Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
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Autobiography of a Yogi is a popular and highly acclaimed book, now recognized around the world as a classic of spiritual literature. I would recommend this book by Paramahansa Yogananda to anyone who has a spiritual bent of mind and is willing to accept the occult side of life. Here's an enlightened being telling the incredible story of his extraordinary life in the true voice of his own soul. This can well be a life-changing book for you!
About the Book
From the Publisher
As the life story of Swami Yogananda - who is often referred to as the 'Father of Yoga in the West' - the book has touched the hearts and minds of millions around the globe. Translated into many languages, it has served as an ambassador for India's ancient science of Yoga, introducing countless readers to the methods for attaining God-realization that are India's unique and lasting contribution to world civilization.
In 1999, a Harper Collins panel of distinguished authors and scholars selected Autobiography of a Yogi as one of the "100 Best Spiritual Books of the Century."
Alive with all the love, warmth, joy, and wisdom that characterize Paramahansa Yogananda, this masterwork of religious literature includes chapters about:
- The science of Kriya Yoga meditation;
- The law of miracles;
- The lives and missions of Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Swami Sri Yukteswar;
- Yogananda's meetings with Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Ramana Maharshi, Luther Burbank, Therese Neumann, and other spiritual luminaries of East and West
Initially published in 1946 to widespread critical acclaim, Autobiography of a Yogi quickly gained recognition as a literary masterpiece as well as a seminal work in the field of Eastern philosophy.
Before his passing in 1952, Yogananda revised the book - adding extensive material, including the lengthy last chapter. Since then, Self-Realization Fellowship has kept the book in print continuously. A perennial bestseller, it is one of the most widely read and respected books ever published on the wisdom of the East, and is used as a text and reference work in colleges and universities throughout the world.
The Making of Autobiography of a Yogi
From the Introduction to Autobiography of a Yogi
The writing of the work had been prophesied long ago. One of the seminal figures in the renaissance of yoga in modern times, the revered nineteenth-century master Lahiri Mahasaya, had foretold: "About fifty years after my passing, an account of my life will be written because of a deep interest in yoga that will arise in the West. The message of yoga will encircle the globe. It will aid in establishing the brotherhood of man: a unity based on humanity's direct perception of the One Father."
Many years later, Lahiri Mahasaya's exalted disciple Swami Sri Yukteswar related this prophecy to Sri Yogananda. "You must do your part in spreading that message," he declared, "and in writing that sacred life."
It was in 1945, exactly fifty years after Lahiri Mahasaya's passing, that Paramahansa Yogananda completed his Autobiography of a Yogi, which amply fulfilled both of his guru's injunctions: providing the first detailed presentation in English of Lahiri Mahasaya's remarkable life, and introducing to a world audience India's age-old science of the soul.
The creation of Autobiography of a Yogi was a project that Paramahansa Yogananda worked on over a period of many years. Finally, in 1945, the book was completed. Yogananda wrote the last words, "Lord, Thou hast given this monk a large family"; then laid down his pen and joyously exclaimed: " 'All done; it is finished. This book will change the lives of millions. It will be my messenger when I am gone.' "
Tara Mata, advanced disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, then took the manuscript to New York City. But finding a publisher was not an easy task. For a year, Tara Mata lived in a sparsely furnished, unheated cold-water flat while making the rounds of publishing houses. At last she was able to send a cable with news of success. The Philosophical Library, a respected New York publisher, had accepted the Autobiography for publication.
Shortly before Christmas 1946, the long-awaited books reached Mount Washington. The book was greeted by readers and by the world press with an outpouring of appreciative praise. "There has been nothing before, written in English or in any other Euro language, like this presentation of Yoga," wrote Columbia University Press in its Review of Religions. The New York Times proclaimed it "a rare account." Newsweek reported, "Yogananda's book is rather an autobiography of the soul than of the body...It is a fascinating and clearly annotated study of a religious way of life, ingenuously described in the lush style of the Orient."
SOURCE: Self-Realization Fellowship Web site
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A perennial best seller, the book has been in continuous publication since it first appeared and has been translated into many different languages. You can either buy a copy by clicking on the button below or access it online for free:
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