{"id":1952,"date":"2025-11-22T16:39:59","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T16:39:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/?p=1952"},"modified":"2025-11-22T16:39:59","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T16:39:59","slug":"swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-eye-to-eye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-eye-to-eye\/","title":{"rendered":"Swami Kriyananda — As We Have Known Him: Eye to Eye"},"content":{"rendered":"

We were having dinner at Swamiji\u2019s house, about six of us, all old friends who had worked closely with Swamiji for years.<\/strong> A married couple in the community had just announced that they were separating. It was sad news, though not unexpected; their relationship had always been difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cA few months ago,\u201d I said, \u201cI went shopping with her to buy a shirt for her husband. I found one that looked perfect. \u2018This would match his eyes,\u2019 I said. Her reply astonished me. She said, \u2018It would? I don\u2019t know what color his eyes are.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cNo wonder they are getting divorced!” I concluded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been married for years, and she doesn\u2019t even know the color of his eyes!\u201d<\/p>\n

Almost everyone at the table agreed that it was astonishing. Then Swamiji, looking puzzled, said, “I never notice the color of people\u2019s eyes. I don\u2019t look at<\/em> their eyes, I look at them<\/em>, behind their eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Someone quoted the well-known saying, \u201cThe eyes are the window to the soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swamiji continued, \u201cI don\u2019t even know what color Seva\u2019s eyes are.\u201d For years, Seva had been one of his closest friends and co-workers. He saw her nearly every day. Her big brown eyes are almost her defining feature.<\/p>\n

Seva happened to be sitting next to him, so Swamiji turned and looked carefully at her face.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I see,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are brown.\u201d<\/p>\n

He knew her eyes, he would recognize them anywhere, not by their color, but by the goodness and divine aspiration he saw in them. In fact, the first time they met (in this lifetime) in San Francisco, in 1967, from her eyes Swamiji recognized her as an old friend from the past and knew they would be friends again in this lifetime.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We were having dinner at Swamiji\u2019s house, about six of us, all old friends who had worked closely with Swamiji for years. A married couple in the community had just announced that they were separating. It was sad news, though not unexpected; their relationship had always been difficult. \u201cA few months ago,\u201d I said, \u201cI … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSwami Kriyananda — As We Have Known Him: Eye to Eye - Swami Kriyananda: Lightbearer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda hints at how advanced souls see us: not the physical being, but the soul.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yoganandafortheworld.com\/story\/swami-kriyananda-as-we-have-known-him-eye-to-eye\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Swami Kriyananda — As We Have Known Him: Eye to Eye - 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