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.…
Stories and Teachings of Sri Yukteswar
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.…
An Account of Sri Yukteswar by Richard Wright, an American Disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda
Studying him reverently from time to time, I noted that he is of large, athletic stature, hardened by the trials and sacrifices of renunciation. His poise is majestic. A decidedly sloping forehead, as if seeking the heavens, dominates his divine countenance. He has a rather large and homely nose, with which he amuses himself in…
Sri Yukteswar’s Meetings with Babaji, the Guru of His Guru
“I was not a swami at the time I met Babaji,” Sri Yukteswar went on. “But I had already received Kriya initiation from Lahiri Mahasaya. He encouraged me to attend the mela which was convening in January, 1894 at Allahabad. It was my first experience of a kumbha; I felt slightly dazed by the clamor and surge of the crowd. In my searching gazes around I saw no illumined face of a master. Passing a bridge on the bank of the Ganges, I noticed an acquaintance standing near-by, his begging bowl extended.…
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.…