4 · The Quarterly Journal October-December2009 Yogananda.pdf4 · The Quarterly Journal October-December2009 Anyone who has practiced yoga for a while probably has heard the name ‘‘Yogananda.’’

4 · The Quarterly Journal October-December 2009

Anyone who has practiced yoga fora while probably has heard the name‘‘Yogananda.’’ Paramahansa Yoga-nanda (1893-1952),1 a 20th-centuryHindu yogi, was a devotee of yogaand yogic meditation. Indeed, he ap-pears to have viewed yogic medita-tion as the key to everything.

He brought his practice from Indiato America in 1920, where he lived formost of the rest of his life beforedying in 1952 at age 59. He may bebest known for his book, Autobiogra-phy of a Yogi.2 He has been called ‘‘theFather of Yoga in the West,’’3 and hefounded the organization Self-Realiza-tion Fellowship to promote his teach-ings. Self-Realization Fellowship(SRF) continues to publish his re-source materials.

The particular ‘‘brand’’ of yoga thatYogananda is known for is calledkriya yoga, which is ‘‘an advancedRaja [‘‘royal’’] Yoga technique.’’4

HIS LIFE

Although one might suppose thatthe best account of Yogananda’s life ishis Autobiography of a Yogi, such maynot be the case. There is another book,also published by Self-Realization Fel-lowship, called Paramahansa Yoga-nanda In Memoriam: Personal Accountsof the Master’s Final Days.5 It containsmuch information about Yogananda’slife, work, and teachings, as well aspersonal recollections of others abouthim and his final days. It also shows,

to an extent, how much he is es-teemed by his followers.

Yogananda was born Mukunda LalGhosh on Jan. 5, 1893. His autobiogra-phy says:

‘‘My name was changed to Yoga-nanda in 1915 when I entered theancient monastic Swami Order.In 1935 my guru bestowed on methe further religious title of Para-mahansa.’’6

Later, he explains that the name‘‘Yogananda ... means ‘bliss (ananda)through divine union (yoga)’’’7 andalso mentions that ‘‘Yogananda is afairly common name among swa-mis.’’8 As for the title ‘‘Paramahansa,’’he explains that when it was given tohim by his guru, Yukteswar, in 1935,‘‘‘It now formally supersedes yourformer title of Swami,’ he said as Iknelt before him.’’9 And he furtherexplains the meaning of the name:

‘‘Lit., parama, highest; hansa,swan. The white swan is mytho-logically represented as the ve-hicle or mount of [the Hindugod] Brahma the Creator.’’10

Mukunda’s birthplace was ‘‘Gora-khpur in northeastern India near theHimalaya Mountains.’’11

Yogananda says in his autobiogra-phy that he was healed by a photo-graph of his parents’ guru.12 After hismother’s death when he was 11, hewrote, ‘‘Intense pangs of longing for

God assailed me. I felt powerfullydrawn to the Himalayas.’’13 More thanonce, Mukunda tried to follow hisdream of fleeing to the Himalayas.14

Biographical material and photos ofYogananda accompany his books.One says:

‘‘It was in 1910, at the age ofseventeen, that he met and be-came a disciple of the reveredSwami Sri Yukteswar. In thehermitage of this great master ofYoga he spent the better part ofthe next ten years receiving SriYukteswar’s strict but loving dis-cipline. After graduating fromCalcutta University in 1915, hetook formal vows as a monk ofIndia’s venerable monasticSwami Order, at which time hereceived the name Yogananda.’’15

In 1917, Yogananda founded a boys’school at Dihika in Bengal with sevenboys.16 But his big break came threeyears later when he:

’’...received an invitation to serveas the delegate from India to anInternational Congress of Reli-gious Liberals in America. It wasto convene that year [1920] inBoston, under the auspices of theAmerican Unitarian Associa-tion.’’17

On Oct. 6, 1920,18 he spoke beforethe assemblage on ‘‘The Science ofReligion.’’ That same year, hefounded the Self-Realization Fellow-

October-December 2009 The Quarterly Journal · 5

ship in the United States.19 This wasthe American counterpart to the Yo-goda Satsanga Society of India, whichhe had founded in 1917.

‘‘For the next several years, helectured and taught on the Eastcoast and in 1924 embarked on across-continental speaking tour.In Los Angeles, he began a two-month series of lectures andclasses in January of 1925. Aselsewhere, his talks were greetedwith interest and acclaim.’’20

Also in 1925, the InternationalHeadquarters of SRF was establishedin Los Angeles, Calif.21 It is still inLos Angeles on top of Mount Wash-ington.

A volume containing some of hisspeeches says that on Jan. 28, 1925:

‘‘The Los Angeles Times reported:‘The Philharmonic Auditoriumpresents the extraordinary spec-tacle of thousands being turnedaway an hour before the adver-tised opening. ... Swami Yoga-nanda is the attraction. A Hinduinvading the United States tobring God in the midst of aChristian community, preachingthe essence of Christian doc-trine.’’’22

This same volume states:

‘‘In the early 1930’s Paramahan-saji began to withdraw graduallyfrom nationwide public lectur-ing. ‘I am not interested incrowds,’ he said, ‘but in soulswho are in earnest to know God.’Thereafter, he concentrated hisefforts on classes for serious stu-dents, and spoke mostly at hisown Self-Realization Fellowshiptemples and the internationalheadquarters.’’23

Yogananda embarked on ‘‘an eigh-teen-month tour of Europe and Indiain 1935-36,’’24 after which he returnedto the United States. In 1946, hepublished his now-famous Autobiogra-phy of a Yogi. He died of a heart attackon March 7, 1952, while giving aspeech. He had turned 59 two monthsearlier.

After he died — for the 20 days thathis body remained unentombed — his

body exhibited no physical signs ofdecay, a fact attested to in a writtenstatement (which was also notarized)given by Harry T. Rowe, the Mortu-ary Director of the Forest Lawn Me-morial-Park Association, who stated:

‘‘The absence of any visual signsof decay in the dead body ofParamhansa Yogananda offersthe most extraordinary case inour experience.’’25

The document further stated:

‘‘The physical appearance ofParamhansa Yogananda onMarch 27th, just before thebronze cover of the casket wasput into position, was the sameas it had been on March 7th. Helooked on March 27th as freshand as unravaged by decay as hehad looked on the night of hisdeath. On March 27th there wasno reason to say that his bodyhad suffered any visible physicaldisintegration at all. For thesereasons we state again that thecase of Paramhansa Yoganandais unique in our experience.’’26

Then, ‘‘In 1977, on the twenty-fifthanniversary of the [death] of Parama-hansa Yogananda, the Government ofIndia issued [a] commemorativestamp in his honor.’’27

The most recent edition and print-ing of Autobiography of a Yogi28 embel-lishes the cover photograph of Yoga-nanda by placing a nimbus (a halo oflight) around his head.

FAMOUS PEOPLE

By the time of his death, ‘‘Yoga-nanda [had] personally initiated over100,000 students into kriya yoga.’’29

Among those he initiated wasMahatma Gandhi30 and horticultural-ist Luther Burbank,31 to whom hededicated Autobiography of a Yogi.

The Self-Realization FellowshipWebsite reports:

‘‘Among those who became hisstudents were many prominentfigures in science, business, andthe arts, including horticulturistLuther Burbank, operatic so-prano Amelita Galli-Curci,George Eastman (inventor of the

Kodak camera), poet EdwinMarkham, and symphony con-ductor Leopold Stokowski. In1927, he was officially received atthe White House by PresidentCalvin Coolidge, who had be-come interested in the newspaperreports of his activities.’’32

Another source states:

‘‘The most popular lay ministerat the Los Angeles headquarters[of Self-Realization Fellowship] istelevision star Dennis ‘McCloud’Weaver, an SRF disciple for some40 years.’’33

Dennis Weaver died in 2006.

HIS WORK

Yogananda was a Hindu despite hisapparent respect for Jesus and theBible. Christian apologists JohnAnkerberg and John Weldon observe:

‘‘SRF claims religious toleranceand pluralism, and even to beChristian. However the essen-tially Hindu outlook of SRF isillustrated in Yogananda’s defini-tion of ‘self-realization’ as therecognition of our own divinity.It is ‘The knowing — in body,mind, and soul — that we areone with the omnipresence ofGod; that we do not have to praythat it comes to us, that we arenot merely near it at all times,but that God’s omnipresence isour omnipresence. ...’ The essen-tial beliefs of SRF parallel Vedan-tic Hinduism in the monistic, ornon-dualist (advaita) tradition.’’34

Another example is found in avolume of Yogananda’s speecheswhere it states:

‘‘His Holiness the Shankara-charya of Kanchipuram, reveredspiritual leader of millions inSouth India, wrote of Paramah-ansaji: ’... We are grateful toYogananda for spreading Hinduphilosophy in such a wonderfulway in America and the West.’’’35

Autobiography of a Yogi was firstpublished in 1946 and was expandedby him before his death.36 It is adangerous book because it is anattractively packaged presentation of


Hinduism and it promotes anti-Chris-tian doctrines of astrology, idolatry,reincarnation, contacting the dead,and so forth.

The late Beatle, George Harrison, aHindu, said of Yogananda’s Autobiog-raphy:

‘‘I keep stacks of Autobiography ofa Yogi around the house, and I giveit out constantly to people. Whenpeople need ‘regrooving,’ I say readthis, because it cuts to the heart ofevery religion.’’37

But Ankerberg and Weldon writethat Autobiography of a Yogi ‘‘is repletewith occult experiences.’’38

In addition to the promotion ofHinduism, occultism, and other anti-Christian teachings in this book, it isvery difficult to locate the line sepa-rating truth from fiction; for some ofthe experiences he relates in it arepatently false on their surface.39

On the book’s title page is John 4:48:‘‘Except ye see signs and wonders, yewill not believe.’’ To remedy thissituation, Yogananda’s solution is toserve up tale after tale of miraculousevents that he has heard of, experi-enced, and/or supposedly witnessed.This quotation from John’s Gospel isironic for a couple of reasons:

First, Yogananda doesn’t actually‘‘show’’ us any miraculous signs andwonders; he merely relates them, andwe must decide whether or not tobelieve him. Many of the things hedescribes simply could not have oc-curred.

Second, in context, the words Yoga-nanda quotes from the Gospel of Johnare a reproach of the Lord to anobleman, who wants Jesus to healhis dying son. Jesus complies with theman’s request, apparently with reluc-tance. This is a far cry from the wayYogananda uses the verse.

Far from obliging man’s perverteddesire for miraculous signs, Jesusclearly stated:

‘‘A wicked and adulterous gener-ation seeks after a sign, and nosign shall be given to it exceptthe sign of the prophet Jonah’’(Matthew 16:4).

Another book by Yogananda, TheSecond Coming of Christ: The Resurrec-tion of the Christ Within You,40 is a setof teachings by Yogananda on thefour New Testament Gospels. It issubtitled, ‘‘A revelatory commentaryon the original teachings of Jesus.’’These commentaries were developedfrom articles Yogananda had writtenfor the Self-Realization Fellowship’smagazine. Yogananda claims that theexpertise to write such a commentarycame ‘‘by revelation.’’ Yogananda de-scribes the source of his revelation:

‘‘He [Jesus] approved verydearly and blessed me for writ-ing these interpretations. This Ican say without pride, becausethe interpretation of Christ’swords herein is not mine. It hasbeen given to me. I am happythis book is coming through me;but I am not the author. It isChrist. I am only the vehiclethrough which it is explained. Ihear Christ in the land of myinspiration; I behold Christspeaking to me all the eternalwisdom he intended to conveywithin his pregnant words. Evenwhen urged by well-meaning Britishteachers in my youth, I never readthe New Testament, except for a fewpassages; for had I done so, theologyunder their tutelage would haveblinded my vision and prejudicedmy hearing, and I could not haveheard Christ’s voice or seen himspeak. Now I rejoice as I willalways long to rejoice to hearChrist speak to me his words oflife, truth, and eternal liberationfor all.’’41

As one looks at his explanations ofpassages, it obviously wasn’t the liv-ing Christ or the Holy Spirit whoinspired his commentary. By forcingHindu philosophy into the Bible, Yo-gananda makes unrecognizable Scrip-ture passages that are otherwise pro-found in their simplicity. Here are acouple of examples:

John 3:16: ‘‘For God so loved theworld that He gave His only begottenSon, that whoever believes in Himshould not perish but have everlast-ing life.’’

Yogananda says this about the pas-sage:

‘‘‘God so loved the world, thatHe gave His only begotten Son’to redeem it; that is, God theFather remained hidden beyondthe vibratory realm that went outfrom His Being, but then secretedHimself as the Christ Intelligencein all matter and in all livingbeings in order to bring, bybeautiful evolutional coaxings, allthings back to His home of Ever-lasting Blessedness.’’42

John 3:14-15: ‘‘And as Moses liftedup the serpent in the wilderness, evenso must the Son of Man be lifted up,that whoever believes in Him shouldnot perish but have eternal life.’’

Yogananda interprets this passagethis way:

‘‘Jesus explains that whosoeverbelieves in the doctrine of liftingthe bodily consciousness (son ofman) from the physical to theastral by reversing the life forcethrough the coiled passage at thebase of the spine, will not perish,that is, be subject to mortalchanges of life and death, butwill gradually acquire the immu-table state — Christ Conscious-ness, the Son of God.’’43

Although Dr. Ronald B. Allen ofDallas Theological Seminary wasspeaking on a different subject, hiswords apply to this, when he said,‘‘This isn’t exegesis [determining themeaning of the text]; it isn’t [even]eisegesis [reading a meaning into thetext]; this is metagesis [changing thetext]!’’

YOGANANDA, TELLME A STORY...

In Autobiography of a Yogi and else-where, Yogananda relates things thatare questionable, highly suspect, oreven patently false.

In a letter written from the HolyLand, regarding some of his experi-ences there, Yogananda wrote:

‘‘He [Jesus] was with me every-where; and a very special com-munion I had in Bethlehemwhere he was born as the little


babe body of Jesus. He touchedme as I entered the ancient me-nagerie where Mary brought himinto the world — in a humblelittle stable under an inn. Thisplace is absolutely authentic. Iknow it from the Divine. Butthere are other places where dif-ferent factions have marked Jesusdid this and that, which havesome errors. Every place wasverified from within. Most placesare authentic.’’44

In one talk, Yogananda declared:

‘‘For most of his followers Christexists as an ideal personage theyhave read about in the Bible. Butto me he is much more than that.He is real. Once, eight years ago,he came alone and meditatedwith me all night long. ... Manyother times I have seen him invisions, and talked with him.And that same Christ you toocan see.’’45

‘‘Jesus attained most of his per-fection in his former incarnationas Eliseus (Elisha). I know forcertain that he was Eliseus in apast life, and that Jesus’ guru,John the Baptist, was Elijah(Elias), in his former life.’’46

‘‘We are all children of God.Many incarnations ago He cre-ated us as He created Jesus.’’47

In one place, he describes a visionhe supposedly had of Jesus. In part,he wrote:

‘‘As he gazed down at me, aHoly Grail appeared at hismouth. It descended to my lipsand touched them; then went upagain to Jesus. After a few mo-ments of rapt silent communion,he said to me: ‘Thou dost drinkof the same cup of which Idrink.’’’48

The ‘‘cup’’ that Jesus drank was thatof obeying the Father’s will by beingcrucified for our sins by the hands ofsinful men. Yogananda never dranksuch a cup. To be fair, Yoganandadoesn’t associate the ‘‘cup’’ with thismeaning; rather, he associates it witha reference to a cup in the Gnosticgospel of Thomas.

SERIOUSLY SENIOR CITIZENS

In Autobiography, Yogananda tells ofpeople who are (or were) supposedlycenturies old. One of these was aguru, who probably never lived,named ‘‘Babaji.’’ Supposedly, this‘‘deathless guru,’’ as Yogananda re-fers to him, is still alive after manycenturies. He even is said to haveinitiated the Hindu philosopher Shan-kara into kriya yoga.49 Shankara livedaround the 9th century A.D. Thiswould make Babaji older than Methu-saleh, the oldest man recorded in theBible, who ‘‘only’’ lived to be 969years old (Genesis 5:27). Additionally,Yogananda also tells of a TrailangaSwami, who was rumored to be over300 years old, weighed more than 300pounds, and went around naked.50

Despite this, Yogananda incongru-ously refers to him as ‘‘the Christlikeyogi, Trailanga.’’51

Without any hint that he might beputting us on, Yogananda writes,‘‘Mahavatar Babaji and a number ofother great masters have lived forseveral hundred years.’’52 He alsowrote of Babaji, ‘‘Babaji is ever incommunion with Christ; together theysend out vibrations of redemptionand have planned the spiritual tech-nique of salvation for this age.’’53

Christian author and researcherElliot Miller writes:

‘‘Yogananda’s autobiography isreplete with accounts of the mys-tical and miraculous, includinghis own ecstatic visions as wellas his encounters with legendaryHindu ‘saints.’ ... Most fantasticof all is his description of Babaji,the ‘yogi Christ of India,’ who —like the ‘Immortals’ in the 1990sHighlander movies and televisionseries — is believed to haveretained the same 25-year-old ap-pearance for hundreds or eventhousands of years. Babaji alleg-edly initiated [Yogananda’sguru] Sri Yukteswar’s master,Lahiri Mahasaya, and thus gotthe SRF ball rolling. In the SRFvisitor center, a drawing of Ba-baji, which had been sketchedunder Yogananda’s supervision,accompanies photographs of Ma-hasaya and Yukteswar. Not sur-

prisingly, although Yoganandasupposedly met Babaji and hisAutobiography is filled with pic-tures of the people (includingIndian gurus and ‘saints’) de-scribed in its pages, no knownphotograph of the ‘yogi Christ’exists.’’54

Yogananda’s Autobiography also in-forms us:

‘‘Babaji (revered father) is a com-mon title; many noted teachers inIndia are addressed as ‘Babaji.’None of them, however, is [the]Babaji [referred to here]... . Theexistence of [Babaji] was revealedto the public for the first time in1946, in Autobiography of aYogi.’’55

Consistent with this assertion, wealso read therein:

‘‘That there is no historical refer-ence to Babaji need not surpriseus. The great guru has neveropenly appeared in any century;the misinterpreting glare of pub-licity has no place in his millen-nial plans. Like the Creator, thesole but silent Power, Babajiworks in a humble obscurity. ...Such masters always veil them-selves from the gross public gazeand have the power to becomeinvisible at will. For these rea-sons, and because they generallyinstruct their disciples to main-tain silence about them, a num-ber of towering spiritual figuresremain world-unknown. I give inthese pages on Babaji merely ahint of his life — only a few factsthat he deems fitting and helpfulto be publicly imparted.’’56

So we must rely on Yogananda’sassertion that Babaji exists — like somany other events in Yogananda’sAutobiography. Nevertheless, Yoga-nada contradicts himself about Ba-baji’s supposed desire to be hiddenfrom the public’s gaze only threepages later when he writes:

‘‘Only one reason, therefore, mo-tivates Babaji in maintaining hisphysical form from century tocentury: the desire to furnishhumanity with a concrete ex-ample of its own possibilities.


Were man never vouchsafed aglimpse of Divinity in the flesh,he would remain oppressed bythe heavy mayic delusion that hecannot transcend his mortality.’’57

Yogananda cannot have it bothways. Babaji must either wish toavoid the public stare or to showhimself to the public to help theirenlightenment.

In Yogananda’s Autobiography, wefind tales of supposedly historicalevents involving materializations ofextra bodies, materializations oflunches on gold plates, materializa-tion of a palace in the Himalayas, etc.Flesh and blood resurrections of deadpeople and materializations of livingpeople in the book become almostcommonplace. In one place (accordingto a story that his guru, Yukteswar,supposedly related), an old, limpingman, who was a yogi, suddenly‘‘straightened himself; his body in-stantly became strong and youth-ful.’’58 On another occasion, Yoga-nanda’s recently deceased guru, Yuk-teswar, appears in ‘‘flesh and blood’’in order to give him a lengthy dis-course on the afterlife.59 His guruexplains in part:

‘‘‘As the prophets are sent onearth to help men work out theirphysical karma, so I have beendirected by God to serve on anastral planet as a savior,’ SriYukteswar explained. ‘It is calledHiranyaloka or ‘‘Illumined AstralPlanet.’’ There I am aiding ad-vanced beings to rid themselvesof astral karma and thus attainliberation from astral rebirths.’’’60

The Scriptures warn us to beware ofsuch people when it says:

‘‘By covetousness they will ex-ploit you with deceptive words;for a long time their judgmenthas not been idle, and theirdestruction does not slumber’’(2 Peter 2:3).

The New International Version hasa particularly vivid translation of thefirst`part of this verse. It reads, ‘‘Intheir greed these teachers will exploityou with stories they have made up.’’Unfortunately, it is not always easy totell what actually occurred in his

Autobiography and what did not, orwhat was embellished or exaggerated.

YOGANANDA’S DOCTRINESYogananda believed in and taught

the Hindu doctrines of karma (the lawof cause-and-effect) and reincarnation.He also proclaimed the Hindu doc-trine of the material world being maya(an illusion; delusion). He also taughtyoga.

God and Man: Yogananda believedin a Supreme Being. It wasn’t thebiblical God, but the Hindu godBrahman. He believed Brahman wasan impersonal being but greater thanman, and man was a manifestation ofBrahman. He wrote:

‘‘The wave cannot say, ‘I am theocean,’ for the ocean can remainwithout the wave, but the wavecannot remain without the ocean.It is all right for a fully liberatedmaster to say, ‘God has becomemyself,’ but he would never say,‘I am God.’ The ocean has be-come the wave, but the wave isnot the ocean.’’61

‘‘Hinduism as well as Christian-ity believes in one God. ... Unin-formed Westerners conclude thatIndians as a whole worship idols.But we worship only Brahman,Spirit. The concept of one God isthe same in Hinduism as inChristianity.’’62

It is true that some Hindus believe inone God; some Hindus believe inmany gods; and some Hindus areatheists, believing in no God. Andregardless of whether a particularHindu is a monotheist or not, Brah-man is assuredly not the God andFather of our Lord Jesus Christ! AsJames reminds us, ‘‘You believe thatthere is one God. You do well. Eventhe demons believe — and tremble!’’(James 2:19) Being a monotheist, inand of itself, doesn’t qualify one forsalvation. However, Brahman is notthe biblical God. And many, if notmost, Hindus worship more than onegod. Yogananda himself worshipped‘‘the Divine Mother,’’ although hemay have considered her to be merelyone aspect of Brahman, rather than aseparate deity. In any event, from hisAutobiography it is evident that he also

worshiped various Hindu gurus andHindu ‘‘saints’’:

‘‘We are all part of the OneSpirit. When you experience thetrue meaning of religion, whichis to know God, you will realizethat He is your Self, and that Heexists equally and impartially inall beings.’’63

As he stated in one of the quota-tions above, Yogananda believed thatGod has become each being. In otherwords, Yogananda was a pantheist:He believed that God was everything.This is certainly not the Christianconcept of God, and contradicts hisassertion in the quotation above,where he claimed that the Christianconcept of one God was the same asthe Hindu concept of one God. TheChristian God is separate from Hiscreation, not identical with it. Yoga-nanda wrote:

‘‘Befriend the Self and the Selfwill save you. There is no othersavior than your Self. ... Seize theGod within you and realize thatthe Self is Divinity.’’64

Sin: Yogananda’s exalted view ofman led to a defective view of man’sprimary problem. He wrote:

‘‘Man only increases the innerdarkness of his spiritual igno-rance when he thinks of himselfas a sinner.’’65

‘‘Through use of the Kriya [yoga]key, persons who cannot bringthemselves to believe in the di-vinity of any man will behold atlast the full divinity of their ownselves.’’66

A problem that often arises withYogananda’s Hindu description ofman’s problem is the notion thatpeople have to ‘‘work off’’ somethingduring their multiple lives beforebreaking out of the cycle of reincarna-tion.

Yogananda attributes man’s sins to‘‘ignorance,’’ and explains it this way:

‘‘Then why do people behave inan evil way that is bound tocause pain and sorrow? Suchactions arise from the greatest ofall sins — ignorance. ‘Wrong-


doer’ is the right word ratherthan ‘sinner.’ You may condemnwrongdoing but should not con-demn the doer. Sins are errorscommitted under the influence ofignorance, or delusion. But for adifferent degree of understand-ing, you might be in the sameboat.’’67

Yogananda — and Hinduism ingeneral — teaches that man is igno-rant of his ‘‘true identity’’ of beingone with ‘‘God’’ (the Hindu supremedeity Brahman).

Yogananda doesn’t deny the exist-ence of sin. However, he calls igno-rance ‘‘the greatest of all sins,’’ andimplies that all other sins flow fromthis. Notice also the non-existent dis-tinction Yogananda makes in theabove citation between ‘‘wrongdoer’’and ‘‘sinner.’’68 And he also admitsthat people may behave in ‘‘an evilway’’ and commit ‘‘wrongdoing’’ and‘‘sins.’’ Yet he somehow wishes toexempt such a person from beinglabeled a ‘‘sinner.’’ People who sin —and that is all of us as Romans 3:23declares — are sinners.

As he does with most problems,Yogananda proposes meditation asthe solution:

‘‘While still in this body, work todestroy the seeds of your pastkarmas (actions). Remember,roasted seeds will not germinate.People who in deep meditationroast their karmic seeds in thefires of wisdom will never againneed to reincarnate on earth.’’69

In other words, to stop the cycle ofreincarnation, people have to pay offtheir ‘‘karmic debt.’’ It should benoted that Hinduism does recognizegood karma as well as bad karma.However, it emphasizes bad karma.70

The Holy Spirit: Yogananda appearsto view the Holy Spirit as a cosmicintelligent ‘‘It,’’ rather than the per-sonal God:

‘‘The Holy Ghost is the CosmicIntelligent Vibration, whosesound is the Aum [i.e., OM] orAmen heard in deep yoga media-tion. ... In its vibration is ourcomfort.’’71

The Holy Spirit is not an ‘‘it,’’ butthe one personal God — the thirdPerson of the Trinity. He demon-strates the traits of personality: Heloves (Romans 15:30); can speak (Acts28:25; Hebrews 3:7; Revelation 22:17);can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30); canbe lied to (Acts 5:3); can be insulted(Hebrews 10:29); can be resisted (Acts7:51); can be blasphemed against(Mark 3:29), and so forth.

Jesus and Christianity: At times,Yogananda seems full of reverence forJesus. He can even refer to ‘‘theblessed Lord Jesus.’’72 He obviouslyadmired Him, and sought to makehim a divine guru, even incorporatingJesus as one of the six gurus ofSelf-Realization Fellowship, withKrishna and himself being two of theothers.

Part of the problem with Yoga-nanda’s view of Jesus is that he didn’tunderstand the uniqueness of Jesus.Hinduism can accept Jesus as one ofmany gods, even as Yoganandaplaced Jesus on the same level as themythological god Krishna. Gandhi,whom Yogananda met and admired,well illustrates this problem that Hin-duism has in accepting the uniqueand unparalleled deity of the LordJesus Christ. In his autobiography,The Story of My Experiments with Truth,Gandhi wrote:

‘‘It was more than I could believethat Jesus was the only incarnateson of God, and that only hewho believed in him would haveeverlasting life. If God couldhave sons, all of us were Hissons. If Jesus was like God, orGod Himself, then all men werelike God and could be GodHimself. ... I could accept Jesusas a martyr, an embodiment ofsacrifice, and a divine teacher,but not as the most perfect manever born.’’73

The Reverend Philip Graham Rykenobserved:

‘‘Authentic, biblical Christianityhas always been an exclusivereligion. This became apparentduring the Roman Empire. Whenthe Emperor Alexander Severusheard about Christianity, he

placed an image of Christ besidethe other gods in his privatechapel, just to be safe. The Ro-mans were happy to welcomeJesus into their pantheon. Whatthe Romans could not under-stand was why Christians re-fused to reciprocate. If the em-peror was willing to worshipChrist, why weren’t Christianswilling to worship the emperor?Yet the early Christians insistedthat in order to worship Christ atall, they had to worship Christalone. ... Jesus Christ refuses tohave any colleagues.’’74

And the Scriptures also declare:

‘‘Jesus said to him [Thomas], ‘Iam the way, the truth, and thelife. No one comes to the Fatherexcept through Me’’’ (John 14:6).

‘‘Nor is there salvation in anyother, for there is no other nameunder heaven given among menby which we must be saved’’(Acts 4:12).

Again, to quote Ryken:

‘‘To use an analogy, Jesus is likeGod’s telephone number. TheGod of the universe can only becontacted through Jesus Christ.Philosophical pluralists insist ongetting through to God no matterwhat number they dial. But thatis not how the telephone systemoperates, and it is not how Godoperates either. Jesus is the onlydirect line to God.’’75

The Lord Jesus, being God in theflesh, is peerless. He has no equalsand no rivals. He is King of kings andLord of lords (see Revelation 19:16).

THE DIFFERENT JESUSOF PARAMAHANSAYOGANANDA

Part of Yogananda’s attitude aboutJesus is expressed in a book of ex-cerpts of his teachings about Jesus.The title of the section of the book iscalled ‘‘Jesus the Christ — Avatar andYogi.’’76

Yogananda wrote:

‘‘‘Do you believe in the divinity ofChrist?’ a visitor inquired. Parama-


hansa Yogananda replied: ‘Yes. Ilove to talk of him because he was aman of perfect Self-realization. How-ever, he was not the only son ofGod, nor did he claim to be. Instead,he clearly taught that those who dothe will of God become, like himself,one with Him. Wasn’t it the missionof Jesus on earth to remind all menthat the Lord is their HeavenlyFather, and to show them the wayback to Him?’’’77

Yogananda denied the unique deityof Jesus. Jesus never taught that thosewho do the will of God become onein essence with Him. Additionally,Jesus’ mission was to die for the sinsof men and to, Himself, be the wayback to God; it was not to tell sinnersthat they are already sons of God andto show them the way back to Him.Yogananda also wrote:

‘‘There is a distinguishing differ-ence of meaning between Jesusand Christ. His given name wasJesus; his honorific title was‘Christ.’ In his little human bodycalled Jesus was born the vastChrist Consciousness, the omni-scient Intelligence of God omni-present in every part and particleof creation.’’78

There is a difference between thename ‘‘Jesus’’ and the title ‘‘Christ.’’However, it isn’t the difference thatYogananda thinks. The title ‘‘Christ’’means ‘‘Messiah,’’ and it wasn’tmerely an ‘‘honorific’’ (a respectfultitle), but it actually signified thatJesus is God’s Anointed One. As toYogananda’s denigration of the bodyof Jesus by the words, ‘‘his littlehuman body called Jesus,’’ this seems,at the very least, both disrespectfuland irreverent. He further wrote:

‘‘The Christ in Jesus lived amongmen as one of them that they toomight learn to live like gods.’’79

Again, Yogananda seems deter-mined to deny Jesus’ unique divinity.And Jesus’ mission was certainly notto live among men so that we couldlearn to live like gods.

The Second Coming of Jesus: Yoga-nanda seems to have held contradic-tory views of the Second Coming ofChrist. In one place he said:

‘‘The God-ordained saviors ofmankind have to return to earthagain, but when they will come,no one can say. Thus manypeople believe in Christ’s secondcoming; but when it may happendepends on the will of God. Thegreat ones come only with thepermission of the Heavenly Fa-ther.’’80

Yet in the Introduction to his bookon the Gospels, he states:

‘‘In titling this work The SecondComing of Christ, I am not refer-ring to a literal return of Jesus toearth. He came two thousandyears ago and, after imparting auniversal path to God’s kingdom,was crucified and resurrected;his reappearance to the massesnow is not necessary for thefulfillment of his teachings. Whatis necessary is for the cosmicwisdom and divine perception ofJesus to speak again througheach one’s own experience andunderstanding of the infiniteChrist Consciousness that wasincarnate in Jesus. That will behis true Second Coming.’’81

Elsewhere, Yogananda declares:

‘‘Worshiping Jesus is not trulymeaningful until one can expandhis consciousness to receivewithin himself the Christ Con-sciousness. That is the secondcoming of Christ. Unless you doyour part, a thousand Christscome on earth would not be ableto save you. You have to workfor your own salvation. ThenChrist can help you.’’82

YOGANANDA’SDIFFERENT GOSPEL

Entering the Kingdom of God: Ac-cording to Yogananda, the guru Ba-baji told one of his disciples:

‘‘My son, arise. Receive yourinitiation into the kingdom ofGod through Kriya Yoga.’’83

Hell: Yogananda opposed the doc-trine of hell:

‘‘So although the notion of ever-lasting hellfire and damnation isuntenable and should be ban-

ished from the superstitiousminds of men, the existence of anEternal Heaven in God is incor-ruptibly true.’’84

‘‘The orthodox notion of eternalhellfire and damnation is an ut-terly false precept; it arises notfrom God or His true prophetsbut from man’s own unforgivingwrath against the evil actions ofhis brethren. It is nothing butsatanic delusion that makes menascribe to the all-loving God,who is equally the Father of all, arevengeful, vindictive spirit thatcreates hells and purgatories.’’85

Part of the problem with Yoga-nanda’s false assertions above is thatJesus Himself taught the doctrine ofhellfire and damnation (e.g., Matthew13:40-42; 25:41-46). And the Bibleteaches the doctrine elsewhere also.

ROUNDING OUTTHE PICTURE

While desiring to unite both Eastand West, Yogananda clearly believedin the spiritual superiority of Indiaamong the nations of the world. It isobvious that he was proud of thissupposed spiritual superiority. Hewrote, ‘‘India is the mother of reli-gion.’’86 And also:

‘‘The wisdom garnered by India,the eldest brother among thenations, is a heritage of all man-kind.’’87

Yogananda’s final words precedinghis fatal heart attack were before the(then) Ambassador from India to theUnited States, Dr. Binay R. Sen. Theywere from a patriotic poem he hadwritten about India, entitled, ‘‘MyIndia.’’ Immediately preceding hisrecitation of those lines from ‘‘MyIndia,’’ he had said:

‘‘I am proud that I was born inIndia. I am proud that we have agreat Ambassador representingmy spiritual India. I am veryproud today.’’88

Without attempting to put a damperon a legitimate sense of patriotismthat Yogananda might have felt, acouple of things need to be men-tioned:


First, Hinduism is not the oldestreligion in the world; Judaism is.89

Secondly, Yogananda denied the clearteaching of Jesus, Who said somewords that Yogananda would havedone well to heed. The Lord told thewoman at the well, ‘‘You worshipwhat you do not know; we knowwhat we worship, for salvation is ofthe Jews’’ (John 4:22).

The Hindus worship an unknow-able god called Brahman. The Jewsworship the true God, the God ofAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Salvationis of (‘‘from’’) the Jews, in that,through the Jewish people came thepatriarchs, the prophets, the Old Tes-tament Scriptures, and the Savior ofthe world.

Without going into everything thatYogananda wrote regarding this verse,we cite the following, illustrating hisdenial of the Savior’s clear teaching inthis verse. Yogananda wrote:

‘‘When Jesus said that ‘salvationis of the Jews,’ he was notreferring to the Jews as a nation,but to the exalted class or casteof spiritually developed souls. ...He meant that salvation is for thespiritually exalted — the posi-tion, socially speaking, generallyaccorded to the Jews, who wereheld to represent the higheststandard of spirituality in thatplace and time.’’90

Little of the Self-Realization Fellow-ship’s literature mentions the fact that,for the last two years of his short life,Yoganada was not in good health.91

And when it does say so, his ill healthis explained away by making it soundas though he was working out the‘‘bad karma’’ of others.92

This is significant because of thereputed health benefits of yoga andbecause Yoganada told of yogis whohad lived such lengthy lives: Babaji,Trailanga Swami, the South IndianAgastya, and others. In the speech hegave immediately preceding hisdeath, he said:

‘‘One morning I was passing byan empty field next to a store.That evening, as I passed thatsame way again, I saw a housestanding in the field. I inquired

of a man if the house had beenthere in the morning. ‘No,’ hereplied, ‘they just put it up.’When I think of such energy, Ilike to be an American. But whenI hear of so many American million-aires who die prematurely after mak-ing a business success, then I like tobe a Hindu.’’93

Notice, first of all, that Yoganandareferred to himself as a Hindu, lestthere be any lingering doubts. Andthis was mere minutes before hebreathed his last. Secondly, though,notice his lamentation of ‘‘Americanmillionaires who die prematurely,’’Yogananda probably had no inklingthat he was about to die; nor, that hehimself would die so young.94

As to the amazing immutability ofhis body some 20 days after his death,Elliot Miller has well observed:

‘‘Whether or not Yogananda’sbody showed signs of decay atthe time of his burial, he is stillin his crypt. The tomb of Jesus,on the other hand, is empty.’’95

AN EVALUATION

Yogananda was a fascinating, intel-ligent, gifted, and charismatic figurewhose work affects people even to-day.

For all his apparent reverence to-ward Jesus and his frequent use of theBible, Paramahansa Yogananda didn’tvalue Christ as the unique Son ofGod, the only Savior. Instead, hebelieved that all men were sons ofGod, and that other men could be-come saviors. It seems likely that heeven viewed himself as such a saviorof men.

Someone once asked Yoganandawhether or not he was a Christian.Yogananda concluded his reply thisway:

‘‘‘He who keeps ever alight thelamp of remembrance of theHeavenly Father and who obeysthe precepts of Jesus is a Chris-tian.’ He added, ‘It is for you todecide whether or not you thinkI am a Christian.’’’96

Part of what makes Yoganandadangerous is that, like all false teach-

ers and prophets, some of what hesaid and wrote was true. Christianresearchers John Ankerberg and JohnWeldon wrote:

’’... false teaching is a mixture oftruth and error. Thus, peoplemay at the same time be encour-aged and nourished by somethings that are true but unknow-ingly accept error along with it.Unfortunately, sometimes even asmall amount of error may bedangerous. Ninety-eight percentof rat poison is wholesome food.Only two percent is deadly.’’97

The Apostle Paul wrote:

‘‘For I am jealous for you withgodly jealousy. For I have be-trothed you to one husband, thatI may present you as a chastevirgin to Christ. But I fear, lestsomehow, as the serpent de-ceived Eve by his craftiness, soyour minds may be corruptedfrom the simplicity that is inChrist. For if he who comespreaches another Jesus whom wehave not preached, or you re-ceive a different spirit which youhave not received, or a differentgospel which you have not ac-cepted; you may well put upwith it!’’ (2 Corinthians 11:2-4)

‘‘For such are false apostles, de-ceitful workers, transformingthemselves into apostles ofChrist. And no wonder! For Sa-tan himself transforms himselfinto an angel of light. Thereforeit is no great thing if his minis-ters also transform themselvesinto ministers of righteousness,whose end will be according totheir works’’ (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

And Jesus said:

‘‘Beware of false prophets, whocome to you in sheep’s clothing,but inwardly they are ravenouswolves. You will know them bytheir fruits. Do men gathergrapes from thornbushes or figsfrom thistles? Even so, everygood tree bears good fruit, but abad tree bears bad fruit. A goodtree cannot bear bad fruit, norcan a bad tree bear good fruit.


Every tree that does not beargood fruit is cut down andthrown into the fire. Therefore bytheir fruits you will know them’’(Matthew 7:15-20).

Endnotes:1. His first name (actually a title, ratherthan a name) is sometimes spelled with-out the middle ‘‘a’’ thus, ‘‘Paramhansa,’’rather than ‘‘Paramahansa.’’2. Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiographyof a Yogi. Los Angeles: Self-RealizationFellowship, 1993. Self-Realization Fellow-ship is not the only publisher of Yoga-nanda’s Autobiography of a Yogi. Becausepagination differs in the various editions(and the different printings) of Autobiogra-phy of a Yogi, when citing from it fromnow on, I will cite the chapter first, andthen the page number, so that the readercan locate the citation by the chapter, ifnot by the page number. Unless otherwiseindicated, all page citations and quotationsin this article from this book are from the12th edition, 12th paperbound printing,1993 mass paperback version.3. Paramahansa Yogananda, The Yoga ofJesus: Understanding the Hidden Teachings ofthe Gospels. Los Angeles: Self-RealizationFellowship, 2007, pg. vii. Also, Paramah-ansa Yogananda, The Science of Religion.Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship,2001, from the back cover.4. Undreamed of Possibilities: An Introductionto Self-Realization Fellowship. Los Angeles:Self-Realization Fellowship, 1997, pg. 9,quoted in Elliot Miller, ‘‘Swami Yoga-nanda and the Self-Realization Fellow-ship,’’ Christian Research Journal, Vol. 22,No. 02, pg. 36.5. Self-Realization Fellowship, Paramah-ansa Yogananda In Memoriam: Personal Ac-counts of the Master’s Final Days. LosAngeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 2002.6. Autobiography of a Yogi, op. cit., chapter1, pg. 4, footnote, italics in original.7. Ibid., chapter 24, pg. 258, italics inoriginal.8. Ibid., footnote.9. Ibid., chapter 42, pg. 460, italics inoriginal.10. Ibid., footnote, italics in original.11. Ibid., chapter 1, pg. 4.12. Ibid., chapter 1, pg. 10.13. Ibid., chapter 2, pg. 18.14. Ibid., chapter 2, pg. 19. See also,chapter 4, pp. 34ff. and chapter 13, pp.157ff.15. The Science of Religion, op. cit., pg. 87.16. Paramahansa Yogananda In Memoriam:Personal Accounts of the Master’s Final Days,op. cit., pg. 78.17. Autobiography of a Yogi, op. cit., chapter37, pg. 400.18. Paramahansa Yogananda In Memoriam:Personal Accounts of the Master’s Final Days,

op. cit., pg. 79. The speech was madeavailable as a pamphlet. Later, in 1924,and to this day, a revised and expandededition was published. It is entitled TheScience of Religion. See Paramahansa Yoga-nanda, The Science of Religion, op. cit.,copyright page.19. See John Bowker, editor, The OxfordDictionary of World Religions. New York:Oxford University Press, 1999, pg. 1059,s.v., ‘‘Yogananda, Paramahansa’’; IrvingHexham, Pocket Dictionary of New ReligiousMovements. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVar-sity Press, 2002, pg. 99, s.v., ‘‘Self-Realiza-tion Fellowship’’; and Ron Rhodes, Find ItQuick Handbook on Cults & New Religions.Eugene, Ore.: Harvest House Publishers,2005, pg. 178.20. The Science of Religion, op. cit., pg. 88.21. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man’s Eter-nal Quest. Los Angeles: Self-RealizationFellowship, 1988, 2nd edition, pp. xvi-xvii.22. Ibid., text at the bottom of a page ofphotographs inserted between pages 14-15, italics and ellipsis in original.23. Ibid., pg. xvii.24. The Science of Religion, op. cit., pg. 89.25. Paramahansa Yogananda In Memoriam:Personal Accounts of the Master’s Final Days,op. cit., pg. 121.26. Ibid., pg. 123.27. Autobiography of a Yogi, op. cit., pg. 571,supplemental material following the lastchapter.28. Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiogra-phy of a Yogi. Los Angeles: Self-RealizationFellowship, 2007, 13th edition, mass mar-ket edition.29. John Ankerberg and John Weldon,Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions.Eugene, Ore.: Harvest House Publishers,1999, pg. 427.30. Autobiography of a Yogi, op. cit., chapter44, pg. 508.31. Ibid., chapter 38, pg. 414.32. ‘‘The Life of Paramahansa Yogananda,’’document available at: www.yogananda-srf.org/py-life/life2.html.33. Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions,op. cit., pg. 427.34. Ibid., pg. 428, ellipsis and italics inoriginal. Although the terms that they useto describe the ‘‘brand’’ of Hinduism areimportant, they need not concern us here.What is important to realize is thatYogananda (and his Self-Realization Fel-lowship organization) teach a form ofHinduism. The Yogananda quotation citedby Ankerberg and Weldon is from Para-mahansa Yogananda, Man’s Eternal Quest,(Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship,1975, pg. 480).35. Man’s Eternal Quest, op. cit., 2ndedition, pg. xv.36. Self-Realization Fellowship Catalog2008-09, pg. 16.37. Ibid., pg. 17, italics in original.38. John Ankerberg and John Weldon, The

Facts on Hinduism in America. Eugene,Ore.: Harvest House Publishers, 1991, pg.18.39. My thanks to Dr. Robert P. Lightnerfor suggesting this wording.40. Paramahansa Yogananda, The SecondComing of Christ: The Resurrection of theChrist Within You. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 2004. A shorter1-volume collection of excerpts from this2-volume set is published as ParamahansaYogananda, The Yoga of Jesus: Understand-ing the Hidden Teachings of the Gospels. LosAngeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 2007.41. The Second Coming of Christ: TheResurrection of the Christ Within You, op.cit., Vol. I, pp. xxxii-xxxiii, emphasisadded.42. Ibid., Vol. I, Discourse 1, pg. 17.43. Ibid., Vol. I, Discourse 14, pg. 269.44. Ibid., Vol. I, pg. xv.45. Man’s Eternal Quest, op. cit., 2ndedition, pg. 233.46. Ibid., pg. 231.47. Ibid., pg. 232, emphasis added. Jesus isthe Creator, Who has always existed, not acreature who had a beginning!48. The Second Coming of Christ, op. cit.,Vol. I, pg. xxxii.49. Autobiography of a Yogi, op. cit., chapter33, pg. 346 and footnote on pp. 346-347.50. Ibid., chapter 31, pp. 329-331.51. Ibid., chapter 31, pg. 333.52. Paramahansa Yogananda, Healing ByGod’s Unlimited Power. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 2005, pg. 23.53. Autobiography of a Yogi, op. cit., chapter33, pg. 347.54. ‘‘Swami Yogananda and the Self-Realization Fellowship,’’ op. cit., pp. 34,36, italics in original.55. Autobiography of a Yogi, op. cit., chapter33, pg. 348, footnote, italics in original.56. Ibid., chapter 33, pg. 347.57. Ibid., chapter 33, pg. 350.58. Ibid., chapter 18, pg. 213.59. Ibid., chapter 43, pp. 475-476ff.60. Ibid., chapter 43, pg. 476.61. The Second Coming of Christ: TheResurrection of the Christ Within You, op.cit., Vol. II, Discourse 47, pg. 915.62. Man’s Eternal Quest, op. cit., 2ndedition, pg. 299. The next-to-the-last sen-tence is cited by Ankerberg and Weldon,Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions, pg.426.63. Quotation by Paramahansa Yoganandaon the Self-Realization Fellowship Website,document available at: www.yogananda-srf.org/aboutsrf/index.html. This state-ment rendered in italics on webpage.64. Man’s Eternal Quest, op. cit., 2ndedition, pg. 9.65. Paramahansa Yogananda, How To Cul-tivate Divine Love. Los Angeles: Self-Real-ization Fellowship, 2006, pg. 16.66. Autobiography of a Yogi, op. cit., chapter35, pg. 386, italic in original.


67. Paramahansa Yogananda, Why GodPermits Evil and How To Rise Above It. LosAngeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 2004,pp. 45-46.68. The Bible clearly states that, ‘‘Allunrighteousness is sin’’ (1 John 5:17).69. Paramhansa Yogananda, Karma andReincarnation. Nevada City, Calif.: CrystalClarity Publishers, 2007, pg. 53.70. Winfried Corduan, Neighboring Faiths:A Christian Introduction to World Religions.Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press,1998, pg. 197.71. Man’s Eternal Quest, op. cit., 2ndedition, pg. 300, italic in original.72. Autobiography of a Yogi, op. cit., chapter49, pg. 558.73. Mohandas K. Gandhi, Autobiography:The Story of My Experiments with Truth,translated by Mahadev Desai. New York:Dover Publications, Inc., 1983, pg. 119. Anunabridged republication of the editionpublished by Public Affairs Press, Wash-ington, D.C., 1948, under the title Gandhi’sAutobiography: The Story of My Experimentswith Truth.74. Philip Graham Ryken, Is Jesus the OnlyWay? Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1999,pp. 10, 11, italic in original.75. Ibid., pg. 37.76. Paramahansa Yogananda, The Yoga ofJesus: Understanding the Hidden Teachings of

the Gospels, Selections from the writings ofParamahansa Yogananda. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 2007, pg. 1. Thisbook is, in the main, excerpts from the2-volume set by Paramahansa Yogananda,The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrec-tion of the Christ Within You.77. Ibid., pg. 2, italics in original.78. Ibid., pg. 5, italics in original.79. Ibid., pg. 4.80. Man’s Eternal Quest, op. cit., 2ndedition, pg. 235.81. The Second Coming of Christ: TheResurrection of the Christ Within You, op.cit., Vol. I, pg. xxi, italics in original.82. Man’s Eternal Quest, op. cit., 2ndedition, pg. 292.83. Autobiography of a Yogi, op. cit., chapter34, pg. 362, italics in original.84. The Second Coming of Christ: TheResurrection of the Christ Within You, op.cit., Vol. II, Discourse 68, pg. 1336.85. Ibid., Vol. II, Discourse 48, pg. 931.86. The Yoga of Jesus, op. cit., pg. 13.87. Autobiography of a Yogi, op. cit., chapter49, pg. 568.88. Paramahansa Yogananda In Memoriam:Personal Accounts of the Master’s Final Days,op. cit., pg. 69. The entire text of Yoga-nanda’s short speech is given in this book.This book contains much good biographi-cal material about Yogananda.

89. See Ronald Enroth, editor, Evangelizingthe Cults: How to Share Jesus with Children,Parents, Neighbors, and Friends Who AreInvolved in a Cult. Ann Arbor, Mich.: VineBooks, 1990, pg. 21. This specific is takenfrom the chapter on ‘‘Hinduism’’ by MarkAlbrecht.90. The Second Coming of Christ: TheResurrection of the Christ Within You, op.cit., Vol. I, Discourse 18, pg. 308.91. Paramahansa Yogananda In Memoriam:Personal Accounts of the Master’s Final Days,op. cit., pp. 12, 32.92. Ibid., pp. 93-95.93. Ibid., pg. 68, emphasis added.94. This book consistently takes greatpains to make it appear that Yoganandaknew about and gave intimations of hiscoming demise. However, from what hesaid here in his speech, it certainly doesn’tsound like it. Otherwise, why would hepoint out the premature deaths of Ameri-can millionaires?95. ‘‘Swami Yogananda and the Self-Realization Fellowship,’’ op. cit., pg. 41.96. The Yoga of Jesus, op. cit., pg. 20, thisstatement rendered in italics in the book.97. John Ankerberg and John Weldon, TheFacts on False Teaching in the Church.Eugene, Ore.: Harvest House Publishers,1988, pg. 5, italics in original.

YOGA AND THE CHRISTIAN(continued from page 1)

blend with one another. There isno known founder of Hinduism,no creedal statements of faith tosign and no agreed-upon author-ity. In fact, one can be a goodHindu and believe in one god,many gods or no god at all!’’3

Christian researchers John Anker-berg and John Weldon state:

‘‘In its most simple definition,Hinduism may be defined as thereligious beliefs and practicescommon to India. Defining Hin-duism in a more precise manneris difficult because of the widenumber of practices and teach-ings it offers.’’4

The Oxford Dictionary of World Reli-gions says Hinduism is ‘‘The majorcontinuing and connected religions ofIndia, which have now spreadthroughout the world.’’5

It also says, ‘‘About 80 per cent ofIndia’s approx. one billion people

regard themselves as Hindu, andthere are about 30 million Hinduselsewhere in the world.’’6

Hinduism does have scriptures andcore beliefs. Hindu scriptures includethe four Vedas; their commentaries,called the Upanishads (also known asVedanta, ‘‘the last of the Vedas’’); theMahabharata (of which the BhagavadGita is a small portion); theRamayana; and other lesser books.

One of the popular gods withinHinduism’s pantheon is Krishna, themain character in the Bhagavad Gita.The Bhagavad Gita is sometimescalled ‘‘the Gita’’ and, as noted above,is a portion of the larger Hindu epiccalled the Mahabharata.

As far as ‘‘core beliefs,’’ Fritz Ride-nour states, ‘‘There are, however, twofoundational assumptions that almostall Hindus believe without question:reincarnation and karma.’’7 Christianresearcher Elliot Miller adds a third:‘‘practice of some form of yoga.’’8

Reincarnation is the belief that, afterdeath, one’s soul is recycled in

another body — human, animal, orinsect. Karma is the law of cause andeffect, involving the idea that a personmust somehow pay for the wrongsthey have done, either in this life orthe next. Hinduism also teaches thecaste (or class) system, although someHindus, such as Gandhi, opposed it.Seminary professor George Braswellexplains:

‘‘According to the Laws of Manu[a portion of the Hindu scrip-tures] the caste system is justifiedby the belief in Karma and thetransmigration of souls. Hindusare not in their social position byaccident, and there is no injusticein being in any caste. One getswhat one merits. ... The castesystem still remains in India.’’9

Braswell further describes the fivebroad castes within Hinduism:

1. ‘‘The Brahmin caste is the mostprivileged one. It is the protectorand transmitter of the Vedascriptures and has general over-sight of society.’’

Documents

4 · The Quarterly Journal October-December2009 Yogananda.pdf4 · The Quarterly Journal October-December2009 Anyone who has practiced yoga for a while probably has heard the name ‘‘Yogananda.’’