Topics Covered:
- Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
Paramahansa Yogananda
What to study?
For Prelims and mains: About Yogananda, his teachings and Kriya Yoga.
Context: Finance Minister Releases Commemorative Coin on Paramahansa Yogananda to Mark his 125th Birth Anniversary.
About Paramahansa Yogananda:
- Born in 1893, he was an Indian monk, yogi and guruwho introduced millions to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his organization Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) / Yogoda Satsanga Society (YSS) of India.
- He is considered as the “Father of Yoga in the West.”
- He was the first major Indian teacher to settle in America, and the first prominent Indian to be hosted in the White House.
- He published his book Autobiography of a Yogiin 1946.
What is Kriya Yoga?
The “science” of Kriya Yoga is the foundation of Yogananda’s teachings.
Kriya Yoga is “union (yoga) with the Infinite through a certain action or rite (kriya).
- The Kriya Yogi mentally directs his life energy to revolve, upward and downward, around the six spinal centers (medullary, cervical, dorsal, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal plexuses) which correspond to the twelve astral signs of the zodiac, the symbolic Cosmic Man.
- One-half minute of revolution of energy around the sensitive spinal cord of man effects subtle progress in his evolution; that half-minute of Kriya equals one year of natural spiritual unfoldment.
Sources: pib.
