Awake: The Life of Yogananda

In the past year, I have been 'changed' by Yoga and Meditation. The Life of Yogananda is an amazing story of the man who brought True Yoga and Meditation to the West.

I'll make it clear from the start, that I am not fully objective. I've been a devoted follower of the Self-Realization path for 34 years now. But I'm deeply impressed at the care of the filmmakers and the courage of Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) in opening up to a film project in which they desired an outside, award-wining team of documentarians to tell Yogananda's story with objective journalism.

Yogananda's life is full of miracles, which a reading of his Autobiography of a Yogi will reveal. The movie did not emphasize the miracles at all. When it referred to a few, it was with such a light touch that you could miss it if you weren't paying close attention. Some members were disappointed in this. One omission was the fact that a month after Yogananda's death, his body still did not show any signs of decay. The morticians at Forest Lawn signed a letter attesting to the incorruptibility of the yogi's body. In Yogananda's humility, I believe he himself would be very pleased with the film. The heart of his message was crystal clear: the purpose of SRF is to help sincere souls awaken to God's presence within by forming a personal relationship with God through meditation on His/Her peace, love and joy.

As a devotee, I had never heard the detailed stories of betrayal and threats on his life that the film revealed. It impressed me that a number of times, the tests and trials tempted Yogananda to give up his mission and return to his beloved Guru in India. However, his sincere, intimate relationship with God always helped him return to his work, and at one point rebuild his organization from the ground up after one very close friend/brother disciple betrayed him in a number of ways. This deeply touched me. I respect that Yogananda himself, and SRF as a whole did not waste time bemoaning difficulties or gossiping about the weaknesses of others. They kept their focus on the mission. The information only came out once journalists determined it was important information about Yogananda, putting him in the context of a life of challenges, and an American culture with its racism and fear of new ideas and foreign persons.

The movie will come out in select theaters in October 2014. Watch for it in your city. I think you will find it inspiring, interesting, unique. It was created with a wisdom and a devotion that is rare in filmmaking. Congratulations to the filmmakers! I think it is worthy of an Academy Award Nomination for Best Documentary.

The documentary has many of Yogananda's teachings. That in itself is a good enough reason to go in the first place. It has made me more grounded in my own yoga practices. The filmmakers show the history of this Sad Guru, his lineage, and the love between Guru and disciple. It has filled me with awe and gratitude for how he and his devotees have built up so much in the USA and India. The imagery is as close as one can get to the experience of the divine. The music is appropriate and runs well. The talking heads are all interesting to watch. For a change they actually have something to say. :-)

I'm very happy to be a human being.

The film makers have done an exceptional job of conveying an atmosphere of mystical reverence to this film. I was catapulted into an elevated state of awareness— captivated from start to finish, with only a few moments late in the film of dropping back into 'ordinary reality'. The mood is haunting and compels your attention. The story itself is poignant. The scenes of Yognanda's meeting and reunion with his guru are exceptionally moving and well-crafted. I am recommending to all my spiritually- minded, seeker friends. They say that spiritual teachers are here primarily to show others that it is possible to break through to a deeper reality of love and truth. This film shows just how much Yogananda radiated this gift to the world around him. Truly an amazing accomplishment!

First let explain my bias and offer a YMMV disclaimer. Though I have never been a student of Yogananda, I did a practice very similar to his Kriya yoga for 10 years. And I've always been moved, open and inspired by his book (just like Steve Jobs!).

I thought the movie was well done, but certainly not up to the level of a Ken Burns production. And it did skim over areas that I wished went into more detail that anyone who has read his book will know about (such as the many great yogis that he met on his journey early in life).

But there are so many positive things I could say about the movie. The explanations of meditation from a scientific basis in the movie, just now being validated by neuroscience, shows how ahead of his time was Yogananda. And the struggles he had against racism, fundamental religious intolerance and general western biases were the obvious reactions to someone blazing a new spiritual path in the west. And the few seconds of seeing Ramana Maharshi on film was a nice touch. I was also impressed by the level of popularity that he had - surely the west was ready for something greater than it had.

Great movies leave an deep and lasting impact, often a emotional one, or they inspire you, or expand your understanding of the world, lift you up in some way.

But rare is the movie that can be an authentic spiritual event. The images of Yogananda on the screen, accompanied by his message of inspiration and esoteric discourse, had an effect on me that no other movie has had (or I expect ever will).

About halfway through the movie, the top of my head opened up as if was a large energetic funnel, filling me with an intense ecstasy straight down the central channel of my body. It was as if there was a lightning rod of ecstasy was posited straight down my body, then spreading out to my extremities through all the nerve channels. And my heart was inundated with intense love and joy. Though I expected to be emotionally moved by the film, this was far beyond my expectations.

This movie was essentially a kind of spiritual initiatory experience, or for those familiar with the term, a true Darshan event. And it is having life level impacts. Such is the power of a great spiritual being like Yogananda - even a movie of him can do this. Again: YMMV, but if you see this movie, I believe it can affect you much deeper than you maybe able to feel or recognize.