Behind the Stern Facade

We recently heard a remarkable story about Sri Yukteswar. Many devotees have a little difficulty relating to him, since he seems a bit forbidding. Perhaps it is because in Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda writes about him in his role as both teacher and disciplinarian, a job he took very seriously, especially knowing that he was preparing Master for a world-changing role.

But the grandson of Tulsi Bose, Master’s close friend, told us that when Sri Yukteswar visited their home he was completely different. He was a kind, lovable, grandfatherly figure who usually had sweets to offer to the many children who gathered around him. I, myself, had an experience where I felt his sweetness.

We were about to begin a Kriya Initiation in Chennai, India, and the pictures on the altar were all garlanded. As I was bowing to each of our Masters, I mentally prayed to Sri Yukteswar to help me relate to him more deeply. The instant the prayer formed in my mind, the garland around his photo fell off, and I was given the opportunity to lovingly re-garland him.

Here, then, is the remarkable story related to us by Nayaswami Aditya, our center leader in Pune:

Mr. Bhuvan Pal Singh joined the online classes in Pune during the first wave of Covid and became a Kriyaban. I immediately recognized him as someone who felt like an old friend. He was sincere, with deep yearning and humility, and asked many questions to refine his spiritual practices.

Mr. Bhuvan’s lifelong yearning had been to leave everything and go to the Himalayas, but he found himself supporting his entire extended family of thirty-five people, something he did quite happily and very well. During the first wave of the pandemic he took retirement from his successful corporate career.

Soon after Bhuvan began his Kriya practice, he was diagnosed with a rare malignant cancer of the muscles of his right forearm. Expert advice from the best doctors in the country informed him that little could be done.

With tears in his eyes Bhuvan related this story: “One day I was undergoing a PET scan to assess the spread of the tumor in my body and found myself alone in a hospital room. As I sat there I prayed to the Masters, “I am feeling very alone.” I instantly had a vision of the form of Sri Yukteswarji in front of me. As his life-size form slowly moved towards me, it shrunk in size until he became very small and entered into my body through my spiritual eye. From within I heard Swami Sri Yukteswarji say, ‘Bhuvan, don’t feel alone or afraid, for I am in every cell of your body.’”

Bhuvanji continued his daily Kriya practice, and although he followed the suggested treatments, his health deteriorated over the months and on 26 January 2022 he left his body.

Two days later, his wife, Anupama, had the following experience:

“I was awakened early one morning by the sound of the main door of our house being unfastened. As I opened my eyes, I saw a bright yellow light falling on the door, and curious to see what this light was, I moved towards it. Just then I heard and saw my husband, in physical form, seated in the living room in meditative pose, his gaze uplifted. He said to me, ‘Anupama, don’t move. I’m exiting now.’

“I stood still, and watched my husband exit into that light. A couple of hours after this experience I got a call from my niece in New Delhi. She told me that the previous night she had dreamt that she saw a bright yellow light fall on our house, especially on the main door. In the dream she saw her uncle Bhuvan enter that light.”

Anupama has kindly given Nayaswami Aditya permission, and we thank her for allowing us to share this sacred experience.

Soon after Swamiji’s passing Devi and I had a “Nadi” reading from an ancient book of prophecy. During that reading we were told that Yogananda was watching out for us minute by minute and second by second. This applies to all of us who have opened our hearts to this great line of masters. Yoganandaji, as Swami Kriyananda explained, was a Blissavatar (incarnation of divine joy). Yoganandaji described Sri Yukteswar as a gyanavatar (incarnation of wisdom). In fact, in God’s light all His qualities merge into one, and in our hour of need we, too, will find that God’s light is in every cell of our body.

In God’s light,

Nayaswami Jyotish