Sitting on my (Paramhansa Yogananda's) bed in the Bombay hotel at three o’clock in the afternoon of June 19, 1936 I was roused from my meditation by a beatific light. Before my open and astonished eyes, the whole room was transformed into a strange world, the sunlight transmuted into supernal splendor.…
Miracles
from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda
The Passing of Sri Yukteswar
“Guruji, I came to you as a high-school youth; now I am a grown man, even with a gray hair or two. Though you have showered me with silent affection from the first hour to this, do you realize that once only, on the day of meeting, have you ever said, ‘I love you’?” I looked at him pleadingly.…
Sri Yukteswar Helps Paramhansa Yogananda with His College Exams
One night about eleven o’clock, as I was putting on my shoes in preparation for the ride to the boardinghouse, Master questioned me gravely. “When do your A.B. examinations start?” “Five days hence, sir.”…
Sri Yukteswar Prevents Yogananda from Visiting Kashmir
“Where are you going?” Sri Yukteswar’s face was unsmiling. “Sir, I (Paramhansa Yogananda) hear that you and Kanai will not take the trip we have been planning. I am seeking Behari. You will recall that last year he was so anxious to see Kashmir that he even offered to serve without pay.” “I remember. Nevertheless,…
Sri Yukteswar Materializes and Dematerializes
One afternoon Kanai, a young hermitage resident, met Dijen and me (Paramhansa Yogananda) at the door with disappointing news. “Master (Sri Yukteswar) is not here; he was summoned to Calcutta by an urgent note.” The following day I received a post card from my guru. “I shall leave Calcutta Wednesday morning,” he had written. “You…
Should I Get an Astrological Bangle?
“It is only when a traveler has reached his goal that he is justified in discarding his maps. During the journey, he takes advantage of any convenient short cut. The ancient rishis discovered many ways to curtail the period of man’s exile in delusion. There are certain mechanical features in the law of karma which can be skillfully adjusted by the fingers of wisdom.…
The Cauliflower Robbery
“Halt!” My (Paramhansa Yogananda) guru’s eyes sought mine. “Did you remember to lock the back door of the hermitage?” “I think so, sir.”…
Miracles of Love
It so happened that I never saw Master at close quarters with a leopard or a tiger. But a deadly cobra once confronted him, only to be conquered by my guru’s love. This variety of snake is much feared in India, where it causes more than five thousand deaths annually. The dangerous encounter took place at Puri, where Sri Yukteswar had a second hermitage, charmingly situated near the Bay of Bengal. Prafulla, a young disciple of later years, was with Master on this occasion.…
Sri Yukteswar Bestows Cosmic Consciousness
My body became immovably rooted; breath was drawn out of my lungs as if by some huge magnet. Soul and mind instantly lost their physical bondage, and streamed out like a fluid piercing light from my every pore. The flesh was as though dead, yet in my intense awareness I knew that never before had I been fully alive.…
Lahiri Mahasaya Heals Sri Yukteswar
“Years ago, I was anxious to put on weight,” Sri Yukteswar told me (Paramhansa Yogananda). “During convalescence after a severe illness, I visited Lahiri Mahasaya in Benares. “‘Sir, I have been very sick and lost many pounds.’ “‘I see, Yukteswar you made yourself unwell, and now you think you are thin.’…