There was a time when Yogananda had an extraordinary experience here in India. When he came back for that brief period of time in the mid thirties, and he met Yogi Ramaiya. Yogi Ramaiya was also a self-realized soul, free of all karma, like Yogananda himself and the other avatars.
Yogananda said that when he met Yogi Ramaiya and they walked hand in hand together in the ashram, that if he had spent another half an hour in Yogi Ramaiya’s presence, he could not have possibly left India. It was that powerful.
Swami Kriyananda was here between 1958 and 1962, those four precious years, and when it was time for him to leave and take on his responsibilities, he too had a very, very challenging time leaving. And it was only when he met a person that was from America, that had the vibration of the essence of India, that he felt that he could go back.
That was the necessary bridge for him to cross back to the States, because he was concerned. He knew that there’s no place like India. For Swami, there was a break until he could come back to live here – there was 40 years that passed before he could return, and this was not easy for him.
There was even a time he said, that he couldn’t even really sing the Indian Bajans during this particular period all that much, because the tug was too strong to come back to India. And so it seems that reveals an Indian soul encased in an American body, where he had so many incarnations here that he again found it challenging to be in the West and Europe.
And again, India makes it much easier, as Swamiji said.
When Swami Kriyananda was helping to establish Lake shrine, which Yogananda called the showcase of his work in the 50’s, there were Gnats, in this beautiful vibration, this natural amphitheatre. So Swami Kriyananda went to Yogananda and said, why in this blessed place would there be Gnats? And Yogananda said sweetly, “Well, this is the Lord’s way of always moving us towards him”
And that’s a very good lesson, because we find that even here in Mother India, where the vibration is so deep and so precious, the land of saints, there’s all kinds of things, even here in this heavenly astral plane, that cause us irritation. But what did Yogananda say in order to encourage us? He said, don’t let anything get your goat of peace – getting your goat means getting that part of our being that gets agitated.
The Yogis, of course, have discovered over the centuries, a tremendous tool, and that’s the inner life. When we are functioning in our hearts and when we are with a bright consciousness, then all kinds of things can happen. I was talking to a friend the other day, and he was saying “Oh, how I appreciate Kriya”.
I think, really it was quite an understatement that he was sharing, which he well knew, because in the past, all kinds of things, whatever it might be, would irritate me. But now I just feel that Divine Mother knows what she’s doing. Nothing is mine. So, if she wants to act in this way, fine. And if she’s giving us a pat on the head and it’s our birthday or whatever, this combination that we all experience, the ups and downs of life, fine. And this is because of kriya.
As Yogananda said, if you just do 10% of what I ask you, you will get there, because really, it’s a matter of getting to that point where the interest is there, and that interest comes for God because of the prod. And what is the traditional prod? Pain. So is pain the enemy? No, we don’t exactly appreciate it when it comes visiting, but nevertheless, just like the gnats, it’s pushing us forward.
And in that way, we find that every moment indeed is a crossroads. And so what is going to be our choice?
Yogananda also said, free will. You want to know what your free will is? You can go and face the light or you can face the shadow. That’s your free will. And every moment we have that. And that’s why a disciplined mind is a happy mind.
Every single time, when we find ourselves being pushed down by our karma, by the environment, by this maya, then we have a choice. Do we want to stay in that state or do we want to shift our vibration?
Well, it’s much, much easier in a country such as India, much easier. And for those of you who have been born here – what a gift.
They say that we choose our parents. And so when you were scanning the various possibilities, you thought, well, India, for starters, let’s narrow it on down. There are many, many different countries and I know, very special. But I want to have this incarnation to spur me on. I want the shortcuts. I want to be in an environment that breathes God.
Swami, of course, had shared many, many stories of that wonderful and dear time that he was in India in the late 50’s and the 60’s. The last three years of Yogananda’s life, he was planning to come to India with Swami, but there were various things that came up and he wasn’t able to make the trip.
That thought of going to India with his Guru didn’t happen. But, he came to India and said that Yoganandaji is with me even more than when he was in his body. So, it all worked out, It was a happy ending. But at that particular time, whatever Yoganandaji, whatever Divine Mother wanted was fine by Swamiji. That was his attitude, that was his consciousness, as is true of all the consciousness of all the great saints.
Lahiri Mahasaya was described by Trilanga Swami, as like a kitten. And wherever Divine Mother wanted to take him, he was fine. Even in the government office for 30 years as an accountant, he was fine with that. Yes, he would have preferred to stay with Babaji – but Babaji said, this incarnation is for you to be with the multitudes, to be an example. People will take heart that you, as a householder, with modest duties, and family, that you have this great radiance and attunement. They’ll take heart that they, too, don’t necessarily have to renounce. If that is not their karma, they can take heart that there is a yogi, in Benaras – a saint, and yet able to do all that he needs to do in discharging his worldly duties and yet stay in God.
Swami took 40 years to come back to live here as he came in 2003. And I came here in 1980. I had to wait 25 years. It was well worth the wait. Patience is a shortcut to finding God. And truly we are learning that more and more. In God’s good time, we will be free.
All of the things that all of us yearn for as souls will come in time. And yet, at the same time, we need to stamp upon our consciousness that we have, that which we are seeking right now and don’t forget it. It’s why Yogananda said, memorize my poem Samadhi – so that we keep on remembering who we are and where we are going and where we come from.
And so precious Mother India, this place, really, there’s nothing like it. And there are so many people that I have met over the years that come here and some of the time, they don’t even know why they’ve been drawn. Maybe, it’s a corporate situation. They need to visit their team in Bangalore or Hyderabad.
They may not even know, but something begins to shift in their consciousness, and the next thing they know, they’re making an excuse to come back. And they may not even know, but their soul knows. The soul knows what’s here. And at one point, they’re introduced to yoga or to meditation, to whatever it might be.
Master had to be in the West for 30 years. And I thank you again for loaning us Master for all that time, because that was a real sacrifice to give to America the 30 years of Yogananda.
But it was again his duty, his dharma, to do that. But what did he end up doing? Especially through the Autobiography of Yogi and through so many public talks and so forth. Yogananda, Vivekananda and others – this whole world is beginning to think of Yoga.
Even in India, there is that growing interest. Many, know from childhood, but others, bit by bit, they’re beginning to appreciate what is coming out of this ground and what is there to be received and then, of course, to give back.
So thank you, Divine Mother, for doing what you have done over the centuries here in India and continue to do, because these great saints are here. As I like to say, Babaji is just right up the street. He’s here now.
He wanted to go, too. But as we read in the Autobiography of a Yogi, Mataji, his sister caught that thought that he wanted to leave and talked him into staying. And so he didn’t say, I’ll just stay for an incarnation. He said, I’ll stay for this great length of time, which can’t be even measured. Such is the great commitment of the saints and Babaji himself.
God bless you all. It’s a joy.