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Blasphemers

Not every guru or yogi around is a benefactor [Markandeya Purana, canto 9, also canto 7 and 8.].

A false witness, a liar and blasphemer die in delusion and proceed by an awful road afterwards [Markandeya Purana, p. 58].

Finding out
Mothers are of various kinds [Don't idolise and idyllise all mothers, then] [Markandeya Purana, v. 17].
Not only mothers, but blasphemers too are of various sorts. The worst may be con artists that pretend they are heavenly and do so to attract a following, getting money, prestige and other benefits from duping followers, using infiltrating, tendentious jargon, and leading astray. They needed to put their talents into other and better uses, or perhaps live in great seclusion, as Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of Lubavitch in part indicates in the following.
  • Greatness by blending concepts is not the finest greatness there is.
  • TECHNICALLY: Here is a partial saying from The Greenland Ballad of Atli, stanza 12, that can be subsumed with any comment of ours: "To me it seems that . . ." - and then we should have in lots of places that "one or more meanings are involved, namely:". Atli goes on to tell "the meaning beneath is that . . ." However there can be more than one meaning, so in a comment "a meaning" or "some meanings" may just as well appear. And sometimes the commented meaning(s) may be obvious and fairly easy to find. If so they are hardly "beneath" anything either, but appear to be involved. Keep this in mind.

Words by Rabbi Yosef

"Talents are [expressions of the] the soul's spiritual powers - its limbs." He explains that the Creator "implanted in man's nature virtues, for they bring man to perfection", and man needs to work on his character to remove and uproot imperfections, "cultivating and acquiring exemplary virtues in their stead". [Rabbi Yosef, in Tpe Ch. 1, ch. 4]

It happens to some that "Those possessing talents retain their talents (but grow no further), and those possessing shortcomings retain their shortcomings. / The explanation for this [stagnancy] is the lack of diligence in the development of the talents, and the scarcity of opportunities for the growth of the bad inclinations." [Rabbi Yosef, in Tpe Ch. 4.]

UHACOMMENTS: [To me it seems that] You should cultivate your dandy talents in time. Try to do it before you marry.
"Even the person whose base characteristics have grown completely unrestrained, has the possibility and the capability not only to subdue and discard these traits, but to elevate them as well." [Rabbi Yosef, in Tpe Ch. 4.]

One who involves himself in the labor of self-refinement has the ability to transform a shortcoming into a virtue. [Rabbi Yosef, in Tpe Ch. 4.]

UHACOMMENTS: Let us hope that.
It helps to harness fit habits: "Like the other traits and soul-powers of man, habit serves a most useful role when employed in good and worthwhile endeavors." [Rabbi Yosef, in Tpe Ch. 11.]

Another very important factor of life should be brought to serve man too: "His place of residence, whether a small or large city, affects all aspects of his life." [Rabbi Yosef, in Tpe Ch. 12.]

UHACOMMENTS: Well, hardly all of them, but such influences are powerful.
We have a power of delight, activated when things go well; and a power of conscience, which is activated when things are strained. "The power of delight, which because of its pre-eminence is termed a "revelation of the soul". [Rabbi Yosef, in Tpe Ch. 16.]
UHACOMMENTS: We should enjoy delights without getting enslaved by them, and should ever be sensitive inside to the first, faint feelings of conscience, as it helps living.
Also, a measure of will may be mobilised to make one work contrary to base instincts, says Rabbi Yosef. [Tpe Ch. 16.]
UHACOMMENTS: Will may work well for a couple of years, but one's general conditions had better be so improved that life flows better than for those who need vast amounts of will powers just to keep floating.
A pupil that exaggerates and lies may turn dangerous to many others if he is charged with "guru dynasty powers". It rests with his guru to find out of the pupil's failings and deal with them so as to minimise the risk of dangers afterwards. [Cf. Tpe, Ch. 16.]
UHACOMMENTS: You may hold it against Sri Yukteswar; Yogananda was "knocked into it" and later swerved much from his earlier and partly handed-over teachings.

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Many Christs in Yogananda's Universe

Great overdoings may further such as blasphemy, which equals transfer of higher knowledge at times. At other times just dogmatic stands. So don't forget to evaluate great claims as best you can.
One of Sri Yukteswar's favourite disciples, Paramahansa Yogananda, was a great emotionalist, and as he rose in influence from ranting and imploring gurus in power, etc., he did not discern between praising his guru dynasty greatly and blaspheming in so doing: He called his line of four gurus Christs, which is remarkably against words of Jesus, who plainly warns against false Christs, pointing out that the follower of him has no need of any other Christ either. It is in the bible. Yogananda goes on and on in such infiltrating routes against gospel sayings while claiming to represent "original Christianity as taught by Jesus (!)". In a noteworthy article he says, for example:
Lahiri Mahasaya, by his exemplary life, created many Christs . . . [Note 1]

Yogavatar Lahiri Mahasaya created the following Christlike souls, some of them really possessing the highest Christ-consciousness:
      1. My Master, Swami Sri Yukeswarji . . . with Christlike miraculous powers.
      2. Bindya Bhakat of Benares . . .
      3. Swami Pranabananda, who could materialize or dematerialize his body, a feat actually witnessed by myself.
      4. Ram Gopal Babu of Ranbajpur, a great yogi, who meditated forty years in a cave for eighteen hours a day.
      5. Bhupen Sanyal, a great teacher . . .
      6. Swami Kebalananda Shastri Mahasaya, a Yogi of rare quality.
      7. Swami Keshabananda, a man of great renunciation.
      8. Sri Bhagavati Charan, my earthly father, very high in morality and Self-Realization.
      9. Abinash Babu.
      [Note 2]

UHAYogananda is free with great titles, like 'kings', 'Christ' and others, and impressive statements. But he applies another definition of the term 'Christ' than the Christian one, which stems from "oil-anointed" (Messiah), a sign of being made king of Israel (1 Samuel 8), and the people's enemy thereby: "You will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the Lord will not answer you in that day [1 Samuel 8:18]." Yogananda hardly once delves into the "the king to submit to is your enemy" aspect of the Old Testament teachings. He mingles two separate frames of reference to the loss of many severe and exclusive claims of Christianity and Jesus.
  • Greatness by greatly odious titles can be a double-edged sword, and scary too.

And now something else: Blasphemers

Some proverbs about thieves and scoffing can be applied to blasphemers:

Little thieves are hanged, but great ones escape. (British) So, little blasphemers are hanged; the great ones escape, in part because "Who wants much, demands not little (Chi vuole assai, non domandi poco) (Italian, Ip no. 64). We should accept that blasphemers don't demand little.
      All are not free that scoff (or laugh) in their chains. (From German, adapted: Sl). Blasphemers lack in something, then.
      Mockery is no joke. (German). Blasphemy requires more than a lousy mouth.

"When ... individuals [with moral blemishes] are made aware of their failings, they find hundreds of excuses and recondite reasons for every flaw and deficiency, concluding that the person who brought the matter to their attention was mistaken in thinking of it as a flaw and fault." [Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of Lubavitch, Tpe, Ch. 3]


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Literature SECTION First Page E-MAIL

      Ak: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Man's Eternal Quest. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1975.
      Ay: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Autobiography of a Yogi. 1st ed. New York: Theosophical, 1946. Online. [oaks.nvg.org/pv6bk12.html]
      Ebu: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD. London: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2006.
      Ip: Mertvago, Peter. Dictionary of 1000 Italian Proverbs. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1997.
      Pa: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Autobiography of a Yogi. 11th ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1971.
      Sl: Beyer, Horst and Annelies. Sprichwörter Lexikon. Weyarn: Seehamer, 1996.
      Say: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Sayings of Yogananda. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1958.
      Tpe: Schneersohn of Lubavitch, Yosef Yitzchak, Rabbi. The Principles of Education and Guidance. New York: Kehot Publication Society, 1990.

[NOTE 1] Yogananda, Paramahansa. "The Direct Line of Great Masters". In Inner Culture, March 1937. [http://www.yoganandarediscovered.com/jaitruth/Mdl.html]

[NOTE 2] Yogananda, Paramahansa. "Yogavatar Shyama Lahiri Mahasaya's Ladder of Self-Realization, for Salvation for All". In Inner Culture, March 1937. [http://www.yoganandarediscovered.com/jaitruth/Mlml.html]

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