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maitri53 Registered User (2/10/04 7:10 pm) Reply	quote by Kriyananda--can anyone explain? Hi! I read the following quote by Swami Kriyananda on the (I think) "Yogananda Rediscovered" website: "A REBUTTAL TO THE LOS ANGELES NEW TIMES Paramhansa Yogananda, in Grateful Appreciation By J. Donald Walters (Swami Kriyananda) Dhirananda seems to have claimed to be the author of several of Yogananda's books. I myself had occasion to interview Swami Satyananda, a man who had no reason to love Yogananda (against whom he did considerable mischief during his lifetime—motivated, one assumes, by envy). I wanted to get from Satyananda stories he could remember about his boyhood years with Yogananda, and, speaking to me as the Master's disciple, Satyananda told me stories that were supportive of Yogananda's mission. He said, in substantially the following words, "When Yogananda returned from his trip to Japan, he did so with the inspiration for what he knew would be his central message to the world: the universal desire of all human beings to escape pain and find happiness—a happiness they could find only in God. He didn't know English well, so he asked Dhirananda, who was fluent in it, to write this thesis for him, using the ideas he'd proposed." Dhirananda did so, in the widely accepted capacity of ghost writer. Thus was written a short, early work of Yogananda's, The Science of Religion. Laurie Pratt once told me—this was during the fifties—that she wanted to omit that book from SRF's publications, because it had too much of Dhirananda's "vibrations" in it. "He was such a pedant," she declared. "His style was professorial, pompous, and dry." The thoughts, however, were Yogananda's, as even his enemy Satyananda had said." Can anyone (maybe someone in Ananda) explain why Satyananda was Yogananda's "enemy"? That's a strong word. Kriyananda talks about Dhirananda here, too, but my question is about Satyananda. I've been on the www.yoganiketan.net site, and they are translating Satyananda's book on Yogananda. Satyananda doesn't make any negative comments about Yogananda that I've read so far. Certainly he was willing to talk to Kriyananda and share "boyhood with Yogananda" stories, which seems odd for an "enemy." I'm sure there's all kinds of "history" here I'm ignorant of, but could anyone clarify Kriyananda's quite negative statements about Satyananda? I'm just a novice, and just want to understand better. Thanks much! maitri53 P.S. If this question belongs better in another place, feel free to put it there!
ugizralrite Registered User (2/11/04 11:53 am) Reply	Re: quote by Kriyananda--can anyone explain? Under Non-SRF Teachings and Ideals I found three threads with information on the Satyananda lineage: 1. Kriya Teachers and Kriya Paths 2. Swami Satyeswaranand 3. Hariharananda and the Puri Ashram From first reading it looks to me as if Swami Satyeswarnanda has more of an ax to grind. Is it about control over the Puri property? Maybe this will give some additional hints. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote: "I'm just a novice, and just want to understand better." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes, keep that thirst for understanding and follow it. You will have to "turn the world upside down" in your pursuit, but God is your powerhouse and will move you forward.
maitri53 Registered User (2/11/04 12:10 pm) Reply	Re: quote by Kriyananda--can anyone explain? Thanks for your suggestions. I'll look at the threads. I was just puzzled by Kriyananda's obvious bitterness toward Yogananda's brother disciple (both were disciples of Sri Yukteswar), especially when I've read elsewhere that Satyananda had a deep affection for Yogananda all his life. If anyone else has some insights, feel free to share them! Thanks! maitri53
ranger20 Registered User (2/11/04 12:30 pm) Reply	Re: quote by Kriyananda--can anyone explain? Based on some work I've done comparing different editions of the AY, I believe that Satyananda may have run afoul of SRF after PY's passing. In the first four Philosophical Library editions, done under Yogananda's supervision, Satyananda is mentioned twice. He's mentioned as being left in charge of Ranchi prior to the voyage to America. He is also given as the one who had met and heard the account of the man Lahiri initiated in a dream. As of the first SRF edited edition in 1956, all mention of him is gone. I wondered about this at the time. If you google on some combination of words like [ satyananda, satyeswarananda, walrus, ranchi ] you'll find a couple of threads here from '01 and '02 posing that question but not coming to a definite answer. I think there was a recent quote from Satyeswaranda's book (couldn't find it), claiming that he was "unfairly" dismissed by Yogananda from his duties at Ranchi, ca 1940. Sooo, it remains another unknown in SRF history, but there certainly was some rancor around the issue.
nagchampa2 Registered User (2/11/04 12:52 pm) Reply	Re: quote by Kriyananda--can anyone explain? I find it interesting how one minute Kriyananda is putting down Laurie Pratt (Tara) in his books) and another he is saying that what she says about S. Dhirananda is correct. I don't find his writings to be dry. I have read a book of his that is published by Amrita, and it sounds exactly like Yogananda's lectures, full of devotion. Satyananda was not Yogananda's enemy according to the book "Kriya-Finding the True Path." Yogananda picked someone to be head of Ranchi, and afterwards this person got rid of most of the people there, including Satyananda. Satyananda did not go to Yogananda to inform him of what was happening, and after Yogananda realized the mistake he asked him to return. It is my own feeling that both SRF and Kriyananda do what they can to protect their organizations. Wouldn't you? I, myself, was amazed at how much love Satyananda had for Yogananda even though he felt he was abusing the siddhis and using hypnosis. He stayed by his side and continued to run Ranchi. They were childhood friends and then later brother disciples. His love for Yogananda was unconditional. Ranger, the quote you are talking about I quoted from on the thread The Real Question.
maitri53 Registered User (2/11/04 2:06 pm) Reply	Re: quote by Kriyananda--can anyone explain? Thanks for your input (and thanks to everyone else!). I wonder if Kriyananda's bitterness toward Satyananda is based on anything in his own experience (though when he interviewed Satyananda, he was apparently treated quite graciously), or just on what Laurie Pratt or Daya Mata, etc., may have told him while Kriyananda was still in SRF. Or if he's basing it on anything Yogananda said directly to him. I suppose only Kriyananda himself could answer some of those questions. Namaste, Maitri53
nagchampa2 Registered User (2/11/04 3:06 pm) Reply	Re: quote by Kriyananda--can anyone explain? sometimes, maitri, i think it is impossible to get the truth out of anyone connected with Yogananda. Everyone has a different story. i don't think Kriyananda is bitter but just wants to protect his kriya and organization. just as srf wants to protect their own organization. you can call and talk to every splinter group and be given a different story about what is going in srf and what happened in the past, etc. and some just won't talk about it. i know, i have done this until i was spinning. i am beginning to understand why when my friend went to Gangaiji's group, and i tried to tell her about my reason for leaving srf, she said, "Gangaji said it was all just stories," to forget them. of course, i am just feeling this way today because i posted what Satyeswarananda had said elsewhere, and then you posted what Kriyananda said, and if you talk to others, they will say something else, and i just feel like it is time to let go of the stories, but give me another hour and i will change my mind. it is all rather comical, like a comic play of Divine Mother. And it would really be comical if so many people were not being hurt by their own stories, that is, by the things that caused them to question srf and leave. how much i wish that i was like my friend who just said, "i left because srf was no longer following Yogananda's teachings," and she left it at that. It seemed that she never looked back, never talked about it, and maybe never suffered from it all. Just went to Gangaji's group and is happy. while we are all here trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together, trying to find the truth, trying to figure out where to go next. now i happen to like Kriyananda, so don't get me wrong. i just don't happen to trust his words because he lied to me once, and then admitted to me years later that he had. i admire him more after admitting what he did, but i would not trust what he said to me anymore. i was never part of his group, just questioned him about srf as well as other matters. srf i trust far less, because i could never get a straight answer out of them. and will we all later on know to not even trust Satyeswarananda? the only thing i can say is, much of what he has written has been collaborated by others, especially the siddhis, which i wrote about in The Real Question, under Core Issues but which has a warning on it for those who love Yogananda. i did look up that web site and will be interested in seeing the rest of the book by Satyananda finished.
maitri53 Registered User (2/11/04 5:11 pm) Reply	Re: quote by Kriyananda--can anyone explain? Hi! Thanks for your comments. I guess by "bitter", I was trying to find a word to cover Kriyananda calling SatyanandaYogananda's enemy, and saying he had no reason to love Yogananda, and that he blocked Yogananda's work in India probably out of envy. It may just be that Satyananda didn't feel SRF (or Daya Mata, or Kriyananda, either) had any spiritual authority over him after Yogananda passed on, since he was Sri Yukteswar's disciple. And maybe Kriyananda felt he should have towed the line and served Yogananda's organization faithfully and obediently. But who knows? It's all speculation. Gurus of all and every kind (with very rare exceptions) are not above getting into disagreements, misunderstandings, rivalries (however well-intentioned), and so on and on. And yet still be genuine Gurus who have genuine powers of blessing. So perhaps (like as not), I'll never hear the "right" of it! Until I'm on some other plane where we can see the Whole better and clearer! I'm certainly also eager to be able to read the entire book of Satyananda. I hope they finish translating it soon. Thanks again-- Maitri53
maitri53 Registered User (2/11/04 5:14 pm) Reply	Re: quote by Kriyananda--can anyone explain? P.S.--a correction on my last post. Kriyananda didn't say Satyananda blocked Yogananda's work, rather he said Satyananda did Yogananda considerable mischief. Sorry for the misquote! maitri53
nagchampa2 Registered User (2/11/04 5:28 pm) Reply	Re: quote by Kriyananda--can anyone explain? Maitri, You are so right: "Gurus of all and every kind (with very rare exceptions) are not above getting into disagreements, misunderstandings, rivalries (however well-intentioned), and so on and on. And yet still be genuine Gurus who have genuine powers of blessing". I know that for a fact. So you are saying that Satyananda had problems with SRF after Yogananda's passing? You are right, they didn't have any spiritual atthority over him. I think when Yogananda asked him to return, according to the Kriya book he said that he was with Sriyukteswar and he would not return the way things were at Ranchi at the moment. I never did figure out if he ever had. But I can see his having problems with SRF after his passing, even we do. Yes, we all may have to wait until we get to the other side, but then maybe it won't matter. It would be nice if we could all just move on and not have it matter now. Doesn't seem possible but I am getting somewhat closer. I have moved on to another guru, but I am still working all this out in my head, trying to understand it all. Why, I don't know.
maitri53 Registered User (2/12/04 10:24 am) Reply	Re: quote by Kriyananda--can anyone explain? Hi! You know, on the subject of "perfect Masters", "realized Masters," etc., Sri Aurobindo wrote something long ago which has helped me considerably. He said that there are many levels to someone's being, and a guru or even an avatar may have transformed and illumined certains parts or levels of themselves, while not having transformed certain other parts or levels. This may be because they haven't accomplished it yet, or because it's not important to them in their spiritual view of things or in the work they came to do, etc. But it does help explain why genuine spiritual Masters can often be both very "divine" and very "human" (including even downright imperfect) at the same time. "Spiritual Perfection" or "God-Realization" just isn't as simple an equation as we might like it to be. On a similar note, I read in a biography of Sarada Devi (the wife of Ramakrishna) that she said she was obedient to Ramakrishna in his instruction for her spiritual path, but in all other things Ramakrishna told her she used her common sense. Fancy that! Common sense with your Guru! I'm so glad she said that. Namaste, maitri 53
ugizralrite Registered User (2/12/04 1:45 pm) Reply	Re: quote by Kriyananda--can anyone explain? Quote: "On a similar note, I read in a biography of Sarada Devi (the wife of Ramakrishna) that she said she was obedient to Ramakrishna in his instruction for her spiritual path, but in all other things Ramakrishna told her she used her common sense." --------------------------------------------------------------------- I never got around to reading her biography, but I like what she said there a lot. Probably never a dull moment in that marriage.

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