Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda - Ananda (2024)

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

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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

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda - Ananda (1)

About This Edition

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda - Ananda (2)

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.

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Table of Contents

  1. My Parents and Early Life
  2. My Mother’s Death and the Mystic Amulet
  3. The Saint With Two Bodies
  4. My Interrupted Flight Toward the Himalayas
  5. A “Perfume Saint” Displays His Wonders
  6. The Tiger Swami
  7. The Levitating Saint
  8. India’s Great Scientist, J. C. Bose
  9. The Blissful Devotee and His Cosmic Romance
  10. I Meet My Master, Sri Yukteswar
  11. Two Penniless Boys in Brindaban
  12. Years in My Master’s Hermitage
  13. The Sleepless Saint
  14. An Experience in Cosmic Consciousness
  15. The Cauliflower Robbery
  16. Outwitting the Stars
  17. Sasi and the Three Sapphires
  18. A Mohammedan Wonder-Worker
  19. My Master, in Calcutta, Appears in Serampore
  20. We Do Not Visit Kashmir
  21. We Visit Kashmir
  22. The Heart of a Stone Image
  23. I Receive My University Degree
  24. I Become a Monk of the Swami Order
  1. Brother Ananta and Sister Nalini
  2. The Science of Kriya Yoga
  3. Founding a Yoga School in Ranchi
  4. Kashi, Reborn and Rediscovered
  5. Rabindranath Tagore and I Compare Schools
  6. The Law of Miracles
  7. An Interview with the Sacred Mother
  8. Rama is Raised from the Dead
  9. Babaji, the Yogi-Christ of Modern India
  10. Materializing a Palace in the Himalaya
  11. The Christlike Life of Lahiri Mahasaya
  12. Babaji’s Interest in the West
  13. I Go to America
  14. Luther Burbank — A Saint Amidst the Roses
  15. Therese Neumann, the Catholic Stigmatist
  16. I Return to India
  17. An Idyl in South India
  18. Last Days with My Guru
  19. The Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar
  20. With Mahatma Gandhi at Wardha
  21. The Bengali “Joy-Permeated Mother”
  22. The Woman Yogi Who Never Eats
  23. I Return to the West
  24. At Encinitas in California

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda - Ananda (3)

Rabindranath Tagore and I Compare Schools

About two years after founding the Ranchi school, I received...

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Paramhansa Yogananda

The Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar

For the first time in my life I did not...

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Paramhansa Yogananda

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda - Ananda (6)

Trailanga Swami

Lahiri Mahasaya had a very famous friend, Swami Trailanga, who...

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Paramhansa Yogananda

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda - Ananda (8)

I Meet My Master, Sri Yukteswar

“Merciful Mother of the Universe, teach me Thyself through visions,...

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Paramhansa Yogananda

My Transformational Fast

Whether famishment gleamed in my eye, I knew not. That...

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Paramhansa Yogananda

My Sister Nalini

Soon after Ananta’s passing, my younger sister Nalini was brought...

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Paramhansa Yogananda

My Saintly Parents

Both were blessed with saintly nature. Their mutual love, tranquil...

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Paramhansa Yogananda

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Lahiri Mahasaya’s Enigmatic Photograph

One of my most precious possessions is that same photograph....

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Paramhansa Yogananda

What Is Behind the Darkness of Closed Eyes?

“What is behind the darkness of closed eyes?” This probing...

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Paramhansa Yogananda

I Am Healed by Lahiri Mahasaya

Lahiri Mahasaya left this world shortly after I had entered...

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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

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda - Ananda (25) 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

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda - Ananda (26)

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

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda - Ananda (2024)

FAQs

What is the famous line in the autobiography of a yogi? ›

“The vanished lives of all men are dark with many shames. Human conduct is ever unreliable until man is anchored in the Divine. Everything in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort now.

What is the message from the autobiography of a yogi? ›

'The Autobiography of a Yogi' teaches people that there is nothing above love. Be it love for the divine, for fellow humans or for the simple joys of life, it is love that keeps men and spirits going.

Is the autobiography of a yogi worth reading? ›

The Autobiography of a yogi is a thought provoking book about spirituality. The Autobiography of a yogi has sparked my interest in reading spiritual books like the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita for the insightful pearls of wisdom they contain. These insights really make the book enjoyable to me.

What are the key takeaways from the autobiography of Yogi? ›

'Autobiography of a Yogi' offers profound insights into spirituality, emphasizing meditation, the role of a guru, and the unity of religions. It introduces Kriya Yoga, explores life after death, and underscores self-realization, discipline, and the concept of universal brotherhood.

Who is God according to Paramahansa Yogananda? ›

God is Eternal Bliss. His being is love, wisdom, and joy. He is both impersonal and personal, and manifests Himself in whatever way He pleases. He appears before His saints in the form each of them holds dear: a Christian sees Christ, a Hindu beholds Krishna or the Divine Mother, and so on.

Did Bill Gates read Autobiography of a Yogi? ›

Virat Kohli - Autobiography Of A Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. Not just Virat, this book is also one of Bill Gates's favourite reads.

What is special about Yogananda? ›

Yogananda was the first Hindu teacher of yoga to spend a major portion of his life in America. He lived in the United States from 1920 to 1952, interrupted by an extended trip abroad in 1935–1936, and through his disciples he developed various temples and meditation centers around the world.

Did Steve Jobs read the autobiography of a yogi? ›

The one book that Steve Jobs had downloaded on his iPad was Autobiography of a Yogi, “the guide to meditation and spirituality that he had first read as a teenager,” Isaacson writes, “then re-read in India and had read once a year ever since.”

What celebrities read the autobiography of a yogi? ›

Famous people following Paramhansa Yogananda: Steve Jobs, George Harrison, Elvis Presley, and Ravi Shankar. http://www.telegraphindia. com/1150619/jsp/calcutta/story_26582. jsp#. Va0VxPPbKwl Elvis joined SRF in LA in 1965.

What is the main point of the autobiography of a Yogi? ›

Autobiography of a Yogi relates many anecdotes from Yogananda's life and from the lives of the many saints and gurus he interacted with. Many of these stories include apparently supernatural phenomena including miraculous healings, divine visions, and premonitions of the future.

Is the autobiography of a yogi life-changing? ›

Here are a few of the most important changes: I moved from despair to hope, from someone with no clear direction in life to someone who now had a goal. Yogananda had showed me a pathway that I yearned to follow. I changed from being an agnostic to someone who accepted that a Divine Intelligence was guiding everything.

In which language should I read the autobiography of a yogi? ›

"Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda is originally written in English. So, it is recommended to read it in English for the most authentic experience.

What is the science of Kriya Yoga in autobiography of yogi? ›

Kriya Yoga is an instrument through which human evolution can be quickened,” Sri Yukteswar explained to his students. “The ancient yogis discovered that the secret of cosmic consciousness is intimately linked with breath mastery. This is India's unique and deathless contribution to the world's treasury of knowledge.

What are some important quotes from Autobiography of a Yogi? ›

Do not seek absolute values in the relative world of nature. The body is literally manufactured and sustained by mind. The deeper the Self-realization of a man, the more he influences the whole universe by his subtle spiritual vibrations, and the less he himself is affected by the phenomenal flux.

Who was inspired by the autobiography of a Yogi? ›

The movie is based on the book "Autobiography of A Yogi" written by the spiritual master Paramhansa Yogananda who inspired successful people like Mahatma Gandhi, Virat Kohli, Thaliaiva Rajnikanth, Elvis Presley, Pandit Ravi Shankar and Steve Jobs.

What is yogi best quotes? ›

Top 10 Yogi-isms
  • 3. "
  • 4. " ...
  • 5. " You can observe a lot just by watching."
  • 6. " Nobody goes there anymore. ...
  • 7. " We made too many wrong mistakes."
  • 8. " The future ain't what it used to be."
  • 9. " You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six."
  • "It's like deja vu all over again."
Sep 23, 2015

What is a famous yogi Berra quote? ›

Perhaps his most famous of all: "It ain't over 'til it's over." "Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical."

What is the quote of Guru Yoga? ›

Best Yoga Teacher Quotes 71 to 80
  • “Yoga is possible for anybody who really wants it. ...
  • “Yoga is not about touching your toes. ...
  • “Yoga is like music. ...
  • “The rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life.” – B.K.S.

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