, if we call these messengers of God as the real architects of India’s rich culture, spiritual thought and philosophy. At the same time, it is also an acknowledged reality that their wisdom and spiritual counsel were not meant for a particular class or creed alone, but were addressed to the entire humanity.
In the recent past, we have had Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) as one of the fervid exponents of India’s age-old legacy. He re-authenticated and re-vitalized the universal concept of God, as asserted by our ancient scriptures, and tried to re-kindle the sense of unity in mankind. “Ekam Sat, Vipra bahuda vadanti’- ‘Truth is one, sages call it by various names’. This solemn assertion, as made by Vedas, unequivocally declares the unity of Godhead. And, it is this ethos of universality that has reigned supreme and preserved India’s spiritual energy through all its vicissitudes to the present day.
Yoganandaji fervently believed that only spiritual consciousness realization of God’s presence in oneself and in every other living being- can generate the feeling of oneness in man. In other words he meant that we can realize human unity through the vision of man as Atman, the one infinite-self that is the self of all. And, hasn’t Krishna Himself said ‘Mayi Sarvamidam protam, Sutre mani-gana iva”- “This entire world is threaded in Me like the thread uniting the pearls in a garland (B.G. 7-7).
Unfortunately, of late, this spirit of human unity, as preached by all the scriptures of the world, has been distorted and diluted with hatred, violence and war thrust upon humanity by the evil forces of bigotry, fundamentalism and intolerance. So, unless and until we defeat these ominous forces, accept the entire world as our common home, and all peoples as children of God, it will be impossible to redeem the spirit of oneness, harmony and fellowship, as taught by Krishna or envisioned by Yogananda.
Yoganandaji time and again emphasized that all religions of the world are but expressions of the same basic truth of spirit, and that there is only one God admitted by all scriptures. His peerless and profound exposition of Bhagvad Gita and Bible thoroughly analysed and crystallised the underlying essential unity in the truths preached and prescribed by the two sacred Bibles. From Krishna and Christ, we learn that the purpose of religion is to expand human consciousness and unite it with the Omnipresent Consciousness of God.
Born on January 5, 1893, Paramhansa Yogananda was, from his very infancy, a live child glowing with divine fervour, which gave ample indication that he was marked for specific spiritual role on the world stage. In his early life, he was often seen in search of quiet and solitary spots where he would sit immersed in deep meditation. Clear recollections came to him of a distant life in which he had been a yogi amid Himalayan snows. Divine shapes of saints meditating in mountain caves invariably flashed before his eyes like pictures projected on a cinema screen.
Paramahansa Yogananda’s father and mother were both blessed with saintly nature and were disciples of Sri Sri Lahiri Mahasaya, a famous yogi of Banaras. Lahiriji, in turn, was a disciple of Mahavatar Babaji Maharaj, the ancient but still living saint in the Himalayas, who re-discovered and clarified the ancient science of Kriya Yoga, which had been lost in the Dark Ages. It is the same science that Krishna gave to Arjuna milleniums ago- BG IV 29, V 27-28.
‘Kriya Yoga’ is a simple form of pranayama by which human blood is decarbonised and recharged with oxygen. The continous and correct practice of this ancient scientific yogic technique enables one to awaken his dormant spiritual potential, as also lessen or prevent the decay of his tissues. The main purpose of Kriya Yoga, however, is to keep the yogi in a spiritually magnetized condition and enlarge his consciousness to infinity. Since it may not be possible here to go into the minutiae of this yogic technique, readers desirous of knowing more about it may consult Yoganandaji’s world famous spiritual classic ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’.
Although Yoganandaji learnt a lot about scriptures, techniques of concentration and meditation, as also Kriya Yoga from his parents, and in the company of a number of spiritually accomplished saints and savants of his time, it was Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, his Guru, whose, rigorons spiritual and disciplenary training chiselled Mukunda Lal Ghosh (Yogananda’s family name) into Paramahansa Yogananda.
In 1920, at the behest of his Guru and Mahavatar Babaji, Yogananda ji carried to the West India’s science of Kriya Yoga and the essence of India’s spirtuality human unity through God. He was the first great master of India to live in the west for a lond period (over thirty years). He lectured in every part of the new land and addressed hundreds of clubs, colleges) churches and groups of every denomination. He inspired a number of disciples from many lands to dedicate their lives to his mission and initiated tens of thousands of devotees into Kriya Yoga.
On March 7, 1952 this great yogi and spiritualist wound up his earthly career soon after he had uttered the closing words of his last speach in Los Angeles.
The practice of Kriya Yoga, as preached and taught by Yoganandaji, helps man to unite his limited consciousness with the unlimited consciousness of God. To achieve this stage of spirtuality, however, one must first conquer human weaknesses and attain self mastery over mind. As Lord Krishna says : “Yoga is difficult for achievement for one whose mind is not subdued; by him, however, who has the mind under control and is ceaselessly striving, it can be easily attained through practice; such is my conviction (B.G VI-36). When you make up your mind to work to attain God consciousness, He will help you to fulfil your desire.
The most important contribution of Yoganandaji to humanity was the universal concept of God that transcends divisive sectarian dogmas, making Him believable, accessible, and above all, relevant to everyday life. Yoganandaji was interested not merely in expounding upon God from a philosophical or intellectual perspective but in encouraging people to seek their own personal realization of the Divine.
When your mind is free from prejudice; when little narrow mindedness vanishes; when you sympathise, with everybody; when you hear the one voice of God in temples, mosques and churches, you will know that God is with you always and that you are in Him.
(The writer is former Additional Secretary to Govt of J&K)
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