Autobiography of a Yogi | Page 7

is that Divine Mother gives me
whatever I ask."
"I suppose She would give you those two kites!" My sister laughed
derisively.
"Why not?" I began silent prayers for their possession.
Matches are played in India with kites whose strings are covered with
glue and ground glass. Each player attempts to sever the string of his
opponent. A freed kite sails over the roofs; there is great fun in catching
it. Inasmuch as Uma and I were on the balcony, it seemed impossible
that any loosed kite could come into our hands; its string would
naturally dangle over the roofs.
The players across the lane began their match. One string was cut;
immediately the kite floated in my direction. It was stationary for a
moment, through sudden abatement of breeze, which sufficed to firmly
entangle the string with a cactus plant on top of the opposite house. A
perfect loop was formed for my seizure. I handed the prize to Uma.
"It was just an extraordinary accident, and not an answer to your prayer.
If the other kite comes to you, then I shall believe." Sister's dark eyes
conveyed more amazement than her words.
I continued my prayers with a crescendo intensity. A forcible tug by the

other player resulted in the abrupt loss of his kite. It headed toward me,
dancing in the wind. My helpful assistant, the cactus plant, again
secured the kite string in the necessary loop by which I could grasp it. I
presented my second trophy to Uma.
"Indeed, Divine Mother listens to you! This is all too uncanny for me!"
Sister bolted away like a frightened fawn.
{FN1-2} Spiritual teacher; from Sanskrit root GUR, to raise, to uplift.
{FN1-3} A practitioner of yoga, "union," ancient Indian science of
meditation on God.
{FN1-4} My name was changed to Yogananda when I entered the
ancient monastic Swami Order in 1914. My guru bestowed the
religious title of PARAMHANSA on me in 1935 (see ../chapters 24
and 42).
{FN1-5} Traditionally, the second caste of warriors and rulers.
{FN1-6} These ancient epics are the hoard of India's history,
mythology, and philosophy. An "Everyman's Library" volume,
RAMAYANA AND MAHABHARATA, is a condensation in English
verse by Romesh Dutt (New York: E. P. Dutton).
{FN1-7} This noble Sanskrit poem, which occurs as part of the
MAHABHARATA epic, is the Hindu Bible. The most poetical English
translation is Edwin Arnold's THE SONG CELESTIAL (Philadelphia:
David McKay, 75 cents). One of the best translations with detailed
commentary is Sri Aurobindo's MESSAGE OF THE GITA (Jupiter
Press, 16 Semudoss St., Madras, India, $3.50).
{FN1-8} BABU (Mister) is placed in Bengali names at the end.
{FN1-9} The phenomenal powers possessed by great masters are
explained in chapter 30, "The Law of Miracles."
{FN1-10} A yogic technique whereby the sensory tumult is stilled,

permitting man to achieve an ever-increasing identity with cosmic
consciousness. (See p. 243.)
{FN1-11} A Sanskrit name for God as Ruler of the universe; from the
root IS, to rule. There are 108 names for God in the Hindu scriptures,
each one carrying a different shade of philosophical meaning.
{FN1-12} The infinite potencies of sound derive from the Creative
Word, AUM, the cosmic vibratory power behind all atomic energies.
Any word spoken with clear realization and deep concentration has a
materializing value. Loud or silent repetition of inspiring words has
been found effective in Coueism and similar systems of psychotherapy;
the secret lies in the stepping-up of the mind's vibratory rate. The poet
Tennyson has left us, in his MEMOIRS, an account of his repetitious
device for passing beyond the conscious mind into superconsciousness:
"A kind of waking trance-this for lack of a better word-I have
frequently had, quite up from boyhood, when I have been all alone,"
Tennyson wrote. "This has come upon me through REPEATING my
own name to myself silently, till all at once, as it were out of the
intensity of the consciousness of individuality, individuality itself
seemed to dissolve and fade away into boundless being, and this not a
confused state but the clearest, the surest of the surest, utterly beyond
words-where death was an almost laughable impossibility-the loss of
personality (if so it were) seeming no extinction, but the only true life."
He wrote further: "It is no nebulous ecstasy, but a state of transcendent
wonder, associated with absolute clearness of mind."
{FN1-13} Kali is a symbol of God in the aspect of eternal Mother
Nature.

CHAPTER: 2
MY MOTHER'S DEATH AND THE MYSTIC AMULET
My mother's greatest desire was the marriage of my elder brother. "Ah,
when I behold the face of Ananta's wife, I shall find heaven on this

earth!" I frequently heard Mother express in these words her strong
Indian sentiment for family continuity.
I was about eleven years old at the time of Ananta's