Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda

God Within

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Yssi.org/onlst

Energisation excercises

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Master practiced the Energization Exercises every day to show us how important they are. Twenty-seven trillion body cells are being energized. They help us realize we are a soul, the master of the body. When the Energization Exercises are practiced regularly and perfectly, they will rid us of desires, psychological and physiological diseases.

-- Br. Balananda

Convocation, 2014

A VERY INSPIRING GANDHI JAYANTI TO YOU!

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“The tiny 100-pound saint radiated physical, mental, and spiritual health. His soft brown eyes shone with intelligence, sincerity, and discrimination; this statesman has matched wits and emerged the victor in a thousand legal, social, and political battles. No other leader in the world has attained the secure niche in the hearts of his people that Gandhi occupies for India's unlettered millions.” ( Guruji in A.Y. Ch. 44)

Scriptural Study

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Join us for a *one-hour group meditation, followed by an hour of group study* of "The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You."

*Wednesday, August 19, 2020*

*Timings: 9:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.*

*Thursday, August 20, 2020*

*Timings: 5:30 a.m. - 7:30 a.m.*

Feel free to join the first hour only, the second hour only, or both! All are welcome.

Visit srfonlinemeditation.org/calendar

Free digital magazine - Jan - Mar 2020 issue

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Download for free YSS magazine in this link Https://yssi.org/freedigysm

MAN IS KEPT HYPNOTIZED WITH DELUSION

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Delusion is so strong that it is pretty hard to believe it is delusion when you have needs and no money to meet them. It is difficult to believe that this world is maya when you are sick and suffering. But when you constantly keep your mind in God, you will realize that this world is His dream.

This is why in India we don't pay as much attention to physical healing as to the healing of the soul's ignorance. To heal the soul of ignorance - that is, to remove the delusion that covers the soul - is the greatest of all healings, because that healing is lasting. And when you heal the soul, then you realize the body is nothing but a dream shell in which the soul resides.

~ SRI SRI PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA,

PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL METHODS OF HEALING,

THE DIVINE ROMANCE, Pg 169

How you can talk with God?

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The demand for the Lord's reply should be strong; a half-believing prayer is not sufficient. If you make up your mind: "He is going to talk with me'; if you refuse to believe differently, regardless of how many years He has not answered you; if you go on trusting Him, one day He will respond.

—Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda,

"How You Can Talk With God"

Quotes from YSS magazine - year 2005

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When your mind is single-pointedly fixed on God, you reduce all of life's experiences to denominator. By constantly relating everything to Him,

you remove all of life's unnecessary complexities and are no longer troubled by the things that excite or upset others.

"He did this; she did that; I didn't get promoted; that person got recognition; I was ignored." So what? Has that

anything to do with your relationship with God? I know what that discipline is like; I have lived it. And I also know very well it's liberating effects.

-- YSS magazine, 2005

letter from Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda to this devotees

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A copy of a letter that Paramhansa Yogananda wrote to a devotee in India in 1951. It is filled with timeless advice and blessings.

*Imagine that Guruji has written this to you:*

I have received your letter and thank you for writing to me about your difficulties. Do not be discouraged by them, but realize that for many lives you have been used to following habits or whims of the mind and now, when you are trying to bring the mind under your control, it naturally rebels against such discipline. Most devotees undergo this experience to a lesser or greater degree, so it is nothing to worry about. The important factor is to keep on trying to better yourself. No one can do this for you. You must whip the mind into submission through the constant application of will power.

Remember that you are a child of God, created in His divine image. These weaknesses which you have put on do not belong to you. You must be strong and conquer them, one by one, if you would know God. At the same time, be not discouraged when you fall, but lift yourself again and again out of your mental lethargy by longer and deeper periods of meditation.

If you apply the teachings every day, you will see yourself change. Do not expect to change all at once, but by continuous effort and faith in God the change will take place.

Above all, love the Father, in spite of your weaknesses. Love Him unconditionally, and mentally surrender yourself to Him. In Him will you find the fulfillment of all your longings.

Start right now doing little services for others, no matter how small they may be. Feel that you are serving the God in them. And should you fall in trying to lift yourself, get up and try, try again. Never allow yourself to feel discouraged.

God bless you and your family. My prayers will be with each of you.

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

How to go deep in meditation?

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To go deep in meditation requires focus; it requires concentration.

That's why the first technique Guruji gives us is the marvelous Hong-Sau technique of concentration.

In the beginning of our spiritual search, we're usually full of enthusiasm. We really make effort in our meditations, and often get very good results because of that.

But as the years go by, there is a tendency to slacken a little bit and just go through the motions.

You sit down to meditate and the mind says, "Oh, it's been a tough day!" And ten minutes later you're still thinking about what a tough day it's been; you haven't even started to meditate. In struggling against this myself, I've found that it can be overcome if I make an effort to get myself charged up for meditation, give myself a good pep talk:

"OK, mind, we're going to meditate. I don't want any backtalk from you.

Focus on the Hong-Sau technique, and don't even think about wandering off!" Summon up intensity; and you will find that the mind obeys, and you go deep quickly. Keep on keeping on. That's the whole secret of spiritual success: Never give up!

-- Brother Achalananda SRF Magazine 1996

Guided meditation on peace

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Guided Meditation

Guided meditation on peace

Your change will change this world! You are the hope of this country! #...

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Babaji

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Happy Janmashtami

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Parmahansa Yogananda - Affirmations -1

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"Peace fills my body.

Peace fills my heart and dwells within my love.

Peace within, without, every where."

- Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda

Quotes from Guruji - 1

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That God has given me the privilege to serve is my blessed good fortune. I want nothing; my only desire is that I may establish this work as a divine oasis where aspiring souls may quench their thirst.

—Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda

Paramahansa Yogananda - For Love of Gurudeva

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You are a member of the worldwide human race. Don't forget it. You must love the world as you love your nation and your family...it is by fellowship with God that fellowship with man must be established; because only when you know God and see Him in all can you love the Jew and Christian, Muslim and Hindu, with the same spirit...

We are all aliens here. No territory belongs permanently to any country. The hand of time eventually erases all nations. Their boundaries don't last, because they represent divisions that have been carved out by force. I believe a time will come when in greater understanding we shall have no boundaries anymore...

Today, the best country to live in is America. I am not saying this to flatter you, but because it is the truth. Here you have freedoms and material advantages and opportunities unknown in many other nations. Don't abuse those privileges and blessings. Remember that the only justification for life is to unravel the mysteries of this universe. The only justification for human existence is to find God. The Lord hopes you will learn to love the Giver more than all His material gifts.

Paramahansa Yogananda, Divine Romance, 'A World Without Boundaries,' 1939

Omnipresent Guru Paramahansa Yogananda

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A disciple residing far away from the guru may practice a spiritual method of communion. The guru, one with God, is present everywhere including the wisdom center (the point between the eyebrows) of all men. At the end of meditation each day the disciple should concentrate at the point between eyebrows and visualize his Guru. Thinking of him with love and devotion, the diciple should ask the questions he wants answered. If visualization and concentration on the guru are deep, the chela will invariably receive silent answers to his questions in the form of accruing inner perceptions. In this way the advanced disciple can contact the Guru even after the master has left the mortal flesh for invisible Omnipresence.

- Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
(God Talks With Arjuna, The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, Verse 34)

Babaji's Great Disciple Lahiri Mahasaya ( Guru of Swami sri sri Yukteswar Giri )

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Babaji's Great Disciple Lahiri Mahasaya

One of the earliest appearances of Babaji was documented by one of his most important disciples, the great saint and yogi, Sri Shayama Charan Lahiri Mahasaya. Lahiri Mahasaya was born in 1828 and while growing up he was taught several languages including Sanskrit. As a young man he closely studied the vedas and eagerly listened to discussions of learned brahmins. Lahiri was full of good qualities and well liked by everyone around him. By the age of 33 he had married and gotten a government post and received news that was to change his life. He was told to report to the city of Rhanikhet which sits at the foot of one of the highest Himalayan peaks, Nanda Devi. Once there he was immediately taken with the beauty of the Himalayan foothills and spent his evenings hiking high up into the mountain fastnesses. One day while he was hiking he heard his name being called and followed the voice high up to a clearing surrounded by small caves. There he saw Babaji Maharaj who addressed him familiarly by name and welcomed him after his long absence. Although Lahiri didn't know who he was he felt drawn to his presence. Babaji explained that in Lahiri's former life, he had been his guru and that Lahiri had been his advanced disciple, meditating for decades under his guidance in one of the caves that surrounded the mountainous ledge. With a touch to his forehead, Babaji awakened his memory of that past life they had spend together. Then Babaji induced in him the highest or Nirvikalpa state of Samadhi in which the individual wave merges with the Universal ocean of consciousness and attains the state of Cosmic Consciousness. Lahiri remained in unbroken samadhi for seven days and then Babaji brought him back to his human awareness and explained to him that Lahiri Mahasaya had taken his present birth for a purpose and that he was to be instrumental in spreading the Yogic teachings of union with God to the greater world beyond the borders of India.
Lahiri Mahasaya was given the task of setting the example of the ideal Yogi householder, maintaining job and family and living in the world, yet remaining peacefully poised in the bliss of inner awareness. The perfume of his spiritual greatness attracted dozens of followers. Lahiri spontaneously developed many siddhis or yogic powers and these further enhanced the faith and devotion of his many disciples. According to Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya was to be instrumental in bringing East and West together. This he did through the agency of his direct disciple Sri Priya Yukteswar Giri who in his turn was the Guru of Paramahansa Yogananda, well known in the West as the author of Autobiography of a Yogi. The disciple, Sri Yukteswar, wrote a treatise showing the parallels between the Christian (Western) and Hindu (Eastern) religions. At the urging of Sri Yukteswar, Paramahansa Yogananda in his turn moved to the West to California and introduced much of America to the Eastern Yogic science of union with God, independent of any specific religion. Thus was the practicality of the West blended together with the spirituality of the East. All this was foretold by Babaji in his initial meeting with Lahiri Mahasaya in 1861.

Part - 2 - Mahavatar Babaji - The deathless saint of Himalaya - Param Guru of Yogananda

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At one time a solar eclipse was predicted. Because of the auspicious occasion, many people in the small town of Ranibag planned to take a dip in the River Gatum Ganga which ran along the outskirts of town. Babaji Maharaj happened to be staying there near the Shiva temple. As generally happened in his presence a large group had gathered, anxious for the chance to take part in the ceremonial bath along with Babaji during the eclipse. A group of others had already planned to bathe at Kurukshetra where the famous battle recorded in the Mahabharata had taken place long ago. That place was made even holier as the site where the Avatar Krishna had delivered his discourse to his companion Arjuna as recorded in the Bhagavad Gita. As it turned out, part of the group remained in Ranibag and the other part proceeded to Kurukshetra. When the moment of the eclipse arrived, the group that had gone on to Kurukshetra were amazed and delighted to see Babaji in their midst, wading into the River Ganga along with them.

When the group returned back to their homes in Ranibag, they were surprised to see that Babaji Maharaj had already arrived back from Kurukshetra. They asked the others when he had returned and were told that he had never left. He had remained in Ranibag to bathe with the people that had stayed behind. Thus they came to know that he had satisfied both groups by being simultaneously present in both places.
In 1911 Babaji Maharaj went to the city of Prayag and was seen by many people bathing in the river at one of the public baths. A photographer named Sorabji took two pictures of him while he was there. To everyone's surprise, when the pictures were developed, in one Babaji was wearing his shirt and tibetan cap, and in the other he was wearing no clothes at all. This even though both pictures were taken at the same time. The two pictures are shown below.

Babaji Punished for Smiling

During the summer of 1914, Babaji Maharaj had enlisted to help in the building of some military barracks in the Ranibag area. On many occasions he was seen working on projects such as this as an ordinary laborer. The workers were carrying rocks on their heads moving building materials by hand.
At that time, the Minister of Education, one Pandit Jwala Datt of Almora happened to be passing through the area in his horse cart, on his way back to his home town. As he passed the line of laborers, he saw one of the men smiling at him. He was incensed that a mere laborer would act so familiarly with a man of his position. So he instructed his secretary to tell the laborer that he would be punished for his rude behavior. The secretary confronted the worker but the worker, who was of course the saintly Babaji, seemed completely unruffled. He merely told the secretary that he was smiling because the bell of the Badrinath temple had fallen down and many people were there trying to raise if back up again but there efforts were not working. Pandit Jwala Datt became even angrier at this and vowed to inflict his punishment if the story proved to be a lie. So he sent off a telegram to distant Badrinath to find out if the incident had happened. The reply came back confirming that the bell indeed had fallen down and people were trying to raise it back up.
Pandit Jwala Datt was humbled by the experience and baffled by the apparent omniscience of the saint posing as an ordinary laborer. This event completely changed his outlook on life. Before he had been learned but egotistical. Now he became humble and very devoted to Babaji. He spent the rest of his life in religious devotion.

Babaji took a job as a laborer when the dam at Lake Bhim Tal was being constructed. There had been several previous attempts to build a dam at the same location but they had all failed. But this time, with Babaji present, the construction was successful. For a time none knew his identity but after a while some people recognized the famous saint and shortly after that he disappeared.

The Proper Way to Meet a Saint

Near Nainital at the foot of the Himalayas there is a lake called Khurpatal. At the site of the lake, a village had sprung up and the people there planted gardens and sold produce in neighboring Nainital for their livelihood. Babaji Maharaj occasionally would stay in this quiet town along the placid lake and people from the region would visit to enjoy the blessings of his noble and loving presence.

Once while he was staying there a well educated young man learned of his presence and began to wonder about his identity. It was well known that Babaji had appeared to people unexpectedly in various places at widely scattered intervals of time. He was believed to be centuries old and quite a few thought he had been present for thousands of years. This man had heard that Babaji had been present at the battle of Kurukshetra which took place over 5,000 years ago. He reasoned that Babaji must really be Aswathama, one of the immortal warriors that had taken part in the battles. In the Mahabharata it is recorded that Aswathama was wounded on the top of his head and so the man concluded that this was probably the reason why Babaji Maharaj was habitually seen wearing a Tibetan cap or some other form of head covering.

The man was excited to prove his theory so he proceeded to Khurpatal and sought out the presence of Babaji. As soon as Babaji saw the man he informed him that as it was very hot, he was going to bathe in the cool waters of the lake and so he requested the man to help him by carrying his possessions to the edge of the lake. The man was very happy at this because he knew that Babaji would remove his cap before entering the water and thus he could verify whether his suspicions were true.

As they stood at the edge of the lake, Babaji asked the man to help him off with his clothes. As soon as the man touched Babaji, he was filled with an inexpressible bliss. In an ecstatic mood he helped Babaji into the water, bathed him and then dried and redressed him. As they were returning to the hut where Babaji was staying the man realized with great chagrin that in his blissful state he had completely forgotten to look for scars on the top of Babaji's head.

But Babaji knew his thoughts all along and said to the man with great equanimity, "Whenever you go to meet a saint or high spiritual soul, go with much devotion and faith. If you have any doubts, ask him for their clarification. Only those who are blessed by God can recognize a saint. Those who have a pure heart and those who are humble and egoless attain the grace of saints.The man then realized the omniscience of the saint and instantly became a true devotee.

In the winter of 1952 Baba Hari Dass was living in a room attached to a cave near a burial ground by the name of Ghati. The room was very cold in the winter and so he kept a fire burning inside the cave and meditated sitting close to the fire. It happened one time that as he was meditating, he lost consciousness and his body slumped to the left and his arm fell into the fire pit. When he came to awareness he saw the tall figure of Babaji Maharaj bending over him and removing his arm from the vicinity of the flames. Without a word, Babaji turned and left as quickly as he had come. Baba Hari Dass jumped up quickly in order to catch up with Babaji and bow to his feet but when he stepped outside Babaji had disappeared.

Mahavatar Babaji - The deathless saint of Himalaya - Param Guru of Yogananda - part 1

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Kaphal fruits

Once in the month of January, Babaji was staying in the Hariakhan cave. A few saints heard about Babaji's yogic powers and decided to have the darshan of the powerful saint. They asked him various questions about Yoga and the scriptures, and then they decided amongst themselves to ask him for a wild fruit called Kaphal that grows only in the Himalayas during the late spring. But in January it is not available.Babaji realized their thoughts, came out of the cave and walked a short distance away. He returned with a branch full of Kaphal fruits and distributed the fruits to the saints.

Gumani Becomes a True Devotee

At the foot of the Himalayas along the Gautam Ganga River lay the tiny village of Dyola. In this village there lived an illiterate farmer who was called Gumani. Gumani was a very pious person. His wife was expecting a child and after the birth of the child Gumani underwent a strange transformation. He lost all interest in the world and household life and without telling anyone, he joined a group of travelers who were going to the town of Hardwar. There he joined an ashram which was run by a very saintly sanyasin. There Gumani devotedly served the visiting religious pilgrims who came to the ashram. The sanyasin who owned the ashram observed Gumani and was very pleased with his devotion, humility and truthfulness. After a while some visitors came who knew Gumani while he had been a farmer. They recognized him and told the head of the ashram about the situation he had left behind. His wife was very sad and had no one to plant the crops or take care of her or the child.

Though the saintly sanyasin had become very attached to Gumani and his services, he realized the suffering his absence was causing and told him to return immediately to his home. But now that Gumani had made the break from his former life the thought of returning was very painful to him. He wept and begged to be allowed to stay, but the saint was firm and told him: "Gumani, go home and live like a hermit there. Meditate and worship God. You will find your guru at your own place."

With great sadness, Gumani returned home and resumed farming as before but with the difference that now his mind was constantly fixed on God.

Then one day when he was returning from his fields he saw a tall slim man with fair complexion standing under a tree near his house. The man was gazing steadily at him. Gumani went closer to him and saw that he had a beautiful radiance about his face and had very peaceful eyes. Gumani was afraid but he summoned the courage to ask: "Maharaj, who are you? Why are you standing here?"
The man was Babaji Maharaj. He knew that Gumani was fearful of him so he walked slowly to the shade of another tree. Then Gumani recalled to mind the words of the saintly sanyasin at the ashram: "You will meet your guru at your own place". So Gumani bowed to his feet and thereafter surrendered himself completely to Babaji.

He took Babaji into his house and began to take care of him with the utmost love and devotion. His body mind and heart were completely dissolved in his service to Babaji Maharaj. Gumani built a hut for Babaji to live in so he would not be disturbed by the rest of the family.

At that time Babaji would take nothing to eat except the liquid whey which was prepared from the milk given abundantly by Gumani's cows. After a while Gumani decided to give up solid food too, and live only on whey just as his guru was doing. The villagers around did not know who Babaji was but because his speech was a mixture of various local languages, they thought him illiterate and somewhat crazy. They wondered why Gumani had taken in such a crazy and illiterate vagabond and also why he was emulating his example by taking only whey. Gumani ignored their remarks but one day he told Babaji very meekly, "Babaji Maharaj, my hunger remains unsatisfied by drinking only whey. I think you too must remain hungry just like me. Why don't you eat food?" When Babaji heard this simple speech full of devotion, he started eating food to fulfill the desire of his devotee.

The villagers continued to regard Babaji as illiterate, stupid and crazy but slowly as they came into closer contact with him they began to sense his greatness and their attitudes completely changed. They began to love him as well and people started to gather at Gumani's house to be in the company of Babaji. Just as he had done at the ashram, Gumani began to take care of all his visitors. Gumani extended full hospitality to the visitors and his wife spent a good part of each day preparing food until, little by little, all his food stores were exhausted.

His wife tried to restrain him from feeding all of the visitors who came to be with Babaji but Gumani continued to give everything he had to them. When there was nothing left in the house to eat, the wife left with her baby to go live with her parents.

Gumani was now alone in his house but he was happy spending all his time serving Babaji Maharaj. Babaji too felt great love for his disciple. This continued for a year and then Babaji left to go to Almora. Gumani was now all alone in his house, with no wife or friends and not even any food stores or money left. He spent his time meditating on God or walking around his barren fields.

One day as he was walking across his fields, he saw a man with a plow across his shoulders and was
immediately reminded of the Avatar Krishna's brother Balaram, who had also carried a plow across his shoulders in the same manner. For Gumani, everyone was God, and when the man came near, he bowed to his feet with much reverence and devotion.

The man stepped back with great surprise saying, "What are you doing? I am a poor laborer, wandering in search of a job. Why are you bowing to my feet?"
Gumani replied, "You are my Lord Balaram, don't try to fool me. For me you are no less than God."
The man said, "I have no house and no place to live. I am a very poor man. Believe me, I am searching for a job".So Gumani asked the man to come live in his house with him and told him he was welcome to stay as long as he liked. Gumani felt that the man had come to his house by the order of God, and he therefore served him with great respect and devotion.

The rainy season was approaching and the man saw from the house that the land around had not yet been tilled or planted. He told Gumani he did not like to sit idle and would like to till his land for him. Gumani accepted his offer as God's desire and allowed him to do as he wished. Then the man plowed the land and sowed grain upon the fields. After completing the sowing, he disappeared from Gumani's house.
When harvest time arrived it was found that the grain collected was more than fifty times what had been collected in past years. The entire house was filled with rice and there was rice in the granary as well. Seeing the plentiful crop, Gumani realized that the man who had sown his fields was none other than Babaji Maharaj himself, who had chosen to repay him for the grain Gumani had offered in serving Babaji's devotees.
When Gumani's wife heard about the remarkable crop of rice in her fields she was very surprised and returned home to Gumani's house with her son.

Gumani marked the years as they passed waiting for Babaji to return but after five years he decided that he should instead go looking for Babaji Maharaj. So he left immediately for Almora determined to live with him and serve him for the rest of his life. When after five years of separation Gumani was once again reunited with his master he burst into tears and dropped to the ground at his feet. Babaji told him he was just leaving to visit the Badrinath temple high on a peak in the Himalayas, and he invited Gumani to go with him. Gumani was very happy to be invited along on such an auspicious religious pilgrimage and readily agreed to go.
Word got out of the pilgrimage and two men showed up and asked to go along. Babaji neither agreed nor refused to take them but kept his silence. When it was time to go, the men followed along behind them nevertheless. As the road got steeper it turned into a narrow trail until after a while they were treading along a ledge with a sheer rock wall on one side, and a deep precipice on the other. Babaji was walking rapidly ahead with Gumani and the two men further back behind him. Suddenly a huge lion came into view blocking the three men's path. The lion had it's tail raised up in a most furious manner. The men told Gumani they should make a hasty retreat but without waiting to see if he was with them, they turned around and ran back the way they had come.

Gumani remained there, wanting to continue on after his master. Soon the lion grew calm, laid down and paid no more attention to him. He quietly stepped around it without hesitation or fear and caught up to Babaji. They continued on the steep path until they finally reached the Badrinath temple at the top where they worshipped, and then turned around and returned back to Almora.

Babaji now told Gumani to return to his village and look after his family and to continue on with his meditation and worship. Although Gumani did not want to leave his beloved guru, he followed his order and returned back to his home and family. There he performed his worldly duties and his meditations as he had been obstructed. After one year he left his body in peace.

By the grace of Babaji Maharaj, the illiterate and simple Gumani had become a true devotee of God and his story and reputation spread throughout the region. The hut that Gumani had built for Babaji to stay in is still preserved today in his native village

From - In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods. Galen Rowell A man who was well versed in religious scriptures once came to Babaji Maharaj and wanted to know what was meant by the "cosmic body of God." Babaji rarely spoke and characteristically kept his silence and continued to sit quietly. But after a while he said: "Close your eyes and worship God for some time, and then open your eyes."
The man did as he was instructed. He closed his eyes and meditated on God for a while and then opened his eyes. As he looked around, everywhere he looked he saw Babaji Maharaj and everything he saw became Babaji Maharaj. Then Babaji said quietly: "No one can really define God by reading the scriptures."

Strange Lights Appear at Siddhashram

Besides staying in the Hariakhan area, Babaji also spent some time near the town of Almora. While he was staying there he asked some disciples where he might find a source of cold pure water. The devotees led him into a jungle area where there was a spring flowing slowly, drop by drop providing a small supply of cold water. Babaji pushed his finger into the area where the water was seeping and the water started gushing out in a steady stream. Because of the beauty of the place and the source of pure spring water, Babaji wanted to set up an ashram there. Some nearby villagers gave him some land and people started gathering at the new ashram which Babaji Maharaj called Siddhashram. The devotees would gather during the day to be with Babaji and at night return to their village homes. One night a devotee named Siromani Pathak stayed all night sleeping with Babaji in the hut that had been built for him. In the middle of the night, Babaji woke the devotee up and told him to look in the direction of the spring. When he did Siromani Pathak saw what appeared to be four bright flames of light hovering near the stream of water. The whole area was lit up by the light emanating from the flames. The flames lasted for some time and then disappeared. When Siromani asked Babaji about the lights he was told that because the place was very sacred, various gods came to the spot and were visible in the form of lights. Other people said that they too had sometimes seen strange lights in the presence of Babaji and they felt that they were very high saints coming to pay their respects.
Once Maharaja Sindhiya, the king of Gwalior invited Babaji to come to his palace so that he and his wife might have his darshan. Babaji agreed and the king and his ministers met with him at the house of a local pandit. Then Babaji went to the queens palace and gave her darshan separately from the king. After Babaji left, the king wanted to talk to his queen about their encounter with the high saint. It came out in conversation that the queen had guessed Babaji to be around eighty years old but the king said he had appeared to him to be a youth of around eleven years. It was a common occurrence that Babaji would appear differently to different people.

Miraculous Appearance at Katgharia Dedication

For a while, Babaji Maharaj lived in a jungle called Kalichaur. The jungle was called this because there was a life size statue of the mother goddess Kali there carved in black stone. The jungle was full of wild and dangerous animals like snakes, tigers and wild elephants. Babaji lived in the jungle but would sometimes walk along the river banks or cross to the other side of the river to a village called Katgharia.
Wherever he went the news went out that he was present and people would gather around him. His very presence filled the area with his purity and supernatural powers. People would forget their cares, pains, and miseries and become happy like children in his presence. Whenever the people congregated in this manner around him, they would spontaneously organize spiritual functions such as sacred singing (bhajan), feeding of the poor, or the burning of a sacrificial fire (yajna). Sometimes thousands of people would show up in Katgharia from neighboring villages to enjoy the spiritual festivities and return to their homes full of joy and happiness.

Early Photo of Babaji at Katgharia Ashram Once an English commissioner was passing through Katgharia and observed the huge crowd that had gathered around the saintly figure of Babaji. He saw the spiritual glow emanating from the face of Babaji and he felt peace and happiness welling up within himself. He got down from his horse and went near to get a better look at him. Babaji directed his gaze at the man and for a while the man stood transfixed as if hypnotized.

Later the man asked who Babaji was and he was told he was a very high saint who possessed supernatural powers. The commissioner was so impressed that he decided to donate a large plot of land in Babaji's name. The devotees built a temple and a small residence on the land. Many years later, after Babaji was no longer seen in the area, Sri Mahendra Brahmachari decided to build a large ashram dedicated to Babaji's memory. It was he who had taken it upon himself to collect Babaji's stories from all over the Indian countryside. Finally in 1958, the ashram construction was complete and a huge gathering had been invited to celebrate the opening. People had gathered from India as well as western countries and activities such as sacred music and fire ritual were being conducted. Food was distributed to everyone who attended. As the fire ritual (yajna) was in progress and people were singing or eating suddenly a divine light manifested itself and a celestial form was seen hovering a few feet above the ground. The form of Hariakhan Babaji Maharaj clad in the familiar shirt and Himalayan cap was recognized. A wave of joy went through the crowd and people began to dance ecstatically. Some lost consciousness through sheer emotion of the moment.

A few years after this incident, the Kadamba tree where Babaji used to sit sprouted a small Pipal tree and then a Banyan tree. Now three auspicious trees are growing from the same trunk. It is said that those particular trees represent the three major forces (gunas) of the universe. The tree is now worshipped with great devotion.

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Beloved Sister Sri Gyanamata's Birthday Today July 4 th

2013-07-04T01:19:00.000-07:00

Beloved Sister Sri Gyanamata's Birthday Today July 4 th

Sri Gyanamata was one of Paramahansa Yogananda’s most advanced Kriya Yoga disciples, whose wise and loving counsel to devotees is compiled in the book God Alone: The Life and Letters of a Saint. After her passing in 1951, the Guru told his other disciples that Gyanamata had achieved complete liberation. Paramahansaji recounted:

[Two days before her passing] she asked me for nirbikalpa samadhi; but I said, “You don’t need that. I saw you in God. When you reach the palace, why do you want to go in the garden any more?”...

She had worked out her own karma completely in her last life and in this life, and she was drawn by the grace of the Heavenly Father to eternal freedom in this life without the higher ecstasy. This does not mean that Gyanamata did not have the highest ecstasy (nirbikalpa samadhi). She had it in her past life. But — even as it says on the little placard in her room: “God Alone” — in this life God’s grace alone lifted her pain-unruffled, successful soul to omnipresent liberation....

All devotees should remember that only constant practice of yoga brings the grace of God in the highest way, for Krishna told Arjuna: “O Arjuna, greater than the path of wisdom, or action, or any other, is the path of yoga. Therefore, be thou a yogi, Arjuna!”

Kriya Yoga - The Airplane Route

2013-07-02T06:28:00.000-07:00

The quickest and most effective approach to the goal of Yoga employs those methods of meditation that deal directly with energy and consciousness. It is this direct approach that characterizes the particular system of meditation taught by Paramahansa Yogananda. Specifically, Kriya is an advanced Raja Yoga technique that reinforces and revitalizes subtle currents of life energy in the body, enabling the normal activities of heart and lungs to slow down naturally. As a result, the consciousness is drawn to higher levels of perception, gradually bringing about an inner awakening more blissful and more deeply satisfying than any of the experiences that the mind or the senses or the ordinary human emotions can give. All scriptures declare man to be not a corruptible body, but a living soul. The ancient science of Kriya Yoga reveals a way to prove this scriptural truth. Referring to the sure and methodical efficacy of devoted practice of the Kriya science, Paramahansa Yogananda declared: “It works like mathematics; it cannot fail.”

From Autobiography of a Yogi

2013-07-01T06:24:00.002-07:00

The religious fairs held in India from time immemorial are known as Kumbha Melas; they have kept spiritual goals in constant sight of the multitude. Devout Hindus gather by millions every twelve years to meet thousands of sadhus, yogis, swamis, and ascetics of all kinds. Many are hermits who never leave their secluded haunts except to attend the melas and there bestow blessings on worldly men and women.

“I was not a swami at the time I met Babaji,” Sri Yukteswar went on. “But I had already received Kriya initiation from Lahiri Mahasaya. He encouraged me to attend the mela that was convening in January, 1894, in Allahabad. It was my first experience of a kumbha; I felt slightly dazed by the clamor and surge of the crowd. I gazed around searchingly, but saw no illumined face of a master. Passing a bridge on the bank of the Ganges, I noticed an acquaintance standing nearby, his begging bowl extended.

“‘Oh, this fair is nothing but a chaos of noise and beggars,’ I thought in disillusionment. ‘I wonder if Western scientists, patiently enlarging the realms of knowledge for the practical good of mankind, are not more pleasing to God than these idlers who profess religion but concentrate on alms.’

“My smoldering reflections on social reform were interrupted by the voice of a tall sannyasi who halted before me.

“‘Sir,’ he said, ‘A saint is calling you.’

“‘Who is he?’

“‘Come and see for yourself.’

“Hesitantly following this laconic advice, I soon found myself near a tree whose branches were sheltering a guru with an attractive group of disciples. The master, a bright unusual figure, with sparkling dark eyes, rose at my approach and embraced me.

“‘Welcome, Swamiji,’ he said affectionately.

“‘Sir,’ I replied emphatically, ‘I am not a swami.’

“‘Those on whom I am divinely directed to bestow the title of swami never cast it off.’ The saint addressed me simply, but deep conviction of truth rang in his words; I was instantly engulfed in a wave of spiritual blessing. Smiling at my sudden elevation into the ancient monastic order, I bowed at the feet of the obviously great and angelic being in human form who had thus honored me.

“Babaji — for it was indeed he — motioned me to a seat near him under the tree. He was strong and young, and looked like Lahiri Mahasaya; yet the resemblance did not strike me, even though I had often heard of the extraordinary similarities in the appearance of the two masters. Babaji possesses a power by which he can prevent any specific thought from arising in a person’s mind. Evidently the great guru wished me to be perfectly natural in his presence, not overawed by knowledge of his identity.

“‘What do you think of the Kumbha Mela?’ “‘I was greatly disappointed, sir,’ I said, but added hastily, ‘up until the time I met you. Somehow saints and this commotion don’t seem to belong together.’

“‘Child,’ the master said, though apparently I was nearly twice his own age, ‘for the faults of the many, judge not the whole. Everything on earth is of mixed character, like a mingling of sand and sugar. Be like the wise ant that seizes only the sugar, and leaves the sand untouched. Though many sadhus here still wander in delusion, yet the mela is blessed by a few men of God-realization.’

“In view of my own meeting with this exalted master, I quickly agreed with him.

quotes of paramahansa Yogananda

2013-06-21T01:38:00.000-07:00

The joy of God is boundless, unceasing, all the time new. Body, mind, nothing can disturb you when you are in that consciousness -- such is the grace and glory of the Lord. And He will explain to you whatever you haven't been able to understand, everything you want to know.

~ Paramahansa Yogananda

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