MyLifeYoga

As Swami Yogananda sat in meditation at the Mr. Washington headquarters he heard his guru’s voice in his inner ear, “Return to India. I have waited patiently for fifteen years. Soon I shall swim out of the body and on to the Shining Abode. Yogananda come!”

Treating his master’s wish as his command, Swami Yogananda made immediate arrangements for his departure to India and soon set sail to India via Europe. The year was 1935 and accompanying him were Richard Wright (The brother of Daya Mata, the future president of Self Realization Fellowship) and an elderly lady Miss Ettie Bletsch.

The group arrived in London and soon departed for Germany to meet the Catholic mystic Therese Neumann of Konnersreuth. After some difficulty the group was able to locate her and as soon as Swami Yogananda met Therese they found an immediate connection. At the age of 20 she was paralyzed and blinded by a series of accidents. She then regained her sight and mobility miraculously by praying to St. Therese of Lisiuex, also known as “little flower”.

From 1923 onwards Therese did not eat anything. The only thing she had daily was one paper-thin coin-sized consecrated host. Swami Yogananda immediately understood that she got her energy from the sun via subtle channels. He mentions this in his Autobiography and also mentions that Therese was delighted to meet somebody who finally understood from where she got her energy. Later in his trip Swami Yogananda also met, in India, an elderly lady named Giri Bala. Just like Therese she had completely forgone food, proving that the case of Therese of Konnersreuth was not an isolated one. Continue reading →

The big moment was here. This was the moment he had been preparing for all his life. A few months ago he had received an invitation to speak at the International Congress of Religious Liberals in Boston. His Guru had blessed his journey from India to US, and his father had agreed to finance it. The First World War had just ended and with this the shipping lane between India and the US was about to be reopened. In spite of the excitement of undertaking this journey to the US, Swami Yogananda, had some grave doubts. He had never lectured in English before and he was not sure how he would be received. He knew nobody in the US and he was just 27 years old.

Swami Yogananda decided to sit and meditate and hoped to get God’s blessings and assurances on the wisdom of undertaking this journey to the West. As hours passed in meditation, Swami Yogananda got no word from God. No indication that he was on the right track. As his desperation grew he began to meditate so deeply that he felt his head was about to split. Still there was no Divine Signal on the merit or demerit of undertaking this journey. Finally he heard a knock on his door. When he opened the door he was wonderstruck to see the great Yogi Babaji standing in front of him. “Our Heavenly Father has heard your prayer. He commands me to tell you: Follow the directions of your guru and go to America. Fear not; you will be protected.” Soon Swami Yogananda found himself on the City Of Sparta, the first passenger ship to go to America from India after the end of the First World War.

During the two-month voyage to America, fellow passengers soon learnt about Swami Yogananda and invited him to speak. However Swami Yogananda was so nervous about giving a lecture in English that in spite of several attempts he could not organize his thoughts or prepare a speech. Finally abandoning all efforts to be ready with a prepared speech he decided to speak extempore and showed up in front of his audience. Unfortunately he remained dumbstruck and no words came to his lips. For ten agonizing minutes he stood silent in front of his audience till finally some people in the audience began to laugh. Swami Yogananda began to pray to his Guru for help and he heard two words in his head in the voice of his Guru: “You Can!” This was enough to spur him on and he began speaking. He has no recollection of what he said that day but he spoke without stopping for 45 minutes and his speech was so inspiring that many in the audience invited him to speak at various locations in the US. Never again he would be nervous about speaking in front of an audience in English. Continue reading →