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Self-Realization Fellowship By Meagan McCullagh Cults & New Religious Movements RLST 2316 Laurentian University

Introduction Religion on earth has been geographically divided for some time now, fundamentally reflecting the distinctness of Eastern spirituality and Western morality. This segregation of religious beliefs blurs the vision of wholeness amongst the human race that seeks global unity despite ethnic background. While many New Religious Movements (NRM’s) spawn from and therefore adhere to the division between the East and the West by developing separately from one another, some venture from their origins in hopes of achieving a more extensive and unified awareness of their ideology. One NRM in particular established as the Self-Realization Fellowship recognized the value of its teachings and the lack of spirituality caused by materialism in the West. The following piece will explore the beliefs and practices of Paramahansa Yogananda and his collective endeavor to spread spiritual wealth throughout the Western hemisphere. Paramhansa Yogananda Originally named Makunda Lal Ghosh, Paramahansa Yogananda was born in 1893 in the city of Gorakhpur located in northern India to a Bengali couple. Although he was the fourth of eight children from a family of an Indian railway executive, both Yogananda and his mother were aware that his prospect was religious devotion. He asserts that he was conscious in his mother’s womb and aware that he was more than just a bundled fetus. Described as a bahktva or a saint of God, Yogananda uniformly engaged in prayer and as soon as he was able to write, he began composing letters to his Lord professing his love and gratitude. Yogananda also holds vivid childhood memories of visions from God as well as memories from previous lives in which

he lived as an advanced yoga practitioner (Yogi). As a boy he would practice meditation for hours at a time to achieve inner peace, sometimes experiencing revelations and being able to levitate or stop his breathing. Yogananda worshipped God particularly in the form of The Divine Mother, his prayers being directed to Kali, the Hindu goddess of time, creation, destruction and power and further characterized as Mother of the Universe. Once he had graduated high school, Yogananda sought guidance and embarked on a spiritual quest to find his guru. Not long after, his search for an insightful teacher ended in 1910 when he visited a monastery in Benares and met Swami Sri Yukteswar, becoming his disciple at the age of seventeen. After graduating from Calcutta University with a Bachelor of Arts and further being subject to extensive Self-Realization training under the direction of his spiritual master Swami Yukteswar at his monastery in Serampore, Yogananda was formally vowed into the monastic Swami order in 1915. Due to his belief that proper childhood education tends to the student before serving information, Swami Yogananda founded a school for boys in West Bengal named Dihika, putting the spiritual and moral values of God’s will first. Thus, the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (YSS) was established in 1917, being Indian variant of the SelfRealization fellowship. Through teachings of yoga and meditation, mental abilities such as concentration, clarity, positivity and courage were established within the children. Tragedy struck roughly a year later when malaria began to spread throughout the school, forcing Dihika to relocate to Ranchi, a more hygienic part of the country. Swami Yogananda aimed to serve his Lord by translating ancient values into modernistic teachings and instilling these principles upon children as in the present, they are most impressionable and become most influential in futuristic terms.

Although he did not want to leave India as Yogananda loved his country unconditionally, he knew the moment his soul was birthed that God’s purpose for him was to carry the spirituality of Indian culture to the West. The ruling that India was to be the guru of planet earth in the pursuance of salvation was channeled through Yogananda by the Lord through prophetic visions. Being a saint of devotion, he accepted his spiritual quest and in 1920 Swami Yogananda sailed to America, setting foot in Boston. After several highly successful lectures on Kriya yoga meditation and ancient Indian spirituality in and around Boston, Yogananda founded the SelfRealization Fellowship (SRF) the very same year he landed in the U.S. The SRF would serve his mission to spread his religious teachings throughout the West, later being an organization legally deemed both religious and non-profit in 1935. In the next decade Swami Yogananda had performed numerous teachings on the philosophy of yoga meditation scaling the East Coast, launching a new campaign in which he completed a speaking tour across the continent in 1924. Thousands of people attended his lectures on Indian spiritual tradition and once he had prosperously disseminated his teachings throughout America, Yogananda moved to Los Angeles to further revolutionize the West. Characterizing LA as the ‘Benares of America’, Yogananda established the headquarters of the SRF at Mount Washington in which is Kriya Yoga training attracted people worldwide. His scientific yogic techniques offered a direct personal religious experience, uniting with God through concentration and meditation. His philosophy was especially appealing to westerners since much of his wisdom incorporated the essence of Christianism into Hinduism ideology, highlighting the significance of Jesus Christ and the inner communion with God. After living and teaching in LA for several years, Yogananda was summoned back to India by Swami Sri Yuktwsar; his guru was ill and would soon be withdrawing from his earthly

vessel. Swami Yogananda continued his YSS work in India, further meeting with Ghandi to share his spiritual and liberating insights of Kriya Yoga techniques. Shortly after guru Yukteswar appointed Yogananda with the monastic title Paramahansa, a Hindu term translated literally as ‘supreme swan’ and applied to spiritual masters that have achieved enlightenment. During his visit to India, Swami Yuktswar left his earthly body and Paramahansa Yogananda returned California soon after in 1936 to bolster his spiritual quest. Although he continued to establish temples and writings upon his return, this time around Yogananda’s teachings were serviced in a more inwardly manner, focused on evolving the lifestyles of the inner circle of his disciples. It was at this time that the yoga master composed his revolutionary text titled Autobiography of a Yogi which was then published in 1946, devoting much of his time to private interviews and prepping his disciples for succession. Yogananda was described as being free from ego in which he exercised desirelessness, traits he wanted to disseminate to his disciples. Beginning to feel as though his time on earth in his physical being was nearing an end, Yogananda emphasized his hope for a ‘united world’ as his work reflected the harmony of Indian spirituality and American efficiency. He was a great speaker as his voice was powerful and confident. On March 7 th 1952, the soul of Paramhansa Yogananda split from his earthly body shortly after a heartening and inspirational speech performed at a dinner he attended between the Indian and U.S Ambassadors. While his death was an upset to countless supporters worldwide, the teachings and ultimately the legacy of Yogananda was foreseeably perpetual. Beliefs The teachings of the SRF encompass a specific category of aims and ideals relative to spiritual training through yogic practices. The institution holds that technical knowledge of ancient Indian traditions can lead to true personal experiences with God, and these insights must

be globally distributed to establish a united world. Insofar as mortal consciousness is restricted and therefore must be united with the divine consciousness to attain seld-realization, the principle of man becomes evolution. Thus, individual efforts must be carried out to evolve said consciousness in achieving both self-realization and global unification. The SRF asserts that self-realization and unity with God is the liberation from suffering, disease and spiritual ignorance and can be actualized through yoga meditation techniques. It’s rare and honest endeavor to harmonize the moral values taught by Jesus Christ with the healing powers of Yoga as taught by Bhagavan Krishna demonstrates that balancing the core principles of Christianity and Hindiusim can construct the divine path to collective salvation. Efforts of yogic meditation to experience enlightenment on an individual level can allow for mankind to inclusively overcome the oppression and ignorance rooted in materialism, fundamentally addressing the more significant issue of global sufferance. In other words, the SRF emphasizes the need for both the efficiency established by the West and the spiritual wisdom of the East to unify science and religion, ultimately fulfilling God’s universal will of serving humanity’s larger ‘Self’. Practices Aside from payer and cosmic chants in which songs are used to please the emotions and the soul insofar as sound is often deemed the most powerful force in the universe, the main practice of the Self-Realization fellowship is the Kriya Yoga Path of Meditation taught by Yogananda. Although it is an ancient practice, it was through Yogananda’s teachings that Kriya yoga was appointed with international awareness. Traditionally, it is learned and transmitted throughout the relationship between guru and disciple. To promote the evolution of individual energy, Kriya yoga channels power directed by mental concentration using the breath throughout

the six spinal centers. Scientifically, concentrated breathing techniques allow for blood to decarbonize and recharge with oxygen, resulting in the restoration of the brain and the spine. The oxygenized blood helps lessen and prevent tissue deterioration and the cells can further be converted into energy. The Kriya Yoga Path of Mediation encompasses a collection of exercises and techniques that liberate the soul from the restrictions set upon man by the physical bondage of the body, leading to self-realization through unity with God. The system is composed initially of energization exercises, followed by the Hong-Sau Technique of Concentration, the AUM technique of Mediation and finally the Kriya Yoga Technique. Through this order, devotees employ the Kriya Yoga Path of Meditation and experience the valuable effects of the science behind ancient yogic mediation and find fulfillment within. Sacred Texts & Buildings As mentioned earlier, Yogananda’s book titled Autobiography of a Yogi published in 1946 revolutionized Western culture by introducing the advantages maintained by ancient Indian traditions of yoga and meditation. It encompasses the spiritual undertakings of Paramhansa Yogananda as he actualizes his established purpose of serving God by exposing the Western hemisphere to the religious culture of India. It additionally reveals the route to salvation by disclosing methods of self-realization and unity with God, namely yogic mediation. Anyone interested in attaining the full potential of consciousness and seeking higher truths than what the material world offers is urged to read this spiritual classic. The book highlights the teachings of the SRF along with means for individual guidance and personal counselling. The text describing the full significance of the divine adventures encountered by Yogananda provides a deeper awareness and appreciation of the validity accompanied by ancient Indian customs. It becomes

conclusively appraised as an inspirational and a vital key to the search for salvation through SelfRealization and its accompanying fellowship. Facilities of the SRF include over five hundred temples, monasteries, retreats and mediation centers worldwide.

While the institutional headquarters are based at Mount

Washington in LA, seven additional temples exist in the U.S alone from San Diego to Arizona. These temples and ashrams are structures that support the cultural practice of prayer, religious studies and yogic meditation in pursuance of self-realization. Numerous retreat centers have also been established in California with an additional two located in Europe, namely in Brazil and Germany. SRF retreat centers offer programs that concentrate on yoga and meditation techniques as well as the practice of other activities that adhere to the teachings of the movement. Meditation circles exist in over fifty countries in which of members and friends of the SRF can partake in group meditation to generate harmonized energy. The SRF is supported by countless sacred structures and institutions that reinforce both the legacy of Yogananda and the core values of his established fellowship. Organization Structure In terms of presidency, after the founders passing, close disciples of the Yogi inherited the fellowship, backed by a Board of Directors comprised of his other direct disciples. Their dedication to the movement prompted the successors to serve the SRF without salary as they work modestly to fulfill the mission of Yogananda and ultimately God. The executive system of the SRF follows a monastic order founded by Yogananda that regulates the vast array of services and institutions of the movement. Monks and nuns strive to publish and distribute the work of Yogananda and his disciples, keeping the fellowship active through spiritual counseling, lecture tours and the regulation of sacred rituals and functions. The services conducted by the leadership

of the SRF follow the monastic ideals of renouncing materialism and replacing it with devotion and love for God. They practice self-devotion, self-analysis and disciplined mediation to fulfill their spiritual desires and commit to become religious saints. Controversies Considering tendencies of racial prejudice were still very much alive at the time and place in which Yogananda set out to complete his spiritual endeavors, the SRF was inevitably stigmatized. An Indian with noticeably dark skin traveling to America and publicly speaking about spiritualism in the 1920’s was seen as a disturbance and a menace to some. White supremacists were not keen on Yogananda’s superior demeanor and foreign religious principles, making him a target for disputes of discrimination. The press also caused controversy, printing and selling newspapers with radical and dishonest headlines and stories for the purpose of profit. For instance, a report from the local newspaper during his visit to Miami referred to Yogananda as an “East Indian love cult leader”, an evidently misleading statement. Another headline of Los Angeles Examiner read “Love Control Taught in Cult here”. The media waged a war against Yogananda and him and his external teachings. Given that early times were also religious times and the West was comprised of Christians, the Church was not amused with the Yogi’s attempts to spread Indian culture to a country deficient in spirituality. Despite Yogananda’s incorporation of Christianity and the morals of Jesus Christ into his Hindu teachings, the Church maintained the notion that he was attacking traditional Western religion and was therefore a threat to society. One of the values of the SRF is described as mastery over one’s sexuality, a principle that was often misinterpreted by members of the West. A greater scandal arose when one of Yogananda’s close disciples Swami Dhirananda was found giving private SRF lessons to a married woman. The woman’s husband found out and confronted Dhirananda, essentially

starting a brawl at the headquarters in Mount Washington. Rumors and allegations began to spread throughout the States claiming that Yogananda and his disciples were members of a love cult, ultimately corrupting the women of America with their spiritual teachings. Due to the paranoia bolstered by the efforts to protect their women from corruption by the SRF’s unorthodox perspectives, husbands began to protest claiming they were going to ‘get the Hindu’. Backed by his supporters, a hearing was held in City Hall in which the chief of police claimed Yogananda attempted to hypnotize him. Paramhansa Yogananda voluntarily left America and temporarily returned to India to craze and irritability settle. Conclusion In sum, Yogananda and his founding of the SRF succeeded both in breaking the cultural barriers between the East and the West and more importantly fulfilling his religious purpose. In addition to accepting his role as a bahkta, by recognizing the spiritual deficiency in Western values Paramhansa Yogananda and his New Religious Movement became a worldwide inspiration. Considering salvation is a universal facet of all true religions, the answer to addressing global oppression and achieving liberation can be found in unification. That being said, unity requires individual effort and self-realization encompasses an admirable starting point in the pursuit of the divine.

Bibliography 

Kriyanda, S. (2011). Paramhansa Yogananda: A Biography with Reflections & Reminiscences. Nevada City, CA: Crystal Clarity Publishers, pp.

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Florio, di P., Leeman, L., Rader, P. (Producers) & Florio, P di., Leeman, L. (Directors). Awake: The Life of Yogananda [2014 Motion Picture]. United States: Counter Point Films.

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Autobiography of a Yogi, (1997) .Self-Realization Fellowship (Founded by Yogananda) Retrieved from: www.yogananda-srf.org

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Boston Meditation Group Historical Committee, (2007). In The Footsteps of Paramahansa Yogananda: A guidebook to the places in and around Boston associated with Yoganandaji.

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Paramahansa Y. (2004). The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ within You. Los Angeles, CA: Self-Realization Fellowship....