In his Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda shared, “The wisdom garnered by India, the eldest brother among the nations, is a heritage of all mankind.”
A central figure in that wisdom-legacy is, of course, the prophet and avatar Bhagavan Krishna, whose immortal teachings on the science of yoga and soul-liberation are encapsulated for all the ages in the sublime Bhagavad Gita.
“Krishna was not only a prophet,” Paramahansaji pointed out, “but [had] kingly responsibilities to test his saintliness. He was one of the greatest successes as a man of nonattachment, even though he was a king.”
In honour of the birth anniversary of Sri Krishna (which falls on August 26 this year according to the Hindu lunar calendar), we hope that you can use this month’s Newsletter to connect with the encouraging message and eternal example of balanced living that Sri Krishna brought to humanity — and to support your enthusiasm for experiencing the Divine within yourself.
From the talks and writings of Paramahansa Yogananda:
The message of Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita stands as the doctrine best suited to our modern busy life of many worries.
The path advocated by Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita is the moderate, medium, golden path, both for the busy man of the world and for the highest spiritual aspirant.
The Gita’s wisdom is not for dry intellectualists to perform mental gymnastics with its sayings for the entertainment of dogmatists; but rather to show a man or woman living in the world, householder or renunciant, how to live a balanced life that includes the actual contact of God, by following the step-by-step methods of yoga.
The Kriya Yoga technique, taught by Krishna to Arjuna and referred to in Gita chapters IV:29 and V:27–28, is the supreme spiritual science of yoga meditation. Secreted during the materialistic ages, this indestructible yoga was revived for modern man by Mahavatar Babaji and taught by the Gurus of Yogoda Satsanga Society of India/Self-Realization Fellowship.
In the Bhagavad Gita our attention is focused on the role of Sri Krishna as the guru and counsellor of Arjuna, and on the sublime yoga message he preached as preceptor to the world — the way of righteous activity and meditation for divine communion and salvation — the wisdom of which has enthroned him in the hearts and minds of devotees throughout the ages.
Krishna’s life demonstrates his philosophy that it is not necessary to flee the responsibilities of material life. The problem can be solved by bringing God here where He has placed us. No matter what our environment may be, into the mind where God-communion reigns, Heaven must come.
To avoid the pitfalls of the two extremes, renunciation of the world, or drowning in material life, man should so train his mind by constant meditation that he can perform the necessary dutiful actions of his daily life and still maintain the consciousness of God within. That is the example set by Krishna’s life.
Sri Krishna’s message in the Bhagavad Gita is the perfect answer for the modern age, and any age: Yoga of dutiful action, of nonattachment, and of meditation for God-realization. To work without the inner peace of God is Hades; and to work with His joy ever bubbling through the soul is to carry a portable paradise within, wherever one goes.
We invite you to read excerpts from Paramahansa Yogananda’s groundbreaking translation of and commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, God Talks With Arjuna. As Paramahansaji said, “The entire knowledge of the cosmos is packed into the Gita. Supremely profound yet couched in revelatory language…the Gita has been understood and applied on all levels of human endeavour and spiritual striving.”
