Yogananda Podcast

Life in Sri Yukteswar's hermitage for Mukunda (Paramahansa Yogananda) was hard work! In this episode we discuss what it would have been like to live the brahmacharya life of an aspiring yogi, striving to know God. Even though Sri Yukteswar had a disciplinarian style of teaching, there were plenty of fascinating stories over the ten-year period Mukunda spent in the hermitage, till the time he joined the ancient swami order.

0:00 Priyank's pilgrimage;

1:24 Summary of minute;

3:26 Joy giving chores;

9:27 Sri Yukteswar's style of training;

15:30 Pictures used in the minute;

19:27 What was Sri Yukteswar like?;

29:50 Meditating in strange places and moments;

36:56 Our favourite elements of the training Guruji received;

51:10 The condition Guruji places on Sri Yukteswar. 

Priyank's pilgrimage vlogs:

https://fb.watch/bEG6tF37G3/

https://fb.watch/bEG7QHS2mj/

This minute focusses on the significance of Mukunda's meeting with Swami Sri Yukteswar and what why it is so important to have a God realized Master when we're looking for God. Our guest Mohit gives us an interesting perspective, as a YSS devotee in India, that moved to the west. There are interesting revelations about Banyan trees, thorns and the relationship between the river ganga water flow and the flow prana in the spine. Paramahansa Yogananda and Sri Yukteswar's relationship is discussed in more detail in Minute 27. 

1:13 Meet Mohit;

12:40 Summary of Minute;

13:24 “Oh my own“;

18:33 Why didn't Awake use the same words as In AoY;

22:07 Spiritual significance of The Ganges;

29:42 Spiritual significance of Banyan Tree;

35:53 A Sadhguru's unconditional love;

45:25 Lord of the Rings and the quest for the spiritual treasure;

50:17 Being with the heart centre: Anahata Chakra;

54:15 Guru-Disciple-Guru Relationship.

This minute depicts the monumental moment from the life of Paramahansa Yogananda: the meeting with his Guru Sri Yukteswar. We take the time to really set the scene to ensure maximum impact: discuss his difficult time in the ashram with Swami Dayananda, the receipt and disappearance of mysterious astral Amulet. The artistic cinematography of that moment is discussed, and the reasons for the intriguing omission of certain elements from the Autobiography vs the film.

Have you ever had a sign, a sign that tells you the way you should go at certain pivotal moments of your life? We pondered this Alchemist-esque metaphysical conundrum.

0:59 Summary of the minute;

2:02 The Amulet;

13:08 Mukunda's experiences at Dyananda's Mahamandal ashram;

21:17 Guruji's state of mind before meeting his Guru;

28:16 Which way should you go in life?;

46:44 The fabled meeting;

52:34 What is the promise?;

56:09 Recognising past acquaintances;

59:59 Om;

1:04:35 Meditation posture and flow of energy.

In this special episode we welcome subject matter experts: Walter Cruttenden and Donna Nairi. Walter and Donna are fellow devotees, who share passion for the scientific and metaphysical exploration of the Yugas.

We discuss the spiritual implications of Sri Yukteswar’s famed hypothesis on the correct length of the Yugas, compare this with other traditions (including mainstream Hinduism which is convinced we are still in Kali Yuga and will continue to be so for another few hundred thousand years) and the implications of being in Dwapara 321 (dating system [for 2021] as defined in The Holy Science — published by Self-Realization Fellowship SRF) for humanity at large.

0:00 Meet Walter Cruttenden and Donna Nairi;

10:27 The purpose of this Yugas discussion;

18:55 Where is our binary star;

22:53 What would it mean to confirm Sri Yukteswar's theory?;

30:01 Which Yuga are we in now and what can we expect for the future?;

32:44 How the theory of evolution is holding us back;

35:51 How advanced were the peoples of the higher ages?;

46:59 Why Kriya is so important, for any age;

50:40 Sir Walter Scott, Love Rules;

53:38 Will Astronomy catch up with Sri Yukteswar in our lifetime;

55:44 Extra Terrestrials in the room;  

57:28 A new fiction film Walter and Donna are working on.

Walter Cruttenden is a fintech founder, and a writer on the topics of history and astronomy. He produced the film The Great Year, by itself a phenomenal contribution to the Yugas debate.

For more information please see http://binaryresearchinstitute.com/ Walter Cruttenden emailed us the following further reflections:

Following up on our conversation yesterday I just saw this article at Physics.org where several very smart scientists are trying to explain why human brain size, first increased, and more recently decreased! This finding runs contrary to their belief that mankind is now at the pinnacle of evolution. 

"Most people are aware that humans have unusually large brains—significantly larger than predicted from our body size. In our deep evolutionary history, human brain size dramatically increased," said Traniello. "The reduction in human brain size 3,000 years ago was unexpected."

The interesting point to me is because modern science does not recognize the Yuga effects, they need another way to explain the “mystery” of why brain size changes. Alas, with a proper knowledge of the Yugas, as explained by Sri Yukteswar, the “mystery" is very easy to understand. No new theories required!

Life is fascinating! Please pass this on to your partners. Let’s all keep in touch. 

PS. Here is the link: https://phys.org/news/2021-10-human-brains-decrease-size-years.html

After the tragic death his mother — Gyan Prabha Ghosh, Mukunda (Paramahansa Yogananda) finds himself occupied with the search for his Guru. Joined in this episode by our friend, Mark, we discuss each individual's unique journey to find their guru, sharing stories of our own experiences, as well as what it means to recognise people from past lives.

1:41 Meet Mark;

10:03 Summary of minute;

12:36 Cracking open the door;

22:13 Choice vs Mission, this Hospital Pass;

31:47 Why run away to the Himalayas?;

37:17 To seek, discover and accept a Guru;

1:00:47 What does a Guru look like?;

1:06:11 Recognising  past life acquaintances.

Minute 22 goes straight to Divine Mother. We analyse how she responds, so sweetly, to Mukunda (Paramahansa Yogananda). When reviewing the tiger story from the minute we can’t help but debate the difference between dreams and reality. What is the purpose of the dream death? Mike is convinced that he is not actually dreaming, but how can we be sure? We can’t help but bring into the dialogue current films that have shaped the imagination of many into a spiritual search: The Matrix and Inception.

1:22 Minute Summary;

2:18 Planning for Ananta's wedding;

6:14 Divine Mother becomes manifest for Mukunda;

12:17 Personifications of Divine Mother in India;

18:06 Tiger nightmares and dreams;

35:16 Inception and consciousness;

42:25 Kali ma and other Divine Mother forms;

45:18 The purpose of death.

Link discussed in this minute:

Sangita Yoga Blog

Stewart joins us from Glasgow and shares his unique insight into all things in Minute 21. We discuss the psyche of the young Mukunda, to understand the emotional pangs that are featured in the minute, with material from biographies that you may not have heard before. We take a deep dive into esoteric matters such as death, cremations, burials and resurrection (in particular of Sri Yukteswar). We also discuss why Paramahansa Yogananda favoured the divine mother form of God and how we connect with her just as he did.

1:00 Meet Stewart;

5:54 Summary of the minute;

7:14 The psyche of the boy Mukunda Lal Ghosh;

19:36 Teenage Mukunda starts a how-to-live school;

24:47 Death and the Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar;

28:48 Sorrow and The Lion King;

39:24 Cremations vs burials and Samadhistan;

48:39 Cosmic Mother and her Universality.

In this minute, Chris, Mike and Priyank discuss a big event in Paramahansa Yogananda's youth, the sudden passing of his mother. Minute 20 breaks into this event in artistic flair, we cover the topics of Indian weddings, SRF weddings, visions and share some personal soul-shaking experiences which turn our minds to God and Guru.

2:20 Summary of minute;

4:44 Mukunda's reaction to his mother passing;

11:39 Mukunda's visions and a Hospital Pass;

23:29 Dealing with tragedies.

We welcome Pablo, from Le Paris, as we grapple with timeless question: what is the meaning of life. Paramahansa Yogananda also had to search, even though he was an avatar, born realised. Mas Vidal tells us that we have to be shaken to awaken our desire to know the ultimate truth. Did you know that the human body is potentially infinite? We discuss what this means and what ramification this has on our life.

0:00 Meet Pablo;

11:20 Summary of minute;

13:48 Potential of the body;

27:49 Motion picture of life and Hospital Pass definition;

39:38 Purpose;

43:51 Differences between God and Gurus;

47:45 Yogananda's voice;

50:10 Mas Vidal and the doors of perception;

1:03:25 Cremations.

Cosmic Chant: In the Valley of Sorrow:

https://youtu.be/eyeRsYN-9HE

We discuss how well the science of Kriya Yoga as taught by Paramahansa Yogananda resonates with the current state of consciousness in humanity today. The weight of religion and dogma looms heavily and provides a stark contrast to empirical process of meditation and related practices.   

Anita Goel offers a fantastic opportunity for the audience to delve into the frangible link between biology and physics. In this minute she provides a profound description of the relationship between individual consciousness and cosmic consciousness. We discuss how the movie touches on her research interests: reading and writing DNA. The latter is on the frontier of scientific research but yogis have been practicing this metaphysical science for countless millennia. 

1:07 Summary of minute;

2:38 God as energy;

9:57 Empiricising the meditation process;

18:50 Fasting;

29:50 Anita Goel, Healing and a Hospital Pass;

45:18 Guruji's teaching and language is for this time;

52:20 Connecting our limited consciousness and the larger consciousness;

57:08 Who is Brother Chidananda.  

Research articles on fasting: 

https://orthochristian.com/97617.html; 

https://zerocarbzen.com/dry-fasting/;

Anita Goel video:

https://youtu.be/uSEQUdlovbs?t=187