Yogananda and Gandhi
Monday, March 29th, 2010|
Every time I read Autobiography of a Yogi, something new strikes me. This time, it was the visit between Yogananda and Gandhi. Yogananda explained that saints like Gandhi have made not only tangible material sacrifices, but the even more difficult renunciation of selfish motive and private goal, merging all of themselves into the stream of humanity as a whole.
Yogananda’s guru Sri Yukteswar had poked fun (gently) at the concept of renunciation. A beggar cannot renounce wealth. If a man has a business that fails and a wife who leaves him, he cannot decide to renounce everything for the life of a seeker because there is nothing for him to give up. In case such as this, it was wealth and love that renounced the man. |
