This is taken from the winter 2015/2016 issue of Positive Life. Subscribe | Stockists
By Calodagh McCumiskey
You are a guest at the memorial service of Apple chief Steve Jobs. Before you leave, someone hands you a brown box, containing a gift from Jobs to you, as to all the other guests. Inside you find a book.
A book so good that Jobs thought everyone should read it! This book was Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. One of the best-selling autobiographies of all time and it continues to inspire people, year by year.
The essence of the book captures the deeper purpose of yoga and meditation which is self-realisation, not by strengthening the individual ego and its attachments but by dissolving that little self, which blocks the view, and opening up a vaster, richer, cosmic view of reality – ultimately it inspires a soul connection. That’s why Jobs recommended the autobiography of this supreme yogi.
As Yogananda said: “All souls are equal. The only difference between you and me is that I made the effort…The soul always remains unpolluted, like age-long buried gold. All one has to do is wash off the dirt and spiritual rays will shine forth through one’s joy.”
Every time I read his book, I feel connected to and grounded in myself, in my soul, in the present. After a difficult day, he makes sense of my day for me. He washes away the dirt. If you want to make your soul sparkle, try reading him!
Calodagh McCumiskey teaches Japa Meditation, is a qualified Yoga teacher, offers Vedic Astrology consultations, and is co-founder of Spiritual Earth.
hellenisticvedicastrology.com | spiritualearth.ie
