Dwapara & UFOs

Kriyananda in a recent talk (July 4, 2009 Ananda's Spiritual Work) reiterated the key signs of Dwapara Yuga as explained by Paramhansa Yogananda: a growing understanding of the energy nature of the world and the breaking down of barriers in the physical sense of conquering space (and more subtly the breaking down of barriers dividing people, as per recent blog posts).

As an extension of the space-conquering thought, he highlighted his belief in UFOs and other worldly civilizations and visitors, although admitting to have never seen any such phenomena. The blog author shares the belief but has never had any sightings either. Kriyananda goes on to explain that the ship mechanisms may work in ways not yet discovered by modern science still at the dawn of Dwapara Yuga. UFOs underwater brothers are the much less oftenly reported USOs.

It is well known that Yogananda shared such beliefs and UFOs were seen by many disciples, including Tara Mata, Norman Paulsen and Daniel Boone, the latter two making them as much a focus of their lives as Kriya. Coincidentally, the modern sightings date from 1947, the dawning of the atomic age, the year after the publication of Autobiography of a Yogi. Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter are just two of the world renowned people to have observed UFOs.

Understandably, many regular people are afraid to mention such phenomena since they invite instant ridicule and potentially professional retribution or might slow up donations for a charity overly wary of its media image, with Hollywood's caricature of 'tin foil hats' and elaborate conspiracy theories. In America, a recent poll revealed one in three believe in the phenomenon with one in twelve having experienced it personally, an astonishing number for some kind of hoax. A more scientific approach would not be to question the mental soundness of witnesses but rather investigate thoroughly, if nothing else, what may be manifestations of natural phenomena not previously studied.

After all, it is only 200 years or so since Ben Franklin pointed out the nature of lightning with his kite and key experiment and it's a quiet arrogance to imagine that all of nature has been explained and studied. Franklin believed in proofs and not speculation, a founding spirit of Dwapara, hard science and the United States.