🤿 The Unexpected Teacher

It was a balmy night in 2013, the air thick with the lingering aromas of a busy day at my newly opened restaurant. As my cousin and I drove home after closing up shop, our conversation drifted, as it often did, to life's deeper questions. That night, he mentioned a book his girlfriend had discovered - a printed PDF that would unknowingly change the course of my spiritual journey.

Growing up Catholic, I'd always found religion to be a tapestry of abstract parables, lacking the concrete explanations my curious mind craved. This disconnect eventually led me away from the church and towards a more scientific worldview. I became the kind of person who needed factual proof for everything.

But as time went on, I realized that while science provides invaluable explanations for much of our world, it falls short when addressing the deeper questions about our consciousness and the ultimate nature of reality. And, on the other side, traditional religion often asked one to "have faith" without delving into the details that my analytical mind yearned for.

It was in this state of intellectual limbo that I began reading the book my cousin had shared: "Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism" by Yogi Ramacharaka.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Occultism? Isn't that sort of black magic or dark arts? I had the same reaction at first. But as I delved into the pages, I quickly realized it was quite the opposite. The term "occult" here simply refers to knowledge that was once hidden from the general public. This book rekindled my childlike enthusiasm for understanding the world and myself. As Aldous Huxley once said, "The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm."

Now, I am no genius, but I try to live life with enthusiasm. With a childlike spirit. And that includes the insatiable desire to learn and understand. I like explanations in simple terms, without fluff, without jargon.

Yogi Ramacharaka's writing style was a revelation. He tackled profound subjects with a clarity and precision that made even the most complex ideas accessible. Just as we understand our physical bodies, he argued, it's essential to comprehend our consciousness and the nature of reality. And this book provided that explanation in abundance.

The Yogi philosophy, as presented by Ramacharaka, goes beyond the common trifecta of mind, body, and soul. It delves deeper. It offers insights into human composition that have been known in Eastern traditions for thousands of years. As a skeptic who values experimentation and proof, I found these principles not only logical but also surprisingly aligned with modern psychology and philosophy.

💡 The Power of Thought

For instance, Yogi Ramacharaka's teachings on the power of thought resonate with contemporary cognitive behavioral therapy. He wrote, "Thought is a force - a manifestation of energy - having a magnet-like power of attraction." An idea echoed in the words of Marcus Aurelius, who said, "The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts."

In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), therapists work with patients to identify and change negative thought patterns that contribute to emotional distress and maladaptive behaviors. For example, a person struggling with social anxiety might have the recurring thought, "Everyone will judge me if I speak up in this meeting." A CBT therapist would help the patient recognize this as a negative thought pattern, challenge its validity, and replace it with a more balanced perspective.

Just as Yogi Ramacharaka suggested that our thoughts have a "magnet-like power of attraction," CBT propose that our thoughts significantly influence our emotions and behaviors. By consciously redirecting our thoughts, we can change our emotional states and, ultimately, our life experiences.

✍️ The Man Behind Yogi Ramacharaka

But who is this Yogi Ramacharaka?

As I dug deeper, I discovered that there's barely any information about this person online. No historical record of his existence. The prevailing theory is that "Yogi Ramacharaka" was actually a pen name, a pseudonym, used by William Walker Atkinson, an American attorney turned writer and publisher.

Atkinson, born in Baltimore in 1862, had a fascinating life journey. After facing financial ruin and a nervous breakdown in the 1890s, he discovered New Thought (which is really Old Thought) and Yogi teachings. He recovered. And he credited this philosophy for it. This personal transformation led him to become a prolific writer on metaphysical topics.

Between 1903 and 1917, under the Yogi Ramacharaka pseudonym, Atkinson authored a lot of books. On yoga, on spirituality, on metaphysics, on healing, on mind control. His work uniquely blended Eastern spiritual concepts with Western esoteric traditions, making these ideas more accessible to a Western audience.

👁️ The Concept of ‘I AM’

As I immersed myself in Yogi Ramacharaka's (or Atkinson's) teachings, I found my perspective on life broadening. The principles trained me to view life from a more expansive vantage point, fostering a sense of inner peace, fearlessness, and understanding that had eluded me before.

One of the most impactful ideas I encountered was the concept of "I AM" - the true self beyond our fleeting thoughts and emotions. Yogi Ramacharaka wrote, "The Real Self is the master of the mind, not its slave." This notion of a higher self, separate from our everyday consciousness, provided a powerful tool for self-reflection and growth.

How often was I truly acting as the master of my mind, rather than its slave?

When I felt overwhelmed by emotions or caught in a spiral of negative thoughts, could I step back and observe them from the perspective of my higher self?

What would change in my life if I consistently approached challenges from this elevated viewpoint?

I've found that cultivating this awareness of my "Real Self" has profoundly impacted my daily life. But it's not always easy to maintain this connection amidst the chaos of everyday life.

📚 Testing the Teachings

This newfound awareness complemented other philosophies I had encountered. And I integrated this philosophy into my worldview in a way that felt authentic and meaningful.

Atkinson himself seemed aware of the potential skepticism towards his teachings. He knew that, as the law of Spiritual Evolution dictates, not everyone was ready for such higher teachings. In his writings as Yogi Ramacharaka, he encourages readers to approach his ideas with both an open mind and a critical eye:

This approach resonated deeply with me. I don’t like blindly accepting teachings just because they came from an "exotic" or "ancient" source. Instead, I like to explore, question, and personally verify these ideas.

Over the past decade, I've done just that. I’ve immersed myself in these teachings. I’ve been testing them against my own experiences. And I’ve been integrating insights from various other sources. The result has been a personal philosophy that, while rooted in Yogi Ramacharaka's work, has evolved into something uniquely my own.

For instance, Yogi Ramacharaka's teachings on the power of breath led me to explore modern research on the physiological effects of breathing techniques. I am remarkably healthy and I attribute a lot of it to proper, conscious breathing. Studies have shown that controlled breathing can indeed influence your nervous system and mental state, providing scientific backing to these ancient practices.

Similarly, his ideas about the interconnectedness of all things find echoes in modern physics. As the physicist David Bohm put it, "In the deeper reality beyond space and time, we may be all members of one body." The convergence of ancient wisdom and cutting-edge science. Beautiful. It continues to fascinate me.

But perhaps one of the most valuable lesson I've taken from Yogi Ramacharaka's teachings is the importance of direct experience. He wrote, "The Yogi student... is taught to realize that within himself is the real source of wisdom." He puts emphasis on personal verification. This has kept me grounded, preventing me from getting lost in abstract theories or dogmatic beliefs.

🦉 Wisdom in Unexpected Places

I share my journey with Yogi Ramacharaka's teachings because I quote him a lot. As you surely have noticed. And I wanted to tell you how I discovered his wisdom and what I know about him, whom I consider a teacher.

I'm not suggesting that everyone should follow the same path. Rather, I hope to inspire others to remain open to wisdom, wherever it may come from. Whether it's an ancient philosophical text, a scientific paper, or a conversation with a friend.

Insights that expand your understanding of yourself and the world around you can appear in the most unexpected places.

As for William Walker Atkinson, the man behind the Yogi Ramacharaka pseudonym, his legacy is a complex one. Some criticize his approach. Some think his texts are some of the wisest ever written.

There's no denying the impact his writings have had on countless readers over the past century. His work served as a bridge, introducing many Westerners to Eastern philosophical concepts at a time when such cross-cultural exchange was rare.

In the end, whether you view Atkinson as a genuine spiritual teacher, a clever popularizer of Eastern ideas, or something in between, his writings as Yogi Ramacharaka offer priceless insights, lessons, and practices.

As the philosopher Alan Watts once said, "The menu is not the meal." In other words, you shouldn't get too caught up in the messenger or the packaging of the message. What truly matters is how these teachings resonate with you and how they can be applied to enrich your life.

My journey with Yogi Ramacharaka's teachings has been one of continuous discovery and growth. It has taught me to approach life with a blend of open-minded curiosity and healthy skepticism. It has shown me that profound wisdom can often be found in the most unexpected places. And most importantly, it has reminded me that the ultimate authority on truth is our own direct experience.

You, me, the entire world would benefit from a bit more of Yogi wisdom - to breathe deeply, to think clearly, to remain open to the wonders that surround us. And to always remember the Oneness of All.

After all, as Yogi Ramacharaka himself wrote, "Remember always that you are but a Centre in the Great Whole, and that you are connected by countless invisible and subtle threads with all other Centres. You are not a separate and isolated being, but a part of the Whole. There is no real separation."