Hi Jyoti,
 
Small world indeed. Yeah, the guy in the photo was a good friend of mine. A coworker after the "Emergency" was lifted in India, late 1970's. Rough times. Spent my time in jail for fake charges.
 
The guy Acharya Pranavananda Avt.
 
Acharya- elevated spiritual soul trained extensively in all the this and that of yoga technology with the ability to transmit that knowledge to others. Title earned after passing through severe flames of purification. Actually means an instructor by moral example. Pranavananda came as close as anyone to that honor. For the rest of us, it was a title but a distant goal.
Pranavananda- One who exists in unbroken communion with the Omkara, subliminal clairaudient impact of pure cognition in the first downward spiral phase of Creation.
Avt. Abbreviation meaning one who is so high that there is nothing left of the phenomenal world he wants or needs.
 
(Doing okay so far?...)
 
Location is Ananda Nagar. Originally a hell hole of heat and a vast barren desert. Infested by snakes. One of three locations never under water in the earth's geological history. Now a model city for human service projects, medical centers, schools, orphanages.
 
Sad note however. The reverend Acharya passed away maybe 4 years ago. Nothing like in the photo. Flowing white hair and beard. We butted heads badly back then but I did teach him to play simple chords on a guitar. We had originally worked together in the Ananda Marga Central Office in New Delhi. Later I was posted to the lovely Rajasthan desert to oversee relief work there. Last time I saw him was maybe 1978.
 
Like you said, small world.
 
John

Time out Reality check
You are full of surprises but I take no offense if you are playing a practical joke on all of us
Can you say truthfully that you carried the title of Acharya with the Ananda Marga organization
These saints are the elite equivalent of the Navy Seals in the world of things yoga  Paranormal mystics and teachers
Your frequent references to beer indicate that you are not now if in fact you ever were worthy of that office Can you explain this contradiction  I am not getting down on you because I have my daily glasses of wine  It is only that for an Acharya any form of physical intoxication is not an option
Next you will be claiming that you are an alien from planet X  This would be far more believable
So where did you train to get your designation All for laughs if you were just kidding
Dada Pranavananda did say that a western Acharya taught him five chords on a guitar That Acharya was sent somewhere else and he had no guitar teacher any more
Jyotishvarii

Jyoti,
 
Can’t explain the contradiction but you nailed the symptoms of the issue. I tuned in my orange turban long time ago however to resolve the contradiction. Greater increasing dichotomy between the external expression and the internal reality. I’d been hit with every disease known to the orient. Malaria, worms crawling out my ass, sores on my body that would not heal. Last posting was in West Africa. I could barely crawl from one tour site to the next. People at the next event were fired up to get instruction, guidance, a spiritual boost. I was at a lower level of life force than those I was supposed to inspire.
 
One night, I was scheduled to go on tour from Ghana to Togo. My gut exploding with dysentery and hi fever. Just wanted to drop dead. Came to the realization that this ain’t working.
 
Beyond this, I was weak morally in relation to the high standards of the office. Still wanted to rock and roll. Pretty girl could still drag down my focus into the dirt. Still many LSD pills to take, many beers to drink.
Called it quits. Thought that I would be better off as a reject space case than to pollute the uniform of an ideal way greater than what I was able to maintain.
 
So what was the question. Where did I train. Okay.
 
Morgantown West Virginia 1973 doing radical brain wave studies in the psych labs of the university, too much to explain here.
 
Young Philippine “Acharya” from some off the wall Ananda Marga sect was brought in to study.
 
The diagnostic result was mind blowing. When I asked what the data meant he said he could not explain to me because the trans mental cognitive state was above and beyond my ability to understand. I begged for instruction which he gave, but put me into absolute hell for 6 months until the Source became visible through a clairvoyant faculty we all have, but buried too deep. Majority of 2018 humanoids live, eat, excrete, drop dead without the slightest clue of the potential they possess or the reason they are here in the first place. In one instant, all the religious scriptures of the earth merged into one blazing reality. As well as the message the founders were trying to get through to our primitive primate brains.
 
This took me on an odyssey.
 
I chased down the Acharya. There were 5 of these elevated cosmic yogis in the western hemisphere at the time. Begged for more instruction, deeper explanation. They answered my questions but kept flipping me off on the request to learn the diagnostic code they transformed me by. They compassionately said that I was already too brain dead and damaged by my culture to have any hope of success. 22 year old meat eater imprinted on a defective religious dogma that left deep deep residual scars. Enjoy the personal flight to Immortality which I had been given, but to unlock the key for another human being was next to impossible given my degraded state.
 
Got to break and do the house work, but will answer your question. And you, dear lady… Do you have any experience with yoga. If you and your family knew Pranavananda, someone in your immediate circle did.
 
John (former and no longer Acharya John)

Hey Jyoti...chapter two or whatever..
 
After getting some progress toward swami guru stuff Realization, salvation, whatever you want to call it, was my duty to devote my life to whatever power, whatever source gave me sweet freedom from death. There was no option than whatever I could do to repay a debt that could not be repaid.
 
I had an old 66’s Volvo and chased my Acharya around on his lecture schedule state to state while he was in the northern continent. Always the same response. Cool that you have given everything up to learn this science, but you don’t have what is needed to succeed. You don’t even know what you are asking for. You have not the slightest idea of what would be required.
Came a night in Texas. Had been washing dishes, hauling pig manure, anything to get a next tank of gas to chase down the yogis. Lecture was at Texas A&M. I got there barely with the car carburetor chugging it’s last breath and not an additional penny to fix.
 
Got there late and the house was packed to over capacity.
I was barely able to squeeze through the back door to the lecture.
 
The reverend Acharya broke his lecture and said “I know you are back there”.
After the presentation, many were inspired, many washed in the blood, many standing in line for instruction.
I had my knee jerk defensive attack ready to let the guy know I was a permanent part of His reality until my aged Volvo could not chase him any more.
 
At that juncture everything changed. It was no longer fuk off. This had all been a test to see how much I really wanted or deserved the chance, and guess I passed it. The reverend Acharya laid out a difficult road ahead. More hellfire torture and resurrection than maybe most carbon infestations could deal with, but was a high achiever. Don’t know how I made it through the portals, but I did.
 
Really didn’t answer your question about chronology of the training sequence, but will get back if it makes you feel better or even matters anything.
 
Love you,
John

John I appreciate your coming out of the yoga closet so to speak Your narrative rings of truth and it was not my intent to drag you through the coals I feel you know why I needed to ask Next week when you say you are a space alien I will defer fractured judgment until I have tried to understand your side of the story
 
No need to document your training ordeal for my sake
Since YOU asked about my involvement with yoga
 
I began the discipline at 3 years old  My childhood was beautiful way more than can be described I was the child of two saints but on different pathways 
It was somewhat like living with parents who one was a catholic and one a protestant They had different understandings but let their differences lay in the background and they celebrated their common beliefs
 
My mother was a devotee of Paramahansa Yogananda. My father a hard core tantric in the Ananda Marga lineage.
From the age less than one years, I sat upon the lap of my father or mother during their meditation This was home
When it came time for my formal training there were the two paths of my mother or father My father said that I should follow the pathway of my mother Her entry point to a higher understanding was a path strewn with flowers My father’s path was filled with thorns He said that if he was given a son, the child would follow in his path  As it turned out I was an only child and my father never had a son to follow the Ananda Marga ascent
 
Curious manifestation of being a precocious child. My early years were filled with blissful celebrations There was never a week that went by that either my father or mother had the house flooded with saints and Acharyas I was totally surrounded with love with devotion and technology delivered in the guise of Grace
As such and having started spiritual discipline at an early juncture many of the gifts of insight given only to babes was maintained  There was the memory of past lives which for most recede before self awareness at around age 5 is fully grounded to deal with the current experience  There were the fields of auras emanating from everything animate and inanimate  I thought everyone knew this until I found different This made me the odd ball once I entered public school Cast out and rejected even if I knew I had the higher ground
 
So I have a question swami John not related with what I am bleeding my heart out about
My father said that between him and my mother, there were major philosophical differences between his fire and brimstone path and my mother’s flower and perfumed laden sadhana.
Dad studied deeply a book called Ananda Sutram. He claimed that the entire universe was explained in a text less than a quarter inch thick  He said that here were major contradictions between his philosophy and my mother’s philosophy  He was so proper We studied Ananda Sutram together by light of a candle but he did not touch on what he considered to be irreconcilable differences He wanted to spare me
I’m a big girl now looking back at what happened I see no contradiction
Any idea what the problem is or was  As an Acharya even if a former Acharya can you cast some Light on this  If anyone has a handle on Ananda Sutram you guys are the rock stars
Respect what you went through to elevate the human condition Winds of karma are surely blowing in your favor even if you bailed out for valid reasons

Damn girl...what a blessing to have you here...
I'm not an expert in the respected Krya practices of Yogananda's lineage. I have a bit more understanding of what your father had to deal with. And yeah, there are some troubles that cannot be reconciled between the two systems. Deeper discussion not appropriate for the restrictions of this forum, and definitely not for the heathen thread this turned into. Sorry to whoever started the thread about Youtube links. Many thanks and I learned a lot.
 
Your father sounds like he was really cool, wise. I could have only wanted to hang out with him.
What he tried to do was get you established in the Goal of life. Your mother and father sailing full speed into Infinity and this was his only concern that you had and have every means available to carry on the torch. The Bhagavad Gita says in one part that the Seer of Light has little use for philosophy. It is as if a cup of water was offered when fresh springs abound in every direction.
 
My question and maybe warning, admonition is this.
 
I think you are almost as old as I am and maybe close to Truth. You see no contradiction between the philosophies and you have progressed to where you are now, in essence a beautiful soul who has taken on like most of us, the teachings and upbringings of your parents.
 
Do you really want to open a can of worms at this point in your sacred journey.
 
John

Hi swami john  I am established in what and who I am  Nothing can shake this in the face of any literary discourse
No damage can be done to some frail psyche You dont have to worry about me slitting my wrists if you burst my bubble
I can now hang back and look at what like you said is philosophy no longer needed
Curious minds want to know
What was the problem of contradiction in your opinion that my father wanted to spare me from

Jyoti, Do you still have access to Ananda Sutram like you father was teaching you by candle light. And how's your understanding of Sanskrit. Concepts there have no English translation since they are above the radar for current 2019 carbon infestation (one of my favorite lines from the original Star Trek series).
 
I can dig up the riffs but better you go forward in the way you have been blessed with and not complicate your life. You are established. Why mess it up this far into the game trying to reconcile something that is useless and means nothing in the bigger picture.
 
John
 

John  My Sam'skrta is probably not as good as yours but I have my dictionary and can keep up with the best
I have my fathers copy of Ananda Sutram stained here and there in blood by injuries he had on the job  I can navigate my understanding through much of this
I still see no demon in the closet contradiction between the two philosophies and by the nature of yoga being a science there should be no clash  My father and I studied his Ananda Sutram "bible" every night and all was in accord with what he wanted my mother to guide me by
What is your issue  What was my fathers issue  I see nothing out of sync or in contradiction
 

Hey dear sister,
 
Be careful with those respected pages that must be brittle by now. Can get you a link somewhere to an online analysis if you want. I think there is still the commentary on Ananda Sutram chapters 1 thru 4 out of 5 by Acharya AnandaMitram. She did a good job even if (IMHO) she went a bit heavy on the extended links between the basic document and old established schools of thought.
 
It has been years since I have read Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi. I think every soul going through the yoga path has read this book more than once as required reading.
 
My memory may be a bit off, but reference the chapter on the death of his spiritual Mentor, Shrii Yukteshvar.
Yogananda was going through deep grief on the loss of his "Guru" when all of a sudden, through Yogananda's tears, he saw Yukteshvar standing before him in "astral" form post mortem. Returning for an occult instant to dry Yogananda's eyes and clue him into what was really going on. The discourse that proceeded explained the fate of the human being after physical death. The halls of ascending bliss. The beautiful experiences awaiting all of us after death.
 
Then look at Ananda Sutram. The spin on this is not so flowery.
 
Chapter 3:
Videhiima'nsae na kartritvam" na sukha'ni na dukha'ni
 
Dug deeper by somewhere in there (and please forgive my illiterate spelling):
Na Svarga, na Rasa Talah
 
Rational argument for this in 3:4
 
Manovikrtih vipa'kapeks'ita'  sam'ska'rah
 
In my understanding this is a major fracture and a departure across the gulf. You may not think it so. But where do you reconcile a 180 degree contradiction in the philosophies.
 
Your thoughts?
 
John