Autobiography of a Yogi

Autobiography of a YogiParamahansa Yogananda1946 Autobiography of a Yogi is an autobiography of Paramahansa Yogananda (January 5 1893-March 7 1952) 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 (Paramguru of Yogananda) also known as the Yogiraj and Kashi baba. Before becoming a yogi Lahiri Mahasayas 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.The Autobiography of a Yogi takes the reader on a journey into the spiritual adventures of Paramahansa Yogananda. The book begins by describing Yoganandas 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.