The Autobiography of a Yogi,
written by the founder of the Self-Realization Fellowship in Los
Angeles, Paramahansa Yogananda, makes us wonder about wonders. In the
whole history of mysticism, and indeed of all spirituality and
religion, we find accounts of wondrous healings taking place, of
wondrous feats performed by yogi´s and fakirs, of striking deeds
like extra-sensory perception, levitation and bilocality of bodies.
Yogananda, though expressing at times some doubts about the motives for
using these extraordinary powers, takes the existence of these
powers for granted, partly because he was raised in a culture that has
few skeptical qualms about the infusion of the supranatural in daily
life, partly because his whole life was a strand of wondrous happenings
taking place, that convinced him that there was more ´between
heaven and earth....´.
The claim that an advanced
yogi develops extraordinary powers goes way back to sjamanistic and
Vedic times. Even a mathematical and ´skip the humbug´
thinker like Patanjali believes in the siddhi´s, the supranatural
powers, of the trained yogi. He not only described the methods to
develop these powers, but he also hinted at the modus operandi behind
all of these siddhi´s. Patanjali explains (as does Sri
Yoekteswar, the spiritual teacher of Yogananda, in the book) that the
yogi, by making contact with the transcendent ground of nature, gets
access to the creational powers of nature, according to the principle
´what one knows, one can manipulate´. Like nature is able
to materialize bodies out of crude energy, so will the yogi, provided
his or her consciousness has totally become one with nature´s.
Like nature is able to give the elephant extraordinary muscle power, so
will the yogi be able to give this power to his own muscles, if he can
somehow ´tune in´ to the frequency of this power that is
transmitted in the subtle layers of nature.
Although there is some
charming naivite and boyishness to be found in theories of this kind,
it would, I think, be mere bigotry to dismiss them all on forehand. For
it is not so long ago that a person would in utter panic crouch in a
corner on hearing a voice coming from out of a loudspeaker or seeing a
light bulb being switched on. The advancements of science are just as
wondrous and make one dream about future possibilities. Will we all be
able to fly individually out of our window one day? Will some
mechanical devise be developed for making it possible? But what is
essentially the difference with flying on our own, without the help of
such a devise, at least as the wondrous and the extraordinary is
concerned? ´We need a devise to get beyond the gravitational
pull.´ Yes, but suppose some sort of psychological mechanism
would do the trick, wouldn´t that serve as the devise we are
looking for? What will be the difference?
A man of science would retort
that the wonders Yogananda speaks about are acts of magic. In magic a
certain individual tries to manipulate the laws of nature by sheer will
power, without others having excess to the same manipulation. So we see
only Babaji transmuting himself to the guise of different bodies and it
is only Sri Yoekteswar who is able to resurrect after death. Yogananda
would say that these feats happened because of the extraordinary psychic
development of Babaji and Yoekteswarji; that these were very
exceptional men. But the man of science would give the expected answer
that if these acts were possible, science would already have shown us
the way to perform such miracles. The individuality of its alleged
occurrence makes it an act of magic and magic is a form of primitive
superstition, belonging to the childlike phase of humanity. A child
also believes that he is making the moon walk along side with him.
The Masters themselves also
-perhaps with greater authority, for they seem to know from experience
what they are talking about- give us warnings about wonders. They say
that the ability to control psychic powers, as one progresses along the
spiritual path, increases, but that one must try to avoid succumbing to
the allurements of these powers, because they only distract us from
reaching higher levels of spiritual development. They can block the way
to enlightenment because of the danger of using these powers for our
personal gain. Then these powers strengthen our ego-personality,
instead of reducing it. Then indeed will we relapse into the ways of
magic, more of a drawback than an advancement on our spiritual path.
Yogananda himself describes men who have fallen for these allurements,
much to their own detriment.
But can we not use, or
mention the use of, these wonders as some sort of a pia fraus? People
like to see or hear about wonders. Can we not make use of their
superstition and credulity in order to bring them to faith?
Yogananda must have thought along these lines, because he starts off
his book with a quotation from the Gospel of st. John, where it says
men will not believe unless they see miracles performed. This must also
have been the reason Jesus was positive about the performing of
miracles and healings, because it destroyed the skeptical attitude of
his audience. ´What we see is what we get´, most people
think. And Jesus must have thought: ´it doesn´t interest me
how you get the message, as long as you get it!´.
I think that such a pia fraus
was in more primitive times conceivable and justifiable. Jesus, Babaji
and Sri Yoekteswar did not have the scientific instruments to show the
workings of meditation and spirituality with diagrams and statistics.
In our times and in our modern Western culture science has taken over
the role of wonders and miracles in convincing the public of the great
value of meditation and spirituality. For most men have to see, before
they can believe. In olden times wonders served this purpose, but now
men want some harder proof.
But does this all mean that
wonders, like the ones in the book of Yogananda, do not exist? Are they
all lies for a better purpose? About this we can never be conclusive.
More scientific research is needed, especially about the potentialities
of the so called psychic, like clairvoyance or telepathy. There is some
scientific evidence, pointing at the existence of these potentialities.
More scientific tests need to be set up to confirm the existence of
these wonders. In the meanwhile we have to remain skeptical, but open
minded also. We need to consider parapsychology as a serious field of
research.
The
real wonders of spirituality
So my criticism of
Yogananda´s book is not so much his easy credulity in believing
popular miracle working -although it must have raised the eyebrow of
many a Western reader-, as well the fact that by focusing on
supranatural miracles the real miracles of spirituality do not come to
the fore. Spirituality should talk about these real miracles. They
alone are the real fruits of the spiritual path. They are far more
important than flying through the air or materializing your body
wherever you want. What are these real wonders of spirituality?
1.
You become totally happy
Surrendering your life to the
divine is not an easy way, but in the end a deeply felt happiness and
inner contentment are its results. In the beginning your life will
still be dominated by the wrong habits and painful traits of character
from your past, but as your meditations grow deeper an inner stillness
and tranquility will reach the deeper layers of your soul and brings
your life at ease. This is the real wonder of spirituality, that a
person once tormented by pain, anguish and despair can in the course of
time become strong, loving and full of self confidence. This is not a
wonder of magic. It doesn´t happen with the snap of the fingers.
The workings of meditation and prayer take their time. But the result
is a far more greater wonder than a trick of magic. For who could ever
have thought that a person could be totally psychologically healed? All
doctors and psychiatrists tell their clients that they have to live
with a certain amount of pain and despair in their life. That is part
of the human condition.
But after years of depression
and self doubt, after a life of fighting and ambition, haunted day by
day by inner turmoil and frantic agitation, life can simply become
happy. Now when we close our eyes we can feel a deep rest and
inner contentment rise up in our hearts, an inner peace, that makes our
lips smile and our eyes twinkle with joy. When we walk the streets we
can feel like flying. Wherever we go the hands of the divine lead us on
and eases our path. No longer is life a struggle that we have to face
alone, all by our self. We are being supported, everywhere, in
everything, by everything. This is a great miracle indeed.
2.
Life restores itself
The miracle of life is the
fact that life is self healing. Life cleanses itself, just by letting
it be itself. The only thing we have to do is to step out of the way.
Then life will restore itself to its primal health. This means that all
our willing has to be surrendered to life. Life itself will take care.
We only make a false imposition on life by interposing a false self - a
personal will, a personality- between life and the Self. We have to
free ourself from the notion that we are something other than life.
This false notion is a limitation of what we really are. Our life is
far more greater, far more glorious than our own petty self. For we are
not just this life. We are all life.
Life eventually will bring
you home again, where you belong. It will always bring you back to your
own Self, if you are brave enough to be yourself. It is fear that
compels us to run away from the Self, fear for the pain and agony that
lie repressed and covered up in the depth of our soul. For this pain
and agony have to be confronted first, before we can reap the fruits of
eternal joy. But life itself will clean away all the agony and pain, if
only we would dare to close our eyes and see the dark face to face.
Life is the great restorer, ho lysios, the redeemer. ´Into your
hands I command my spirit´.
3. The totality of our whole life is
accepted
The joy of spirituality is so
profound and breath taking, so ecstatic and rapturous, that we feel a
great ´yes´ rise up in our hearts at the moment of our
enlightenment. Then we say, with Nietzsche, ´yes, I want this
life again and again, if it would thus be presented to me, even with
its crying and weeping, its pain and despair. I want to live this life
a thousand times over, again and again in an eternal recurrence, if
this is what it all comes down to!´ This is a great miracle
indeed, for how is it possible to ever except the tragic nature of
life? We all fight life for its darker shades and want to escape its
gloominess. But spirituality makes us except even our death and
destruction, for the darkness in life is forever lifted in the light of
our spirituality.
There is no more negation, no
more warding off, no more separation and standing outside life. Finally
we are taken by the caring hand of life´s totality. There is no
more a ´not this, not that´, but now life presents itself
with an ´... and this also!` The great merging takes place. It
happens with affirmation and a warm embrace. The whole world becomes
our mother, father, brother and sister. All racism dies. Who is not my
brother or sister? All fear dies. What does not support me? All
jealousy dies. What is there that I have not already? We have become
invincible in our grinning contentment.
4.
Spirituality is a healing force
The older spiritual
literature, and perhaps Yogananda´s book belongs to this
category, has always been filled with tales of wondrous healings taking
place. When we read the New Testament we get the impression that Jesus
was more of an alternative doctor, specialized in laying of hands and
healing mantra´s, than a bringer of glad tidings. It seems that
he had a life time job in healing the sick, the blind and the wearied.
The magical element in all of these tales is the all too speedy
recovery of illness. A lame is presented to Jesus. Right away after
hearing some words he jumps up and walks out of the room. A great
´aaahhhh´ escapes the mouth of all bystanders. Can you
believe it?
But at a deeper level all
irony is misplaced, because Jesus did heal the sick, the blind and the
wearied. But his healing took place at a more fundamental level. It
was not instantaneous. Its effects showed themselves over time, in the
long run. The healing his spirituality produced for people who were
willing to believe in his way of life, who accepted his methods and his
path, was no less miraculous than the tales want us to believe. For
spirituality cures. It is the greatest medicine there is. How come?
Disease and illness are not
our natural state. Life itself is healthy, strong and blissful. But
somehow we have lost track of this primal and spontaneous health. We
ourselves have stepped in the way. Our personal aims and ambitions have
prevented the easy and simple current of life forces that are always
there to preserve our health. We have weaken ourselves by fighting, by
worrying, by wanting to be someone, someone important. All this is
distrust in life. What we have forgotten is the simple fact that
everything is already the case. Life is already perfect as it is. And
now the wonder: this insight, that life is already perfect as it is, is
nothing but a healing force. It cures all diseases. It takes away our
spiritual blindness and deafness. It makes the depressed in their
catatony -the lame- walk and dance again. Jesus spoke all the time
about the lilies in the field and the herdsman who looks after you, out
of his great desire to heal you with this message.
So in the end we must
conclude that the New Testament and Yogananda are right. Spirituality
produces great miracles, but they are even more glorious than the ones
the New Testament and Yogananda want us to believe. The great miracle
is that we can become ecstatic after a life of pain and depression,
something no doctor dares us to promise. Whether our soul migrates
after death to different worlds, where we first have to work out our
astral or causal karma before we can work ourselves up to a higher
level of existence, and where we have to eat astral vegetables all day,
if we can not find a McDonald's, like Sri Yoekteswar wants us to
believe in the book, is a matter for speculation and perhaps a
confusion of psychic realities in meditation and waking life realities.
Perhaps it is childish to speculate about these things. Let us concern
ourselves with the only thing that is given to us: this life of ours in
the here and now.
these extraordinary powers, takes the existence of these
powers for granted, partly because he was raised in a culture that has
few skeptical qualms about the infusion of the supranatural in daily
life, partly because his whole life was a strand of wondrous happenings
taking place, that convinced him that there was more ´between
heaven and earth....´. 
these feats happened because of the extraordinary psychic
development of Babaji and Yoekteswarji; that these were very
exceptional men. But the man of science would give the expected answer
that if these acts were possible, science would already have shown us
the way to perform such miracles. The individuality of its alleged
occurrence makes it an act of magic and magic is a form of primitive
superstition, belonging to the childlike phase of humanity. A child
also believes that he is making the moon walk along side with him.
But his healing took place at a more fundamental level. It
was not instantaneous. Its effects showed themselves over time, in the
long run. The healing his spirituality produced for people who were
willing to believe in his way of life, who accepted his methods and his
path, was no less miraculous than the tales want us to believe. For
spirituality cures. It is the greatest medicine there is. How come?
