Yogananda on Bhagavad Gita

[Nicholas]

His two volume commentary, God Talks With Arjuna, is sublime & inspiring. This site gives many excerpts from it:

The Essence of Bhagavad Gita

 

[George-ananda]

My opinion is that it is the greatest stuff on earth!!

 

[Shantanu]

There are certainly many lessons to be learnt from this text, the most important being the concept of survival with dignity. Dharma should be directed accordingly. That is also what God Sri Krishna has said to me in my own life story. My father also read the Gita avidly during his spare time. So I agree with George on the importance of this religious literature.

 

[Nicholas]

Here is a little about the Avatar behind the modern public Kriya movement and a few of the links in the lineage. There are more than just the four mentioned:

Mahavatar Babaji

 

[Aupmanyav]

Stories that we make to establish our authority:
"Mahavatara Babaji
He has stated that he gave yoga initiation to Shankara, reorganizer of the Swami Order, and to Kabir, famous medieval master. .. The deathless guru bears no mark of age on his body; he appears to be a youth of not more than twenty-five. Fair-skinned, of medium build and height, Babaji's beautiful, strong body radiates a perceptible glow. His eyes are dark, calm, and tender; his long, lustrous hair is copper-colored."

 

[Nicholas]

Lahiri Mahasaya (d. 1895) grounded and taught the Kriya yoga method that the Avatar taught him. Many thousands have benefitted spiritually from that practice and the commentaries he made on key Indian texts.

Lahiri Mahasaya Quotes

 

[Nicholas]

Much of the Kriya gurus' teachings have been translated, not just Yogananda & Lahiri Mahasaya - but other disciples too. Here are two sources for these translations:

http://sanskritclassics.com

http://yoganiketan.net

For the bottom one go to the Library.

 

[Viraja]

Dear friends,

Given there are numerous paths to reach the goal of self-realization, off-late Kriya yoga seems to rule. In the recent past, I came across some useful videos on Babaji, Yogananda Swamiji, his disciples' lectures and also on Kriya yoga by one Ryan Kurczac.

I asked Ryan Kurczac a question - "what use is to become of organized religious practices like deity worship, pujas, mantra recitation, bhakti marga (nama recitation), etc, when compared with Kriya yoga and other such practices?". He replied that "It helps maintain focus". I'm not pleased with the answer.

If I am not derailing this thread, can someone answer the question, "compare Kriya yoga with bhakti practices"...

I feel very guilty I'm not practicing Kriya yoga, the very idea of meditation intimidates me. But I'm devout and I pray a lot.

Thanks.

 

[Nicholas]

Dear friends,

If I am not derailing this thread, can someone answer the question, "compare Kriya yoga with bhakti practices"...

I feel very guilty I'm not practicing Kriya yoga, the very idea of meditation intimidates me. But I'm devout and I pray a lot.

I am not competent to answer your Kriya vs Bhakti question.

However, why not put into your prayers to Narayana (I am guessing) a request for guidance toward your next step in spiritual living? Follow your intuition gleaned from prayer responses, not the popularity or seeming necessity of Kriya practice.

 

[Vinayaka]

Dear friends,

Given there are numerous paths to reach the goal of self-realization, off-late Kriya yoga seems to rule. In the recent past, I came across some useful videos on Babaji, Yogananda Swamiji, his disciples' lectures and also on Kriya yoga by one Ryan Kurczac.

I asked Ryan Kurczac a question - "what use is to become of organized religious practices like deity worship, pujas, mantra recitation, bhakti marga (nama recitation), etc, when compared with Kriya yoga and other such practices?". He replied that "It helps maintain focus". I'm not pleased with the answer.

If I am not derailing this thread, can someone answer the question, "compare Kriya yoga with bhakti practices"...

I feel very guilty I'm not practicing Kriya yoga, the very idea of meditation intimidates me. But I'm devout and I pray a lot.

Thanks.

Viraja, I don't even now what is meant by 'kriya' in this context, and I've seen it used in a few different ways. Clearly, to me, our great Sanatana Dharma is individualistic. What works for one may not work for another. Problems arise whenever anyone suggests that their chosen method beats all others. I wouldn't be pleased with that answer either, for it's simplicity, if nothing else. I don't see 'kriya yoga' as a path that seems to rule at all. Not are any of the other yogas yogas of rule.

Best wishes in deciphering all this, if indeed that is your wish.

Aum Namasivaya

 

[Viraja]

I'm just wondering whether creating good karma for fruitful living is the end-result of bhakti, while 'evolving' as an individual to a state of a higher consciousness is the end-result of yogic practices, Vinayaka ji...

But then they say nama sankeerthan (reciting holy name of god like Om namah shivaya, om namo bhagavathe vasudevaya) is said to condition the mind and create compassion, which is also evolving in a sense.

Therefore my question, on what way they produce individual results... and how they could be different from each other.

I shall keep looking! Thanks for the reply.

 

[Vinayaka]

But then they say nama sankeerthan (reciting holy name of god like Om namah shivaya, om namo bhagavathe vasudevaya) is said to condition the mind and create compassion, which is also evolving in a sense.

I shall keep looking! Thanks for the reply.

I think much of it is about conditioning the mind. One of the effects of bhakti is humility, which seems to be a valuable state for spiritual evolution. With humility comes the ability to serve our fellow man in unselfish ways. I've been re-reading the Tirukkural lately ... so insightful in pragmatic ways.

 

[Viraja]

I think much of it is about conditioning the mind. One of the effects of bhakti is humility, which seems to be a valuable state for spiritual evolution. With humility comes the ability to serve our fellow man in unselfish ways. I've been re-reading the Tirukkural lately ... so insightful in pragmatic ways.

True, ji. Well said.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Lahiri Mahasaya (d. 1895) grounded and taught the Kriya yoga method that the Avatar taught him. Many thousands have benefitted spiritually from that practice and the commentaries he made on key Indian texts.

Why did he have to resort to a fake story? Kriya yoga (whatever it is) is now an industry. Pay so many Rupees or Dollars for a ten-day course. There are so many fakes that in the end Yoga itself takes a hit. Look at Bikram Yoga.
Bikram Yoga - Wikipedia
https://www.google.com/search?q=Vikram+yoga&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b

I do not understand what is this "Hot Bikram Yoga"?

 

[Sirona]

His two volume commentary, God Talks With Arjuna, is sublime & inspiring.

I read God talks with Arjuna but I didn't like it so I passed it on to a friend. I was annoyed by the many Jesus and Bible references. To me it felt like, "See, we Hindus also have high ideas, it's not only Jesus who has them." Maybe that kind of attitude is/was necessary to get Western audiences interested in Hindu ideas. As for me, as I said, I didn't like it.

 

[Nicholas]

The early Kriya yoga gurus all respected Jesus. Yes there are fake Kriya gurus now, but there are fake gurus all over the place - in every religion nowadays.

Suggest study of those early gurus' writings, now in English, and they may be in Hindi, Bengali & other languages too. See the two links in my post #7.

I am not a Kriya practitioner, I just like their non-sectarian teachings.

 

[Aupmanyav]

All Yogananda said was to sell his ware in America. Not at all related to practice and philosophy of Hinduism. Yogananda was the first Hinduism salesman in America. Vivekananda was not a salesman. Yogis do not write Autobiographies.

 

[Vinayaka]

All Yogananda said was to sell his ware in America. Not at all related to practice and philosophy of Hinduism. Yogananda was the first Hinduism salesman in America. Vivekananda was not a salesman. Yogis do not write Autobiographies.

For those embodied jivas who inherited a subconscious mind filled with Saviourism, and unable to reprogram that aspect to go 'all in' into Hinduism, it indeed has its place, obviously, as many have taken to it. Not my cup of chai, but for those who need that, go for it. At the time of its introduction to the west, there were no immigrant pure Hindu temples. For souls being born in the west today, the pure Hinduism is in your neighbourhood.

 

[ajay0]

Dear friends,

Given there are numerous paths to reach the goal of self-realization, off-late Kriya yoga seems to rule. In the recent past, I came across some useful videos on Babaji, Yogananda Swamiji, his disciples' lectures and also on Kriya yoga by one Ryan Kurczac.

I asked Ryan Kurczac a question - "what use is to become of organized religious practices like deity worship, pujas, mantra recitation, bhakti marga (nama recitation), etc, when compared with Kriya yoga and other such practices?". He replied that "It helps maintain focus". I'm not pleased with the answer.

If I am not derailing this thread, can someone answer the question, "compare Kriya yoga with bhakti practices"...

I feel very guilty I'm not practicing Kriya yoga, the very idea of meditation intimidates me. But I'm devout and I pray a lot.

Thanks.

Deity worship, pujas, mantra recitation, bhakti marga (nama recitation), all deals with Bhakti yoga or for those of an emotional temperament.

Kriya yoga deals with Raja Yoga or yoga of mysticism.

Both are different paths to the same goal of annihilation of karma, and attainment of liberation or Self-realisation.

Lahiri Mahasaya attained enlightenment through Raja Yoga. He was the grandmaster of Paramahamsa Yogananda, and taught Sri Yukteshwar, Yogananda's Guru.

After Vivekananda, Yogananda was the second spiritual master to preach Hinduism in the west, and helped to create cultural bridges between the east and west. Like Vivekananda , Yogananda too was instrumental in diffusing racial and religious prejudices against Hindus and Indians in the west.

Yogananda also initiated Mahatma Gandhi into Kriya Yoga in his ashram.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Yeah, I can credit Yogananda for that. Correct or not, he was one of those who introduced Hinduism in America.