Yogananda's Kriya Teachings
 4  1  7 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Supposed Kriya Problems
Enjoy!
"The Yogi who is beyond enjoyment and non-enjoyment is the true enjoyer". [Shyama Lahiri's commentary to Avadhut Gita 7:9. Gv 91] [NOTE 1]
 |
| "I thought the Supreme Swan was dignified." |
- Yogananda teaches that the kriya methods accelerate human evolution 12 times faster than what Yukteswar tells: Yogananda teaches that one million years without disease are needed for Attaining, while Yukteswar teaches it takes 12 million years for Attaining.
- Yogananda made some changes to the techniques by omitting features that Lahiri Baba says are essential, and Yogananda also simplified some parts. The basic method, kriya proper, has remained largely the same, though.
- The deal or "total kriya pack" of Yogananda looks 144 times better or faster than what his guru speaks of. There is at least one or more errors involved, since Yogananda tells that Yukteswar of "unerring spiritual insight" [Hos v] was Divine Wisdom Incarnated [Pa 499-501], a master in every way [Ak 99], one whose words obliged the cosmos [Pa, ch. 17 etc.]. But did Yukteswar's words oblige Yogananda to stick to Yukteswar's time calculations and teachings of the kriya effects? No. And in Yogananda's SRF Church they find Yogananda's wisdom flawless [MORE]. So whose tales are true? What will it be?
- Yukteswar and Yogananda preach different doctrines. And besides, Yogananda followers are expected to stick to both of these Duces (Italian for leaders) who are found to be always right, no matter what it seems - and to four more, no matter what, after swearing an oath with a disagreeable underside.
- Some of Yogananda's main teachings seem too good to be true. Are they? The right attitude, grace and what the guru calls devotion are drummed up by him to explain away that followers who did the allegedly scientific kriya yoga a million times, as "scientifically" required, still did not attain any cosmic consciousness.
Below we bring good evidence of what was summarized above. Since the talk is of delicate matters by way of yoga terms, some parts may be difficult to get at the first turn around. But many terms are succinctly explained in our on-site yoga glossary (link at the top of the page):
- It is a friend who warns [Grettis Saga].
Changed Kriya Lessons
THE KRIYA OF SRF HAS CHANGED. Sri Yukteswar teaches that one kriya round is equal to one month's normal evolution, not a year's evolution, which Yogananda writes in his famous Autobiography, chap. 26.Yogananda's guru, Yukteswar, says in his commentary to the Bhagavad Gita that one round of kriya equals one month's evolution, not "one year's":[A] half-minute of kriya equals one year of natural spiritual unfoldment . . .
One thousand kriya practised in eight hours gives the yogi, in one day, the equivalent of one thousand years of natural evolution . . . The kriya short cut, of course, can be taken only by deeply developed yogis. [Yogananda, Ay Ch 26]
This means that Yogananda in his fifties says the kriya efficacy is twelve times better that his teacher-guru Yukteswar does. But that is not all, Yogananda concluded thus even after he has allegedly simplified the kriya. "Simpler and yet vastly better" -"Practicing . . . the kriya of pranayam at one sitting, including its dawn and dusk, 12 times, meaning 14 times, accomplishes the work of one solar year. [Bhg 4:8].
It has come to the fore recently that both Yogananda and SRF changed and reduced the repertoire of kriya techniques. Sailendra B. Das Gupta spends some words on it in a book:
In his methods of initiation into Kriya also Swami Yogananda added innovations. Perceiving that the average American found it difficult to sit in lotus posture, he taught that he could sit erect on a straight-back armless chair, legs hanging, and practise Kriya; initiation was also a mass affair. Instead of direct contact between the teacher and the taught – the Guru and the novice – the whole affair was reduced to something like an indoor class. Another startling innovation was that second or the third Kriya was allowed to be practised without having to do Kechari Mudra ["tongue-lifting"]. All these innovations or rather deviation from the regular methods could not find favour with devotees and lovers of Kriya Yoga . . .So Yogananda removed some of the handed-over kriya techniques he was sent to the United States to make known, and altered others. He taught that the kriya yoga he was sent to spread among Westerners, was twelve times more effective than he had been taught himself (and probably taught initially in the States till 1934), and even shortened the time it would take to gain enlightenment to one million years naturally: "The scriptures aver that man requires a million years of normal, diseaseless evolution to perfect his human brain sufficiently to express cosmic consciousness. [Ay ch 26]. But his teacher, Yukteswar, said twelve million years: "Now, I will explain . . . how to realize the Kaivalya, or Consciousness-alone, state which in the usual course of time takes 12,000,000 years." [Bhg 4:8]. An interesting scenario, considering how long humankind seems to have been on the planet.
In his spiritual teachings Yogananda advocated performance of Yoni Mudra, which he preferred to call Jyoti Mudra, by which a devotee could experience Jyoti [Bright Light] and hear Omkar sound [Aum, also called the prime Vibration in Iv 51] after continued and prolonged efforts. Considering the hurdles involved in performing different Kriyas properly this method was found by him to be more suitable. [Ky Ch 5, section "Kriya Yoga Goes to America and the West."]
Why not pick your choice from another shelf, so to speak, and consider that both these men are hailed as gurus of flawless wisdom in SRF? We hope you see Yukteswar gives you vastly worse odds of success, and it appears that Yogananda added nothing or very little to the basic method, actually.
- Kriya getting simpler - faster - better - after some time in the U.S.A.
- Nothing true looks impossible to a willing heart.
The Stick and Hurdles
THE SAID ROUTES: During kriya practice you seek to master or direct some life energy, prana, by a particular way of breathing in and out. Thereby you may steer a charge (surge) up and down the subtle area of "your interior spine", the teaching goes. Yoga literature says there is a subtle vessel for it, and calls that vessel sushumna nadi (in Sanskrit). It may be considered as a string with flowers on.
COMPLICATIONS OR VARIATIONS OR BOTH: The inside-the-organism route for the basic kriya technique is different in different camps: Lahiri sends the inside current straight up and down along the spine, from its bottom to the nape of the head, roughly. He calls it "the stick" - that is, "the stick of energy of Brahma" and goes on to say, "The Spinal Cord punishes and protects all. It remains awake during sleep." "The Stick is . . . Kriya." "All have won through Danda [the Stick]." [Hw 100]
Yukteswar says the prana current is to traverse the sushumna, after having discussed these matters with Lahiri Mahasaya and got his permission to publish it: "Having shown every section to him, I received His direct blessing and also his approval," he writes in the preface to his Bhagavad Gita Commentary. [Bhg Preface]. Thus, Shyama Lahiri and Yukteswar did not teach differently in this:
Yukteswar also writes: "The sushumna is the path of the orbit of the jiva-consciousness sun and the lotuses are the points of the zodiac [Bhg 4:8]."
Practicing . . . the kriya of pranayam at one sitting, including its dawn and dusk, 12 times, meaning 14 times, accomplishes the work of one solar year . . .
With its dawn and dusk, doing this Kriya 37 times, meaning 39 times [at one sitting] accomplishes the work of three solar years . . . [Bhg 4:8, emphasis added]
Also see: [Practising] Guru-instructed Kriya . . . she experiences through the flow of Consciousness in the spine the revelation of the six lotus-chakras located there." [Bhg, Commentary on ch 1, v 1]
Yogananda's kriya-current route mimics rotation around the sun, but his sun is the ajna chakra, not the crown chakra (sahasrara) that Yukteswar speaks of. Thus Yogananda's kriya explanations differ somewhat from what his guru and Shyama Lahiri taught, as evidenced. His gurus say the current goes up and down in the central "backbones", the sushumna nadi, not around anything in that vessel for subtle prana charges.
Yogananda writes in his autobiography:
Yogananda has changed the "sahasrara sun" of Yukteswar to the spiritual eye, also called the third eye or ajna chakra in the forehead between the eyebrows - the eyebrow–medulla axis. This means Yogananda in his exposition (exegesis) has replaced the crown chakra (sahasrara) with the ajna chakra and disregarded the words of his guru.
The astral system of a human being, with six (twelve by polarity) inner constellations revolving around the sun of the omniscient spiritual eye, is interrelated with the physical sun and the twelve zodiacal signs. All men are thus affected by an inner and an outer universe . . .
In three years, a kriya yogi can thus accomplish by intelligent self-effort the same result which nature brings to pass in a million years. [Ay Ch 26, emphasis added]
- Why should we believe in correspondences that have gone substantially unverified for a million years?
Astrology Revealed
THE FAITH SOME SHARE: In the Yogananda quotation above he refers to the foundational kriya yoga technique of gentle, almost inaudible and carefully calculated "gasping" and so on. Its key elements have remained about the same for a century or so, at least. One may suspect that his later estimates of its twelve times increased efficacy is due to humbug, or maybe his "all-knowing" guru Yukteswar and himself had got it wrong earlier? If so, that bodes not well either."The entire universe is in the body [Bi 31]," says Shyama Lahiri, the guru of Yukteswar. He also says that "the whole universe is the ultimate Self [Bi 136]." If you look around, it is easy not to grasp these two main ideas, which refer to subtle experiences of yogis who learn to puncture a tiny star inside a golden ring that can be seen between the eyebrows as a result of prolonged kriya practice, or better: "When that star bursts, a door reveals . . . the door of the heart [Ut 57]." From there it should be Self-like and a lot easier [cf Gv 32].
By the term "the spiritual eye" which Yogananda and his followers use, they refer to ajna chakra between the eyebrows as a reflection of the medulla oblongata by polarity. Now in his Gita Commentary Yukteswar tells there is a nadi [subtle energy vessel] between the forehead vortex and medulla oblongata, and that nadi [gate] explains perhaps why the spiritual eye is told of as "medullic" and in area between the eyebrows - both explanations are circulated. Yukteswar writes:
The claimed astrology-attuned link between chakras and constellations is not verified in any of the sciences. Also, the twelve inner constellations mentioned by Yogananda also leave out the thirteenth constellation, the Serpent-Holder, Ophiuchus. It lies between Scorpio and Sagittarius, and the sun takes 19 days to pass through it between Nov 29 and Dec 18, roughly. It is nowhere mentioned by Yogananda and Yukteswar, so their "inner constellations" correspondence is not true to life (as we know it), for:
The 12 astrological signs of the zodiac are each of 30 degrees, and these signs no longer correspond to the astronomical constellations in which the sun actually appears. The constellations are irregular in size and shape. The sun yearly passes through the constellation Ophiuchus too. [Source_ Ebu "zodiac"]The Serpent-Holder, Ophiochus, is one of the thirteen constellations of the zodiac, but does not seem to have got any talked-of, corresponding chakra in the teachings of the SRF gurus, even though they teach that chakras correspond to constellations. Hm and hm again.
At the back of the Britannica information given above another problem comes to the fore: The signs are slowly changing as the stars are drifting away from one another in space. But the human form has remained the same for tens of thousands of years, when the constellation forms have changed very much. This makes the Lahiri teaching that the body contains the universe, and is a sign of the universe, much more entertaining. How is the rather once-and-for-all- set organism's drift of correspondence these days? The universe has gone on expanding for a long time. How does a human body and mind reflect drifting and slowly changing star images of irregular shapes, and without even considering the Serpent-Holder constellation?
An older faith of correspondences or signs (tokens, marks, displays, etc) is found in Lahiri Mahasaya's commentaries. He says, "The physical body is the sign (Linga) of the world [Hw 145]." He also teaches that when the prana arrives at the chakra of the brain (sahasrara, the thousand-petalled lotus) "it thereafter takes the shape of Mithun (Gemini) to be attuned in Oneness." Then he lists up various astrological tokens. "When one practices Kriya, one is Aswina [Libra] . . . When one eats like a monster, one is Kartika [Scorpio]." and "Increasing kriya practice . . . If thereafter, one eats like a monster, this is . . . Magha [Aquarius]."
You may wonder what a monster is in this teaching. "A Monster is one who makes his attention outward [through senses] although he is not supposed to do so [Gv 55]." An awful lack of sleep creates a monster, then - at least it brings "monster-like" insanity within reach, just as sleep research has documented very well. Nightly sleep is valuable. [Sue]
Shyama Lahiri teaches that "The body is the Omkar Form and the ultimate Self is spread over the six centers." [Hw 137] His commentator Satyseswarananda considers that "The physical body is the condensed form of the entire universe." [Hw 40]. That statement leaves room for reflections: "If you by accident lose your tongue, hand, or feet, will the entire universe lose vast amounts of galaxies? But if another person is near and that one did not lose any members, will there be two universes, one for the cripple and another for the other person? Will there ultimately be one universe for each human being, reincarnated too, to accommodate for all these differences of genetic imprints, fingerprints, and other features?" How difficult, nay, impossible that teaching seems . . .
It becomes even more difficult to handle if we consider some animal shapes, as those of baboons. It boils down to this: The same universe talks differently in different species and in different persons too.
Yogananda's followers their constellations attunements are not without implications among followers. At times snub followers seem badly indoctrinated, without any grasp on Ophiuchus and any "Ophiuchus chakra" (by polarity that would be two phantom chakras, according to Yogananda's calculations above).
- Perhaps old commentaries of the ancients do not attain to a verified picture of this and that.
The Time it Takes
REFLECTING ON NUMBERS. Moreover, to divide the time it takes to attain cosmic consciousness by kriya into year groups of 3, 6, 12, 24, and 48 years, which Yogananda does, seems arbitrary and little rewarding. Shyama Lahiri uses other figures where he says "Brahmanas, Khatriyas and Vaisyas will attain divine Knowledge in eight, eleven and twelve years, respectively." [Hw 42]. By these words he refers to the three upper castes. They are: priestly or educated ones; organisers or managerial people; and traders. But he also says somewhere else that the caste is something imagined, in his commentary to the Niralamba Upanishad, v. 8 [Ut 73]. For all that, his disciple Yukteswar says "A Sudra [member of the fourth caste of Hindus] does not the have the ability to utter the Pranava [say OM], and if the Divine Sound is not uttered, it is forbidden to recite the Vedas . . . How benevolent it was to prohibit the restless-minded, Pranava-less Sudras from touching the Vedas." [Bhg Introduction] Others may think otherwise, for example, "Some are wise and others are otherwise."It is hard to see how the "3 multiplied by 2" scale is more to the point than for example the 2-scale: it looks like mere talk. In contrast to it, lend ear to something Maharishi once said: When an apple falls from the branch, it eventually reaches the ground. May we add, unless it stands on the brink of a river or something? Then the fruit would fall into water . . . An apple that falls down from high up in the tree will need more time to fall down, and so on.
Yukteswar writes, "Even progressing in Kriya slowly can bring the attainment of Kaivalya or Brahman in 36 years, or 39 years if some occasions or events of householder life hinder progress [Bhg 4:8]"
To sum up a bit: How fast a method works is pretty much an individual matter, with additional modifications relating to how methodical and well the practice is done, how much strength the person has, and how depleting his fare or environment is, and so on. It looks a bit awkward to insert many and different spans and apply them onto what time it takes. Maybe it is not useful at all - and also in the light of Krishna's saying that hardly anyone who seeks him, finds him.
Now, in his kriya promotion "business" Yogananda claims his kriya is the same as the one Krishna allegedly taught his bowman Arjuna on the battlefield - But what if only one out of a million who are taught kriya yoga, gets lucky and really attains? What poor odds Krishna gives. With Ramakrishna the odds are five to ten times better: "One or two in a hundred thousand get liberation [Rap 614]."Out of many thousands among men, one may strive for perfection, and of those who have won perfection, hardly one knows me in truth [or in essence]. [Bhagavad Gita 7:3].
You can improve the odds by learning the best methods available, study the effects carefully, and go for meticulous and accurate practice. It should not be overlooked. Shyama Lahiri says, "Instead of doing 5 hours of pranayam [kriya], if you could do just 2 correctly, try to do that [Gle, ltr 81]." So how you do your techniques counts too. Ascertain again and again that you do them with ease and without strain. "What comes easily and without strain, that you should do . . . Do only as much as you can without strain," writes Shyama Lahiri to a disciple. Good quality is something to go for [Gle, ltr 20, 27, passim; cf ltrs 64, 69, 100]."
Also take into account that there are no fit clues in the Bhagavad Gita for holding that the kriya yoga of Babaji, Shyama Lahiri, Yukteswar, and Yogananda is talked of by Krishna there: Shyama Lahiri interpreted Gita stanzas in the light of kriya, and Yukteswar did likewise, with Shyama Lahiri's approval. Yogananda too followed up, and copied much of his material from the Gita commentaries of Shyama Lahiri and Yukteswar. He was in their line of yoga.
Now Yukteswar states in the preface of his Gita Commentary: "Gita is capable of endless, infinite and different meanings and interpretations (even different interpretations in the light of Kriya Yoga!) . . . To the lover of the Tantra Shastra, the Kriya was presented as a vast science of nadis and chakras and such. [Bhg, Preface]." By the way, Grrr may be the appropriate response to being made a fool of by inappropriate, immodest guru claims "in east and west", that is, left, right, and centre, all round. It should pay to take care. "I tell everyone to be careful . . . cow's urine and cow dung . . . should be used . . . Kriya must be done according to the rules [Gle, ltr 47, 87]."
You may wonder how to use cow's dung and urine. They are used for cleansing. The Siva Purana spells out rules for how the gathering of devotees are to go ahead for listening to it. The ground of some excellent spot is to be scrubbed, cleaned and smeared with cowdung for the exquisite occasion [Si, Vol 1, p 25]. It is also well to know that as conditions change, the instructions may be changed to cope with them, as in "When cold weather come, increase kriya continuously [Gle, ltr 64]."
- How can you go for no-gains and still do kriya yoga to attain that goal or the Great Goal of Yoga? Do not get confused: It is fit to go for proper gains, and Shyama Lahiri shows it too. He deals with instructions in yoga for the sake of promoting great gains. But the daily practice is to be detached enough to be done with accuracy, ease, and free from strain. There are many tips right there.
- Among men, some without desires to attain may attain anyway, says Lahiri Baba repeatedly.
- But those who ardently do Yogananda's kriya without chanting mantras mentally into the hidden chakras of the subtle spine during the practice, cannot have OK long-range results, he repeatedly tells. SRF and Yogananda have dispensed with the Shyama Lahiri advocated chakra-chanting. [Gle, ltr 79, 77, 96].
- Well, would you know?
Scientifically Had Modifications?
YOGANANDA'S FIRST CLAIM IS THAT KRIYA IS PURELY SCIENTIFIC. An added reason for mentioning these things is the long held guru hoax that his kriya was purely scientific, and its results too. In an Inner Culture article from 1937 he writes in his magazine:"Sure, scientific, and for all" stand out, and unreservedly, both in this citation and in other places of Yogananda's early writings. But when others came to him and said they had done it a million times and still had no cosmic consciousness, he added things like, "But your attitude was not right". Or "Devotion is necessary too, and grace from God and guru," and so on. He has thus confirmed that for the sake of great-sounding marketing some yogis do a lot that gives rise to great suspicions and forebodings after some time.
Sh[y]ama Charan Lahiri Mahasaya, by his exemplary life . . . gave the step-by-step methods of Self-Realization (the Ladder of Self-Realization) which enable all to climb to the high abode of complete freedom.
MODIFICATIONS WERE HAD. Parts of what SRF teaches after Yogananda's demise have been changed, and who can tell all is for the worse? Also, the former SRF vice president Kriyananda reports of the changes of how to do it that Yogananda dictated in 1948, about four years before his passing:
Someone tells that the changes made by Yogananda are described in the book Kriya - Finding the True Path at www.sanskritclassics.com.Master [Yogananda] reviewed also the lessons on Kriya Yoga, and made certain changes in the way he had taught them previously. "This doesn't alter the technique itself," he explained, "but it will make it easier to understand." [Tp, Ch 20].
- Scientific procedures and presentations are hardly handled properly by the charlatan.
Chanting OM
 |
| "Exemplary" surely changed in the hands of Yogananda. |
During Kriya practice mentally chant OM . . . Without chanting OM, Kriya practice does not generate upward Realization. [Hw 48]Many do not practice mantra japa chakra by chakra. When this does not happen, it results in "tamasic" Kriya (Kriya with negative qualities), and the fruit of this is also "tamasic". Therefore, during pranayam, one must keep attention on the six chakras in the spine and practice japa in each of them [Gle, ltr 79].
- In the Chandi [a part of the Markandeya Purana], the Goddess Ambhika uses Om for burning an enemy to death on the spot. [Iv 20]
The Sound of the Kriya Sea
Yogananda and SRF has dispensed with OM-chanting and OM-listening during the foundational kriya-"panting". Rather, OM-focusing in SRF is a method of its own. It is much like a Tibetan method where the practitioner gently "plugs" the years by some fingers and then listen attentively - helped by method - to any inner sounds that appear, and does this as regulated in the teachings. Yukteswar describes the sounds one may hear in a book that is made public, and, besides, the sounds are public knowledge from other sources too, including Teach Yourself Yoga [Lsy], a fine self-help book by James Hewitt:Shyama Lahiri also tells of inner, subtle sounds and chakras in his commentaries to different works. [See eg Hw 155; 115] Try to be focused rather than strained (concentrated) during such listening for Om - the whole medley, that is. The chakras (padmas, lotuses, wheels of energy) are like buds and flowers inside the spine area, and likened to flowers on a string (sushumna). Various sounds and qualities are associated with them too, in much yoga literature.
By diving deeper into the buzzing sound like that of black-bees the Yoga performer gets elevated into the next Chakra, the Svadhishthan [of sexual organs]. . . the sound becomes clearer and finer appearing like a note from the flute . . . It [helps] clear concentration associated with comprehension.
By concentrating on this sound of the flute [it "changes"] into the enchanting sound of the lute [Vina]. . . . one becomes filled with immense joy . . . This is the sign of achieving Manipur [navel] Chakra . . .
With still deeper concentration the sound of the lute changes into one like the prolonged unbroken stream of sound of the gong . . . which is called Anahata Nad [of] the Anahata [heart] Chakra in the Shushumna ["string"]. . .
The deepest and true concentration is achieved when the "all conquering" sound of thunder or the sound of roar of the sea manifests. This is the sign of reaching the Vishuddha [throat] Chakra . . . in the region of the Shushumna opposite the throat . . .
The above five strains of sound next mingling together become audible as a cluster and has been called the Panchajanya [pancha means five], the conch of Rishikesha, the "lord of the senses". [Ky Ch 2, "Mahabharata Imageries"]
Focused Om-chanting and Om-listening during kriya-panting was abandoned in SRF, even if Shyama Lahiri said that it is essential. Well, it can be a strain to do it for beginners, and kechari (lifting of the tongue in the ancient, regulated ways) appears to be downplayed in SRF for the same reason: convenience. In SRF it is hardly done in the yogi manner, but in some downplayed way at best. Also, that the tongue is to be lifted and held up toward the anterior roof of the mouth (palate or uvula) before it is "put into the head" further back, form stages of kechari mudra, which is part of the original basic kriya of Lahiri and was moved to the second (and secondary) kriya in SRF. Besides, the original second kriya was reputed to have contained mantras, words of power, which are not taught by SRF.
Shyama Charan Lahiri taught more kriyas than the four kriyas SRF have at their disposal. He also found that "Not even one of a thousand [in the "scripture business"] can be civilized [Hw 114]." See our reservation battery.
- The Master said: The man of knowledge finds pleasure in the Sea. [Confucius, Soc 59]
How many Kriyas to Do?
Shyama Lahiri writes in one of his letters:
Many who receive higher Kriya think that they no longer have to do much Pranayam [the first kriya technique in SRF is pranayama]. This causes most of the problems for the higher Kriyavans. You should do six hundred Pranayam and fifty/sixty Mahamudra; do Navikriya and the Fourth and the Fifth. [Gle ltr 53]
The SRF stand is different. Western kriya doers are seldom permitted to do more than 108 kriyas at a time, twice daily.
Did something go wrong?
- The magpie is a fine bird; that "Silence means consent" is far from the truth among all humans either. [cf Op 245]
Fit for Marriage, and Wanting to Learn Kriya
Shyama Lahiri was a householder. After some initial reluctance to leave the company of Babaji who had awakened him and taught him kriya, Shyama Lahiri got back to his wife. He decreed it was all right to be married, and also had children after he was enlightened. But he did not accept that she nagged him. He cautioned against the hardships of monks, and was reluctant to give his permission when a disciple wanted to become one.
A biographer tells he "would normally ask his disciples to marry at the proper age and adopt the house-hold life, as, for most people, a virtuous married life leads gradually to non-attachment." [Ysl, ch 4]
Even though he was ready to make exceptions for those with an overwhelming desire for a renunciate life, he wrote,
"I do not see anything wrong with marrying; on the contrary, I feel that it is a good thing. If one desires, marrying is the proper thing to do. Not doing so can bring about aberrant behavior." [Ysl, ch 4; Gle, ltr 7, abstract]
With the monk Yogananda the stance was different. In Sayings of Yogananda there is a section that runs quite like the following:
A follower told him, "I have always desired to seek God, but I want to get married."
"A young person who prefers to have a family first, thinking he will seek God afterward, may be making a grave error," Yogananda replied. "Modern man has little control over his senses and desires. He is quickly influenced by his environment. In the natural course of events he becomes overburdened and usually forgets to say even a tiny prayer." [Retold and abridged, from Say 52]
Another follower asked him, "Don't you believe in marriage? You often talk as though you are against it."
Yogananda replied, "Marriage is unnecessary and hampering for renunciants who are intensely seeking the long-lasting Lover.
But in ordinary cases I am not against marriage that is founded on unconditional friendship ['mutual' may be well enough, and 'unconditional' is such a next to impossible word]. Unstable persons get influenced by fleeting sex attraction or worldly considerations. First establish yourself irrevocably on the path; then if you marry you won't make a mistake," he said. [Retold from Say 21]
Yogananda also teaches:
- "You don't know what fate may await you in marriage. The tragic stories that come to my ears are unimaginable! . . . People should be taught in youth how to control their emotions . . . Until one is emotionally stable, he is not fit to have a family." [Yogananda, Ak 460]
- "In married life there is the compulsion of sex." [Yogananda, Ak 159]
- "It is detrimental to your mental and physical well-being if you concentrate on sex apart from the expression of marital love or the procreative purpose of married life. One should not dwell on sex thoughts or act promiscuously on sex thoughts." [Yogananda, Ak 315]
Literature
Ak: Yogananda, Pa.: Man's Eternal Quest. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1975.
Ap: Mieder, Wolfgang (main editor), Stewart A. Kingsbury, and Kelsie E. Harder: A Dictionary of American Proverbs. (Paperback) New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Ay: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Autobiography of a Yogi. 1st ed. New York: Philosophical Library, 1946. Online. [oaks.nvg.org/pv6bk12.html]
Bhg: Sriyukteshvar, Swami. Srimad Bhagavad Gita: Spiritual Commentary. Portland, Mn: Yoganiketan, 2002. On-line at www.yoganiketan.net
Bi: Satyeswarananda, swami, tr. Complete Works of Lahiri Mahasay Vol. II: The Bhagavad Gita Interpretations of Lahiri Mahasay. San Diego: The Sanskrit Classics, 1991.
Bpe: Allport, Gordon. Becoming: Basic Considerations for a Psychology of Personality. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955. Repr, 1966.
Ebu: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD. London: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2006.
Gle: Lahiri, Shyama Charan. Garland of Letter. Coll Ananda Mohan Lahiri. Portland, Mn: Yoganiketan, 2004. On-line at www.yoganiketan.net
Gv: Satyeswarananda, swami, tr. Complete Works of Lahiri Mahasay Vol. I: The Gitas: The Vedic Bibles. Guru Gita. Omkar Gita. Abadhuta Gita. Kabir Gita. 2nd rev. ed. San Diego: The Sanskrit Classics, 1992.
Hw: Satyeswarananda, swami, tr. The Commentaries' Series Vol. III: Hidden Wisdom. With Lahiri Mahasay's Commentaries. 2nd rev. ed. San Diego: The Sanskrit Classics, 1986.
Iv: Satyeswarananda, swami, tr. Inner Victory: With Lahiri Mahasay's Commentaries. San Diego: The Sanskrit Classics, 1987.
Ky: Dasgupta, Sailendra B. Kriya Yoga. Battle Creek, Mich: Yoganiketan, 2006. On-line at www.yoganiketan.net. Formerly: Kriya Yoga and Sri Yukteshvar. Portland, Me: Yoganiketan, 1998. On-line: [http://yoganiketan.net/kriyayoga/index.htm].
Lsy: Hewitt, James. Lær selv yoga. København: Hassing, 1966. (Teach yourself yoga. London: The English Universities Press, 1960).
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.
Soc: Giles, Lionel, ed. The Sayings of Confucius: A Translation of the Confucian Analects. Twickenham: Tiger Books, 1998.
Sue: Luce, Gay, og Julius Segal. Søvn. (Sleep) Oslo: Gyldendal, 1968.
Tp: Walters, James Donald. The Path: Autobiography of a Western Yogi. Nevada City: Crystal Clarity, 1977.
Ut: Satyeswarananda, swami, tr. Complete Works of Lahiri Mahasay Vol. III: The Upanisads: The Vedic Bibles. San Diego: The Sanskrit Classics, 1992.
Ys: Satyanananda, Swami. Yogiraj Shyama Charan Lahiri Mahasaya. A Biography. Tr Amitava Chaterjee. Portland, Mn: Sevayatan and Yoganiketan, 2001. Earlier on-line: [http://yoganiketan.net/satyogiraj/index.htm], now: www.yoganiketan.net
Ysl: Chatterjee, Jogesh Chandra. Yogiraj Shri Shri Lahiri Mahashaya. Kadamtala, Howrah: Shrigurudham (Ghosh), 1964. On-line read-only text at Yoganiketan, Portland, Mn: [www.yoganiketan.net]. Earlier there: [http://kalama.com/~stebro/Kriya_Library/Yogiraj/title.htm]
NOTE 1: The Avadhut Gita verse is "V stands for the rooting out of all desires after pleasure, subtle or material, and for life in the present as all-sufficient, the present being eternity."
 |
 |
 |
 |
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]
© 2002–2007, Tormod Kinnes. All rights reserved. [E-MAIL]