SRF Study and Sayings

4 › 1 › 3

SRF Followers and Members: Introduction
A Notarised SRF Letter
Yogananda Quotations and Comments
Ways of Discourse

SRF Followers and Members: Introduction

A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure. - Buddha

Watch out - a cult pollutes the minds and makes infirm. "We are all crazy," says Yogananda [Ak 425].

"OUR BEST friends are those who criticize us the most . . . who never condone our faults," said Paramahansa Yogananda, originator of what is now told of as the Self-Realization Fellowship cult (SRF).
If you think that his followers act as he tells, trying to be his best friends, you could be mistaken. For they are a crazy lot - A drive to venerate one's boss (guru) seems to get in the way of such fit Yogananda friendship . . . That is both "monkey" or monky nature for you, or rather, boss-servile authoritarianism, if you seek longer words for it.

No Goat Ritually Hailed in SRF, but Jesus

All of us, as Paramahansaji used to say, are a little bit crazy, and we do not know it. - Sri Daya Mata [On; "Qualities of a Devotee"]

However, Yogananda said "We are all a little bit crazy": he included himself. This spells that the guru and his followers are crazy, and some do not know it. You can also believe that "he (she) is not the most crazy who knows (s)he is crazy." But there is more to it than that.
On this site you find brought together material on sides of it: inappropriate guru words are called infallible, and the slaughter of a goat yearly and driving another to the wilderness, is not held in honour, even though it is written in the Bible that such an indelicate practice is to be: "This is to be a lasting ordinance for you." [Leviticus 16].
Thus, SRF crazy guys are not on biblical ground by feigning and maladaptations and misplaced honouring -

Note
That value of a goat.

If the Israelites had kept up the rigid, ritual slaugther, there would have been no reason to have Jesus enter the scene and try to die for their sins. Yes, then there would have been no need to hail a guru Jesus in SRF either - but is looks like decorum for most part anyway, in that they do not follow his commands either. "Have ony one master, (me)", he said. In SRF there are many, and some are perhaps more becoming than the "goat-vicar" of yore. Say: "Why wasn't there a goat?"
I did not say I am for sacrificing of innocent animals. I did not say I am a follower of Jesus. I have only pointed out that there are many inconsistencies around, and conform and ridiculous feigning and hypocricy in some circles, and SRF is no exception. Nitwits band together and seem to decide that things they agree on are fit, just because they have agreed among themselves. And that seems to explain why Christianity changes too, away from what was presented as God-given rules to follow - in the New Testament too. In SRF there has been a notable drift from essential yoga to church-followerism over some decades. There are good sides to it, and many other sides too.
♦ Judged from the Bible premises [see Leviticus 16], two goats yearly could have saved the Israelites better than Jesus did (his given mission failed).

"Infallibility . . . is not my problem"

Followers and lay devotees may not appreciate this site at all. But what can be expected of those who love to call themselves "devotees" while qualifying poorly by a certain "gangism"? To honour a guru's incorrect infallibility with one's lips without letting actions follow suit, is not straight, for one thing, but rather a side to narcissism. But that is not my problem. I have left the guru, his teachings, and the servile gangism he instituted and SRF has kept up, if not increased, far behind me, I hope. I am a former SRF member, then, one of the initiates in all the kriyas, and so on.
In SRF, total and even life-after-life commitment -also called binding - is required of members. And newcomers in SRF get drenched in Yogananda waffling, where proven facts can be rare finds. Further, those who aspire to enjoy the supposed benefits of becoming an SRF members, must be willing to subordinate personal desires to the guru's directives. Getting second thoughts and misgivings may bring on lots of "bad karma", it seems: You do not know how bad, but Yogananda speaks of miseries for life after life for SRF members who leave him. That is the long-time result, according to him - fastening the scaring reins.

You may learn kriya yoga elsewhere - there is a book on it

Do you feel a need to burn yourself somehow?

Through the documented information on this site you may find out of the lay of the land. As for yoga - kriya yoga too - this site is considered one of the best sites world-wide by some. It hardly undermines you. Mind as well that if you are eager to learn kriya yoga, it works best to keep your freedom intact. There is a course by Swami Satyananda Saraswati that presents kriya yoga in detail without that gruesome, incredible Yogananda binding. Thus, study alternatives and preserve your dear freedom, and consider that kriya yoga is a yagna, a sacrifice: Consider there are sides to yourself that could be sacrificed in SRF. It is no joke. I wish it were. Yogananda writes in his online autobiography that

Kriya yoga is the real "fire rite" often extolled in the Bhagavad Gita. . . . The yogi offers his . . . human longings to a monotheistic bonfire . . . This is indeed the true yogic fire ceremony . . . The ultimate flame receives the sacrifice . . . His bones stripped of all desirous flesh, his karmic skeleton bleached . . . he is clean at last. [Autobiography of a Yogi, ch. 26.]

With a bleached skeleton you are probably dead too. At any rate, you are told not to have sex very much, even if you are married - for example once a month. That spells "quite dead to normal sex" most of the time for many. It should also be told that certain parts of Yogananda's sex teachings on the reasons for conserving "vital fluids" are passé.

Who are demons?

Not everything is a science that is called science, and Yogananda puts his own spin on Bhagavad Gita, in part by the use of selections, and also by outright ignoring the obvious: that he is a demon, according to the Gita. For the Gita says those who say the world is not real, are demons, and Yogananda and some more SRF gurus say the world is unreal. The Gita says: "Those who are demoniac . . . Neither . . . proper behaviour nor truth is found in them. They say that this world is unreal, that there is no foundation . . . (Bhagavad Gita 16:7-8).".
Yogananda claims that the world is unreal, an illusion. Where does that take him?

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.]

There you have it. It serves to illustrate another side to split-mind teachings of Yogananda: Claim the Gita authority and overlook significant parts of it. He does the same with Bible teachings. Thus, watch out for decorum hailing in these waters. It might save you from embarrassment and being caged in. Further, it is wise not to believe blindly, but adhere to well documented facts, in that we get less fooled or less often fooled that way. Against it, the "art of dogmatism" is long.

Shankara Wisdom

The right approach does not exclude the good parts of the old yogic tradition, where rational inquiry is told of as fit and rites are not. That is what Adi Shankara tells in the prologue of his Crest-Jewel of Wisdom (Crj, v. 40-77):

Rites cannot lead to Freedom. Therefore let the wise one strive after Freedom, approaching the good, great Teacher (the Higher Self), with soul intent on the object of the teaching . . . Setting all rites aside, let the wise, learned ones who approach the study of the Self strive for Freedom . . .
Rites are to purify the thoughts, but not to gain the reality. The real is gained by Wisdom, not by a myriad of rites. . . . Knowledge is gained by discernment, by examining . . . Success demands first ripeness . . . Let the seeker after self-knowledge find the Teacher (the Higher Self), full of kindness and knowledge of the Eternal. [Crj, p. 9-10, abstracted]

Yogananda - a Hindu monk in the Shankara tradition - talks for kriya yoga as the rite, whereas Shankara talks against rites. It is good to note such things at the very start of one's quest, so as not to be taken in by foolish devotionalists at every turn. Much in a life could eventually go down the drains by that (see next page). [MORE]

About one third of the world-wide cult's monastics left it six or seven years ago

There is much valuable in yoga, and many valuable sayings by Yogananda too. However, there is also a need to expose decadent, foolish and harmful yoga and to hinder many deeply unrewarding, unproductive efforts and attitudes - the waste of years and assets a cult can bring. In short: Yogananda and most of his gurus repeatedly teach the world is unreal. But if those teachings be true, there would not be any visible gurus and Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) teachings either. SRF is world-wide.
Is it obvious that Yogananda, his teachings, and his cult are illusory? What is there to say if all is illusory?

You get many good stories along with the pinpointing

The focus in the following is: Watch out for teachings that serve to make you sheepish. The obvious thing to do is to stay completely away from Yogananda and his fellowship and remain on the safe side. The next best use of one's time could be to investigate things seriously and thereby avoid getting enrolled in a cult of followers. Some evidence has surfaced on the Internet lately, especially since the year 2001 or so, when about one third of his monastic followers left the SRF premises for several reasons.
In the section that speaks against cultish teachings and practices, you can also come across good stories, a lot of verbatim Yogananda quotations, and artistic illustrations. The hundreds of book references are correct and may be checked.
On the next page already there are nudges that could wake up followers. But if they do, they are not free to adjust their course, for they are more or less dictated by Yogananda, who set himself up on top of them. For example, there is a cult pledge that serves to binds followers, opposed to normal Human Rights, and a serious saying by him - quoted verbatim on the next page - that those who leave him are in for colossal sufferings for many future lives. That forms part of the world picture he laid on the souls and hearts of followers.

Cult evidence is not lacking on these pages

On this page you get cult evidence and a whole lot of verbatim Yogananda quotations on how good dictatorship looked to him, for example. "The average man cannot think clearly . . . He needs the master mind of a Dictator in order to think right and do right." - [Yogananda. "Interview". East-West Magazine, Vol. 6.] Frankly, many are not happy about that - either. And we may say SRF has de-emphasised that point too.
Entering a sect could be to your ruin. Those who have entered and then read such material as is gathered here, may get shocked or stunned. But they may not all recover to a normal love life and adequate communication either. Some disgruntled or disoriented ones, including former SRF monastics, have sought to discuss their plights on discussion boards, and may be overly watchful against outsiders and afraid of SRF. The discussion board called SRF Walrus gives the evidence. It was set up by one or more former SRF monastics.
These pages have kindled some Yogananda devotees. Some are helped by the SRF methods, others tell they have not been helped by them. Some ask me what to do. That is not easy to answer. Generally speaking,

LOOK TO PLANTS
In spring new plant life pushes upward through the crust - upward.
Plants remain adaptible, yet constant in their inherent designs,
pushing upwards to manifest themselves. Thus some may prosper.

So remain sincere to your inwardness. Tank up to nurture your inner sides, or Self. Listening to your own conscience, you probably have to push aside impediments to full growth as you maintain correct mindfulness - that should be fit self-assertiveness. Get more proficient too. All this could lead you to weigh and consider things carefully as you go toward the lofty Spirit.
Prevention is better than cure. Good luck to you.
Tormod Kinnes

A Notarised SRF Letter

It is clear that Yogananda's fellowship is sectarian: Below are extracts from an SRF letter to a top kriya initiate (kriya yogi), from spring 1979. It has later been notarized for authenticity and the whole text of the letter is made available in picture format beneath the extract that follows:

"You have stated that the flaws of this path are "creating depressions, frustrations and the like" in our members. In our contact with Self-Realization Fellowship students from all over the world, we have found the opposite to be true -- they feel they are greatly benefiting from our Guru's teachings in every aspect of their lives. . . .
"Although you are no longer recognizing Paramahansa Yogananda as your guru, no doubt you will understand why we, as his disciples, cannot change his words or the injunctions he gave in order to adjust them to your personal viewpoints. . . .
"You are right in your statement that we do not find fault with Paramahansa Yogananda's guidelines. Since we believe that he had attained complete union with God and therefore his wisdom is flawless, our attitude is to find fault with our understanding, whenever we are not able to fully grasp or comprehend a particular point. . . .
"The first step toward greater attunement is the humble recognition of the fact that, as imperfect human beings, we do not always "know it all'.
". . . 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. . . .
In divine friendship,
SELF-REALIZATION FELLOWSHIP,
Mother Center.

A SECTARIAN LETTER
IT IS well to be able to detect sectlike streaks. One of the best clues is "The Boss Is Always Right (and we are mice, not men)". The whole text of one such letter from SRF Headquarters is liberally shared by a top initiated kriya yogi and SRF kriyaban. Taming sectarian attitudes and conduct is shown. Two pictures present the letter: Page 1, Page 2. This is documentation.
Personal data are removed as shown by yellow fields; nothing is added. A Notarius Publicus certifies that the letter is authentic (in August 2005: Better late than never.)

Comments

The fellowship canonises their guru founder as someone with flawless wisdom and guidelines they do not find faults with. That is a common hallmark of a sect. Yogananda says many marring things, for example, he speaks for Mussolini and dictatorship in his own magazine East West. Follow this link to the source: [LINK]
The call for humility serves top-dogs in what is really a top-down structure, which is a common hallmark of a cult or sect, and also a monastic structure (definitions vary).
The Master faith in Yogananda as progress-giving is not looked on as something needing a cure in a church of unbiblically deceptive Christianity, and a disarming "be ye servile" bossing.
Against the "idyl stand" in the letter, it is best to face the facts: About one third of the SRF monastics left the monasteries around 2001. - To that: During the high tide of good feelings and shared joy in a bay (cult) one may have a nice time and enjoy a bit of shallow diving. But during ebb tide one notices that the bay (cult) does not rest on rock. There is just a nasty sand bottom. And a detrimental current for those who venture a bit out from the beach. Be warned of undercurrents.
Facade friendship does not really count.
- T. Kinnes.

Yogananda Quotations and Comments

The Americanised guru Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) set up the Self-Realization Fellowship in Boston in 1920, and in 1925 got a headquarters in Los Angeles. Some of his many-faceted teachings are quoted below.

"I was never born, I never died—" - Yogananda in East West Vol. 17, No. 1, 1945.

All the same he was eager to get his autobiography published. It happened next year (1946).

"There is no material universe; its warp and woof is . . . illusion." - Yogananda, in Autobiography of a Yogi, Ch. 30.

Accordingly you find no Yogananda (1893-1952), no Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), no yoga, no SRF kriya pledge, no SRF books, no way of living, etc. in the universe. A non-existent guru overrules himself, yourself and his teachings and overrulings completely - But till followers see it, many suffer from great confusion and worse.

"The next generation will not give us a thought." - Yogananda (1893-1952) [Ak 344]. - Ah, but it did!

"We don't really know what is right or real . . . we are often incorrect in our judgements." - Yogananda. [Ak 414]

"My sole desire is to give you the truth". - Yogananda [Cf. Ak 398].

"Silently heal yourself of the desire to criticize." - Yogananda. "Creating Your Happiness". East West, Vol. 4-12, October 1932.]

From this, the "best friends" of the guru could have another yardstick to behave on top of: Don't desire to criticise him, but do it because help is wanted and asked for.

"Our best friends are those who criticise us the most . . . who never condone our faults." - Yogananda

"Rebuke me a million times . . . scold med now!" - Yogananda [Pa 432]

How close it seems to "Nag, nag, nag!" and "Yak yak yak"! Good friends seem hard to find where the harder they criticise, the better they get -

"We do not find fault with Yogananda's guidelines. Since we believe that . . . his wisdom is flawless." - Self-Realization Fellowship, as notarised.

"Ease comes with repetition." This law should be used . . ." - Swami Yogananda, East West Vol. 18, No. 5, 1947.

"When a true guru performs an action, it is like writing on water. Then no marks remain. - Yogananda [cf. Say 14].

Many guru marks remain!

"It is good to laugh . . . employ that power". "Your smile must spread over . . . the whole universe." - Yogananda [see Ak 353, 326]

"Those that you love, give them spiritual books and spiritual gifts." - Yogananda, East West, December 1926

In a non-existing universe, spiritual books must be a different sort of cross to carry.

"Drinks and drugs are sins against the soul because they paralyze the will". - Yogananda. [Ak 423]

"Running the world is His responsibility. He is the Doer, not you or I." - Yogananda. [Say 102] "God as the sole Doer (is) the Director of the Cosmic Drama -- this life is a dream". - Yogananda [Ak 240; cf. Pa 344].

Some there are who find many dreamt guidelines infallible.

"No more blind believing." [Yogananda, Ak 456]

Yogananda worked hard to make others believe in him and do as he told . . .
No more blind believing that running the world is His responsibility alone, then.

Ways of Discourse

- and something mysterious to begin with

The essays and other information in this archive (our 4th archive) contains much material that started as postmodern discourse. By now most of the discourse is post-postmodern, or naturalistic. Terms abound, and some seem strange at first encounter. Perhaps the book Naturalistic Enquiry may serve as an introduction, perhaps an introduction is not needed at all. [Cf. Nai]

"We don't really know what is right or real ... we are often incorrect in our judgements." - Paramahansa Yogananda [Ak 414].
"We do not find fault with Paramahansa Yogananda's guidelines. Since we believe that . . . his wisdom is flawless" - Self-Realization Fellowship

On the one hand that looks postmodern, but then again, some idiots conform to crazy teachings - and it is not always easy to note a difference. Yogananda also said the world is unreal [Cf Ak 488]. But it goes on! And how true is a statement in an unreal universe? Give it a second's thought.

We delight to bring quite recent anti-cult documentation in this archive, for both common farm animals and cult members appear to have too little freedom, too little of a say, against some basic human rights (check the UN charter on them). Something needs to be done, but running rough-shod over guru victims seems to be no brilliant or welcome way. Besides, sulking and abuse seems counterproductive, and should be out of the question. That's what we think, all in all.

About Lahiri Baba: "Even such a great being and avatar can succumb to error; they are also not beyond reprimand." - Satyananda

Sage Words

There are figurative terms (metaphors and more) and allegories in this section. A figurative expression says something and refers to something else at the same time. A carefully masked term often:

Helps some harshly involved readers to maintain peace.
Amplifies the range of usefulness; the seed may fit in in lots of places.
Seems to help the good points to get a welcome and survive.
Helps youngster through the fun value or entertainment fitness of good figures of speech.

Apart from that, beware of old cattle or other farm animals completely assisting owners that profit from them, or even make a living on their backs, so to speak. [More here]

Kinnes Sayings

Treating humans like fish is hardly quite enough. Be alerted in this vein and refrain.
There is wisdom in bringing messages when prizes are in sight, or when they help us to fulfil some of our own missions in life.
The carrier pigeon is full of purpose and direction, but does it criticise the owner to be looked on as friendly?

Only those who are fallen need rebukes, largely for the reason of avoiding or eliminating mishaps.
Good friends, if criticising severely, seem to show a lack of compassion, much like deer hunters.
Each of us may be pressed to ascertain and judge this and that, in renovating our homes too.
Is the constantly nagging wife the best friend there is around?
To really scold in all the ways a guru treasures may seem better than religious crankness, but how sure are you?
Don't let your best friend's help deteriorate into a cock-fight, though.

No one should diminish his or her essential worth while trying to please for boons.
Judicious study can help many beginners.
That old and cultured liberals stand up for well-proved issues in favour of long life, should favour young ones.

Nice outfit can be good for contacts. Let it be the right contacts.
Observe how the starkly embarrassed ones smile.
Adhere to "No great triumphs without rewards". Try to get out of the humble-brambles (SRF) if you care to live adequately too.

Literature
Ak: Yogananda, Pa.: Man's Eternal Quest. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1975.
Ay: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Autobiography of a Yogi. 1st ed. New York: Philosophical Library, 1946. Online. [oaks.nvg.org/pv6bk12.html]
Crj: Shankara. The Crest-Jewel of Wisdom and other writings of Shankaracharya. Tr. Charles Johnston. Covina: Theosophical University Press, 1946.
Nai: Guba, Egon and Lincoln, Yvonne: Naturalistic Inquiry. Newbury Park: Sage Publications,1985.
On: Mata, Daya. "Only Love". Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1976.
Pa: Yogananda, Pa.: Autobiography of a Yogi. 11th ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1971
Say: Yogananda, Pa.: Sayings of Yogananda. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1958.
Si: Shastri, J. ed. Siva Purana, Vols 1-4. Delhi: Banarsidass, 1969.

   USER'S GUIDE to abbreviations, the site's large bibliography, letter codes, dictionaries, site design and navigation, tips for searching the site and page referrals. [LINK]
   DISCLAIMER: To help us out: [LINK]
   © 1998–2008, Tormod Kinnes. All rights reserved. [E-MAIL]