A New Perspective

This last Christmas Eve, I had another dream. This time, Paramahansa Yogananda himself was there. He founded the Self-Realization Fellowship in 1920 and brought Kriya Yoga to the United States. The first time I'd ever heard of him was in Yoga Journal in an ad for Autobiography of a Yogi.

In my dream, Yogananda was very young looking, even younger than in the photo's I had seen of him. He looked timeless with brilliant terracotta tan skin, sparkling eyes, shining long black hair and a full-length orange robe.

We took a tour of the gardens. We walked the path that inclined a little with arching green trees and low hanging branches that looked like arms. Yogananda walked with me arm-in-arm and I couldn't stop talking. I tried to impress him with my knowledge of spirituality and all the while I kept telling myself to simply 'shut up' and listen to what my Master had to say.

There was a bit of fruit on the way in the trees and in baskets. He asked me if I would care for some. I said yes, so he picked up a pear and began to eat it. He took a few bites and then tossed it behind him before it was finished. I was a little shocked so I ran behind and picked up the pear, dusted it off, and took a few bites myself. Guruji told me there would be more and there wasn't a worry even though I thought it might be considered 'wasteful'. I carried the pear for a little while and then put it in the crux of a tree when I was satisfied.

He then spoke of perspective and told me to look ahead and tell him what I saw. I saw more of the garden, trees, branches and I felt anxious but also bored with what the scene. It was more of the same really. He told me to look to my left. To physically turn and just look. I looked and saw golden statues and figurines. It excited me, but there wasn't a path to it. Just a beautiful thing to look off at.

The dream ended shortly thereafter. Five days later, I gained a new perspective... through Sarah's eyes.