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A Soul Talks to God

© Linda Sue Grimes

In August of 1920 Paramahansa Yogananda traveled to the United States of America on The City of Sparta, the first passenger boat sailing from India to America after the end of World War I. He had been invited to speak about yoga at the International Congress of Religious Liberals that was meeting in Boston that year. He gave his talk about yoga and was so well received that he remained in America, speaking to standing-room-only crowds across the country. His following continued to grow, and in 1925 he founded Self-Realization Fellowship, an organization that would disseminate his teachings. In 1946 he published his Autobiography of a Yogi, a book that has become a modern spiritual classic and is studied in over three hundred universities.

In addition to his autobiography, SRF has published many of his lectures in a series: Man's Eternal Quest, The Divine Romance, and Journey to Self-Realization. Further publications include How to Talk With God and The Law of Success, which give advice to the spiritual aspirant. However, one need not be a devoted follower of his teachings to appreciate his works, especially his poetic works, Metaphysical Meditations, Whispers from Eternity, or the book being considered here, Songs from the Soul. Not only was Paramahansa Yogananda an influential spiritual leader, but he was also an accomplished poet, as Songs of the Soul will testify.

These poems allow their readers a glimpse into the relationship between a self-realized soul, one who has mastered the art and science of yoga, and the Divine Beloved. The first poem, "Consecration," begins the yogi's conversation with the Divine Beloved:

At Thy feet I come to shower
All my full heart's rhyming flower:
Of Thy breath born,
By Thy love grown,
Through my lonely seeking found,
By hands Thou gavest plucked and bound.

For Thee, the sheaves
Within these leaves:
The choicest flowers
Of my life's season,
With petals soulful spread,
Their humble perfume shed.
Hands folded, I come now to give
What's Thine. Receive!

This poem reveals the basic form Paramahansa Yogananda follows in all of his poems and prayers. He addresses God with the pronouns "Thou," "Thee," and "Thy," the familiar forms of address that are employed in the King James Version of the Holy Bible. Yogananda considered the King James Version the most poetic version, representing to the Western culture the most poetic style. Despite trends and additional translations of the Holy Bible, that language style continues to be held in high regard by Western culture.

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