A PILGRIMAGE TO INDIA
Paramahansa Yogananda.
Paramahansa Yogananda
The family of Yogananda's brother, Sananda, continues to inhabit the home, which they keep as a shrine. We were greeted by his wife who shared with us her stories about the house and shared with us a few sweet cakes afterwards. It was here she explained that Yogananda spent his early years of spiritual seeking and most importantly, the house also contains the attic meditation room where he attained full Self Realisation. This was the place where he merged with God and had visions of the Divine Mother and Lord Krishna. At this same sacred space we were allowed to sit in reverent meditation.
 Yogananda's own guru Sri Yukteswar also regularly came to this house to meditate with the family. In the room that had been Yogananda's bedroom we were reminded of the story how while lying in this bed he had prayed to God to give him a sign as to whether he should go to the United States to share his teachings. Yogananda also had things to say about the spirit world:
“If you were to behold the multitude of astral beings in the ether around you at this moment, many of you would be afraid; and some of you would try to seek among them your departed loved ones. If you concentrate deeply at the spiritual eye you can view with inner vision that luminous world in which are living all the souls who have gone on to the astral plane. In human beings the heart acts as a receiving instrument and the spiritual eye as a broadcasting station. Even if you cannot see your lost beloved ones, if you can calmly concentrate your feel-ing on the heart, you can become aware of the reassuring pres-ence of those dear to you who are now in astral form, enjoying their freedom from flesh thralldom.”
 It was in this room at Yogananda’s home, that the avatar Babaji materialised to bless him at the doorway to his bedroom. (Avatar is a Sanskrit word that means “descent”; its roots are ava, “down,” and tri, “to pass.” In the Hindu scriptures, avatara signifies the descent of Divinity into flesh.)
Mahavatar Babaji is a remarkable person who it is claimed is 1,800 years old, still alive today and maintains the form of a young man. He is only accessible to extremely devoted followers who are prepared to seek him out in a wild part of the Himalayan forests. He will occasionally materialise in the homes of his followers and is considered to be the guru of all gurus. Yogananda describes him also as the guru of Lahiri Mahasaya, whose home we visited in Varanasi. Yogananda writes of him:
“The Mahavatar is in constant communion with Christ; together they send out vibrations of redemption, and have planned the spiritual technique of salvation for this age. The work of these two fully-illumined masters–one with the body, and one without it–is to inspire the nations to forsake suicidal wars, race hatreds, religious sectarianism, and the boomerang-evils of materialism. Babaji is well aware of the trend of modern times, especially of the influence and complexities of Western civilization, and realizes the necessity of spreading the self-liberations of yoga equally in the West and in the East.”
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Paramahansa Yogananda
He’s talking about the Brotherhood of Man. Again we spent some time in silent meditation tuning in to these remarkable people that had once graced this place.
In Varanasi we had also had the chance to make personal visits to two more of Yogananda’s gurus. We visited the home of Lahiri Mahasaya and meditated in the rooms where this guru had lived. The same small shrine housed a wonderful white statue of Babaji which I believe is the only one of its kind. It also housed the only photograph of Lahiri Mahasaya. Normally Lahiri Mahasaya would not allow anyone photograph him, but in response to please from his disciples he eventually agreed to pose. Before the photo was taken, he asked the photographer Gangadhar Dey how photos was made. A few moments later the photo was taken but to everyones astonishment the picture was blank. Lahiri Mahasaya chuckled and asked the photographer, "What does your science tell you?" Gangadhar prostrated himself before him and said, "My pride has been shattered." He asked Lahiri Mahasaya to pose again and this time the photo came our perfectly. Strangely, when I tried to video the same picture the batteries packed up leaving me to puzzle about the strange story of Lahiri Mahasaya.
We also visited the Varanasi home of another of Yogananda’s teachers Trilinga Swami. We sqeezed down some narrow steps into the cellar where this remarkable saint had spent his long periods in meditation. In this very cramped cellar we meditated in front of a picture of the saint placed at the place where he used to sit.
Trilinga Swami was a fascinating man who exhibited many supernormal powers including the ability to bi-locate – be in two places at the same time. His psychic powers enabled him to gain mastery over the elements, and he would meditate under the water of the Ganges River sometimes for more than six months at a time. It is claimed that he lived to the age of 208.
Continue The Pilgrimage ...
NEXT:Ramakrishna
 Autobiography
of a Yogi
Paramhansa Yogananda
An
absolutely wonderful and life changing book. Read it and then read it
again! An autobiographical account of an early nineteenth-century yogi
as he reaches self-realization, identification with his larger self, mankind,
and union with his God.
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