The year 2024 has begun. The very first sentence of Paramhansa Yogananda’s “Autobiography of a Yogi” begins with this sentence:
“The characteristic features of Indian culture have long been a search for ultimate verities and the concomitant disciple-guru relationship.”
This sentence encapsulates the timeless and ever timely reality that life is both objective AND subjective. Reality is something bigger than our individual self and yet, inescapably, we are the center of our relationship to the universe. These twin truths, inextricably linked, invite us to integrate these realities into our lives responsibly and consciously.
In the very first chapters of the Christian Bible, Genesis, we see a similar invitation. The first chapter describes the creation of the objective universe. Chapter 2 swiftly brings this objective universe into the lives of Adam and Eve whose relationship to the Creator of the universe is brought into sharp focus.
As 2024 begins, so do we celebrate the birth of Paramhansa Yogananda on January 5, 1893 in India. We will do this on two separate occasions: This Friday, 7 p.m. at the Blue Lotus Temple in Bothell we conduct a program to honor Yogananda’s life and teachings. Then, on Sunday, January 7th, we have a joyful family service complete with skits from Yogananda’s life story. This is followed by a catered Indian banquet in the Yoga Hall next door.
As Jesus Christ came to guide the dark materialistic age of Kali Yuga, so Yogananda was born to herald and guide a new age, called Dwapara (the second age).
At Ananda we express the twin ideals of that first sentence in Yogananda’s autobiography by combining community with meditation and devotion. We form different kinds of communities as we serve, study, or meditate together whether as students, members, or residents of the local Ananda community in Lynnwood. Yogananda is the guru while Swami Kriyananda, founder of Ananda, guides the work of Ananda through the legacy of his teachings, music and example.
If you want to improve your life, put your soul’s welfare first. Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita assures us that we are a soul; we are eternal; nothing and no one can harm us. From the divine source of which the soul is a pure reflection, all power, courage, and inspiration flow.
Let your daily tryst with God and guru be your highest priority for without the inner divine spark we would have no ability to accomplish anything. Selfless service and meditation are our personal tools to reflect the objective and subjective realities we must face.
May the divine light shine upon you,
Nayaswami Hriman