Kriyaban

"Will you give me the same unconditional love?"
In Benares, after their first encounter, Sri Yukteswar asks Mukunda to promise him an eternal love and confides in him a lifelong request.

"Will you give me the same unconditional love?"
Chapter X · "I meet my master, Sri Yukteswar"

After the first miraculous encounter in the alley of Benares, Sri Yukteswar leads young Mukunda to his temporary residence, on a stone balcony overlooking the Ganges. There he offers him words that will mark the relationship between the two for the rest of their lives: he gives him his unconditional love and asks him, with the innocence of a child, whether the disciple will reciprocate in the same way. Mukunda promises to love him eternally. The master then adds a moving request: if he ever sees him fall from the state of divine realization, he should place his head on the master's knees and help him return to the Cosmic Beloved.

Mukunda meditating in the attic
In a small attic of the family home at 4 Gurpar Road, young Mukunda gave himself to his sadhana and prepared his mind for the search for God.

Mukunda meditating in the attic
The attic of the Gurpar Road house · The setting of his Sadhana

In the family home at 4 Gurpar Road, in Calcutta, a small attic became the retreat of young Mukunda —the future Paramahansa Yogananda—. There, before the photograph of Lahiri Mahasaya, he gave himself to his meditation practices and prepared his mind for the search for God. That attic was the setting for so many scenes of his turbulent sadhana: in it he wept until he felt utterly transformed, "as if he had used a chemical cleanser," when all his family and worldly attachments dissolved and his resolve to seek God set firm as granite. It was also from its window that, one rainy morning, he threw the bundle with his blanket, his sandals, the Bhagavad Gita, a rosary and the portrait of his guru, before his interrupted flight toward the Himalayas. And it would be in that same corner that, years later, one of his greatest experiences of cosmic consciousness would come upon him.

Interrupted flight toward the Himalayas
Young Mukunda tries to escape to the Himalayas with his friend Amar Mitter and throws his luggage out the third-floor window.

Interrupted flight toward the Himalayas
Chapter IV · "Interrupted flight toward the Himalayas"

Determined to escape to the Himalayas in search of his master, young Mukunda wraps in a blanket a few essential belongings: a photograph of Lahiri Mahasaya, a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, a rosary, sandals and loincloths. He throws the bundle out the window of the third-floor attic of the family home in Calcutta and runs down the staircase. He stumbles into his uncle at the door and manages to discreetly pick up the luggage in the alley. The adventure —which will include European disguises and train tickets— will finally be frustrated, but it is one of the first vivid images of his spiritual quest.

I see my Guru for the first time
In a modest alley of Benares, Mukunda sees at its end the figure of the master he had seen thousands of times in his visions.

I see my Guru for the first time
Chapter X · "I meet my master, Sri Yukteswar"

Sent by a young clergyman to a market in the Bengali quarter of Benares, Mukunda crosses the colorful bustle of the street. Turning his head as he passes a modest alley, he sees at its end, motionless, a man in the ochre robe of the swamis. The figure feels strangely familiar to him. After walking a few steps away, he feels his feet grow heavy as stone and cannot continue. He leaves the packages in the arms of his surprised companion and runs back. Upon reaching the master's feet, he recognizes in him the face he had seen thousands of times in his visions. It is Sri Yukteswar, who has been waiting for him for years.

The resurrection at the Regent Hotel
Three months after his mahasamadhi, Sri Yukteswar appears to Yogananda in Bombay and describes the astral planet Hiranyaloka.

The resurrection at the Regent Hotel
Chapter XLIII · "The resurrection of Sri Yukteswar"

Three months after the master's passing in Puri, Yogananda is meditating in his room at the Regent Hotel in Bombay. At three in the afternoon on June 19, 1936, a week after having had a vision of Krishna, the room fills with a beatific light and Sri Yukteswar appears before him in flesh and blood. Yogananda breaks the usual protocol: instead of kneeling, he runs to embrace him. The master explains that he has resurrected on an astral planet called Hiranyaloka with a body formed from cosmic atoms, and for two hours he reveals to him the secrets of the astral and causal worlds.

With the Mahatma at the Wardha ashram
In August 1935, Yogananda visits Gandhi at Wardha. They share simple meals, meditations and long conversations on religion.

With the Mahatma at the Wardha ashram
Chapter XLIV · "With Mahatma Gandhi at Wardha"

In August 1935, Yogananda visits Mahatma Gandhi's ashram at Wardha. Although it is their first personal encounter, both look at each other with affection: Gandhi had already visited the Ranchi school years earlier and had left a tribute in the visitors' book. The small saint, dressed only in a loincloth as a symbol of unity with the humble masses of India, hands him a written note of welcome. They share simple meals, meditations on the rooftop at sunset and long conversations on religion, India and the West. Gandhi asks Yogananda to initiate him in Kriya Yoga.

The cave of past lives
Babaji leads Lahiri to a grotto that had been his home in a previous life; there the re-initiation into Kriya Yoga begins.

The cave of past lives
Chapter XXXIV · "Materialization of a palace in the Himalayas"

After Babaji's first appearance on Drongiri mountain, the immortal guru leads Lahiri Mahasaya to a small grotto containing wool blankets and beggar's bowls. He points to a folded blanket in a corner and asks if he recognizes that seat. Upon gently placing his hand on his forehead, Lahiri suddenly remembers that in his previous life he had inhabited that same cave for many years. Babaji confides that he had kept it clean and prepared, awaiting his return for more than three decades. It is there, next to the Gogash river, where Lahiri's re-initiation into Kriya Yoga and the reunion between master and disciple begins.

Glimpses of America
At the Ranchi school, Yogananda meditates and sees a vast multitude of Western faces pass across the stage of his consciousness.

Glimpses of America
Chapter XXXVII · "I go to America"

Seeking a moment of retreat away from the new students of the Ranchi school, Yogananda sits to meditate behind some dusty boxes in a basement. During the meditation, a panoramic vision of places and people of America unfolds before his eyes. Certainty comes to him instantly: the Lord is calling him to travel. When the basement door opens and a child discovers him, Yogananda cheerfully announces that he will set out to discover America like a new Christopher Columbus. Hours later he takes the train to Calcutta.

Lahiri Mahasaya blesses Mukunda (Paramahansa Yogananda)
As an infant, Mukunda is brought before Lahiri Mahasaya, who blesses him and announces his destiny as a yogi.

Lahiri Mahasaya blesses Mukunda (Paramahansa Yogananda)
Chapter II · "My mother's death and the mystic amulet"

In the posthumous message that Mukunda's mother has delivered to him after her death, she recalls a decisive episode from the child's earliest years. When he was still an infant in arms, she took him to Lahiri Mahasaya's house in Benares. Almost hidden among the multitude of disciples, she silently asked that the master notice them. Lahiri opened his eyes, motioned for the mother to approach, sat the child on his lap and placed his hand on his forehead as a spiritual baptism. He then announced that that child would be a yogi and that, like a spiritual locomotive, he would lead many souls to God's Kingdom.

Dawn walks by the Ganges
Master and disciple walking together at daybreak along the banks of the Ganges after the morning samadhi.

Dawn walks by the Ganges
Chapter XII · "Years in my master's hermitage"

Every morning, after Sri Yukteswar came out of his deep samadhi, master and disciple would embark together on a long walk along the banks of the Ganges before breakfast. Yogananda remembers these walks as one of the most vivid images of his life in Serampore: the early sun warming the river, the master's resonant, rich voice imparting wisdom with the authenticity of realization. Many of the long philosophical conversations that stretched through the entire night ended with the master's exclamation upon seeing the dawn: it was time to rise and walk to the river.

Mukunda (Paramahansa Yogananda) and his mother, praying to Lahiri
The daily meditations of little Mukunda with his mother before Lahiri Mahasaya's photograph that presided over the family altar.

Mukunda (Paramahansa Yogananda) and his mother, praying to Lahiri
Chapter I · "My parents and early life"

On the family altar, the photograph of Lahiri Mahasaya —given to the father by the master himself— presided over the spiritual life of the home in every city where the family lived. Many mornings and nights found little Mukunda and his mother meditating together before this small improvised shrine, offering flowers infused with sandalwood paste and incense. The child recounts how, during these meditations, he frequently saw the guru's image emerge from its frame and take living form before him. It is also his mother who, when he falls gravely ill with cholera, makes him look at the portrait: a resplendent light heals him instantly.

The master on the tiger skin
The first image of Sri Yukteswar in his Serampore hermitage, seated on the skin that accompanied him throughout his monastic life.

The master on the tiger skin
Chapter XII · "Years in my master's hermitage"

The first image Yogananda receives of his guru upon arriving at the Serampore hermitage is that of Sri Yukteswar seated on a tiger skin in the antechamber of the balcony. From that seat —which was also his usual place for meditation and for conversing with disciples at night— he directed the life of the hermitage with a serene voice. The tiger skin accompanied the master for practically all of his monastic life and becomes, throughout the book, the visual symbol of the guru's seat.

The snores of the master
A tender and humorous contrast between Yukteswar's deep sleep and his instant awakening into yogic samadhi.

The snores of the master
Chapter XII · "Years in my master's hermitage"

Yogananda recounts that it was easy to know when his master woke up: when his deep snores suddenly ceased. One or two sighs, a small movement, and then a total silence of breath; then Sri Yukteswar entered yogic samadhi. The scene is told with humor and tenderness, presenting the contrast between the apparent relaxation of sleep and the extreme discipline of the yogi's awakened consciousness. Yogananda slept very close to him, on a narrow cot, as part of his daily life in the hermitage.

The kite of the Divine Mother
On a balcony in Lahore, little Mukunda silently asks the Divine Mother for both kites and receives them.

The kite of the Divine Mother
Chapter I · "My parents and early life"

In Lahore, on the balcony of the family home, little Mukunda watches with his sister Uma as two paper kites battle over the rooftops. Uma teases him when her brother tells her that the Divine Mother could grant him any wish. Mukunda then silently asks that both kites fall into his hands. Shortly after, both are cut down, and a cactus on the rooftop opposite miraculously catches the strings, allowing him to collect them. His sister, frightened, runs off. It is one of the first experiences of answered faith in the child's life.

The inherited silver talisman
An unknown sadhu announces to Mukunda's mother that an amulet will materialize to be delivered to her son.

The inherited silver talisman
Chapter II · "My mother's death and the mystic amulet"

While the family is in Lahore, an unknown sadhu asks to see Mukunda's mother. He announces that her life on earth will be short and that she must safeguard a silver amulet that will materialize in her hands during the following night's meditation. He also indicates that, upon her death, she must pass it to her eldest son and, after one year, deliver it to Mukunda. Everything happens as foretold. The talisman, covered with Sanskrit characters, comes into young Yogananda's hands after his mother's death and awakens in him memories of past lives.

Two disciples of the same guru
The deep esteem between Sri Yukteswar and Yogananda's father, both disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya.

Two disciples of the same guru
Chapter XII · "Years in my master's hermitage"

Sri Yukteswar used to hold Yogananda's father —Bhagabati Charan Ghosh— as an example of a well-organized and balanced life. Both had been disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya and deeply appreciated each other. On one occasion, when the father visits the hermitage hoping to hear praise about his son, Sri Yukteswar solemnly enumerates a list of the young man's small imperfections; the father runs off to tell him between tears and laughter. The scene reveals the solid spiritual closeness between the two older men and the master's formative style, without flattery.

The first encounter with Babaji at the Kumbha Mela
At the Kumbha Mela of Allahabad (1894), Sri Yukteswar is called before a radiant guru beneath a tree: it is Babaji, who foretells his mission toward the West.

The first encounter with Babaji at the Kumbha Mela
Chapter XXXVI · "Babaji's Interest in the West"

On a quiet summer night in Serampore, Sri Yukteswar told Yogananda that he had been blessed three times with the sight of the deathless guru, and that his first encounter took place at the Kumbha Mela of Allahabad, in January 1894. He was not yet a swami, but he had already received Kriya from Lahiri Mahasaya, who urged him to attend. Overwhelmed by the throng and somewhat disillusioned —"this fair is nothing but a chaos of noise and beggars"—, he was crossing a bridge by the Ganges when a tall sannyasi stopped him: "Sir, a saint is calling you". He followed him to a tree in whose shade sat a guru of radiant presence, with dark, shining eyes: it was Babaji. Reading his thoughts, Babaji praised his interest in the West and charged him that East and West should together establish a "golden middle path" of activity and spirituality. "Within a few years I will send you a disciple in yoga to spread this teaching in the West", he promised. Years later, Sri Yukteswar would turn to Yogananda himself and say: "You are the disciple Babaji promised to send me".

The Tiger Swami
Before becoming a monk, Swami Sohong fought real Bengal tigers with his bare fists; a fulfilled prophecy would lead him from the cage to the spiritual path.

The Tiger Swami
Chapter VI · "The Tiger Swami"

Moved by ardent youthful enthusiasm, Mukunda and his friend Chandi search in Bhowanipur, on the outskirts of Calcutta, for a saint who in his premonastic life hunted and fought tigers with his bare hands. After a long wait —a test of patience—, they find Swami Sohong seated on his bed: a colossal body, with enormous biceps, naked save for a tiger skin at his waist and a gaze at once of dove and tiger. "For me it is nothing to master tigers," he tells them. He confesses that his body was weak at first, and that only his indomitable persistence in thoughts of strength transformed him; there are, he adds, many kinds of tigers, and those that roam the jungles of human desires are the ones truly worth conquering. Intoxicated by fame, he had ignored the warning a saint sent through his father: if he did not stop, a tiger would cause him terrible wounds and six months of grave illness, after which he would become a monk. The prophecy was fulfilled to the letter in the arena of Cooch Behar, before the ferocious Raja-Begum. Healed at last, the invincible tamer traded the cage for the spiritual path when his guru came to tell him: "You have tamed enough tigers; come with me, and I will teach you to subdue the beasts of ignorance that roam the jungles of the human mind."

The Levitating Saint
Bhaduri Mahasaya, secluded in his room on the Upper Circular Road, masters the pranayamas of Patanjali's eightfold yoga until his body loses density and levitates in meditation.

The Levitating Saint
Chapter VII · "The Levitating Saint"

A friend tells Mukunda that he has seen a yogi hold himself in the air, several spans above the ground; he guesses the name at once: Bhaduri Mahasaya, the saint of the Upper Circular Road, whose house he often visits. A consummate master of the pranayamas of Patanjali's eightfold yoga, on one occasion he performed Bhastrika Pranayama before him with such force that a storm seemed to break loose in the room; then he stilled the breath and remained motionless in a high state of superconsciousness, leaving an unforgettable aura of peace. As the body loses density after certain pranayamas, the yogi can levitate. Secluded indoors for twenty years, he goes out to the sidewalk only during the sacred festivals, where the poor await him, for he is famed for his tender heart. Grave by nature yet full of humor —"most people prefer Jala Yoga, union with food, to Dhyana Yoga, union with God"—, he had renounced a great family fortune since childhood: "I have abandoned a few paltry rupees for a cosmic empire of infinite bliss," he would reply to those who praised his sacrifice. He already corresponded with societies in America interested in yoga and, with prophetic hints, foretold that Yogananda would one day carry India's teachings to the West.

Babaji with his disciples
In the Himalayan passes near Badrinarayan, the deathless Babaji is still alive, moving with his small band of disciples and silently watching over the spiritual evolution of humanity.

Babaji with his disciples
Chapter XXXIII · "Babaji, the Yogi-Christ of Modern India"

In the Himalayan passes near Badrinarayan, the living presence of Babaji still blesses the earth: the secluded master has retained his physical form for centuries, perhaps millennia, showing no sign of age in a body that looks like that of a youth of twenty-five. He moves from peak to peak with a small group of advanced disciples —among them a few accomplished Westerners—, sometimes by astral means and sometimes on foot; when he decides to leave, he utters "Dera danda uthao" ("let us lift camp") and the whole party moves on at once. He rarely eats, and only out of courtesy occasionally accepts fruit or rice; he is seen or recognized only when he himself wishes it. As a Mahavatar, his mission has been to help the prophets carry out their appointed work: he gave yoga initiation to Shankara and to Kabir and, in the nineteenth century, to Lahiri Mahasaya, with whom he revived the nearly lost art of Kriya. Babaji is in constant communion with Christ; together they send out their vibrations of redemption and have planned the spiritual technique of salvation for this age, inspiring nations to banish wars, racial hatreds, sectarianism, and the evils of materialism. His purpose is to spread self-realization through yoga in both East and West, laboring always in obscure and silent humility.

Lahiri is discovered
One night, in her own room, Kashi Moni awakens and sees her husband, Lahiri Mahasaya, suspended in the air in the lotus posture, surrounded by angels who revere him.

Lahiri is discovered
Chapter XXXI · "An Interview with the Sacred Mother"

Many years passed before Kashi Moni came to understand the true divine stature of her husband. One night, in the small room the two shared, she had a vivid dream in which glorious angels floated above her with unimaginable grace; the vision was so real that she awoke to find the room strangely bathed in a dazzling light. Her husband, in the meditative lotus posture, hung suspended in mid-air, surrounded by angels who revered him with joined palms and an attitude of suppliant dignity. Utterly astonished, she believed she was still dreaming, until Lahiri Mahasaya told her: "Woman, you are not dreaming; forget your dream forever." As he descended slowly to the floor, she prostrated at his feet and begged forgiveness for having regarded him as a mere husband, imploring him to accept her as his disciple. From that night on the master never again slept in her room: he remained on the ground floor with his disciples, and offered his consort initiation into Kriya Yoga.

Meditating together
At the Serampore hermitage, Sri Yukteswar would wake before dawn to enter samadhi and devoted the quiet hours of the night to interpreting the Scriptures and guiding the meditation of his disciples.

Meditating together
Chapter XII · "Years in my master's hermitage"

In the ancestral mansion of Serampore, turned into a hermitage, daily life flowed gently to the rhythm of spiritual discipline. Sri Yukteswar would wake before dawn and, reclining or seated on his bed, enter the state of samadhi; then came the long morning walks along the Ganges, in which his rich, sonorous voice distilled true wisdom. The quiet hours of the night often brought forth his discourses, treasures that defy time, each utterance measured and chiseled, so much so that the young Yogananda was aware of standing before a living manifestation of God. In the peaceful hour of twilight, seated at his feet, the disciple listened as the master incomparably interpreted the ancient texts, and it was not unusual for a philosophical discussion to last until the new dawn. There he imparted to Yogananda the initiation into Kriya Yoga, whose touch opened within his being a great light like the radiance of countless suns burning together. Between meditation and teaching, Sri Yukteswar trained his own to sustain superconsciousness amid every distraction, until sound and sight opened onto worlds more beautiful than the lost Eden.

Yogananda and the child
One of the most beloved images from Paramahansa Yogananda's collection of prints, which many devotees keep on our altar, here recreated and animated with artificial intelligence.

Yogananda and the child
Devotional print from Self-Realization Fellowship · Recreated and animated with artificial intelligence

This is one of the cherished images from the collection of Paramahansa Yogananda prints that Self-Realization Fellowship has preserved over the years, and which so many devotees have longed to keep on our altar as a reminder of the guru's tenderness. In it, the master is seen beside a child, in a serene scene by the river that conveys the sweetness, protection, and unconditional love with which Yogananda welcomed every soul. To give new life to this beloved picture, we have recreated it with artificial intelligence and turned it into a short animated video, in the hope that, seeing it in motion, we may feel even closer the loving presence of our Gurudeva.

The Second Coming of Christ
While dictating his interpretation of the New Testament at Encinitas, Yogananda begged Christ to reveal the true meaning of his words; one night, Jesus appeared to him in a radiant body to confirm it.

The Second Coming of Christ
Chapter XLIX · "The Years 1940-1951"

One of the happiest periods of Paramahansa Yogananda's life passed while he was dictating, for publication in Self-Realization Magazine, his interpretation of a portion of the New Testament. During that time he fervently implored Christ to reveal to him the true meaning of his words, so often misinterpreted over twenty centuries. One night, as he prayed in silence, an opalescent light flooded his study at the Encinitas hermitage and Jesus Christ appeared before him in a radiant body, with the semblance of a young man of about twenty-five, his long hair parted in the middle and encircled by a shining golden halo. From his ever-changing, luminous eyes streamed the wisdom that upholds the countless worlds. A Holy Grail then descended from his mouth to Yogananda's lips and returned to him, and the Master spoke words of such beautiful and personal meaning that the yogi treasured them in the depths of his heart. In them, Christ confirmed that his interpretation of the Scriptures was true, with the moving words: "You have drunk of the same cup from which I drank."