Soul Initiation

My tribute to the great Yogi, Paramahansaof the "Autobiography Of A Yogi" which she got
Yogananda.ahold of and gave copies to all of her friends, around
I worked as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in the1955.
1990's. In 1993, an epidemic of Pertussis or WhoopingI was four at the time and remember this well.
Cough broke out across the United States.When my mother woke me from my nap, she gave
I did not know about this epidemic at the time.me lectures about the third eye, which the great
A four month old non-immunized baby came to seeYogi loved and taught about extensively.
me who was diagnosed with Pertussis, and died soonAs a four year old, I took the concept of the third
thereafter.eye very literally.
I got the disease from her, but was unaware of theDid development of the third eye mean that
seriousness of the illness and also did not know thatsuddenly a third eye would appear on my forehead?
what I had was Whooping Cough.No one else seemed to have this third eye.
The details of what I had and how I got it cameWon't I look odd if I am the only one who has one?
together later.The same was true of the stigmata.
For a period of a month, I could not sleep becauseMy mother always told me bedtime stories about the
of the violence of the cough. It was an odd andstigmata that Saint Francis had, and Theresa Neuman,
tremendously forceful cough.too, whom Yogananda wrote about in his
This was how it was: a series of short, hackingAutobiography.
coughs, followed by a sharp, wheezing inhalation,These concepts: the stigmata and the third eye were
followed by vomiting.huge to a four year old child.
I could no longer sleep with my husband because theYet I remember wanting to have a third eye.
cough woke him up.The stigmata was not necessarily as compelling!
So I slept out on the sunporch, and witnessed theSo I knew about Yogananda.
fireflies of summer, and the moon's journey acrossYou might say he was ingrained in my psyche.
the sky. I was always relieved to see the first raysThe Self Realization Lessons came in good time and I
of dawn.followed their instruction to the letter.
Then I went to worked and coughed like this all day,I healed my lungs with those lessons.
as well.A year later, I was initiated as a Kriya Yogi in
My friend, whom I affectionately call "Pediatric Guru,"Washington D.C. by members of SRF in an
head of Pediatrics at the time, (now retired), heardoverwhelmingly moving ceremony.
the cough.Kriya Yoga is a Big Secret, so I can't tell you how to
He pulled me aside. "Kate, your cough sounds exactlydo it. Yet it is both simple and eloquent in practice
like Whooping Cough."and suddenly you feel the infinite blessings of the
And with that diagnosis, I had permission to take agreat gurus of India and you soar above and beyond
few days off with well needed antibiotics.the Universe herself.
The Pediatric Guru put it all together: the baby whoI love Kriya Yoga and the legacy which brought this
died of Pertussis, the exact day I took care of her,great gift to the west.
and the sadness of parents losing their baby.Yogananda is a Spiritual Giant. He lives still amongst
But again, this all came later.the hearts of those who practice the great spiritual
Finally at home and recuperating, I began to feel atechniques that Yogananda taught and are preserved
deep spiritual emptiness deep within my soul. I can'tbecause of his prolific writings.
explain it other than to say that the illness openedIn his words: "Every minute becomes eternity
the doorway to a "Spiritual Awakening."because eternity can be experienced in that minute.
A publication arrived inexplicably in the mail inviting meEvery day and minute and hour is a window through
to order the "Self Realization Fellowship Lessons"which you may see eternity. Life is brief yet it is
written by Paramahansa Yogananda.unending.The soul is everlasting, but out of the short
Yogananda was no stranger to me.season of this life you should reap the most you can
My mother was a fan of Yogananda and particularlyof immortality." SRF Lessons.