“Hello, you wait there just one minute; were you to come at 6 o clock?” The voice comes from the upper balcony of an interior courtyard. We have come to see the childhood home of Mukunda Lal Gosh, who became the great master Paramhansa Yogananda. Sarita Ghosh, Master’s great neice-in-law invites us into their home.
We climb the stairs and each step we take up is a step into the history of our beloved Param-Guru. “Here is the bedroom where Master slept.” It is an empty room except for precious pictures lining the wall.
“Look at Lahiri Mahasaya’s picture; you can see here his eyes are open.” Later pictures were doctored so that it appears his eyes are shut. To change the picture in this way changes the subtle vibration that comes from the picture and loses the character of the man.
“Just outside this room is where Babaji appeared before Master. He had a great fear about going to the West. Babaji assured him it was all right.”
We are guided to another room where, after the death of his mother, Master often slept with his father in this room. There are many items belonging to Master, a chair from childhood, a table his mother brought as an heirloom from her parents’ home; precious items all.
I explain we are devotees of Mother Hamilton, as a point of reference I tell her that Mother was very good friends with Sister Gyanamata, they were both from Seattle. She goes on to tell a story of Master at the time of Sister’s passing from the body.
“Master was out of the ashram at a store with some nuns and monks. Suddenly he said, ‘We must go right now, Sister is leaving the body.’ When they returned Gyanamataji was gone. Master touched the top of Sister’s head and it was hot; her feet were cold but the top of her head was hot. Master explained that when a soul makes a conscious exit from the body all the energy goes out of the top of the head, and that is why it is hot.”
Then we are taken to the attic room where Master meditated. “This is where the Divine Mother and where Krishna appeared to Master. He meditated here because no one would disturb him up here. At that time this was the only room on the roof.” The room is part of a large complex of family rooms now, a whole new story added since those early times.
She thoughtfully closes the doors to this little attic-meditation room so that we might meditate here for some time in quiet privacy. The room is painted a beautiful color of blue and has an altar of the Kriya Gurus, Swami Kebalananda, Bhaduri Mahasaya (the levitating saint), Master’s father, and a beautifully lit picture of Master has been added. Absent from view is the tiger skin of Master’s that I sat upon on my previous visit.
Carla and I soon become absorbed in the deep vibrations of Master’s Presence. Time and space drop away and there is nothing but pure Spirit. Oh, blessed place, dearest Master, mine. Fathomless glories are revealed, a tiny room with endless space. Jai Guru! No words, no words!
It was fifteen years ago since I was here and Hari Krishna, Master’s nephew, gave us a tour of this home; he has since left the body. At that time I had wished for more time in this attic-meditation room. Tonight we are given the time to be absorbed in His Light to our heart’s content.
Our gracious hosts have been most obliging in opening their home to us. We make an offering, and leave some applets and cotlets from Washington State in sincere thankfulness.
Oh Master, thank you for giving your life for us, that we might know God even as you know God. Your legacy has entered the atomic structure of body, mind and soul. Your rare qualities lift us into heavenly realms where your Spirit constantly abides. You are a bubbling personality of the Infinite, and you are beyond all qualities; you are the eternal Being. May you bless us always with the desire to seek out the same God you found in your little attic room and at the feet of your divine Guru. Jai Guru, Jai Gurus.
We take our leave into the darkened night, filled to overflowing from a full day of pilgrimage; radiant with the Master’s divine Light.