From the fall of Rome to the Renaissance almost nothing new was discovered. Man looked back to the great learning of classical civilization for inspiration: admiring their thinkers and architects but incapable of equaling them. In turn, those ancients looked back further, to a previous “Golden Age.” Why did civilization fall and then rise again? In 1920, the Indian Yogi Paramhansa Yogananda, author of the spiritual classic “Autobiography of a Yogi”, came to the United States with the answer. With his message of simple living and high thinking, he became the most popular speaker in the country. This short book deals with Yogananda and the New Age he described: Dwapara Yuga.
You must be logged in to post a review.
Please log in
1
Person Reviewed This Item
By Dwapara Yuga
Oct 15, 2009
"Overview of Dwapara Yuga, Yogananda's historic mission and the unfolding of a New Age" [Cribbed from Amazon.com] This short book is written from an independent view point, taking in information from many branches of the Kriya Yoga Lineage and its several hundred gurus. The tone is reverent, yet focuses on facts and history, hoping to avoid the overly soft focus typical of many hagiographies. It contains much information that has never been published before, for example: - The parallels of the American Revolution and the Bengal Renaissance - The interplay of Sri Yukteswar, Yogananda, Ramakrishna and Vivekananda - Martial arts, Sri Yukteswar and Yogananda - Yogananda's historical mission and the history of SRF, including the many spin-offs - Yogananda's influence in business, politics and music - Yogananda and UFOs - Yogananda and Reincarnation - Sri Yukteswar, France and Germany, for example "The Holy Science" was originally written in French! Most importantly... More > it summarizes Yogananda's teachings and how he saw them developing a United States of the World, with appropriate citations to the original sources. The back cover provides the following additional information. "Dwapara Yuga and Yogananda: blueprint for a New Age by Poor Richard" is a take on Franklin's Almanac, offering not weather, household hints and amusements but teachings of simple living and high thinking from Yogananda, the author of the spiritual classic "Autobiography of a Yogi". From 1920, the Indian Yogi spoke of a New Age of "Dwapara Yuga" unfolding, becoming the most popular speaker in America, with the ear of the President, the Governor of California, Burbank, Ford and Edison. Yogananda answered the question of why civilization fell from the Romans to the Renaissance with the ancient idea of a natural, 24,000-year cycle of time called a Yuga. He explained that from 1600 to 1900 we transitioned to a New Age characterized by a breakdown of the idea of a material world and a growing consciousness of the underlying unity of peoples, energy and nature. Franklin, with his belief in "God as the infinite" and reincarnation, seized lightning from the sky and the scepter from the hand of tyrants, epitomizing the New Age. Yogananda's message of healthy diet, exercise and meditation was complimented by predictions that the future holds a coming together of the East and West, combining the spiritual qualities of India with the can-do competence of America, leading to a United States of the World - "Man must enlarge his allegiance, considering himself in the light of a world citizen. A person who truly feels: 'The world is my homeland; it is my America, my India, my Philippines, my England, my Africa,' will never lack scope for a useful and happy life. His natural local pride will know limitless expansion; he will be in touch with creative universal currents." All profits are donated to the One Laptop per Child Foundation.< Less
