The Power of Yoga

I think the most important thing first to make clear is that when I speak of power, I don't mean power over other people.

I don't mean power in an aggressive or imposing way, but rather power over yourself.

And within that definition, it's very important to realize that power is essential for anything that you want to accomplish.

Power is essential for spiritual success.

And very often you find people somehow equating goodness with lack of power.

They equate goodness with just being kind and constantly turning the other cheek until you wonder if they're going to get whiplash.

The important thing is to understand that nobody has ever become great in any field unless there was power in what he did.

One very good example was the life of Paramahansa Yogananda.

And I imagine all of you have heard of him and probably have read Autobiography of a Yogi.

And he is described as a saint of an incarnation of divine love.

But I have to tell you, having lived with him, for three and a half years, that whereas there was extraordinary love, a palpable love, a power that flowed from him as love that would transform your life, yet I also in the same breath have to say that he was a man of extraordinary power.

Many people after reading Autobiography of a Yogi are quite stunned to hear him speak on a recording.

because his voice had so much energy in it.

When he lectured, as a young man, he would often run out onto the lecture platform with his hair streaming behind him.

He had long hair.

He was a man of dynamic energy.

And one of the things that has made Ananda happen has been that in addition to the fact that I had always wanted to start a community, when I heard him give a stirring lecture on the importance of starting communities I was so moved to my core that I vowed I would do what I could in this life to further this ideal.

Somebody at Ananda Village a few years ago was reading this passage from my autobiography, The Path, and reading how he addressed the audience on that occasion.

and saying, you must go north, south, east, west.

I said, give me the book.

Here's how we said it.

You must go north, south, east, west, everywhere.

I never heard such a stirring talk.

But most people have no idea what power there was in his presence.

You just knew you were in the presence of a, you might say, spiritual general.