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Letters to the Zoning Administrator Concerning SRF's Request to Create a Private Mausoleum on Mt. Washington Note: Opinions expressed in letters are those of individuals, and not of any organization Dear Mr. Brown, I would like to be able to pay my respects at the holy body of my guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, without having to ask permission from SRF in order to do so. I believe that every disciple of Yogananda who is not affiliated with SRF feels the same way, and there are tens of thousands of us. I believe that the vast majority of people who have ever read the Autobiography of a Yogi feel the same way, and there are tens of millions of us. For several years I was the book buyer for one of the largest spiritual bookstores in America, East West Bookshop, now in Mountain View, California. It astounded me that fifty years after its publication, the Autobiography of a Yogi still outsold every other book in our store. Other books came and went, and managed to outsell it in the weekly or monthly figures, but nothing ever matched it in terms of sustained interest, in our annual and bi-annual figures. The number of people who must be finding inspiration from the life of this great person is truly staggering. The only other book I know of with a similar sustained interest is the bible. I believe that in the future, as the number of people touched by the life of this great person continues to grow, the number of people who will seek out his body and pay homage there will naturally grow also. Seven centuries after the life of St. Francis, over four million people a year are coming to visit the places where he lived, here in Assisi, and to pay their respects at his bodily remains. This is nothing new. The same thing has happened with Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, and countless saints. Something similar happened with Lincoln and Washington. The only thing new is that now this is happening in Los Angeles. I believe that it's in the long-term interests of the city of Los Angeles to keep Yogananda's body in a place that's open to everyone. If any religious organization had control over it, then that organization might be tempted to give their own members favored access, by excluding or restricting non-members. On the other hand, the city of Los Angeles can profit from any and every pilgrim who comes to visit, just as the cities of Assisi, Bethlehem, Jerusalem and others steadily profit from the pilgrims there. But the benefits to these cities are not only economic; the cities are tangibly uplifted by the steady flow of sincere and honest people to them, especially those who feel to settle down. I believe that it's in the interests of religious freedom to keep Yogananda's body open to everyone, and not allow it to be controlled by SRF. Unfortunately, SRF has fallen to the temptation. They seem more inclined to further their own interests by attempting to monopolize Yogananda's divine gifts to mankind, rather than furthering the interests of mankind by sharing Yogananda's gifts with all. Imagine how inspiring it would be to all the followers of Jesus Christ if they could see an actual video of him giving a lecture, and replay it whenever they were feeling discouraged or low. In theory this is possible for the followers of Yogananda, but so far no videos of Yogananda have ever been released to the public. A few videos have been carefully edited and prepared, but they've been shown only during special SRF meetings, with conspicuous rules against anyone attempting to make copies of them via hidden cameras, etc. The power of these videos to draw people to the SRF meetings is apparently worth more to SRF than the inspiration that people, even their own members, might gain from seeing them whenever they wanted. Since SRF has so drastically restricted access to videos, I expect that they would also restrict access to Yogananda's body, especially if they had to meet some quota in order to minimize the burden to their neighbors. I believe that it's in the interests of the residents of Mt. Washington to keep Yogananda's body somewhere else, and to minimize any construction on the mountain top to what is truly needed. The streets are small, and were never built for carrying large numbers of people, nor construction equipment, etc. The holy places that are already on Mt. Washington, such as Yogananda's rooms, furniture, etc., will already attract people in large numbers, without adding to the burden of traffic upon the residents. It is within your power to keep SRF from monopolizing the holy relic of Yogananda's mortal remains. In the interests of all who revere him, in the interests of religious freedom, in the interests of the city of Los Angeles, in the interests of the residents of Mt. Washington, and in the interests of what is righteous and just, I respectfully request that you exercise that power. Sincerely, Dharana
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