Yogi’s amazing spiritual journey

Anecdotes and tales of the fantastic and the incredible mark the life of an unusual spiritual guru.

BOOK REVIEW

(Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda) In 1986, I met a man who changed my life significantly. He was someone who had brought spiritual nourishment to North America because his guru told him to make that journey to the continent because his new home had prayed for spiritual guidance.

The only issue about my encounter with Yogananda was that he had died in 1952. I had actually “met” him through his most famous book, “Autobiography of a Yogi”.

When the book found me, I was at a stage in my life when I was searching the universe for answers to some bewildering eternal mysteries.

Initially, when I read the first few chapters of Yogananda’s book, I wasn’t sure if the writer was a real person or a fictionalised character. Some of the happenings which Yogananda mentioned in his book were incredible.

But I kept reminding myself that in order to learn anything new, one mustn’t close the doors to one’s mind. Like a parachute, so the famous saying goes, it works best when it is open.

Yogananda’s spiritual quest began at a very early age. Unlike other children of his age, the boy asked searching questions of which the answers always eluded him.

Then at the age of 17 in 1910, he finally met his guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri. It was supposedly a meeting that had undergone various phases in several lifetimes.

Yogananda describes it in his book:
“We entered a oneness of silence; words seemed the rankest superfluities. Eloquence flowed in soundless chant from heart of master to disciple. With an antenna of irrefragable insight I sensed that my guru knew God, and would lead me to Him. The obscuration of this life disappeared in a fragile dawn of prenatal memories.”

Exceptional figure

At 27 on the request of his guru Sri Yukteswar, Yogananda travelled to America. Then for the next 32 years, he lectured and taught Kriya Yoga and meditation to Americans who hungered for the kind of spiritualism that was uncommon in their own land.

From a picture in the book, Sri Yukteswar looked like Moses of the Ten Commandments or maybe the actor Charlton Heston.

Yukteswar’s guru, Mahavatar Babaji, was even a more exceptional figure. He seemed to travel through dimensions like how ordinary people cross the highways.

Loosely translated, Mahavatar Babaji means “Revered Father the Great Avatar”. In his book, Yogananda gave an account of meeting a very young man who showed up at his house whom he later learnt was his guru’s guru.

“Autobiography of a Yogi” is filled with anecdotes and tales of the fantastic and the incredible. A normal person may at times find some of the revelations incredulous, may be even ludicrous but Yogananda didn’t seem to be the kind of man who told tall tales.

In his explanation of Kriya Yoga, Yogananda states:
“Kriya Yoga is a simple, psychophysiological method by which the human blood is decarbonised and recharged with oxygen. The atoms of this extra oxygen are transmuted into life current to rejuvenate the brain and spinal centres.

“By stopping the accumulation of venous blood, the yogi is able to lessen or prevent the decay of tissues; the advanced yogi transmutes his cells into pure energy. Elijah, Jesus, Kabir and other prophets were past masters in the use of Kriya or a similar technique, by which they caused their bodies to dematerialise at will.

“Kriya is an ancient science. Lahiri Mahasaya received it from his guru, Babaji, who rediscovered and clarified the technique after it had been lost in the Dark Ages.

“The Kriya Yoga which I am giving to the world through you in this 19th century,” Babaji told Lahiri Mahasaya, “is a revival of the same science which Krishna gave, millenniums ago, to Arjuna, and which was later known to Patanjali, and to Christ, St John, St Paul, and other disciples.”

Twilight zone
A reader who has a low tolerance for the unimaginable may languish in the twilight zone of ignorance when he reads those words but Yogananda proved the truth of his teachings upon his death.

Twenty days after Yogananda passed away on March 7, 1952 at the age of 59, his body was found to be absent of any signs of decay.

There was “no indication of mold was visible on his skin, and no visible drying up took place in the bodily tissues. This state of perfect preservation of a body is, so far as we know from mortuary annals, an unparalleled one…. No odor of decay emanated from his body at any time”.

The statement was contained in a letter from Harry T Rowe, Los Angeles Mortuary director of the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California, where Yogananda’s body was embalmed.

In his lifetime, Yogananda came across some of history’s most famous saints. They included the German Catholic mystic Therese Neumann and Hindu saint Sri Anandamoyi Ma. He also met Mahatma Gandhi and poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore.

“Autobiography of a Yogi” was published in 1946 and has since been translated into 25 languages. Its worldwide sales have exceeded more than a million copies.

In 1999, a panel of inspirational leaders and theologians concluded that Yogananda’s “Autobiography of a Yogi” is “one of the 100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century”.

Through the decades, I have returned to this book on numerous occasions to remind myself that if and when mankind faces its darkest hour, there will always be an inextinguishable light that shines brightly from the realm of eternity to guide ordinary mortals safely across the stormy waters.

European cult that mixes yoga with sex sets up base in Tamil Nadu

A team of seven Misa teachers, nationals of Denmark and Romania, is now in Chennai for a special camp, titled 'Tantra-The Path of Love'. A majority of them, including the lead couple Mihai Stoian and Adina Stoian, have starred in porn movies.

CHENNAI: A European cult that mixes yoga with sex and pornography has been found to be operating out of Chennai.

Training nearly 100 youngsters in yoga and 'tantric love' at a rented house in Chokalingam Nagar, Teynampet, for more than two years now, the Movement for Spiritual Integration in Absolute (Misa) is trying to spread across the country, investigations by TOI have revealed.

A team of seven Misa teachers, nationals of Denmark and Romania, is now in the city for a special camp, titled 'Tantra — The Path of Love'. A majority of them, including the lead couple Mihai Stoian and Adina Stoian, have starred in porn movies produced by Copenhagen-based production house Sublime Erotica, which the Misa group has close ties with. Misa operates under different names in different countries. It is Natha in Denmark, Tara in the US and Satya in India.

TOI is in possession of videos that show the yoga teachers, now in India, in explicit sexual acts. Misa's supreme guru, a Romanian called Gregorian Bivolaru, has been jailed on several charges, including pornography, and is now said to have taken political asylum in Sweden.

When asked about the videos, Mihai, the 42-year-old Romanian national who heads Misa activities in the absence of Bivolaru, said it was an experiment in spreading the group's philosophy and practice. "For many, sexuality stems from desire. We want to spread the message that it is a divine integration of masculinity and femininity to attain spirituality," he told TOI at the camp being organised at a private club in Nungambakkam.

Other Misa teachers who figure in porn videos and now in Chennai are Ulrik Lishoj (Denmark), Simona Colesniuc (Romania) and Nicole Markus (Romania).

The foreigners' regional registration office said that as these people were on visit visas, they are not allowed to teach yoga or do any such job, but the 'teachers' have an argument. "We are only volunteers. The yoga centre is registered under a trust represented by Indians," said Angela Oestergaard, a 35-year-old Danish woman who manages Chennai Satya Esoteric Integral Yoga at Teynampet.

'Tantra', as an ancient philosophy and practice, has different definitions. The blurb of MISA's controversial guru Bivolaru's unpublished book The Secret Tantric Path of Love has this to say: Have you ever dreamed of or aspired to make love intensely, profoundly and frantically with your beloved woman for even ten hours in a row? This book reveals a host of such secret methods in a clear and accessible language, if you allow yourself to be guided by the personal experience of the author.

Mihai, with a salt-pepper beard and dressed in a yellow cotton shirt and trousers, doesn't quite look a yogi. But, for his disciples — he claims there are 40,000 of them in 30 countries — he is much more than that. He is a scientist (a nuclear scientist-turned-researcher in artificial intelligence, he says), philosopher and guru who teaches sexual continence as the panacea for all relationship problems. Don't mistake this continence for abstention-Misa believes sexual continence is the ability to have orgasms at will, minus the ejaculation. "It's perfect for India." Stoian says, "You can bring down the population growth without any contraceptive!"

But that's not what he teaches at the Satya Yoga centre. It's about the coming together of the masculine and the feminine, Siva and Sakthi to attain supreme spirituality.

Do their Indian students know about their other life? Yes and no. "I don't know if they have done such videos, but what they do in their country doesn't bother me," says Rajesh Shah (45), a manager with an engineering firm in Chennai. "Two years of learning here has made me more energetic, creative and innovative in all spheres of life." Another student, Sanjai Jain (42), a jeweller, says he has heard of the videos, but not viewed them. "Every famous person faces such allegations," he says.

With such confidence in their students, Satya Yoga has ambitious plans in India. "We are blending ancient knowledge with modern science. The Indian potential is big. There is a big need for such a comprehensive approach on spirituality. In five years, there will be hundreds of thousands of our students in India," says Mihai, who will be flying out of the country next week. His team of seven teachers will accompany him abroad, while a few other foreigners would stay back to train Indian students.

Sai Baba to be buried on Wednesday, 5 Lakh expected for funeral

PUTTAPARTHI: One of India's most revered spiritual leaders with a following of kings and commoners alike, Sri Sathya Sai Baba, passed away on Sunday morning at 7:40 am of cardio-respiratory failure at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences here. He was 85.

Sai Baba's death was announced at 10.15 am by hospital director Dr A N Safaya, who said, "Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is no more with us physically. He left his earthly body on April 24, 2011, at 7.40 am due to cardio-respiratory failure." He was admitted to the hospital 28 days ago with cardiac problems and his condition deteriorated with many of his organs failing.

The Baba's body will lie in state at Sai Kulwant Hall in Prasanthi Nilayam Ashram until Tuesday for his devotees and followers to have a last darshan. He will then be buried close to his Yajur Mandir residence on Wednesday in line with the practice adopted for Hindu spiritual leaders. Sanyasis are said to symbolically submit their bodies to fire at the time of renunciation by donning saffron or flame-coloured robes.

"The exact time of burial will be announced later," said Andhra's industries minister Geeta Reddy. Five lakh people are expected for the funeral that will include national and international dignitaries.

Before announcing Sai Baba's demise, the police ordered a complete shutdown of Puttaparthi. All shops were closed and roads barricaded. Those arriving from Bangalore (barring mediapersons and government officials) had to stop 8km out of town.

"His body was wrapped in orange clothes and covered up to the eyes. Nobody uttered a word. Everybody wept," said Sai Kumar, 33, a local businessman and a devotee. "I spoke to him on March 18 for two minutes and took his photograph," he said, tears rolling down his cheeks.

At 3 pm, the body was shifted to Sri Kulwant Hall in Prasanthi Nilayam (the highest abode of peace), where Sathya Sai Baba gave discourses and met devotees daily for over four decades.

Sathya Sai Baba death: Thousands throng Prashanthi Nilayam

PUTTAPARTHI: Thousands of devotees thronged the Prashanthi Nilayam ashram in Puttaparthi to pay homage to Sri Sathya Sai Baba, the godman who breathed his last in the wee hours of Sunday. By evening, the crowds swelled as Sai Baba's mortal remains were brought to the ashram from the nearby hospital. The body of Sai Baba was kept for "darshan" for the devotees to catch a last glimpse of their spiritual guru.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Reddy, BJP President Nitin Gadkari, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and TDP president Chandrababu Naidu were among the thousands of devotees who came to Puttaparthi on Sunday. Sachin Tendulkar , a known Sai Baba devotee, is also likely to arrive on Monday to pay homage.

A four-day state mourning has been declared in Andhra Pradesh. A day's holiday has been declared in the district of Anantpur.People from all over the country and all walks of life came down to watch Sai Baba in his resting place. Amid the crowd was middle-aged Mushtaq Ahmed, a Sai Baba devotee and a 'refugee' from Kashmir.

In the early nineties, when the Kashmir problem was at its peak, a group of people left the state in search of a new home. Mushtaq was one among them. "We came to know of the place through newspapers," Mushtaq told ET.

"When we couldn't not live in Kashmir any longer, we left. We ended up settling here after many months of searching," he added. Mushtaq and a group of about 100 people from Kashmir run shops and small businesses in Puttaparthi. "Most of our families are here and we visit the valley more often these days," he adds. Mushtaq strikes an honest chord when he says that the benefit for him here has been two-fold. "We grew spiritually and we could feed our families," he says.
Twenty seven-year old M Subramanian, a barber from Bagepalli claims to have had visions of Sai Baba in his dreams about a year back when his wife Usha was pregnant.

"Baba came in my dreams for three days continuously and said he will be born again. He told me that he will take his third avatar to battle the evils in the new era," says Subramanian.

Anant Maheshwari, a student who studied at the Sri Sathya Sai Baba higher secondary school from 1989 to 1995 and works as a finance professional in Bangalore, says, "There have been many instances where I have felt grateful to Baba. Though I don't have any personal experiences that stand out, the trust has helped me and my family for at least three generations to get better education," he said.

Sai Baba's body will be at the ashram for public viewing for the next two days. The burial is likely to be held on Wednesday morning.