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Contents |
Preface 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40: 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 |
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda
Chapter 35: The Christlike(?) Life of Lahiri Mahasaya"Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness."1 In these words to John the Baptist, and in asking John to baptize him, Jesus was acknowledging the divine rights of his guru.
From a reverent study of the Bible from an Oriental viewpoint,2 and from intuitional perception, I am convinced that John the Baptist was, in past lives, the guru of Christ. There are numerous passages in the Bible which infer that John and Jesus in their last incarnations were, respectively, Elijah and his disciple Elisha. (These are the spellings in the Old Testament. The Greek translators spelled the names as Elias and Eliseus; they reappear in the New Testament in these changed forms.)
The very end of the Old Testament is a prediction of the reincarnation of Elijah and Elisha: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord."3 Thus John (Elijah), sent "before the coming . . . of the Lord," was born slightly earlier to serve as a herald for Christ. An angel appeared to Zacharias the father to testify that his coming son John would be no other than Elijah (Elias).
"But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. . . . And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him4 in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."5
Jesus twice unequivocally identified Elijah (Elias) as John: "Elias is come already, and they knew him not. . . . Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist." 6 Again, Christ says: "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come."7
When
John denied that he was Elias (Elijah), 8
he meant that in the humble garb of John he came no longer in the
outward elevation of Elijah the great guru. In his former incarnation
he had given the "mantle" of his glory
and his spiritual wealth to his disciple Elisha. "And Elisha
said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou
see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee. . .
. And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him."9
The roles became
reversed, because Elijah-John was no longer needed to be the ostensible
guru of Elisha-Jesus, now perfected in divine realization.
When
Christ was transfigured on the mountain10
it was his guru Elias, with Moses, whom he saw. Again, in his hour
of extremity on the cross, Jesus cried out the divine name: "Eli,
Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard
that, said, This man calleth for Elias. . . . Let us see whether
Elias will come to save him."11
The eternal
bond of guru and disciple that existed between John and Jesus was
present also for Babaji and Lahiri Mahasaya. With tender solicitude
the deathless guru swam the Lethean waters that swirled between
the last two lives of his chela, and guided the successive steps
taken by the child and then by the man Lahiri Mahasaya. It was not
until the disciple had reached his thirty-third year that Babaji
deemed the time to be ripe to openly reestablish the never-severed
link. Then, after their brief meeting near Ranikhet, the selfless
master banished his dearly-beloved disciple from the little mountain
group, releasing him for an outward world mission. "My son,
I shall come whenever you need me." What mortal lover can bestow
that infinite promise?
Unknown to society
in general, a great spiritual renaissance began to flow from a remote
corner of Benares. Just as the fragrance of flowers cannot be suppressed,
so Lahiri Mahasaya, quietly living as an ideal householder, could
not hide his innate glory. Slowly, from every part of India, the
devotee-bees sought the divine nectar of the liberated master.
The English
office superintendent was one of the first to notice a strange transcendental
change in his employee, whom he endearingly called "Ecstatic
Babu."
"Sir,
you seem sad. What is the trouble?" Lahiri Mahasaya made this
sympathetic inquiry one morning to his employer.
"My wife
in England is critically ill. I am torn by anxiety."
"I shall
get you some word about her." Lahiri Mahasaya left the room
and sat for a short time in a secluded spot. On his return he smiled
consolingly.
"Your wife
is improving; she is now writing you a letter." The omniscient
yogi quoted some parts of the missive.
"Ecstatic
Babu, I already know that you are no ordinary man. Yet I am unable
to believe that, at will, you can banish time and space!"
The promised
letter finally arrived. The astounded superintendent found that
it contained not only the good news of his wife's recovery, but
also the same phrases which, weeks earlier, Lahiri Mahasaya had
repeated.
The wife came
to India some months later. She visited the office, where Lahiri
Mahasaya was quietly sitting at his desk. The woman approached him
reverently.
"Sir,"
she said, "it was your form, haloed in glorious light, that
I beheld months ago by my sickbed in London. At that moment I was
completely healed! Soon after, I was able to undertake the long
ocean voyage to India."
Day after day, one or two devotees besought the sublime guru for
Kriya initiation. In addition to these spiritual duties, and
to those of his business and family life, the great master took
an enthusiastic interest in education. He organized many study groups,
and played an active part in the growth of a large high school in
the Bengalitola section of Benares. His regular discourses on the
scriptures came to be called his " Gita Assembly,"
eagerly attended by many truth-seekers.
By these manifold
activities, Lahiri Mahasaya sought to answer the common challenge:
"After performing one's business and social duties, where is
the time for devotional meditation?" The harmoniously balanced
life of the great householder-guru became the silent inspiration
of thousands of questioning hearts. Earning only a modest salary,
thrifty, unostentatious, accessible to all, the master carried on
naturally and happily in the path of worldly life.
Though ensconced
in the seat of the Supreme One, Lahiri Mahasaya showed reverence
to all men, irrespective of their differing merits. When his devotees
saluted him, he bowed in turn to them. With a childlike humility,
the master often touched the feet of others, but seldom allowed
them to pay him similar honor, even though such obeisance toward
the guru is an ancient Oriental custom.
A significant feature of Lahiri Mahasaya's life was his gift of Kriya initiation to those of every faith. Not Hindus only, but Moslems and Christians were among his foremost disciples. Monists and dualists, those of all faiths or of no established faith, were impartially received and instructed by the universal guru. One of his highly advanced chelas was Abdul Gufoor Khan, a Mohammedan. It shows great courage on the part of Lahiri Mahasaya that, although a high-caste Brahmin, he tried his utmost to dissolve the rigid caste bigotry of his time. Those from every walk of life found shelter under the master's omnipresent wings. Like all God-inspired prophets, Lahiri Mahasaya gave new hope to the outcastes and down-trodden of society.
"Always
remember that you belong to no one, and no one belongs to you. Reflect
that some day you will suddenly have to leave everything in this
worldso make the acquaintanceship of God now," the great guru
told his disciples. "Prepare yourself for the coming astral
journey of death by daily riding in the balloon of God-perception.
Through delusion you are perceiving yourself as a bundle of flesh
and bones, which at best is a nest of troubles.12
Meditate unceasingly,
that you may quickly behold yourself as the Infinite Essence, free
from every form of misery. Cease being a prisoner of the body; using
the secret key of Kriya, learn to escape into Spirit."
The
great guru encouraged his various students to adhere to the good
traditional discipline of their own faith. Stressing the all-inclusive
nature of Kriya as a practical technique of liberation, Lahiri
Mahasaya then gave his chelas liberty to express their lives in
conformance with environment and up bringing.
"A
Moslem should perform his namaj13
worship
four times daily," the master pointed out. "Four times
daily a Hindu should sit in meditation. A Christian should go down
on his knees four times daily, praying to God and then reading the
Bible."
With
wise discernment the guru guided his followers into the paths of
Bhakti (devotion), Karma (action), Jnana (wisdom),
or Raja (royal or complete) Yogas, according to each
man's natural tendencies. The master, who was slow to give his permission
to devotees wishing to enter the formal path of monkhood, always
cautioned them to first reflect well on the austerities of the monastic
life.
The
great guru taught his disciples to avoid theoretical discussion
of the scriptures. "He only is wise who devotes himself to
realizing, not reading only, the ancient revelations," he said.
"Solve all your problems through meditation.14
Exchange unprofitable religious speculations for actual God-contact.
Clear your mind of dogmatic theological debris; let in the fresh,
healing waters of direct perception. Attune yourself to the active
inner Guidance; the Divine Voice has the answer to every dilemma
of life. Though man's ingenuity for getting himself into trouble
appears to be endless, the Infinite Succor is no less resourceful."
The
master's omnipresence was demonstrated one day before a group of
disciples who were listening to his exposition of the Bhagavad
Gita. As he was explaining the meaning of Kutastha Chaitanya
or the Christ Consciousness in all vibratory creation, Lahiri Mahasaya
suddenly gasped and cried out:
The
distant disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya were often made aware of his
enfolding presence. "I am ever with those who practice Kriya,"
he said consolingly to chelas who could not remain near him. "I
will guide you to the Cosmic Home through your enlarging perceptions."
Swami
Satyananda was told by a devotee that, unable to go to Benares,
the man had nevertheless received precise Kriya initiation
in a dream. Lahiri Mahasaya had appeared to instruct the chela in
answer to his prayers.
Lahiri
Mahasaya carefully graded Kriya into four progressive initiations.15
He bestowed
the three higher techniques only after the devotee had manifested
definite spiritual progress. One day a certain chela, convinced
that his worth was not being duly evaluated, gave voice to his discontent.
"Brinda,
sit by me here." The great guru smiled at him affectionately.
"Tell me, are you ready for the second technique of Kriya?"
The
little postman folded his hands in supplication. "Gurudeva,"
he said in alarm, "no more initiations, please! How can I assimilate
any higher teachings? I have come today to ask your blessings, because
the first divine Kriya has filled me with such intoxication
that I cannot deliver my letters!"
The
postman, who was an uneducated man, later developed his insight
through Kriya to such an extent that scholars occasionally
sought his interpretation on involved scriptural points. Innocent
alike of sin and syntax, little Brinda won renown in the domain
of learned pundits.
Besides
the numerous Benares disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya, hundreds came
to him from distant parts of India. He himself traveled to Bengal
on several occasions, visiting at the homes of the fathers-in-law
of his two sons. Thus blessed by his presence, Bengal became honeycombed
with small Kriya groups. Particularly in the districts of
Krishnagar and Bishnupur, many silent devotees to this day have
kept the invisible current of spiritual meditation flowing.
Among
many saints who received Kriya from Lahiri Mahasaya may
be mentioned the illustrious Swami Vhaskarananda Saraswati of Benares,
and the Deogarh ascetic of high stature, Balananda Brahmachari.
For a time Lahiri Mahasaya served as private tutor to the son of
Maharaja Iswari Narayan Sinha Bahadur of Benares. Recognizing the
master's spiritual attainment, the maharaja, as well as his son,
sought Kriya initiation, as did the Maharaja Jotindra Mohan
Thakur.
A
number of Lahiri Mahasaya's disciples with influential worldly position
were desirous of expanding the Kriya circle by publicity.
The guru refused his permission. One chela, the royal physician
to the Lord of Benares, started an organized effort to spread the
master's name as "Kashi Baba" (Exalted One of Benares).
16
Again the guru forbade it.
"Let
the fragrance of the Kriya flower be wafted naturally, without
any display," he said. "Its seeds will take root in the
soil of spiritually fertile hearts."
Although
the great master did not adopt the system of preaching through the
modern medium of an organization, or through the printing press,
he knew that the power of his message would rise like a resistless
flood, inundating by its own force the banks of human minds. The
changed and purified lives of devotees were the simple
guarantees of the deathless vitality of Kriya.
In
1886, twenty-five years after his Ranikhet initiation, Lahiri Mahasaya
was retired on a pension.17
With his availability
in the daytime, disciples sought him out in ever-increasing numbers.
The great guru now sat in silence most of the time, locked in the
tranquil lotus posture. He seldom left his little parlor, even for
a walk or to visit other parts of the house. A quiet stream of chelas
arrived, almost ceaselessly, for a darshan (holy sight)
of the guru.
The
master now permitted his disciple, Panchanon Bhattacharya, to open
an "Arya Mission Institution" in Calcutta. Here the saintly
disciple spread the message of Kriya Yoga, and prepared for
public benefit certain yogic herbal18
medicines.
In
accordance with ancient custom, the master gave to people in general
a neem19
oil for the cure of various diseases. When the guru requested a
disciple to distil the oil, he could easily accomplish the task.
If anyone else tried, he would encounter strange difficulties, finding
that the medicinal oil had almost evaporated after going through
the required distilling processes. Evidently the master's blessing
was a necessary ingredient.
Lahiri
Mahasaya's handwriting and signature, in Bengali script, are shown
above. The lines occur in a letter to a chela; the great master
interprets a Sanskrit verse as follows: "He who has attained
a state of calmness wherein his eyelids do not blink, has achieved
Sambhabi Mudra."
(signed)
"Sri Shyama Charan Deva Sharman"
The
Arya Mission Institution undertook the publication of many of the
guru's scriptural commentaries. Like Jesus and other great prophets,
Lahiri Mahasaya himself wrote no books, but his penetrating interpretations
were recorded and arranged by various disciples. Some of these voluntary
amanuenses were more discerning than others in correctly conveying
the profound insight of the guru; yet, on the whole, their efforts
were successful. Through their zeal, the world possesses unparalleled
commentaries by Lahiri Mahasaya on twenty-six ancient scriptures.
Sri
Ananda Mohan Lahiri, a grandson of the master, has written an interesting
booklet on Kriya. "The text of the Bhagavad Gita
is a part of the great epic, the Mahabharata, which possesses
several knot-points (vyas-kutas )," Sri Ananda wrote.
"Keep those knot-points unquestioned, and we find nothing but
mythical stories of a peculiar and easily-misunderstood type. Keep
those knot-points unexplained, and we have lost a science which
the East has preserved with superhuman patience after a quest of
thousands of years of experiment. 20
It was the commentaries
of Lahiri Mahasaya which brought to light, clear of allegories,
the very science of religion that had been so cleverly put out of
sight in the riddle of scriptural letters and imagery. No longer
a mere unintelligible jugglery of words, the otherwise unmeaning
formulas of Vedic worship have been proved by the master to be full
of scientific significance. . . .
"We
know that man is usually helpless against the insurgent sway of
evil passions, but these are rendered powerless and man finds no
motive in their indulgence when there dawns on him a consciousness
of superior and lasting bliss through Kriya. Here the give-up,
the negation of the lower passions, synchronizes with a take-up,
the assertion of a beatitude. Without such a course, hundreds of
moral maxims which run in mere negatives are useless to us.
"The
life of Lahiri Mahasaya set an example which changed the erroneous
notion that yoga is a mysterious practice. Every man may find a
way through Kriya to understand his proper relation with
nature, and to feel spiritual reverence for all phenomena, whether
mystical or of everyday occurrence, in spite of the matter-of-factness
of physical science. 21
We must bear
in mind that what was mystical a thousand years ago is no longer
so, and what is mysterious now may become lawfully intelligible
a hundred years hence. It is the Infinite, the Ocean of Power, that
is at the back of all manifestations.
"The
law of Kriya Yoga is eternal. It is true like mathematics;
like the simple rules of addition and subtraction, the law of
Kriya can never be destroyed. Burn to ashes all the books on
mathematics, the logically-minded will always rediscover such truths;
destroy all the sacred books on yoga, its fundamental laws will
come out whenever there appears a true yogi who comprises within
himself pure devotion and consequently pure knowledge."
Just
as Babaji is among the greatest of avatars, a Mahavatar,
and Sri Yukteswar a Jnanavatar or Incarnation of Wisdom,
so Lahiri Mahasaya may justly be called Yogavatar, or Incarnation
of Yoga. By the standards of both qualitative and quantitative good,
he elevated the spiritual level of society. In his power to raise
his close disciples to Christlike stature and in his wide dissemination
of truth among the masses, Lahiri Mahasaya ranks among the saviors
of mankind.
His uniqueness as a prophet lies in his practical stress on a definite
method, Kriya, opening for the first time the doors of yoga
freedom to all men. Apart from the miracles of his own life, surely
the Yogavatar reached the zenith of all wonders in reducing
the ancient complexities of yoga to an effective simplicity not
beyond the ordinary grasp.
New hope for new men! "Divine union," the Yogavatar
proclaimed, "is possible through self-effort, and is not dependent
on theological beliefs or on the arbitrary will of a Cosmic Dictator."
Through
use of the Kriya key, persons who cannot bring themselves
to believe in the divinity of any man will behold at last the full
divinity of their own selves.
1 Matthew 3:15. 2
Many Biblical passages reveal that the law of reincarnation was
understood and accepted. Reincarnational cycles are a more reasonable
explanation for the different states of evolution in which mankind
is found, than the common Western theory which assumes that something
(consciousness of egoity) came out of nothing, existed with varying
degrees of lustihood for thirty or ninety years, and then returned
to the original void. The inconceivable nature of such a void is
a problem to delight the heart of a medieval Schoolman. 3
Malachi 4:5. 4"Before
him," i.e., "before the Lord." 5
Luke 1:13-17. 6
Matthew 17:12-13. 7
Matthew 11:13-14. 8
John 1:21. 9
II Kings 2:9-14. 10
Matthew 17:3. 11
Matthew 27:46-49. 12"How
many sorts of death are in our bodies! Nothing is therein but death."-Martin
Luther, in "Table-Talk." 13
The chief prayer of the Mohammedans, usually repeated four or five
times daily. 14"Seek
truth in meditation, not in moldy books. Look in the sky to find
the moon, not in the pond."-Persian proverb. 15
As Kriya Yoga is capable of many subdivisions, Lahiri Mahasaya wisely
sifted out four steps which he discerned to be those which contained
the essential marrow, and which were of the highest value in actual
practice. 16
Other titles bestowed on Lahiri Mahasaya by his disciples were Yogibar
(greatest of yogis), Yogiraj (king of yogis), and Munibar (greatest
of saints), to which I have added Yogavatar (incarnation of yoga). 17
He had given, altogether, thirty-five years of service in one department
of the government. 18
Vast herbal knowledge is found in ancient Sanskrit treatises. Himalayan
herbs were employed in a rejuvenation treatment which aroused the
attention of the world in 1938 when the method was used on Pundit
Madan Mohan Malaviya, 77-year-old Vice-Chancellor of Benares Hindu
University. To a remarkable extent, the noted scholar regained in
45 days his health, strength, memory, normal eyesight; indications
of a third set of teeth appeared, while all wrinkles vanished. The
herbal treatment, known as Kaya Kalpa, is one of 80 rejuvenation
methods outlined in Hindu Ayurveda or medical science. Pundit Malaviya
underwent the treatment at the hands of Sri Kalpacharya Swami Beshundasji,
who claims 1766 as his birth year. He possesses documents proving
him to be more than 100 years old; Associated Press reporters remarked
that he looked about 40.
Ancient Hindu treatises divided medical science into 8 branches:
salya (surgery); salakya (diseases above the neck); kayachikitsa
(medicine proper); bhutavidya (mental diseases); kaumara (care of
infancy); agada (toxicology); rasayana (longevity); vagikarana (tonics).
Vedic physicians used delicate surgical instruments, employed plastic
surgery, understood medical methods to counteract the effects of
poison gas, performed Caesarean sections and brain operations, were
skilled in dynamization of drugs. Hippocrates, famous physician
of the 5th century B.C., borrowed much of his materia medica from
Hindu sources. 19
The East Indian margosa tree. Its medicinal values have now become
recognized in the West, where the bitter neem bark is used as a
tonic, and the oil from seeds and fruit has been found of utmost
worth in the treatment of leprosy and other diseases. 20
"A number of seals recently excavated from archaeological sites
of the Indus valley, datable in the third millennium B.C., show
figures seated in meditative postures now used in the system of
Yoga, and warrant the inference that even at that time some of the
rudiments of Yoga were already known. We may not unreasonably draw
the conclusion that systematic introspection with the aid of studied
methods has been practiced in India for five thousand years. . .
. India has developed certain valuable religious attitudes of mind
and ethical notions which are unique, at least in the wideness of
their application to life. One of these has been a tolerance in
questions of intellectual belief-doctrine-that is amazing to the
West, where for many centuries heresy-hunting was common, and bloody
wars between nations over sectarian rivalries were frequent. 21
One thinks here of Carlyle's observation in Sartor Resartus: "The
man who cannot wonder, who does not habitually wonder (and worship),
were he president of innumerable Royal Societies and carried . .
. the epitome of all laboratories and observatories, with their
results, in his single head,-is but a pair of spectacles behind
which there is no eye."
"I am drowning
in the bodies of many souls off the coast of Japan!"
The next morning
the chelas read a newspaper account of the death of many people
whose ship had foundered the preceding day near Japan.
If a disciple
neglected any of his worldly obligations, the master would gently
correct and discipline him.
"Lahiri
Mahasaya's words were mild and healing, even when he was forced
to speak openly of a chela's faults," Sri Yukteswar once told
me. He added ruefully, "No disciple ever fled from our master's
barbs." I could not help laughing, but I truthfully assured
Sri Yukteswar that, sharp or not, his every word was music to my
ears.
"Master,"
he said, "surely I am ready now for the second initiation."
At this moment
the door opened to admit a humble disciple, Brinda Bhagat. He was
a Benares postman.
"Already
Brinda swims in the sea of Spirit." At these words from Lahiri
Mahasaya, his other disciple hung his head.
"Master,"
he said, "I see I have been a poor workman, finding fault with
my tools."
To the awe of
all beholders, Lahiri Mahasaya's habitual physiological state exhibited
the superhuman features of breathlessness, sleeplessness, cessation
of pulse and heartbeat, calm eyes unblinking for hours, and a profound
aura of peace. No visitors departed without upliftment of spirit;
all knew they had received the silent blessing
of a true man of God.
"Our eagerness
for worldly activity kills in us the sense of spiritual awe. We
cannot comprehend the Great Life behind all names and forms, just
because science brings home to us how we can use the powers of nature;
this familiarity has bred a contempt for her ultimate secrets. Our
relation with nature is one of practical business. We tease her,
so to speak, to know how she can be used to serve our purposes;
we make use of her energies, whose Source yet remains unknown. In
science our relation with nature is one that exists between a man
and his servant, or in a philosophical sense she is like a captive
in the witness box. We cross-examine her, challenge her, and minutely
weigh her evidence in human scales which cannot measure her hidden
values. On the other hand, when the self is in communion with a
higher power, nature automatically obeys, without stress or strain,
the will of man. This effortless command over nature is called 'miraculous'
by the uncomprehending materialist.
In reference
to miracles, Lahiri Mahasaya often said, "The operation of
subtle laws which are unknown to people in general should not be
publicly discussed or published without due discrimination."
If in these pages I have appeared to flout his cautionary words,
it is because he has given me an inward reassurance. Also, in recording
the lives of Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Sri Yukteswar, I have
thought it advisable to omit many true miraculous stories, which
could hardly have been included without writing, also, an explanatory
volume of abstruse philosophy.
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"-Extracts from an article by Professor W. Norman Brown in
the May, 1939 issue of the Bulletin of the American Council of Learned
Societies, Washington, D.C.
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