About Paramhansa Yogananda
“As a bright light shining in the midst of darkness, so was Yogananda’s presence in this world. Such a great soul comes on earth only rarely, when there is a real need among men.”
—His Holiness the Shankaracharya of Kanchipuram
Yogananda’s initial impact on Western culture was impressive, but his lasting spiritual legacy has been even greater. His Autobiography of a Yogi, first published in 1946, helped launch a spiritual revolution in the West. Translated into more than fifty languages, it remains a best-selling spiritual classic to this day.
Before embarking on his life’s work, Yogananda received this admonition from his teacher, Swami Sri Yukteswar:
“The West is high in material attainments but lacking in spiritual understanding. It is God’s will that you play a role in teaching mankind the value of balancing the material with an inner, spiritual life.”
In addition to Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda’s spiritual legacy includes extensive commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita and the Christian Bible, showing the principles of Self-realization as the unifying truth underlying all true religions. Through his teachings and his Kriya Yoga path, millions of people around the world have found a new way to connect personally with God.
“Someday,” Swami Kriyananda wrote, “I believe he will be seen as the avatar of Dwapara Yuga: the wayshower for a new age.”
Autobiography of a Yogi
by Paramhansa Yogananda
Yogananda introduced Kriya Yoga to millions through this book, particularly in the chapter ‘The Science of Kriya.’ On first reading, the stories of saints and miracles grab one’s attention. Repeated readings reveal the deep spiritual teachings that Yogananda brought to the world. This is the original edition, just as Yogananda wrote it, unchanged by later editing.
Order the book: U.S. | India
Swami Kriyananda, in Paramhansa Yogananda: A Biography
“Yogananda was a towering giant among saints—one of those few who come from age to age, having been sent by God with the divine mission of guiding mankind out of the fogs of delusion into the clear light of divine understanding. In the best-known Indian scripture, the Bhagavad Gita (“The Lord’s Song”), the statement appears, “O Bharata (Arjuna)! Whenever virtue (dharma, or right action) declines and vice (adharma, or wrong action) is in the ascendant, I (the Supreme Lord) incarnate Myself on earth (as an avatar, or divine incarnation). Appearing from age to age in visible form, I come to destroy evil, and to reestablish virtue.” (IV:7,8) I might add that this is not the first time that this great soul, whom we know as Paramhansa Yogananda, appeared on earth.
“Often and often he told us, “I killed Yogananda many lifetimes ago. No one dwells in this temple now but God.” And the incredible depth of his compassion for suffering mankind is evident in these lines from a poem he wrote, named, “God’s Boatman”:
“Oh! I will come back again and again!
Crossing a million crags of suffering,
With bleeding feet, I will come,
If need be, a trillion times,
As long as I know that
One stray brother is left behind.”
“That compassion is what I saw in his eyes every time I gazed into them deeply. It was no mere sentiment. It was the expression of his soul, as he reached out with yearning to help everyone who came to him with a desire to be lifted toward final liberation in God.”
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