5 Day Advent Honouring Paramhansa Yogananda’s Birthday
“Find That Shelter in Your Heart of Hearts”
This would be the third time that I have witnessed the celebrations for Paramhansa Yogananda’s birthday with Ananda. I was inspired by Mary Kretzmann’s blog "5-Day “Advent” for Yogananda’s Birthday, Jan. 5". To do something to honour Paramhansa Yogananda’s Birthday with my children.
(My children never participated for the full 5 days, but it was nice that they could joined for some of the days).
So I decided to trust my intuition and allow Paramhansa Yogananda’s words to guide me. We embarked on a journey through the senses using the Autobiography of a Yogi. Every day I would play on the harmonium the chant Sri Yogananda and listen to Lord I am Thine by Swami Kriyananda. I also listened to Paramhansa Yogananda's talk “In the Glory of the Spirit” which was recorded on his birthday many years ago. My offerings took place in my “Night” Meditation that I offer online. I also felt inspired to share the two dreams I had and share the blessings I was guided to do for us.
“Starting the New Year with the opening of Sushumna Chapel online and the 5-day Advent for Paramhansa Yogananda’s Birthday, I felt that the Chapel was being blessed by Paramhansa Yogananda, which I am very grateful for. Below is a journey into the 5 days”.
January 1st Taste - Prasad
On Day 1 To honour Paramhansa Yogananda, I started fasting for five days and on day 6 I transitioned into Yogananda’s 9-day cleansing Diet.
Here is the following passage that I read.
Chapter 12: Years in my Master’s Hermitage Pages (127 -128).
My guru mixed freely with men and women disciples, treating all as his children. Perceiving their soul equality, he showed no distinction or partiality.
“In sleep, you do not know whether you are a man or a woman,” he said. “Just as a man, impersonating a woman, does not become one, so the soul, impersonating both man and woman, has no sex. The soul is the pure, changeless image of God.”
Sri Yukteswar never avoided or blamed women as objects of seduction. Men, he said, were also a temptation to women. I once inquired of my guru why a great ancient saint had called women “the door to hell.”
“A girl must have proved very troublesome to his peace of mind in his early life,” my guru answered causticly. “Otherwise he would have denounced, not woman, but some imperfection in his own self-control.”
If a visitor dared to relate a suggestive story in the hermitage, Master would maintain an unresponsive silence. “Do not allow yourself to be thrashed by the provoking whip of a beautiful face,” he told the disciples. “How can sense slaves enjoy the world? Its subtle flavors escape them while they grovel in primal mud. All nice discriminations are lost to the man of elemental lusts.”
Students seeking to escape from the dualistic maya delusion received from Sri Yukteswar patient and understanding counsel.
“Just as the purpose of eating is to satisfy hunger, not greed, so the sex instinct is designed for the propagation of the species according to natural law, never for the kindling of insatiable longings,” he said. “Destroy wrong desires now; otherwise they will follow you after the astral body is torn from its physical casing. Even when the flesh is weak, the mind should be constantly resistant. If temptation assails you with cruel force, overcome it by impersonal analysis and indomitable will. Every natural passion can be mastered.
“Conserve your powers. Be like the capacious ocean, absorbing within all the tributary rivers of the senses. Small yearnings are openings in the reservoir of your inner peace, permitting healing waters to be wasted in the desert soil of materialism. The forceful activating impulse of wrong desire is the greatest enemy to the happiness of man. Roam in the world as a lion of self-control; see that the frogs of weakness don’t kick you around.”
The devotee is finally freed from all instinctive compulsions. He transforms his need for human affection into aspiration for God alone, a love solitary because omnipresent
January 2nd Sound
On Day 2 to honour Paramhansa Yogananda I used my singing bowl and read the following passage.
Chapter 43: The Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar Pages (403 - 404).
“No one is born of woman; offspring are materialized by astral beings through the help of their cosmic will into specially patterned, astrally condensed forms. The recently physically disembodied being arrives in an astral family through invitation, drawn by similar mental and spiritual tendencies.
“The astral body is not subject to cold or heat or other natural conditions. The anatomy includes an astral brain, or the thousand-petaled lotus of light, and six awakened centers in the sushumna, or astral cerebro-spinal axis. The heart draws cosmic energy as well as light from the astral brain, and pumps it to the astral nerves and body cells, or lifetrons. Astral beings can affect their bodies by lifetronic force or by mantric vibrations.
“The astral body is an exact counterpart of the last physical form. Astral beings retain the same appearance which they possessed in youth in their previous earthly sojourn; occasionally an astral being chooses, like myself, to retain his old age appearance.” Master, emanating the very essence of youth, chuckled merrily.
“Unlike the spacial, three-dimensional physical world cognized only by the five senses, the astral spheres are visible to the all-inclusive sixth sense—intuition,” Sri Yukteswar went on. “By sheer intuitional feeling, all astral beings see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. They possess three eyes, two of which are partly closed. The third and chief astral eye, vertically placed on the forehead, is open. Astral beings have all the outer sensory organs—ears, eyes, nose, tongue, and skin—but they employ the intuitional sense to experience sensations through any part of the body; they can see through the ear, or nose, or skin. They are able to hear through the eyes or tongue, and can taste through the ears or skin, and so forth.4
“Man’s physical body is exposed to countless dangers, and is easily hurt or maimed; the ethereal astral body may occasionally be cut or bruised but is healed at once by mere willing.”
“Gurudeva, are all astral persons beautiful?”
“Beauty in the astral world is known to be a spiritual quality, and not an outward conformation,” Sri Yukteswar replied. “Astral beings therefore attach little importance to facial features. They have the privilege, however, of costuming themselves at will with new, colorful, astrally materialized bodies. Just as worldly men don new array for gala events, so astral beings find occasions to bedeck themselves in specially designed forms.
“Joyous astral festivities on the higher astral planets like Hiranyaloka take place when a being is liberated from the astral world through spiritual advancement, and is therefore ready to enter the heaven of the causal world. On such occasions the Invisible Heavenly Father, and the saints who are merged in Him, materialize Themselves into bodies of Their own choice and join the astral celebration. In order to please His beloved devotee, the Lord takes any desired form. If the devotee worshiped through devotion, he sees God as the Divine Mother.
Sharing of my Dream Day 2
I dreamt Swami Kriyananda and he was holding up a candle and watching it. He was wearing pure white; it was the purest white I ever seen. I Also dreamt a photograph of swami Kriyananda wearing yellow and everyone else was wearing pure white. The dream was beautiful it felt like we was in a different realm, and in both dreams I felt a presence of being in a holy serene place.
January 3rd Scent
On Day 3 to honour Paramhansa Yogananda I lit an incense called Eastern Tantra and read the following passage.
Chapter 34: Materialising a Palace Pages (302-306)
“I followed my companion into a spacious reception hall. The odor of incense and of roses wafted through the air; dim lamps shed a multicolored glow. Small groups of devotees, some fair, some dark-skinned, chanted musically, or sat in the meditative posture, immersed in an inner peace. A vibrant joy pervaded the atmosphere.
“‘Feast your eyes; enjoy the artistic splendors of this palace, for it has been brought into being solely in your honor.’ My guide smiled sympathetically as I uttered a few ejaculations of wonderment.
“‘Brother,’ I said, ‘the beauty of this structure surpasses the bounds of human imagination. Please tell me the mystery of its origin.’
“‘I will gladly enlighten you.’ My companion’s dark eyes sparkled with wisdom. ‘In reality there is nothing inexplicable about this materialization. The whole cosmos is a materialized thought of the Creator. This heavy, earthly clod, floating in space, is a dream of God. He made all things out of His consciousness, even as man in his dream consciousness reproduces and vivifies a creation with its creatures.
“‘God first created the earth as an idea. Then He quickened it; energy atoms came into being. He coordinated the atoms into this solid sphere. All its molecules are held together by the will of God. When He withdraws His will, the earth again will disintegrate into energy. Energy will dissolve into consciousness; the earth-idea will disappear from objectivity.
“‘The substance of a dream is held in materialization by the subconscious thought of the dreamer. When that cohesive thought is withdrawn in wakefulness, the dream and its elements dissolve. A man closes his eyes and erects a dream-creation which, on awakening, he effortlessly dematerializes. He follows the divine archetypal pattern. Similarly, when he awakens in cosmic consciousness, he will effortlessly dematerialize the illusions of the cosmic dream.
“‘Being one with the infinite all-accomplishing Will, Babaji can summon the elemental atoms to combine and manifest themselves in any form. This golden palace, instantaneously created, is real, even as this earth is real. Babaji created this palatial mansion out of his mind and is holding its atoms together by the power of his will, even as God created this earth and is maintaining it intact.’ He added, ‘When this structure has served its purpose, Babaji will dematerialize it.’
“As I remained silent in awe, my guide made a sweeping gesture. ‘This shimmering palace, superbly embellished with jewels, has not been built by human effort or with laboriously mined gold and gems. It stands solidly, a monumental challenge to man.5 Whoever realizes himself as a son of God, even as Babaji has done, can reach any goal by the infinite powers hidden within him. A common stone locks within itself the secret of stupendous atomic energy;6 even so, a mortal is yet a powerhouse of divinity.’
“The sage picked up from a near-by table a graceful vase whose handle was blazing with diamonds. ‘Our great guru created this palace by solidifying myriads of free cosmic rays,’ he went on. ‘Touch this vase and its diamonds; they will satisfy all the tests of sensory experience.’
“I examined the vase, and passed my hand over the smooth room-walls, thick with glistening gold. Each of the jewels scattered lavishly about was worthy of a king’s collection. Deep satisfaction spread over my mind. A submerged desire, hidden in my subconsciousness from lives now gone, seemed simultaneously gratified and extinguished.
“My stately companion led me through ornate arches and corridors into a series of chambers richly furnished in the style of an emperor’s palace. We entered an immense hall. In the center stood a golden throne, encrusted with jewels shedding a dazzling medley of colors. There, in lotus posture, sat the supreme Babaji. I knelt on the shining floor at his feet.
“‘Lahiri, are you still feasting on your dream desires for a golden palace?’ My guru’s eyes were twinkling like his own sapphires. ‘Wake! All your earthly thirsts are about to be quenched forever.’ He murmured some mystic words of blessing. ‘My son, arise. Receive your initiation into the kingdom of God through Kriya Yoga.’
“Babaji stretched out his hand; a homa (sacrificial) fire appeared, surrounded by fruits and flowers. I received the liberating yogic technique before this flaming altar.
“The rites were completed in the early dawn. I felt no need for sleep in my ecstatic state, and wandered around the palace, filled on all sides with treasures and priceless objets d’art.Descending to the gorgeous gardens, I noticed, near-by, the same caves and barren mountain ledges which yesterday had boasted no adjacency to palace or flowered terrace.
“Reentering the palace, fabulously glistening in the cold Himalayan sunlight, I sought the presence of my master. He was still enthroned, surrounded by many quiet disciples.
“‘Lahiri, you are hungry.’ Babaji added, ‘Close your eyes.’
“When I reopened them, the enchanting palace and its picturesque gardens had disappeared. My own body and the forms of Babaji and the cluster of chelas were all now seated on the bare ground at the exact site of the vanished palace, not far from the sunlit entrances of the rocky grottos. I recalled that my guide had remarked that the palace would be dematerialized, its captive atoms released into the thought-essence from which it had sprung. Although stunned, I looked trustingly at my guru. I knew not what to expect next on this day of miracles.
“‘The purpose for which the palace was created has now been served,’ Babaji explained. He lifted an earthen vessel from the ground. ‘Put your hand there and receive whatever food you desire.’
“As soon as I touched the broad, empty bowl, it became heaped with hot butter-fried luchis, curry, and rare sweetmeats. I helped myself, observing that the vessel was ever-filled. At the end of my meal I looked around for water. My guru pointed to the bowl before me. Lo! the food had vanished; in its place was water, clear as from a mountain stream.
“‘Few mortals know that the kingdom of God includes the kingdom of mundane fulfillments,’ Babaji observed. ‘The divine realm extends to the earthly, but the latter, being illusory, cannot include the essence of reality.’
“‘Beloved guru, last night you demonstrated for me the link of beauty in heaven and earth!’ I smiled at memories of the vanished palace; surely no simple yogi had ever received initiation into the august mysteries of Spirit amidst surroundings of more impressive luxury! I gazed tranquilly at the stark contrast of the present scene. The gaunt ground, the skyey roof, the caves offering primitive shelter—all seemed a gracious natural setting for the seraphic saints around me.
“I sat that afternoon on my blanket, hallowed by associations of past-life realizations. My divine guru approached and passed his hand over my head. I entered the nirbikalpa samadhi state, remaining unbrokenly in its bliss for seven days. Crossing the successive strata of self-knowledge, I penetrated the deathless realms of reality. All delusive limitations dropped away; my soul was fully established on the eternal altar of the Cosmic Spirit. On the eighth day I fell at my guru’s feet and implored him to keep me always near him in this sacred wilderness.
“‘My son,’ Babaji said, embracing me, ‘your role in this incarnation must be played on an outward stage. Prenatally blessed by many lives of lonely meditation, you must now mingle in the world of men.
Sharing of my Dream Day 3
I dreamt I was in a shopping centre and I seen an old friend who was wearing the same coat that Paramhansa Yogananda was wearing in the picture below. She walked through the circular door and waved at me. (Looking at Paramhansa Yogananda in the picture I realised that it was actually Paramhansa Yogananda's face I saw and not my friend's). I waved back and then I had a strawberry cornetto in my hand, (which is my favourite) when I had finished I saw a sink and when I looked into the sink another strawberry cornetto appeared which I started to eat. Then everyone started walking so I began to follow, someone offered me a cigarette, (the cigarette was white and longer than the normal average cigarette, I don’t smoke so NO would be my first reaction but I never) I took it gratefully. As we turned the corner, we were outside, it looked like a concert was getting ready to be performed. Someone said to me shall we sit here, which was at the side where I wouldn’t have been able to see the performance (normally I would have said yes). But my reply was No! I went to the front where I could get a good view and sat down.
In this dream, I felt a sense of empowerment and taking direction in my life and also being gifted my favourite ice cream and a mysterious white cigarette. Mistaking my friend for Paramhansa Yogananda, I feel like this represents clarity for me in some way and that if I look again I will see the face of Paramhansa Yogananda in everyone. Also, I was guided to read the first paragraph, that I read on day 1:
My guru mixed freely with men and women disciples, treating all as his children. Perceiving their soul equality, he showed no distinction or partiality.
“In sleep, you do not know whether you are a man or a woman,” he said. “Just as a man, impersonating a woman, does not become one, so the soul, impersonating both man and woman, has no sex. The soul is the pure, changeless image of God.”
January 4th Touch
On Day 4 to honour Paramhansa Yogananda I did a blessing for myself. I filled a gold bowl with water with baby a amethyst crystal, baby citrine crystals and a baby shunguite crystal. I used Paramhansa Yogananda's words to bless the water and then I anointed myself with the water at the third eye. During my meditation, I heard a whisper from Paramhansa Yogananda which said “let me help you”. I then asked inwardly how do I let you help me? I then began to feel an adjustment happening to my right ear and I looked at Paramahansa Yoganda’s picture on the front cover of his book Autobiography of a Yogi and continued meditating.
I read the following passage.
Chapter 12: Years in my Master’s Hermitage Page 80 (Water)
“Let us sit here for a few minutes. My Master always asked me to meditate whenever I saw an expanse of water. Here its placidity reminds us of the vast calmness of God. As all things can be reflected in water, so the whole universe is mirrored in the lake of the Cosmic Mind.
Chapter 12: Years in my Master’s Hermitage Page 106 (Touch)
but in Master’s presence I felt transforming power. At his touch, a great light broke upon my being, like glory of countless suns blazing together. A flood of ineffable bliss, overwhelming my heart to an innermost core, continued during the following day. It was late that afternoon before I could bring myself to leave the hermitage.
“You will return in thirty days.” As I reached my Calcutta home, the fulfillment of Master’s prediction entered with me. None of my relatives made the pointed remarks I had feared about the reappearance of the “soaring bird.”
I climbed to my little attic and bestowed affectionate glances, as though on a living presence. “You have witnessed my meditations, and the tears and storms of my sadhana. Now I have reached the harbor of my divine teacher.”
January 5th Light (Paramhansa Yogananda's Birthday)
Chapter 15: Cauliflower Robbery from the notes on Page 156
1. If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.”—Matthew 6:22. During deep meditation, the single or spiritual eye becomes visible within the central part of the forehead. This omniscient eye is variously referred to in scriptures as the third eye, the star of the East, the inner eye, the dove descending from heaven, the eye of Shiva, the eye of intuition, etc.▲
2. “He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? . . . he that teacheth man knowledge, shall he not know?”—Psalm 94:9-10.
Chapter 21: We Visit Kasmir Pages (198–200)
Fortunately for his disciples, Sri Yukteswar burned many of their sins in the fire of his severe fever in Kashmir. The metaphysical method of physical transfer of disease is known to highly advanced yogis. A strong man can assist a weaker one by helping to carry his heavy load; a spiritual superman is able to minimize his disciples’ physical or mental burdens by sharing the karma of their past actions. Just as a rich man loses some money when he pays off a large debt for his prodigal son, who is thus saved from dire consequences of his own folly, so a master willingly sacrifices a portion of his bodily wealth to lighten the misery of disciples.3
By a secret method, the yogi unites his mind and astral vehicle with those of a suffering individual; the disease is conveyed, wholly or in part, to the saint’s body. Having harvested God on the physical field, a master no longer cares what happens to that material form. Though he may allow it to register a certain disease in order to relieve others, his mind is never affected; he considers himself fortunate in being able to render such aid.
The devotee who has achieved final salvation in the Lord finds that his body has completely fulfilled its purpose; he can then use it in any way he deems fit. His work in the world is to alleviate the sorrows of mankind, whether through spiritual means or by intellectual counsel or through will power or by the physical transfer of disease. Escaping to the superconsciousness whenever he so desires, a master can remain oblivious of physical suffering; sometimes he chooses to bear bodily pain stoically, as an example to disciples. By putting on the ailments of others, a yogi can satisfy, for them, the karmic law of cause and effect. This law is mechanically or mathematically operative; its workings can be scientifically manipulated by men of divine wisdom.
The spiritual law does not require a master to become ill whenever he heals another person. Healings ordinarily take place through the saint’s knowledge of various methods of instantaneous cure in which no hurt to the spiritual healer is involved. On rare occasions, however, a master who wishes to greatly quicken his disciples’ evolution may then voluntarily work out on his own body a large measure of their undesirable karma.
Jesus signified himself as a ransom for the sins of many. With his divine powers,4 his body could never have been subjected to death by crucifixion if he had not willingly cooperated with the subtle cosmic law of cause and effect. He thus took on himself the consequences of others’ karma, especially that of his disciples. In this manner they were highly purified and made fit to receive the omnipresent consciousness which later descended on them.
Only a self-realized master can transfer his life force, or convey into his own body the diseases of others. An ordinary man cannot employ this yogic method of cure, nor is it desirable that he should do so; for an unsound physical instrument is a hindrance to God-meditation. The Hindu scriptures teach that the first duty of man is to keep his body in good condition; otherwise his mind is unable to remain fixed in devotional concentration.
A very strong mind, however, can transcend all physical difficulties and attain to God-realization. Many saints have ignored illness and succeeded in their divine quest. St. Francis of Assisi, severely afflicted with ailments, healed others and even raised the dead.
I knew an Indian saint, half of whose body was once festering with sores. His diabetic condition was so acute that under ordinary conditions he could not sit still at one time for more than fifteen minutes. But his spiritual aspiration was undeterrable. “Lord,” he prayed, “wilt Thou come into my broken temple?” With ceaseless command of will, the saint gradually became able to sit daily in the lotus posture for eighteen continuous hours, engrossed in the ecstatic trance.
“And,” he told me, “at the end of three years, I found the Infinite Light blazing within my shattered form. Rejoicing in the joyful splendour, I forgot the body. Later I saw that it had become whole through the Divine Mercy.”
The Holy Science by Sri Yukteswar Page 55
Pranava Sabda, the Word of God. When man directs all his organs of sense toward their common center, the sensorium or Sushumnadwara, the door of the internal world, he perceives his Godsent luminous body of Radha or John the Baptist, and hears the peculiar “knocking” sound, Prariua Sabda, the Word of God. See John 1:6, 7, 23.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was john,
“The same came for a -witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.”
“I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.”
Samyama, the concentration of the self. Thus perceiving man naturally believes in the existence of the true Spiritual Light, and, withdrawing his self from the outer world, concentrates himself on the sensorium.
On day 5 to honour Paramhansa Yogananda’s Birthday I did a Purification Ceremony and blessed everyone with the touch of light.
On Day 6 at 3:00 am UK time, which was Day 5 for Ananda Village (7:00 pm). I attend their online celebration for Paramhansa Yogananda where I retook my Discipleship Vow. It was such a huge blessing and I was very grateful to be apart of a very special day and witness everyone's sincerity, reverence and love for Paramhansa Yogananda (I later found out that it was his 130th birthday).
After the celebration, I remembered that I had to be awake in 3 hours to be of service for Sushumna Chapel Morning Meditation. I slept with my phone next to me which I would never do, because I was such in a deep blissful state I was worried I may not have woken up. But bless and behold I received a photo in my third eye of me and Swami Kriyananda where I was guided to check my phone. And when I checked it was two minutes before my alarm was set to go off. I smiled and gave thanks to Swami Kriyananda for supporting me and being my astral spiritual alarm.
Journeying through the senses and honouring Paramhansa Yogananda has been such a blessing for me whilst fasting and for Sushumna Chapel. I am grateful for all that I have received, and I will be looking forward to doing this again next year.
Happy New Year, Happy New Blessings & Happy New Day Every Day.
Blessings & Love
Rev Dinah Pemberton