Success in the results of meditation are the sum total of making small efforts day in and day out.
It maybe, but I must be honest with myself and others. Success may never come, or may never be evident, in a life. We must not expect any success in the form of experiences. If it comes, so much the better.
My main criticism to the work of Yogananda is that he makes it sound too simple. A very good salesman, spiritual salesman indeed. However, I'm happy of being a disciple of him because he gave a purpose to my life and besides he has been a formidable mentor with his pragmatism and common sense.
If we look at success as a change in behavioral attitudes instead of ‘experiences’ we may find much more success than we imagined and the Master was more than a ‘good salesman’ but rather a transformer of character. An expert psychologist, come to us to help us see the world and this life through his eyes as a Master. After all I’ve heard many times by him and the monastics ‘this life is just a school house’ and by the added sarcasm of Brother Turiyananda; ‘We are in a school house for the spiritually retarded this life’.
We all look back on relationships we've had with others and say 'if I only knew what I know now, I would have done things so differently.' But we cannot go back and change the past. So we must appreciate what we have now and the experiences we've gained from the past as well as the spiritual lessons we are gaining from the present.
Paramahansa Yogananda’s mentorship is far beyond meditation experiences, his job and service is to reform us and transform our consciousness. Day by day, if not by the introspection of my own consciousness and behaviors than by the transformative power of friends and associates I cannot avoid in my life’s journey. As attempting to avoid them only brings more lessons through new encounters to work through my spiritual amnesia.
