Here Comes the Yogiman 99
Yogananda’s fondness for the famous mystic Ramakrishna, guru to another trans-
national Yogi. In his teenage years, Yogananda regularly frequented the Kali tem-
ple in Dakshineshwar and especially liked to meditate in Ramakrishna’s favorite
spots on the grounds. Despite the ambivalent attitude that Yogananda would
develop toward Ramakrishna’s celebrated disciple Vivekananda and his organiza-
tion, he would always retain a reverential regard for the old mystic. Yogananda
used to carry in his pocket a book of advice by Ramakrishna, written by Swami
Brahmananda, and was quite enamored of Mahedranath Gupta (Sri “M” or
“Master Mahasaya” in Yogananda’s Autobiography), another prominent disciple
of Ramakrishna who was the author of Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita (1905).
Although Vivekananda’s path must certainly have served as a model for
Yogananda’s own ambitions— perhaps all the more so due to the sense of implicit
competition that he would later develop— Swami Rama Tirtha appears to have
been an even more direct source of inspiration. It seems probable that Yogananda’s
unexpected desire to join an agricultural education program in Japan before he
made known his desire to travel to America may have been reinforced by Rama
Tirtha’s trajectory, which, like Vivekananda before him, took him through Japan
into a two- year lecture tour across the United States. Satyananda recounts that
Yogananda
came to greatly appreciate the writings and teachings of the eminent
Swami Rama Tirtha on Oneness, Non- Duality and Radiant Beingness. At
that time, he always carried an English version of a condensed biography
and/ or book of sayings by Swami Rama Tirtha with him. The influence of
that went to America with him.^22Yogananda was particularly fond of Rama Tirtha’s poetry, much of which he
translated into English and even set to music. The translations, in addition to
more implicit influence, account for much of the material that is contained in his
second publication, Songs of the Soul (1923).
Yogananda also cultivated some interesting connections with various expo-
nents of universalist neo- Hinduism as well as more traditional notions of
sanātana dharma. He used to be a regular visitor to the Nabo Bidhan Samāj in
Calcutta, an offshoot organization of the original Brahmo Samāj founded by
Keshub Chandra Sen, which emphasized a universal religion based on the synthe-
sis of Hinduism— specifically yoga and Vaiṣṇava devotionalism— and Christian
traditions. There he made the acquaintance of Jnananjan Niyogi, a political activ-
ist and social reformer who appears to have been the first to spark Yogananda’s
interest in education. Satyananda also claims that Niyogi’s work would become
helpful to Yogananda once he found himself in America, though the nature of