My small town has an Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) meditation group that I meditate with periodically. I have noticed that their invocation of the lineage includes both "Mahavatar Krishna" and Babaji separately. Their photos on the altar always include Krishna. I noticed this also in the Yogananda movie. Why does Ananda combine Babaji and Krishna? If this change was made by Swami Kriyananda, why? In most ways, SRF’s satsang is just like Ananda’s, but this difference stands out.
—Lynn Lloyd, USA
Dear Lynn,
Actually, it was Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) that made the change sometime in the late 1960’s; at that time they decided to separate Krishna and Babaji. It was at that time they added the photo of Krishna to the altar and changed the invocation. Ananda has felt to retain both the altar and the invocation as was given by Paramhansa Yogananda himself. If you look back to photos of the time when Yogananda was still in his body, you’ll notice that Krishna was not included on the altar.
Blessings,
Nayaswami Pranaba
