Today we honor the memory of Paramahansa Yogananda, and his mahasamadhi on March 7, 1952. Mahasamadhi is a final, intentional and conscious exit from the body.
by Fredd Dunham • Paramahansa Yogananda was an amazing being, a modern day saint, who was born into this life fully conscious of who he was before, and where he was going in this life. He expressed the frustration as an infant of not being able to communicate, with many languages running around in his head. His parents lived a spiritual lifestyle in harmony with each other on their spiritual path. He became a member of the Swami order and his name was changed from Mukunda to Yogananda, which means bliss through union. On March 7, 1952, for the final time he consciously left his body in an incorruptible state; over the next 30 days it did not decay. This made headlines in the L.A. Times.
Yogananda was an avid traveler as a youth. Throughout India he met and conversed with sages, saints and yogis of all persuasions. In 1920, he was sent by his teacher, Sri Yukteswar, and Babaji to America to teach Kriya yoga meditation in the west. He founded Self-Realization Fellowship upon arrival, and spent 15 years traveling around the U.S. speaking in the largest halls available to sold out crowds. People came to hear this amazing man speak so eloquently about his experiences with God, and how yogic teachings were the same as the teachings of Jesus.
In 1935, tired of traveling, Yogananda concentrated his energy on building S.R.F. as a legal religious organization in California. He attracted souls that were seriously interested in obtaining God realization themselves. In the 1950s, he developed the Los Angeles Lake Shrine Temple and Gardens. A beautiful 5-acre lake is surrounded by a walkway and lush gardens. When built, it was a landmark in L.A. It includes a world peace shrine holding ashes of Mahatma Gandhi, who had been a friend of Yogananda.
Yogananda personally instructed over 100,000 people in the method of Kriya yoga meditation. He was indefatigable in his effort to work for Spirit so that every soul could reach its ultimate goal of illumination while leading an active life. Yogananda touched thousands of people when he was alive, and ultimately millions of people through his book, Autobiography of a Yogi.
My life was first touched by Yogananda in the late sixties when I was living in a small trailer. Yogananda’s student, Sunburst founder Norman Paulsen, had previously started teaching Kriya yoga to interested young people in this very same trailer. I came across Autobiography of a Yogi and started reading. About halfway through the book, I decided I would try to meditate.
I sat down on the bed and closed my eyes, doing my best to meditate without any instructions. A gigantic vortex of light came down into the room and surrounded me, like a whirlwind. I felt the life-changing touch of Divine Spirit, and shortly thereafter met Norman and moved to Sunburst Community where he was continuing the work of Yogananda.
God is for everyone. We can know God through a personal, direct experience of the Creator; it’s for each and every one of us to make that connection and know our destiny.
Oh mighty Spirit, all you elders and saints in the light, be thou with us now.
Touch each one of us; inspire us onward that we might know you,
Oh Christ Spirit come into us, fill us with your divine radiance,
and lead us in this life, closer to you and all the angels. Amen
Light on Sunburst Sanctuary – Springing Forward • Despite very cool mornings, Nature is springing forward at Sunburst Sanctuary. An opening double-photo shows the King’s almond tree at the start of February with buds on bare branches (left side) and, at the end of the same month, fully opened almond blossoms (right side). Deer are enjoying fresh green shoots in the main field (below).
Farther up the canyon, a field Sean disked and sewed with hay seed (1st photo below), is now green with new growth (2nd photo below).
To prevent insects larvae from boring into dormant spring peach tree buds, Al sprayed mineral oil on them.
A Pueblo Blessing:
Hold onto what is good, even if it is a handful of earth.
Hold onto what you believe, even if it is a tree which stands by itself.
Hold onto what you must do, even if it is a long way from here.
Hold onto life, even when it is easier letting go.
Hold onto my hand, even when I have gone away from you.
by Paramahansa Yogananda
The Kriya Yoga meditation technique of pranayama, life-force control that transmutes breath into subtle lifetronic energy, brings positive realization that the composition of the body is pure cosmic energy. In the adept practice of Kriya, the body is oxygenated and its atoms etherealized until it becomes light as a feather.
Man has no idea how much power comes into the body when he has mastered the mystery of the breath. Kriya practice brings a regulated, continuous inflow of oxygen into the body, the atoms of which, by the process of pranayama, are transmuted into life force, reinforcing the subtle currents in the spine. In turn these currents awaken the astral cerebrospinal centers and spiritualize the entire body.
After years of successful practice, the body of the advanced Kriya Yogi becomes so spiritualized that in exalted states he can hardly feel it touch the ground. The suffusion of life force becomes so powerful that the whole body loses its delusive solidity and actually levitates. I can testify to that from my own experience. But the beginner should not expect to jump weightless tomorrow!
Modern man is accustomed to getting results quickly; his industry and technology manufactures products so rapidly that he thinks there should be a convenience package of concise spiritual progress as well. A presumption of instant spiritual achievement is perhaps more than a bit audacious considering the innumerable lifetimes already spent in making oneself an unspiritual being. Even a lifelong practice is little to be required. Nevertheless, the Kriya Yoga science and art of meditation are not drudgery, because gradual transforming results are felt from the very beginning.
From Lahiri Mahasaya’s teachings
• Consider yourself very humble. This means one should do service, prayers, and maintain a feeling of being a servant of all.
• Always do satsanga – associate with spiritually oriented people, inquire into the nature of yourself, and read spiritually uplifting writings.
• From time to time, congregate in a place and talk about God.
• Do not show disrespect for any name or form of God.
• At least once a year, leave worldly duties and go to a retreat for a month, or a week, or at least three days and enjoy the solitude.
Paramahansa Yogananda said this about Lahiri Mahasaya:
“The Kriya Yoga which I am giving to the world through you in this nineteenth century,” Babaji told Lahiri Mahasaya, “is a revival of the same science which Krishna gave millenniums ago to Arjuna, and which was later known to Patanjali, and to Christ Jesus, Saint John, Saint Paul, and other disciples.
“The science of Kriya Yoga … became widely known in modern India through the instrumentality of Lahiri Mahasaya, my guru’s guru. Lahiri Mahasaya received it from his guru, Babaji, who rediscovered and clarified the technique after it had been lost in the Dark Ages.”
The next post will explain Kriya Yoga further.
Light on Sunburst Sanctuary – Amidst the Wild Things
Our trail camera captured this photo of a mountain lion walking at midday on a popular, though somewhat remote Sanctuary path. Yes, Sunburst Sanctuary is an intentional wildlife sanctuary, as well as a sanctuary for people. From the same camera, here’s a nighttime picture of a black bear.
Other animals that are common at the Sanctuary, but you may not see them, are skunks (stripped and spotted), opossums, raccoons, foxes, and coyotes. You may hear a coyote serenade the night, which is when all of these animals are most active.
Day or night, bobcats are hunting for gophers or mice in the open fields. Sometimes a large heron will land at the Sanctuary for the same purpose. And seasonally, wild turkeys strut around in plain sight amidst the numerous deer. We’ll cover more of our wild residents in another post. It’s a great blessing to coexist among the wild things.
