Yogananda

Although it was a very long read, I highly enjoyed the book, Autobiography of a Yogi. It is actually, I must admit, one of the few books I have read that has given me such stimulating and thought-provoking information and concepts. I loved it. Half of the time while I was reading (or trying to) I was busy sitting there in contemplation on what new chapter/paragraph I had just read. Unfortunately, because I would contemplate and try and parse every other paragraph, it only took me that much longer to get through the book.

Usually I am a very open-minded person. Throughout my years in college I have learned to never be quick to assume or judge; never be quick to immediately cross out a new idea or concept. But in all honesty, this book was so hard for me to accept/ believe. This “acceptance” and “understanding” of some topics/stories in this book were so radical, that it was impossible for me to consider and accept them as real occurrences. These new philosophies and concepts were so absurd to me, that often times I would get frustrated and mad. It felt like right and left my concept of life was being challenged. Each new chapter brought on new thoughts and new questions about my life and the narrator’s life. And it was so frustrating not to be able to immediately understand what I was reading…

There were many aspects of the book that I loved. I loved the way the author described certain parts of his life in full detail. While he was narrating small stories of his life, he made it incredibly easy to imagine the beautiful houses and gardens of India. It was so easy to paint the images of the many people in Yogananda’s life, especially his gurus and teachers, and the schools/houses in which they resided in.

I must admit, one of my favorite parts/aspects of this book was when the narrator, Yogananda, challenged philosophy. While he was beginning to seek the life of a Yogi, there were many times that he would simply question this new practice of mediation and yoga. He would explain his confused thought processes in response to something new in the philosophy he had just learned. He would show his concern and lack of understanding of the new life. It is also really funny the way the narrator explains his thoughts. Sometimes he has very elaborate phrases that I would have never been able to come up with even IF I had a dictionary in my hand. But other times he makes remarks that proves that he is still a child and simple minded. Being the person I am, I have to say it was actually relieving to read about his struggles with understanding the power of “life” and God. I felt very confused throughout the book, trying to understand what the heck was going on. And it seemed that many of his thoughts were actually mine. How could these things physically happen in real life? Why would life have to be this way than that way? Why would we want to think and live in a manner such as this? But what does it all mean in the end?

Although it was a very long book, the story of the narrator’s life was described rather fast. And to me, there was just no way while reading I could understand all of this new information so quickly! So when the narrator halted his story to explain an instance where he would have been confused with something, it was nice to catch a mental break and see that my intellectual struggles were his struggles too.

There was this very humorous part early on in the book that I read about a brief struggle of Yogananda. He was still an adolescent in his young years of life and was barely beginning on his journey to becoming a Yogi. Throughout some months he was learning about different saints and Yogis. Each saint/Yogi he spoke of each had different ways of devoting themselves to God, and when Yogananda would meet these holy people, they would show him some talents that they had received from God in return for their devotion. These gifts (or talents) are varied in many ways. One such saint the narrator spoke of was the “Perfume Saint”. This saint, in his devotion to God, has the ability to materialize different perfumes through the power of God. As young Yogananda goes to meet the saint, he notices the household the saint owns has numerous devotees and disciples surrounding him. They sit on the ground in meditation, awe, prayer, and silence; all while facing the saint. As Yogananda approaches the saint, the saint addresses him:

-“Son, would you like a perfume?”

-The narrator clearly just as confused as I am with the concept of materializing scents replies, “What for?”

-The saint, “To experience the miraculous way of enjoying perfumes of course.”

-Disgusted and thrown aback, “Harnessing God to make odors???”

-The saint not bothered by his response, “What of it? God makes perfumes anyways…”

-Very hesitant and speculative, “Can you materialize flowers?”

-“Yes, but I usually produce perfume fragrances.”

-Troubled and startled the narrator protests, “But you will put the perfume factories out of business!”

-The saint, slightly annoyed by his ignorance, “I will permit them to continue their production, but the whole purpose is to demonstrate the power of God.”

-Yogananda, now annoyed by the confusing concept of it all, “Sir….is it always necessary to demonstrate the power of God. Isn’t he performing miracles in everything and everywhere??”

-The saint now amused and calm, “Yes, but we too should manifest some of his infinite creative variety”

I thought this simple dialogue between the perfume saint and Yogananda was extremely humorous. The manner in which he questions the philosophy is just like a child’s, and definitely just like me! Lol. Just like a five year old saying, “But sir….do we have too?? We already know God can perform miracles…” to me it showed how much more the narrator needs to grow in order to understand what this whole yogic life is about. In this same story, it was also very funny the young Yogi trying to “trick” the all-knowing saint. He purposely grabbed an odorless flower to have the saint create an odor of jasmine from it. Of course the saint is instantly able to produce the smell, but it’s funny to see the narrator’s defiance. Just like me, I would have questioned the saint’s abilities versus just accepting that specific power of God. I often look back at my reactions and humor and wonder if this is how people felt about Jesus and his miracles he performed…

 Over the course of the book strange miracles are performed by various gurus. And a lot of the times, I wonder how these miracles come about. In the bible God gave Jesus the ability to perform miracles for many people, but this was because Jesus was God himself, but in flesh….I begin to wonder about the purpose of the saints and gurus. With this thought, only more questions come into mind. Why do there have to be so many saints that are able to harness these powers of god? Is it really right for them to possess such power? And in the narrator’s defense, should that power be wasted on something so miniscule like producing perfumes rather than healing people? Also, how do these sages or saints have “disciples”? It seems like these people are following the saints themselves, not the “god” that they are supposed to believe in… And who is this divine mother they speak of all the time? Why does the narrator worship and bow and kiss the sage’s feet?--This goes against my Christian belief. We shouldn’t worship the sages themselves, but rather the God that they are one with. Sometimes it seems that they are completely confused as to who God is and how they should properly worship him. I grew up in a Baptist household and to me, it is so obvious that we, as Christians, are to worship God and not the pastor or the people in the church…and reading of these gurus with magical powers only confuse me and my understanding of one’s “devotion” to God. Why does the narrator need the help of a guru to show god to him? Why can’t the narrator seek god for himself? Why does he seek this guru and pledge his life to him, the guru, rather than god himself?

And all of this actually brings up another confusion that I have… When the narrator is telling stories of his encounters with these yogis he often notes that they are talking about a “god”, such as the part where the yogi heals a blind mind “through God’s power [that never ceases]”. It is only natural for me, as a Christian, to automatically think of the God he is describing as the Christian deity, but as Dr. Schultz remarked in class one day, Hinduism has many gods. And their god, is not specially “our” god. Although I may be acting simple-minded in this, it’s hard for me to accept the fact that this “god” is not the same as my deity. It’s interesting to have this concept “pushed” on me. And interesting to see how another culture interacts with their chosen deities. Granted, I respect it immensely, but I cannot tell you how convicted I was to read about these saints with (what is to me) “useless” powers (when compared to life itself) and other gods that give these gurus the ability to read minds, appear in two places at once, levitate off of the floor when reaching a state of holy bliss, etc. Which “god” are they referring to? And if its “my” God, then why don’t I hear of people having these abilities now, in today’s time?

This is only a small glimpse of my thoughts while reading the book. Every other second I found myself scribbling more notes and questions on whatever was nearest that I could write on. Even my bathroom mirror is full of questions and writing. At the end of the book, I still naturally have questions. But with these questions aside, I did actually learn a lot about some of the philosophy of yoga. To say that I now understand it all would be a lie; I don’t think I could ever understand it within this century if I tried to, lol.

Above anything else, one must learn to embrace the fact that above anything else, God is number one. God will ALWAYS provide in every way, but first, complete surrender to him must be given. We must be able to understand that God is, in fact, simple, and everything else is complex. And we must learn to not seek the absolute values in the relative world of nature. Man must learn to free himself of all intentions. We must learn to clear our minds from the centuries of slime that we have grown accustomed to.

Sadly through this book, there was a major disappointment. The author did an excellent job of narrating his life and journey into becoming a yogi, but in the process failed to explain how the practice of yoga helped him get there—a detail that I was highly looking forward to. There was one chapter in which the author discusses the practice of Kriya yoga. (Chapter 26 I believe?) From what I gathered, I can say this about the purpose of yoga. The mind is a slave to bodily dictation, and one goal of tradition Kriya yoga was to tame the beast (that of which is the mind) from worldly rituals; the mind needs to be tamed so that it may humbly join the spiritual journey to true enlightenment. This practice of yoga forms a union between mind and body through action. The movement allows the human blood to be stimulated with extra oxygen; this oxygen creates a life current energy or a life force known as “prana”. The narrator states the importance of mental control. A way of mental control and absolute devotion is understanding the practice and meditation of the word “ohm”. It is an extremely sacred word that can convey any number of gratitude and devotion to god. It also serves as a symbol of spiritual encouragement. Another important concept of yoga is breath mastery, or pranayama. This mastery provides the mind with a stillness and cosmic consciousness. Calming the breath can help the life force to be freed for higher activities. Through the practice of Kriya yoga, the mind and body is transformed day by day through cosmic energies. In addition to prolonging one’s life and mental health, it helps untangle the mind from all of its entangled senses.

Other than this small chapter, not much more was mentioned about yoga. And although I was hoping to understand yoga the practice of yoga a little better through this book, I am satisfied that I have achieved a greater understanding of the other concept of yoga philosophy.

As I mentioned before, this book was extremely thought-provoking. There were so many questions that I had about the narrator’s stories and life journey, and so many new things to consider about my life. The end of the book brought me into deep contemplation. One of the biggest questions I have after the reading is, Who am i? and What am I doing with my life? Reading of the devotion of a yogi really has made me question and analyze my devotion to God. I have come to understand that even though I try so hard to not be like everyone else, my entirety is truly attached to this world. The philosophy of yoga express that attachment is blinding. And that it lands an imaginary halo above that which we seek. But how are we to go through life without having these attachments? And since these attachments are just a part of everyday life, how and when do we rid ourselves of these attachments to begin our spiritual journey to enlightenment?

In the end I am glad I chose this book, as boring as it may sound, it was totally an awesome read for me. I am definitely looking forward to reading the other books by Christina Sell and various other authors to try and get a better understanding of the philosophy of yoga. And from that understanding, I am excited to learn how to apply it to my everyday life.