Dwapara Yuga & Yogananda's message to the world

Perhaps you will agree, that the world is facing a crisis. What is the cause of it, and what is the remedy?

All nations have to follow the influence of the ascending and descending yugas. The present world crisis is due to the upward climb of Dwapara Yuga; in order for the world to become better, evil must be expunged. The forces of evil will cause their own destruction, thus assuring the survival of the righteous nations. The conflict between good and evil has been going on since the dawn of history. But as the world is moving upward through the Dwapara Yuga, the electrical or atomic age,there is greater potential not only for good, but also for destruction through the misuse of technology by those who are greedy and desire power. In keeping with the influence of Dwapara Yuga, technology is rapidly moving the general populace to higher levels of achievement. But the progress also creates a greater gap between the achievers and the nonachievers. This foments jealousies and social, economic and political troubles.

The same session continues with:

Would you like to give a message to the world?

My brothers and sisters of the world: Please remember that God is our Father and he is One. We are all His children, and as such we should adopt constructive means to help each other become physically, mentally, financially and spiritually ideal citizens of the United States of the World. If in a community of 1000 persons each individual tries by graft, fighting and chicanery to enrich himself at the expense of others, each person will have 999 enemies; whereas if each person cooperates with the others - physically, mentally, financially and spiritually - each one will have 999 friends. If all nations helped one another through love, the whole world would live in peace with ample opportunity for promoting the well-being of all.

[...]
When every soul will rise above petty divisions in true spiritual understanding, world misery will be consumed by the fire of realization of the universality of God and the brotherhood of man.

Such media as radio and television and air travel have brought us all together as never before. We must learn that it can no longer be Asia for Asiatics, Europe for Europeans and America for Americans, and so on, but a United States of the World under God, in which every human being can be an ideal citizen of the globe with every opportunity for fulfillment in body, mind and soul.

That would be my message, my plea, to the world.

These excerpts are from a 1951 (251 Dwapara) interview with Paramhansa Yogananda, reported in Journey to Self-Realization, published by SRF.

Yogananda is pictured with St Lynn, his successor as president of SRF. Both wear crosses, often cropped out in official SRF pictures.

Dwapara Yuga, Yogananda & The Art of Living

Yogananda wrote the following paragraphs in the East West Magazine of May 1933. They are, in the author’s opinion, one of the most succinct summaries of his teachings. We imagine our modern world troubled with terrorism, global warming and talk of a mild recession. Back in 1933, the prohibition era was just coming to a close, segregation was firmly in place, millions were without jobs and homes, camping out in places like Central Park and starving due to both economic and also ecological disaster with the dustbowl. Popular heroes were Baby Face Nelson and Machine Gun Kelly, seemingly representing the poor in the face of wealthy, informed but uncaring elites. The cancers of nationalist and socialist regimes were growing in Spain, Italy, Germany, Japan and Russia. In this dark world context Yogananda's teachings are all the more luminous in their inclusiveness and expansiveness.

“Every man builds his aspirations and forms his desires according to his pre-natal and post-natal influences. Heredity and national, social, and family characteristics, tastes, and habits mold the life of a child. Children, in the beginning of their lives, are about the same everywhere. That is why Jesus said: "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." Divinity is the one nationality of all children the world over, but, as they grow older and the family and social characteristics begin to exercise their influence, it is then that individuals begin to reveal the Hindu or American or any other national and racial traits.
It seems as if God is trying to evolve the art of right living by expressing His Truth through a combination of particular civilizations, mentalities, and nationalities. No nation is complete in itself. An absorption and collection of the best in Hindus, English, Americans, Chinese, French, German, and other nationalities may offer us the best information on the art of living. It is important to note that certain individuals like Jesus, or the master minds of India, not only attained the best in all civilizations since the earliest era to the present time, but they manifested the highest ideals embodied in all religions.
Great men and saints always live several hundred years ahead of their time and exemplify the universal Truth of all times. Therefore, the art of right living can be found in the study of the best in all nationalities, plus the study of the individual lives of great saints. Of all nationalities at present, the Hindu and the American represent, respectively, the acme of spiritually and materially efficient civilizations. The Hindus and other Orientals have produced the highest types of spiritual people, like Jesus and Ghandi. Whereas, Americans have produced the greatest types of businessmen, like Henry Ford, and also practical scientists like Thomas Edison.

A combination of the spiritually efficient qualities with the scientific materially efficient qualities as represented in the above examples of the lives of great men can offer us an art of living which will produce physically, mentally, morally, materially, socially, and spiritually the highest type of all-round men in all nationalities.

The next things is to select, not the particular one-sided national characteristics, but the all-round universal principles of living from all nations and from all great men. Do not take only those principles which develop the physical at the cost of the spiritual phase of man’s life, or vice versa, but also take those which equally and harmoniously develop the superman with his balanced physical, mental, moral, and spiritual qualities.
I will now enumerate a few practical methods of uniformly developing body, mind, and soul.
(a) Eat more raw food and fresh fruits, drink fresh milk and plenty of orange juice with groundnuts mixed in. (Read and follow a good modern book on dietetics. )
(b) Fast one day a week on orange juice and use a suitable cleansing mineral oil as prescribed by your physician.
(c) Walk, run, or take some form of vigorous exercise with deep attention until you perspire, every morning and evening.
(d) Read and meditate upon a passage from the Christian Bible and a passage from the Hindu Bible, (Bhagavad Gita) obtainable at any large book store.
(e) Read Shakespeare and other classics, some portions from some practical books on chemistry, physics, physiology, and history of Oriental and Western philosophy, comparative religion, ethics, and psychology. Don’t waste your time on cheap novels. Read a good health and spiritual magazine. Read the editorial and health articles in the newspapers, and not only the comics and scandals.
(f) Go to a different church each Sunday. One Sunday go to the Protestant church, another Sunday go to the Catholic Church, another Sunday go to the Jewish temple, and another Sunday go to the Hindu temple, and so on. Keep on doing this in rotation to show not only your toleration, but to develop your appreciation and understanding. Call all temples, whether Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, or any other religion, by the common name—"The Temple of Our God."
(g) While honoring God in all man-made temples, learn to worship and contact Him in the temple of deepest silence. Practice meditation for one hour in the morning and one hour at night. Learn the highest methods of scientific concentration and meditation as taught by great Hindu masters. Do not be sidetracked to dogmatic untested religious beliefs, but try to find the one highway of Self-Realization that leads quickly to God through the forests of belief and theology. Do not be a slave to the senses. Learn to make them serve you with lasting spiritual pleasures.
(h) Only occasionally go to see the best moral and spiritual plays or moving pictures.
(i) Obey the good laws of your family, country, and all nations.
(j) Speak kindly and follow fearlessly the Truth wherever you perceive it.
(k) Love your family and country deeply so that you may learn to love and serve people of all nations more, and learn to find God in all men of whatever race or religion.
(l) Earn more, and spend less by destroying luxurious habits. Save enough so that you can live on the interest of your savings. Divide your life into four parts, putting the main emphasis on developing particular efficiency in one line during each of the four periods of life.

(1) From 5 to 25 years, take up the study of efficiency, general education, and particular training;
(2) from 25 to 40 years, earn money;
(3) from 40 to 50 years, live quietly, study, and meditate;
(4) from 50 years on, spend life in preaching and meditating deeply.

In short, remember, if you think of making money for half an hour, exercise one hour, if you exercise one hour, read two hours, and if you read two hours, meditate three hours and love God and act peacefully at all times. Learn to be calmly active and actively calm.
Say this prayer: "Heavenly Father, teach us to create an United States of the World with Thy Truth as our leader and president, which will guide us to live in loving brotherhood, and urge us to develop our bodies, minds, and souls perfectly, in order that Thy Kingdom of Heavenly Peace which is within us may be manifest in the actions of our daily life."
Pray also: "Heavenly Father, may Thy love shine forever on the sanctuary of my devotion, and may I be able to awaken Thy love in all hearts. Make me efficient, healthy, perfect in everything, so that I may inspire all my earthly brothers to be Thy noble children." Above all, contact God first in the Temple of Silence, and then health, prosperity, and wisdom will be added unto you.

The aeons one by one are flying;
The arrows one by one are gone.
Dimly, slowly, life is fading;
But still my soul is marching on."

Selected Books by Yogananda
The Law of Success: Using the Power of Spirit to Create Health, Prosperity, and Happiness
Autobiography of a Yogi (Reprint of the Philosophical library 1946 First Edition)

FYI As far as the author is aware there is no connection between Yogananda and the Art of Living School popular in Southern India and around the world from the early 1980s.

Dwapara Yuga Kriya Yoga Gurus / Organizations

Yogananda cast a wide net, using modern marketing and publicity (example poster to the right) to attract as many people as possible. He is certainly the most well known of all the teachers in the Kriya Yoga Line of Gurus.

The lists below show the relationships from Mahavatar Babaji to Swami Lahiri Mahasaya to Swami Sri Yukteswar to Paramhansa Yogananda to those American, direct disciples still living such as Sister Mrinalini Mata, Sister Uma Mata, Brother Anandamoy, Swami Kriyananda and Rev. Roy E. Davis.  Yogananda created two organizations, Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) in the US and Yogoda Sangha Society of India (YSS).

What seems clear to the author is that each Guru showed the divine light according to the lens of his nature, for example, in devotion with Yogananda and Satyananda and in a dryer, more scientific manner for Sri Yukteswar and Dhirananda.

In terms of links for further information, a best effort has been made since many of the sites have proved to be evanescent.

Mahavatar Babaji guru of:
• Swami Lahiri Mahasaya

Swami Lahiri Mahasaya guru of:
• Panchanan Bhattacharya (founded Aryya Mission Institution)
• Swami Mahabir
• Swami Kebalananda
• Swami Pranabananda
• Brahmachari Kesavananda
• Tinkori Lahiri
• Dukori Lahiri
• Swami Sri Yukteswar (founded Sadhu Sabha and Satsanga Sabha)
• Brajalal Adhikari
• Prasad Das Goswami
• Kali Kumar Banerjee
• Kesav Chandra Banerjee
• Ram Dayal Mazumder
• Hari Narayan Palodhi
• Bhupendranath Sanyal
• Brajalal Adhikari
• Joyram Bhattacharya
• Ramarupa Bhattacharya
• Kailash Chandra Benerjee
• Kanti Acharya

Swami Sri Yukteswar guru of:
• Motilal Mukherjee
• Swami Satyananda (initiated by Kebalananda)
• Swami (later) Paramhansa Yogananda (founded YSS, Ranchi School and SRF)
• Swami Bhabananda Giri
• Swami Paramananda
• Swami Narayana
• Amulya Charan Santra
• Bijoy Kumar Chatterjee
• Bipin Chandra Bhumia
• Swami Dhirananda (initiated by Kebalananda, left SRF)
• Sri Sailendra Bejoy Das Gupta
• Golakananda Giri
• Dasarathi Chatterjee

Paramhansa Yogananda Guru of Swamis, or within SRF Brothers & Sisters (a partial list):

• Swami Atmananda
• Swami Sevananda
• Swami Sadananda
• Swami Binayananda
• Swami Bidyananda
• Swami Satchidananda
• Swami Premananda (founded Self-Revelation Church)
• Swami Kriyananda (founded Ananda)
• Swami Hariharananda (founded Kriya Yoga Institute)

• Brother Anandamoy

• Sister Daya Mata

• Sister Mrinalini Mata

Yogananda explicitly said there would be no more Gurus and that his writings would be the Guru when he passed.    SRF in the US has a library of "authorized texts", although there are many more "unauthorized" texts.  

Some notable American Yogananda disciples and their dates of first meeting him are:

• 1920 Boston, Dr. Lewis - First US Devotee
• 1924 San Francisco, Tara Mata – Yogananda’s editor
• 1924 Seattle - Sister Gyanamata
• 1925 Kamala Silva
• 1927 Hamid Bey
• 1928 Swami Premananda
• 1930 Detroit, Yogacharya Oliver Black (founded Song of the morning) - Second most advanced male devotee
• 1931 Salt Lake City, Sister Daya Mata, her sister, Ananda Mata, mother and brother, Richard Wright came to SRF.  Daya Mata was chosen to be President of SRF and YSS and along with the Board of Directors oversaw SRF and YSS from 1955-2010
• 1932 Kansas, Rajarsi Janakananda - Most advanced male devotee, President after Yogananda's death, until his own in 1955
• 1933 Washington DC, Rev. John Lawrence

• 1934 Sri Nerode
• 1945 Daniel Boone
• 1945 San Diego, Mrinalini Mata
• 1947 Los Angeles, Norman Paulsen (founded Sunburst)
• 1948 Los Angeles, Swami Kriyananda (founded Ananda)
• 1949 Los Angeles, Roy Davis (founded Center for Spiritual Awareness)

A complete list would be huge given the scope of Yogananda's influence, with numerous organizations associated with him (but unaffiliated with SRF or YSS), beginning with Hamid Bey and a Christian mystical emphasis to legions of self help coaches and yoga teachers today.

Many of the cultural shapers of the modern era from authors such as JD Salinger, to the Beatles, the designer of the x86 PC microprocessor and Steve Jobs of Apple cite his influence.

It is worth re-reading the life of Lahiri Mahasaya from the Autobiography of a Yogi.

"After performing one's business and social duties, where is the time for devotional meditation? The harmoniously balanced life of the great householder-guru became the silent inspiration of thousands of questioning hearts. Earning only a modest salary, thrifty, unostentatious, accessible to all, the master carried on naturally and happily in the path of worldly life."

Sri Yukteswar makes the following statement to Yogananda in Man's Eternal Quest, p114:

"Many teachers will tell you to believe; then they put out your eyes of reason and instruct you to follow only their logic. But I want you to keep your eyes of reason open."

The author encourages the readers to keep their eyes of reason open and to follow their hearts, while exploring all teachers and organizations.

Footnote - Hatha Yoga and Martial Arts

The popular Hatha Yoga School franchise of Bikram Yoga traces its roots back to the more body-building nature of Yogananda's brother Bishnu Ghosh. Yogananda added his Yogoda (now called energization) exercises to the meditation system of his guru after observing Western fitness programs.

Many martial arts schools whether associated with Tibet, India, China or cross-overs of East-West like Gogen Yamaguchi or Bruce Lee emphasize meditation and elements of yoga along with the well known fighting moves, at least for advanced teachers. As any top athlete will attest, after a certain amount of physical training, it is really the mental game that determines success, as summed up by the famous phrase "anima sana in corpore sano" (ASICS), "a sound mind in a sound body". Yogananda's Ranchi school included the teaching of asanas (postures), sword and lathi (stick) play, and jujitsu as mentioned in the first edition of Autobiography of a Yogi.

[Thanks CRJ for help in editing]