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AtThyFeet Registered User (10/15/05 4:34 am) Reply	Yogananda's books and lessons Dear yogis, seekers, Self-realizationists, This is written especially to those of you who (like me) enjoy historic numbers and facts. It's really inspiring for me (and for you too I thought, that's why I post such things) to contemplate the lives of the Great Ones- it brings them closer to us. Yogananda wore many different hats during his lifetime. One was that of an inspired author, who tried to uplift us all. He tried with his pen to unite Eastern and Western religion. He tried through his books and lessons to teach practical spirituality. He tried to open our hearts to God, with poetry and song. This little article describes what he wrote, and when. Yogananda may well be described as a long-distance runner, where his major books are concerned. In other words, he didn't sprint and finish one book, then starting the next. He wrote his main books, rather, over a period of decades, working on them side by side. Thus Yogananda stated that his "Autobiography of a Yogi" took him 25 years to write- which means that he started it in 1921, soon after coming to America (it was published in 1946). His commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita and the Bible took him 30 years to complete- he published one article after another in his magazine: those articles began to appear in "East-West" in 1932. His commentaries on the "Rubaiyat"(verses written by the Muslim mystic, Omar Khayyam) started to appear in 1937 in his magazine. Apart from these "marathon" works, Yogananda actually didn't publish all that many books during his 32 years in America: his introductory book ("Science of Religion"), his two books of poetry (Whispers of Eternity," and "Songs of the Soul"), a little book with affirmations ("Scientific Healing Affirmations") and one on meditations ("Metaphysical Meditations"); his chant-book ("Cosmic Chants"); a tiny booklet "Attributes of Success;" and his guru's book "The Holy Science." Then of course he wrote many more articles for his magazine, as well as his various lessons. His lessons are given here with their content, so that you have an idea what they were all about. May we all grow in understanding, bowing to Yogananda, AtThyFeet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ••• 1920 ••• Still in India, Yogananda's published his first book: “Dharmavijnana” (Wisdom of Dharma)- later called “Science of Religion.” ••• 1923 ••• Yogananda published his book of poetry, "Songs of the Soul." And: YOGODA INTRODUCTION These were Yogananda's first written lessons, basically describing some energization exercises; and giving a first introduction to meditation- but not Hong Sau yet. ••• 1924 ••• He published both "Science of Religion" and "Scientific Healing Affirmations." ••• 1925 ••• Yogananda started his magazine: East-West (1925 to 1936) and (1945 to 1947); Inner Culture (1937 to 1944); Self Realization Magazine (1948 to 1969); Self-Realization (1970 to present). The magazine featured amongst other things his commentaries on the "Second Coming of Christ," on the "Bhagavad Gita," and on the "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam." And he published his "YOGODA" COURSE It described the Art of energization, Hong Sau, and several philosophical and spiritual topics. Lesson 1—Yogoda System of Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Perfection Lesson 2—Individual Charging of the 20 Body parts Lesson 3—Mechanical Movement and Tissue-Will Exercises Combined Lesson 4—Highest Technique of Concentration Lesson 5—Highest Technique of Meditation Lesson 6—The Cure of Nervousness Lesson 7—Art of Developing Memory Lesson 8—Art of Spiritual Healing Lesson 9—Spiritualizing and Transmuting Creative Force Lesson 10—Art of Material and Spiritual Success Lesson 11—Psycho-Analysis and Dreams Lesson 12—Occult Vision and Metaphysics of Cosmic Consciousness Spiritual Pledge of Yogoda Students ••• 1926 ••• Yogananda published his ADVANCED COURSE IN PRACTICAL METAPHYSICS Lesson 1: The True Scientific Conception of Genesis Lesson 2: Divine Will Healing Lesson 3: How to Develop Intuition Consciously Lesson 4: The Five Pranas Lesson 5: Reincarnation Lesson 6: The Law of Karma Lesson 7: Spiritual Marriage Lesson 8: Disembodied Souls Lesson 9: Bhagavad Gita (The Hindu Bible) Lesson 10: Chemistry of Feelings Lesson 11: Spiritual Food Lesson 12: Awakening of Kundalini or Serpent Force ••• 1930 ••• In this year he published SUPER ADVANCED COURSE Lesson 1—Christian Yoga and the Hidden Truths in St. John’s Revelation Lesson 2—Developing Response-Bringing Mental Whispers… Lesson 3—Reversing the Searchlights of the Senses Lesson 4—Art of Finding True Friends of Past Incarnations Lesson 5—The Divine Magnetic Diet Lesson 6—Installing Habits of Success, Health, and Wisdom in the Mind at Will Lesson 7—Magnetism Lesson 8—Obliterating the Malignant Seeds of Failure Lesson 9—Conquer Fear, Anger, Greed, Temptation, Failure, & Inferiority Lesson 10—The Art of Super-Relaxation Lesson 11—Converting the Hands into Healing Batteries Lesson 12—Esthetic Way of Developing Cosmic Consciousness ••• 1932 ••• Yogananda published his "Metaphysical Meditations." ••• 1934 ••• He published the ADVANCED SUPER COSMIC SCIENCE COURSE Lesson 1—Healing by Spiritual Affirmation and by Astral Food Lesson 2—How to Develop Creative Intuition Lesson 3—The Tree of Life—Adam and Eve Consciousness Lesson 4—Reincarnation Lesson 5—How to Contact Departed-Disembodied Souls Lesson 6—Cosmic Meditations ••• 1938 ••• He published the "Cosmic Chants" And also the PRAECEPTA LESSONS A compilation of previous lessons, with added stories, poems, topics etc. These lessons are much bigger than what had been published before. They were the bases of the SRF lessons of today. Each section included: - Praeceptum inspirational poems - Praecepta prayers - Scientific techniques and principles - Apologues - Health culture - Recipes - Inspirational messages - Affirmations - Special features ••• 1944 ••• Publication of “Attributes of Success”, now called “Laws of Success.” ••• 1946 ••• Yogananda published his main and most famous book, the “Autobiography of a Yogi.” As an interesting sidelight: Yogananda publicly announced in “East-West”(Jan.-March 1946), how he planned to use the proceeds of his most important opus: to build the “Golden World City” (World Brotherhood Colony) in Encinitas. ••• 1949 ••• Publication of Sri Yukteswar's book "The Holy Science." ••• 1950-52 ••• Yogananda spent much time in his desert retreat "29 Palms" to complete his writings, and to write new books. This was an extremely busy time for him, trying to get his books published. It was a race against his last hour, which he knew was approaching. Surprisingly, in his 1951 "Autobiography of a Yogi" (3rd edition), Yogananda already announced that his Bhagavad Gita commentaries were published, and were for sale(!). They weren't. But this public announcement must have been his adamant affirmation that the book will see the light of day during his lifetime (did he maybe know what would happen otherwise?). In that AY he wrote: "Another work, completed in 1950 during my stay at an SRF retreat near the Mojave desert, is a translation, with commentary, of the Bhagavad Gita. The book, God Talks With Arjuna, presents a detailed study of the various paths of yoga." In a footnote on the bottom of the page he added: "Published in 1951 (see page 6n.)" And on that page 6, in a footnote one reads that one may buy the book for $3.50 from SRF. Was Yogananda's wish ever more concretely expressed? He kept pushing hard. Yogananda wrote to Kamala in a letter (on Jan.17, 1952): "I have received a letter from the Consul General about joining with the celebration in San Francisco for the India Independence Day. I am busy getting the book ready for publication so I will be unable to attend." And on Feb.20, 1952, he wrote her: "I have been snowed under with the work on the book, and have been unable to take care of letters that have arrived. The book is progressing very nicely, and I hope it won't be too long before it will be ready for publication. I am working day and night toward that end." A few days later, on Feb. 25, 1952, Yogananda wrote to Peggy Deitz: "I am still at the desert where my days and nights are spent with God and working on the new book. It is coming along very well and I hope it will be ready for the publishers before too long. The Bhagavad Gita is being printed now, and after I have checked it over again, it will be ready for the public. I am sure you will like the latest book on Genesis, as the interpretation given to me by God has never before been presented." The Master had worked day and night, the Bhagavad Gita commentaries were already at the printer and needed only a final check... it seems that only a few seconds were missing before publication, the goal was so near...but then, on March 7 1952, Yogananda passed on. His fire for publication was extinguished at that tragic moment: the publishing department had obviously very different feelings about the urgency of the Master's books. Heavy editing was still needed, they must have felt. Thus, incredibly, 42 years had to pass before Yoganada's Bhagavad Gita commentaries got finally published in book form. The "Rubaiyat" suffered a similar fate. 52 years (imagine: half a century!) it took for the "Second Coming of Christ." His commentaries on Revelation, Genesis, and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali haven't made it into the hands of his devotees even to this very day- his interpretations "given to me by God." One is pretty stunned by all that, and of course it would be easy to point fingers at those responsible editor-disciples, judging them, growing upset or discouraged. But, as we all know, none is helped by such negativity, least of all oneself. So the best strategy- sigh- might be to smile, to love, and to say: "Well, considering their nature, it could have been worse...They did their best. Anyway, perfection is inside." Edited by: AtThyFeet at: 10/15/05 7:27 am
dontknownothinbouthistory Registered User (10/15/05 3:13 pm) Reply	AY and Science of Religion You sure he wrote EITHER one?
AtThyFeet Registered User (10/16/05 11:05 am) Reply	Re: AY and Science of Religion Dear "DontKnownothinabouthistory," I must admit that find myself a bit unprepared for such a question. What do you want me to quote? What he said? What he wrote (even in the AY itself)? Talks he gave (you can find them if you read carefully)? Letters? What his guru told him to do? What various disciples recount and write? Is there any disciple whose word you would trust? Gyanamata maybe? Or maybe the better thing for you to do would be to get into some research yourself. I think you will see that there is hardly any room for serious doubt. I wish you fun with it, God bless you, AtThyFeet
Paramadas Registered User (10/17/05 10:57 pm) Reply	Re: AY and Science of Religion ATF. I think what Dont may be referring to is the fact that the Gita, as published, doesn't sound like Yogananda. It sounds like it was heavily edited and amended and added to by a committee. If you want to know what Yogananda's writing "feels" like, then read the original Gita commentaries in the early magazines. The difference is palpable. You have to be sensitive to literary style, which requires some familiarity with the subject, but many many people have noticed this discrepancy. Frankly, I don't trust the two-volume Gita. The part that cheeses me off is that SRF pretends that Master did write that book. They think that their committee is in tune with the Guru, so no matter what they write, it's Master writing it. Well, we know from the legion of posts to the Walrus that SRF is NOT in tune with the Guru. The way they run their organization is evidence enough. So why should the product of their editiorial committee be any better? I wish someone would scour the old magazines and compile the Gita commentary that Master DID write. This I could put my faith in.
dontknownothinbouthistory Registered User (10/19/05 11:51 am) Reply	Re: AY and Science of Religion Master lectured, wrote poetry and sang. What prose exists that is actually his, I don't know. There are audio recordings of his beyond what the Fear Farm let's out or maybe has. And collected coversations with many non-monastics who knew him over the years have lent much lore that is closer to the truth than the Fear Farm's "Wizard of Oz." Hence the day he spent 8 hours trying to get Kamala to vote for the Republican murders and thieves [demos are no better]. She despised his politics. Also the man Mohammed [Bey or some other last name] who was both a pure and highly developed hynotist as well as vice prez of the Fear farm Back to Master, he borrowed and quoted without credit from (Vivekanada). Several people wrote the Autobiography from notes he returned from India with, including novelists and editors besides Laurie Pratt. Dhirananda, who in Medja is the friend Master was taking food to the attic for, wrote Science of Religion, and allowed that Master could put his name on it to give his maiden speech in USA more "weight." Copies still exist with Dhirananda's name on it. People on this board have seen such copies or have 'em. Just to let you know that sadly perhaps, his authorship of SOR and AY are truly a mix of myth and history, if not all myth.
dontknownothinbouthistory Registered User (10/19/05 11:59 am) Reply	Re: let's match this and add one Let's picture ourselves at a Kriya Initiation Ceremony. We walk in for our first time let's say we have been approved to recieve Kriya. A monastic or two is present. When it's over, we come away having been "initiated by" Master and as disciple of Christ, Krishna etc. [most Indians question Master's guruship over thousands of basically anonomous people, some never to be in his presence again as a sham. They see the authenticity of ParamGuru's (Yukteswar) being a guru over a small number of disciples that certainly included ones who had years of contact in the same "home." Indians also know that YSS was formed by Master against his Master's wishes So which of you are sure deep down that, that monastic who gave you "initiation" and took your money had transformed into Master? You? Or you? Which one of you? Not I
SatoriElixir Registered User (10/19/05 8:34 pm) Reply	Re: let's match this and add one I was initiated by Master in a dream so I consider myself as a direct disciple.
dontknownothinbouthistory Registered User (10/19/05 9:14 pm) Reply	Re: and your...... And your ongoing daily contact living in the same home (ashram) like Master did with Yukteswar? Nice dream by the way. What experiences I have had are nice too, at the same time they also qualify as self-induced hypnosis!
AtThyFeet Registered User (10/20/05 3:54 am) Reply	on AY and Science of Religion Dear DNNAH, I must say that I feel a bit catapulted out of this forum by this kind of conversation. I just posted another history-article, which might have been my last. So please excuse me if I don't reply anymore after this. Concerning "Science of Religion," I recommend reading Yogananda Sanga, which the Yoganiketan team has translated and generously offered on their site, for free. It is by Swami Satyananda, who was with Yogananda in his early years in India. I think he should know, since he was there. You will read that Yogananda wrote the text of the book in a draft-sketch on his way back from his trip to Japan, on a ship. That was already in Nov. 1916. Later, in 1920, just before leaving to America, "with Dhiranandaji's assistance, Yoganandaji's book, Science of Religion (Dharmavijnan), was properly published. Sri Tulsi Narayan Basu and I also were able to help somewhat with the publication of the book." Yogananda, in the early editions of the book, thanked these three men for their help. It was, as Satyananda writes, obviously "Yoganandaji's book," his ideas, his inspiration, his teaching. He was assisted by different people, especially by Dhirananda, because his English was not perfect. Dhirananda played the piano, so to speak, but Yogananda was the composer of this world famous piece of music. No myth involved. Just imagine you are playing the piano- a melody of Mozart let's say, who is your friend. The world goes wild hearing this piece of marvelous music. People love it. People praise it. People hail Mozart..."Wait a bit," you might say, "I was the one who was playing, not Mozart. I clothed the music in real notes. I am to be praised! My name needs to be written." That is Dhirananda's story. But the composer who drew the beauty out of the ether was Yogananda. Please read it! And it's just the same with the AY. Yogananda wrote it ("I had to go over and over the book"). He said he started writing it long before he went back to India. Disciples saw him, he wrote so, people felt his divine vibrations in the book, not the one's of some novelist etc. (please do read Gyanamata- is there one disciple to be trusted more?) Yes, again, he had people edit his English. But who would ever say that therefore they wrote it? It's totally twisting what happened. A Tara-book would never have been a best-seller still after half a century; that novelist (if she really existed)...does any of her own books deserve any mention, any hint that she could write a world famous book? It needed a Yogananda to create a book like this, which carried, as he said, his vibrations, not someone else's. Do you trust those Indian opinions more than Master? India is full(!) of opinions. I have heard so much stuff. Actually we are all full of opinions, and often they are quite wrong, especially if we are sooo convinced of ourselves. That's just how the ego is. Do you trust some disciples when say weird things, or shouldn't we better think, "well, she too has still to learn a lot." And do you really think Yogananda needed to quote from Vivekananda or anyone? Lastly (and maybe most importantly): don't you think there might be a bit too much disrespect in tone in your posts? If you yourself would read your text, would you think appreciatively: "Oh this is good, here I find wisdom and love, and truth." Or would you maybe think: Well, this person lives his own little "myth," and maybe not a very beautiful one. I am certainly not always in favor of what SRF does, but your post instinctively makes me want to defend them- as my brothers and sisters in God. Of course they make mistakes, even big ones. So do I. So do you. I hope people still love me, in spite of all. I hope they will still love you. In this spirit I certainly love my gurubhais in SRF- even though they too (surprise!) are still dealing with their egos. May God bless you, and all readers of this post, AtThyFeet Edited by: AtThyFeet at: 10/20/05 6:03 am
dontknownothinbouthistory Registered User (10/20/05 7:38 pm) Reply	what Master said and what Master did He also promoted a non-meat diet. That's what he said. What he did was eat it vociferously. What he said: ("I had to go over and over the book"). What others did: Write it. ~~~~ The comments about Master's Gita above are indisputably good reasoning.
Paramadas Registered User (10/20/05 7:39 pm) Reply	Re: on AY and Science of Religion ATF, see pm in your Inbox.
dontknownothinbouthistory Registered User (10/21/05 5:55 pm) Reply	Re: Recommended Reading It behooves those of us that can to collect books At Thy Feet mentions above, and others, for example the one where it is discussed that Yukteswar was against YSS being formed in India by Master. Then a bibliography section could be considered by Walrus, or threads could be labelled "bibliography," and we could plead that only Titles and a couple sentences be listed. In threads or a section labelled articles and references, long section could be copied and discussed like At Thy Feet mentions above. Has the author you are referring to At Thy Feet been discussed in here at numerous other places? How many Indian authors can we mention in this thread alone? What does "The Kriya Discussion Board" have to offer, etc?
SatoriElixir Registered User (10/21/05 8:48 pm) Reply	Re: and your...... Guruji said that if a Master or an Avatar appears in a dream then it is a superconscious vision, especially if the experience has an overwhelmingly lasting effect in life.
SatoriElixir Registered User (10/21/05 8:52 pm) Reply	Re: what Master said and what Master did Master never ate meat.

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