Autobiography of a Yogi

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) was first published in 1946 and has since become a much-loved and admired book around the world. It is regarded as one of the classics of 20th-century spiritual literature. In 1999, it was named by a HarperCollins panel of authors and scholars as one of the “100 Best Spiritual Books of the Century.” In the book, Yogananda tells the story of his life, beginning with his childhood and family, his interest from an early age in seeking God, and his relationship with his spiritual master. After meeting his master, Sri Yukteswar, he became a monk. His spiritual understanding matured, and in 1917 Yogananda founded both a school and a spiritual organization: the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India. Three years later, he sailed to the United States, where he founded the Self-Realization Fellowship. From that point until his death in 1952, Yogananda dedicated himself to bringing knowledge of Indian spirituality to the West, primarily through teaching the Kriya Yoga technique. One of Yogananda’s goals was to present Indian spiritual philosophy and techniques in practical, scientific terms that would appeal to his Western audience.

Autobiography of a Yogi relates many anecdotes from Yogananda’s life and from the lives of the many saints and gurus he interacted with. Many of these stories include apparently supernatural phenomena including miraculous healings, divine visions, and premonitions of the future. Yogananda treats these miraculous events as evidence of the essential unity of all things. As such, they aid the spiritual seeker in Realizing the True Nature of the Self, which—in Yogananda’s philosophy—extends beyond the individual self to encompass the universe in its entirety.

For more than 75 years, Autobiography of a Yogi has influenced spiritual seekers all over the world, including Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple Inc., and George Harrison, musician and member of The Beatles. The book has been translated into over 50 languages. From its headquarters in Los Angeles, the Self-Realization Fellowship continues to further Yogananda’s teachings today.

This study guide is based on the 13th edition of Autobiography of a Yogi, published in 1998 by the Self-Realization Fellowship with a preface by W.Y. Evans-Wentz.

Summary

Growing up in Uttar Pradesh, India, around the turn of the 20th century, Mukunda Lal Ghosh feels the desire to seek God from a young age. Both of his parents are devotees of the guru Lahiri Mahasaya, and even as a child he often prays and experiences visions. In high school, he plans a trip to the Himalayas to find a spiritual master, and he also seeks out various saints and learns about their powers. One saint has the ability to be in two places at once; another can manifest specific perfumes, a third used to fight tigers, and a fourth is able to levitate. Mukunda also visits an Indian scientist, Jagadish Chandra (J.C.) Bose, inventor of the crescograph, an instrument that measures the growth—and, Bose claims, the emotional life—of plants. With another saint, Master Mahasaya, he takes a pilgrimage to the Temple of Kali, where he learns about the Divine Mother.

After graduating high school, Mukunda joins a hermitage in Benaras, but he is not happy there. One day, he meets Sri Yukteswar Giri, who will become his spiritual master. Mukunda spends much time at Sri Yukteswar’s ashram in Serampore, near Calcutta, and he also enrolls in college. Under Sri Yukteswar’s tutelage, he makes great spiritual progress. The guru initiates him into the technique of Kriya Yoga. Mukunda also experiences Sri Yukteswar’s miraculous powers. His master can predict the future and heal the sick. Miracles, visions, healing, and the master-disciple relationship thus emerge as themes in the narrative. Mukunda also learns that it is wrong to misuse spiritual powers. After Mukunda graduates from college, Sri Yukteswar initiates him into the Swami Order, and Mukunda adopts the name Yogananda.

Yogananda visits Japan and China. His brother dies and his sister falls dangerously ill but recovers, thanks to the spiritual help he and Sri Yukteswa offer. In 1917, Yogananda founds a school for boys in India. As Yogananda continues to grow in spiritual wisdom, he meets the poet Rabindranath Tagore and visits Srimati Kashi Moni, the wife of his parents’ mentor Lahiri Mahasaya. Moni tells him of miracles that her husband performed. Then, Sri Yukteswar tells of the time when Lahiri Mahasaya raised a man from the dead. Yogananda also learns about Babaji, an immortal guru, whom Sri Yukteswar has met three times.

Yogananda travels to America in 1920 as a delegate to an international congress in Boston. This trip begins a 15-year period in which he travels widely across the United States, speaking about Indian spirituality and teaching Kriya Yoga. He establishes an American headquarters in Los Angeles and becomes friends with botanist Luther Burbank. Returning to Europe, he visits Catholic mystic Therese Neumann. Back in India, Sri Yukteswar dies in 1936, and Yogananda sees his guru’s resurrected form. Yogananda then looks back at his 1935 visit to Mahatma Gandhi and later visits two more female saints before returning to America, where his disciples have built a hermitage for him in Encinitas, California. The Self-Realization Fellowship he founded flourishes in the years 1940 to 1951.