Other editions of book Autobiography of a Yogi

"Autobiography of a Yogi" is an autobiography of Paramahansa Yogananda (January 5, 1893 March 7, 1952) first published in 1946. Yogananda was born Mukunda Lal Ghosh in Gorakhpur, India into a Bengali family. "Autobiography of a Yogi" introduces the reader to the life of Paramahansa Yogananda and his encounters with spiritual figures of both the East and West. The book begins with his childhood family life, to finding his guru, to becoming a monk and establishing his teachings of Kriya Yoga meditation. The book continues in 1920 when Yogananda accepts an invitation to speak in a religious congress in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He then travels across America lecturing and establishing his teachings in Los Angeles, California. In 1935 he returns to India for a yearlong visit. When he returns to America, he continues to establish his teachings, including writing this book. The book is an introduction to the methods of attaining God-realization and to the spiritual thought of the East, which had only been available to a few in 1946. The author claims that the writing of the book was prophesied long ago by the nineteenth-century master Lahiri Mahasava. (Excerpt from Wikipedia)

In 1946, Paramahansa Yogananda (January 5, 1893–March 7, 1952), published his life story, Autobiography of a Yogi, which introduced many westerners to meditation and yoga. It has since been translated into 25 languages, and the various editions published since its inception have sold over a million copies worldwide. The book describes Yogananda's search for a guru, and his encounters with leading spiritual figures such as Therese Neumann, the Hindu saint Sri Anandamoyi Ma, Mohandas Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Sir C. V. Raman, and noted American plant scientist Luther Burbank, to whom it is dedicated. Amelita Galli-Curci, one of the most famous opera singers of the early twentieth century, said about the book: Amazing, true stories of saints and masters of India, blended with priceless superphysical information–much needed to balance the Western material efficiency with Eastern spiritual efficiency–come from the vigorous pen of Paramhansa Yogananda, whose teachings my husband and myself have had the pleasure of studying for twenty years.

Autobiography of a Yogi is the story of the life of Paramahansa Yogananda (January 5, 1893-March 7, 1952) first published in 1946. Born as Mukunda Lal Ghosh in Gorakhpur, India, into a Bengali family, this book takes the reader on a journey into the life of Paramahansa Yogananda and his encounters with spiritual figures of both the East and West. Beginning from his childhood, his family life, to finding his guru and becoming a monk and establishing his teachings of Kriya Yoga meditation, this book allows the reader to see the spiritual yearning of the man and how he realizes that over the years. It draws on both his personal experiences-anecdotes and meetings with eminent spiritual personalities, his association with nineteenth-century master Lahiri Mahasaya who had prophesized the writing of this book-as well as how he travels across America lecturing and establishing his teachings in Los Angeles, California. Autobiography of a Yogi is an introduction to the methods of attaining God-realization and emphasizes the value of Kriya Yoga and a life of self-respect, calmness, determination, simple diet and regular exercise. It has been in print for the last seventy years and has been translated into over forty languages. It has been highly acclaimed as a spiritual classic and is designated as one of the '100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century.

The value of Yogananda’s Autobiography is greatly enhanced by the fact that it is one of the few books in English about the wise men of India which has been written, not by a journalist or foreigner, but by one of their own race and training--in short, a book about yogis by a yogi. As an eyewitness recountal of the extraordinary lives and powers of modern Hindu saints, the book has importance both timely and timeless. To its illustrious author, whom I have had the pleasure of knowing both in India and America, may every reader render due appreciation and gratitude. 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.