The Kriya
Yoga Masters
Jesus Christ
I picture Him in my mind as He really was—Oriental
Christ. Many painters have tried to give Him blue eyes
and light hair, but He was a pure Oriental…by birth
and blood and training. The Wise Men of the East, or East
India, came to confer about Him when He was born, knowing
Him to be one of the greatest message-bearers of Truth.
The great Message of Jesus Christ is living and thriving
in both East and West. The West has been perfecting the
physical man,and the East has been developing the spiritual
man. Both East and West are one-sided. And is it not strange
to note that, perhaps due to God's secret Plan—since
the East needs material development, it has been invaded
by Western material civilization! And since the West needs
spiritual balance, it has been silently but surely invaded
by Hindu philosophy!
—Paramhansa Yogananda,Oriental Christ (East-West,
March-April, 1930)
Mahavatar Babaji
The northern Himalayan crags near Badrinarayan are
still blessed by the living presence of Babaji, guru of
Lahiri Mahasaya. The secluded master has retained his
physical form for centuries, perhaps for millennia…Babaji's
mission in India has been to assist prophets in carrying
out their special dispensations. He thus qualifies for
the scriptural classification of Mahavatar (Great Avatar)…
The Mahavatar is in constant communion with Christ; together
they send out vibrations of redemption, and have planned
the spiritual technique of salvation for this age. The
work of these two fully-illumined masters—one with
the body, and one without it—is to inspire the nations
to forsake suicidal wars, race hatreds, religious sectarianism,
and the boomerang-evils of materialism. Babaji is well
aware of the trend of modern times, especially of the
influence and complexities of Western civilization, and
realizes the necessity of spreading the self-liberations
of yoga equally in the West and in the East.
—Paramhansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi,
1946 Original Edition
Lahiri Mahasaya
Lahiri Mahasaya, my Master's Master, was an ideal
prophet and a Christ-like man, although married and performing
the duties of ordinary life. We can picture saints in
the forests; but when we find them in the jungles of civilization,
we can hold hopes of spiritual salvation for the worldly
man. It was Lahiri Mahasaya who revived the Yoga system
in India, and he was the harbinger of Yoga in Bengal.
He was a prophet of the world, but was not of this
world. He had miraculous powers. His life-teachings of
Yoga, namely, to be calmly active and actively calm, are
suitable for the use of the spiritually aspiring business
man as well as for those in every station of life who
are seeking greater spiritual realization.
—Paramhansa Yogananda, Lahiri Mahasaya, East-West
, 1932
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.
—Paramhansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi,
1946 Original Edition
Swami Sri Yukteswar
Thou light of my life—thou camest to spread
wisdom's glow over the path of my soul. Centuries of darkness
dissolved before the shafts of thy luminous help. As a
naughty baby, I cried for my Mother Divine, and She came
to me as my Guru—Swami Sri Yukteswar. At that meeting,
O my Guru, a spark flew from thee, and the faggots of
my God cravings, gathered through incarnations, smoldered
and blazed into bliss. All my questions have been answered
through thy flaming, golden touch. Eternal, ever-present
satisfaction has come to me through thy glory…
Our souls met after years of waiting. They trembled
with an omnipresent thrill. We met here, because we had
met before.
Together we will fly to His shores, and then we will smash
our planes of finitude forever and vanish into our infinite
life.
I bow to thee as the spoken voice of silent God. I bow
to thee as the divine door leading to the temple of salvation…
—Paramhansa Yogananda, Whispers From Eternity,
1949
Paramhansa Yogananda
Mukunda Lal Ghosh, later known to the world as Paramhansa
Yogananda, was the son of a senior executive in the Bengal-Nagpur
Railway; as such, he faced the prospect of wealth and high
worldly position when he grew up. But it was not this world
that attracted him. From earliest childhood he had longed
for God as intensely as others long for human love, or for
worldly recognition.
Soon after graduation from high school, Mukunda met
his guru, the great Swami Sri Yukteswar of Serampore,
Bengal. At the feet of this great master he attained,
in the amazingly short space of six months, the high state
of samadhi, or unconditioned oneness with God. His guru
kept him in the ashram another nine and a half years,
while he trained him for his mission of yoga dissemination
in the West. "The West," Sri Yukteswar explained,
"is high in material attainments, but lacking in
spiritual understanding. It is God's will that you play
a role in teaching mankind the value of balancing the
material with an inner, spiritual life."
—Swami Kriyananda, The Path
Related:
What is Kriya Yoga?
Steps Towards Kriya Initiation
Commitment—The Importance
of Discipleship
Your Questions on Kriya Yoga
Answered
What Kriyabans Say
Quotes on Kriya from Paramhansa
Yogananda
