Talk:Paramahansa Yogananda

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• In the case of Paramahamsa/Paramahansa, there may be an incorrect interpretation present. It is my understanding that while hamsa does mean swan in general use, it also means wisdom, or at the very least, keen insight and knowledge. It seems to me this would be a more fitting translation, given the circumstances. - Hidoshi 03:49, 9 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

• Yogananda himself used "hansa," and everyone refers to him that way -- don't you think its best to stick with that? IANASE (I am not a sanskrit expert), however, and that's as far as I can take the discussion! --jocosley 19:23, 18 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

• Oh I'm not debating the use of Hansa/Hamsa (I've seen it used interchangeably) so much as the interpretation of the word. - Hidoshi 07:39, 19 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

• "Hansa" in Sanskrit literally means swan. However, when used in the context we are discussing, it refers to a mythical swan that is mentioned several times in the Hindu scriptures. This divine bird is said to possess the power of separating milk from water when they are both mixed, and drink only the milk. Symbolically, it represents a man of wisdom, who is able to separate Truth from delusion and thus see only the Truth (God) in everything. Paramahansa means the "Supreme swan" literally, and a man endowed with supreme wisdom, symbolically. Perhaps this should be added in the text of the article to clarify the meaning of paramahansa.--Shanks1962 (talk) 10:00, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

if I might add from a lover of conversation:

it is just the difference between how people speak in different cultures. Though if there are philosophical connatations then such abstruse philosophy is beyond my comprehension.

Actually I think his talk is all about love. First a man should learn manners and not offend others. This makes one happy, because no man should be excepted in any culture to be insensitive to human feelings. And that's it! i am ok, you are ok! ofcourse that's needs a little bit of thinking on everybody's part. I would like to quote Shri Paramhansa from the "The Divine Romance". In chapter "A Scripture of Love" he says- "I am Love. But to experience the giving the gift of Love, I divided Myself into three: love, lover and beloved. My love is beautiful, pure, eternally joyous; and I taste it in many ways, through many forms."

Ofcourse for me his writings stand as a reference, particularly when using the web. That's all folks!

During his stay in America, Yogananda claimed that he was Arjuna and William the Conqueror in his former incarnations. Do you think that we should include this in the article? Of course, there are no hard evidence supporting his claim as reincarnation is difficult to prove. He occasionally mentioned this in some of his books and some of his disciples gave a few hints about this to the public. --Siva1979^{Talk to me} 14:49, 13 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Siva1979, It's surely interesting. I think the Arjuna reference is definitely worthy of mention. The William the Conqueror one is sure to stir up some controversy - especially among the people who live on The Island that he conquered.... If you mention these in the article, be sure to cite and reference. I added a statement on the Mahavatar Babaji article that Yogananda said Babaji was an incarnation of Krishna. One person claimed it was 'bogus' because I only had one reference, and a secondary one at that. Since then I added another secondary reference, independent from the first. Both those references also contain Yogananda's statement that he was Arjuna, same page number for both, so you can use them as references for the Arjuna claim also. They are 'Notes' 1 and 2 in the Mahavatar Babaji article. If you have a primary reference (i.e., a statement written by Yogananda, rather than a disciple stating that Yogananda told them...) that would help also. I know....most articles on WP don't have that much referencing - but I've seen that the world of religion, and Yogananda/Kriya Yoga, stir up alot of emotion. ॐ Priyanath 22:08, 13 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I have read Yoganada's book several times, although I am not a follower of his, and both enjoyed it and gained from it very much. The reason I'm writing is because several times he mentions the concept of a Heavenly Mother, that is God in female form, if I understand him correctly. Anyway some of the Mormons here have started a article on Heavenly Mother and are asking for information from other religions. If you would like to help out please check it out. Wishing you all the best. Steve Dufour 04:57, 14 August 2006 (UTC) p.s. I included a quote from Yoganada while I was working on the Luther Burbank article; I thought it added something nice to it.[reply]

How did he die? Larry R. Holmgren 21:29, 11 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Heart attack. - File:ExcaliburSword.jpgSentinel 22:15, 1 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Just a quick observation... "His book, Autobiography of a Yogi, has introduced several generations to the timeless wisdom of India." This phrase is a little... well, just see the entry at WP:PEACOCK. This was just a peripheral observation; maybe someone objective could look through the article and ensure this sort of thing, mild as it is, isn't throughout the entire article. I purposely didn't tag anything, as it doesn't very bad, just a wording thing. Alekjds ^talk 04:26, 15 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I notice in the picture it says "Paramhansa" whereas in the text it says it should be Paramahansa. Can someone correct this? --GoodGollyGuy 05:07, 12 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

While it is commonly used as part of his name it should not be in any form used in Wikipedia since it is a common honorific. Needs a move. Wikid^as© 20:56, 26 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It says here: http://skepdic.com/incorrupt.html that he was embalmed, explaining the incorruptibility. --Simon D M (talk) 19:27, 16 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Have you ever seen an embalmed body after a week? I'm not saying it's true, just that you can't believe everything skeptics say.

I've proposed moving some content about this traditions view of Self-realization from that article onto this page. Discussion is on the self-realization article's talk page. - Owlmonkey (talk) 19:21, 17 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The original author of this article has included Hamid Bey as one of the noted disciples of Paramahansa Yogananda, and quoted a reference to support his claim. I read the reference, and all it says is that Hamid Bey came into contact with Paramahansa Yogananda in the 1920s and accompanied him on his lecture tours a few times. I have been associated with Paramahansa Yogananda's organization for several years, and never heard Hamid Bey's name mentioned as a prominent disciple. Definitely not in the same league as Rajarsi Janakananda, Daya Mata and others. Moreover, Hamid Bey seems to be a very prominent person of the Coptic Church, and a religious leader in his own right. It may be inaccurate to list him as a noted disciple of another religious leader without adequate evidence. I suggest that his name be removed from this list.--Shanks1962 (talk) 10:16, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Bey was at one time 'honorary vice-president' of SRF/YSS, according to some early publications, and was a close associate of Yogananda. Whether he was a disciple is really not very clear, since he had his own teaching to give. 'Associate' rather than 'disciple' would probably be much more accurate. ~ priyanath ^talk 15:19, 2 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Paramahansa Yogananda is connected with a number of articles on Wikipedia, such as:

• Self-Realization Fellowship
• Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine
• Autobiography of a Yogi
• Swami Kriyananda
• World Brotherhood Colonies

And perhaps others. The question is what would be the best name for a category to include these articles? Would it be Category:Paramahansa Yogananda? Or Category:Self-Realization Fellowship? Or something else?   Will Beback  talk  09:01, 8 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]