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AtThyFeet
Registered User
(11/17/05 6:37 am)
Reply 		Mount Washington and its history
Dear friends of Yogananda history,
This is about Mount Washington’s history. I hope it will be interesting for you! May inevitable mistakes be forgiven.
AtThyFeet

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Ancient Rome, during the time when Christ was born, had already one million inhabitants. Compare that to Los Angeles: In 1860 it counted only a handful of 4500 souls- not much more than a village! 13 years before Yogananda's birth, in 1880, Los Angeles ("the Benares of America") was still a relatively small town of about 12,000. But America was growing dynamically- it was a young culture, full of vigor. Yogananda loved its pioneering spirit: "Eventually? Eventually? Why not now!" With that expansive spirit, he knew his message could grow.

When Yogananda was a boy of 7, in 1900, LA's population had already grown to 100.000. Still not all that big, one might observe. True: and that is the reason why at that time Mount Washington was nothing but a bare mountain, inhabited only by squirrels, quail, rabbits and a few hikers and picnickers. The latter came because of the fantastic view, for which the mountain was well-known.

It was that very view, which inspired real estate agents to build a stately hotel on top of Mount Washington- 940 feet high. Their problem was: there was no road, no way to get up there! And the hill was quite steep. So a cable car had to be built first, which was inaugurated in 1909. At the same time a road was carved out of the mountainside, which led to the top. Of course in those days cars were relatively rare, and not built for mountains at all.
To see the Mount Washington cable car (and read a lot more), see www.erha.org/washington.htm
To see a typical car of the time, see www.si.edu/resource/faq/n...tohist.htm

The construction of the Mount Washington Hotel itself was finished by January 1910, during the year when Yogananda met his guru, Sri Yukteswar. By that time the LA population had already risen to a proud 320,000!

When Yogananda became the owner of the spacious Mount Washington Hotel, in 1925, he himself was still a somewhat young man of 32 years. The hotel, however, was much younger, only 15 years old! Still, during its first few years of existence it had already lived through many adventures, many changes, and many definite surprises, as we will see.

To complete the population picture: In that year of 1925,when Yogananda established his headquarters on top of Mt. Washington, the LA population had already risen to about one million inhabitants. When Yogananda passed on, in 1952, the number had risen to about two million (which means about two million more than a mere 100 years earlier!).

The "Mount Washington Hotel" was originally designed to be a mountaintop resort, with 14 beautifully landscaped acres. The elegant 3-story structure was constructed by the "Meyer & Holler" company, which in 1927 also built Mr. Grauman's famous "Chinese Theatre" in LA. (A truly exotic building, especially for those early years: see you-are-here.com/theatre/chinese.html )
Interestingly, the Mount Washington Hotel too had an Eastern touch to it, even before Yogananda acquired it: it had a beautiful Japanese garden in front of it, as well as a roof garden. In the original plans, the Japanese garden was to have an observation tower (Yogananda, as you will see, later had the same plan), to offer a spectacular view of the beautiful mountains, valleys and the sea. The Mount Washington Hotel, incidentally, was built in the "missionary style"....but its mission of course was very different from what the Western world had seen so far: Self-realization, the discovery of man's inner divinity.

Mr. Grauman and Yogananda, it may be added, were not only connected through their beautiful and special buildings. They became acquainted. Yogananda invited Mr. Grauman to visit Mt. Washington as a guest of honor for a feast for Indian athletes, in 1932. Yogananda, in turn, gave talks at his "Chinese Theatre."

The Mount Washington Hotel had 18 rooms (today it is fun to still see the original numbers on the doors), each with a private bathroom, which was quite extraordinary for the time- and a great treat for future nuns who would later occupy these quarters! (The monks were living in the basement, where employee rooms had been built, with common bath.)

Here is a nice picture of the impressive Mount Washington Hotel: www.mtwashington.org/sect...-hotel.htm

Tennis was a most popular sport at the turn of the Century. Thus two tennis courts soon graced the property. Tournaments of famous players were held there. Yogananda later used to play on them, even quite well, as he was an extremely fast runner.

The cable car ("incline railway") brought people up to the hotel. One could also reach it by automobile, but not all of them even managed the steep upward climb- some boiled over. The old cable car powerhouse was later converted into monks quarters, and today serves SRF as computer offices.

The hotel, after its opening in 1910, soon turned out to be a huge success: it became a favorite hangout spot for the rich. Mt. Washington became an exclusive and highly desirable hilltop residential site. It offered a fine dining room, with food cooked by gourmet cooks (by the way: Yogananda was a worthy heir to that fine kitchen: he was a marvelous cook himself, inventing many tasty recipes and finding new ways of cooking, slicing, preparing...). Everything in the hotel was of high quality: velvet carpets, brass beds, furniture of oak and walnut. On weekends usually all rooms were sold out.
So well did the hotel business go that in September 1911, the LA Times stated that the hotel planned to add an additional 100 rooms and 50 baths! That plan, however, was never carried out. Too bad! Yogananda might have enjoyed the many extra rooms- and especially the monks!

It was also reported that 3,500 passengers were carried to the summit on a single Sunday afternoon (imagine the crowds!). The cable-car station down on Marmion Way was so busy that a refreshment stand was opened in the depot. It appears that Mt. Washington had truly become the 'in place'.

The building lots on Mount Washington, too, got a big boost: they sold increasingly well. Beautiful and costly homes began to spring up all over the mountain, where not a single house had been seen just a few years ago.

Most of all there was one fascinating reason why the Mt. Washington Hotel became so attractive: The 18 hotel rooms were actually used by famous celebrities, such as..... lo and behold... Charles Chaplin, who always stayed at the hotel while making a film at the Sycamore Grove studios. Other stars of screen and sport also took rooms there. It became a gathering spot of the famous. Small wonder that people flocked in like birds. Did Yogananda know that his beloved headquarters once housed a Charley Chaplin, and all those other great stars? Well, he must have known. Did he care? Did the nuns have fun at the thought that some movie star had once occupied their room?

But alas, Mount Washington's early glory was soon put to a rough test: hard times began. The film stars left the Sycamore Grove Park, moving to Edendale, and then to Hollywood: it had a devastating effect on the Mt. Washington Hotel. Once the stars had left, less and less visitors came to pay Mt. Washington a visit. Another problem was that the automobile was coming within the financial scope of increasing numbers of people. Car owners soon discovered the pleasure of traveling to more distant destinations. Mount Washington Hotel became more and more forgotten.

In January 1919 the Mt. Washington cable car was actually closed down. With great effort the inhabitants tried to keep it going. But to no avail. The whole Mt. Washington mountaintop was now without any public transportation. Monastic life on Mt. Washington thus began quite involuntarily: without service by the cable cars, the entire top of Mt. Washington was completely isolated from the outside world. Automobiles could still drive up the steep dirt road, but it often defied the capabilities of those early vehicles. And without a car, Mount Washington could only be climbed by a hefty walk...

Incidentally, the cable-car tracks, which lead up to the hotel were only taken away in 1930- thus Yogananda and his little early band enjoyed this "souvenir" of the old tracks for five years.

Lots of advertisement ensued to save the once famous Mt. Washington Hotel, but to little avail. It suffered a steady decline, and finally had to close, sometime during the summer of 1921.
By then Yogananda had reached America's shores, knowing that one day he would find the building of his visions...

Meanwhile, in 1922 a Military School occupied the hotel: "An ideal school for boys and young men in an ideal location. From grammar school through high school. Personal supervision under high-class instructors. Individual instruction if necessary. On a 20 acre campus." The school didn't last, but Yogananda soon was to pick up the idea again!

In 1923 the hotel became the Goodrich-Mount Washington Emphysema Hospital. But the respiratory hospital closed in late 1924 or early 1925. The art of breath would not be lost there, however: Yogananda had a lot to say on that specific topic!

Just then, in early 1925 (January), as if by divine timing, Yogananda arrived in Los Angeles. (In 1924, Yogananda had started his maiden cross-country lecture “campaign”, after having stayed in Boston for his first three years in America.) Looking for a place for his headquarters, he finally found and bought the Mount Washington Hotel. At that time it was full of vagrants, and many of the windows had been broken. The place had become almost a wilderness. It had its good side, however: Yogananda acquired the hotel for a very reasonable price- $45.000. Of course the help of Divine Mother's loving hand was involved! The story of how he obtained it is beautifully described by Swami Kriyananda in "The Path." See www.crystalclarity.com/kr...ap_17.html

Here a picture Of Mount Washington at that time:
www.guruji.it/galleria/yo...es1925.jpg

It was a major step for Yogananda’s mission. He rushed to send photos of his new headquarters to his guru, Sri Yukteswar. In his Autobiography he wrote:
“With the help of large-hearted students, by the end of 1925 I had established an American headquarters on the Mount Washington Estates in Los Angeles. The building is the one I had seen years before in my vision at Kashmir. I hastened to send Sri Yukteswar pictures of these distant American activities. He replied with a postcard in Bengali, which I here translate:
11th August, 1926
        Child of my heart, O Yogananda!
        Seeing the photos of your school and students, what joy comes in my life I cannot express in words. I am melting in joy to see your yoga students of different cities. Beholding your methods in chant affirmations, healing vibrations, and divine healing prayers, I cannot refrain from thanking you from my heart. Seeing the gate, the winding hilly way upward, and the beautiful scenery spread out beneath the Mount Washington Estates, I yearn to behold it all with my own eyes."

Interestingly, the Mount Washington headquarters and Yogananda’s magazine “East-West” were born together- they are twins, so to speak. In the very first issue of East-West, Nov. Dec. 1925, Yogananda announced the formal opening of his headquarters in October 25, 1925. Actually, and maybe quite significantly, he had named it:
"Mount Washington Educational Center"—Headquarters of Sat-Sanga and Yogoda.

Here is what the announcement said: "…The main object and desire of Swami Yogananda' s heart is to have it made possible for him to establish a YOGODA-HOW-TO-LIVE-SCHOOL on Mount Washington for training children along the lines of YOGODA (harmonious development of all human faculties) and SAT-SANGA (Fellowship with Truth), aiming at similar physical, mental and especially spiritual results.
Besides the YOGODA-HOW-TO-LIVE-SCHOOL, Swami Yogananda also plans to offer to adult students, Courses in Psychology, Philosophy and all branches of Scientific Spiritual Realization, and also Correspondence Courses in the above subjects. Eventually the Center plans to have a Taj or Tower, a large Swimming Pool, a Library, Printing Press, and a Museum containing rare and interesting objects, especially from the Orient. Through the grace of the Great Divine Power, may this Center on Mount Washington become a magnet of world-wide interest and attraction, and be a Mecca for those who are spiritually hungry."

Yogananda’s “main object and desire” for Mount Washington was, then, to establish a school for children. Is that surprising for some of us? Probably, because nowadays we would never hear that piece of information. We exclusively hear that Yogananda came to create a monastic order. But this early text seems to indicate that Yogananda saw his mission in the West in quite broad terms, of which a monastic order was only one (if important) part.
(Fun also to hear about the large swimming pool! That plan was actually fulfilled later: He had one built at Encinitas, and one at 29 Palms.)

Let me digress a bit here. Trying to grasp the main directions of Yogananda’s work throughout his life, I see the following phases:
1) In India his heart was mainly set on building schools, offering a balanced education to children, with spiritual practices as a main feature.
2) In America, after teaching in Boston for 3 years, again his “main object and desire” was to establish a school, at Mount Washington. Dhirananda, a close friend from India, was called to be in charge of Mount Washington, whenever Yogananda was touring. Yogananda announced in that same first East-West magazine: “Dhirananda will conduct a Sunday School class for boys and girls every Sunday morning at Mount Washington, and attend to the work of the Yogoda Correspondence Course, as well as carry on further the spiritual work as it develops.”
3) Dhirananda’s (a high soul, of course) departure in 1929 was a great blow to Yogananda, and actually seems to have changed the direction of his work: from then on, one doesn’t read much more about schools. Instead, the monastic era started. Yogananda’s monastic pillars arrived: Durga (1929), Daya (1931), and Gyanamata (1932). “Yogoda Satsanga” became “Self-Realization Fellowship” in 1934, and in 1935 was registered as a church. Yogananda gave his heart and soul to those who wanted to live for God alone.
4) After returning from India, Yogananda often stayed in Encinitas, working on his writings. A new interesting direction crystallized: he began to publish and talk about his ideal of a “Golden World City,” or “World-Brotherhood Colonies.” He started such a one for families in Encinitas (with opening talk and all), and included them in his “Aims and Ideals.” It was, of course, not a change of direction concerning the monastic life, which he tried to strengthen in every possible way. It was a parallel vision. He wrote in 1946: “Dear Father, bless us with the physical power by which we can control constructively atoms and the forces behind it, bless us that we establish the temple of atomic control in the souls of men, and in Self-Realization, and in our Golden World City.”
5) After Yogananda’s passing, the monastic life alone remained.

Back to Mount Washington, after its opening as Yogananda’s headquarters:
In August 1927, in East-West, the first fruits of Mount Washington’s labors were happily published (note these numbers- that's a lot of people! If they are accurate, they would be quite a challenge even for today! Nowadays, of course, no public classes and services are held at Mount Washington anymore. Mount Washington today is exclusively the SRF administration center):
- Total attendance in lectures, weekly classes, special classes conducted at Mount Washington Education Center: 20,000.
- Total Sunday School attendance: 4,500. Children 1,500; Adults 3,000
- Personal interviews to Yogoda students and non-students, helping them with advice and prayer concerning personal problems: 2,500
- Prayers, help and written instructions on physical, domestic, moral and spiritual problems given students and non-students (by mail): 4,000
- Inquiries received and answered relating to Yogoda Correspondence Course: 4,000
Calls made upon sick people in Los Angeles hospitals and homes: 500
- Also lectures given before well-known clubs, churches, civic organizations and on the radio. Numerous plays, musical recitals, holiday parties and other entertainments were also given.

In short: They were extremely active!

Here is another fun photo, showing Christmas 1930 at Mount Washington, on which one may discover familiar faces:
www.guruji.it/galleria/yo...le1930.jpg

Yogananda stated that he has meditated on every spot of the Mount Washington grounds. And indeed, the meditative visitor may easily feel his vibrations alive and present there. It certainly remains a blessed pilgrimage spot, no matter how one feels about SRF today. One wonders how many divine ecstasies have happened on these sacred grounds!
To see “modern” Mt. Washington, 80 years after its birth, with visiting hours, see www.srf-yogananda.org/tem...index.html

Of course many more stories could be told about Mount Washington:
- how rooms were rented out to the public in the early days, with adds in East-West;
- the very few early disciples living there, and their way of living together; Yogananda was mostly gone on his “campaigns;” the painful troubles that followed;
- the incredible noise of the early Mt. Washington printing press;
- the various special plants and trees Yogananda planted on the grounds;
- Yogananda’s long financial struggles to pay off the two mortgages on the Mt. Washington property, and Rajarsi’s timely help in 1932, paying off the entire sum;
- the yearly long blissful Christmas meditations at Mount Washington, where Christ appeared so many times, starting in 1931;
- the birth of the monastic order at Mount Washington in 1931 and Yogananda’s “Summer School” programs in 1932;
- the addition of the Wishing Well (1934), and the Temple of Leaves;
- the tomato planting on the Mount Washington grounds, during times of financial hardship;
- the many famous people (musicians, stars, politicians, spiritual teachers) who honored Mt. Washington with their visit through the years;
- adjusting the top floor to give Rajarsi his private quarters;
- how Mt. Washington in a way remained a "hotel" - disciples coming and going, not understanding what they had;
- the first-ever convocation at Mount Washington, in 1950;
- the relationship with Mt. Washington neighbors in Yogananda's times;
- the buildings which were later added to the headquarters;
- the plan to build a huge Mausoleum on the grounds, for Yogananda's (still incorrupt?) body;
- etc.

But as everyone can see, all this would take us way too far- the text is already long as it is. Maybe it's best to finish instead with the poem Yogananda wrote for his beloved Mount Washington, again published in his first East-West magazine, Nov.-Dec. 1925.
Note the “Nippon (Japanese) camphor trees;” his dream to promote at Mount Washington the union “in deepest friendliness” of all churches, mosques, temples (so urgently needed today!); and his repeated use of the word “freedom!”

                ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

        -- Life’s Dream --
        Dedicated to Mount Washington Educational Center

        The summer-East
        And the wintry West
        They say -- but Mount Washington
        Named rightly after that pioneer
        Of Freedom’s great career,
        Thou dost stand, the snowless guardian Himalaya
        Of the angel land in perpetual green regalia.

        Nippon’s camphor trees and perfumed wisteria and smiling roses
        Palm, date and well-beloved spicy bay leaves of Hind stand close,
        With endless scenic beauties
        Of ocean, canyon, setting sun, moon-studded sky
        And nightly twinkling cities
        To declare
        Thy ever-changing beauty.

        On thy crown thou shalt newly wear
        A priceless starry-school which in all future near
        Shall draw the lost travelers of the East and West
        To find their goal and one place of rest.

        Here one path
        Shall merge with all other paths.
        Here the love of earthly Freedom’s paradise, America,
        Shall blend forever with spiritual Freedom’s paradise, India.
        Here church in deepest friendliness shall all other churches meet.
        Here the temple the mosque shall greet.
        Here the long-divorced matter-laws
        Will wed again in peace the spirit laws.
        Here all minds will learn that true Art
        Of living life and the way to start
        Straight to the One great place
        Where all must meet at last.

        Jehovah! This is the land of solace
        Where my life’s dream in truth reappears!

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Paramadas
Registered User
(11/21/05 7:21 pm)
Reply 		Re: Mount Washington and its history
ATF.
Thankyou very much for this enlightening historical acoount. After reading it, I got to wondering about this fellow Dhirananda. Was he the fellow who stole SRF's money and went back to India to set himself up as a guru, or was that someone else?
pdas

dontknownothinbouthistory
Registered User
(11/22/05 7:28 pm)
Reply 		Re: Mount Washington and its history
Dhirananda won a lawsuit against yogananda

leaving yogananda after realizin py and tara mata were lovers

dhira was the boy in py's attic that when his father realized food was going to attic had him at family table (See the book by py's brother, "Mejda")

dhira taught at ranchi boys school
had a higher education than py's

his name is on front of early editions of Science of Religion

he almost received a nobel prize type status

for his work at Univ. of Michigan
his theories lead to the machine that tests for......what's the name of the disease?


there are at least two other books by him

dontknownothinbouthistory
Registered User
(11/22/05 7:32 pm)
Reply 		encephalitis
encephalitis is tested for by the machine his theories led to

Edited by: dontknownothinbouthistory at: 11/22/05 7:34 pm
AtThyFeet
Registered User
(11/27/05 5:15 am)
Reply 		On Dhirananda
Dear Paramadas and DNNAH,

Sorry for getting back to you so late, Paramadas, but I haven’t logged in for a long time.

Though one usually doesn’t hear much about him, Dhirananda played a very important role in Yogananda’s life. Here is what I heard or read about him- of course there might be some misinformation, or misunderstanding on my part.

Dhirananda is usually one of the red flags for Yogananda devotees, if they know about him at all. I have noticed that it is easy to put people into neat boxes: “good, ” “bad,” “hero,” “villain,” “black,” “white.” But, if we look a bit more fairly, we see that life is not like that at all. People are much more complex than that. So Dhirananda was not “black,” nor “white,” but simply a struggling devotee, with his bright and less bright sides- like the rest of Yogananda’s disciples, and like all of us.

Dhirananda was one of the closest boyhood friends of Yogananda. He helped with his school in India, and with his first book, “Science of Religion.” He was certainly a great soul, and karmically very close and dear to Yogananda. In his first East/West magazine, in Nov/Dec.1925, when Yogananda wrote that he invited Dhirananda to be in charge of Mt. Washington, whenever he was not present, he also wrote:
“I am powerless to tell how greatly he has helped me in carrying on my educational work in India and Boston, or of the good which the world has derived from his ideal character and exalted spiritual life. He will bless Mount Washington with his presence there as the residential Swami.”

Masters, as Yogananda explained, live a dual existence: they have a very human side, which suffers and rejoices, and a divine one, deep inside, where they are completely free in God, in bliss, never forgetting that everything is just a great dream.
So when Dhirananda left Mount Washington in 1929, after having lived there for 3.5 years as the resident teacher, Yogananda cried in pain: “My best friend has gone!” He was absolutely heartbroken. In a letter he once wrote: “I have given more to Dhirananda than to anyone else.” Yogananda was actually so distraught that he took off and went to Mexico, to forget his pain (written in Durga’s book.) That trip turned out to be quite fruitful anyway- Yogananda met the Mexican president, lectured there, and wrote the chant: “Devotees may come, devotees may go, but I will be Thine always…”

Yogananda’s heart found peace only when he met his friend of friends, Rajarsi, in 1932. The love and friendship between them was truly divine. It is deeply touching to read about it in Durga’s book. Yogananda wept tears of love for Rajarsi, sometimes hiding them with his hands, so as not to show them. And Rajarsi, the “little one,”, or “beloved Nr.1” knew where to respond: not on a personal level, but from soul to soul, in God.

When Dhirananda left Mount Washington, he opened his own meditation center in downtown LA. Daya Mata relates that he actually set up his own organization, which created a lot of confusion among the LA members. It was such a heartbreaking moment for Yogananda that he even considered leaving everything,going back to India. Dhirananda had been an enormous pillar for Yogananda: Daya Mata states that his departure required a rebuilding of his society. (Daya, telling the story, doesn’t mention Dhirananda’s name, but it is clear who that “monk from India” was.)

However, Dhirananda’s new organization never got off the ground. His magnetism wasn’t as great as he may have believed. He probably thought himself equal to Yogananda, but once he turned away from him, his sails were empty, so to speak, while Yogananda continued to fill the greatest halls in America, with thousands and thousands of people.

Did Dhirananda try to put himself up as the guru? I don’t know. At any rate, he ran his meditation center until 1933, and then abandoned it, together with his Swami title, and became a very respected and successful University professor. Good for him…but it still seems a sad story. Of course, he also could have become a great artist, a great businessman, a great star, or whatever. But what does that mean for a devotee like him, except emptiness for the soul?

Dhirananda married in 1934. He had a son and a daughter.

Naturally Dhirananda could not forget Yogananda. Did his envy grow, even then? Probably: in 1935, six years after leaving, he finally sued Yogananda, claiming former institutional partnership with him. He won, and collected $8,000. Congratulations!
He also, in the courts, declared that Yogananda was taking sexual advantage of his young female devotees.

Yes, Dhirananda was much more of a scholar than Yogananda. Yogananda openly and cheerfully admitted that he has never been a great scholar at all. Dhirananda’s English was better too. But what does that say? In Sri Yukteswar’s words: “A university degree, in any case, is not remotely related to Vedic realization. Saints are not produced in batches every semester like accountants.”

The question is: Was Dhirananda happy after he left? He wasn’t, if his son is right: he was a sad man, and probably (says the son) because deep down, part of him always longed for the monastic life he left behind. (Plus his best friend in life and death!)

Several disciples seem to think that Dhirananda was the father of Mona, Tara Mata’s daughter. True: Dhirananda and Tara left Mount Washington about the same time. Dhirananda left in May 1929. Tara also left in 1929, since she was pregnant. Mona was born in October 2, 1929, meaning that she was conceived in the beginning of January 1929 (while Yogananda was in Boston, lecturing).
This, however, might be an untrue story about Dhirananda: First of all, Mona’s appearance didn’t show any sign of oriental influence (so one is told). Secondly, Dhirananda’s son, who is quite frank about his father’s “many flaws,” described immoral behavior as “antithetical to who he was.” Third, Tara left pregnant and married. It seems obvious that she married the father of her child Mona. Who that was is unknown.

To finish that part of Tara’s story: After returning from India,in 1936, as Durga Ma writes, Yogananda went to San Francisco to convince Tara Mata to come back to Mount Washington, to help him with his books. Yogananda held her in high esteem (she too is neither “black” nor “white,” as some people seem to believe). He arranged for her and Mona to live in a bungalow near Mount Washington. Durga, by the way, out of tact, never mentioned Mona in her book, nor that Tara had married.

Yogananda described Dhirananda (see Durga) as one of his two Judas’, the other one being Nerode. When Dhirananda left, as Daya Mata said, SRF (then still called Yogoda Satsanga) required rebuilding. Nerode (an Indian who met Yogananda in the early 20ies, became his student, and also met Dhirananda) was therefore invited to be in charge of Mount Washington, whenever Yogananda wasn’t present, which was frequently. But from the early 30ies Yogananda mostly withdrew from lecturing, and Nerode was the one who was sent out touring, to promote the work and the lessons. Nerode was a good teacher, intelligent, successful, and traveled almost continuously from 1932-1937. As Dhirananda, he wrote his own books, which SRF published. Nerode married an American lady in 1931 (there is a film of Yogananda celebrating that marriage), and they had one son.

In 1939 Nerode too left and sued Yogananda heavily- for $500.000 (which might be compared to $2 million today!), claiming partnership with Yogananda. But Yogananda had learned his lesson ten years earlier, with Dhirananda: he had Nerode (and maybe others) sign a paper back then, in 1929, which declared that he was working as a volunteer. That paper saved Yogananda. Nerode lost the case. Much worse, however , was that Nerode accused Yogananda’s morality even more than Dhirananda had. He accused Yogananda of pretty bad sexual misconduct, of having young girls at all hours in his room on the top floor, while he kept the older women on the floor below...

This was certainly no small thing: Nerode was well-respected teacher. Devotees (maybe still today, when they read these things) got shaken in their love and trust, in their discipleship to Yogananda.

Isn’t it amazing how low good devotees can sink, when maya blinds and squeezes them? Of course the easiest and most effective way to smear an opponent (in order to convince the judge that one is right) is a clamorous sexual scandal. It works wonders! That’s what Dhirananda and Nerode did with Yogananda.
SRF of course condemns their actions, and rightly so. Apart from being far away from truth, such behavior is simply too low for any devotee, and is truly disgusting.
But later, ironically, SRF placed itself on the same level of Dhirananda and Nerode: one of their lawyers used sexual scandal to hurt an opponent. He was successful and was (so the story goes) received with great cheer and delight at the following convocation. Again, congratulations!

Here is my understanding of the whole Dhirananda story:
Yes, Yogananda called Dhirananda a Judas. But did he ever reject him in his heart? Did Yogananda’s love end for him, his concern for him, his loyalty? No, his love is unconditional, and that’s the difference to most of us. When we say “Judas,” we easily reject, our love usually ends, we might get angry, or completely push that person out of our lives. (Most SRF members thus have never heard from their brother Dhirananda, at least not from SRF.) The Master, however, even though the disciple may indeed have acted like a Judas, never stops seeing him for who he is: an angel of God, whom he loves. Thus Yogananda sent Dhirananda a box of mangoes every year for Christmas, as a gesture of his unconditional and undying friendship, but Dhirananda sent it back each time, unopened. The guru’s love is eternal, the disciple’s love is often fickle.

Amazingly, Yogananda had known for a long time what would happen with Dhirananda. Even as a boy he said to his closest friend Tulsi Bose: “One day Bagchi (Dhirananda) will betray me and marry a white woman.” Isn’t it amazing that Yogananda still let him in the door, and gave him all he could? He also related that Dhirananda had already betrayed him badly in another lifetime. But the Master’s love is divine, ongoing.

And so the drama will go on and on. Who knows what the next lifetime will bring? Again Yogananda, as a divine messenger, will bring light and love to the world, and again people will try to pull him down, will throw dirt at him, will betray him, will misunderstand him. The Master’s love and patience remain, fortunately. And thus, one by one, the disciples will find their final release in God.

The best thing for us, it seems, is to try to learn from Dhirananda, so that we ourselves don’t stumble and suffer more than necessary. Oh Lord, help us to watch this stupid ego!

Bowing,
AtThyFeet



Paramadas
Registered User
(11/27/05 6:28 pm)
Reply 		Re: On Dhirananda
ATF,
I thank you with all my heart for your scholarly treatment of the subject of Dhirananda.
Take note, ye critics of the Walrus. You won't find such balanced, scholarly reporting on SRF's history from SRF itself. They put a sugar-coated spin on everything, when they don't try to cover it up outright. No, you have to come to the Walrus to get the correct story. Many thanks again, AtThyFeet

Paramadas
Registered User
(11/27/05 6:48 pm)
Reply 		Re: On Dhirananda
ATF,
I have heard from SRF monks that there was a close disciple of PY that stole all of SRF's money and went back to India. Master supposedly refused to prosecute him, but went into the desert and prayed to Divine Mother for help. She came to him in a powerful vision that became the song, "I give you my soul call" (p. 43 of Cosmic Chants). Divine Mother appeared to come out of everywhere at once, and said to Master, "I will be your stocks and bonds." Some time later, Rajarsi came into Master's life, and solved Master's financial crisis (apparently he couldn't pay the mortgage and was about to lose Mt. Washington). Anyway, neither Nerode nor Dhirananda would seem to fit the description I heard from the monks about a monk who embezzled money from PY and fled to India. Do you know who that person was? Thanks, PDas

dontknownothinbouthistory
Registered User
(11/27/05 8:15 pm)
Reply 		Re: a challenge to at thy feet
You write not knowing the events or the players

At thy feet you write the spin.

You know it, too, deep down under the denial, under the fairyland, under the pretentions of the "faithful" who haven't seen the early Science of Religion books with both names, one being Dhira's, on the cover as writers

How many other things? The authorship of Science of Religion is a grain on the sand of the white-washed sands of the Beach of your Public Relations Summerland.

Walrus readers have gone elsewhere.... truth disperses darkness faster than your eye can blink.

dontknownothinbouthistory
Registered User
(11/27/05 8:24 pm)
Reply 		Re: a challenge to at thy feet
Dhira was at least PY's equal, he had Indian gurus of his own and was not PY's disciple.

Above readers have read, "So Dhirananda was not “black,” nor “white,” but simply a struggling devotee,....."

To describe this in polite society, it is baloney, being false.

Again:
Dhira was at least PY's equal, he had Indian gurus of his own and was not PY's disciple.

From the beginning they were partners

Before they partnered up, by the way, Dhira taught at Ranchi, and his education was of a higher calibre than PY's.

You did not know Dhira or his family, or his Gurus at thy feet, or you would not refer to him as a devotee of PY, and a struggling one at that.

dontknownothinbouthistory
Registered User
(11/27/05 10:03 pm)
Reply 		Re: "then watch out"
As to myself and a philosophy I learn from, found on page 191-192 in Communion with God by Neale Donald Walsch, who wrote among other things Conversations with God 1, 2 and 3.

And a disclaimer, I converse widely with people, write and read. Though I have read a bit of Neale Donald Walsch, I do not know a lot about him.

Here's the quote I find from the above mentioned pages that some of us find as a touchstone:

"You can know a Master by the way he or she teaches you to get in touch with God, by the way he or she shows you how to meet with the Creator.

If they shout at you, scream at you, exhort, and entice you to find God outside of yourself---in their truth, in their book, in their way, in their place---then watch out. Take your "watch out," and remember that this time it's an illusion."

If they quietly invite you to find God inside of you, if they tell you that you do not need their truth, their book, their way, or their place---then you have found a Master, if only because you have been led to the Master deep inside you."

Used Yogi
Registered User
(12/2/05 11:08 pm)
Reply 		Dhirananda
AtThyFeet,

Thanks for all the time you've put into your postings.

I have heard from a very reliable source that Dhirananda limited his public criticism of Yogananda because Yogananda was at the time the most publicly visible Indian in America. A backlash against Yogananda could have meant a backlash against other Indians in the US.

After Dhirananda left Yogananda, and people flocked to him, he told them if they were getting something out of Yogananda, they should stick with him. He didn't try to steal disciples from Yogananda, they just came to him.

As for the lawsuit, I've heard that Dhirananda only got half the money from Yogananda that the court awarded him.


Used Yogi

Paramadas
Registered User
(12/3/05 12:15 am)
Reply 		Re: Dhirananda
AtThyFeet,
I would also like to thank you for your great posts on the history of SRF and Dhirananda and encourage you to ignore the inevitable clueless critics. Your factual material gives real substance to the Walrus, and makes it a valuable resource for even the most staunch SRFer. Kudos to you for your hard work and impeccable research.
PDas

Edited by: Paramadas at: 12/3/05 1:32 am
SayItIsntSo
Registered User
(12/3/05 9:12 am)
Reply
ezSupporter

 Re: Dhirananda
Yes, thanks for the posts. Even though I was a lifer in SRF some of this I didn't know. I used to enjoy the Mt. Washington stories and enjoy our Christmas visits.

Spot the Looney

dontknownothinbouthistory
Registered User
(12/3/05 11:05 am)
Reply 		Re: Dhirananda
tell the critics that you dispute that Dhira's name is on the cover of early editions of Science of Religion along with Yogananda, and when you join PY in oneness with God, as you have set out to do, will you be surprised when PY tells you, "yes, Dhira wrote the whole thing and wanted me to have necessary stature before speaking to Congress of Religious Liberals, so we presented it as if I had much to do, in fact, that i was the author?"

dontknownothinbouthistory
Registered User
(12/5/05 4:25 am)
Reply 		the composition
A point of information:

In opening this thread you say: "This is about Mount Washington’s history. I hope it will be interesting for you! May inevitable mistakes be forgiven."

Are you willing to correct the mistakes?

" Naturally Dhirananda could not forget Yogananda. Did his envy grow, even then? Probably: in 1935, six years after leaving, he finally sued Yogananda, claiming former institutional partnership with him. He won, and collected $8,000. Congratulations!
He also, in the courts, declared that Yogananda was taking sexual advantage of his young female devotees. "

Please show us one word in the case where Dhira mentioned PY's philandering.

Another question of information: the full amount was never collected.

Maybe, historically speaking......what is true in your story/myth will more clearly shine forth if you see your composition as a first draft, requiring more work.

Otherwise it is misleading at its best. A spin that as people above have posted, they enjoy, all the while being misinformed.

True Enuf
Registered User
(12/5/05 4:54 pm)
Reply 		Re: the composition
Dhirananda was the ghost writer of the Science of Religion, receiving credit on the title page and acknowledged first, along with Satyananda and Tulsi Bose on the acknowledgement page. A quick look at the writing styles of Yogananda and Dhirananda reveals very distinct differences.

Dhira’s Philosophic Insight (1925) is dedicated to SY, to quote exactly from the dedication page:

“Inscribed to
Swami Yogananda Giriji
My College-Friend, Teacher and Guiding Inspiration in Life
With Deep Love and Faith”

In the 1926 Yogoda booklet, it lists Yogananda first with various accomplishments etc…Founder of Mt Washington Center, Various Schools in India, Centers in US, Author of this and that (including Science of Religion) and a lot more – about 15 lines worth. Then Dhira is listed. In the booklet, the history of Yogoda is recounted, mentioning “…Swami sent for his co-worker in India, who took charge of the Boston Center, while Swami Yogananda spread the Yogoda message in…” and “Swami Dhirananda was called from Boston to become the residential swami of the LA Center and continues in charge of the numerous and varied activities there….”

These are written and cannot be disputed. Swami Satyananda’s biography of Yogananda (from the yoganiketan website) indicates that Yogananda was the primary force behind the Sadhu Saba and subsequent movements and offers the background of how the Science of Religion came about, showing it was Yogananada's ideas put into form by Dhira. You can read all about Basu Kumar Bagchi in the biography. They were dear friends.

The shame is that Yogananda’s English proficiency wasn’t better at the time, because Dhira’s style is ponderous, pedantic and reads like a boring lump of lead, despite the fact he was unquestionably better educated than Yogananda.

Furthermore, to now add to the anecdotal mix, I’ve heard from what I consider a credible source who personally knew the various figures of that time that Dhirananda was persuaded by various Yogoda students in LA to start his own thing, since Yogananda was always on the road (as it was his mission to popularize the idea of meditation etc…), and Dhira was the constant visible figure in LA., Dhira succumbed to these blandishments. Yogananda lamented that he never should’ve left Dhira alone there for so long. Now since I cannot disclose the identity of this person, anyone reading this has every right to dismiss it as unprovable, third-hand hearsay. But as for the rest, well, there it is.

dontknownothinbouthistory
Registered User
(12/5/05 9:59 pm)
Reply 		Re: what an embarassment/catch next ride to Mexico
When PY was confronted living in N.Y with Tara Mata, many South Asians, including Babaji regretted letting the spread of kriya be soiled by PY's absence from Los Angeles and his presence in woman's beds.

So natural to project the the failures on to another, so that in 2005 we read things like the above, that Dhira was left too long, alone in L.A.

What an embarassment.....kill Dhira's rep....kill the messenger!

Run for the hills. Mexico

Tell All, I am grieved to be betrayed by Dhira.

Oh to be back in psychology 101 and hearing about projection for the first time.....

True Enuf
Registered User
(12/6/05 9:31 am)
Reply 		Re: what an embarassment/catch next ride to Mexico
Were they caught 'in delicto flagrante', on tape? Or presumed guilty simply because they stayed in the same house for x number of days, perhaps to save money or work on editing. Did they stay together or is that also unproven speculation?

Without proof, it's he said, she said, they allege, etc... and it's all 100% speculative. That's why I added that anyone reading the last paragraph of my post has every right to dismiss it as unfounded hearsay.

dontknownothinbouthistory
Registered User
(12/6/05 7:41 pm)
Reply 		Not for the weak at heart
They were caught

True Enuf
Registered User
(12/6/05 8:42 pm)
Reply 		Re: Not for the weak at heart
Would you please elaborate on this?

Ringbearer7
Registered User
(12/8/05 4:28 pm)
Reply 		Re: what an embarassment/catch next ride to Mexico
"When PY was confronted living in N.Y with Tara Mata, many South Asians, including Babaji regretted letting the spread of kriya be soiled by PY's absence from Los Angeles and his presence in woman's beds."

Why does it seem that everyone except me knows Babaji? I had this impression that he was pretty inaccessible but perhaps he is just avoiding me.

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