Question:
My question is about certain statements that Paramhansa Yogananda made, and that Swami Kriyananda quotes in his book, book Conversations with Yogananda.
(This book is available in English and Hindi.)
Yogananda confirms the truth of UFO sightings. He says that someday humans will travel to other planets as easily as we fly from continent to continent today.
What are your thoughts about the evidence that beings from other planets have visited Earth? Sumerian tablets found in modern Iraq seem to indicate that such beings were here and that they tried to gain power over earthlings, and that perhaps the darkness and seeming satanic influences on Earth today are due to these invaders. How can we protect ourselves from such beings?
Answer:
Many of your questions are answered in a recently published book, The Yugas: Keys to Understanding Our Hidden Past, Emerging Energy Age, and Enlightened Future, by Joseph Selbie and David Steinmetz (monastic names: Purushottama and Byasa).
The “yugas” are the cyclic ages of human history – long periods of ascending and descending consciousness – that have occurred on Earth over millions of years.
In the late 1800s, Paramhansa Yogananda’s guru, Sri Yukteswar, a fully liberated master of yoga, restored the original truths of the yugas, which were lost through priestly ignorance during a dark age of materialistic awareness from which the world emerged around the year 1900. Sri Yukteswar published his revelations in a small book, The Holy Science. (Available in English and Hindi.)
The authors did extensive research on the historical record and found an abundance of supporting facts from historical events, geology, archeology, religion, and science for the idea that human awareness increases and then shrinks in recurring 24,000-year cycles. They weave these documented facts into a fascinating account that puts into clear perspective the past, present, and future of life on Earth.
UFOs, interplanetary travel, invasions from other planets – all of these are included, not in detail but in concept. I believe you will find that reading The Yugas will help you put into context the research that you have read. (The authors have a website and blog, The Yugas.)
In the meantime, here are some thoughts about the questions you raise.
Your ideas about invasions by other species are, in a sense, true, but perhaps not exactly in the way you are seeing it.
The drama of creation is the same everywhere. Whether on Earth, or on planets not yet discovered, the only “plot” in the universe is that the consciousness of beings everywhere has become trapped in ego-based self-interest, from which we all gradually find ourselves longing to be freed. Everything is a manifestation of the Divine. And everything seeks to return to its Creator.
Paramhansa Yogananda said that before the soul attains liberation it experiments with every possible alternative. We try everything to see if it will give us happiness, and only when we have drunk each cup to the dregs are we convinced. We don’t learn from being told; we only learn through our own experience.
This isn’t pleasant to contemplate. Among other things, it speaks of a very long time before we become liberated. But why else are we so certain that some behaviors will never bring us happiness? We don’t merely believe it – we know, from our own experiences over many lives.
This is why we have to be so patient, both with ourselves and with others, as we gradually work our way from darkness into God’s light.
Everywhere in creation, there are egos striving to be free. Some people and some planets express a preponderance of darkness or light. Earth at this time is a mixture.
In the book you mention, Conversations with Yogananda, a disciple asks Paramhansa Yogananda if we always reincarnate on Earth. He replies that there are many planets in the universe, and that where we go depends on our level of spiritual development. We choose a planet that is appropriate for the lessons we need to learn in that incarnation.
All of this is fascinating to contemplate, and thrilling to read about, but in the end our job is the same. To love, serve, and meditate. For in that way we will gradually liberate ourselves from the only cause of suffering: our soul’s bondage to the ego.
The yugas are a planetary phenomenon. But Self-realization is individual. The planets and the yugas are merely the backdrop in front of which the process of Self-realization takes place.
Ultimately, the only reality is the divine light. Concentrate on that light. Focus on the Masters. Give them your devotion, and you will always be protected.
Blessings,
Nayaswami Asha