Autobiography of a Yogi
Autobiography of a Yogi is an autobiography of Paramahansa Yogananda first published in 1946. Paramahansa Yogananda was born as Mukunda Lal Ghosh in Gorakhpur, India, into a Bengali Hindu family.
Autobiography of a Yogi introduces the reader to the life of Paramahansa Yogananda and his encounters with spiritual figures of both the Eastern and the Western world. 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 wisdom 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 Mahasaya also known as the Yogiraj and Kashi baba. Before becoming a yogi, Lahiri Mahasaya's actual name was Shyama Charan Lahiri.
It has been in print for seventy years and translated into over fifty languages by Self-Realization Fellowship. It has been highly acclaimed as a spiritual classic including 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." 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. According to Project Gutenberg, the first edition is in public domain and at least five publishers are reprinting it and four post it free for online reading.
Overview
The Autobiography of a Yogi takes the reader on a journey into the spiritual adventures of Paramahansa Yogananda. The book begins by describing Yogananda's childhood family life to his search for his guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, to the establishment of his first school, Yogoda Satsanga Brahmacharya Vidyalaya to his journey to America where he lectured to thousands, established Self-Realization Fellowship and visited with Luther Burbank, a renowned botanist to whom this book is dedicated. The book then takes you on Yogananda's return visit to India in 1935 where he encountered leading spiritual figures such as Therese Neumann in Bavaria, the Hindu saint Ananda Moyi Ma, Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Sir C. V. Raman, and Giri Bala, "the woman yogi who never eats." The reader then returns to the West with Yogananda where he continues to establish his teachings in America including writing this book.The preface was written by Walter Evans-Wentz, an Oxford scholar of anthropology, a writer who was a pioneer in the study of Tibetan Buddhism and an author 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."
Yukteswar Giri, Yogananda's guru, told him about a significant prediction made by Lahiri Mahasaya, Yukteswar's guru. 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.
In 1999, Autobiography of a Yogi was designated as one of the "100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century" by a panel of theologians and luminaries convened by HarperCollins publishers. 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 ..." Autobiography of a Yogi is the most popular of Yogananda's books and SRF has published the book into over fifty languages.
Influence
Autobiography of a Yogi has introduced meditation and yoga to many Westerners since its publication. 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 ... once a year ever since." 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.
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 interest in Vedic culture and Indian-ness began." 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."
Elvis Presley was introduced to Autobiography of a Yogi in 1965 by his hair dresser-turned-guru, Larry Geller. Elvis continued to study the book throughout the 1970s. He left a copy of the book behind in a Nashville hotel room on January 21, 1977. Later on this book was auctioned off with a letter of authenticity
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 ..."
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."
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.'"
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.
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 Shastric scriptures that cover religion, art, social life, medicine, music and architecture. March 3, 1973, Jon Anderson is given a copy of 'Autobiography of a Yogi' by Jamie Muir at Bill Bruford's wedding. Later that month Jon becomes fascinated by a footnote on page 83 and begins writing Tales from Topographic Oceans.
Cholo-goth icon Rafael Reyes credits the book with saving his life and opening him to spiritual self-awareness.
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.
According to Phil Goldberg in his book, The Life Of Yogananda Yogananda's book is known as "the book that changed the lives of millions."
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.
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. According to Project Gutenberg, the first edition of Autobiography of a Yogi is in the public domain in the USA.Many editions of Autobiography of a Yogi have been printed, including the following.
;Philosophical Library
The first four editions in the United States were published by the Philosophical Library.
;Rider
British editions have been published by Rider since 1949.
;Self-Realization Fellowship / Yogoda Satsanga Society of India
Self-Realization Fellowship has published the book in the United States since the 1954 fifth edition.
;Jaico
An Indian edition has been published by Jaico.
;Reprints of the first edition
The first edition, which is in the public domain according to Project Gutenberg, has more recently been reprinted by a number of publishers.
Adaptations and translations
The Autobiography is now available in a Kindle edition. An unabridged audio book version narrated by Ben Kingsley and published by Self-Realization Fellowship is available in English and German. It is also offered as a download from iTunes.Self-Realization Fellowship has translated the book into over fifty languages.