Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda is a spiritual classic published in 1946. It recounts Yogananda's life, his search for his guru, and his teachings on Kriya Yoga. The book has introduced many to meditation and yoga and has been influential in both Eastern and Western spiritual circles. It has been translated into over fifty languages and continues to be widely read. Notable admirers include Steve Jobs, George Harrison, and Elvis Presley.
Paramahansa Yogananda was born as Mukunda Lal Ghosh in Gorakhpur, India, into a BengaliHindu family.[2]Autobiography of a Yogi recounts his life and his encounters with spiritual figures of the Eastern and the Western world. The book begins with his childhood and family life, then finding his guru, becoming a monk and establishing his teachings of Kriya Yoga meditation. The book continues in 1920 when Yogananda accepted an invitation to speak at a religious congress in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He then travelled across the USA lecturing and establishing his teachings in Los Angeles, California. In 1935, he returned to India for a yearlong visit. When he returned to the USA he continued to establish his teachings, including writing this book.
The book is an introduction to the methods of attaining God-realization and the spiritual wisdom of the East, which had only been available to a few before 1946. The author claims that the writing of the book was prophesied by the nineteenth-century master Lahiri Mahasaya (Paramguru of Yogananda).
The book has been in print for seventy-five years and translated into over fifty languages by the Self-Realization Fellowship,[3] a spiritual society established by Yogananda. It has been acclaimed as a spiritual classic, being designated by Philip Zaleski, while he was under the auspices of HarperCollins Publishers, as one of the "100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century."[4][5][6] It is included in the book 50 Spiritual Classics: Timeless Wisdom from 50 Great Books of Inner Discovery, Enlightenment and Purpose by Tom Butler-Bowdon.[7] According to Project Gutenberg, the first edition is in the public domain, [8] at least five publishers are reprinting it and four post it free for online reading.
Overview
Looking north along Swami's beach in Encinitas, showing part of the Self Realization Fellowship's ashram on the point, including (on the left) the hermitage where Yogananda wrote Autobiography of a Yogi
Autobiography of a Yogi examines the life and spiritual development of Paramahansa Yogananda. The book describes Yogananda's childhood family life, his search for his guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri,[9] the establishment of his first school, Yogoda Satsanga Brahmacharya Vidyalaya,[10] and his journey to America where he lectured to thousands,[11] established Self-Realization Fellowship[12] and visited Luther Burbank,[13] a renowned botanist to whom the book is dedicated. The book then describes Yogananda's return visit to India in 1935, where he encountered leading spiritual figures such as Therese Neumann[14][15] in Bavaria, the Hindu saint Ananda Moyi Ma,[16]Mahatma Gandhi,[17]Rabindranath Tagore,[18]Nobel Prize-winning physicist Sir C. V. Raman,[19] and Giri Bala, "the woman yogi who never eats."[20] Finally, Yogananda describes his return to the West, where he continued to establish his teachings in America, including the writing of the Autobiography.
The preface was written by anthropologist Walter Evans-Wentz, a writer who was a pioneer in the study of Tibetan Buddhism in the west, most notably through his translations of The Tibetan Book of the Dead and Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa. In the preface he wrote, "His unusual life-document is certainly one of the most revealing of the depths of the Hindu mind and heart, and of the spiritual wealth of India, ever to be published in the West."[21]
Yukteswar Giri, Yogananda's guru, told him about a significant prediction made by Lahiri Mahasaya, Yukteswar's guru.[22] Yukteswar heard him say, "About fifty years after my passing," he said, "my life will be written because of a deep interest in yoga which the West will manifest. The yogic message will encircle the globe, and aid in establishing that brotherhood of man which results from direct perception of the One Father." In 1945, fifty years after Lahiri Mahasaya's passing in 1895, the Autobiography was complete and ready for publication.
Influence
A 1920 photograph published in Autobiography of a Yogi, showing Yogananda attending a religious congress upon his arrival in the United States
In 1999, Autobiography of a Yogi was designated one of the "100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century" by a panel of theologians and luminaries convened by HarperCollins publishers.[4] According to Philip Goldberg, who wrote American Veda, "...the Self-Realization Fellowship, which represents Yogananda's Legacy, is justified in using the slogan, 'The Book that Changed the Lives of Millions.' It has sold more than four million copies and counting..."[23]Autobiography of a Yogi is the most popular of Yogananda's books and SRF has published the book in over fifty languages.[24]
Autobiography of a Yogi has introduced meditation and yoga to many Westerners since its publication.[25] Its success has also made Yogananda a distinguished figure in India, where commemorative stamps were issued in 2017 to honor him.[26]
The book has many famous advocates, particularly in the business and entertainment communities. One of the most famous advocates of the book was Steve Jobs, the co-founder, and formerly Chairman and CEO of Apple Inc. Jobs "first read Autobiography of a Yogi as a teenager, then re-read [the book] ... once a year ever since."[27]Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com, told his story of attending Steve Jobs' memorial service, where the attendees were handed a small brown box on their way out. "This is going to be good," he thought. "I knew that this was a decision he made, and whatever it was, it was the last thing he wanted us all to think about." The box contained a copy of the book.[28]
George Harrison, lead guitarist of the Beatles, received his first copy of Autobiography of a Yogi from Ravi Shankar in 1966 and, according to Shankar, "that was where his (George Harrison's) interest in Vedic culture and Indian-ness began."[29]Gary Wright, who wrote the song Dream Weaver, wrote: "In 1972, my friend George Harrison invited me to accompany him on a trip to India. A few days before we left, he gave me a copy of the book Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. Needless to say the book inspired me deeply, and I became totally fascinated with Indian culture and philosophy. My trip was an experience I will never forget."[30]
Elvis Presley was introduced to Autobiography of a Yogi in 1965 by his hair dresser-turned-guru, Larry Geller.[31] Elvis continued to study the book throughout the 1970s. He left a copy of the book behind in a Nashville hotel room on 21 January 1977. Later on this book was auctioned off with a letter of authenticity[32]
The actress Mariel Hemingway says that she was introduced to the Autobiography of a Yogi by Peter Evans, a direct disciple of Yogananda. She was "mesmerized by the Autobiography of a Yogi and loved the whole great Hindu tradition of spiritual seeking..."[33]
The actor Dennis Weaver gave a copy of the book to Linda Evans, saying that it had changed his life. Evans says that, "Because of Dennis, I took the first step in what would become a life long spiritual journey."[34]
Andrew Weil, director of the program in Integrative Medicine at University of Arizona, wrote the book Eating Well for Optimum Health. He mentioned reading the Autobiography of a Yogi, which he said, "awakened in me an interest in yoga and Indian religious philosophies." He continued, "It is filled with wondrous tales from an exotic land, none more amazing than that of Giri Bala, 'a woman yogi who never eats.'"[35]
The work has also attracted less favourable comments. Srinivas Aravamudan has described its contents as "miracle-infested territory" whose "single most memorable feature... is a repetitive insistence on collocating the miraculous and the quotidian.... The autobiography is an eclectic directory of sorts that might be dubbed a hitchhiker's guide to the paranormal galaxy." Aravamudan notes the "aggressive marketing" of the Yogoda Satsang and Self-Realization Fellowship, that Yogananda himself "worked the mass media" and used a technique described as "Guru English". He notes that Yogananda was the collator of the testimonials that purport to validate the miracles described, which appear at a rate of around one per page.[36]
According to Chris Welch and the liner notes on the album, Tales From Topographic Oceans, a concept album recorded by Yes, the progressive rock group, was inspired by "a lengthy footnote on page 83" of Autobiography of a Yogi. The footnote describes four Shastricscriptures that cover religion, art, social life, medicine, music and architecture. On 3 March 1973, Jon Anderson was given a copy of Autobiography of a Yogi by Jamie Muir at Bill Bruford's wedding. Anderson became particularly fascinated by the footnote on page 83, which inspired him to write much of the material for Tales from Topographic Oceans.[37]
Cholo-goth icon Rafael Reyes credits the book with saving his life and opening him to spiritual self-awareness.[38]
James Dudley, in his book Library Journal: Autobiography of a Yogi, wrote: "Yogananda's masterly storytelling epitomizes the Indian oral tradition with its wit, charm, and compassionate wisdom."[39]
Phil Goldberg, in his book The Life of Yogananda, states that Autobiography of a Yogi is "the book that changed the lives of millions".[40]
Today, reading Autobiography of a Yogi has become an unofficial prerequisite for prospective students of the Self-Realization Fellowship's "Lessons for Home Study", a set of lessons, reflections, and assignments that one may read and apply before being initiated into Kriya Yoga.[41]
Editions
The Autobiography of a Yogi was first printed in December 1946 by Philosophical Library, who printed it until 1953. In October 1953, Self-Realization Fellowship, Yogananda's organization, acquired the rights to the book and have been printing the book ever since, including translating it into over fifty languages.[24][42] According to Project Gutenberg, the first edition of Autobiography of a Yogi is in the public domain in the USA.[8]
Many editions of Autobiography of a Yogi have been printed, including the following.[43]
Philosophical Library
The first four editions in the United States were published by the Philosophical Library.
Autobiography of a Yogi (1sted.). New York: The Philosophical Library. 1946. 498 pages. LCCN47000544.
Autobiography of a Yogi (2nded.). New York: The Philosophical Library. 1949.
Autobiography of a Yogi (3rd, enlargeded.). New York: The Philosophical Library. 1951. OCLC6847023.
Autobiography of a Yogi (4thed.). New York: The Philosophical Library. 1952. OCLC7102414.
Self-Realization Fellowship / Yogoda Satsanga Society of India
Self-Realization Fellowship has published the book in the United States since the fifth edition in 1954.
Autobiography of a Yogi (5thed.). Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship. 1954. 501 pages. OCLC271420169.
Autobiography of a Yogi (6thed.). Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship. 1955. 514 pages. OCLC546634.
Autobiography of a Yogi (7thed.). Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship. 1956. 514 pages. OCLC459188400.
Autobiography of a Yogi. New Delhi, India: Pharos Books Private Limited. 2019 [1946]. ISBN978-93-898-4309-5.
Autobiography of a Yogi. New Delhi, India: Prakash Book Depot. 2014 [1946]. ISBN978-81-7234-536-5.
Autobiography of a Yogi. New Delhi, India: Sterling Publishers. 2003 [1946]. ISBN978-81-207-2524-9.
Adaptations and translations
The Autobiography is now available in a Kindle edition.[44] An unabridged audio book (15 CDs) version narrated by Ben Kingsley and published by Self-Realization Fellowship (2004) is available in English and German ( ISBN0-87612-095-8). It is also offered as a download from iTunes.
Self-Realization Fellowship has translated the book into over fifty languages.[24]
Paramahansa Yogananda was an Indian-American Hindu monk, yogi and guru who introduced millions to meditation and Kriya Yoga through his organization, Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) / Yogoda Satsanga Society (YSS) of India – the only one he created to disseminate his teachings. A chief disciple of the yoga guru Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, he was sent by his lineage to spread the teachings of yoga to the West. He immigrated to the US at the age of 27 to prove the unity between Eastern and Western religions and to preach a balance between Western material growth and Indian spirituality. His longstanding influence in the American yoga movement, and especially the yoga culture of Los Angeles, led him to be considered by yoga experts as the "Father of Yoga in the West". He lived his last 32 years in the US.
Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri is the monastic name of Priya Nath Karar, an Indian monk and yogi, and the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda and Swami Satyananda Giri. Born in Serampore, West Bengal, Sri Yukteswar was a Kriya yogi, a Jyotishi, a scholar of the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads, an educator, author, and astronomer. He was a disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya of Varanasi and a member of the Giri branch of the Swami order. As a guru, he had two ashrams, one in Serampore and another in Puri, Odisha, between which he alternated his residence throughout the year as he trained disciples.
Shyama Charan Lahiri, best known as Lahiri Mahasaya, was an Indian yogi and guru who founded the Kriya Yoga school. He was a disciple of Mahavatar Babaji. According to the book America's Alternative Religions by Timothy Miller, Lahiri Mahasaya's life was described in Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi as a demonstration of the spiritual attainment that could be achieved by a householder "living fully in the world". A part of Lahiri Mahasaya's face is pictured on the cover of The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) is a worldwide religious organization founded in 1920 by Paramahansa Yogananda, the Indian guru who authored Autobiography of a Yogi. Before moving to the United States, Yogananda began his spiritual work in India in 1917 and named it Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (YSS). He moved to the West in 1920 and in 1925 established SRF's headquarters at Mount Washington, Los Angeles, California. Before his return visit to India in 1935, he legally incorporated SRF in the United States, designating it as the only organization to carry on his work – to care for and disseminate his teachings.
Mahavatar Babaji is the Himalayan yogi and guru who taught Kriya Yoga to Lahiri Mahasaya (1828–1895). Babaji first became recognized through the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda, who devoted a chapter of his Autobiography of a Yogi to Babaji and founded Self-Realization Fellowship, a modern yoga movement that Babaji is associated with. The cave where Babaji met Lahiri Mahasaya, located near Ranikhet, is now a tourist attraction and place of pilgrimage in India.
Kriya Yoga is a yoga system which consists of a number of levels of pranayama, mantra, and mudra, intended to rapidly accelerate spiritual development and engender a profound state of tranquility and God-communion. It is described by its practitioners as an ancient yoga system revived in modern times by Lahiri Mahasaya, who claimed to be initiated by a guru, Mahavatar Babaji, circa 1861 in the Himalayas. Kriya Yoga was brought to international awareness by Paramahansa Yogananda's book Autobiography of a Yogi and through Yogananda's introductions of the practice to the West from 1920.
Kriyananda was an American Hindu religious leader, yoga guru, meditation teacher, musician, and author. He was a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda and founder of the spiritual movement named "Ananda". He wrote numerous songs and dozens of books. According to the LA Times, the main themes of his work were compassion and humility, but he was a controversial figure. Kriyananda and Ananda were sued for copyright issues, sexual harassment, and later, for alleged fraud and labor-law violations.
Paramahamsa, also spelled paramahansa or paramhansa, is a Sanskrit religio-theological title of honour applied to Hindu spiritual teachers who have become enlightened. The title literally means "supreme swan". The swan is equally at home on land and on water; similarly, the true sage is equally at home in the realms of matter and of spirit. To be in divine ecstasy and simultaneously to be actively wakeful is the paramahamsa state; the 'royal swan' of the soul floats in the cosmic ocean, beholding both its body and the ocean as manifestations of the same Spirit. The word 'Paramahamsa' signifies one who is Awakened in all realms. Paramahamsa is the highest level of spiritual development in which a union with ultimate reality has been attained by a sannyasi.
Daya Mata, born Rachel Faye Wright, was the third president and religious leader of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (SRF/YSS). SRF/YSS is the only spiritual organization founded by her guru, Paramahansa Yogananda, to disseminate his teachings. She was president of SRF/YSS for over 55 years until her death in 2010.
Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (YSS) is a non-profit, nonsectarian spiritual organization founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1917 and is a part of the Self-Realization Fellowship which was founded in 1920 to care for and disseminate his teachings. The current president of the SRF/YSS is Brother Chidananda. Paramahansa Yogananda is most noted for his 1946 book Autobiography of a Yogi which became an international bestseller and featured in the 100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century by HarperCollins.
Dihika is a neighbourhood in Asansol of Paschim Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is governed by Asansol Municipal Corporation
World Brotherhood Colonies are communities based on an idea envisioned by Paramahansa Yogananda, the Indian-American yogi who authored Autobiography of a Yogi and founded Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) / Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (YSS). During the Great Depression in the United States, he encouraged readers of his East-West magazine to pool money to buy land where they could practice meditation and simple living in self-sufficient communities.
Satyananda Giri, is the monastic name of Manamohan Mazumder, an Indian monk and a monastic disciple of Kriya Yoga guru Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri. He was a close childhood friend of, and brother-disciple to, Paramahansa Yogananda. In his later monastic life, he served as the leader of several yoga training institutions in east India.
Ananda Yoga, or Ananda Yoga for Higher Awareness is a system of Hatha Yoga established by Kriyananda, a Western disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, and is based on Yogananda's Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) and Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (YSS) teachings. Ananda Yoga emphasizes inner awareness; energy control; and the experience of each asana as a natural expression of a higher state of consciousness, which is enhanced by the use of affirmations.
Flora Di Conti, of Tavullia, Italy was an early direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, the first Kriya Yoga Guru to come to the United States from India and the founder of Self-Realization Fellowship. She met Swami Yogananda in 1924 at one of his lectures in New York City, four years after he first came to America, and before he began taking what he called "Spiritual Campaigns", cross-country tours down the East Coast and then throughout the United States, to lecture on Kriya Yoga and Hindu Meditation.
This is a bibliography of the works of Paramahansa Yogananda, published by his worldwide spiritual organization Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India. He began his spiritual work in India in 1917 and named it Yogoda Satsanga Society of India. When he came to the United States in 1920, he founded Self-Realization Fellowship. Today the international headquarters of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India is in Los Angeles, California.
God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita is a posthumously published non-fiction book by the Indian yogi and guru Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952). It is a two-volume work containing an English translation and commentary of the Bhagavad Gita. It explicates the Bhagavad Gita's psychological, spiritual, and metaphysical elements. It was originally published in 1995 in Los Angeles by the Self Realization Fellowship, and later published in other countries and languages. The book is significant in that unlike other explications of the Bhagavad Gita, which focused on karma yoga, jnana yoga, and bhakti yoga in relation to the Gita, Yogananda's work stresses the training of one's mind, or raja yoga. The full title of the two-volume work is God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita – Royal Science of God Realization – The Immortal Dialogue between Soul and Spirit – A New Translation and Commentary.
Bishnu Charan Ghosh was an Indian bodybuilder and Hathayogi. He was the younger brother of yogi Paramahansa Yogananda, who wrote the 1946 book Autobiography of a Yogi. In 1923, he founded the College of Physical Education, Calcutta. His writings influenced the development of modern yoga as exercise in India and Bikram Choudhury founded Bikram Yoga based on his teachings.
The Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) Encinitas Hermitage and Meditation Gardens is a religious center and tourist attraction in Encinitas, California, United States, created by Paramahansa Yogananda in the 1930s. Its Golden Lotus Tower rises above the white wall along Highway 101 near Swami's Seaside Park. The meditation gardens are open to the public, and the compound also contains a monastic ashram that is home to SRF monks, nuns, and male postulants.
↑ Butler-Bowdon, Tom (2005). 50 Spiritual Classics: Timeless Wisdom from 50 Great Books of Inner Discovery, Enlightenment and Purpose. Nicholas Brealey Publishing. ISBN978-1857883497.
Goldberg, Philip (2018). The Life of Yogananda. Hay House, Inc. p.270. ISBN978-1-4019-5218-1. For further reading on the subject of editions, page 270.
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