Self-Realization Fellowship Blog

On the morning of October 2, Self-Realization Fellowship hosted Consul General Dr. K. J. Srinivasa and delegates from the Consulate General of India in Los Angeles, and friends, for an event at the SRF Lake Shrine honoring the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a celebration known in India as “Gandhi Jayanti.” 

“This great soul has influenced the love of more than millions, not just in India but throughout the world,” said SRF Vice President Brother Vishwananda, speaking of the Mahatma at the beginning of this special event.

“Our guru, Paramahansa Yogananda, would be delighted to see all of you, from East and West, united to honor this great soul.”

As readers of Autobiography of a Yogi will know, there was a deep connection between Paramahansa Yogananda and Mahatma Gandhi. And in 1935, when Paramahansaji was visiting his beloved India, Gandhi asked for himself and some of his followers to be initiated by the Guru into Kriya Yoga.

So it was with special significance that the guests on October 2 gathered in front of the Mahatma Gandhi Peace Memorial, where a portion of Gandhi’s ashes was enshrined by Paramahansaji during his dedicating of the Lake Shrine in 1950. Brother Vishwananda, along with Brother Satyananda, minister-in-charge at Lake Shrine, and Consul General Srinivasa, reverently laid a garland on the 1000-year-old sarcophagus containing the ashes.

Following this was a moment of prayerful silence, and then the Consul General delivered a speech. In it, he discussed the shared values that united Paramahansaji and Gandhiji, as well as the gifts of spiritual truth that were embodied by these two great souls from India who have become an inspiration to the West and the whole world.

“This Lake Shrine carries the universal message of Paramahansa Yogananda — of spiritual unity, harmony, and the essential oneness of humanity,” said Dr. Srinivasa. “Gandhiji spent his own life conveying a remarkably similar message: that beneath the apparent diversity of nationality, religion, and culture lies a deeper unity of human spirit.”

Dr. Srinivasa put forth an intention for those in attendance — that they should strive to think more deeply about how to serve others, just as Gandhi had done throughout his lifetime.

“May the serene waters of this Lake Shrine remind us that even when the world is turbulent, there is a deeper stillness,” he added. “In such a world, Gandhi’s message acquires new relevance.”

Brother Satyananda concluded the talk with a reverent reading of Paramahansaji’s “Prayer for a United World” (see below). The attendees then joined in a silent, meditative walk around the lake to the beautiful rose garden. At the end of the program, the monks and Consulate representatives and businesspeople, Indians and Americans, enjoyed one another’s company in a spirit of true fellowship at a reception overlooking the Court of Religions, which was created by Paramahansaji as a place honoring the world’s principal religions and the universality of spirituality.
 

“Prayer for a United World” By Paramahansa Yogananda

May the heads of all countries and races be guided to understand that men of all nations are physically and spiritually one: physically one, because we are the descendants of common parents — the symbolic Adam and Eve; and spiritually one, because we are the immortal children of our Father, bound by eternal links of brotherhood.

Let us pray in our hearts for a League of Souls and a United World. Though we may seem divided by race, creed, color, class, and political prejudices, still, as children of the one God we are able in our souls to feel brotherhood and world unity. May we work for the creation of a United World in which every nation will be a useful part, guided by God through man’s enlightened conscience.

In our hearts we can all learn to be free from hate and selfishness. Let us pray for harmony among the nations, that they march hand in hand through the gate of a fair new civilization.

— from Metaphysical Meditations