Yoga is an Eastern tradition.  Westerners are flocking to yoga because of it's many benefits.  There  is so much to know about yoga.  Where to begin to learn all the details about this ancient art?  A good place to start is in our own store.  We have intentionally stocked it with information that will help unravel the mysteries of yoga, it's purpose, origin and function.  This month we salute Paramahansa Yogananda.   

Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) is considered one of the preeminent spiritual figures of modern times.  Author of the best-selling spiritual classic Autobiography of a Yogi, this beloved world teacher came to America in 1920 from his native India, and was the first great master of yoga to live and teach in the West for an extended period (more than 30 years). He is now widely recognized as the Father of Yoga in the West. He founded Self-Realization Fellowship (1920) and Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (1917), which continue to carry on his spiritual legacy worldwide under the leadership of Sri Mrinalini Mata, one of his closest disciples.

Paramahansa Yogananda has profoundly impacted the lives of millions with his comprehensive teachings on: 

• the science of Kriya Yoga meditation,
• the underlying unity of all true religions,
• the art of balanced health and well-being in body, mind, and soul. 

Our bookstore carries three of his works:   

 

Autobiography of a Yogi

Autobiography of a Yogi is at once a beautifully written account of an exceptional life and a profound introduction to the ancient science of Yoga and its time-honored tradition of meditation. This acclaimed autobiography presents a fascinating portrait of one of the great spiritual figures of our time. With engaging candor, eloquence, and wit, Paramahansa Yogananda tells the inspiring chronicle of his life: the experiences of his remarkable childhood, encounter with many saints and sages during his youthful search throughout India for an illumined teacher, ten years of training in the hermitage of a revered yoga master, and the thirty years that he lived and taught in America. Also recorded here are his meetings with Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Luther Burbank, the Catholic stigmatist Therese Neumann, and other celebrated spiritual personalities of East and West. The author clearly explains the subtle but definite laws behind both the ordinary events of everyday life and the extraordinary events commonly termed miracles. His absorbing life story becomes the background for a penetrating and unforgettable look at the ultimate mysteries of human existence. Selected as "One of the 100 Best Spiritual Books of the Twentieth Century," Autobiography of a Yogi has been translated into 20 languages, and is regarded worldwide as a classic of religious literature. Several million copies have been sold, and it continues to appear on best-seller lists after more than sixty consecutive years in print. Profoundly inspiring, it is at the same time vastly entertaining, warmly humorous and filled with extraordinary personages. Self-Realization Fellowship's editions, and none others, include extensive material added by the author after the first edition was published, including a final chapter on the closing years of his life.  

 

The Yoga of Jesus

In this remarkable book, Paramahansa Yogananda reveals the hidden yoga of the Gospels and confirms that Jesus, like the ancient sages and masters of the East, not only knew yoga but taught this universal science of God-realization to his closest disciples. Compiled from the author's highly praised two-volume work, The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You, this insightful and compact book transcends the centuries of dogma and misunderstanding that have obscured the original teachings of Jesus, showing that he taught a unifying path by which seekers of all faiths can enter the kingdom of God. Topics include:   

* The lost years of Jesus in India
* The ancient science of meditation: how to become a Christ
* The true meaning of baptism  

 

The Second Coming of Christ

In this unprecedented masterwork of inspiration, Paramahansa Yogananda takes the reader on a profoundly enriching journey through the four Gospels. Verse by verse, he illumines the universal path to oneness with God taught by Jesus to his immediate disciples but obscured through centuries of misinterpretation: "how to become like Christ, how to resurrect the Eternal Christ within one's self".

This landmark work transcends divisive sectarianism to reveal a unifying harmony underlying all true religions. A groundbreaking synthesis of East and West, it imparts the life-transforming realization that each of us can experience for ourselves the promised Second Coming - awakening of the all-fulfilling Divine Consciousness latent within our souls.

Yogananda said, "In titling this work The Second Coming of Christ, I am not referring to a literal return of Jesus to earth. He came two thousand years ago and, after imparting a universal path to God's kingdom, was crucified and resurrected; his reappearance to the masses now is not necessary for the fulfillment of his teachings. What is necessary is for the cosmic wisdom and divine perception of Jesus to speak again through each one's own experience and understanding of the infinite Christ Consciousness that was incarnate in Jesus. That will be his true Second Coming."   

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

You have heard it a thousand times: "Don't lock your knees." or "Keep your elbows soft." Locking joints, while performing Yoga, means you are overextending the joint and putting yourself at risk for potential injuries. When you lock your knees, the muscles surrounding the joint become passive in the pose, which puts the strain on the ligaments instead.

 

By continually putting extra strain on the ligaments, cartilage, and connective tissues, instead of the muscles, they will begin to wear faster than they should. Yoga practitioners must be careful to keep all of the joints actively engaged during poses, to avoid premature wear and tear.

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