The Yogananda-Devil and Quotations

• A Yogananda's Greatest Enemy
• How to Contemplate
• Yogananda's Fun Teachings
• Yogananda's Lovejoy Teachings

A Yogananda's Greatest Enemy

Valuable Yogananda words differ from his less than valuable verbiage, but "seek and you may find". However, the mishmash serving cult is hardly the proper agent for explaining which is which. See the demoniac story below:

" - and there stood Taz -"

BEFORE his passing in March 1936, Yukteswar told his disciple Paramahansa Yogananda to wear a certain bangle as a special protection. Yogananda, who had come from America to visit his master, put it on in faith.

Then, when Yogananda was in Bombay in 1936, just before going back to America, he realized that a power was trying to destroy his life, but he was not afraid, he asserts. He remembered his master had promised to protect him. He put a little light on in his room, "because the evil forces do not like light". After a while he felt sleepy. Then:

As I opened my eyes and looked toward the right wall of the room, I saw the black form of Satan, horrible, with a catlike . . . tail. It leaped on my chest, and my heart stopped beating . . . my heart would not work. Suddenly I glimpsed an ocher robe, and there stood Master [Sri Yukteswar]. He commanded Satan to leave; and as soon as he spoke, the evil figure vanished and my breath started to flow again . . . He said: "Satan was trying to destroy you. But fear not. I am with you evermore."

Adjoining Yogananda Lessons

1. Your outer experiences should be only fun. [Ak 241]
2. God does not want you to give up. - Yogananda, [SRM, Winter 1972, p. 4]
3. The greatest enemy of happiness in this country is the bills. - Yogananda, [SRM, Winter 1979, p. 8; Jse 273]
4. The greatest enemy of yourself is yourself. [Jse 345]
5. Moods are your greatest enemy. [Jse 393]
6. Anything that weakens your mind is your greatest enemy. [Ak 72]
7. Bolshevism, the greatest enemy. [Dr 64]
8. The greatest enemy of divine realization is the body. [Ak 432]
9. Ignorance is the arch-enemy of man. [Dr 81] — The true enemy of man is ignorance. [Ak 25] — Satan is ignorance. [Dr 448]
10. People who have a strong imagination or a very weak nervous system may be susceptible to hallucinations. - Yogananda, [SRM, Summer 1976, p. 56]
11. The Lord . . . does everything. - Yogananda, [SRM, Spring 1972, p. 20]

Questions and Queries

1. Our greatest enemy, could it be bills? Not those who made them or acquired them?
2. Insisting that the Lord stopped Yogananda's heart and did everything else in that encounter, is a Strange Thing and does not seem to make sense. Well?

So the "greatest enemy" of Yogananda, as gleaned from his three books of collected talks and essays, is the bills, yourself, moods, anything that weakens your mind, bolschevism (communism), Satan of ignorance, and the body. According to him, then, you have many greatest enemy. Yet, have you considered that he says the Lord is behind "your greatest enemy" (and yourself)? That he teaches the Lord is the doer of evil against you, because "The Lord does everything (and everything you do)"?

How do you like the guru-given idea that you yourself are Satan - and bills - and so forth? What will it be, laughs or cries or indifference and so on? He teaches other interesting things too: [LINK].

And you probably do well not to take every bombastic guru statement as bad - too. If that is well enough, is another question.

How to Meditate

Some "guric" visions of the universe as humbug do not quite exist in a likable way.

It is well to refrain from hard-headed intrigues. And we do not disregard jokes that survive, if they do good. So if you read that Jesus is "one of the masters", why not think: "What else do some gurus do to catch a lot of Christian disciples? Those poor guys are sheepish."

Man's supreme and immediate duty (is:) Each minute of life should be a divine quest. The burning question in our heart should be: "When shall I find Thee, O Lord?" - Guru Yogananda [Ak 432-3]

The fit sailing wind and the ether element wait for no one - Will this one finally wade and pant and gasp? The fit quest soars above God-concepts and 'finding' and other roadblocks for a while. That could take place several times daily.

It makes just as much sense to rephrase it: "When will you find Me, Buddy? [God is the Sole Doer is Yogananda's teaching.]" One normally does very, very well to drop outlooks like that. Instead learn to soar away from hankering through health-assisting meditation - in a nutshell. Let us just state: Much rigmarole in the name of God tends to work for the good of big shots. Then swing your axe at the root of the problems. Refuse to be taken in by religious propaganda. Reduce its worth. There are ways to do it more or less, and books are written to that end too.

One should stay away from what stultifies free, fit, fair and good meditation ("inner sky-diving"). Its initial stages may baffle, such as ""Every boy may wade his way assisted by discreet panting (or even gasping)." This comes close to the all-over fact." - "Strenuous movements promote panting or even gasping, like athletics. It can be given a religious significance. And clever panting (and gasping) without toil (pranayama) may bring about higher states of yoga".

Now, there are no concept obstacles when you meditate full well. Otherwise much strange may be erected mentally and ritually. "Make straight to roads of the Lord", of "I am", could be a fit and fair saying to that point. Yet much depends on performance. Not everything is helped by cogent thinking either. Some guys do get fished and hooked into a faith that works damage.

Sound, decent meditation is much different. Yogananda's "monk family" has instituted roadblocks - severely sabotaging elements. Many taken-in followers seem to deny that.

• Drop stultifying elements of your life and main ways.
• Twin fools: one doubts nothing, the other everything (American proverb).
• Believing as little as you can promotes soundness of mind if you learn to inspect fairly too.
• No one should diminish his or her essential worth while trying to please for boons.
• Why fear Satan for stopping the heart when Yogananda advocates kriya practice for stopping the heart? "We ought not to fear to practice conscious death," he teaches, referring to kriya yoga. [Scp 78]

As if in deep sleep

Vasistha asks: At the end of the life of the cosmos . . . how have you managed to survive?

Bhusunda: I practice meditation on Varuna (Hindu God of Waters, much like Neptune) and remain unaffected. When the wind blows so that it uproots even mountains, I meditate on the Mountain (parvata). When the whole universe is flooded by cosmic dissolution, I meditate on Wind (the Vedic god Vayu). Then I remain as if in deep sleep (in yoga nidra) till the start of the next cosmic cycle. [Yv 279-80, rendered, abridged]

Yogananda's Fun Teachings

Some might revolt to the idea of having fun with Yogananda's inconsistent teachings. Such persons have not understood the basic ideas of "Your outer experiences should be only fun" or having "a lot of fun playing", and doing things "for the fun of it". Have fun! is a repeated part of Yogananda's message.

• Your outer experiences should be only fun. [Ak 241]
• I don't take life seriously at all. [Ak 219]
• Samadhi . . . It is fun to get in and out of the body this way. [Ak 278]
• Nature . . . seems to be poking fun at us all the time. It is indeed a funny world. [Dr 111]
• As a child in Brindaban, Krishna amazed all with his precocious wisdom and display of incredible powers. His inner joy frequently erupted in prankish outbursts - to the amusement and delight, and sometimes consternation, of those at whom his fun was directed. [Yi 10]
• Think . . . that the whole universe is contained in only a fragment of His being! The Lord seems to be having a lot of fun playing with these marbles in the sky. [Jse 55]
• Don't be like those who, day in and day out, take life so seriously they are afraid even to smile. ... enjoy life. [Ak 353]
• When you are anchored in the Divine Consciousness [y]ou will make fun of your habits, and you will be intensely amused at your distinguishing characteristics, as from the balcony of introspection you watch yourself perform in the motion picture of life. I do that all the time. When you know this world to be God's lila - His play . . . [Jse 49]
• Whatever I wanted to accomplish, I made up my mind it was going to be, and it was! Try it. You will see how much power you have. You will see this power work. You will have a lot of fun with it. [Dr 100]
• Be able to change your personality whenever you want to. I have done many different things in my life, just for the fun of it. I have invested money, I have done the work of a musician, of a contractor, of a cook. [Ak 152]
• It is a lot of fun making success for God. Just think how a little thought in your brain, when put to work, can do something wonderful to make others happy and to leave "footprints in the sands of time." [Dr 107]

Yogananda's Lovejoy Teachings

A considerable part of Yogananda's output revolves around joy. The joy of the soul, the joy part of the godhead in Hindu thinking, that is, Sat-Chit-Ananda (Being, Consciousness, Great Joy). Even though the joy the guru loves to talk if is "beyond description", still he sermonises on and on about it in many sermons. Talking "masterfully" or otherwise about things that are "beyond descriptions" amounts to wasting a lot of time, really.

The essence of the guru's joy teachings is that joy may be uncovered within by "scientific means". He means yoga meditation first and foremost.

• The joy and wonder of God . . . is beyond description. [Ak 258]
• The purpose of life is to attain . . . tremendous happiness. [Ak 445]
• In . . . eternal joy . . . nothing else matters. - Paramahansa Yogananda [Ak 439]
• Dance in the joy of God. [Dr 431]
• The very joy you are seeking in sex, money, wine, love, fame - that joy is within yourself. [Ak 46]
• If you find true joy in this life, you will have it now and in the afterlife too. [Ak 195]
• Divine joy is in everyone. [Ak 8]
• God . . . We can accurately call Him Divine Consciousness, Divine Joy, Divine Existence. [Ak 21]
• The joy of God is boundless, unceasing, all the time new. [Ak 44]
• The joy of Spirit is endless. [Ak 47]
• The soul and its joy last forever. [Dr 296]
• Joy can be found only through regular, deep meditation. The inner fountain of unchangeable ever new joy. [Dr 46]
• He can be known by using the technique of meditation. Then He shall throb as wisdom in your mind, and as joy in your heart, and you will be more active and more successful than you have ever been before. [Ak 8]
• The happy man is less subject to disease. [Ak 89]
• Meditate - the glory and the joy it brings! Nothing else can give you that experience. See if it isn't true. [Ak 49]
• [Attune] your consciousness to the ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new joy, which is God. [Ak 78]
• God is ever new joy. This joy is omnipresent. [Jse 3]

• Divine love is joy. [Dr 17]
• Love is secondary to joy; there could be no love without joy. [Dr 4-5]
• The satisfaction of love is not in the feeling itself, but in the joy that feeling brings. Love gives joy. We love love because it gives us such intoxicating happiness. So love is not the ultimate; the ultimate is bliss. God is Sat-Chit-Ananda, ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new Bliss. We, as soul, are individualized Sat-Chit-Ananda. [Dr 3]

• Experience God-consciousness, or realization of the Self as Spirit: ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new joy. [Ak 282]
• The more peaceful you are, the more you will be able to feel His presence. The happier you are, the greater will be your attunement with Him. Those who know Him are always happy, because God is joy itself. [Ak 110]
• When centered in your true self, you do every task and enjoy all good things with the joy of God. Filled with His intoxicating bliss, you joyfully perform all actions. [Dr 222]
• A joy that never grows stale is what you want; and that is what Patanjali teaches you can have, by becoming established in your true soul nature. [Dr 222]

Ak: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Man's Eternal Quest. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1982.

Ap: Mieder, Wolfgang (main ed.), Stewart A. Kingsbury, and Kelsie E. Harder: A Dictionary of American Proverbs. (Paperback) New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Ay: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Autobiography of a Yogi. 1st ed. New York: Philosophical Library, 1946. Online. [oaks.nvg.org/pv6bk12.html]

Dr: Yogananda, Paramahansa. The Divine Romance. New ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1993.

Ha: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Autobiography of a Yogi. 12th ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), 1981.

Jse: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Journey to Self-realization: Discovering the Gift of the Soul. New ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1997.

Pa: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Autobiography of a Yogi. 11th ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), 1971.

Pusb: Maslow, Abraham. Motivation and Personality. 3rd ed. New York, HarperCollins, 1987.

Rvl: Maslow, Abraham. Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences. Columbus: Ohio State University, 1964.

Say: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Sayings of Yogananda. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1958.

Scp: Yogananda, Pa. The Science of Religion. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1953.
      Scu: Barrass, Robert. Scientists Must Write. London: Chapman and Hall, 1978.

Scw: Barrass, Robert. Scientists Must Write: A Guide to Better Writing for Scientists, Engineers and Students. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2002.

Yv: Venkatesananda, swami, tr. The Concise Yoga Vasistha. Albany: State University of New York, 1984.

Zun: Maslow, Abraham. Toward a Psychology of Being. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1968.



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