Hi there.
In Yogananda’s poem "Come to Me as Mohammed," what did he mean, please? Could you send me that poem, please. Thank you.
—Ali Twaij, UK
Dear Ali,
Yes, Yogananda wrote that beautiful poem to pay respect to Mohammed, to the the Koran, and to Islam, “Come to Me as Mohammed.”
The poem is published in his devotional book Whispers from Eternity (free online) and is a part of a series of prayers dedicated to the word’s religious leaders: “Come to me, O Christ,” “Come to me as Krishna,” “Come to me as Swami Shankara,” “Come to me as Moses,” “Come to me as Mohammed,” and “Come to me as Buddha.” In fact, Yogananda throughout his life was an arduous promoter of unity amongst religions, of mutual love, respect, and harmony.
This prayer to Mohammed, the “flaming son of God,” can give inspiration to Muslims, who are strong people. It calls them to powerful inner action. This action, from the yogic point of view, is the battle against the lust of the senses, against “frailty and limitation,” in order to browse, as Yogananda puts it, the “rich harvests of immortal mind.”
That same inner battle of light against darkness is symbolized in the Indian epic, the Mahabharata, of which the Bhagavad Gita is a part.
Yogananda addresses Mohammed (peace be unto him) with these words: “Thou didst teach that the lust for wine is the misguided craving for the real Wine, extracted from the winepress of sincere, regular prayer of Namaz.”
He is referring to the inner “wine” of the mystics, to the inner drunkenness with God. If you are interested in exploring this kind of “wine” further, you will enjoy Yogananda’s inspiring interpretations of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Omar, he taught, was a true saint of Islam. In one of the verses of the Rubaiyat, Omar Khayyam writes: ““Awake, my little ones, and fill the cup, before life’s liquor in its cup be dry.”
How to fill that cup? If you are a Muslim, Yogananda would give you the same advise which he would give to all Christians, Hindus, Hebrews, Buddhists: go deep in your religion.
Find the sacred truth which secretly lies at the heart of your faith. To do so, let your Namaz take you into a state of inner silence, where you can experience a direct contact with Allah. There let Him fill your cup. There is nothing better. He is, for all of us, the greatest possible fulfillment, and is experienced as a God of mercy, love, and joy.
In divine friendship,
Jayadev
