Paramahansa Yogananda
Born :- 5 January 1893 Mukunda Lal Ghosh
Gorakhpur, (present day
Uttar Pradesh, India
Died :- 7 March 1952 (aged 59)
Biltmore
Hotel, Los
Angeles, California
Nationality :- Indian
Quotation:- "You are walking on the earth as in a dream. Our world is a dream
within a dream; you must realize that to find God is the only goal, the only
purpose, for which you are here. For Him alone you exist. Him you must
find." – from the book The Divine Romance
TEACHINGS
In 1917 Paramahansa Yogananda "began his life's work with
the founding of a 'how-to-live' school for boys, where modern educational
methods were combined with yoga training and instruction in spiritual
ideals." In 1920 "he was invited to serve as India's delegate to an
International Congress of Religious Liberals convening in Boston. His address
to the Congress, on 'The Science of Religion,' was enthusiastically
received." For the next several years he lectured and taught across the
United States. His discourses taught of the "unity of 'the original
teachings of Jesus Christ and the original Yoga taught by Bhagavan
Krishna.'"
In 1920 he founded the Self-Realization Fellowship and in 1925
established in Los Angeles, California, USA, the international headquarters for
SRF.
- To
reveal the complete harmony and basic oneness of original Christianity as
taught by Jesus Christ and original Yoga as taught by Bhagavan Krishna;
and to show that these principles of truth are the common scientific
foundation of all true religions.
- To
point out the one divine highway to which all paths of true religious
beliefs eventually lead: the highway of daily, scientific, devotional
meditation on God.
- To
liberate man from his threefold suffering: physical disease, mental
inharmonies, and spiritual ignorance.
- To
encourage “plain living and high thinking”; and to spread a spirit of
brotherhood among all peoples by teaching the eternal basis of their
unity: kinship with God.
- To
demonstrate the superiority of mind over body, of soul over mind.
- To
overcome evil by good, sorrow by joy, cruelty by kindness, ignorance by
wisdom.
- To
unite science and religion through realization of the unity of their
underlying principles.
- To
advocate cultural and spiritual understanding between East and West, and
the exchange of their finest distinctive features.
- To
serve mankind as one’s larger Self.
Attune to the Divine Plan for Your Life
A soul who is guided by cosmic wisdom knows
that he came to this earth principally for the divine plan, through the medium
of his own past actions.
Over the next decade, he travelled and
lectured extensively, speaking to jam-packed audiences in major cities
throughout North America and Europe. His speeches emphasized the underlying
unity of the world’s great religions and introduced the soul-awakening
techniques of Kriya Yoga.
At the Mahatma’s request, Sri Yogananda
instructed him and several of his followers in the spiritual science of Kriya
Yoga.
Early Life and Spiritual Search
 |
| SIX YEAR OLD |
Paramahansa Yogananda was born Mukunda Lal Ghosh on January
5, 1893, in Gorakhpur, India, into a devout and well-to-do Bengali family. From
his earliest years, it was evident to those around him that the depth of his
awareness and experience of the spiritual was far beyond the ordinary.
Both his parents were disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya, the renowned master who was instrumental in reintroducing Kriya Yoga in modern India. When Yogananda was an infant in his mother’s arms, Lahiri Mahasaya blessed him and foretold: “Little mother, thy son will be a yogi. As a spiritual engine, he will carry many souls to God's kingdom.”
Both his parents were disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya, the renowned master who was instrumental in reintroducing Kriya Yoga in modern India. When Yogananda was an infant in his mother’s arms, Lahiri Mahasaya blessed him and foretold: “Little mother, thy son will be a yogi. As a spiritual engine, he will carry many souls to God's kingdom.”
In his youth Mukunda sought out many of India's sages and
saints, hoping to find an illumined teacher to guide him in his spiritual
quest. It was in 1910, at the age of seventeen, that he met and became a
disciple of the revered Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri (right). In the hermitage of
this great master of yoga he spent the better part of the next ten years,
receiving Sri Yukteswar’s strict but loving spiritual discipline.At their very first meeting, and on many occasions thereafter, Sri Yukteswar told the young disciple that he had been chosen as the one to disseminate the ancient science of Kriya Yoga in America and worldwide.
After graduating from Calcutta University in 1915, Mukunda
took formal vows as a monk of India's venerable monastic Swami Order, at which
time he received the name Yogananda (signifying bliss, ananda, through
divine union, yoga). His ardent desire to consecrate his life to the love
and service of God thus found fulfillment.
TOPS BOOK
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI
PARAMHANSA YOGANANDA: A BIOGRAPHY
THE NEW PATH
CONVERSATIONS WITH YOGANANDA
Prayers from a Master
FREE INTRODUCTION TO THE PATH OF KRIYA YOGA
WISDOM OF YOGANANDA SERIES RETREATS
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