"Awake: The Life of Yogananda" (film)

Wisdom Quarterly; Ananda.org; Yogananda-SRF.org

(MT) "Awake" stars Anupam Kher and is directed by Paola di Florio and Lisa Leeman.

Paramhansa Yogananda came to America from India to spread the teachings of Hinduism, combining it with Christianity, which was easy because Jesus had been to India and was a mendicant rishi (seer) and yogi, according to Christian Westerner Nicolas Notovitch.

Yogananda founded the Self-Realization Fellowship (the leadership of which was subsequently handed to Sri Daya Mata, an American Mormon woman) and delivered an ancient message to the West eager for spiritual nourishment with his best selling book, Autobiography of a Yogi.

• READ the original first edition (FREE)

My Life With  Yogananda
(Ananda Los Angeles/AnandaLA.org) Based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi, and his close, direct disciple Swami Kriyananda.

Maha-Avatar Babaji (F)

A scandal and a schism arose around him creating two sects, with an original (Ananda) and redacted (SRF) version of his famous book. Rather than being a celibate saint, Yogananda may have dated and had a son, who would be his rightful legal heir if true. And this has led to a persistent controversy and been a pain to the official organization he left behind. An upstart organization (Ananda.org) led by his direct disciple Swami Kriyananda (James Donald Walters) is fine with telling the truth about a few chapters of his life that official organization is desperate to keep secret as it seems to mar the purity of his reputation.

The Life of Yogananda, an introduction (paramhansayogananda.com)

 

Was he a Hindu saint? He was someone with extraordinary powers, and many of his disciples -- who learn their lessons by an innovative, do-it-yourself mail order program on Kriya Yoga (simple actions to stimulate meditation) and sing amazing chants he wrote in English -- feel he is in contact and helping them from a heaven (the Brahma loka).

The tradition he founded is not syncretic, combining Hinduism (which includes Mahayana Buddhism within it) and Christianity. They are so similar at less superficial levels that they go hand in hand.

Sri Daya Mata (left) and the official organization left behind by Yogananda (SRF)

"Everything else can wait, but your search for God[hood] cannot wait." - Yogananda

• The Path of Kriya Yoga
• How to be a yogi (wikihow.com)
• The Original Autobiography of a Yogi (facebook)
• 15 Signs We've Stopped "Doing Yoga" & Become a Yogi
• Yogananda-SRF.org
• FREE: Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda

Nature makes cute things.

The woolly mammoth was one of the last in a line of mammoth species. Its appearance and behavior are among the best studied of any prehistoric animal due to the discovery of frozen carcasses (pictured) in Siberia and Alaska, as well as skeletons, teeth, stomach contents, scat (dung), and depiction from life in prehistoric cave paintings. The animal was only identified as an extinct species of elephant by Georges Cuvier in 1796. Its closest extant relative is the Asian elephant. The woolly mammoth was well adapted to the cold environment during the last ice age, and had long, curved tusks. Its habitat was the mammoth steppe, which stretched across northern Eurasia and North America. The woolly mammoth coexisted with early humans... More

Last Days of the Buddha (excerpt)

Sister Vajira, Francis Story, Last Days of the Buddha (DN 16 excerpt); Wisdom Quarterly edit

 
1. Thus have I heard. Once the Buddha [Note 1] was dwelling at Rajagaha, on the hill called Vultures' Peak...
 

The Buddha's Deadly Illness

27. At that time the Buddha spoke to the recluses: "Go now, recluses, and seek dwellings anywhere in the neighborhood of Vesali where you are welcome, among acquaintances and friends. Spend the rainy season there. As for me, I shall spend the rainy season in this very place, the village of Beluva."

  

"So be it, O venerable sir," they replied.

  

28. But when the Buddha had entered upon the rainy season, there arose in him a severe illness, and sharp and deadly pains came upon him. He endured them mindfully, clearly comprehending, and unperturbed.

  

29. Then it occurred to him: "It would not be fitting if I came to my final passing away without addressing those who attended on me, without taking leave of the community of monastics. Then let me suppress this illness by will, resolve to maintain the life process, and live on."

  

30. He did so, and it came about that the Blessed One's illness was allayed.

  

31. The Blessed One recovered from that illness. And soon after his recovery he came out and sat down in the shade of the building on a seat prepared for him. Then Ananda approached the Buddha, respectfully greeted him, and sitting down at one side, said: "Fortunate it is for me, O venerable sir, to see the Blessed One at ease again! Fortunate it is for me, O venerable sir, to see the Blessed One recovered! For truly, sir, when I saw the Blessed One's sickness it was as though my own body became weak as a creeper, everything around became dim to me, and my senses failed me. Yet, sir, I still had some little comfort in the thought that the Blessed One would not come to his final passing away until he had given some last instructions respecting the community of monastics."

  

32. Thus spoke Ananda, but the Buddha answered him, saying: "What more does the community of monastics expect from me, Ananda? I have set forth the Dharma without making any distinction of esoteric and exoteric doctrine [holding nothing back, no secret doctrine]. There is nothing, Ananda, with regard to the teachings that the Tathagata holds to the last with the closed fist of a teacher who keeps some things back.
  
Whosoever may think to lead the community of monastics, or that the community depends on so and so, it is such a person who would have to give last instructions respecting them. But, Ananda, the Tathagata has no such idea as that it is he who should lead the community of monastics, or that the community depends on him. So what instructions should he have to give respecting the community of monastics?

  

"Now I am frail, Ananda, old, aged, far gone in years. This is my eightieth year, and my life is spent. Even as an old cart, Ananda, is held together with much difficulty, so the body of the Tathagata is kept going only with supports. It is, Ananda, only when the Tathagata, disregarding external objects, with the cessation of certain feelings, attains to and abides in the signless concentration of mind [taking no object, no nimitta, no counterpart sign] [19], that his body is more comfortable.

  

33. "Therefore, Ananda, be lamps unto yourselves, guides unto yourselves, seeking no external guides, with the Dharma as your lamp, the Dharma as your guide, seeking no other guide.

  

"And how, Ananda, is one a lamp unto oneself, a guide unto oneself, seeking no external guide, with the Dharma as one's guide, the Dharma as one's guide, seeking no other guide?

  

34. "When one dwells contemplating the body in the body, earnestly, clearly comprehending, and mindfully, after having overcome yearning and dismay with regard to the world, when one dwells contemplating sensations in sensations, the mind in the mind, and mental objects in mental objects, earnestly, clearly comprehending, and mindfully, after having overcome yearning and dismay with regard to the world, then, truly, one is a lamp unto oneself, a guide unto oneself, seeking no external guide, having the Dharma as one's lamp, the Dharma as one's guide, seeking no other guide.

  

35. "Those monastic disciples of mine, Ananda, who now or after I am gone, abide as lamps unto themselves, as guides unto themselves, seeking no other guide, having the Dharma as their lamp and guide, seeking no other guide, it is they who will become the highest [20] if they have the desire to learn."

  

Part Three: Relinquishing the Will to Live

The Blessed One's Prompting

1. Then the Buddha, getting ready in the forenoon, took bowl and robe and went into Vesali for alms. After the alms round and meal, on his return, he spoke to Ananda, saying: "Take up a mat, Ananda, and let us spend the day at the Capala shrine."

  

"So be it, venerable sir." And Ananda took up a mat and followed step by step.

  

2. The Buddha went to the Capala shrine and sat down on the seat prepared for him. And when Ananda had seated himself to one side after he had respectfully saluted, the Buddha said to him: "Pleasant, Ananda, is Vesali; pleasant are the shrines of Udena, Gotamaka, Sattambaka, Bahuputta, Sarandada, and Capala."

  

3. "Whosoever, Ananda, has developed, practiced, employed, strengthened, maintained, scrutinized, and brought to perfection the four bases [constituents] of psychic power could, if he so desired, remain throughout a normal lifespan [kappa] or until the end of it. [21] The Tathagata, Ananda, has done so. Therefore the Tathagata could, if he so desired, remain a lifespan [which at that time was 120 years] or until the end of it."

  

4. But Ananda was unable to grasp the plain suggestion, the significant prompting, given by the Blessed One. As though his mind was influenced by Mara [22], he did not beseech the Buddha: "May the Blessed One remain, O venerable sir! May the Happy One remain, O venerable sir, for a lifespan, for the welfare and happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, well being, and happiness of devas and humans!"

  

5. When for a second and third time the Buddha repeated his words, Ananda remained silent.

  

6. Then the Buddha said: "Go now, Ananda, and do as seems fit to you."

  

"Even so, venerable sir." And Ananda, rising from his seat, respectfully saluted, and keeping his right side towards him, took his seat under a tree some distance away.

  

Mara's Appeal

7. And when Ananda had gone away, Mara, the Evil One [Namuci], approached the Buddha. And standing to one side he said: "Now, O venerable sir, let the Blessed One come to his final passing away; let the Happy One utterly pass away! The time has come for the final nirvana of the venerable one.

  

"For the Blessed One, O venerable sir, spoke these words to me: 'I shall not come to my final passing away, Evil One, until my monks and nuns, laymen and laywomen, have come to be true disciples -- wise, well disciplined, apt and learned, preservers of the Dharma, living according to the Dharma, abiding by the appropriate conduct, and having learned the Master's word, are able to expound it, preach it, proclaim it, establish it, reveal it, explain it in detail, and make it clear, until, when adverse opinions arise, they shall be able to refute them thoroughly and well, and to preach this convincing and liberating Dharma.' [23]

  

8. "Now, O venerable sir, monks and nuns, laymen and laywomen, have become the Blessed One's disciples in just this way. So, O venerable sir, let the Blessed One come to his final passing away! The time has come for the final nirvana of the Venerable One.

  

"For the Blessed One, O venerable sir, spoke these words to me: 'I shall not come to my final passing away, Evil One, until this supreme life taught by me has become successful, prosperous, far-renowned, popular, and widespread, until it is well proclaimed among devas and humans.' And this too has come to pass in just this way. So, O venerable sir, let the Blessed One come to his final passing away, let the Happy One utterly pass away! The time has come for the final nirvana of the Venerable One."

The Blessed One Relinquishes Will to Live

9. When this was said, the Buddha said to Mara, the Evil One: "Do not trouble yourself, Evil One. Before long the final nirvana of the Tathagata will come about. Three months hence the Tathagata will utterly pass away." More

Eighth Wonder of the World

Maitreya Project's old plan; below, new conception (skyscrapercity.com)


Significance of the Maitreya Project By Seven Jaini

Creating the "eighth wonder of the world" in Kushinagar, India (ancient Kusinara, where the Buddha chose -- contrary to the protests of his contemporaries) to pass into final nirvana. Shakyamuni Buddha chose this site quite purposely because, as he explained, in ancient times, this had been the center of a famed and prosperous kingdom and one known to previous buddhas.

20. "'Here the Tathagata passed away into the state of Nirvana in which no element of clinging remains!' This, Ananda, is a place that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence.

21. "These, Ananda, are the four places that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence. And truly there will come to these places, Ananda, pious bhikkhus and bhikkhunis, laymen and laywomen, reflecting: 'Here the Tathagata was born! Here the Tathagata became fully enlightened in unsurpassed, supreme Enlightenment! Here the Tathagata set rolling the unexcelled Wheel of the Dhamma! Here the Tathagata passed away into the state of Nibbana in which no element of clinging remains!'

22. "And whoever, Ananda, should die on such a pilgrimage with his heart established in faith, at the breaking up of the body, after death, will be reborn in a realm of heavenly happiness."

Ananda, on discerning what the Buddha was intending to do in Kusinara, cried:

Ananda's Grief
32. Then the Venerable Ananda went into the vihara [monastic residence] and leaned against the doorpost and wept: "I am still but a learner [i.e., unenlightened], and still have to strive for my own perfection. But, alas, my Master, who was so compassionate towards me, is about to pass away!"

33. And the Blessed One spoke to the monastics, saying: "Bhikkhus, where is Ananda?" "The Venerable Ananda, Lord, has gone into the vihara and there stands leaning against the door post and weeping: 'I am still but a learner, and still have to strive for my own perfection. But, alas, my Master, who was so compassionate towards me, is about to pass away!'"

34. Then the Blessed One asked a certain recluse to bring the Venerable Ananda...And the Venerable Ananda went to the Blessed One, bowed down to him, and sat down on one side.

35. Then the Blessed One spoke to the Venerable Ananda, saying: "Enough, Ananda! Do not grieve, do not lament! For have I not taught from the very beginning that with all that is dear and beloved there must be change, separation, and severance? Of that which is born, come into being, compounded, and subject to decay, how can one say: 'May it not come to dissolution!'? There can be no such state of things. Now for a long time, Ananda, you have served the Tathagata with loving-kindness in deed, word, and thought, graciously, pleasantly, with a whole heart and beyond measure. Great good have you gathered, Ananda! Now you should put forth energy, and soon you too will be free from the taints" [i.e., enlightened].

Ananda then protested that Kusinara was not sufficiently famous for such a great thing to happen there:

The Past Glory of Kusinara
41. When this had been said, the Venerable Ananda spoke to the Blessed One, saying: "Let it not be, Lord, that the Blessed One should pass away in this mean place, this uncivilized township in the midst of the jungle, a mere outpost of the province. There are great cities, Lord, such as Campa, Rajagaha, Savatthi, Saketa, Kosambi, and Benares — let the Blessed One have his final passing away in one of those. For in those cities dwell many wealthy nobles and brahmins and householders who are devotees of the Tathagata [Buddha], and they will render due honor to the remains of the Tathagata."

42. "Do not say that, Ananda! Do not say: 'This mean place, this uncivilized township in the midst of the jungle, a mere outpost of the province.' In times long past, Ananda, there was a king by the name of Maha Sudassana, who was a universal monarch, a king of righteousness, a conqueror of the four quarters of the earth, whose realm was established in security, and who was endowed with the seven jewels. And that King Maha Sudassana, Ananda, had his royal residence here at Kusinara, which was then called Kusavati, and it extended twelve yojanas [84 miles] from east to west, and seven [49 miles] from north to south.

43. "And mighty, Ananda, was Kusavati, the capital, prosperous and well populated, much frequented by people, and abundantly provided with food. Just as the royal residence of the deities, Alakamanda, is mighty, prosperous, and well populated, much frequented by deities and abundantly provided with food, so was the royal capital of Kusavati.

44. "Kusavati, Ananda, resounded unceasingly day and night with ten sounds — the trumpeting of elephants, the neighing of horses, the rattling of chariots, the beating of drums and tabours, music and song, cheers, the clapping of hands, and cries of 'Eat, drink, and be merry!'

• The Great Passing Away Discourse (Maha-pari-nirvana Sutra)

IMAGES: Kushinagar (India) and the Buddha's final passing away into nirvana (medicinebuddha.com); Ananda weeping below (sacredthangkas.com)

This is the site chosen by the Tibetan Maitreya Project. Maitreya ("friend" Pali, Metteyya) is the "buddha to come." The historical Buddha mentioned that the next fully-enlightened one was already residing in the Tusita deva world awaiting rebirth on earth to strive toward full enlightenment and re-establish the true Dharma for the benefit of devas and humans.

This has sometimes become a basis for laxity, as some Buddhists mistakenly await a messianic figure -- perennially claimed to have already arrived in the form of a self-aggrandizing person. This claim is mistaken because in the distant past, humans lived far longer. So too in the distant future, by slow increments, they will live far longer lives than they do now. (The time between buddhas is better measured in geologic than historical terms). Imagine a time when the average human lifespan is 200 or 1,000 or 10, 000 or 20,000 years. That will happen much sooner than the arrival of the Maitreya the historical Buddha was talking about. The Buddha gave a clear indication of WHEN Maitreya would be arriving by saying:

"And in that time of the people with an eighty-thousand-year lifespan, there will arise in the world a Blessed Lord, an arahant fully enlightened Buddha named Metteyya, endowed with wisdom and conduct, a Well-farer, Knower of the worlds, incomparable Trainer of [persons] to be tamed, Teacher of [devas] and humans, enlightened and blessed, just as I am now."
— DN26 The Long Discourses of the Buddha (formerly Thus Have I Heard), Maurice Walshe (trans.), Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1987, p. 403f.

Until such time as Maitreya arrives to again turn the Wheel of the Dharma, which will have by then completely disappeared, a wonderfully tall statue of him will sit facing Nepal and Tibet in Kushinagar, India. The Maitreya Project and the Relics Tour are committed to funding a structure so massive that it will be the "eighth wonder of the world."