Yukteswar Teachings 2
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| Wants the presidency: "Ahh, that euthanasia!" |
Under the Bed
Yukteswar recounts the days before he was initiated by Shyama Charan Lahiri in Varanasi (Banaras),"Earlier in my life, even though I enjoyed hearing about wandering monks and so on, when I would hear very unusual stories about them, rascal ideas would come to my head, and however I could I would use many different methods to prove those stories false.
"I often heard of a well-known yogi from his devotees and disciples; every night he would sit still in a crosslegged pose (yogasana) in mid-air (levitating). When the devotees began to spread the word of that feat even more, one evening I silently lay down under the bed of the yogi, being extremely careful. Then the yogi entered the room, closed the door, and lay down.
"Time passed on. I remained completely quiet under the bed till I got restless. Then I lost my patience and said, "What? You didn't float up in the air?"
"The yogi hurriedly got up and said, "Oh, you are under the bed, you punk! No wonder my samadhi wasn't good tonight!"" [Retold]
Yukteswar hurried to learn to sit cross-legged in kriya yoga
WHEN YUKTESWAR was known as Priya Nath Karar, he knew a man called Goswami. Every day Goswami would lock himself away in a room. Priya got very curious over it and asked the man,"What are you doing in that room?"
"Something I learned from a yogi in Varanasi (Banaras)," said the other.
A curious thing happened. Priya became desperate to get to Varanasi, but the other refused to tell the name of the yogi who had initiated him. Despite it, Priya went by train to Varanasi as quickly as he could without knowing the name or address of the yogi. He made many enquiries. Eventually he was directed to the house of the Lahiris there. He entered the house and went to a room where a yogi was seated cross-legged and wholly silent, absorbed within and surrounded by a small circle of disciples. The scene stirred Priya.
Eventually the room was empty. Then Priya got nearer to the yogi and said, "You are my guru of many lifetimes."
Shyama Lahiri smiled kindly, face beaming with inner happiness. He told Priya to take a bath and return in silk. After that he was initiated. - [Retold]
A Thick Fog
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Yukteswar had many disciples in an area of West Bengal called Midnapore. The guru told that the people in Midnapore were country people and not highly 'shooled'. Instead they were greatly advanced spiritually and in kriya.
He liked to visit these great men and women from time to time. To get there it was necessary to use a boat across a river. During one such trip it was dusk when he and some followers boarded the boat and began to row across.
Night fell on. A thick fog began to settle over the river. Then Priya spontaneously began to slip into lost outer consciousness. The followers did not know what to do and the fog was so thick and dark. A follower recalled: What happened was spooky and eerie. Priya was lost to the world when one of the followers called out,
"Where is Midnapore?"
Then Priya spoke out from his samadhi (trance state) in a distant, strained voice:
""Midnapore - is - not - of - this - world -".
Then he sank back again.
After recounting the stories we might sit in silence for a while and contemplate on any significance.
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