Babaji

From Autobiography of a Yogi

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.

Sri Paramahansa Yogananda, "Man's Eternal Quest"

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In creating this universe God revealed two aspects: the masculine or fatherly, and the feminine or motherly. If you close your eyes and visualize vast, illimitable space, you become overwhelmed and enthralled - you feel naught but pure wisdom. That hidden, infinite sphere wherein there is no creation, no stars or planets - only pure wisdom - is the Father."

~Sri Paramahansa Yogananda, "Man's Eternal Quest"

THE RESURRECTION OF SRI YUKTESWAR - June 19, 1936

~~♥THE RESURRECTION OF SRI YUKTESWAR♥~~ June 19, 1936

Sitting on my bed in the Bombay hotel at three o'clock in the afternoon of June 19, 1936--one week after the vision of Krishna--I was roused from my meditation by a beatific light. Before my open and astonished eyes, the whole room was transformed into a strange world, the sunlight transmuted into supernal splendor.

WAVES OF RAPTURE ENGULFED ME AS I BEHELD THE FLESH AND BLOOD FORM OF SRI YUKTESWAR!

"MY SON!" Master spoke tenderly, ON HIS FACE AN ANGEL-BEWITCHING SMILE.

For the first time in my life I did not kneel at his feet in greeting but instantly advanced to gather him hungrily in my arms. Moment of moments! The anguish of past months was toll I counted weightless against the torrential bliss now descending.

"Master mine, beloved of my heart, why did you leave me?" I was incoherent in an excess of joy. "Why did you let me go to the Kumbha Mela? How bitterly have I blamed myself for leaving you!"

"I did not want to interfere with your happy anticipation of seeing the pilgrimage spot where first I met Babaji. I left you only for a little while; am I not with you again?"

"But is it you, Master, the same Lion of God? Are you wearing a body like the one I buried beneath the cruel Puri sands?"

"Yes, my child, I am the same. This is a flesh and blood body. Though I see it as ethereal, to your sight it is physical. From the cosmic atoms I created an entirely new body, exactly like that cosmic-dream physical body which you laid beneath the dream-sands at Puri in your dream-world. I am in truth resurrected--not on earth but on an astral planet. Its inhabitants are better able than earthly humanity to meet my lofty standards. There you and your exalted loved ones shall someday come to be with me."

Chapter 43—“The Resurrection Of Sri Yukteswar”

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Dear Devotees, Please invite your brother & sister devotees to join in our group and share the teachings of our beloved Guruji.

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A PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA TRILOGY OF DIVINE LOVE - by SRI DURGA MATA

Exercises and Walk :

Master's wonderful physique was acquired through his own tensing exercises, which he created and developed in in India before coming to this country in 1920.He said at hat time he tried what he called all kinds of muscle bumping exercises to develop and improve his body strength. He often thought , "There must be some better way of exercising." He continued, " one day I saw a cat awakening from its nap , and immediately upon rising I observed that cat stretched its body as far as it could and for a long time. I wondered why the cat stretched and what was the stretching doing to its body. I began to stretch myself. Having keen observation power , I discovered that I felt so much more life in my body.. The cat had tensed its body; and this experience gave me the idea of my tensing exercises. As I practised stretching every morning and evening and during the day, I felt such wonderful results; from one improvement after another , it became what I gave in the first Yogoda lessons". In later years Master added more exercises, the same that are now practised in the SRF lessons that have awakened the world to a new method of exercises.

------ From A PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA TRILOGY OF DIVINE LOVE - by SRI DURGA MATA ( MA DURGA)

Excerpts from the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda

Positive Mental Attitudes

If you have given up hope of ever being happy, cheer up. Never lose hope. Your soul, being a reflection of the ever joyous Spirit, is, in essence, happiness itself.

Happiness depends to some extent upon external conditions, but chiefly upon mental attitudes.

Essentially, conditions are neither good nor bad; they are always neutral, seeming to be either depressing or encouraging because of the sad or bright attitude of the mind of the individual concerned with them.

 

Change your thoughts if you wish to change your circumstances. Since you alone are responsible for your thoughts, only you can change them. You will want to change them when you realize that each thought creates according to its own nature. Remember that the law works at all times and that you are always demonstrating according to the kind of thoughts you habitually entertain. Therefore, start now to think only those thoughts that will bring you health and happiness.

The mind, being the brain, feeling, and perception of all living cells, can keep the human body alert or depressed. The mind is the king, and all its cellular subjects behave exactly according to the mood of their royal master. Just as we concern ourselves with the nutritive value of our daily food menus, so should we consider the nutritive potency of the psychological menus that we daily serve the mind.


Constantly you affirm sorrow, therefore it exists. Deny it in your mind and it will exist no longer. This assertion of the Self is what I call the hero in man. It is his divine or essential nature. In order to acquire freedom from sorrow, man must assert his heroic self in all his daily activities.

If you do not choose to be happy no one can make you happy. Do not blame God for that! And if you choose to be happy, no one can make you unhappy. If He had not given us freedom to use our own will, we could blame Him when we are unhappy, but He did give us that freedom. It is we who make of life what it is.

Persons of strong character are usually the happiest. They do not blame others for troubles that can usually be traced to their own actions and lack of understanding. They know that no one has any power to add to their happiness or detract from it unless they themselves are so weak that they allow the adverse thoughts and wicked actions of others to affect them.

Your highest happiness lies in your being ever ready in desiring to learn, and to behave properly. The more you improve yourself, the more you will elevate others around you. The self-improving man is the increasingly happy man. The happier you become, the happier will be the people around you.

Avoid a negative approach to life. Why gaze down the sewers when there is loveliness all around us? One may find some fault in even the greatest masterpieces of art, music, and literature. But isn't it better to enjoy their charm and glory?

Nearly everyone is familiar with those three little monkey-figures that depict the maxim, "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." I emphasize the positive approach: "See that which is good, hear that which is good, speak that which is good."

SRF Announces New President

SRF Announces New President

Sri Mrinalini Mata Elected President and Spiritual Head of SRF/YSS The Self-Realization Fellowship Board of Directors is happy to announce that Sri Mrinalini Mata has been elected president of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India — to succeed the late revered Sri Daya Mata as the spiritual leader of Paramahansa Yogananda’s  worldwide work. Her appointment was made by a unanimous vote by the SRF Board of Directors on  Friday, January 7, 2011.

SRF Announces New President

SRF Announces New President

Guruji