{"id":99538,"date":"2023-04-20T07:57:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-20T11:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=99538"},"modified":"2023-04-20T09:38:25","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T13:38:25","slug":"autobiography-of-a-yogi-paramahansa-yogananda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/autobiography-of-a-yogi-paramahansa-yogananda\/","title":{"rendered":"Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda: Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Want an overview of Autobiography of a Yogi<\/em> by Paramahansa Yogananda? Who is Yogananda and what is he best known for? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Autobiography of a Yogi <\/em>by Paramahansa Yogananda is a memoir of one of the world’s most famous yoga practitioners and teachers. Yogananda is best known for bringing kriya yoga to the US and thereby creating a spiritual connection between the West and India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on for a brief overview Paramahansa Yogananda’s book Autobiography of a Yogi<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Paramahansa Yogananda: Autobiography of a Yogi<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Autobiography of a Yogi<\/em><\/a>, Paramahansa Yogananda shares his memoirs as one of the world\u2019s most famous yoga practitioners and teachers. It provides practical lessons about yoga, spirituality, and how to live a good life<\/a>, interspersed with highlights and anecdotes from the author\u2019s life. It was reportedly Steve Jobs\u2019s favorite book<\/a>: He found such great value in Autobiography of a Yogi <\/em>that he read it once a year and had 500 copies distributed at his funeral. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yogananda (1893-1952) is best known for bringing kriya yoga to the US\u2014he taught thousands of American students and thereby created a spiritual connection between the West and his homeland of India. Yogananda also founded the Self-Realization Fellowship, a spiritual organization that now has over 500 locations globally. Between the schools he founded and the books he wrote, Yogananda ensured that his teachings reached millions of people all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Yoga?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To better understand Paramahansa Yogananda\u2019s life and his accomplishments, we\u2019ll start by exploring some of yoga\u2019s key beliefs and practices, according to the descriptions in Autobiography of a Yogi<\/em>. Then, we\u2019ll explain what distinguishes kriya from other forms of yoga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yogananda explains that yoga is a religious practice that originated in Hinduism. It\u2019s linked to Hindu teachings surrounding illusion and reality. The Vedas<\/em> (the oldest Hindu scriptures) describe God as the only reality in the universe\u2014thus, Hinduism teaches that all physical things, including you as an individual being, are illusions. These illusions are collectively called maya<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word yoga means \u201cunion with God.\u201d <\/strong>Yoga is designed to help you recognize and reject maya while accepting God. In doing so, you stop thinking of yourself as an individual, and you instead become a conduit for God\u2019s knowledge, will, and power. Someone who achieves this is said to be enlightened. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With enough training and spiritual growth<\/a>, a yogi can break through the illusions of maya and enter a state called samadhi<\/em>, where their individual consciousness temporarily merges with God. Yogananda describes samadhi as a state of perfect bliss and total awareness\u2014a yogi who enters samadhi sees and experiences the entire universe all at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yogananda says that the strength of a yogi\u2019s connection with God is measured by the intensity of their bliss while in samadhi<\/strong>\u2014stronger feelings of bliss indicate a stronger connection and therefore greater progress in yoga. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Kriya Yoga?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In Autobiography of a Yogi<\/em>, Paramahansa Yogananda explains that kriya yoga is a particular style of yoga that heavily emphasizes pranayama: breathing exercises<\/a> and controlling your inner life energy (prana). <\/strong>All forms of yoga include pranayama, but not to the same extent as kriya. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yogananda explains that these breathing exercises remove toxins from the blood, which allows life energy to flow more freely. You might picture pranayama as removing trash (toxins) that\u2019s blocking the flow of a river (blood and life energy). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once your life energy is flowing freely, Yogananda continues, you must then focus it around your central nervous system (spine and brain), which boosts your natural ability to perceive and understand God. In other words, these exercises are designed to help you reach enlightenment<\/a> more quickly by strengthening your mind and body. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yogananda\u2019s Birth and Early Childhood<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Paramahansa Yogananda notes in Autobiography of a Yogi<\/em> that his birth was prophesied by a Bengali guru named Lahiri Mahasaya.<\/strong> The prophecy said that Yogananda would become a great yogi and undertake an important spiritual mission, though it didn\u2019t specify what that mission would be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man who would become Paramahansa Yogananda was originally named Mukunda Lal Ghosh. He was born on January 5, 1893, in the city of Gorakhpur, India. (Shortform note: Although the author was known as Mukunda in childhood, this guide will refer to him as Yogananda throughout to avoid confusion.)  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even as a young child, Yogananda had frequent spiritual experiences, such as prophetic dreams and visions.<\/strong> He also demonstrated supernatural abilities, such as causing other children\u2019s kites to fly over to him simply by exerting his will upon them. Furthermore, Yogananda remembered his previous lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Running Away From Home<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Yogananda, eager to begin his spiritual training, frequently ran away from home. Each time, he planned to either look for a guru or to make a pilgrimage to the sacred Himalayan mountains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, no matter how many times he tried, he never made it far from home. Yogananda explains that he failed because it wasn\u2019t the right time for him\u2014his destined teacher hadn\u2019t appeared yet, so God and fate blocked him from beginning his spiritual journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Prophecy and the Amulet<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In addition to foretelling Yogananda\u2019s birth, Mahasaya gave a second prophecy: Yogananda\u2019s mother would receive an amulet, which she would pass to Yogananda after her death. Yogananda would then carry the amulet\u2014and<\/strong> when the amulet disappeared, it would be time for Yogananda to meet his guru. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prophecy came true. Yogananda\u2019s mother left the amulet to him when she died. It was one of Yogananda\u2019s most precious possessions, and he kept it in a locked box, except for brief times when he wanted to look at it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, one day, Yogananda opened the box to find that the amulet was gone. That same day, seemingly by chance, he met Sri Yukteswar Giri\u2014a swami who would become his guru.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yogananda\u2019s Education<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To fulfill his destiny, Paramahansa Yogananda needed to learn a great deal about both the spiritual and the physical world. In this section, we\u2019ll discuss his studies of kriya yoga with Sri Yukteswar, as well as the education he received at Calcutta University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Yukteswar: The Prophesied Teacher<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Paramahansa Yogananda\u2014still called Mukunda at the time\u2014says in Autobiography of a Yogi<\/em> that he and Yukteswar felt a spiritual connection before they even spoke to each other. Both of them knew immediately that they were destined to become student and teacher. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yogananda says he lived and studied at Yukteswar\u2019s ashram <\/em>(religious community) from 1910 to 1920. <\/strong>Despite being his teacher, Yukteswar rarely told Yogananda what to do or directly answered his questions\u2014instead, he offered gentle guidance and helped Yogananda find the answers himself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to offering spiritual training, Yukteswar taught the value of living and participating in daily life. Yukteswar had great respect for people with practical skills, from handymen to artisans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yogananda explains that this appreciation for the mundane was unusual for a spiritual leader like Yukteswar. However, it provided his students with a more well-rounded education<\/a> and a better understanding of the world. <\/strong>This is important because understanding the physical world is a key step toward understanding that the physical isn\u2019t real\u2014a core tenet of Hinduism\u2014and thereby reaching enlightenment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Yogananda completed his training, Yukteswar initiated him into the Swami Order. Ordinarily, the initiate\u2019s guru chooses a new name for him to reflect his spiritual journey or some exceptional quality he displays. However, with his characteristic emphasis on gentle guidance, Yukteswar simply told Yogananda to choose his own name. This was when he took the name Yogananda, meaning \u201cbliss through union with God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yogananda\u2019s Worldly Education<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In addition to receiving training in kriya yoga, Yogananda earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Calcutta University in 1915. <\/strong>Yukteswar had encouraged him to go to university; he\u2019d foreseen that Yogananda would teach yoga in America<\/a> and said that Westerners would listen more readily to somebody with a degree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, though he did get his degree, Yogananda says that he was always too focused on his spiritual training to study. In fact, he only passed his final exams by a series of seemingly impossible coincidences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Yogananda had a friend make up questions about the exam material to quiz him, and then those same questions appeared\u2014nearly word for word\u2014on the finals. On another exam, he failed to answer so many questions that it should\u2019ve been impossible for him to pass, but the passing grade for that subject was unexpectedly lower that same year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yogananda says that these strokes of luck weren\u2019t actually luck at all, but were due to the spiritual power of yoga.<\/strong> In other words, he believes that God helped him shape events to his benefit so that he would graduate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yogananda Passes on His Knowledge<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Paramahansa Yogananda had become an accomplished yogi, but his mission in life was far from over\u2014according to Autobiography of a Yogi<\/em>, he\u2019s remembered as a great teacher, not just a great practitioner of yoga. In this section, we\u2019ll discuss the schools Yogananda founded and his legacy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yogananda says that, throughout his life, he\u2019d received visions of three different buildings. While studying with Yukteswar, he came to understand that these were three schools he would found. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first third of his vision came true when he founded the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India in 1917, near the city of Ranchi. However, it would be many years before the other two schools from his visions became reality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yogananda says that his schools combined spiritual and practical education, much like his own training with Yukteswar did. The school in Ranchi, for example, taught students academic subjects like math and literature, along with offering classes in agriculture, industrial job training, and business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even when teaching yoga, Yogananda couched his lessons in practical terms\u2014he taught what he calls the science of kriya yoga, which explains yoga\u2019s seemingly impossible effects using biology and physics. <\/strong>For example, he taught that the human body functions much like a battery; certain yoga techniques connect you with God\u2019s infinite energy to recharge that battery, thereby explaining why some yogis don\u2019t seem to need sleep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Yukteswar foretold that this well-rounded approach to teaching yoga would bridge the gap between Eastern and Western cultures\u2014people who would normally be skeptical<\/a> about spiritual practices would listen to a college-educated man explaining those practices and their benefits in scientific terms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The End of Yogananda\u2019s Life<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Paramahansa Yogananda ends Autobiography of a Yogi<\/em> in 1945, at the end of World War II. He explains that he and the other residents of the Encinitas ashram came together to thank God for bringing peace and pray that the world would never know such strife again. Yogananda looked at the assembled yogis and remarked that he\u2014a monk sworn to celibacy\u2014had been blessed with an enormous family. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yogananda died in 1952. His funeral service, held in Los Angeles, attracted hundreds of people who came to pay their last respects to the great teacher and spiritual leader. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Want an overview of Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda? Who is Yogananda and what is he best known for? Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda is a memoir of one of the world’s most famous yoga practitioners and teachers. Yogananda is best known for bringing kriya yoga to the US and thereby creating a spiritual connection between the West and India. Read on for a brief overview Paramahansa Yogananda’s book Autobiography of a Yogi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":18027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,33,6],"tags":[990],"class_list":["post-99538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-people","category-spiritual","tag-autobiography-of-a-yogi","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nAutobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda: Recap - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Want an overview of Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi? 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