"Prophets of all lands and ages have succeeded in their

God-quest," writes Paramahansa Yogananda in the foreword

to The Holy Science. "Entering a state of true illumination,

nirbikalpa samadhi , these saints have realized the Supreme

Reality behind all names and forms. Their wisdom and spiritual

counsel have become the scriptures of the world. These,

although outwardly differing by reason of the variegated

cloaks of words, are all expressions - some open and clear,

others hidden or symbolic - of the same basic truths of Spirit.

"Swami Sri Yukteswar...was eminently fitted to discern

the underlying unity....Placing the holy texts on the spotless

table of his mind, he was able to dissect them with the scalpel

of intuitive reasoning, and to separate interpolations and

wrong interpretations of scholars from the truths as originally

given by the prophets."

The Holy Science demonstrates, by explanation of parallel

passages from the Hindu and Christian scriptures, the essential

unity of the great religious teachings of East and West.

With incomparable wisdom and discernment, Sri Yukteswar

explains the universal evolution of consciousness, energy, and

matter - the entire spectrum of experience that we call "life."

The author provides an authoritative foundation for a

purely holistic view of man and the universe - and shows how

that view supports the principles of natural living in body,

mind, and soul. Rooted in the deepest truths of religion, it

yet offers practical advice for fulfillment in everyday living,

by delineating the physical, mental,

moral, and spiritual principles that

govern the expansion of human

consciousness.

Swami Sri Yukteswar, an ideal exemplar of

India's ancient heritage of illumined rishis , is venerated

as a Jnanavatar ("incarnation of wisdom")

by people all over the world who have been inspired

by his life and teachings. He manifested the

self-mastery and divine attainment that have been

the highest goal of Truth-seekers throughout the

ages.

Swami Sri Yukteswar's pursuit of Truth led

him to the great sage Lahiri Mahasaya, who extolled

the sacred science of Kriya Yoga meditation

as the most effective means of attaining Godrealization,

and who was the first to teach openly

that ancient science in modern times. Through the

guidance of Lahiri Mahasaya and through his own

practice of Kriya , Sri Yukteswar attained spiritual

illumination. His strength of principle, boundless

compassion, and profound understanding were

not the result of intellectual study but of direct

perception of Reality.

A saint of truly universal outlook, Sri Yukteswar

recognized that a synthesis of the spiritual heritage

of the East with the science and technology

of the West would do much to alleviate the material,

psychological, and spiritual suffering of the

modern world, His deep conviction that tremendous

advances could be made, both individually

and internationally, by an exchange of the finest

positive features of each culture was crystallized

by his remarkable meeting with Mahavatar Babaji,

the guru of Lahiri Mahasaya. Perceiving Sri

Yukteswar's great interest in furthering spiritual

harmony among all nations, Babaji requested him

to write The Holy Science to show the underlying

unity of Hinduism and Christianity.

In 1920 Swami Sri Yukteswar sent his

foremost disciple. Paramahansa Yogananda, to

America to disseminate a knowledge of the liberating

science of Kriya Yoga to Truth-seekers

around the world. For this purpose, Sri Yogananda

founded Self-Realization Fellowship, an international

society with headquarters in Los Angeles.

During his three decades in the West, he lectured

extensively, wrote numerous books and prepared

a comprehensive series of yoga lessons for home

study, and trained monastic disciples to carry on

the spiritual and humanitarian work entrusted to him

by Mahavatar Babaji and Swami Sri Yukteswar.

In his Autobiography of a Yogi , Paramahansa

Yogananda describes his many years of spiritual

discipline in Sri Yukteswar's ashram. Sri Yogananda

wrote of his Guru:

"Each day with him was a new experience

in joy, peace, and wisdom....Sri Yukteswar was

reserved and matter-of-fact in demeanor. There

was naught of the vague or daft visionary about

him. His feet were firm on the earth, his head in

the haven of heaven. Practical people aroused his

admiration. 'Saintliness is not dumbness! Divine

perceptions are not incapacitating!' he would say.

'The active expression of virtue gives rise to the

keenest intelligence....'

"Sri Yukteswar's intuition was penetrating;

heedless of remarks, he often replied to one's

unexpressed thoughts....I daresay he would have

been the most sought-after guru in India had his

speech not been so candid....

"Sri Yukteswar found no insuperable obstacle

to the mergence of human and divine. No such

barrier exists, I came to understand,' save in man's

spiritual unadventurousness."