Meeting My Master Sri Yukteswar

Dadi**: "Guddu, have you ever met someone and immediately felt they were special?"

Guddu**: "Like love at first sight?"

Dadi**: "More like recognition. Tonight I'll tell you about Paramahansa Yogananda's first meeting with his guru, Sri Yukteswar."

Guddu**: "Yogananda wrote 'Autobiography of a Yogi'!"

Dadi**: "Yes! And this meeting was the turning point of his life. Young Mukunda - as Yogananda was called then - had been searching for his guru for years. Many times he thought he found him, but each time, the connection wasn't right."

Guddu**: "How do you know when it's the right guru?"

Dadi**: "That's what this story reveals. One day in Benares, as Mukunda walked down a lane, he saw a Christ-like figure with a beard and kind eyes approaching him."

Guddu**: "Sri Yukteswar?"

Dadi**: "Before Mukunda could speak, the sage said: 'O my son, how long I have been waiting for you! What slippery stones do you tread in your search through many lives for me.'"

Guddu**: "He knew Mukunda was coming?"

Dadi**: "Their connection spanned lifetimes! Sri Yukteswar didn't meet Mukunda - he RECOGNIZED him. The reunion wasn't of strangers but of souls who had traveled together before."

Guddu**: "That gives me goosebumps!"

Dadi**: "Mukunda prostrated before his master right there in the lane. Sri Yukteswar took him to his ashram in Serampore. Thus began one of the most transformative guru-disciple relationships in modern spiritual history."

Guddu**: "What was Sri Yukteswar like?"

Dadi**: "Stern but loving. He didn't pamper his students. He challenged them, corrected them, sometimes embarrassed them - all to burn away their ego."

Guddu**: "That sounds harsh!"

Dadi**: "Real gurus are like surgeons, beta. They cut away what doesn't serve you. Mukunda often felt uncomfortable under his master's sharp words. But he knew the discomfort was medicine."

Guddu**: "What did Sri Yukteswar teach him?"

Dadi**: "Kriya Yoga - a powerful meditation technique. Scripture interpretation. And most importantly, how to BE with God, not just talk about God."

Guddu**: "Did they stay together?"

Dadi**: "For years! Until Sri Yukteswar told Mukunda to go to America and spread yoga. Mukunda - now Paramahansa Yogananda - obeyed, though it broke his heart to leave."

Guddu**: "He left his guru?"

Dadi**: "The greatest test of a disciple is following the guru's command even when it hurts. Yogananda did, and through him, millions of Westerners learned yoga and meditation."

Guddu**: "Sri Yukteswar must have been proud."

Dadi**: "He didn't express emotion easily. But when they met again after many years, there was deep joy. And when Sri Yukteswar passed away, Yogananda's grief was immense."

Guddu**: "But then... didn't Sri Yukteswar appear after death?"

Dadi**: "Ah, you know that story! In a hotel in Bombay, months after his death, Sri Yukteswar appeared to Yogananda in physical form and spoke with him for hours about life after death."

Guddu**: "That's incredible!"

Dadi**: "The guru-disciple bond is stronger than death. When you find your true teacher, it's not just for one life but for eternity. That's what Yogananda discovered in that Benares lane."

Guddu**: "I hope I find a teacher like that someday."

Dadi**: "When the student is ready, the teacher appears. Keep your heart open, beta. Your guide may be closer than you think. Now, sleep and dream of that sacred meeting."