The Age of Heroes

The dawning of the Age of Dwapara (the so called “New Age”) has been characterized by a search for individual freedoms. Progress thus far has come from the combination of idealism and great individual courage. The United States of America embodies this new spirit of freedom in the fields of politics, social relations, science, and health. India epitomizes the spirit of inner freedom through her time-tested values of renunciation, devotion to God, and the practice of the science of yoga.

The age of darkness from which we have emerged, known as Kali Yuga in the Hindu system, has also been termed the “Age of Men” by the Greeks. Our present age, Dwapara Yuga, is called the “Age of Heroes” in the Greek system. In the Age of Men, we take on our self-identity from our tribe and our place in its social system. Social conventions and castes are oppressive and opportunities for knowledge and self-improvement are few. But in the Age of Heroes, a spirit of self-discovery, curiosity, and courage emerges. Individuals begin to express personal initiative and creativity. The desire to act in concert with higher ideals and in harmony with all life spreads like a spring flood.

Into each cycle of time God sends his messengers, saints and sages, to uplift and instruct humanity. Paramhansa Yogananda is certainly such a one. He named his teaching Self-Realization. He said this is not a new religion, but a new expression, of the soul’s eternal yearning for freedom.

To be a “hero” in this context means to live a life of high ideals, shedding like an old skin a habit-bound, mundane existence circumscribed by familiarity and custom. It means to embrace harmony and cooperation with the laws of health, with the world of nature, with other people, and with our Father-Mother, God. Ananda’s work in sharing Yogananda’s teachings of yoga, community, and the art of living emphasizes cooperation with truth, grace, and the Spirit which is expressed in all life.

Thus inspired, Swami Kriyananda has explored Yogananda’s teachings on a wide range of how-to-live subjects: health, family, work, society, as well as spirituality. But “waking up” takes more than just good ideas — it takes daily discipline and commitment. It is all too easy to succumb to deeply rutted habits of poor diet, lack of exercise, impulse spending, lack of courtesy or kindness, spiritual laziness, and unwillingness. In the womb of subconscious familiarity the light of our joyful, creative Spirit is eclipsed.

Let us find renewed hope and enthusiasm in Mother Nature’s rite of Spring. Don’t let the dark winter of habits linger like a bad cold! Breathe the fresh spring air as the breath of Spirit; see God’s joy and love in nature’s vibrant, color-filled exuberance; “Spring-clean” the body temple to be fit for God-realization; use the God-given gifts of health, prosperity, and talent for His work in the world; and vow to keep your daily appointment with God in the Temple of Silence. “The time for knowing God has come,” Yogananda declared. Live, and love, heroically, without condition, exchanging kindness for misunderstanding, calmness for busy-ness, and clarity for confusion.