LIVING KRIYA YOGA

Remembering Paramahansa Yogananda

 

“If I tell you that fruit has a certain color, and  

that it is sweet, and how it grows, you still under-

stand only the nonessentials about it. To know  

its distinctive flavor you yourself must eat it.   

Similarly, to realize truth you must experience it.” 

—Paramahansa Yogananda,

Roy Eugene Davis met his guru, Paramahansa 

Yogananda, on December 23, 1949 and attended his 

meditation for the holy days the next day. Following 

are some of Mr. Davis' reminiscences of that time and 

of his spiritual teacher.

Paramahansa Yogananda

 

welcomed the Holy Season with warm words, 

remarking on its spiritual significance. He spoke about God and the 

Kriya Yoga lineage of gurus, referring to God as a Supreme Being beyond 

creation, and as the cosmic energy expressing in and as Nature.

Yogananda’s settled composure established an intimate mood wherever 

he went. Dr. Minot Lewis, one of Yogananda’s first disciples after his arrival 

in the United States, wrote, “Strong energy movements occurred in my 

body within a few weeks after I met Yogananda. Unexpected surges of life 

force would quickly ascend the spinal pathway, and then subside. When I 

sat to meditate, the flows became more pronounced.”

When a receptive disciple has a personal relationship with a spiritually 

awake person, dormant forces are aroused within the disciple, to the degree 

that she is receptive. This can occur spontaneously or the guru may inten-

tionally transmit life force to the disciple.  

Yogananda taught that chanting leads into deep meditation. Once, as  

Dr. Lewis played one of the devotional chants that Yoganandaji had adapted 

from those of his native land, the Master offered this wisdom: "Chanting 

will enable you to win half of the battle in meditation. When you chant with 

fervent devotion to God, all stray thoughts will flee from your mind. Then, 

you will know God's presence!"  

He would counsel us saying, “Meditate more. Dive deep in the ocean 

of God. Pray to God. Tell him, ‘Lord, I want nothing but you.’ You will get 

there.”

Compiled from Paramahansa Yogananda As I Knew Him, by Roy Eugene Davis, CSA Press