I can’t put this book ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ down for more than a minute. I read or half read it a hundred years ago (or so) and understood a little and got distracted then left it behind somewhere. It has come to visit me once more about twenty years later as I was thinking about it a few weeks ago. It is the story of Sri Paramahansa Yogananda’s life, which is full of stories about him growing up in the presence of his great Guru Sri Yukteswar Giri and the struggles he endured on is way to self realization.
Sri Yukteswar Giri
There are so many lessons to learn from enlightened or spiritually awakened beings that roam around us but many times we are not aware enough to grasp the meaning of all they are teaching us. You may want to read it but as I read and taking the different lessons for my life, the one that sticks out is to keep pursuing a spiritual existence as nothing on this physical realm will ever bring any kind of happiness or satisfaction the way that true nature can.
I know many of you like me struggle with spirituality and understanding the ‘self’ on another level besides the one we live on and there are those days when it seems that nothing will ever change, but it will and it does.
The book and words emphasis the teachings of all great masters who have inhabited the earth and all have the same message - keep your outer eyes on inner goals and all will be revealed to the one who does not give up and is persistent.
Our material world drags us here and there with all the desires and wants which become our life distractions, then we wake from this confusing dream to realize we are going nowhere fast. We have and all feel this disappointment at some stage along our path.
This is why there is so much wide spread disease, depression, stress, anger, poverty etc as we do not recognize the God in each one of us as we don’t know the God within. It is up to each one of us out of choice to decide what becomes our ‘God’ and this we will worship.
Read this book and follow the inspiration to action because if it has worked for them it will work for us.
Yogi Cameron
on Dec 21st, 2008 at 12:19 pm
That’s funny, I ordered the book about one week ago on Amazon as I was looking for “spiritual” books in my native language. According to Carl Jung, we call this meaningful coincidence: “synchronicity”! I cannot wait to read it.
All my best.
on Dec 21st, 2008 at 5:02 pm
This post reminds me of a card I keep pulling - the hanged man about how committing to a spiritual path seems like a sacrifice but that if we do, we will eventually reap our reward.
Personally, I am at a point where I feel torn - I do not quite fit into the material world, or yet fully, the spiritual… its like the zero point, suspended between worlds, not fully present in one, nor fully present in the other.
But the tarot card I keep getting lately which represents this state, the Hanged Man seems to sum it up… His world has been turned on its head by what he knows… his feet (roots) now gain nourishment from heaven… but his head (thoughts) are still connected to the Earth.
I guess, like the hanged man, at some point I will have to make a ‘Self’ sacrifice by trading in my earthly ways for a more committed spiritual path. But the thought holding me from fully committing is, ‘Am I ready?’ … and truthfully, I’m not quite sure if I am yet strong enough to fully give up the ways of the world right now… yet what I know, and believe, means I have little choice, other than to delay the process!
I thought the hanged man’s story was interesting concerning this phase of the journey that we all probably, at some point, encounter…
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/learn/meanings/hangedman.shtml
Basic Tarot Story…
The Fool settles beneath a tree, intent on finding his spiritual self. There he stays for nine days, without eating, barely moving. People pass by him, animals, clouds, the wind, the rain, the stars, sun and moon. On the ninth day, with no conscious thought of why, he climbs a branch and dangles upside down like a child, giving up for a moment, all that he is, wants, knows or cares about. Coins fall from his pockets and as he gazes down on them - seeing them not as money but only as round bits of metal - everything suddenly changes perspective. It is as if he’s hanging between the mundane world and the spiritual world, able to see both. It is a dazzling moment, dreamlike yet crystal clear. Connections he never understood before are made, mysteries are revealed.
But timeless as this moment of clarity seems, he realizes that it will not last. Very soon, he must right himself, and when he does, things will be different. He will have to act on what he’s learned. For now, however, he just hangs, weightless as if underwater, observing, absorbing, seeing.
Wikipedia…
Serenely dangling upside-down, the Hanged Man has let go of worldly attachments. He has sacrificed a desire for control over his circumstances in order to gain an understanding of, and communion with, creative energies far greater than his individual self. In letting go, the hero gains a profound perspective accessible only to someone free from everyday conceptual, dualistic reality.
on Dec 22nd, 2008 at 10:58 am
Hi Cameron
I’ve been quite dissoriented the last few days.May let you know more later.
on Mar 28th, 2009 at 9:39 am
[...] a Yogic point of view discipline is fundamental to the spiritual path. Discipline does not mean we lose spontaneity, take ourselves too seriously or [...]