One Devotee's Story - continued (page 2 of 2)
by George (Rambhakta) Beinhorn
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SRF lawsuit against Ananda
Twenty years after moving to Ananda, I was asked by the community's manager, Vidura Smallen, in January 1996 if I would be willing to move to the branch community in Mountain View, on the San Francisco peninsula, to help with Ananda's legal defense against the SRF lawsuit. Ananda had a small legal office in the community, which was staffed by Sheila Rush, an Ananda member who was an attorney, and Keshava Taylor, who had been at Ananda almost since the beginning.
I spent the next two years working on "the court case," as it was known at Ananda. I had no doubt whatever that SRF's ministers were continuing to serve Paramhansa Yogananda's work as vibrant examples of inner transformation, and as instruments for God's guidance and inspiration to others. But I was deeply committed to helping defend Ananda against SRF's institutional bullying, which now threatened to destroy not only our community, but our access to our Guru's teachings. For, what SRF wanted was nothing less than to gain sole and exclusive legal ownership of all of Yogananda's writings, as well as his transcribed lectures, photographs, and recordings. SRF even sought to gain exclusive rights to the term "Self-realization."
Judge Edward Garcia, the federal district judge in charge of SRF's lawsuit against Ananda, observed during a hearing, "It sounds like you [SRF] want to put them [Ananda] out of business." In one of his rulings, Judge Garcia expressed concern for the First Amendment issues that were involved in the case, namely, the freedom of small groups to practice their religion without fear of legal and financial harassment by larger organizations.
My work in Ananda's legal office consisted mainly of mundane chores: copying thousands of pages of legal papers, doing research at the library, formatting legal briefs on the computer, and delivering papers. Reading some of the unsealed papers in the case, I was amazed by the underhanded tricks to which SRF supporters had resorted. As one minor example among many, a massive, covert campaign of "disinformation," was launched to elicit statements from Ananda's members that could be used against Ananda in court. Workers in Ananda's churches, book stores, and restaurants became used to receiving phone calls from individuals who claimed to be interested in the teachings of our path, and who would ask after a brief initial discussion, "Aren't you part of Self-Realization Fellowship?" Or, "I've heard that Yogananda started an organization in Los Angeles. Are you affiliated with them?"
Despite twenty years of clear evidence to the contrary, SRF was still trying to "prove" the old myth that Ananda was trading on its good name. For my money, SRF's thinking reflected an amazing degree of organizational pride: "How could Ananda not be pretending to be SRF?" they seemed to be saying. "After all, we are the standard bearers for Yogananda's work!"
These calls got to be quite a joke. In fact, SRF's legal arguments sometimes approached the ludicrous. In a defining moment, someone in the SRF organization was inspired to produce, as evidence of Ananda's "passing-off," an exhibit in which the Ananda symbol, which portrays a bird soaring heavenward over a mountain top, then descending in a graceful arc to bring blessings to mankind, was claimed to resemble the SRF lotus symbol, when turned upside down. When I saw the exhibit, I nearly expired with laughter. I visualized some exasperated monastic, thoroughly fed up after years of scraping the barrel for nonexistent evidence, exclaiming under his breath, "To heck with it—if they want evidence, I'll manufacture it!"
Ananda was required to deliver every scrap of printed matter that it had ever produced, so that SRF could sift it for proof that we had passed ourselves off as them, or that we had somehow misrepresented our Guru's teachings. We delivered tens of thousands of pages—every book, pamphlet, brochure, poster, and letter that Ananda had ever printed. And what did SRF discover? Nothing, beyond a few petty exhibits which, if viewed from the skewed perspective of organizational bias, might remotely be construed as persuasive. But nothing, certainly, that convinced the courts.
SRF lost motion after motion, yet it continued to pour millions of its member's money into its fruitless legal campaign to destroy Ananda. Daya Mata had said that she would never be able to die "until this Ananda matter is resolved." In other words, until Kriyananda and Ananda were once and for all put out of business. Even today, SRF continues to prove by its actions that it will not rest until it has accomplished this end.
Reflecting on the case, I can imagine that Paramhansa Yogananda intended it to be so. Forced by SRF's ruthless legal harassment to defend ourselves, Ananda was now standing up for the right of devotees everywhere, and in all future ages, to read Yogananda's books, use his photographs, listen to his spoken words, and spread his teachings through their own organizations, free of SRF's sectarian tyranny.
________________Two views of the Master's mission
Asha Praver, one of Ananda's main teachers, attended a public legal hearing in Los Angeles, where she was confronted by Brother Brahmananda, one of SRF's most virulent anti-Ananda monastics. "What is the matter with you people?!" she exclaimed. "Do you truly believe that an avatar would come on earth to found an organization?"
Always interested in the broader issues at stake in the lawsuit, I read an excellent book, The Gnostic Gospels, in which the author, Elaine Pagels, describes the early history of the Christian church. The early Christians were forced to practice their religion secretly, in fear for their lives. Amazingly, they were divided into factions that were so opposed in their beliefs that they were incapable of uniting in mutual aid against the terrible threat that confronted them from the Roman government. One faction, which bore a striking resemblance to the Christian fundamentalists of today, believed that the Bible was literally true, and that salvation could be attained only after death. The other side—the Gnostics—believed that God could be known as a living presence in this life, through inner communion. Many of the fundamentalists declared their beliefs openly, in hopes of achieving liberation through martyrdom. The Gnostics, meanwhile, practiced their methods of inward communion quietly and in secret.
The two sides seemed to resemble SRF and Ananda: SRF, focused on the needs of the all-important organization, to the increasing neglect of the concerns of the individual—and Ananda, with its emphasis on individual growth and inner communion. Daya Mata is known to have referred to newcomers on the spiritual path as "pipsqueaks"—a foreshadowing, perhaps, of SRF's growing tendency to view its members as statistics. One of SRF's own European center leaders, Renata Arlini, once scolded a visiting SRF monk: "You people are trying to create another Catholic church, with Daya Mata as its pope." The monastic, not at all aware of the irony in her voice, replied excitedly, "Oh, yes! That's exactly what it is!"
Reading another book, Stealing Jesus—How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity, I discovered that there have been two main currents in the history of religion—a "religion of law" and a "religion of love." Author Bruce Bawer documents the history of these two streams of thought, going back to the gnostics of ancient Rome and their fundamentalist brethren. Writing about more recent times, he entertainingly describes the fundamentalist leader Pat Robertson's penchant for quoting Old Testament passages that threaten, blame, and augur terrible vengeance—the "religion of law"—while never quoting the passages proclaiming God's forgiveness and love, passages that form the core of Christ's teachings.
Ananda's concern is that SRF has placed the organization above the teachings—even, at times, as Swami Kriyananda persuasively argues in A Place Called Ananda, above the Guru. We are disturbed that Master's spirit is being betrayed by SRF leaders who espouse the religion of law, which as Bawer eloquently argues, cannot coexist with the religion of love. One or the other trend will eventually define the organization. If the "blueprint" for Master's work has been sewn in the ether, as he said, we can only assume that the essence of that blueprint, as of his teachings, is love. One can only speculate about the consequences for SRF, if it persists in its present direction.
Paramhansa Yogananda told Swami Kriyananda, "You have a great work to do." After Master's passing, Rajarsi Janakananda also told him, "You have a great work to do, Walter—and Master will give you the strength to do it." I believe the great work has begun, and that it is the work of preventing Master's teachings from being degraded into the kind of institution-centered "religion of law" that has characterized organized Christianity for two millennia. I think I speak for others when I say that I entered this path full of joyful expectation—that God can be known as the joyful Spirit residing in each one of us. But I find little joy in the thought of going backward in time, toward authoritarian religious institutionalism.
________________Yogananda's teachings filtered
Ironically, what had once inspired me about SRF was what now inspired me about Ananda: the devotion that I saw in its members, and the way they gave their lives cheerfully to serving God. The organization, meanwhile, left me indifferent. Before leaving SRF, I had assumed that matters of church policy were none of my concern. But where the church impinged upon my devotional life, I was increasingly uncomfortable.
This was particularly true of Yogananda's writings and printed talks, which to my writer's ear and eye, appeared to have been subjected to an editorial hand that was overly concerned with propriety, as if it were more important to portray the Master as a good grammarian than to convey his vibrations. I was deeply aware that great masters do share their teachings as much through their vibrations as in the literal meaning of their words. While reading books written by other Indian saints, I would wonder at the relatively pale expression of Yogananda's thoughts, as edited by SRF. I decided that they must have been kept too long on the editorial fire. When I eventually had a chance to read some of Yogananda's writings and talks in earlier, unedited texts, I experienced the same raw power of spiritual inspiration and authority that I had sensed in the works of Swami Ramdas, Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Aurobindo, Swami Ram Tirtha, Sri Ramana Maharshi, and others.
The SRF lessons, too, seemed like over-boiled potatoes, offering basic nourishment but stripped of certain essential vitamins, compared with the fiery spiritual sustenance of Yogananda's unedited words. What a shame, I felt, that generations of disciples would be deprived of knowing Yogananda's teachings in all their original power and earthiness, simply because the organization over-valued its image. SRF was building up the institution ostensibly as a means of serving millions, but in doing so, it seemed to be sacrificing some of its power to inspire, which is to say, to serve the disciples as the Master would have done.
Part of the problem with the lessons was their arrangement. Why, I wondered with mild exasperation, did the first lesson discuss friendship? I was afire with eagerness to learn meditation—surely a desire I shared with most other students. Why, then, was I required to wait for months to learn the most basic technique, Hong-Sau? Surely the theory of meditation could be learned just as efficiently, if not more so, while practicing it. Later, I learned that the lessons hadn't been compiled by Yogananda. I also learned that less than 10% of SRF's members ever actually finish the lessons series. While he was still in SRF, Swami Kriyananda had rearranged the lessons, placing meditation instruction closer to the start, but the revised version had been rejected for reasons of organizational convenience. Swami Kriyananda discusses this in his book, A Place Called Ananda:
"Master had informed me that he hadn't organized the lessons himself. Nor was it the actual teachings that needed revising: It was their presentation. They had been arranged in their present format by a devoted disciple of Master's who, though a wonderful soul, had had no experience with the public or, for that matter, with teaching others. Louise Royston couldn't realize what presentation would be the most effective in terms of reaching people's actual understanding, satisfying their immediate needs, holding their interest, and answering their latent doubts before those doubts even arose.
"Lacking experience, her approach was based on another theory altogether. It was designed to keep the student associated with SRF for as many years as possible. Her reasoning, sound enough in itself, was that in this way the student would gain the most, spiritually, not from the lessons, only, but from the added benefits of pilgrimage to Master's colonies, advice by correspondence, and, above all, by inner attunement with the line of gurus. Her reasoning was, as I say, sound. The problem was only that by the end of the second year we had almost no students left."
In his autobiography, The Path, Swami Kriyananda tells many stories that reveal how the Master placed the spiritual needs of the disciples ahead of organizational priorities.
The organization vaunted itself on keeping things "SRF clean." For my money, it was a bit too clean. I laugh, when I compare my memories of the eternally tidy SRF monastics with the specter of Ananta McSweeney, the outsized and formidably good-humored former head gardener at Ananda Village, consuming a lunch of baked spaghetti squash seasoned with butter and molasses, in soil-dusted overalls, his long red hair braided and graced with protruding straws. A spiritual dynamo, Ananta was eventually ordained as a minister and authorized by Swami Kriyananda to give initiation in Kriya Yoga. (He now serves with his wife, Maria, as the spiritual director of the Ananda community in Sacramento, California.) I am not for a moment suggesting that the SRF monks never roll up their sleeves—only that SRF seems fussily concerned with its image. "That SRF—they're too churchy!" as Yogacharya Oliver Black laughingly observed. (Paramhansa Yogananda said that Mr. Black was second in spiritual stature among his male disciples, after Rajarsi Janakananda.)
________________A battle to liberate Yogananda's work
With its lawsuit against Ananda, SRF is fighting for much higher stakes than the destruction of a single rival organization; it is attempting to send a warning to all future devotees: "Don't cross us, or try to receive the Master's teachings without our approval, or you will feel our wrath." In my view, Ananda is a vitally important test case for the future of Master's work. It is a fore-mirroring of the millions who, as Paramhansa Yogananda himself predicted, will be drawn to this path. Should SRF be allowed to remain legally in a position sue them all?
SRF's thinking is: "We run the organization that Paramhansa Yogananda founded. Therefore, it stands to reason that we speak for the Master." But can anyone honestly believe that Paramhansa Yogananda would countenance the destruction of an entire community of deeply sincere devotees, or the forced subjection of thousands to SRF's doctrinal control? The spirit of his great book, Autobiography of a Yogi, argues resoundingly against it. Far more likely, he would endorse Jesus' statement: "He that is not against us, is for us." (Luke 9:50)
Imagine a Christian devotee, living in the former communist USSR and unable to communicate with church leaders. He would have to study the Bible in secret, and meet clandestinely with like-minded friends. In fact, this is what thousands of Christians living in the formerly communist countries did. A towering figure among them was Reverend Richard Wurmbrand, a Rumanian Baptist preacher who achieved a high degree of Self-realization through his unrelenting dedication to Christ, even under imprisonment and torture. In his talks, Rev. Wurmbrand would often read from the writings of simple Rumanian devotees who, lacking formal instruction from the church, had molded their understanding of Christ's teachings directly, from their reading of the Bible and their own devotions. These writings were deeply inspiring—far more so than most of the pallid, church-sanctioned tracts that are common in the West, where "official" religious instruction is freely available.
SRF's policies, if carried to their logical and ridiculous extreme, would dictate that disciples of Paramhansa Yogananda who were forced to live under similar circumstances could never be recognized as disciples, since they would be unable to receive his teachings from SRF. Is this what the Master wanted? Even if SRF bent its rules and gave tacit support, wouldn't the organization, given its present mind-set, tend to feel a bit nervous about such groups, lest they, when their countries became free, might decide to create their own, separate churches, based on the strong local focus of spiritual energy and magnetism that had been generated during the times of persecution?
Decentralization, not strong central control, is the spirit of this age. One sees it everywhere today. Standing in line at the local Wal-Mart recently, I overheard a conversation between the check-out clerk and a young woman who was also waiting in line. They were talking about their activities as Christian devotees. The young man surprised and delighted me when he said, "I no longer attend formal church meetings. Instead, I meet with a small group of friends for worship. That works better for me."
Presumably, then, the organization exists solely for the propagation of the methods of inner communion, Yet the instances of Daya Mata's service to disciples as a direct channel for her Guru's blessings are too well known among SRF's own members even to require mentioning. Elsewhere, I have told two stories of my own inspiring encounters with her. Moreover, countless SRF disciples have experienced the Master's guidance and grace from other SRF monastics. I treasure the blessings I received from Brothers Bhaktananda, Dharmananda, and Turiyananda, as well as from Daya Mata. On each of these occasions, the giving of help was done as naturally as breathing. It was simply an advanced disciple's rendering of the Guru's aid to a disciple who desperately needed it. I find it inconceivable that Yogananda would fail to respond to any sincere devotee's call, simply because the channel hadn't signed an SRF membership pledge. The Guru zealously helps his children, using whatever instruments are at hand. I would go so far as to say that every disciple has a duty to serve as a channel for his guru's grace to others, to the extent that he or she is able.
Paramhansa Yogananda professed the oneness of all religions. He freely invited people of all paths to employ the practices of Kriya Yoga to deepen the experience of their chosen faith. In Autobiography of a Yogi, he writes:
A significant feature of Lahiri Mahasaya's life was his gift of Kriya initiation to those of every faith. Not Hindus only, but Moslems and Christians were among his foremost disciples. Monists and dualists, those of all faiths or of no established faith, were impartially received and instructed by the universal guru. One of his highly advanced chelas was Abdul Gufoor Khan, a Mohammedan. It shows great courage on the part of Lahiri Mahasaya that, although a high-caste Brahmin, he tried his utmost to dissolve the rigid caste bigotry of his time. Those from every walk of life found shelter under the master's omnipresent wings. Like all God-inspired prophets, Lahiri Mahasaya gave new hope to the outcastes and down-trodden of society.
How could the Master possibly make such statements, but then reject Ananda and Swami Kriyananda, whose practices and beliefs are precisely his own? The Master's openness, his tolerance, his compassion, and his tireless service stand in marked contrast to the obsessively sectarian attitudes that mark the present behavior of SRF's leaders. "No more lawsuits!" Daya Mata exclaimed at a meeting between the leaders of SRF and Ananda, after Ananda had won virtually every issue in the lawsuit. Yet, when Ananda showed itself unwilling to meekly turn over everything it had won, SRF's loving advances abruptly ceased, as it resumed its ruthless legal campaign, intent as ever on destroying Ananda and regaining sole ownership of Yogananda's work.
________________Blessings of life in a spiritual community
What have I gained personally from Ananda? Ananda has given me many blessings. I now live in the Ananda community in Mountain View, California, which is located in a complex of seventy-two apartments. In the community, all of my neighbors are friends who share the same spiritual path. This is an incalculable blessing. Not only can we meditate and pray together, but we also share the same unspoken understandings about many things. Forgiveness, for example. If I stumble and fall, I know that my gurubais will consult their consciences before they judge me. And if they fall, they can be assured that, far from judging them, I will hold them up to God's light, and pray that He help and bless them.
I live in a community where it is never considered "off limits" to talk about God, or where it is unrealistic, when asking for advice, to expect to receive answers from the perspective of our Guru's wisdom, whether it concerns work, relationships, health, worship, or education and child-raising.
In the Ananda communities, children are never more than five minutes from an Ananda member who is well acquainted with the child and knows its parents as fellow devotees. Children here are safe from the negative outside influences of drugs, gangs, and violence. Members of the Ananda community operate the Living Wisdom School in Palo Alto, where children are taught values from an early age, in harmony with the guidelines that Paramhansa Yogananda recommended. (See http://www.livingwisdomschool.org.)
In the apartment complex where I live, no one ever complains when someone organizes a rousing kirtan in the beautiful central courtyard on a balmy summer evening. If I should have problems in health or finances, I can ask seventy fellow disciples to pray for or advise me. I live in a community where, every day, I learn from the example of others more advanced on the path than I am—if not in every respect, then most assuredly in some aspect, such as kindness, compassion, or insight.
These benefits are priceless, especially when I compare them with the circumstances in which most devotees of our path must live, isolated from others who share their beliefs, and forced to work among people who are at best indifferent to their spiritual aspirations.
I have enjoyed these benefits for more than twenty-five years, not only in my living situation but also during the many years that I've spent working in Ananda's businesses. Working to serve God and Guru, I never felt the frustrating sense of meaninglessness that can accompany work in companies that are run strictly for profit. Countless times, I have felt Paramhansa Yogananda's blessings on these businesses. Whenever I've managed to summon an expansive, self-offering spirit in my service, I've felt his grateful blessings for my labors on his behalf. I discovered from my own, direct experience how absurd it is to claim, as certain SRF members have, that the Guru "doesn't need instruments." One of our Ananda members, Shivani Lucki, put it well: "Lord, you don't have arms and legs, and I don't have a brain. Together, let us serve."
For twenty-five years, I have observed hundreds of devoted disciples at Ananda, toiling happily to spread his message of inner communion to a world in desperate need. I have seen many of them grow profoundly in their attunement with the Guru, to the point where to be in their presence is a blessing. I have seen families who lead exemplary lives as householder devotees, following in the footsteps of Lahiri Mahasaya. I have seen hundreds of children being educated in living wisdom, discovering that life has a deep meaning and a joyful purpose, and that positive values are the surest path to happiness. I have, in short, seen communities built up from noble ideals, proving their beliefs with noble behavior. These people I am proud beyond measure to call my friends.
This is what SRF would destroy, in the name of sectarian jealousy and doctrinal "purity." So far, their efforts have been profoundly unsuccessful—thanks, unquestionably, to the protection of our Guru, but thanks also to the immense hard work of Ananda's disciples on his behalf. We at Ananda have never attacked SRF. For twenty years, we responded to SRF's unprincipled lies with dignified restraint. Beyond a certain point, however, restraint became improper—I am referring to the point at which SRF removed its kid gloves and began trying to bankrupt Ananda with its crippling lawsuit. Even then, in answering SRF's ludicrous charges, we have strictly observed dharma. Readers who desire proof can read Ananda's legal documents.
Ananda has never been exclusively concerned with its own self-preservation, for even if SRF succeeded in destroying us, we would rise again like the green grass in spring. Ananda needs no special place for its existence; it could thrive in the middle of New York City. No, we are defending the right of devotees everywhere to enjoy the Master's guidance and blessings as we have. We are, in fact, fighting to save SRF from itself—from the grip of sectarianism and self-serving institutionalism that betray Paramhansa Yogananda's spirit—his compassion, kindness, tolerance, and his unflagging zeal to spread the message of Self-realization freely to all.
________________ Readers are also welcome to visit Ananda's Web site at http://www.ananda.org. Those who would like to "meet" the people of Ananda may enjoy God on the Job: Conversations with Thirty-six Ananda Business Managers Who Practice Spiritual Principles at Work. (See http://www.oceansofenergy.com/godonjob.htm.) Also available in a printed edition is the book Reflections on Living, which tells the stories of several founding Ananda members in their own words. (See http://crystalclarity.com/books/.)
