On Feb 13, 2009, at 1:51 PM, John wrote:
Yogananda was referring to a person by the name of Babaji, as I recall. It appears that certain guru traditions in India are still perpetuating this legend for one reason or the other. For me, this story is telling me that there are natural ways to lengthen one's health and longevity, which are diametrically opposed to the current allopathic practices today. Although our society has advanced in technological terms, it has forgotten how to live like a human being.
Long-life practices of the Hindu and Buddhist tantras do exist, are still taught and they do work, but they are not necessarily opposed to allopathic medicine at all. Their mechanism is primarily yogic and although they do combine with the practice of certain rasayanas, there's no reason that I'm aware of to discontinue allopathic medicines while taking them. In fact I know several people who've done the practices while undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
