Frequently Asked Questions

I noticed that though Paramahansa Yogananda wore a nine gem astrological bangle, a three metal bangle and the lead and silver bangle that he refers to in the Autobiography of a Yogi... Self-realization Fellowship only sells the three metal astrological bangle made of gold. Silver and copper. Could you explain why they do not promote the nine gem bangle? And could you also explain how they are different in their effect?

Well obviously I am not authorized to speak for the society Yogananda spent the better part of his incarnation training disciples to carry on. As an SRF member I can venture some observations and allow you to conclude your perspective. Yogananda recommended to certain individuals that they would benefit from wearing a three metal astrological bangle. It is made of three wires of pure gold, silver and copper and is sometimes called (in very bad taste) the Yogananda bangle. Tara Mata, one of his leading disciples, once mentioned in an old edition of East West magazine that gold represented the sun, silver the moon and copper was for Mars.

So right here we have three planets and not the vibratory representations of nine. However metals seem to have a different influence to gemstones. We all know that metals have conductive properties and it is presumed by some that the three metal bangle is especially useful for conducting excessive static of certain types of electricity in the body. Swami Sri Yukteswar wrote in “The Holy Science” that we have five different types of electricity in the body. And on this front I feel that the bangle is a good mechanism for helping to balance out these electricities. Yogananda also mentioned that the astral light of pure metals was beneficial to the wearer. One would assume based on the term astral light that the benefit is not just of the conductive influence but also of the radiating electro magnetic effect. It is interesting to note that those who seem to have physical challenges are the ones that have had the bangle recommended to them over the years by senior SRF monastics. And that SRF is very careful not to allow a slavish attraction develop to the need in getting a bangle.

To read details on how to aquire a three metal bangle click here.

Because they can be very expensive, it can be an awkward thing to recommend.
For example if only one member of the family is in SRF, and say for instance this person is the breadwinner with other financial responsibilities, if they purchase the three metal bangle their spouse may differ assertively that the college education fund for their son should take precedence, etc. Hence it is easy to see why the organization may be obliged to take a very neutral stance on the issue of the usefulness of the three metal astrological bangle so as to not confuse the science of karmic benefit with the personal family issues of the member.

Swami Sri Yukteswar wore an astrological nine gem bangle. It is referenced in Mejda when Richard Wright was asked to guard his body after his mahasamadhi. It has been said that he also asked Yogananda to wear one and that he did so out of obedience to his Guru. However it is well known that Yogananda was very critical to the fatalistic influences of following astrologers as so many of them in his experience were not able to inspire people to change but more inclined to make them blindly inert, too accepting of their karmic pattern.

He never mentioned it that I know of, but I am sure he also would have observed the commonly corrupt practice of astrologers benefiting from selling gemstones via third parties and milking their clients in other such unprofessional ways. As certain practices seem not to die out very readily!

But back to the issue of difference between the bangles. I personally wear both and have observed via the nearly two thousand clients that we have made nine gem bangles for, of which a few hundred have also worn the three metal bangle, that there is a distinct difference between them.

When people wear the three metal bangle sometimes it may heat up as it takes on their electrical field. This is an interesting phenomena that I have observed in several testimonials. I have personally done biofeedback monitoring exercises with very sensitive computer software and noticed that the graphs show my electrical meridians to be more balanced and stronger when wearing it. So I am very happy to have mine and definitely feel it helps me to be more strong and protected, etc.

One story I heard was of a fellow getting blood poisoning in his hand and seeing the dark blood condition spread up his veins towards his shoulder. However when the dark blue color spreading up his veins got to his bangle, it stopped and couldn’t get past it. The doctor seemed to get very excited and called the other doctors to witness the strange phenomenon.

Paramahansa Yogananda wrote a letter to Rajarsi Janakananda encouraging him to wear a three metal bangle and his explanation is very interesting.

It would be a major political hot potato for SRF to promote in any manner the nine gem bangles. They are pricey and it is an area where trust in the integrity of the jewel seller is tantamount. Thus it is a field rife with opportunism, strong opinions, and misinformation.

On our website we go into excessive detail in order to be sure the prospective client does not have unrealistic expectations. And it is for this reason that when I discuss the benefits of bangles I mute testimonial feedback I get from some of the more enthusiastic clients in order to tailor down the expectations. Having said this. The nine gem bangle very clearly works on both the mental and physical bodies. However it is supposed by many that it has far more karmic mitigating influence in the psychological area than the physical.

I would like to give an example here. When Paramahansa Yogananda wrote in the Autobiography of a Yogi.

“By a number of means - by prayer, by will power, by yoga meditation, by consultation with saints, by use of astrological bangles - the adverse effects of past wrongs can be minimized or nullified.

Just as a house can be fitted with a copper rod to absorb the shock of lightning, so the bodily temple can be benefited by various protective measures. Ages ago our yogis discovered that pure metals emit an astral light which is powerfully counteractive to negative pulls of the planets. Subtle electrical and magnetic radiations are constantly circulating in the universe; when a man's body is being aided, he does not know it; when it is being disintegrated, he is still in ignorance. Can he do anything about it?

This problem received attention from our rishis; they found helpful not only a combination of metals, but also of plants and - most effective of all - faultless jewels of not less than two carats. The preventive uses of astrology have seldom been seriously studied outside of India. One little-known fact is that the proper jewels, metals, or plant preparations are valueless unless the required weight is secured, and unless these remedial agents are worn next to the skin."

One will notice that he referenced that the rishis had discovered jewels as being the most effective mechanical method for mitigating karma of all different physical materials. But why is this and how have we seen it to be true?
Well obviously anything physical has limitations and the same is the case with gemstones.

When I sell a bangle that gives mahasamadhi I shall definitely be surprised! Testimonial feedback is the main tool we use as only consciousness can measure consciousness. The seat of all suffering is in the mind. The source of all karma is how the mind reacts to circumstances. Without the ego mind there can be no attached karma.

The electromagnetic radiations of the gemstones touching the skin seem to lessen the impact of how karma attaches itself to the mind.

I have hundreds of examples but will relate one I heard last week from a new client. She worked in an office in New York. She had a supervisor that seemed to relish his authority a little too much and abuse it to the degree that he would be very rude and intimidating. He would even shout and be somewhat abusive. And though she had great, very high paying job offers elsewhere, she didn’t want to leave as this job was close to home and she had so many close friends there. She noticed that for the months before she got the bangle, the once or twice a month that she had to interact with this individual she would go home and take the unpleasantness of the experience with her and dwell on it in a depressed and uncomfortable manner. Usually it would be over before she got to bed but it would still make her evening unpleasant.

After she got the bangle she was very surprised to notice that this fellow didn’t seem to get her goat as much and that she certainly didn’t let if faze her after she left the office.

This is a classic example of how karma works. We think so often that it is what happens to us when if fact it is how we react to what happens to us and this is the what the bangle seems to change by degrees.

I have never extensively heard this type of testimonial feedback from wearers of the three metal bangle. So obviously they must work in different ways.

For more information on the three metal bangle sometimes recommended by Paramahansa Yogananda please click here.

A great way to get further understanding on this subject is to read the page called: What the yoga masters have to say

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