Notes 209
the term “astral,” along with its close relative “etheric,” enters the popular vocabu-
lary as a synonym for subtle reality as a whole.- There are far more than sixteen known chemical elements in Yogananda’s time.
Likewise, the human body consists of fewer than sixteen major elements but more
than sixteen once one begins to take into account its composite trace elements. It is
possible that Yogananda simply thought that the number thirty- five had a nice ring
to it. Thirty- five is often associated with the composite elements of Śaiva cosmolo-
gies, but there does not appear to be any further correspondence to Yogananda’s
system. - Yogananda 1951: 350.
- Yogananda 1951: 416. There is an interesting correspondence here between
Yogananda’s description and Theosophical “elementals” who likewise inhabit the
astral universe in Theosophical writings beginning with those of Blavatsky. - Yogananda 1951: 417.
- Swedenborg’s Heaven and Hell (1758) is the classical elaboration of his cosmolog y,
his Earths in the Universe (1758) deals specifically with visions that he had of spiri-
tually advanced being on other planets. - The origin of Hiranyaloka as a toponym is indeterminate. Satyeswarananda
explains that it was an established notion within the tradition that disciples would
always be able to locate Sri Yukteswar in “Hiranyagarva” or “Hiranyaloka” after
his earthly death, specifying that, contrary to Yogananda’s claims, “Hiranyaloka
is not a place high up in the sky, nor is it a planet. Hiranya means ‘golden,’ and
garva or loka means ‘place.’ So actually, Hiranyaloka is the area between the eye-
brows where all realized souls join in oneness and union in eternal life. In fact, the
inner Self, Kutastha, is the radiant Self. The radiation is golden in color, and that
is why this Spot (Bindu) is called Hiranyaloka. There Sriyukteswar attained the
eternal Tranquility (Brahmisthiti) or eternal Place” (Satyeswarananda 1994: 145).
Hiraṇyagarbha is, of course, a well- known concept with multiple permutations
of meaning. The term hiraṇyagarbhaloka appears tantalizingly in Nīlakaṇṭh a’s
Kriyāsāra, a Vīraśaiva text, as designating the location to which a successful adept
may advance upon meditating on certain spot on the head (line 7990). This may be
simple coincidence, a concept Sri Yukteswar acquired in his vast spiritual explora-
tions, or a hint at the deeper affiliations of the Kriya Yoga tradition. - This can perhaps be related to the more traditional concept that it is actually not in
one’s ultimate advantage to be reborn as a god in the paradisiacal devaloka because
it is the human body that is best suited for liberation. - Yogananda 1951: 348.
- Yogananda 1951: 414.
- Yogananda 1951: 201.
- Yogananda 1951: 426.