The Book That Sparked a Spiritual Revolution
Autobiography of a Yogi: a first-hand account of the life experiences of Paramhansa Yogananda, a spiritual master, this book has sold millions of copies and is beloved around the world by those interested in yoga and spirituality.
Available in 19 Languages
Printed
Paperback, 516 pages
Audiobook
Audiobook, 19 hours
Digital
Kindle Edition, only $14.99
Online edition, free
Read Free Online
“Imagine Christ, Buddha, or Krishna telling their life story in their own words. That’s what you get when you read Yogananda’s Autobiography of aYogi."
- Richard Salva, author
About This Edition
This is the original edition of Autobiography of a Yogi, just as Yogananda wrote it, without the hundreds of changes made to editions published after Yogananda’s passing in 1952.
Utmost care has been taken to make this the most accurate reprint ever published.
Learn more
Table of Contents
- My Parents and Early Life
- My Mother’s Death and the Mystic Amulet
- The Saint With Two Bodies
- My Interrupted Flight Toward the Himalayas
- A “Perfume Saint” Displays His Wonders
- The Tiger Swami
- The Levitating Saint
- India’s Great Scientist, J. C. Bose
- The Blissful Devotee and His Cosmic Romance
- I Meet My Master, Sri Yukteswar
- Two Penniless Boys in Brindaban
- Years in My Master’s Hermitage
- The Sleepless Saint
- An Experience in Cosmic Consciousness
- The Cauliflower Robbery
- Outwitting the Stars
- Sasi and the Three Sapphires
- A Mohammedan Wonder-Worker
- My Master, in Calcutta, Appears in Serampore
- We Do Not Visit Kashmir
- We Visit Kashmir
- The Heart of a Stone Image
- I Receive My University Degree
- I Become a Monk of the Swami Order
- Brother Ananta and Sister Nalini
- The Science of Kriya Yoga
- Founding a Yoga School in Ranchi
- Kashi, Reborn and Rediscovered
- Rabindranath Tagore and I Compare Schools
- The Law of Miracles
- An Interview with the Sacred Mother
- Rama is Raised from the Dead
- Babaji, the Yogi-Christ of Modern India
- Materializing a Palace in the Himalaya
- The Christlike Life of Lahiri Mahasaya
- Babaji’s Interest in the West
- I Go to America
- Luther Burbank — A Saint Amidst the Roses
- Therese Neumann, the Catholic Stigmatist
- I Return to India
- An Idyl in South India
- Last Days with My Guru
- The Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar
- With Mahatma Gandhi at Wardha
- The Bengali “Joy-Permeated Mother”
- The Woman Yogi Who Never Eats
- I Return to the West
- At Encinitas in California
Rabindranath Tagore and I Compare Schools
About two years after founding the Ranchi school, I received...
Read More
Paramhansa Yogananda
The Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar
For the first time in my life I did not...
Read More
Paramhansa Yogananda
Trailanga Swami
Lahiri Mahasaya had a very famous friend, Swami Trailanga, who...
Read More
Paramhansa Yogananda
I Meet My Master, Sri Yukteswar
“Merciful Mother of the Universe, teach me Thyself through visions,...
Read More
Paramhansa Yogananda
My Transformational Fast
Whether famishment gleamed in my eye, I knew not. That...
Read More
Paramhansa Yogananda
My Sister Nalini
Soon after Ananta’s passing, my younger sister Nalini was brought...
Read More
Paramhansa Yogananda
My Saintly Parents
Both were blessed with saintly nature. Their mutual love, tranquil...
Read More
Paramhansa Yogananda
Lahiri Mahasaya’s Enigmatic Photograph
One of my most precious possessions is that same photograph....
Read More
Paramhansa Yogananda
What Is Behind the Darkness of Closed Eyes?
“What is behind the darkness of closed eyes?” This probing...
Read More
Paramhansa Yogananda
I Am Healed by Lahiri Mahasaya
Lahiri Mahasaya left this world shortly after I had entered...
Read More
Paramhansa Yogananda
Explore Autobiography of a Yogi
Stories and Insights from a Spiritual Classic
A Vision of America
The Bengali "Joy-Permeated Mother"
Babaji's Divine Permission
Two Penniless Boys in Brindaban
Christmas and the Silver Cup
A Poem by Mirabai
What is Behind the Darkness of Closed Eyes?
Sri Yukteswar Expounds on the Bible
More Stories
Share Your Own Story
What Makes Autobiography of a Yogi So Great?
Adapted from an answer on Quora by Nabha Cosley • January 9, 2016
A book about masters of yoga and saints, written by someone who was himself a master of yoga and a saint. This is an unusual, unique book.
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda talks about miracles, the yogic teachings, and the teachings of Jesus Christ in a modern way — a way that is easy to understand and even entertaining. For someone interested in spirituality, or even just alternate ways of looking at life, it’s incredibly illuminating.
The world is a different place than it would have been without this book. The New Age movement in the West, the impact the book has had on leaders in many fields, and the rise in the practice of yoga and meditation are due in large part to Yogananda’s influence and the influence of his autobiography.
Philip Goldberg wrote in American Veda that “Among the people I interviewed about their key spiritual influences, a high percentage named a book, and by far the book most often mentioned was Yogananda’s unique memoir. A distant second was Be Here Now by Ram Dass, and he mentioned the Autobiography.”
Sometimes people read it and have their life turned around entirely. It’s a book that, like other scripture, inspires life-long devotion.
Anyone who is interested should read it. It is a great book in every sense of the word.
“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.”
The Shankaracharya of Kanchipuram
“The greatest book I ever read.”
Swami Kriyananda
Ananda Meditation App
A free app with guided meditations and techniques, based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda. Go deeper in the joy of your own Self.
Download the app
Start a New Meditation Practice or Inspire Your Current One
The 10-weekAnanda Course in Meditation online course is designed to provide in-depth instruction in scientific meditation techniques that bring more peace, deeper relaxation, and focused concentration to every area of your life, regardless of outer conditions.
These techniques are based on the teachings ofParamhansa Yogananda, author ofAutobiography of a Yogi.
Learn more