Introduction:
The Autobiography of a Yogi is such a
book that it could be quoted in its entirety
for various purposes, such as exemplary
pieces of literature, to illustrate some
specific point such as the history of
India, or on Guru-disciple relationship.
However, some parts are so specially striking
that they leave a permanent impression
on the heart, mind and soul. Here an attempt
is being made to select these quotations
with subject-wise classification. All
these selections are available on the
internet at various sources.
On Guru-Disciple relationship:
Chapter 1, first line:
"The characteristic features of
Indian culture have long been a search
for ultimate verities and the concomitant
disciple-guru relationship."
Abinash babu, when prevented by Yoganandaji's
father from going to Benares:
"My heart was repeating: 'Lahiri
Mahasaya! I cannot live without seeing
you!"
Chapter 3: Yoganandaji on Swami Pranabananda:
"Inasmuch as I was destined to
undertake my divine search through one
particular guru--Sri Yukteswar, whom I
had not yet met--I felt no inclination
to accept Pranabananda as my teacher.
I glanced at him doubtfully, wondering
if it were he or his counterpart before
me."
On the Importance of a Guru:
Swami Pranabananda:
"I will tell you how priceless
are a guru's help. I used to meditate
with another disciple for eight hours
every night. We had to work at the railway
office during the day. Finding difficulty
in carrying on my clerical duties, I desired
to devote my whole time to God. For eight
years I per¬severed, meditating half
the night. I had wonderful results; tremendous
spiritual perceptions illumined my mind.
But a little veil always remained between
me and the Infinite. Even with superhuman
earnestness, I found the final irrevocable
union to be denied me. One evening I paid
a visit to Lahiri Mahasaya and pleaded
for his divine intercession. My importunities
continued during the entire night............
"Lahiri Mahasaya extended his hand
in a benign gesture.’you may go
now and meditate. I have interceded for
you with Brahma.'
"Immeasurably uplifted, I returned
home. In meditation that night, the burning
Goal of my life was achieved. Now I ceaselessly
enjoy the spiritual pension. Never from
that day has the Blissful Creator remained
hidden from my eyes behind any screen
of delusion." (Ch.3)
Swami Kebalananda:
"An indescribable peace blossomed
within me at the master's glance. I was
permeated with his fragrance, as though
from a lotus of infinity. To be with him,
even without exchanging a word for days,
was experience which changed my entire
being. If any invisible barrier rose in
the path of my concentration, I would
meditate at the guru's feet. There the
most tenuous states came easily within
my grasp. Such perceptions eluded me in
the presence of lesser teachers. The master
was a living temple of God whose secret
doors were open to all disciples through
devotion. (Ch. 4)
Yoganandaji on the importance of a Guru:
"Sri Yukteswar chose the following
morning to grant me his Kriya Yoga initiation.
The technique I had already received from
two disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya--Father
and my tutor, Swami Kebalananda. But Master
possessed a transforming power; at his
touch a great light broke upon my being,
like the glory of countless suns blazing
together. A flood of ineffable bliss over¬whelmed
my heart to an innermost core." (Ch.12)
"I always thrilled at the touch
of Sri Yukteswarji's holy feet. A disciple
is spiritually magnetized by reverent
contact with a master; a subtle current
is generated. The devotee's undesirable
habit-mechanisms in the brain are often
as if cauterized; the grooves of his worldly
tendencies are benefi¬cially disturbed.
Momentarily at least he may find the secret
veils of Maya lifting, and glimpse the
reality of bliss. My whole body responded
with liberating glow whenever I knelt
in the Indian fashion before my guru."
(Ch.12)
" A healing calm descended at the
mere sight of my guru. Each day with him
was a new experience in joy, peace, and
wisdom." (Ch.12)
" A master bestows the divine experience
of cosmic consciousness when the disciple,
by meditation, has strengthened his mind
to a degree where the vast vistas would
not overwhelm him. Mere intellectual willingness
or open-mindedness is not enough. Only
adequate enlargement of consciousness
by yoga practice and devotional bhakti
can prepare one to absorb the liberating
shock of omnipresence." (Ch.14)
Ram Gopal Mazumdar on the importance
of the guru:
"Young yogi, I see you are running
away from your master. He has everything
you need; you should return to him."
(Ch.13)
"As soon as the devotee is willing
to go even to the ends of the earth for
spiritual enlightenment, his guru appears
nearby." (Ch.13)
Ram Gopal: Samadhi is given only by
one's guru:
" `Sir, why don't you grant me
a Samadhi?'
" `Dear One, I would be glad to
convey the divine contact, but it is not
my place to do so.' The saint looked at
me with half closed eyes. `Your master
will bestow that experience on you shortly........'
" (Ch.13)
Yoganandaji's flight to Himalayas:
2.5.1 "I hoped to find, amid the
Himalayan snows, the master whose face
often appeared to me in visions."
(Ch.4)
2.5.2 Ram Gopal to Yoganandaji: ""Mountains
cannot be your guru.....Masters are under
no cosmic compulsion to live on mountains
only.....The Himalayas in India and Tibet
have no monopoly on saints. What one does
not trouble to find within will not be
discovered by transporting the body hither
and yon." (Ch.13)
Yoganandaji's Search:
"I gazed searchingly about me,
on any excursion from home, for the face
of my destined guru. But my path did not
cross his until after the completion of
my high school studies."
Master Mahasaya to Yoganandaji:
" I am not your guru; he shall
come a little later. Through his guidance,
your experiences of the Divine in terms
of love and devotion will be trans¬lated
into his terms of fathomless wisdom."
(Ch.9)
Yoganandaji’s first meeting Swami
Sriyukteswarji.:
" `Gurudeva!' The divine face was
the one I had seen in a thousand visions.
These halcyon eyes, in a leonine head
with pointed beard and flowing locks,
had oft peered though the gloom of my
nocturnal reveries, holding a promise
I had not fully understood." (Ch.10)
Swami Sriyukteswarji’s first words
to Yoganandaji:
"O my own, you have come to me!
How many years I have waited for you!"
(Ch.10)
Yoganandaji's faith in Swami Sriyukteswarji:
"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. Dramatic time!
Past, present, and future are its cycling
scenes. This was not the first sun to
find me at these holy feet!" (Ch.10)
"No other healer (and I had tried
many) had been able to arouse in me such
profound faith." (Ch.12)
Unconditional love:
In the first meeting of Yoganandaji with
his Guru:
Swami Sriyukteswarji: " `I give you
my unconditional love.'
"Precious words! A quarter century
elapsed before I had another auricul¬ar
proof of his love. His lips were strange
to ardor; silence suited his oceanic heart."
" `Will you give me the same unconditional
love? He gazed at me with childlike trust.
" 'I will love you eternally, Gurudeva!'
" ` Ordinary love is selfish, darkly
rooted in desires and satisfac¬tions.
Divine love is without conditions, without
boundary, without change. The flux of
the human heart is gone forever at the
transfixing touch of pure love.' He added
humbly, `If ever you find me falling from
a state of God-realization, please promise
to put my head on your lap and help to
bring me back to the Cosmic Beloved we
both worship.' " (Ch. 10)
Adi Shankaracharya's prayer to the Divine
Mother for forgiveness of sins:
"Though bad sons are many, never
has there been a bad mother." (Ch.10)
Yoganandaji after returning to Sri Yukteswarji
from Ram Gopal's place:
Yoganandaji to Swami Sri Yukteswarji:
"Sir, one hears of divine love
in a vague way, but today I am indeed
having a concrete example of it from your
angelic self! In the world, even a father
does not easily forgive his son if he
leaves his parent's business without warning.
But you show not the slightest vexation,
though you must have been put to great
inconvenience by many unfinished tasks
I left behind."
"We looked into each other's eyes,
where tears were shining. A blissful wave
engulfed me; I was conscious that the
Lord, in the form of my guru, was expanding
the limited ardors of my heart to vast
reaches of cosmic love."(Ch.¬14)
Adi Shankara's words on the Guru:
"No known comparison exists in
the three worlds for a true guru. If the
philosopher's stone be assumed as truly
such, it can only turn iron into gold,
not into another philosopher's stone.
The venerated teacher, on the other hand,
creates equality with himself in the disciple,
who takes refuge at his feet. The guru
is therefore peerless, nay transcendental."
(Ch.10)
Yoganandaji’s first disciple at
Agra:
" `You are my guru.' His eyes sought
mine trustfully. `During my midday devotions,
the blessed Lord Krishna appeared in a
vision. he showed me two forsaken figures
under this very tree. One face was yours,
my master! Often have I seen it in meditation.
What joy if you accept my humble ser¬vices!'
" (Ch.11)
"A guru must be on intimate terms
indeed with the Creator before he can
obligate Him to appear!" (Ch.12)
Yoganandaji on Swami Sriyukteswarji:
"Like a divine mirror, my guru apparently
had caught a reflection of my whole life."
(Ch.10)
"I was conscious always that I was
in the presence of a living manifes¬tation
of God. The weight of his divinity automatically
bowed my head before him." (Ch.12)
"He was incapable of striking a
pose or of flaunting his inner withdraw¬al.
Always one with the Lord, he needed no
separate time for communion. A Self-realized
master has already left behind the steppingstone
of medita¬tion.....But saints often
cling to spiritual forms in order to set
an example for disciples." (Ch.12)
"Master never arrogantly said:
`I prophesy that such and such an event
shall occur!' He would rather hint: `Don't
you think it may happen?' But his simple
speech hid vatic power. There was no recanting;
never did his slightly veiled predictions
prove false." (Ch.12)
"His feet were firm on the earth,
his head in the haven of heaven. practical
people aroused his admiration." (Ch.12)
"His only `marvelous' aura was
that of perfect simplicity. In conver¬sation
he avoided startling references; in action
he was freely expressive." (Ch.12)
"Many disciples have a preconceived
image of a guru, by which they judge his
words and actions. Such persons often
complained that they did not understand
Sri Yukteswar." (Ch.12)
"I was touched at his great respect
for his mother even in her un¬reasonable
moods. She saw him only as her little
boy, not as a sage. There was a charm
about the trifling incident; it supplied
a sidelight on my guru's unusual nature,
inwardly humble and outwardly unbendable."
(Ch.12)
"A brilliant conversationalist,
he enjoyed an exchange of views on countless
topics with his guests. My guru's ready
wit and rollicking laugh enlivened every
discussion. Often grave, Master was never
gloomy. `To seek the Lord, men need not
disfigure their faces, he would say, quoting
from the Bible. `Remember that finding
God will mean the funeral of all sorrows.'
" (Ch.12)
"Amazing it was to find that a
master with such a fiery will could be
so calm within. he fitted the Vedic definition
of a man of God: `Softer than the flower,
when kindness is concerned; stronger than
thunder, when principles are at stake."
(Ch.12)
"Master would never display his
powers when challenged, or for a triviality."
(Ch. 15)
“As I knelt before Sri Yukteswar,
and for the first time heard him pronounce
my new name, my heart overflowed with
gratitude. How lovingly and tirelessly
had he labored, that the boy Mukunda be
someday transformed into the monk Yogananda!”
(Ch. 24)
“Sri Yukteswar showed no special
consideration to those who happened to
be powerful or accomplished; neither did
he slight others for their poverty or
illiteracy. He would listen respectfully
to words of truth from a child, and openly
ignore a conceited pundit.” (Ch.
12)
“His financial independence was
one reason why my alarmingly outspoken
Master was innocent of the cunnings of
diplomacy. Unlike those teachers who have
to flatter their supporters, my guru was
impervious to the influences, open or
subtle, of others' wealth. Never did I
hear him ask or even hint for money for
any purpose. His hermitage training was
given free and freely to all disciples.”
(Ch.12)
Amazing it was to find that a master
with such a fiery will could be so calm
within. He fitted the Vedic definition
of a man of God: "Softer than the
flower, where kindness is concerned; stronger
than the thunder, where principles are
at stake." (Ch. 12)
Master expounded the Christian Bible
with a beautiful clarity. It was from
my Hindu guru, unknown to the roll call
of Christian membership that I learned
to perceive the deathless essence of
the Bible, and to understand the truth
in Christ's assertion-surely the most
thrillingly intransigent ever uttered:
"Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but my words shall not pass away."
(Ch. 16)
Training of a disciple:
On restlessness of the mind:
Yoganandaji to Swami Sri Yukteswarji:
"What can I do with such a master--one
who penetrates my random musings?"
"You have given me that right.
The subtle truths I am expounding cannot
be grasped without your complete concentration.
Unless necessary I do not invade the seclusion
of others' minds. Man has the natural
privilege of roaming secretly among his
thoughts. The unbidden Lord does not enter
there; neither do I venture intrusion."---Swami
Sri Yukteswarji. (Ch.12)
When Yoganandaji’s friend could
not receive the telepathic message from
Sriyukteswarji:
“As Sri Yukteswar, a modern Yogi-Christ,
reached the spot where Dijen and I were
speechlessly rooted, Master smiled at
my friend and remarked:
"I sent you a message too, but you
were unable to grasp it."
Dijen was silent, but glared at me suspiciously.
After we had escorted our guru to his
hermitage, my friend and I proceeded toward
Serampore College. Dijen halted in the
street, indignation streaming from his
every pore.
"So! Master sent me a message! Yet
you concealed it! I demand an explanation!"
"Can I help it if your mental mirror
oscillates with such restlessness that
you cannot register our guru's instructions?"
I retorted.
From Hindu scriptures:
"In shallow men the fish of little
thoughts cause much commotion. In oceanic
minds the whales of inspiration make hardly
a ruffle." This observation from
the Hindu scriptures is not without discerning
humor. (Ch. 12)
On spirituality and practical life:
Swami Sri Yukteswarji: "Saintliness
is not dumbness! Divine percep¬tions
are not incapacitating! The active expression
of virtue gives rise to the keenest intelligence."
(Ch.12)
"A perfectionist, my guru was hypercritical
of his disciples, whether in matters of
the moment or in the subtle nuances of
ordinary behavior." (Ch.12)
"Under Master's unsparing rod,
however, I soon recovered from the agreeable
delusions of irresponsibility." (Ch.12)
" `Those who are too good for this
world are adorning some other,' Sri Yukteswar
remarked one day. `So long as you breathe
the free air of earth, you are under obligation
to render grateful service. Only he who
has fully , mastered the breathless state
is freed from cosmic imperatives.' He
added dryly, `I shall not fail to let
you know when you have attained the final
perfection.' " (Ch.12)
Swami Sri Yukteswarji to Yoganandaji
after granting him an experience in Cosmic
Consciousness:
"You must not get over drunk with
ecstasy. Much work yet remains for you
in the world. Come, let us sweep the balcony
floor; then we shall walk by the Ganges."
(Ch.14)
On Disciplining of Disciples:
"My guru could not be bribed, even
by love. He showed no leniency to anyone
who, like me, had willingly offered to
become a disciple. Whether Master and
I were surrounded by his students or by
strange¬rs, or were alone togethe¬r,
he always spoke plainly and upbraided
sharply. No trifling lapse into shallowness
or inconsistency escaped his rebuke. This
flattening -to-the-ego treatment was hard
to endure, but my unchangeable resolve
was to allow Sri Yukteswar to iron out
all my psychologi¬cal kinks. As he
labored at this titanic transformation,
I shook many times under the weight of
his discipli¬nary hammer." (Ch.12)
Sw. Sriyukteswarji to Yoganandaji:
" `If you don't like my words,
you are at liberty to leave at any time,'
Master assured me. I want nothing from
you but your own improvement. Stay only
if you feel benefited.'" (Ch.12)
Yoganandaji on his Guru’s disciplining:
"I am immeasurably grateful for
the humbling blows he dealt my vanity.
I sometimes felt that, metaphorically,
he was discovering and uprooting every
diseased tooth in my jaw." (Ch.12)
" `I am hard on those who come
for my training,' he admitted to me. `That
is my way. Take it or leave it; I never
compromise. But you will be much kinder
to your disciples; that is your way. I
try to purify only in fires of severity;
these are searing beyond the average toleration.
The gentle approach of love is also transfiguring.
The inflexible and the yielding methods
are equally effective if applied with
wisdom." (Ch.12)
"It was Master's practice to point
out the simple, negligible shortcomings
of his disciples with an air of portentous
gravity." (Ch.12)
" `Tender inner weaknesses, revolting
at mild touches of censure, are like diseased
parts of the body, recoiling before even
delicate handling.' This was Sri Yukteswar's
comment on the flighty ones." (Ch.12)
Famous quotation on"Ego-balm":
"Students came, and generally went.
Those who craved an easy path--that of
instant sympathy and comforting recognition
of one's merits--did not find it at the
hermitage. master offered his disciples
shelter and shepherd¬ing for the eons,
but many students miserly demanded ego-balm
as well. They departed, preferring, before
nay humility, life's countless humiliations."
(Ch.12)
On the Sensitivity of a disciple:
"During my early months with Master
I experienced a sensitive fear of his
reprimands. I soon saw that his verbal
vivisections were performed only on persons
who, like me, had asked him to discipline
them.....After I had abandoned underlying
resentment, I found a marked decrease
in my chastisement. In a very subtle way,
master melted into comparative clemency.
In time, I demolished every wall of rationalization
and subconscious reservation behind which
the human personality generally shields
itself. The reward was an effortless harmony
with my guru. I discovered him then to
be trusting, considerate and silently
loving." (Ch.12)
On spiritual training :
"A Self-realized master is fully
able to guide his various disciples along
the natural lines of their essential bias."
(Ch.12)
"Sri Yukteswar ...never authoritatively
controlled his disciples' movements."
(Ch.12)
On the nature of a true Master:
“Many people imagine that every
spiritual master has, or should have,
the health and strength of a Sandow. The
assumption is unfounded. A sickly body
does not indicate that a guru is not in
touch with
divine powers, any more than lifelong
health necessarily indicates an inner
illumination. The condition of the physical
body, in other words, cannot rightfully
be made a test of a master. His distinguishing
qualifications must be sought in his own
domain, the spiritual.” (Ch. 21)
“Numerous bewildered seekers in
the West erroneously think that an eloquent
speaker or writer on metaphysics must
be a master. The rishis, however, have
pointed out that the acid test of a master
is a man's ability to enter at will the
breathless state, and to maintain the
unbroken SAMADHI of NIRBIKALPA. Only by
these achievements can a human being prove
that he has "mastered" MAYA
or the dualistic Cosmic Delusion. He alone
can say from the depths
of realization: "EKAM SAT,"-"Only
One exists." (Ch. 21)
“Masters who possess the Divine
Vision are fully able to transfer their
realizations to advanced disciples, as
Lahiri Mahasaya did for Sri Yukteswar
on this occasion.” (Ch. 12 fn)
“The impartiality of saints is
rooted in wisdom. Masters have escaped
MAYA; its alternating faces of intellect
and idiocy no longer cast an influential
glance.” (Ch. 12)
"A man of realization does not
perform any miracle until he receives
an inward sanction," Master explained.
"God does not wish the secrets of
His creation revealed promiscuously. Also,
every individual in the world has inalienable
right to his free will. A saint will not
encroach upon that independence."
(Ch.12)
“Among the trillion mysteries,
breathing every second the inexplicable
air, who may venture to ask that the fathomless
nature of a master be instantly grasped?”
(Ch. 12)
“Brave indeed is the guru who
undertakes to transform the crude ore
of ego-permeated humanity! A saint's courage
roots in his compassion for the stumbling
eyeless of this world. (Ch. 12)
“A self-realized master is fully
able to guide his various disciples along
natural lines of their essential bias.
(Ch.12)
“The unfailing composure of a
saint is impressive beyond any sermon.
"He that is slow to anger is better
than the mighty; and he that ruleth his
spirit than he that taketh a city."
(Ch. 12)
Eternal, Life after life nature of Guru-disciple
relationship:
Mahavatar Babaji to Lahiri Mahasaya:
"'For more than three decades I
have waited for you here-waited for you
to return to me!' Babaji's voice rang
with celestial love. 'You slipped away
and vanished into the tumultuous waves
of the life beyond death. The magic wand
of your karma touched you, and you were
gone! Though you lost sight of me, never
did I lose sight of you! I pursued you
over the luminescent astral sea where
the glorious angels sail. Through gloom,
storm, upheaval, and light I followed
you, like a mother bird guarding her young.
As you lived out your human term of womb-life,
and emerged a babe, my eye was ever on
you. When you covered your tiny form in
the lotus posture under the Nadia sands
in your childhood, I was invisibly present!
Patiently, month after month, year after
year, I have watched over you, waiting
for this perfect day. Now you are with
me! Lo, here is your cave, loved of yore!
I have kept it ever clean and ready for
you. Here is your hallowed ASANA-blanket,
where you daily sat to fill your expanding
heart with God! Behold there your bowl,
from which you often drank the nectar
prepared by me! See how I have kept the
brass cup brightly polished, that you
might drink again there from! My own,
do you now understand?' (Ch. 34)
JAI GURU
GURU KRIPAHI KEVELAM
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