By Neha Prakash
A God illumined Guru cannot be destroyed by mortality. He exits from the human body in complete awareness at the time of death, a phenomenon called Mahasamadhi.
March marks the Mahasamadhi of two unparalleled saints of Kriya Yoga lineage – The author of the spiritual classic, “Autobiography of a Yogi”, Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda, on 7 March 1952. And his Guru, Sri Sri Yukteswar Giri, author of “The Holy Science” on 9 March 1936.
But the two Gurus did not leave the bodies without the vow of their omnipresence to their disciples, both present and the ones to come in the future. “Unknown I will walk by your side and guard you with invisible arms,” Yogananda wrote in a poem ninety-seven years ago, and on to the hearts of his devotees, for eternity.
Yoganandaji first met Yukteshwarji at the age of 17 in Benaras. He in his heart then had a fervent eagerness to find his Guru. And when he did in the alleyways of Banaras, Yoganandaji stayed unvarying under the stern discipline of his Guru. The young boy was honed for ten years by Yukteshwarji to become the globally recognised guru that he was destined to in the years that followed. His great guru Yukteswar Giri divinely fulfilled the responsibility bestowed upon him by the peerless Mahavatar Babaji – which was to prepare the young monk to traverse the oceans to spread Kriya Yoga in the west.
The same Kriya Yoga where one mighty kriya breath of 30 seconds is equal to one year of natural human evolution.
The biggest proof of Kriya yoga was the mahasamadhi of Paramahansa Yogananda. His body showed no sign of disintegration even after 20 days of death. Harry T Rowe, the Mortuary Director, recorded that the body of Paramahansa Yogananda stayed in “a phenomenal state of immutability”. The great Guru was proving to humanity in death, as he had in life, that it was possible to master the forces of nature through yoga and meditation.
Kriya Yoga as described in “Autobiography of a Yogi” is a practice that decarbonises the blood with each breath, eventually preventing the decay of the body. It is an ancient science which Krishna gave to Arjuna and was later known to Patanjali and others. In this yuga, Mahavatar Babaji gave it to Lahiri Mahasaya who in turn gave it to Yukteswar Giri, the guru of Yoganandaji.
To disseminate the Kriya yoga teachings Yukteshwarji asserted on the establishment of an institution. After all, such a teaching needed to be shared. So Yoganandaji founded the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (YSS) in 1917 at Ranchi, and the Self-Realisation Fellowship (SRF) in 1920 at Los Angeles. One can apply for the home-study lessons in self-realisation through Yogoda ashrams that gives step by step instructions for mastering the scientific techniques of this meditation.
In the words of Paramahansa Yogananda, “When I am gone the teachings will be the guru….Through the teachings you will be in tune with me and the great Gurus who sent me.”
