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| == '''[[Spanish missions in California]]''' ==
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| The '''Spanish missions in California''' comprise a series of twenty-one religious outposts and associated support facilities established by [[Spain|Spaniards]] of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823, in order to spread the [[Catholic]] faith among the local Native American populations. The missions represented the first major effort by [[Europe]]ans to colonize the Pacific Coast region, and gave Spain a valuable toehold in the frontier land. The settlers introduced European livestock, fruits, vegetables, and industry into the region. European contact was a momentous event, which profoundly affected California's native peoples.<ref>Paddison, p. xiv: "''These missionaries, along with the soldiers, merchants, and settlers who emigrated to California before 1848, brought terrible changes to its Indian population''."</ref> In the end, the mission system failed in its objective to convert, educate, and "civilize" the indigenous population in order to transform the California natives into Spanish colonial citizens. <!-- need to better develop this thought train; architecture, literature, other -->Today, the missions are among the state's oldest structures and the most-visited historic monuments.<ref>California Missions Foundation</ref>
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| The current prevailing theory postulates that Paleo-Indians entered the Americas in successive waves from [[Asia]] via a land bridge called "Beringia" that connected eastern [[Siberia]] with present-day [[Alaska]] (when sea levels were significantly lower, due to widespread glaciation) between about 15,000 to 35,000 years ago.<ref>Leffingwell, p. 9</ref> The remains of Arlington Springs Man on Santa Rosa Island are among the traces of a very early habitation in California, dated to the last ice age (Wisconsin glaciation) about 13,000 years ago.<ref>Jones and Klar 2007, p. 53: "''Understanding how and when humans first settled California is intimately linked to the initial colonization of the Americas''."</ref><ref>Oakley, p. 1172</ref> The first humans are therefore thought to have made their homes among the southern valleys of California's coastal mountain ranges some 10,000 to 12,000 years ago; the earliest of these people are known only from archaeological evidence.<ref>Paddison, p. 333: The first undisputable archaeological evidence of human presence in California dates back to ''circa'' 8,000 BCE.</ref><ref>Jones and Klar 2005, pp. 369-400: Recent research suggests that the Chumash may have been visited by Polynesians between 400 and 800 CE, nearly 1,000 years before Columbus reached [[North America]]. Although the concept was generally rejected for decades and remains controversial, studies published in peer-reviewed journals have given the idea greater plausibility.</ref> Over the course of thousands of years, California's diverse group of first settlers (later known as "Indians") evolved into hundreds of separate tribal groups, with an equally diverse range of languages, religions, dress, and other customs.<ref>Margolin, pp. 2-6</ref>
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| ! style="text-align: center;" | [[Spanish missions in California#Notes|notes]]
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Latest revision as of 09:19, 11 September 2020
Paramhansa Yogananda circa 1920.
Paramhansa Yogananda (5 Jan 1893–7 Mar 1952) was one of the first Indian teachers from the Hindu spiritual tradition to reside permanently in the West, and in particular, he was the first to teach yoga to Americans. He emphasized the universality of the great religions, and ceaselessly taught that all religions, especially Hinduism and Christianity, were essentially the same in their essence. The primary message of Yogananda was to practice the scientific technique of kriya yoga to be released from all human suffering.
He emigrated from India to the United States in 1920 and eventually founded the Self-Realization Fellowship there in Los Angeles, California. He published his own life story in a book called Autobiography of a Yogi, first published in 1946. In the book, Yogananda provided some details of his personal life, an introduction to yoga, meditation, and philosophy, and accounts of his world travels and encounters with a wide variety of saints and colorful personalities, including Therese Neumann, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Luther Burbank, and Jagadis C. Bose.
Paramhamsa, also spelled Paramahamsa, is a Sanskrit title used for Hindu spiritual teachers who have become enlightened. The title of Paramhansa originates from the legend of the swan. The swan (hansa) is said to have a mythical ability to sip only the milk from a water-and-milk mixture, separating out the more watery part. The spiritual master is likewise said to be able to live in a world like a supreme (param) swan, and only see the divine, instead of all the evil mixed in there too, which the worldly person sees.
Yogananda is considered by his followers and many religious scholars to be a modern avatar.
In 1946, Yogananda published his Autobiography of a Yogi. It has since been translated into 45 languages, and in 1999 was designated one of the "100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century" by a panel of spiritual authors convened by Philip Zaleski and HarperCollins publishers.
Awake: The Life of Yogananda is a 2014 documentary about Paramhansa Yogananda, in English with subtitles in seventeen languages. The documentary includes commentary by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, among others.[1][2]
