Yogananda’s probably been the greatest inspiration for me,” the quiet Beatle George Harrison once said. “I keep stacks of [his book] Autobiography of a Yogi around the house and I give it out constantly to people”, he says in the 2014 release of the much-acclaimed documentary about Yogananda, AWAKE. “When people need ‘regrooving,’ I say read this, because it cuts to the heart of every religion.”Compare this to Steve Jobs, whorarely revealed to people his fondness for Yogananda’s autobiography — the only book he had on his iPad. And yet, upon his passing, he arranged for every attendee at his memorial service to be given a box that contained his farewell message to them: the book “Autobiography of a Yogi.”
So why is Yogananda not a pop icon at a time when yoga is the great movement of our timesIJ During the 1920s, Yogananda, who was much in demand on the speaker’s circuit, consciously decided to withdraw from public speaking so he could focus on building his organisation, recording his teaching, and mentoring his flock of early monastics. “I prefer souls over crowds”, he said. And then he added, “But I love crowds of souls.” With the growing interesting mindfulness and meditation, perhaps these words will prove to be more prophetic than wistful.
On this first International Yoga Day, the time has come to tip our hats to the teacher who first introduced the modern world to the transformative power of yoga as a timeless inner discipline. So as you roll out your yoga mat, get into your favourite yoga pose, chant a collective ‘OM’ and feel a gentle zephyr of peace sweep over you, perhaps you can take pause to wonder at what experiences in consciousness may lie just beyond your present reach if you embark on yoga’s fuller, inner journey toward Self-realisation. Yogananda would have called those experiences “undreamed of possibilities.”The writer is Professor of Practice, Columbia Business School and is the Founder, Institute for Personal leadership