Self-Realization Fellowship's Kriya Yoga Pledge

• Self-Realization Fellowship's Kriya Yoga Pledge
• The Drift

Self-Realization Fellowship's Kriya Yoga Pledge

Introduction

Don't be bound by anything. That philosophy will save you. - Yogananda [Dr 26]

What Kriya yoga is. Kriya yoga narrowly refers to a discrete breathing method, or pranayama. The key element of kriya is described in detail as ujjayi. Types of kriyas and their arrangements differ between different schools of yoga.

Two well-known kriya lines. Kriya is currently taught in Satyananda's tradition, and in Yogananda's Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF). The former teaches kriya systematically in books you can borrow or rent, and lets you preserve your freedom. It does not seek to interfere with your sex life, diet, beliefs, and autonomy either, contrary to what SRF does. [MORE]

Satyananda books are compilations from teachings given by Satyananda and serve in part as step-by-step guides, in part as repositories. The aim is to pass on practices to fit into daily routines of householders and students - whatever. The focus is maximum fulfilment. [Cy; Kta].

SRF kriya. There are other traditions that teach significant parts of kriya yoga and variants (see Prem Rawat), but in this article the focus is on Self-Realization Fellowship's system. In the footsteps of Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) the fellowship teaches a simplified kriya yoga with discrepancies.

Promises and Control

The SRF kriya pledge serves to keep kriya yoga holy and pure, and to have control over its transmission. That is the idea. It goes against some voiced directions of Jesus to his twelve disciples, such as, "Freely you have received, freely give." [Matthew 10:8]". The actual gurus of SRF bind you by an oath against "freely received". That matters to a Buddhist too:

The Blessed One [said] "I have set forth the Dhamma without making any distinction of esoteric and exoteric doctrine; there is nothing, Ananda, with regard to the teachings that the Tathagata holds to the last with the closed fist of a teacher who keeps some things back.

[Last Days of the Buddha (Maha-parinibbana Sutta, Digha Nikaya 16), 2:32]

Esoteric doctrines for insiders and sordid pledges for such ones, was not what Buddha lived out. Idiotic pledges can hold you back and go against sound moral development also.

SRF swearing is infamous. To learn SRF's organisation's kriya yoga, you have to be eligible and next promise things way over your head - including unconditional devotion. And as for gurus involved, some of those you pledge life-lasting devotion and loyalty to, are probably not involved in the project in the way Yogananda tells, since vital parts of their teachings are opposed to each other, and since their claims are mutually exclusive, for example when Jesus of the Bible warns beforehand against having other masters than himself. Simply put: If you want to be loyal to the Jesus of the gospels, who warns against having other masters than himself, you cannot become an SRF member, can you? And if you want to be loyal to Krishna of the Bhagavad Gita, who says those who teach the world is ureal, are demoniacs (and not good for you) [Bg 16:7-9], know that three of the Indian gurus behind SRF teach that the world is illusory. They are Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Yogananda; the latter in Man's Eternal Quest [Ak 182 etc].

Another problem with learning kriya from SRF is that you have to swear an oath for it, an oath that binds practitioners for life-times, according to Yogananda. Jesus says no to swearing at all. If you do not want to develop a split mind, think twice about staking your whole life to a maddening promise and fraudulent teachings, trapped into committing yourself foolishly.

The current SRF kriya oath (pledge) earlier contained a vital part like this: "To God and the [six named] sacred gurus of SRF I pledge my unconditional love, reverence and loyalty forever." Nowadays it seems that SRF has removed the "love" word from it. If so, I welcome it, after rallying for that for quite a long time. This seems to be the new SRF pledge:

Pledge

Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, Bhagavan Krishna, Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Sri Yukteswarji, and our Guru, Paramahansa Yogananda: I bow to you all. I will practice Kriya Yoga faithfully and regularly to the best of my ability. I will not reveal its techniques to anyone without written permission from the Mother Center of Self-Realization Fellowship at Los Angeles, California. In my path toward God I accept you as my Gurus, O Jesus Christ, Bhagavan Krishna, Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Sri Yukteswar, and Paramahansa Yogananda. To God and to you, my Gurus, I offer my unconditional devotion and loyalty. With this spiritual baptism of Kriya Yoga Initiation I now become a member of Self-Realization Fellowship, and pledge that I will do my best to exemplify the ideals and promote the aims of this path. [Source]

SRF Ideals

All the official SRF ideals for members are here: [Link]

You see from the ideals that SRF goes for evolution into God consciousness, while the Catholic Church teaches that is heresy [LINK]. I may sound too optimistic by "Feel free to try (at your own expence and risk)," but that is the way to find out whether it can be done, and what the God of SRF is at bottom, behind veneers like Divine Mother, Kali, and so on. However, there is good reason to listen to experienced ones that tried that before you. Buddha teaches a sound approach in the ground-breaking Kalama Sutta. Note the last few sections of it also.

Also note that SRF ideals are not backed up by concrete evidence, and you should learn to evaluate evidence first, before committing to anything at your own risk or expence.

You may also note in the SRF ideals that they stand for "harmony and basic oneness of original Christianity as taught by Jesus Christ and original Yoga as taught by Bhagavan Krishna." There is no such harmony; just accept it.

SRF also aims at this: "to unite science and religion". Basically, science is not based on unverified faith, contrary to most religions. I am not against all kinds of religion, though; I am a Buddhist.

Do not succumb to bogus ideals.

Is Jesus into it?

Bluffing one's way. Is Jesus into the SRF pact at all when the gospel's Jesus says no to having other masters than himself, and warns beforehand of false Christs? Further, Jesus and Yogananda teach differently, for example on the soul, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father. Yogananda and SRF say he is there, but valid proof is missing, and central gospel evidence is definitely against such a scheme. And reading reincarnation into the bible as Yogananda does, is far-fetched too.

In the kriya pledge they have not included "Divine Mother" as Kali etc, and which occupies a central place in Yogananda's and SRF's idea universe. The six claimed, but unmet gurus that appear in the pledge after Krishna was added to the list many years after Yogananda's death, teach against each other in very significant respects. In an earlier version of the pledge, allegedly by Yogananda, that too, you pledged unconditional loyalty, love and devotion to the six said gurus of the SRF deal. In a still earlier pledge, to the five said gurus of SRF. So they change a pledge attributed to Yogananda. What is the problem?

Why on earth include Jesus, who warned against other Masters than himself? SRF claims that the six are to be included nowadays, along with "headmaster" Babaji. Jesus also says in Matthew that the soul can be destroyed, Yogananda and Lahiri Mahasaya teach differently. Unluckily for Jesus?

Is Krishna into SRF?

In the Babaji line of SRF gurus some teach differently than Krishna too, in important respects. Krishna says the world is real and those who teach differently are demoniac, whereas three of the kriya gurus say explicitly that the material world is illusory. What does that make the four gurus according to the Gita teachings? Demoniacs, alas.

"There is no material universe; its warp and woof is . . . illusion."

[Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi, ch. 30]. "The divine realm extends to the earthly, but the latter [is] illusory". [Babaji, in Autobiography of a Yogi, ch. 34]. Accordingly their kriya pledge (as part of the universe) is unreal too. Puff.

If you want to be loyal to the Gita-Krishna who says those who teach the world is ureal, are demoniacs, these must include Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Yogananda.

Watch out

Look before you leap.

1. How can you be loyal to teachings at odds with one another without a split mind or marked stupidity? Moreover, the SRF kriya pledge is not kind to you, and it fixates positions with you as the inferior guy, and not just for a very short time. It is an oath that ties a follower hand and foot, against the words of Jesus against swearing -.

2. It pays to look behind the devotional facade: Note the word "unconditional". It signifies that once you make the promise, you are bound, no matter what happens to you or the alleged gurus. But there are sayings by at least three of the Indian gurus in the pledge that say the world is unreal. Accordingly their kriya pledge (as part of the universe) is unreal too. They too. Puff.

3. To the degree that the SRF kriya oath goes against Human Rights laws in your country, it is correspondingly offending and unlawful. Poof.

4. If you find out you have been conned into the SRF pledge, which violates moral sense and is a shame garbed in great-looking words, remember: "No all-life limit is set." To put it slightly differently, "I did not say for how long I would go by such crap". And then you have to face some scary additions to it that Yogananda supplies (quotation below):

No regret buttons and colossal sufferings

If you think my solution is unfit in your case, consider what SRF's Yogananda would have you believe:

No regret buttons with Yogananda. Folly makes one bargain one's freedom like that. Consider two of the six past men that Yogananda lays claim on as SRF gurus: Krishna and Jesus - do they teach the same things, for example? They do not. One big problem lies right there, but there are many more. For example, Yogananda teaches that the universe is an illusion, but does he tell that his teaching and the kriya oath are parts of such a universe? The guru uses teachings and an alarming oath to impress and ensnare people by such means, and some may go against the laws of many countries.

What if you promise and regret? There is no regret button, says Yogananda, in effect. But there will be sufferings for many lives. That is what he tells, and I think he fails by it.

"There is only one guru uniquely the devotee's own. But if you turn away from the emissary of God, He silently asks: 'What is wrong with you . . .?' . . . He who cannot learn through the wisdom and love of his God-ordained guru will not find God in this life. Several incarnations at least must pass before he will have another such opportunity." - Paramahansa Yogananda, SRF magazine, spring 1974, p 6. From a talk at Mother Centre, 8/17/39

COMMENT. This is regrettably no jest. The pledge contains six unmet men, whereas the Yogananda quotation centres on just one, Yogananda himself. That the "several incarnations" contain misery and pain, is spoken of in other places. In fact, at least several incarnations of colossal sufferings go into the whole picture:

Babaji added, 'Repeat to each of your disciples this majestic promise from the Bhagavad Gita: "Swalpamasya dharmasya, trayata mahato bhoyat"—"Even a little bit of the practice of this religion will save you from dire fears and colossal sufferings [Bhagavad Gita 2:40]". [Autobiography, ch. 34, and note 8]

So the "several incarnations at least" of Yogananda mean "many lives of colossal sufferings."

The "deal" of Yogananda violates truth-telling and Human Rights. It is also far more restricting than common guru-disciple relationships of India where the door is kept open for a disciple to seek far better gurus without threats of colossal sufferings. It may be that SRF as an organisation of this human world says, "If you cannot stand it any longer, you are free to go." But the guru's word is different, though, and that is a great problem SRF has to deal with frankly. One of the reasons is that SRF teaches Yogananda's wisdom is flawless, which it is definitely not.

You will find these topics elaborated on and substantiated further down. Here is another side to the scenario Yogananda brings:

Will Yogananda become a murderous desert robber again?

Suppose that the teaching of Yogananda is right; that you have to wait several incarnations at least to get help from him again if you first submit to him and later drop him in this life, since that seems to be the thing to do - You should not fancy that as soon as you are ready, that guru will appear, even though the Hindu faith includes "As soon as the disciple is ready, the guru will appear." C. S. Shah shows more around that neat point. However, it seems Yogananda has discarded that fit point too, to make his special form of "gutter guruism".

For it stands out from his quotation above that even if you were to get ready for a good guru in this life, after dropping Yogananda, Yogananda will not help you, no matter how needy or ready you might hope to be: he says "several incarnations at least", and claims God is on his side in such a scheme.

In his set-up, what if you got ready after one, two, or ten lives, and find that Yogananda was not teaching kriya at all in those incarnations? Is that far out, or an unlikely scenario? Maybe no, as judged by what the guru goes into about his former lives. All his past lives he tells of, are not spiritually uplifting. Here are some of them:

He claimed to have been an avatar, Arjuna, an archer who shared his wife with his four brothers, if that means anything. According to the Bhagavad Gita's chapter 11, Arjuna got enlightened, and fought hard afterwards. Yogananda also claimed to have been "a vicious and murderous desert marauder." Thinking of it made Yogananda shiver with horror from time to time, says his biographer [Psy 112]. Yogananda also chaimed to have been the very brutal and greedy William the Conquerer, William Shakespeare, a fighter in Spain, even a lawyer, and others. [MORE]

Basically, after the Arjuna claim, none of his so-called past incarnations seem to have been enlightened. He never taught kriya or stood up as a guru after being enlightened by Krishna, it seems.

Such points add up to a gnawing suspicion. In the guru's stick-to-me-or-scenario, if it be true that his follower has to be encumbered by him even after abandoning him, getting a new incarnation where Yogananda is a guru at all, may not be as easy as "as soon as you get ready again, Yogananda will appear to help you on." To the contrary if he has ended up as a desert murderer again.

Various things that are taught in SRF - about the results of abandoning Yogananda for good reasons and less - about his claimed past lives - and so on, add up to this disconcerting gist:

It is a tyrant to ties down people to serve him by inculcating a deep and naïve faith, baser than general Hinduism says, and maybe a million times worse than what good sense would have it.

Guard your human rights; do it well. How? Refrain from getting involved with what causes your downfalls in the garb of help and salvation.

♦ "Don't be bound by anything. That philosophy will save you," said Yogananda. Accordingly, not to be bound by Yogananda and SRF, can save you from Yogananda and SRF. [Dr 26] What more is there to say?

The Moral Aspect

Sincerity will save you. - Yogananda

Teachings that act like smoke may ruin health in the long run.

Or maybe it will not; it depends. Outcomes of honesty and bravery also vary. On the journey of life you have perhaps seen a similar "Honesty will save you" too. The question is how true and valid such blunderbuss sayings are in a given setting, under different circumstances, and in Self-Realization Fellowship, SRF.

Good honesty is to be honest with yourself first. One may be honest in a lot of ways throughout life, and many lessons may be learnt of it. In good situations honesty may help you, and in bad situations it may cost you your life - so do not be fooled by sayings that seem to promise much, but end in smoke if inspected. It is wise to dare to question teachers and teachings, but do so politely for the sake of their nerves.

Further, one significant problem with SRF is their take that Yogananda's guidelines are without fault, even though he said man needs a dictator to guide him, and gave in to many wrong ideas, as shown on other Yogananda-related pages on the site. As for what will save you, the orator Yogananda also said that "Understanding . . . is the only thing that will save you," and "Befriend the Self and the Self will save you. There is no other savior than your Self." [Dr 245; Ak 9]

There is one "only" too much in the quotations above about "Only understanding, only your Self, and sincerity (not barring honesty) , for good understanding is not the Self, but of the Self - and so further. A question is how to get to understanding, Self-friendship, and saving sincerity at their best. It helps to meditate by one or several methods working together.

And it is old wisdom that "Honesty is praised and left to starve," and that "The best gambler is the man who doesn't gamble." Both are American proverbs [Ap 305, 246]. Some there are who praise honesty as a saving thing, but do not implement it full well in their society, where many suffer from the lack of it. It tends to be that way. Some SRF beginners choose with the SRF management and its publishing department to put a mass of faith in selected guru quotations and drop focusing on other quotations that gainsay and do not support the seleced ones very much, or not at all. That is the situation in many churches that form idiots. They gamble together in a "spree of so-called devotion and loyalty" that their selections are worthy a or at least OK, while what they tend to disregard in their actual practice, may possibly work better for SRF members on the whole.

A whole lot of churches seem to have such dubious or ill-omened selectivity in common, and what further marks such selections, is that they generally suit those in power most, at the expense of the under-dogs. So do not get outsmarted. How? Be free to find guru words and guru methods that help you and not enslave you all over - for "It's not the gale but the set of the sail that determines the way you go [Ap 245]."

These are basic ideas for profiting from a cult where there are medleys of leader words - some helpful and others not - but cultishness may be hard to tackle anyway. It should be wel not to enter and go for good and gentle mediation practices instead. I find Transcendental Meditation, TM, to get to the marrow of it.

If you are sincere, you will realise that you cannot foresee and "fore-set" the feelings, attitudes, and conduct that the SRF Kriya Pledge demands from you, and will refrain from making the pledge. Here come the moral grounds for such a fit stand:

Don't promise what you cannot keep

To "promise" you must be able to deliver. - Jerome Bruner, Acts of Meaning [Acom 63].

To be on the safe side, do not promise what you cannot deliver. It is reasonable not to promise something over your head, and which you cannot foresee alarming consequences of. Your feelings during one single day only, are they under your control at the break of day so that you can guarantee how you are going to feel? You may be free to promise you are going to love six unmet leaders for life-time after life-time onward - ignoring that they teach against one another - but can you keep your word? If you do not know whether you are going to love unconditionally forever, refrain from making such a fool and freak of yourself. The point is that future feelings - life after life - usually lie outside our control. In SRF's Kriya Pledge you promise to love others without condition for the rest of their lives, and yours, no matter what happens, no matter how you change, or they change. The cost may become formidable.

Haim G. Ginott

Dr Haim G. Ginott tells that unrealistic promises cause grief "for everyone". His focus is dealing with children, but the lessons apply equally well to SRF kriya applicants:

Promises should neither be made to, nor demanded of, children. Why . . .? Relations . . . should be built on trust. When parents must make promises to emphasize that they mean what they say, then they are as much as admitting that their "unpromised" word is not trustworthy. Promises build up unrealistic expectations . . . Life is not without mishaps . . . The relentless complaint "But you promised!" is painfully familiar to parents who belatedly wish they had not.

Promises about future good behavior or the cessation of past misbehavior should not be requested or extracted from children. When a child makes a promise that is not her own, she draws a check on a bank in which she has no account. We should not encourage such fraudulent practices. [Bpc, 61]

Most people have the freedom to make silly promises about loving others - but had better refrain, for the repercussions may be bad.

Burdens ahead for most guys

Marriages flounder in thousands every day, so why add the burden of broken promises to the other burdens? At a Sikkim wedding ceremony the priest in charge says just, "Stay together till distaste (aversion) splits you apart," - something like that. It is a most beneficial public sanction. Even Jesus says something that means in effect "Do not solemnly promise at all". Here is the saying:

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, "Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made . . ." But I tell you, Do not swear at all . . . Simply let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No"; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. [Matthew 5:33-37]

Consider wedding promises and ordination promises in the Church in this light too. The issue is that you contribute to evil in our own future and that of others by certain high-flown promises. Also consider the broken marriages and the unneeded extra burdens of broken promises.

Promises that are imposed on you serve as agents of control on your behalf. Paramahansa Yogananda formed several kriya promises that were designed to bind people. After a horse first is bound it often is tamed as a further "development". The current SRF kriya pledge binds people against some of their vital Human Rights. To the degree this is so, the SRF kriya pledge is unlawful.

Differences in the teachings - a repeat

Romantics dream of love forever, but if something untoward happens, or love just wears out, what next? You probably cannot tell in advance how you will feel and behave forever, or what? But what if you have promised to revere six masters and be loyal to them unconditionally anyway, no matter how they are and become? The bet is that you do not know if you are able to deliver what you are made to say in advance of your whole future, which is far more than one life, according to SRF teachings. The bet is you are made a fool by pledging way over your head.

Further consider that many gurus have had bad falls, Indian tradition tells. Then why should you promise your worth off by always "kneeling" to them, no matter how they might ill-behave?

Forever is such a long time: to demand unconditional [unlimited] devotion and loyalty to six conflicting gurus - Krishna, Jesus, and the four Hindu gurus Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Sri Yukteswar, and Paramahansa Yogananda - is to overstep: Take into account they teach differently, that some of their core teachings are clearly opposed to one another - and still the demand is for unconditional loyalty - It is not soap. Yogananda is out to get subservience. Consider whether you or anybody else can keep your word and be devoted and loyal (to demoniacs) without conditions. Sound and constructive devotion really does not works like that. What if you have a change of heart? Study just what the guru's "loyalty" implies in your case, and you could be better off.

Jesus says in effect "Have only me for your Master," for example in "False Messiahs [Christs] . . . will appear . . . to deceive even God's chosen people, if possible [Matthew 24:24, etc.]." And in the Bhagavad Gita Sri Krishna teaches the world is real, and demoniacs teach otherwise (16:7-8). Babaji and Yogananda teach the world is unreal. Hence, are they false guides (a Biblical view) and demoniacs (the Bhagavad Gita view), and also worthy of being loved unconditionally? These issues and others are elucidated further down on the page.

The value of keeping your word should not be overlooked

A proverb with many variants says, "A man's word is his bond". When people are made to swear oaths they may not estimate the reach of, they get bound by their oaths, by their word, and may one day wake up to contrition when they find they could not keep their promises, which presumably were made in good faith. That is a problem for many marrieds couples too, because the church acts against a clear saying of Jesus, and thereby serves the evil one (see quotation above). Control of such a kind serves some in power. If such control is undemocratic, problems grow. That is the philosophical side of this matter.

The more control you give away to others, the more others may take away from you. It may be better to go fishing than to succumb hand and foot to non-democratic rascals in adult life.

If you want to learn kriya yoga in SRF, their kriya pledge is put in your way. But in the SRF kriya pledge you pledge unconditional devotion, and loyalty to God and "the six-pack" of alleged SRF gurus that teach against one another at times:

1. Krishna of Hinduism;
2. Jesus of what was a tense sect of Judaism;
3. "Babaji" ("revered father", no certain name and dates given),
4. Shyama Lahiri (1828-95),
5. Yukteswar (1855-1936),
6. Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952).

Do not be taken in. There are harsh, halfway hidden sides of the "shining, new coin (pledge)". If you don't overstretch in any severe way you could save yourself harm and trouble. Otherwise the effects of overstretching might last a lifetime, if not longer. Why promise more than you have control over yourself? Isn't it stupid to promise things you don't know if you can keep later? Promising far too much and being made to promise so are moral issues. But the effects of breaking one's word can be felt tangibly and severely. [More]

Yogananda's carrot, whip, and saddle

Yogananda wanted to get many followers. He adapted to Christianity by hook and crook for it. As it shows up, much of what he did was unwise. He took to alluring "convincing" verbiage and much else to attract followers; the carrot is several divine-looking promises, especially the idea of self-realization understood as great joy or bliss in the end.

The kriya oath serves to to bind submitting fellows to him, also against Human Rights, and he used whip sayings too, against "irregularities" and losing disciples. Several lives of "extreme misery" or "colossal sufferings", and wasted opportunities etc. may suggest much of what constitutes his so-called whip.

As with animals who get tamed to carry a rider, the saddle seems to be hundreds of seemingly well-meaning guru goading, shoulds and shouldn'ts, do's and don'ts restrictions and injunctions and guidelines as to what to do and not to do. Not a few disciples have got overloads. But fear is a factor to reckon with in SRF. Maybe not naked fear, but guru fear among many bound by their words, by the oath (a pledge is a solemn oath) and a commitment to SRF along with it.

To repeat, Yogananda tells: "If you turn away from the emissary of God, He [decides] "Now you shall have to wait long . . . Several incarnations [with extreme misery] at least must pass before he will have another such opportunity. [Source: SRF Magazine, spring 1974, p 6., emphasis added]"

At the start of SRF the pledge did not contain any oath of loving six gurus at all. They were added by stages. Yogananda dictated the following on 10 January 1921.

I promise and swear to act according to the following rules. . . . I will never reveal it to anyone without your permission. I will try my utmost to follow your general advice . . . . . . If I divulge without your permission extreme misery will overtake me according to natural laws. I will in every way help to spread this cause . . . I will help others to get this divine knowledge if I myself think I enjoy it . . . [SOURCE: Rosser, Brenda Lewis. Treasures Against Time, p 380]

There could have been other versions of the pledge at that time.

"In every way" - bah!

Spreading the cause in every way was a too stiff demand, as there was no limit to it, and the guru was given all power - and bad ways were not excluded here . . . Why should a dentist's wife have to strip naked on the streets of Boston for the guru's cause? Because she had been made to swear "in every way". Stripping naked was absolutely not outside it . . . Ugh! Poor followers.

The said, extreme misery [stemming from not stripping naked in the city streets and so on] involves several incarnations, the later Yogananda divulges - but at that time he had changed the oath to swear. You normally do well in preserving savoury and useful freedom that you have, and refuse to succumb to a someone with a carrot, saddle, and whip and be ridden - pranawise, otherwise, or both).

Question First, so as not to Get Outsmarted Later

Question the legal validity of the SRF kriya pledge first, before you submit

Outsmarted: denied human rights and some old Hindu rights too. Know your UN sanctioned human rights. These articles from the UN charter of human rights will do at this point:

• No one shall be held in [deep, ignoble] servitude . . . [Article 4, text in square brackets is added for clarity.]
• Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom . . . [Article 18]
• No one may be compelled to belong to an association. [Article 20] [MORE]

A somewhat embarrassing first-hand check may save you a future of being bound.

SRF's kriya pledge could bind you to deep servitude if you commit to it - and if you don't commit, there is not that bondage, and you should not swear that oath either. Even though Yogananda's fellowship permits persons to leave, the guru says truly scary things about such a prospect (below). SRF also thinks that a member that leaves eventually has to come back to the guru, even after lifetimes. That is in their line of thinking. [MORE]

AUTHORITARIAN SUBMISSION. Look before you leap, says the proverb. It pays to be circumspect. It could be the mistake of a lifetime to submit to six unknown gurus, some of which teach strangely differently: gurus that very few would say band together. Inspect well beforehand before submitting, for the troubles brought on by inconsistent and confusing Yogananda teachings will not serve all persons well. Don't be tricked into submission that is not necessary for good progress in yoga and otherwise either. Consider your freedoms before you succumb to this and that and anyone. Have in mind that some persons (devotees) appear to turn bossy and perhaps too dogmatic if devotionalism and sulkiness takes over.

OPPOSED TO FREEDOM. The outlook of this talk is that people - especially beginners - need to be warned, and there is much to become aware of as a "yoga consumer" too: In the SRF kriya tradition students by steps get tied and spiritually wed to "hidden and long gone" gurus by an oath, and many become slavish - and some add to that. But in Hinduism in general there are often changes of guru. The disciple is moved from one to another. It happens lots of time, it is in the tradition, it can be fair, and is seldom thought to be odious. In this respect, the teachings and first and foremost the kriya pledge of the Self-Realization Fellowship Church tie you - as a submissive part - to one guru for your future, which involves many lives (!). You should be well aware of that, and the strictness of the terms of the pledge. [More here]

♦ Freedom through submission seems strange and may seldom work well enough.

Bound through life-times through the SRF pledge

"DON'T swear," said Jesus.

Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool . . .[Matthew 5:34-35]

REALLY HARSH DEVOTIONALISM. But in order to learn kriya yoga through SRF (an American organisation), you have to take an oath - it is solemn swearing in which you promise to unconditionally love and be loyal and devoted to six gurus, one of them called Jesus Christ -

Thus, your faith and good will and word is taxed as if you were the Almighty even at the beginning of such a quest. And what if you should renege altogether through judiciousness as time goes by? Here is "the harsh answer" to that: 

"There is only one guru uniquely the devotee's own. But if you turn away from the emissary of God, He silently asks: 'What is wrong with you, that you foolishly leave the one I have sent to help you learn the divine science of the soul? Now you shall have to wait long, and prove yourself, before I shall respond again.' He who cannot learn through the wisdom and love of his God-ordained guru will not find God in this life. Several incarnations at least must pass before he will have another such opportunity." - Paramahansa Yogananda, SRF magazine, spring 1974, p 6. From a talk at Mother Centre, 8/17/39

Here the guru locks you in. But his claim of furthering "original Christianity" is a hoax. Jesus taught differently than the gurus on some core issues, and Yogananda opposes his sayings too.

DISAPPOINTMENTS FOR MANY. It could be good to be forewarned. You should be well informed before anyone "hooks" the "blue-eyed" you. Some do get disappointed in SRF, including monastics. In 2000-2001 one third of them left the SRF organization - but they may fear leaving the guru, for reasons as found in the quotation, which is scary, because of the so-called "immense sufferings" of being born and of dying, and of being reborn and dying, and the like.

♦ That devotees disappoint, Yogananda learnt too, as rendered by Kriyananda.

The "Original Christianity" hoax of SRF

SHEWBREAD CHRISTIANITY IS TO BE DEALT WITH. SRF claims it brings "original Christianity as taught by Jesus Christ". There is no such thing. Jesus says he came for Jews only, his words were only for Jews, and that salvations was from the Jews - who rejected him by and large. Jesus also says the Law of Moses is valid. It institutes slavery, demanding such as "Keep the Canaanite slave forever (Lev 25:46)". And Jesus says it is valid "till heaven and earth disappear" [Matthew 5:18-19].

Traditional Christianity is a later-comer, though, as revealed in Acts 15, mainly. In that new deal for gentiles, only four things were requested. Abstaining from blood food is one of them.

But SRF goes on to teach they stand for "original Christianity as taught by Jesus Christ", by preposterous fabrication. [More]

Further, "father Matheo", a professor of the Roman Catholic Church decrees,

[Yogananda's] theology cannot be squared with Roman Catholic doctrine. He teaches indifferentism.

He also seems to teach the Pelagian heresy of salvation by human effort alone.

He misunderstands and even implicitly denies the Christian doctrine of Incarnation. [Read on]

Suppose a Noble Way Out Exists

It can be hard to find a decent way out if the world is merely illusory -

SURRENDER TO CEREMONIALISTS OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES. To take leave of Yogananda as a kriya-initiated disciple (kriyaban) is meant to be impossible, but wait, there is good news in store too. Yogananda has stated many things, and on the depressive side to some is that leaving him as a guru is wont to cause bad 'repercussions' for not only decades, but several future lives (see the quotation just given). He also called those who left in his days such as "quitters or traitors" in an old article of what is now called Self-Realization Magazine. The yoga society he set up, SRF, writes in an insider's letter:

". . . sooner or later, every Truth-seeker will unfailingly find his way back to his God-given guru and, having learned to surrender himself to the guru's guidance, will make swift progress toward the Divine Goal" [LINK]

- that is their faith, and they may not be all happy that this information has leaked out. Note that Jesus seems to be missing in their scenario, for some obscure reason, or none. The faith is encumbered with difficulties. For example, if you were ready for Yogananda guidance when he was William the Conqueror (yes, he said he was), you would not be given kriya, but maybe a scolding or far worse. Or suppose you were ready for guidance when he was William Shakespeare (yes, he said he was), and all you got was a play to listen to. The point: Judged from insider talk in the fellowship, Yogananda was far from always in a kriya-giving role or mood, no matter what you might have been. This should not be overlooked either in such a universe of ideas or figments of imagination.

♦ Now, progress in kriya is something imagined if the world is unreal (!). Few think of that, but Yogananda repreatedly says the world is unreal, like a dream and so on. He also says "You are already enlightened, but you don't know it". [Say, see index]

Messy slogan teachings over and over

THE GURU we look into did not seem to find fault with his own messy sermonising. Below are a few examples; the coupled statements don't fit together like a key and its keyhole, do they?

"We don't really know what is right or real ... we are often incorrect in our judgements." - Paramahansa Yogananda. [Ak 414] – "We find his guidelines infallible." - Self-Realization Fellowship.

"The universe is an illusion". - Paramahansa Yogananda –

The Bhagavad Gita says, though: "Those who are demoniac do not know what is to be done . . . Neither . . . proper behaviour nor truth is found in them. (16:7)

They say that this world is unreal, that there is no foundation . . . (16:8)

Following such conclusions, the demoniac . . . engage in unbeneficial, horrible works . . . (16:9)" [Emphasis added]

"Our best friends are those who criticise us the most ... who never condone our faults." - Paramahansa Yogananda – "We find his guidelines infallible." - Self-Realization Fellowship.

"When a true guru performs an action ... no marks remain. - Paramahansa Yogananda [Cf. [Say 14] – (His words remain -)

Hence, Krishna maintains in the Bhagavad Gita that the world is real. The gospels do not teach the world is unreal either. But Yogananda (and Babaji) say the material world is unreal. It may not be reconciled. Have you ever considered how real they and their words and teachings are if the whole wide world is unreal?

♦ Learn to consider: How can unreal gurus demand unreal pledges from unreal people?

♦ Do you think unreal gurus are big, big or players?

Boss infallibility on top of that

THE SECT or cult is characterised by dogmatised boss infallibility. Great damage may be done through sugarcoated but unfit, "invaluable" boss infallibility. The thing may victimise in the long run, and is far from democratic in the way we know it. As for SRF, it may be viewed as a cult.

[Non-Christian] Self-Realization Fellowship - Blends pagan Hinduism and the teachings of Jesus. Founded by Paramahansa Yogananda. [Check A]

[The cult] Self-Realization Fellowship, Paramahansa Yogananda Los Angeles, CA: New Age, Awaken the God within, Yoga, Meditation. Publishes the Self Realization Fellowship magazine. [Check B]

This gives a chance to clarify main concepts used against cults or sects or to describe them - such purposes appear to blend in some cases:

1. Christianity incorporates dozens of pagan elements from the times of the Roman Empire. Hence there is a need to make clear what sort of paganism we are talking about, and to be fair about all the pagan elements in Christianity also. [LINK]
2. Sects and cults may or may not work better than the large society. It depends on what country you are in, among other things. Besides, there are differences among sects and among cults - and it has to be taken into account. Christianity started as a sect (or cult) of Judaism, and should not be so very much different now. [LINK]
3. New Age is a stupid term that covers a multitude of elements; some of them are constituents of medicine, even. Others reflect deep philosophies, and so on. The term "New Age" is too variegated to say much of value unless it is nuanced. It can mean a social movement (waned), ways of life, and much else. [LINK]
4. Sects and some cults do, however, deal in treating members as "underdogs and weaklings" in various set-up rigmaroles of conformity. Over-bossy slogans may be detected too.

The chance of being outright fooled

If I had a thousand mouths, I would speak through them all to convince you. - Yogananda, Ak 111]

Well, putting aside for now all questions of extreme tooth-brushing, a thousand times more tooth-aches, and corresponding dentist bills, the guru appears to talk with two mouths at any rate. With one of them he insists the ego must go. With the other he appears to aim at developing the ego. - You can't have it in both ways, presumably. Take care. [MORE]

Ancient Indian teachings tell that the real, hidden mission of Narada, who is thought of as a guru prototype, is to fool and madden persons into perdition, and also for no particular, good reasons at all but unfair and partial ones. Beware. [SUMMARISED STORY] This is to say that all gurus are not very friendly . . . Not everyone that is called a guru needs to be bad. It is held in the common Hindu tradition that most of those that are set up as gurudevas (divine friends and helpers) are fakes, not anything like true gurus. There is a tradition and personal reason for being firm and circumspect and question the guru before committing in any "dense" way.

♦ Being circumspect is seldom for free, but being taken in and meddled with can be worse.

Hailing out of place, and Jesus plot-incorporated

THE GURU that you have to tie in with he as God's channel and you as one of his "brides", perhaps, if you get caught in his net, hails his own guru as an incarnation of wisdom. Recently published evidence shows it is hailing out of place, for his guru did make blunders and often taught wrong. That is far from showing unerring spiritual insight. Yogananda boasts too much, also by overdoing things. Formalised, excessive praise of one's guru and divinity-allied assertions out of place, tend to reflect a problem. Just manage to "inspect the legs of the peacock", that is, check the lay of the land before you trust widely and to your long-term harm. Don't let guru boasting become your problem. [LINK]
      You pledge to honour Hare Krishna too. The Upanishad evidence that Krishna was a real person, is meagre, just a couple of lines that are found in three separate works. But the long epic poem Mahabharata contains information about him and a capital he built, and very recent excavations have found the now underwater site as described in parts of the old poem, and its recent dating conforms with Mahabharata information about Dwarka, long suspected to be a legend only. By such tokens Krishna is thought to have existed; the odds (chances) can be good, even, so we do not discredit Krishna as someone that has been solely invented any more.

But many popular stories of him have been fabricated, in that Vedic, old tales were reused and modified with Krishna as the protagonist (hero, main character) instead of the thunder-god Indra, for example. This is pointed out in The Cultural History of India, Vol 1 [Xm]. The Indian Puranas (books) do contain stories that are shuffled or retold in similar ways [LINK] [cf. [Clh].
      Jesus is given adaptive credit, but the full impact of what he set up, according to the gospels, is withheld or toned down or pushed away so that Hindu teachings don't flounder. For example, he never advocates more than one master - himself, that is . . . In SRF you find many of the regular features of Christianity. Maybe the table is set for great cheating against gospel words, then.

♦ A problem with those who call their living or passed-away gurus unerring, infallible and the like, is that these followers play all-knowing thereby, and often by whim.

Through regulated top-dog wilfulness, Christianity much at stake

YOU MAY say that handed over Christianity is placed in a strange position for the sake of guru hailing and wilful adaptations that seem very much out of place. If you enter as a Christian, you will find yourself in a church where hailing and worship of some avatars is a common lot, and maybe hailing of Divine Mother as the Father, and so on. The one of assumed supreme responsibility for followers in SRF is Babaji, a "Yogi-Christ", according to Yogananda. Yes, we bring evidence of such teachings on other pages. Don't be like victims of insincere salesmen that persuade rather than inform like a report in a consumer magazine. Be aware and alerted to what is really found in SRF, and don't be satisfied with facades and what is for show, then. Take a good look beforehand, and find out how Christian it seems to your minister, if you can. For vital sacraments in Christianity are dispensed with. What is missing or changed into a Hindu gift, is Holy Communion, and you may meet no tongue-talkers - and there is no apostolic succession from the ranks of Jesus.
      Big words of Jesus in the New Testament may be twisted to suit Hindu proselytising. [Debating it]

♦ Many unprincipled guru followers are satisfied with transgressing against historical Christianity for the sake of present hypocrisy.

The problems of verbiage and unclear teachings

DISAPPOINTMENTS IN STORE FOR BLIND BELIEVERS. It can be hard to apply Yogananda's early words of non-violence once you learn that he sent followers to fight in World War II, for example. There are some very striking examples of drifting teachings and radically changed teachings from Yogananda, and when SRF holds his guidelines are infallible and so on, the tables are set for frustrations that may seem without end if you miss the historical development or retrogression of the gurus main teachings. He got caught in situational utterances that SRF hail as infallible, contrary to evidence. That is a quite serious offence. One should not overlook or ignore that some of the guru's teachings are situational. It is similar with some words by Jesus: Once he said his mission was reserved for Jews only. We know how that mission failed, and how the "project" of Jesus and his Father changed.
      To recap: According to SRF's Kriya Pledge you belong to six avatars - Krishna, Jesus Christ, Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya (or Baba), Sri Yukteswar and Paramahansa Yogananda - with the last of the line as your own personal Godman and means of salvation, roughly said. That's part of the thinking that goes into it. You pledge unconditional loyalty and devotion to them too. Making innocents promise unconditional devotion and loyalty to six gurus (four of them in a dynasty) could go against the law, and not just be morally offensive in the light of UN Human Rights and the like. You need to find and stick to a balance between the freedom to choose a big, fat swindle as your favourite religion and that of catering to good enough personal freedoms. SRF and epecially Yogananda maims a couple of human rights through the kriya pledge. Is it decent?

Further, SRF's kriya pledge appears to overtax anyone's control-in-advance-for-any-eventuality forces, by framing and binding your activity, emotional life and will for a lifetime, without admitting any reneging (going back on your overconfidently made promise or commitment).

Promising over your head may in time deplete your funds (widely understood), binding the central core we call heart, its feelings and actions far into an unknown future through, "A word is a word (a promise is to be kept)".

But when you promise to love unconditionally for ever, you seldom or never know if that is within your power. And by the way, if you really knew it in advance, maybe you would not have any need to be guided too. As for pledging love for a life-time, there are divorce statistics that give solid evidence of how little widespread keeping one's word is to some, maybe half of a population, to hint at something.

To tie up inexperienced ones by severe pledges very many cannot survey the implications of in time, can very well molest and endanger more than personal liberty rights (which may have been thrown into the bargain). Such things may occur under the surface for some time and spread into the unforeseen future and make life bad. Yes, there is a danger in promising too much, making pledges to hard-hearted ones that don't even want to consider reasonable objections to some guru-sown quasi things -

♦ Serious kriya pledge disappointments are only for those that have their own moral sense intact.

Regulated submission is part of the game

WHAT THEY call kriya-yoga requires initiation to work successfully, they insist. The training may get rigorous, eventually. [Find Garland of Letters, 1-10 there to get an inkling of what original kriya looked like]
      You pledge unlimited devotion and loyalty to God, Jesus and the rest of them.

In a church or flock there can be moral submission and after that life-style submission, which may be hard to tackle and a detriment to inner growth. It is best to stay out of a kriya pledge that binds hand and foot for no good enough reason.
      The following serves to illustrate guru mentalities in SRF:

[Sri Yukteswar to Yogananda:] You ignore my wishes."

"No longer, guruji! Your wish shall be my law!"

[Sri Yukteswar again:] "That's better! Now I can assume responsibility for your life."
      "I willingly transfer the burden, master." [LINK]

Can guru responsibilities end when a follower is greatly enlightened, illumined?

[When he was eighty, Sri Yukteswar told Yogananda:] "My task on earth is now finished; you must carry on." . . . My heart was palpitating in fear.
      . . . Sri Yukteswar went on. "I leave everything in your hands. You'll be able to successfully sail the boat of your life and that of the organisation to the divine shores."

"You'll be able to successfully sail the boat of your life . . . to the divine shores" - But what actually happened, according to Yogananda himself? One night in a Mumbay hotel, Satan (with a catlike tail) leaped on his chest so that Yogananda could not breathe. There and then the long departed Sri Yukteswar appeared and shooed the devil. This is all according to Yogananda in a talk that was published in the Self-Realization Magazine, Summer 1976, p. 8-9. [LINK].

Sri Yukteswar did not leave all (and not all of the devil either) in Yogananda's hands. See?
      There are many other interesting topics, such as "What is Sri Yukteswar really talking about by "You will be able to sail the boat of the organisation to the divine shore"? Could we have a counterpart to the fairly gruesome Markandeya Purana tale where King Harichandra and his people are taken up to heaven alive? [Ma 32-58]

♦ It may be better to remain yourself - if you can handle it - than to transfer great burdens onto others and expect them to assist you greatly too, on top of that. But who can tell?

Noble Warps Out

Yogananda and Babaji teach that the material world is unreal, and that also includes your body and clothes. The appearances of gurus are not real either, or the serious-looking SRF kriya pledge. It is not really utterable unless there is a world to utter it in - you are free accordingly. Maybe free from the favours too, unless you "sit" well or plead your case convincingly. Here is evidence fit for a court of law - and we do bring much more on other pages:

The material universe is not real. [Paramahansa Yogananda, Ak 182]

There is no material universe; its warp and woof is . . . illusion. [Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi, ch. 30.]

Never believe that you live. [Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi. [Ha 88]

The world is nothing more than a cosmic dream — This life is a dream. [Paramahansa Yogananda Ak 237, 240]

When he [man] awakens in cosmic consciousness, he will effortlessly dematerialise the illusions of the cosmic dream. [Paramahansa Yogananda, ch. 34]

Babaji observed. "The divine realm extends to the earthly, but the latter [is] illusory". [In Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography ch. 34]

Remember, the problems of explaining these and other stubborn guru quotations and what they mean to any believer, will be their problems. Don't let them bother you. You could have far better things to do in "The Dream Nature of the World" [Ak 237 ff] for "God . . . is running this universe for you" [Ak 206]. "God is managing the whole universe, down to the most minute detail - and we are made in His image," asserts Yogananda, and "hard work has never hurt anyone." [Ak 204] - Of course it has! So don't trust the guru's every word; there are utterances that can be tested.

♦ Illusions brought about by Paramahansa Yogananda talk of the guru's cosmic dreaming, according to his basic tenet about the world.

Are You Ready for Krishna-Worship and Other SRF-Assisting, Regulated Parts of the Bargain?

It is hardly wise to put long-range benefits at risk by being intrigued

IN the book Autobiography of a Yogi [Pa] the guru author goes into apotheosis, god-making. "Life by life, each man progresses (at his own pace, be it ever so erratic) toward the goal of his own apotheosis." [Ha 473] "Yoga, through which divinity is found within, is doubtless the highest road". [Ha 136] "Through use of the Kriya key, persons who cannot bring themselves to believe in the divinity of any man will behold at last the full divinity of their own selves." [Ha 330] Means involve kriya-yoga and guru blessings.
      Are you intrigued by these guru mentions? Fine. But see to it that you steer well so as to derive benefit and filter out unwelcome plots and things in your life as you move along. That is actually what this page talks for: "Forewarned is forearmed." There are many other sides to the SRF rigmarole than plainly unwelcome ones, and more good to say of Yogananda's teachings than what is on this page. But it is in the art of living to prepare for the worst in order to limit severe damages or totally hinder them from happening. Those who learn to do that well, could derive long-range benefit.

♦ Being forewarned can bring long-range benefits and one's own family.

What is exactly in the SRF kriya pledge?

Maggie de Watt questions,

"What wrong is there to pledge unconditional love and devotion to God, all the gurus of SRF, Hare Krishna and Jesus all together?

Her friend Uffe,

"Can you keep your promise? Do you have control over your future happenings, emotional states and your fat? Can you keep your New Year's Eve promise of losing weight and stop smoking? These things are very simple in comparison."

Maggie de Watt:

"As for Bhagavan Krishna, must I love him in as portrayed in many stories made up about him in old times, that is, as an idolised production of several artists of old like a freak throughout my life? How can I relate to him as he is or was, seeing that he claims "With a single fragment of myself I pervade and support this entire universe (Bhagavad Gita 10:42)"? Wonder what is outside the universe. I'm curious to know whether there is space-and-time, whether there is room for time and things and sizes - - beyond the universe I know. I suspect there is not, alas.

I have also become aware that SRF's regular altar worship started only many years after the demise of Yogananda. It suggests that Yogananda hardly considered it momentous to specify Krishna, for several reasons. Strange tidings surround this note." [LINK]

Uffe:

"Yes, I see - And who can tell what they (SRF) would impose on you next? I would not. It hardly seems needed to me, I dare say. Anyway, regular Krishna-worship in SRF temples was established by SRF only long after Yogananda's passing, and the reasons seem strangely out-of-the ordinary:" [LINK]

Paramhansa Yogananda did not put a picture of Krishna on the altar, nor did he mention Krishna separately when he prayed to the line of gurus. Instead he would say "Babaji-Krishna," since Krishna is a former incarnation of Babaji. [F1]

That's what they teach - gurus add themselves to hoary lore over and over, and past lives serve it. No proofs are given, though. It is quite similar to what is done to give kriya yoga a tradition or two: They teach that this and that passage describes kriya yoga, and very often such statements seem to come out of the blue. There are so many examples. Be alerted to the possibility of quack teachings."

Maggie: "When you read that the SRF gurus dissolved themselves, how can you find them and worship them as pledged?"

Uffe: "It's a good question. Let them answer that. That's placing the burden where it belongs, I think."

Maggie: "What if I don't find myself in a God-Jesus-Krishna-gurus loving state at any time? Haven't I broken my pledge then?"

Uffe: "It is more likely than not, but after all not a few things depend in part on the meanings you yourself put into them. Is there a need for rationalisations and seemingly good decor for a member?"
      Maggie: "As I read the Bible, Jesus says no to serving many masters, and no to others than himself - thus: "You have one Teacher, the Christ." [Matthew 23:10] Is he really into the SRF?"

Uffe: "Birds knows. But if Jesus now has learnt go against half a dozen statements of his in the gospels, the Yogananda medley in the matter is not just a bait."
      Maggie: "Speaking of God, is the God Hare Krishna the Father of Jesus? What do you think?"

Uffe: "All I want to say at this time is that many, many descriptions of God in such as Christianity and Hinduism do not form a perfect match, and that is in part contrary to what Yogananda decrees. You can see for yourself here: [LINK] And you're free to think as you will. But don't let secret and snug hopes influence your thinking. For example, when Yogananda claims the soul is immortal and Jesus maintains that it can be destroyed in hell with the body, it is not a perfect match of tenets here either. Jack and Jill do have to consider these things before maiming their integrity and freedom through half-slave pledges of any sort."

♦ SRF leads some into worship of Kali as the Divine Mother.

The Drift

An institution is the lengthening shadow of one man. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

SRF has used this Emerson-quotation to suggest something about themself in an SRF magazine published about a generation ago. See what happened. Here is a part of it: About one third of the SRF monastics left SRF around 2001. They were much disappointed with their SRF experience, but some stick to the guru-founder of SRF anyhow. To the degree it is so, they have left the shadow but not the origin of the shadow. Moreover,some of them have got deep cult member troubles too, as told of on a few SRF discussion boards, mainly the SRF Walrus.

The idea here is that if the shadow is difficult to tackle, its originator may be studied far better than sycophants tend to delight in together.

From "aren't a sect" to "are a sect" and Paramahansa Yogananda's variegated heritage

In the organization Yogananda set up, the emphasis and talk drifted from step-by-step methods for the person on the way to Self-Realization - to devotional proselytising and more rudimentary "pep talks" on "finding God". Devotionalism and churchism have got a hold in time, despite Yogananda words like ""Sectarianism is anathema to religion." [Paramahansa Yogananda in "The Essence of Self-Realization"]

Self-Realization Fellowship today has been called a cult - even a sect by the editor of Self-Realization Magazine - more than the original concepts from the twenties and further lead us in on.

You told Nehru we aren't a sect. I admit Master said we aren't one. Well, we are a sect." - Self-Realization Fellowship's main editor Tara Mata [Laurie Pratt] as rendered by James D. Walters [Kriyanana] in his book A Place Called Ananda, ch. 14. [Apa]

Tara Mata (Laurie Pratt) was the Fellowship's main editor for many decades.

Yogoda [now: Self-Realization Fellowship] is not a new religion, nor a new cult, nor a new interpretation; it aims to teach the practical methods, the exact technique of widening the channel of human consciousness, so that Truth might flow in ceaselessly, endlessly, without obstructions of dogma or unproved beliefs. Yogoda points out the path of concentrating on the practical system and not only on the words and personality of Saints and Prophets. Yogoda teaches the step-by-step progress to individual personal realization and attainment of divinity. - Yogananda, in "Occidental Christianity and Yogoda", 1926.

These words are strangely counteracted by the churchism that Yogananda set up later (1935), and which disciples have enforced during half a century after his passing in 1952. Taming is likely to be one mark of a cult in the beginning.

♦ Better be alerted to what is really SRF than to wake up to it later in a tense, disillusioning process.

Self-Realization Fellowship in need of guidelines against plots: - possible?

There are food "cranks" whose only interest revolves around "calories" and "vitamins" . . . when you meet them, until you wonder how they can be so blind to other and more interesting phases of life.
- Paramahansa Yogananda, in East West, Volume 1-5 July 1926 - August 1926.

Succumbing or submitting to speculation can mar and ruin some. Proverbs do not welcome undue speculation either: "If ifs and ans were pots and pans, there'd be no trade for tinkers (British)". Or as it is said in courts of law: "Speculation . . . overruled!" It suggests you don't really have to consider it. It is just the same with many articles of belief. Judge whether you like them and really need them. In Buddhism and favourable yoga, teachings may be treated as working hypotheses, that is, they allow for testing. That is better for the mental health too. [MORE]

SRF (The Fellowship) has been classified as a cult. Now, are the guru guidelines as infallible as thought? We have found much and sound evidence against that notion. In fact, recent evidence indicates that Self-Realization Fellowship itself in actual practice has discontinued some guidelines in order to serve peculiar purposes. Yogananda-rallied Aims and Ideals of the Fellowship have been changed and removed too. [MORE]

One of the Yogananda guidelines that SRF seems to have dropped concerns self-serving communities:

We must go on - not only those who are here, but thousands of youths must go North, South, East and West to cover the earth with little colonies [i.e., communities], demonstrating that simplicity of living plus high thinking lead to the greatest happiness!
- Paramahansa Yogananda quoted in James D. Walters book The Path [Tp]

Since Yogananda's passing, SRF has removed references to such colonies in the Autobiography of a Yogi and Yogananda's Aims and Ideals. Yogananda had originally written one of them to read, "To spread a spirit of world brotherhood among all peoples and to aid in the establishment, in many countries, of self-sustaining world-brotherhood colonies for plain living and high thinking." This sage aim was kept through many editions of his Autobiography, till it was abandoned in the eight edition in 1959, long after his passing in 1952. In that edition his preferred 'Paramhansa' - he wrote it - was changed into 'Paramahansa' through a bit of "mild after-death-forgery". Authenticity was downplayed and is still quite troublesome in SRF, as evidenced in heavily edited Yogananda words, and a retouched photo of Yukteswar, where authenticity was left out to accommodate the tastes of American women who apparently did not think he looked well enough. Cheating has many forms and variants and some border on arts, for exampe retouching and colouring old photos.
      Thus, The SRF publishers have treated some Yogananda guidelines as fallible and dispensable, "at least for now" - Such things have happened to his own legacy in the fellowship he gave rise to, a fellowship directed by nuns he trained personally. And further, if Yogananda had changed his mind about self-serving communities at the end of his life, his former guidelines on the subject might not been worthy enough. It seems, however, that he changed neither his mind nor his autograph for the 8th edition seven years after his demise -

♦ It seems that SRF is quite capable of selecting Yogananda tenets and guidelines that suit the present leaders and following, while downplaying or removing others from sight, especially some of the old ones. We have many examples of it.

Don't Believe Everything Big Guys Tell

One should also be alerted to that Yogananda in the United States tried to start some enterprises that did not succeed. It suggests that his public invitations to spend money on some projects were what you may call "poor guidelines" - since more than one of his plans did not materialise. A few examples:

Failed to come true: a publication deal in his mid-career.
      Withered: A how-to-live-school for children on top of Mt. Washington in Los Angeles.

An apparently "easy" comment: "Even though he claimed omnipotence on behalf of gurus behind him, and talked loudly of his indomitable will to bring about his needs, certain things he went for, did not come to pass anyhow." Actions speak louder than words. It can be much useful to check along such veins. And when you tell of your findings, devotees of the "guru family" may still send gross and vile and stubborn flame mail. Plain goodness of heart or decency hardly dominates the hundreds of mud-slinging letters I have seen -

♦ These tidings against the cherished "indomitable will" of Yogananda and other false glorifications of him for fame on his behalf, are found in the guru's own yoga magazine, called East West and Inner Culture before it was changed into Self-Realization (Magazine). Some of the oldest volumes are on-line today.

Don't succumb to murky avatar teachings for your own good

More evidence connected to the dogmatised guru infallibility pops up on page after page, starting here: [LINK]

Our main reasons for using some figurative mentions to beginners and "old dogs" in these matters is here: [LINK]

Many examples of circumlocutions are given here; you may find some of them instructive: [LINK] As you can see if you click on that link, we have found it somewhat fit to compare duped individuals with farm animals. There is some truth in it, but let little monkeys do what little monkeys do best - Seeing God in one's Self is hardly done by anyone, seeing God all around is not supposed to be a common experience either, like perceiving divinity in masters. But all gurus are not odious, and "honour and give credit to whom honour is due".

♦ The inner sides of man should not be overlooked, at any rate. Conscience, an individual, mature moral, a growing sense of "I Am" (identity), and much else reside in the depths (inside), not just your last meal -

Added topics

The said fire. Next you should wonder how gentle breathing (kriya yoga) can be a fire extolled in Vedic writings. Further, how could gentle and delicate breathing "roast seeds" of bad karma - without harming seeds of good karma? Yogananda says kriya roasts both good and bad karma, and evidence for it is wanting. Also, it may pay to consider that "Man should make himself lots of good karma [Buddha, attr]." Then why roast it? Good karma of yogis bring future benefits, declares the Bhagavad Gita 6:37-43]. [LINK]

Scriptures Yogananda seem to drum up are they real? Yogananda speaks in his autobiography of "the scriptures" and "ancient rishis [seers]", attempting to ally himself and his mission with authorities in some circles, so as to make a better impression, in all likelihood. The problem in this is that the scriptures he talks of, hardly ever refer to kriya yoga at all, and for a good reason: They were put down in writing many centuries before the term "kriya yoga" was coined to describe gentle breathing methods and corollaries by the said Babaji, apparently in the second half of the 1800s, as told of in Yogananda's autobiography. "Kriya" is a common word in Sanskrit, and means "action" and the like. [REFERENCES]

"The ancient rishis discovered that man's earthly and heavenly environment, in twelve-year cycles, push him forward on his natural path. The scriptures aver that man requires a million years of normal, diseaseless evolution to perfect his human brain sufficiently to express cosmic consciousness," writes Yogananda [Autobiography, ch 26], as part of his kriya promition efforts. If you come across Yogananda statements like "The scriptures aver" and "ancient rishis found", know for sure that proper referencing is different - it tells which scripture and seers, and where to find evidence. Yogananda fails in furnishing it. That practice looks like demagoguery too, which should disappoint those taken in initially. 

To my knowing, Yogananda has never specified which scriptures says man needs a million years to reach cosmic consciousness, and which rishis found that gold, silver, other metals and gems can protect against planetary influences. Compare Yukteswar's saying, "our rishis; they found helpful not only a combination of metals, but also of plants and—most effective of all—faultless jewels of not less than two carats.The preventive uses of astrology . . . [Autobiography, ch. 16]" To repeat, which scriptures really speak of Babaji's kriya yoga by the Sanskrit word "kriya", and what ancient seers talk for bangles against planetary influences," is shrouded in a cloud of unknowing in Yoganananda's fellowship. It is good to know that, and that lack of proper evidence is not the same as "effective" or vice versa. It is good not to be brainwashed.

How to do a basic kriya technique. With things like these in mind, take a look at how basic kriya is to be done - gently. And remember that a complete kriya system contains something more added to this gentle breathing.

There are gifts without strings. In Buddhism, giving, dana, is for gaining merit, and does not have to dwarf anyone. Sound giving is related to generosity, and also associated with wisdom. The highest type of giving should benefit worthy ones too.




Literature  

Acom: Bruner, Jerome. Acts of Meaning (the Jerusalem-Harvard Lectures). Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1990.

Ak: Yogananda, Pa.: Man's Eternal Quest. SRF. Los Angeles, 1975.

Apa: Walters, James Donald. A Place called Ananda. Rev. 2nd ed. Nevada City: Hansa Trust: 2001.
www.ananda.org/aplacecalledananda/

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

Bpc: Ginott, Haim G. Between Parent and Child. Rev. and updated by Alice Ginott and H. Wallace Goddard. New York: Three Rivers, 2003.

Cy: Satyananda Saraswati, Swami. A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya. Munger: Yoga Publications Trust, 1981.

Dr: Yogananda, Paramahansa. The Divine Romance. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 2002.

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

Kta: Satyananda Saraswati, Swami. Kundalini Tantra. 8th ed. Munger: Yoga Publications Trust, 2001.

Ma: Pargiter, Frederick Eden, tr. Markandeya Purana. Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, 1904.

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

Psy: Dasgupta, Sailendra. Paramhansa Swami Yogananda: Life-portrait and Reminiscences. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2006. Pdf: yoganiketan.net and at Google Books, partial view.

Puh: Deussen, Paul: The Philosophy of the Upanishads. Dover (Reprint of Clark's 1906-ed). New York, 1966.

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

Tp: Walters, James Donald. The Path: Autobiography of a Western Yogi. Nevada City: Crystal Clarity, 1977.

Xm: Radhakrishnan, S. ed: The Cultural Heritage of India, Vols 1- 5. Rev. ed. Ramakrishna Institute. Calcutta, vol 1: 2nd ed 1958. vol 2: 2nd ed 1962. Vol 3: 2nd ed 1953. Vol 4: 2nd ed 1956.

[F1] "SRF makes changes after Yogananda's passing".
[www.yoganandarediscovered.com/jaitruth/changes.html]



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