Rediscovering spiritual roots

I was born in India and considered to be a Hindu because my parents were Hindus. However, I never practiced any regular Hindu ritual nor read the scriptures.

- BASAB DASGUPTA

Temples were interesting to me for their architectural beauties and religious ceremonies were occasions for social interaction. Lectures by some swami or guru on any aspect of Hinduism bored me. I had no problem eating beef. I was a “Bhogi”, someone who enjoyed life using all his senses without much self-control.

Upon immigrating to the US, I found a country compatible with my personality and interests.

Ironically my father was associated with the Yogoda Satsanga Society before his marriage as a disciple of Sri Yukteswar. Sri Yukteswar in turn was the disciple of Sri Lahiri Mahasay who initiated the spread of Kriya Yoga – a sophisticated meditation discipline involving breathing control - at the urging of his guru only known as "Babaji". My mother had a distinct dislike for this association. She was probably worried that my father could leave everything behind one day without any warning and join the mission for good.

My father frequently talked about Paramhansa Yogananda and his book, “An Autobiography of a Yogi”. Yogananda was also a disciple of Sri Yukteswar and came to the USA where he established Self Realization Fellowship (SRF). He reportedly had an ashram in California on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I did not pay much attention to my father’s preoccupation because I was more under my mother’s influence.

I visited my father in India a few months before he died. My mother had passed away nine years earlier. My father had gone back to his passion for Kriya Yoga and started writing books, publishing one book on Kriya and Sri Yukteswar; he was writing another one on Yogananda. We spent most of the time discussing his writings. Unlike my childhood days I now had keen interest in understanding his passion.