Millions are wondering what the future holds for mankind, and if we are soon due for a world-changing global shift. Paramhansa Yogananda (author of the classic Autobiography of a Yogi) and his teacher, Sri Yukteswar, offered key insights into this subject. They presented a fascinating explanation of the rising and falling eras that our planet cycles through every 24,000 years. According to their teachings, we have recently passed through the low ebb in that cycle and are moving to a higher age—an Energy Age that will revolutionize the world. Over one hundred years ago Yukteswar predicted that we would live in a time of extraordinary change, and that much that we believe to be fixed and true—our entire way of looking at the world — would be transformed and uplifted. In The Yugas, authors Joseph Selbie and David Steinmetz present substantial and intriguing evidence from the findings of historians and scientists that demonstrate the truth of Yukteswar’s and Yogananda’s revelations.
This book questions the conventional wisdom that a fully matured theory of the yugas - Hinduism's ages of the world - is integral to the Mahābhārata, and it illustrates how traditional commentators and modern scholars have read the later Purāṇic yuga theory into the Mahābhārata, in particular when it comes to placing the action at the beginning of the current terrible Kali Yuga. Luis González-Reiman discusses the meaning of key terms in the epic by examining the text and early Buddhist sources. This book also traces the sectarian appropriation of the yuga system in later literature and documents how modern religious movements have used the system to proclaim the arrival of a new, prosperous Kṛta Yuga, a phenomenon that coincides with New Age expectations.
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.
The Holy Science is a book of theology written by Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri in 1894. The text provides a close comparison of parts of the Christian Bible to the Hindu Upanishads, meant "to show as clearly as possible that there is an essential unity in all religions...and that there is but one Goal admitted by all scriptures." Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri was born Priya Nath Karar in 1855 to a wealthy family. As a young man, he was a brilliant student of math and science, astrology and astronomy. He joined a Christian missionary school where he studied the Bible and later spent two years in medical school. After completing his formal education, Priya Nath married and had a daughter. But he continued his intellectual and spiritual pursuits, depending on the income from his property to support himself and his family. After the death of his wife, he entered the monastic Swami order and became Sri Yuktesvar Giri, before becoming a disciple of famed guru Lahiri Mahasaya, known for his revitalization of Kriya Yoga. Then in 1894, Sri Yuktesvar Giri met Mahavatar Babaji, an ageless wise man who is said to have lived for untold hundreds of years. At this meeting, Mahavatar Babaji gave Sri Yuktesvar the title of Swami, and asked him to write this book comparing Hindu scriptures and the Christian Bible. Swami Sri Yuktesvar obeyed. He also founded two ashrams, including one in his ancestral home. He lived simply as a swami and yogi, devoted to disciplining his body and mind, and thus to liberating his soul. Among his disciples was Paramahansa Yogananda, credited with bringing yoga and meditation to millions of Westerners. The Holy Science consists of four chapters. The first is titled "The Gospel," and is intended to "establish the fundamental truth of creation." Next is "The Goal," which discusses the three things all creatures are seeking: "Existence, Consciousness, and Bliss." Chapter three, "The Procedure," is the most practical of the sections. It describes the natural way to live for purity and health of body and mind. The final chapter is called "The Revelation," and discusses the end of the path for those who are near the "three ideals of life." Swami Sri Yukteswar also displays his impressive knowledge and understanding of astrology by proposing his theory of the Yuga Cycle. Each yuga is an age of the world that tracks the movement of the sun, Earth, and planets. Each age represents a different state of humanity. There are four yugas: - Satya Yuga is the highest and most enlightened age of truth and perfection. - Treta Yuga is the age of thought and is more spiritually advanced than Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. - Dwapara Yuga is an energetic age, although not a wise one. During this yuga, people are often self-serving and greedy. The age is marked by war and disease. - Kali Yuga is the age of darkness, ignorance, and materialism. This is the least evolved age. Today, The Holy Science is highly respected among those seeking to understand the relationships between world religions and cultures. While some still believe that we are in Kali Yuga, many others believe that Swami Sri Yukteswar was accurate, and that his calculations correct previous errors that artificially inflated the length of the Yuga Cycle.
A captivating time-travel adventure, based on the revolutionary "cycles of time" or "yuga" theory propounded by Paramhansa Yogananda (author of the bestselling classic Autobiography of a Yogi) and Yogananda's guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar. Through Many Lives provides insights into how time travel might actually take place in the future, by experiencing one's own past and future lives. A mood of gentle excitement permeates the book, while profound spiritual teachings are presented through the medium of a compelling story. Through Many Lives is the first novel in the "Treta Yuga Trilogy."
Setting aside the pervasive material bias of science and lifting the obscuring fog of religious sectarianism reveals a surprisingly clear unity of science and religion. The explanations of transcendent phenomena given by saints, sages, and near-death experiencers—miracles, immortality, heaven, God, and transcendent awareness—are fully congruent with scientific discoveries in the fields of relativity, quantum physics, medicine, M-theory, neuroscience, and quantum biology. The Physics of God describes the intersections of science and religion with colorful, easy-to-understand metaphors, making abstruse subjects within both science and religion easily accessible to the layman—no math, no dogma. This intriguing book: Pulls back the curtain on the light-show illusion we call matter. Connects string theory’s hidden brane worlds to religion’s transcendent heavens. Reveals the scientific secret of life and immortality: quantum biology’s startling discovery that the human body is continuously entangled. Demonstrates the miracle-making power of our minds to effect instantaneous physiological changes. Explains how the intelligent observer effect confirms our high spiritual potential. Compelling and concise, The Physics of God will make you believe in the unity of science and religion and eager to experience the personal transcendence that is the promise of both.
This book is brought out by the will of AMARA known to the world as AMBARISHA VARMA, directed by SAPTA RISHIS, guided by VISHWA MITRA MAHARISHI and AGASTYA MAHARISHI, to inform the people of the world about the changes that are happening and how one may address all the problems of the world to a positive, meaningful conclusion. The Pralaya Kala has begun, Pralaya means Prakruti Laya, which means a great chance for the better, from the present condition to a heavenly condition. This requires every individuals participation. This book speaks of solutions for all the problems which the world is facingSARVE JANA SUKHINO BHAVANTO
Albert Hoffstädt, a classicist by training and polylingual humanist by disposition, has for 25 years been the editor chiefly responsible for the development and acquisition of manuscripts in Asian Studies for Brill. During that time he has shepherded over 700 books into print and has distinguished himself as a figure of exceptional discernment and insight in academic publishing. He has also become a personal friend to many of his authors. A subset of these authors here offers to him in tribute and gratitude 22 essays on various topics in Asian Studies. These include studies on premodern Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and Korean literature, history, and religion, extending also into the modern and contemporary periods. They display the broad range of Mr. Hoffstädt's interests while presenting some of the most outstanding scholarship in Asian Studies today.
This commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, the daily scripture for over 1 billion people, is designed to unlock its depthless wisdom with striking clarity and focus for a modern audience.
“An impressive and thought-provoking work . . . regarding the metaphysical mysteries of life, physical reality, and human consciousness. Highly recommended!” —Spirituality Today Science and religion are often thought to be in conflict. But the contemporary fields of relativity, quantum physics, neuroscience, and more are in agreement with the transcendent phenomena described by saints, sages, and near-death experiencers. Today’s science actually provides profound insight into miracles, immortality, heaven, God, and transcendent awareness. The Physics of God describes the intersections of science and religion with colorful, easy-to-understand metaphors, making abstruse subjects within both science and religion easily accessible to the layman. This intriguing book: Pulls back the curtain on the light-show illusion we call matter. Connects string theory to religion’s transcendent heavens. Reveals the scientific secret of life and immortality. Demonstrates the miracle-making power of our minds to effect instantaneous physiological changes. Included in this revised edition is a new chapter on the physics of meditation and other updates.
