Stories and Teachings of Sri Yukteswar

The True Meaning of Genesis

Master (Sri Yukteswar) was more amused by my vehemence than my ignorance. “Genesis is deeply symbolic, and cannot be grasped by a literal interpretation,” he explained. “Its ‘tree of life’ is the human body. The spinal cord is like an upturned tree, with man’s hair as its roots, and afferent and efferent nerves as branches.…

Is Astrology a Real Science?

It is never a question of belief; the only scientific attitude one can take on any subject is whether it is true. The law of gravitation worked as efficiently before Newton as after him. The cosmos would be fairly chaotic if its laws could not operate without the sanction of human belief.…

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.…

What Was it Like to Live with Sri Yukteswar?

Sri Yukteswar was reserved and matter-of-fact in demeanor. There was naught of the vague or daft visionary about him. His feet were firm on the earth, his head in the haven of heaven. Practical people aroused his admiration. “Saintliness is not dumbness! Divine perceptions are not incapacitating!” he would say. “The active expression of virtue gives rise to the keenest intelligence.”…

First Meeting with the Master

“Gurudeva!” The divine face was none other than he of my thousand visions. These halcyon eyes, in leonine head with pointed beard and flowing locks, had oft peered through gloom of my nocturnal reveries, holding a promise I had not fully understood.…

Lessons from Sri Yukteswar’s Childood

My mother once tried to frighten me with an appalling story of a ghost in a dark chamber. I went there immediately, and expressed my disappointment at having missed the ghost. Mother never told me another horror-tale.…

A Day in the Life of Sri Yukteswar’s Hermitage

Daily life at the ashram flowed smoothly, infrequently varied. My guru awoke before dawn. Lying down, or sometimes sitting on the bed, he entered a state of samadhi. It was simplicity itself to discover when Master had awakened: abrupt halt of stupendous snores. A sigh or two; perhaps a bodily movement. Then a soundless state of breathlessness: he was in deep yogic joy.…

How to Outwit a Mosquito

My early months with Sri Yukteswar culminated in a useful lesson — ”How to Outwit a Mosquito.” At home my family always used protective curtains at night. I was dismayed to discover that in the Serampore hermitage this prudent custom was honored in the breach. Yet the insects were in full residency; I was bitten from head to foot. My guru took pity on me. …

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.’…