Warning; Ordering books on line ;if the ebook or paperback book does not appear as shown below, you will be getting an outdated and incomplete inferior book.

The Orange cover shown below assures you of getting Yogananda's best editions from Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers on all books written by Paramahansa Yogananda.
.
These later editions shown below have been edited to the standards set and begun by the author Himself by trusted and loyal Monastics

Do not buy outdated 1946 editions, the author changed or had others change much of that older stuff to clarify His complete legacy. Those first editions exist only for the reading by what master called "psychological antiques."

Swami Kriyananda(JD Walters) and his timely removal from SRF in 1962.       [note; As of 1985 he was no longer a swami and used that title falsely.] In fact most of the information in the following links are by his own admissions.
It is very strange that Ananda contradicts some of what SK says about himself as they still attempt to whitewash his notorious past. See this link >>>>
https://swamikriyanandatruth.wordpress.com/srf-yogananda/expulsion-from-srf/

This is a series of factual essays/links about how J Donald Walters committed copyright theft, fraud, and sexual abuse of his position, and confusion of devotees who thought they were following Yogananda's path. They wrongly imagined that SK was a channel to the divine, or to Yogananda -he never was. Essentially, he was simply a confused and misguided yogin who
had some good and some evil intentions as he was trying to work out much of his karma while dragging naive devotees with him.

Also see; http://www.anandainfo.com/services/index.htm

https://www.facebook.com/SRFYSSYoganandaAnswers

http://hassrflostitsway.blogspot.ca/search?updated-max=2012-09-13T16:40:00-07:00&max-results=10

THE WISDOM OF PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA >>>>>>>>>>>>>

    
Significance
 of the Guru-disciple link connections for devotees of the Kriya masters through Self-Realization Fellowship / Yogoda Sat Sangha. What did the Master say about this?
Yogananda's tradition has no guru successors outside of SRF/YSS!
This non-succession is by the Master's direct order!
What really is the True Kriya Yoga ?
You can read all about it in SRF editions of the
"Autobiography of a Yogi"

See all essays on right sidebar >>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

                       Wisdom Quotes of
     Paramahansa Yogananda's Legacy


                      Wisdom of Paramahansa Yogananda 1

" Do not be bound by this earth. 
This is just a place where for
a time you are to act your part.
 Do not give undue importance to it.
Balance material and spiritual duties in your life;
that will bring you supreme happiness. 
Be ambitious for God,
which will help you to play your part well. 
God would not have given you a brain
 if He didn't want you to think and reason.
 He would not have given you a will
if He didn't expect you to use it.

But while you perform your dutiful actions,
do not create new desires. 
Become a perfect actor,
seeking just to do God's bidding. 
Only in perfecting your portrayal
in God's drama do you earn the right
to retire to your Divine Home."

In a letter to Rajarsi Janakananda from Yogananda, September 19, 1935;

" To be known by God is everything. 

Like Buddha who gave up everything, 

live only for God, Self-Realization Fellowship,
and Guru's work,
and you will attain everlastingness in heaven."
  

 Autobiography of a Yogi 1988 edition    
Read this chapter on Kriya Yoga. 
This chapter from the latest editions is published
exactly the way Yogananda wanted it to be, [and so the rest of this book].
This fact is further verified by other notes below.

YOGANANDA and OTHER KRIYA YOGA PATHS

Free Counter  Yogananda, Gurus, and other Kriya Yoga Paths.


It has been my observation over many years, of a number of persons,
that unwavering loyalty and obedience to a true Guru has resulted in 
the most creative and successful of persons. Persons whose service
to others has been outstanding. These are persons that through such
Spiritual training with SRF have found freedom and transformation
 in the most positive degree. Surrender brings true freedom!
It helps when one understands this whole process accurately.
Blind loyalty to anything is not the same.
And I have seen so many persons whose egotism
 prevented such cooperation with the teacher and
they usually ended up in either drifting away
or failing to get the results they should have.
The organization cannot compensate for false expectations
and wrong motives, for lack of effort and study......PYislove

Here is a letter before DJW was  trying to create his own path;
"It is our policy to permit only ordained ministers
 to give the Kriya Yoga initiation.
Master said that after his passing he wanted only --
-SRF renunciates to be ordained as ministers,
 and at that only after a minimum of seven years
in one of our colonies[ashrams]..."
                                                    signed - D Walters, 1957


   This note is  indicative of some of the changes Yogananda had made 
and/or requested for the Autobiography chapter on Kriya Yoga......
 In fact, Yogananda also told SRF leadership to annually approve those qualified to teach give Kriya initiations.
      The 49th chapter of A/Y very strongly emphasizes the importance of Self-Realization Fellowship/YSS, and it was written by Yogananda Himself !

For those looking for a "living Guru", the first thing to understand is that a teacher in a live body may seldom be "a spiritually living Guru." and cannot lead you to the Reality. 

A charismatic spiritually dead teacher cannot take you to the divine no matter how impressed you are about him/her. The first problem is - few persons can really tell the difference, can actually identify a living Guru/savior/Prophet.  However, once a great soul achieves true Self- Realization  /salvation/ full awareness of the Reality/Brahman, in this superconscious omniscience, there is no more dying then, and no more necessity of reincarnating in form. Having a physical body to work through is no longer a necessity. This is how the "great ones", true living Masters work with us even after their demise. Then one is the true teacher, Guru, a Living Prophet in or out of a body. History is plentiful with the evidence of this fact! This is why, even with such mastery over life and death they usually do not hang around with the physical body.  To stay in the Relative, unreal, material world would be counter productive & misleading others about where salvation truly lies. It simply is beyond the physical world of relativity, the surface world severely limited by the narrow range of sensory experiences.So, Devotee - what do you really want, a true Guru or a position?What do you want - someone to lead you or baby sit you?
The overwhelming evidence is, is that Paramahansa Yogananda is still a "living Guru" now, just as He was when wandering around in the body.
I, and many, many others see his hand working in our lives,
 helping us on the path to freedom  I, and many, many others see his hand working in our lives,  helping us on the path to freedom via the Self-realization Fellowship/YSS wisdom teachings.

One of the clearest declarations made by Paramahansa Yogananda was that in this tradition of Kriya Yoga there would never be another successor guru to shape this holy Kriya yoga path of SRF/YSS.
There may be other teachers of Yoga & few are truly spiritually advanced, but we already have six "living Gurus" to choose from. What more do you need?
 If you insist on finding a guru in a body [as many do] you may end up looking in all the wrong places. Many wolves await you in the world of spiritual teachers!

Paramahansa Yogananda's promise to all SRF/YSS
Devotees who are in tune with Him through this great SRF work.

""God has sent you to me, and I shall never fail you... "Even when I am gone my help will always be given to devotees all over the world, if they keep in tune. Never think for a moment that when I am physically absent from you all, I am not otherwise with you. I shall be just as deeply concerned for your spiritual welfare when I am no longer in the body as I am now. I shall always be watching over each one of you, and whenever a true devotee thinks of me in the silent depths of his soul, he will know that I am near." 

Paramahansa Yogananda, quoted in the SRF calender, August, 1993. 


Yogananda once said to the Monastics;
"The spiritual path is like a razor's edge," our guru, Paramahansa Yogananda, used to tell us. If we want to know God, we have to endeavor to the best of our ability every day, every moment even, to focus on the straight and narrow path before us, avoiding those mistakes caused by our mortal consciousness. We have to transform that consciousness which makes us behave like petty human beings, and remember that we are made in God's image. It takes deliberate effort not to be diverted from that razor-edged path, because in this world it is considered perfectly normal to be quarrelsome and argumentative, to be critical of others, to gossip -- to indulge in all kinds of wrong behavior that springs from human nature, not form our divine nature. But one who misbehaves will never, never know peace of mind, let alone achieve God-consciousness. " - Sri Daya Mata, Self-Realization Magazine, Summer 2008


Because Kriya Yoga [ and other Yogas] have become such a hot item in the world of spirituality since Yogananda came to the West
almost a hundred years ago, so many want to get in on the act
 and start their own Kriya schools. This of course is a natural occurrance is not unusual as human egos are always trying to prove themselves.  Or it may also be an expression of our human individuality. Many are the motives and private agendas behind the desires of  those who start new religious movements.
Seeker beware!
Why is the teaching of Kriya Yoga so sought after by serious devotees of Reality? Because is has proven itself so powerfully effective in transforming human lives for the better.
For showing us how to contact God before death of the body and enrich our lives in the process with growing devotion and grace.
For its self-transformative blessings and life enrichments.
Paramahansa Yogananda was followed by many later teachers and promoters of the Mystical Kriya Yoga spiritual techniques used to enhance human evolution and spiritual awareness.
I am posting these notes for the benefit of those who wish to
follow the teachings and wisdom inspiration of Paramahansa
Yogananda in particular. It is a core part of Yogananda's
teaching for devotees to loyally work through and support Babaji's spiritual path of Self-Realization Fellowship/YSS.
Yogananda created only one organization to further and represent his spiritual legacy in this world. That society is 
the Self-Realization Fellowship/YSS alone. The leaders of SRF/YSS has so far been impeccable inspirations. 
I am not judging what the purposes of others are. Other claims to the contrary can be false and misleading and promoted to suit the agendas and false rationalizations of others. The master said that He emphatically did not allow any successor "Gurus" in his lineage to take His place after his demise. Because this leaves new and green devotees at the risk of deception by the many lesser teachers we find in the field of religion. Ambitious persons who want power over others and are impressive talkers/writers - but have little or no God-Realization. Beware of them!
Most world class prophets have made similar declarations of "lineage closure" to protect devotees from being misled by false spiritual teachers who inevitably pop up and would love to steal the show after the great work has been launched by an Avatar.
 In this copy-cat world there are so many half baked wannabees, so many who want to copy PY's acclaimed successes.
No organization is perfect, but I feel that SRF/YSS has avoided many of the flaws of orgs in the past that only sought power and control over others. They lacked the spiritual understanding that was intended by their illustrious founders. SRF has continued to grow the masters spiritual community with integrity and love, and
His great spiritual ideals are very much alive thanks to the 
selfless works of so many loyal monastics and devotees.


For those who are attracted to Paramahansa Yogananda
and His divine legacy as their spiritual path, SRF/YSS is
the very best way to go, and according to the notes below was
intended by Yogananda as the only loyal and most productive
way to go via the"SRF" lessons, guidance, and publications
of His works. Loyalty to the Master and His organization
[His cause] is an important element in this whole Guru devotee process/relationship. And it comes with a real Param para!
Then many spiritual blessings can follow throughout your life...


Below is a set of posts derived from the SRF devotees
forum at yogananda.net web site. March 2011
One will find even more support for these ideas below
by reading more of Yogananda's writings, where
He repeats this theme in over a hundred places. Other persons
have published biographies and books about Yogananda
and their claimed experiences with Him, some of these
authors have put Yogananda's name on their books as
being the actual author of such works. This is not always
true and new devotees should be wary of those
who would misuse the masters name on their publications. 
Namaste ..............PYislove


SRF and Yogananda are clearly one...
Contrasting all that Yogananda and SRF/YSS says about this subject, are the talks and writings of other lesser teachers who have agendas of their own. Not agendas of their devotees mind you ,just agendas for their own personal desires and organizational ambitions. In order to fulfill those ambitions they have been attempting to change and distort some of Yogananda's work with endless rationalizations of their own. 
That is why they keep saying things like, "Master could not have meant that His work should be controlled from SRF mother center!" or, 'Master told me privately ", etc etc...
Master said that" I had a great work to do".
Yes - that great work was to change yourself, and this is where you have thus far disappointed Him, by your 30+years of ill behavior, and your childish attacks on SRF/YSS and its rightfully appointed leaders[appointed by Yogananda].
Who does one believe? well simply much of what you read on this page are statements of Yogananda Himself - how does it all tally with what your teacher is saying? What are the ethics of your teacher? What is his record ?

PY is love Wednesday, August-24-2011

Self-Realization Fellowship/YSS is Yogananda's Spiritual community.

Why did the Master Yogi create Self-Realization Fellowship/YSS?

About Yogananda and organizations, I did not like orgs until I found Yogananda and SRF. When I found over over one hundred places in His writings where He says that devotees will gain the most through Self-Realization Fellowship and the lesson course this changed my attitude about orgs. SRF/YSS is Yogananda's family and spiritual community/colony.
None other is needed or required. Be careful of those who think they know better than the Guru while telling you they work for him alone?
Self-Realization fellowship was a wonderful turning point in my life that has blessed me in many ways as my true path. 

Finally, Yogananda's final pronouncement on how He felt about his SRF/YSS org is summarized on page 410 in the "Autobiography of a Yogi." as follows; (c) x SRF publishers LA USA.[ orange cover editions are the most accurate and complete,
and published according to the final wishes of Yogananda. The 49th chapter is by PY and is entirely missing from the earliest editions]

"The founding in the West of the Self-Realization Fellowship organization, a "hive of spiritual honey" was a duty enjoined on me by Mahavatar Babaji. The fulfillment of the sacred trust has not been devoid of difficulties.

"Tell me truly Paramahansaji, has it been worth it?"That laconic question was put to me one evening by Dr. Lloyd Kennel,a leader of the temple in San Diego. I understood him to mean have you been happy in America,? What about all the falsehoods circulated by misguided people who are anxious to prevent the spread of Yoga? What about the disillusionments, the heartaches, the center leaders who could not lead, the students who could not be taught?"

"......................"I thought then of all the faithful ones, of the love, devotion, and understanding that illumines the heart of America. With slow emphasis I went on,"But my answer is
Yes, a thousand times Yes! It has been worthwhile, more than I ever dreamed, to see East and West brought closer in the only lasting bond, the spiritual." end
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
March ...2011

on Yogananda.net - One devotee comments....?

"Show me one place in the AY where Master, during his own sadhana, talked about the importance of organized religion or a Church. It was never about that." [Read the above from AY]

Various replies;are given  >>>>>>>>

Posted 09 March 2011 - 01:01 PM

Stargazer, on 09 March 2011 - 09:13 AM, said:

LB, I have Second edition 2005, and 2nd of May is dfferent! 1st of May Master talks about total loyalty to God, but also how God has tied him to the work of SRF. 3rd of May: "In the spiritually receptive, loyalty to the guru rises spontaneously....". 7th May: "Falter no more....Follow the truth that God has sent through Self-Realization Fellowship and you shall be forever blessed. Master said all those things. Stargz.

Little bird says;

Interesting! The quote I posted was from Master, too (most in the SDiary are, but some not, and realized I didn't specifically say before). I had these saved on my computer about the role of the organization. I love these quotes, as I feel such joy, not only in having our Guru, but also in being a part of the organization that was part of the plan of God and all our Gurus, and Master's mission to establish it. And most of all knowing that leadership at the top will always be Self-realized, that Babaji already knows who they are.  This is an excerpt from an interview with Sri Daya Mata by Saurabb Bhattacharya for "Life Positive," a magazine in India, that was in the SRF Magazine, Fall 1999: Some people claiming their ancestry to Sri Yukteswar and Lahiri Mahasaya are teaching Kriya Yoga in the West. Please comment. Daya Mata replies; "Receiving Kriya Yoga is more than obtaining a set of instructions; it means forming a sacred bond between one's soul and the guru sent by God to lead one back to Him-- for it is when practiced within the auspices of that holy relationship that Kriya can fully impart its blessings. And a person's choice of guru is a completely individual matter between that devotee and God; it is not for anyone else to comment on. What we tell people is that if they wish to enter the guru-disciple relationship with Paramahansa Yogananda, then the YSS/SRF teaching is the way to do so. He promised that he and his paramgurus would guide and guard the spiritual progress of all who receive Kriya initiation through the society he himself established for this purpose, if they keep in tune through faithful practice of the teachings." Also; from the Fall, 1999 SRF Magazine: An excerpt from "A Life of Consecration, " by Mrinalini Mata: "...So often we have remembered the words Master spoke many years ago to those of us who had come to dedicate our lives as monastics: 'When I have left this body, the organization will be my body, and you all will be my hands and feet, my speech.' What a blessed opportunity, what a tremendously freeing experience is this life of consecration. Each one who wholeheartedly embraces it becomes like a glowing atom of Master's being; each makes a necessary contribution to the whole, through which Gurudeva's organization can continue to reach out in his spirit of love divine." Btw, I believe this is also true for householders (being part of Master's 'body'), but to a much lesser extent as far as leadership and decision making in the organization goes.

LB posts further;

Arvind, the question Daya Maji was asked had to do with people "claiming their ancestry to Sri Yukteswar and Lahiri Mahasaya teaching Kriya Yoga in the West." This question doesn't include Master, but other lineages from Sri Y or LMji (which began in India). As far as people breaking away from SRF to form their own organization, Daya Ma is saying that those who truly want to follow Master and get kriya through him must do it through SRF for it to be authentic, so to speak. This is from Brother Anandamoy (Mrinalini Mata has also said the same thing):

Quote

"So we have to very carefully watch that it is not the rationalizations of the ego because rationalizations of the ego cannot change spiritual law." I'll give you another example. One time Daya Mataji told us that story, she said she and some other monastics were with Master and they were discussing a monk who was no longer with the organization, and he was still giving, teaching the techniques. And he asked Master about it, can he do it? Master emphatically said, "God and Babaji ordained me to establish this organization, and this is the organization through which they work to spread the teachings. There is none other." And then one of the monastics said, "But sir, he's still giving kriya. Is it the same?" Master said, "It is not the same. The ties are broken." That is serious business. You cannot rationalize the ego. We have to ask sincerely, are we working with the law, divine law, or against it. Rationalizations of the ego cannot change Divine Law. If a person goes against the instructions of the Master, the Guru, that's heavy karma"  Bro. Anandamoy, Understanding Karma

posted by pyislove March 13 2011

Thanks so much LB , you have done a great job on clarifying the

importance of SRF and masters purpose and connection with it for

all devotees who really want to understand His teachings and Sadhana.

The best connection one can make with SRF gurus is the SRF.

Not the only way for some, but the surest way for those who

will love and support this great work.

Before Master introduced Himself to me and even till a while later

I distrusted organizations/churches. But because He created SRF

I felt that this must be the way He wants for us- and so it is.

From my reading of world religious history, it would be difficult

to find another organization that has so closely maintained the

teaching of the founder/prophet as SRF/YSS has done.
None in this world may be perfect, but SRF's record so far is exceptional.

It took me years to fully understand the importance of having an

organization for this work, something that is untypical of Yogis.

Here is where Yogananda is working "out of the box."
On page 410 of Autobiography of a Yogi Yogananda says that
creating the SRF/YSS was a very worthwhile thing,
"Yes, He says, a thousand times Yes" he replied.
 As He saw it as a great spiritual fellowship to bring East and West together.
Politics has failed us.


In fact; a serious point to be mentioned here as I see it, is that it is  other non-SRF/YSS groups and paths that are primarily distorting and misrepresenting some of Yogananda's teachings. This is done by various rationalizations by some. There are some in fact that do not even mention His name, even though He was the origin of their leaders guruship.

And for many out there that say such and such is more important than the organization, even most those persons are deeply involved in supporting/creating their own organizations.
Enough of this Hypocrisy!

Getting back to the subject of this thread - it is this organization

working through families that will show youth a better way to

approach the spiritual.

namaste, PYislove

THE LAST & ONLY TRUE GURU for THOSE WHO WISH to FOLLOW Yogananda's TEACHINGS is PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA via SELF-REALIZATION FELLOWSHIP

 In a letter to Rajarsi Janakananda from Yogananda, September 19, 1935;

" To be known by God is everything. 

Like Buddha who gave up everything, 

live only for God, Self-Realization Fellowship, and Guru's work,
and you will attain everlastingness in heaven."

"Prophetic  Closure;" the key statements for the ending of lineages by  world class true prophets to protect all future devotees, is a living prophets prerogative. Ending of succession is not a statement of  exclusivism, it is a purely protective measure.
"Prophetic closure" does not mean that there will
be no one else to carry on the saviors work. It simply means that others should not attempt to imply that such a living prophet can no longer guide and bless the lives of sincerely attuned devotees to their ultimate evolutionary goal. It also means that others claiming to be said prophet or Gurus in that lineage may be false [or lower level teachers]. "You will know them by their fruits"
The goal of Self-realization = God Realization!


As an example; in the gospel of  Mathew ch 16;
we read; "3When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter[Petros], and upon this rock[the rock of "son of the living God = ie "christ Consciousness"] I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 20Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ."
  
I feel this has been greatly misunderstood by many in the churches for a long time. The truly significant "Rock" that  Jesus says will prevail against gates of hell is not Peter [small stone]
but the great all encompassing rock of "Christ Consciousness", the "son of the living God" which found expression through Jesus, Krishna, and others. That is the true "Rock" that will prevail forever. I find  it interesting that just after the quote Jesus says that Satan is speaking through Peter!
The interpretation of that chapter in Matthew needs great deal of reassessment!


The term "living Prophet" does not necessarily
refer to a god-realized master in a physical body, even though some do have such bodies. In or out of corporeal form it means they have evolved beyond the limited consciousness of isolation in the sensory world and can therefore work with or without the body as we know it. They are the ones who have penetrated the core of reality and are one with reality -God. They therefore continue to work in all worlds from that omnipresent cosmic consciousness. It is beyond the psychic.
A "   Living prophet" is not a person who is appointed or elected to a prominent position in some institution, although there have been rare instances of such leaders being realized souls.

There may be any number of other great teachers and /or new saviors over time. But no true living prophet of the past becomes invalid after the body's demise. Nor is he replaced by new genuine saviors in other cultures.  Closure declarations should serve as a great caution to seekers not to be caught up with false spiritual teachers. '
" You will know them by their fruits."


Paramahansa Yogananda made it clear that no other Gurus would be needed to succeed Him in this Kriya tradition. To dwell on such an idea that you may be a succeeding guru in his lineage is a denial of the fact that Yogananda and other members uplineage are living prophets. The evidence does not support the claims of present and future wannabe gurus in this tradition who are seeking spiritual celeb exclusive status. Beware of them!


Note; this term "prophetic closure" ,
and associated concepts,  are copyrighted terms and were coined/originated by the author of this web site in the year 2000. If you  find what you read here unpalatable,  just study these ideas for a while, while deprogramming yourself - then tell me what you think! It will all help you to understand why "only one way " is a dying myth. A couple of years research goes by quickly! Remember! The same people taught you that the earth is only about 6,000 years old. 
Time proves many things........July 23, 2005
To Read more on this subject,
Please visit this link;
http://whatthesecondcomingmeans.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-false-prophecies-are-bred-by-false.html?


Paramahansa Yogananda Says;

"Those who have come to Self-Realization[-fellowship] truly seeking inward spiritual help shall receive what they seek from God. Whether they come while I am in the body, or afterward, the power of God through the link of the SRF/YSS Gurus shall flow into the devotee just the same, and shall be the cause of their salvation."

Paramahansa Yogananda, quoted in a letter to a Self-Realization Fellowship student, August, 1994. (c)SRF Publishing LA USA 

"God has sent you to me, and I shall never fail you...Even when I am gone my help will always be given to devotees all over the world, if they keep in tune. Never think for a moment that when I am physically absent from you all, I am not otherwise with you. I shall be just deeply concerned for your spiritual welfare when I am no longer in the body as I am now. I shall always be watching over each one of you, and whenever a true devotee thinks of me in the silent depths of his soul, he will know that I am near."

Paramahansa Yogananda, quoted in the SRF calender, August, 1993. SRF Publishers LA USA.


 Note; For those who doubt the above statements, let me assure you the the history of the truth of the above is  proven by many great testimonials from ordinary folks and even saints of this world. Also - if one takes a couple of years to examine the life and works of PY as published by SRF/YSS, they will see why this theme was spoken of by Him so many times.

        The true Guru is a "living prophet," who at times takes on the role of Avatar, a great savior of mankind who takes on a vast global public role, and will continue to assist and bless all sincere devotees just the same after the death of the body. Attune to him only.  Many want to be teachers, but they may never rank as True Gurus.


" Prophetic Closure" is not needed or usually practiced in your average little ashram as such places seldom involve a global divine dispensation which is intended to become a major world faith as in SRF. In those cases such succession is simply a normal tradition carried on through a single chief disciple. In the various great saints that sometimes come out of India's Holy ashrams, Each generation will only have one "Chief disciple " as the official gurus successor. 


Viewing the vast differences between ancient
 times and todays world of information streams
 including many sacred books, it now becomes possible for sincere seekers to dissolve their culturally  programmed myths of darker times established by controlling ambitious overeducated leaders. A true Spiritual Master is far more than your expert with degrees after ones name. Such a Guru has penetrated to the heart of  Reality-God and is one with "that" absolute source of wisdom and love. He/she is that
"Kristos", that "Kutustha", that "Christ" spoken of in many or the worlds great scriptures over eons of time. There are many living prophets who can take one to salvation/moksha. But only if the believers in those traditions can see beyond "popular programmed dogmas". 

Many great world prophets/Avatars have used very unique 

and often misunderstood comments in an attempt to restrict the 

reckless activities of false unrealized religious leaders,

teachers, clergy, and missionaries who often attempt to highjack

the prophets work without delay soon after his departure.
Such egocentric ambitious persons do great harm to naive, trusting devotees and the faithful who are seldom in a
position to distinguish between the real and the unreal.
Because persons in authority are dealing with those desiring
the crutch of certainty who are the vulnerable ones, such leaders are in fact psychologically and spiritually abusing others.

They also do considerable harm to the name of true faith.

 It so often happens that some of these persons who arise to 

prominence after the Prophet leaves the earthly scene are 

very influential and charismatic, but being unrealized and worse, they mislead devotees and seek power and fame only for themselves and the desire to build an organization which they hope will boost the size of their ego.

 They care little for the welfare of each devotee and they are not vehicles of truth or salvation. This has resulted in much unnecessary and sad abuse of sincere devotees. It has even turned millions against religion.

Wannabees may sound very impressive and are primarily experts in crowd manipulation pretending to serve the seekers.

In fact, when we are in such crowds there is a social mob excitation that many seekers mistake for divine influence.


Oh yes, there are some truly great teachers out there in various sacred paths who may be of great value to your life. 
"   Know them by their fruits," 
take your time and don't rush in!

"  you will know them by their fruits - do men gather 

grapes from thistles, or figs from thorns; JC"

"   If it were possible they would even deceive the very elect"

These are truly "the wolves in sheep's clothing: Beware .

Jesus [who is one of the worlds many Christs] warns his followers as above, and also that;

" If they say to you that I am in the desert, go not after them," 

For many will come in my name saying " I am He",  believe them not."   JC

"   I am the way the truth and the life "no one comes to the father except through me "John 14;6

Also, you must see verse John 14;10 to understand the proper context of this.[why do most clergy avoid verse 10?]

Jesus was not implying that He was the only savoir for

all men for all time. He was in fact calling ""   closure"   for the immediate time to protect his devotees from the many false teachers who immediately appeared after his crucifixion,  and have been doing so for the last 2000 years.

They never stop!
The problem is not with new or other genuine prophets or spiritual masters, it is with so many who imagine they are in those categories, and those who seek fame and fortune at your expense. Such persons turn many against any kind of religion because of their misleading agendas. The world is swarming with such ambitious impostors who are not God-realized and not capable of showing you the way to any kind of enlightenment, salvation or imagined glory etc. For all their silvery tongues they do not know the way to Reality/God!     Talk is cheap!


A partial history/outline of closure;

The Sikhs tenth Guru also called "  Closure"   and said 

he was going to be the final Guru in their sacred lineage.

Mohammed said "there will never come on earth a new religion or prophet, this is Allah's final message."

Of course there have been more prophets since. Less than a century later there was Adi Shankara, who arose in India to upgrade the Hindu traditions known as the Sanatana Dharma.

The Bahai founder Bahaullah said on the last page of Gleanings," If any man should claim to be a prophet of God ere the expiration of one thousand years know him to be an impostor. "

This statement of " closure"   was his way of  protecting his followers from false prophets. 

However, as we can see from today's vast data sources there have been a respectable number of great prophets since Bahalluah's time, and since Mohammed's time, and since Jesus time.

Paramahansa Yogananda also called "  closure". He clearly stated more than once that " when I am gone the lessons [SRF Lessons] would be the Guru. He is the last Guru in this tradition.

 As the Chief disciple in his lineage via Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Sri Yukteswar, it was Yogananda's right and privilege to make this call.

When it comes right down to the obvious, just how many times must divine souls appear and keep repeating the same principles of wisdom to help us. Yogananda's legacy covers every possible scenario of importance with complete methodology and psychology for our self-development and spiritual welfare that is so far ahead of its time it won't be outdated for many millennia.

It is presented from Him in the worlds most commonly used language, requiring a minimum of translation. [which we know always loses something]. Yet there are many copycat teachers claiming to be the real emissaries of Babaji's Kriya Yoga - it doesn't work this way!

A proper study of the reason detre for this whole SRF lineage of 6 great avatars was to set up a new spiritual dispensation for mankind before the commencement the third millennium. 

Yogananda completed this immense task  cum laud, and called closure to aid in protecting us [restless and naive devotees] from the false teachers and the fate of so many traditions past. There is far more to this than meets the eye.

For it was also a major teaching since Krishna, Jesus, Buddha and others that these saviors are ever-living Gurus even after the death of the body. Closure was often declared because most seekers and devotees have a very difficult time understanding the fact that well spoken impressive teachers who seems to be alive in living bodies are often spiritually dead.

And as much as most persons want someone to hold their hand and read them bedtime stories, the spiritually dead teacher in a live body is the worst of traps for the aspiring devotee. Truly "  Living Prophets"   continue to guide, and protect sincere, attuned, loyal devotees after their demise. So many have experienced this point.

Since Yogananda passed on in 1952 eg., there are many testimonials that show how he still works in the lives of devotees. Don't settle for a spiritually dead teacher in a live body - it is not the same thing, and you can't easily tell them apart! 

But Paramahansa Yogananda goes even farther than warning against false teachers. He also warns us not to seek answers in the lower psychic realms. He said, "   after I am gone many persons [psychics] will say they are getting messages from me."

"   Do not listen to them, it doesn't even work that way."   pp

Those lower spiritual realms do not contain persons or wisdom sought by the sincere devotee.

Yet it never stops, there are false teachers out there distinctly claiming to be the only living representatives of Yogananda's or Babaji's Kriya yoga teachings.

They are claiming to be actual Gurus, falsely contradicting

the words and clear intent of the very master they claim to be representing. If you examine their lives carefully, the record becomes clear that in this lifetime they never were or will be qualified for any kind of guruship.

They may woo thousands, but when all is said and done they are full of hot air, using the names of the great ones to further their own small ambitions. Read your history, read the Autobiography again, because if you need a dead guru in a live body to support your faith, you still don't know what is really in that sacred book! and you are not really connected with Yogananda and his divine spiritual lineage.

Paramahansa Yogananda's writings published by Self-Realization Fellowship are reliable and full of His spiritual presence - so say thousands of readers, devotees, seekers of other paths.

The SRF publishing has a system of verifyers set up by Yogananda himself to testify to the authenticity of Yogananda's teachings sent out by SRF. These persons, unlike others who left after a few years, were completely loyal to the Master and fully understood his teachings. Most of all - they carried on with his final vision for Yogananda's work with great integrity and clarity. So far, all presidents of Self-Realization Fellowship/YSS have been/are divinely realized beings.

A great deal of misinformation has been posted on the net and in some books by persons with dark motives who would harm Yogananda's work.
One example is a claim that Kriyananda JDW was denigrated by SRF, this is false! the truth is is that JDW has done all this damage to his reputation with his own admissions and writings both in his books and in the courts. He talked too much! Actually, SRF has been respectfully quiet about him.

Part 2;

The Great Misunderstanding of "  Prophetic Closure"

The gross misunderstanding of  "   Prophetic Closure"   
throughout the history of some religions has led to untold hatred, violence, wars, and unspeakable evils in the name of religion. Some cultures and groups clearly used this exclusivity claim of imagined superiority to start all kinds of violence, including the violence of mass conversions to their own small ways. This problem arises specifically in many religions originating in the Middle East.

  When any one, or a number of religious groups, espouses the carelessly arrogant claim of being some god's "only truth" [which all Middle Eastern sourced religions do,]

there cannot ever be any peace on this  space ball of earth. 
Then on top of this is the endless number of sects of these major groups also all claiming they are the uniquely true interpreters of some founders only truth. 

  Drop it! Your interpretations may be wrong, 10 years from now you wont even believe them yourself, what then? 

On the naive popularity of your ideas within your own group

immediately hints at your erroneous claims!

This is one of the darkest cognitive functions of the blind ego.

When you hear of 10 runners claiming they all came in first place in the same race, it becomes clear that not one of them knows what they are talking about. Is this you?

Why add all of this religious angst to the worlds political and economic excuses for conflict and deceit. 

True religion, should instead be showing mankind the way out of conflict, the way to peace, the way to mutual understanding, tolerance and respect.
You are all going to have to change your whole approach!

Such was the demonstration of the life of Mahatma Ghandi.

Therefore, those seemingly " exclusivist"   comments were

really on  " Prophetic closure", and were not to imply "one way tunnel vision trip." Those statements were not to be a licence to convert millions of others to your own shade of ignorance that you mistakenly call "God's only truth." 

Pluralism is the course of truth, peace, and sanity.
This direction is supported clearly by the worlds history and the wisdom of the Vedas and great Avatars.

Those who took control of most great religious movements

in the Middle East and Europe over the last five thousand years have used this misunderstanding as a source to consolidate parochial and political power at the expense and suffering of the masses of the most noble beings of  long suffering mankind.

It has led to a blind philosophy of "exclusivism" which preaches naively that, "our way is the only true way." and "if you do not follow our way you are a lost soul" or worse "you will burn in hell forever or a while". The scare tactic era of false theology is almost over! Be Free of the matrix now!

We are however so blessed in the modern world of the 21st

century to have so much data available at our fingertips [literally].. This makes the vain, blind, and dying "one way" chant now appear the sham for what it is - a total misunderstanding of scriptures and a method set up by the "blind leading the blind."

Pluralism is winning the day not only because it is a well

proven concept from the Holy Land = India, but because spiritual history of the world proves it to be so. It is the road to world peace and brotherhood, the way for sincere persons to evolve more quickly to higher consciousness.   And even today in 2011 it is becoming the wisdom of choice of the majority of Christians. 

The teaching of exclusivism and "  one way" is just another
hold out from the great Apostasy. Are the leaders of the great churches getting the message?

Those leaders of the great hierarchies of elite churchianity are clearly loosing the battle to keep the populace in ignorance.

Some of this started in Europe in the 17th century with

courageous souls like Luther, Wycliff , Tindale, Darwin,

and others many too numerous to mention here.

But the final death knell for exclusivism really commenced

 when Westerners began to read the scriptures such as the

 " Bhagavad Gita"  and other Hindu Vedas from
the Holy Land -India. Have you read what great Americans such as Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman all say about the Bhagavad Gita?

Such newly available holy writ in English language [now available in about 100 different English translations

 and commentaries] led to some very enlightened religious movements in 19th and 20th century America.

In the 20th century these movements were followed by the arrival of Paramahansa Yogananda,  the father of yoga to the West. So powerful was his life  and legacy, his spiritual charisma, his wisdom and love  and healing, that hundreds of thousands literally flocked to his lectures and classes on the art of seeking God and Kriya Yoga meditation. And millions of lives have been spiritually changed and saved by His wisdom and grace. 

For millions of seekers, this sacred journey really began by reading Yogananda's spiritual classic, "Autobiography of a Yogi." Please see reviews at Amazon,com.

Part 3 , The quicksand of exclusivism; which way out!

How can all of this dark and erroneous theology and pride

be corrected? The " only one way"   chant is clearly harmful

to individual human progress as well as world peace. It contradicts the enlightened knowledge or human spiritual history. It has got to go before we can move forward to any kind of higher consciousness in greater numbers, salvation, or a world of harmonious, peaceful cooperation.

 Do not imagine this to be a simple task, for over the centuries these churches and mosques of Apostasy and have molded a delusive trap  of politically controlling deceit all in the name of parochial power. They have long since tried to gain the whole world while losing their souls, the very essence of existence.

With this petrified dogmatic result that has tied so many of their beliefs to that vain exclusive claim to fame that it may require a complete reworking of their fundamental belief systems to recognize that they have been travelling down a blind alley of power politics for far too long. These are the politics of the anti-Christ. I think it is time for all those misguided missionaries to come back home and convert themselves and their churches to a better version of the teachings of Christ.

 A new version that does not impose its own costly ignorance upon the rest of the religious world. It is time to stop swallowing camels and straining at gnats.

The world at this time in its history has at its disposal the wisdom of the ages to feast upon. All that is now needed is a thorough deprogramming of ideas which have not been producing the result of divine realization.
Those old slogans have not been working.

It is in this world of real tests that we should be seeing the changes in our lives, not in the promised land beyond.
Those ideas that were designed for top down power structures have failed to produce moral and caring humans must go before this can be a better world.

Is it true that old hierarchies/authorities do not have all the right answers and desperately need renewal also?

is it true that capitalism is not democracy?

is it true that there are many valid paths to salvation?

is it true that those who have truly found the way

can lead us to a better life of peace and happiness?

is it true that nothing ever produced in this world

is without flaws?

is it true that what ever is most real to a person

is that persons God?

(to be continued ...)

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