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== '''[[Malthusianism]]''' ==
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'''Malthusianism''' is a theory in [[demography]] regarding population growth. It holds that population expands faster than food supplies. Famine will result unless steps are taken to reduce population growth.
==Footnotes==
===Pre-Malthus notions===
Over the centuries many theorists have considered one or another aspect of population,<ref name=strane1904>Charles Emil Stangeland. (1904, 1955, 1966)  ''Pre-Malthusian Doctrines of Population: A Study in the History of Economic Theory''. Augustus M (1955). | A history of population theories. | [http://www.amazon.com/PRE-MALTHUSIAN-DOCTRINES-POPULATION-HISTwORY-ECONOMIC/dp/B00APO8AFI/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375128619&sr=1-1 Amazon].</ref> usually to promote the policy of more people (“pronatalist.”) The early Christian tradition, however, was “antinatalist”, with the highest prestige going to priests, monks and nuns who were celibate.
 
In the 17th and 18th century the general belief, called "[[mercantilism]]" was that the larger the population the better for the nation.  Larger population meant more farmers and more food,  more people in church (and more prayers), and larger, more powerful armies for deterrence, defense and expansion. People equaled power. As [[Frederick the Great]] of Prussia put it, "The number of the people makes the wealth of states."  The policy implications were clear: the state should help raise population through annexation of territory and pronatalist subsidies that encourage large families.  After 1800, a rising spirit of nationalism called out for more people  to make a bigger and more powerful nation.
 
===Malthus===
English writer Reverend [[Thomas Malthus]] (1766-1834), in the first edition (1798) of his pamphlet, "An Essay on the Principle of Population" turned the received wisdom upside down.  His stunning conclusion was that more people might make it worse for everyone--that overpopulation was bad and unless proper steps were taken, disaster was inevitable.<ref name=mal1798>Malthus TR. (1798) [http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=3275431 An Essay on the Principle of Population by T. R. Malthus]. Produced by Charles Aldarondo.  HTML version by Al Haines. | Title links to full-text online.</ref>  Population growth was exceedingly dangerous, he warned, for it threatened overpopulation and soon we would all starve to death. The British were taking over India at this time, and could see first-hand the horrors associated with overpopulation.
 
 
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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]

Footnotes
  1. ↑ Wikipedia has an article about the 2014 documentary film.
  2. ↑ The IMBd filmography database has a full cast list and other details about the 2014 documentary film.

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