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Autobiography of a Yogi [Paperback]

Paramahansa Yogananda
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (126 customer reviews)

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Book Description

2000
Autobiography of a Yogi is at once a beautifully written account of an exceptional life and a profound introduction to the ancient science of Yoga and its time-honored tradition of meditation. This acclaimed autobiography presents a fascinating portrait of one of the great spiritual figures of our time. The quality paperback edition offered here includes a bonus CD, The Voice of Paramahansa Yogananda, featuring excerpts from the Self-Realization Fellowship Collector's Series of rare recorded talks by Paramahansa Yogananda, and includes 80 quality archival photographs.
With engaging candor, eloquence, and wit, Paramahansa Yogananda tells the inspiring chronicle of his life: the experiences of his remarkable childhood, encounter with many saints and sages during his youthful search throughout India for an illumined teacher, ten years of training in the hermitage of a revered yoga master, and the thirty years that he lived and taught in America. Also recorded here are his meetings with Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Luther Burbank, the Catholic stigmatist Therese Neumann, and other celebrated spiritual personalities of East and West. The author clearly explains the subtle but definite laws behind both the ordinary events of everyday life and the extraordinary events commonly termed miracles. His absorbing life story becomes the background for a penetrating and unforgettable look at the ultimate mysteries of human existence. Selected as One of the 100 Best Spiritual Books of the Twentieth Century, Autobiography of a Yogi has been translated into 20 languages, and is regarded worldwide as a classic of religious literature. Several million copies have been sold, and it continues to appear on best-seller lists after more than sixty consecutive years in print. Profoundly inspiring, it is at the same time vastly entertaining, warmly humorous and filled with extraordinary personages. Self-Realization Fellowship's editions, and none others, include extensive material added by the author after the first edition was published, including a final chapter on the closing years of his life.

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Autobiography of a Yogi + The Yoga of Jesus: Understanding the Hidden Teachings of the Gospels + Scientific Healing Affirmations: Theory and Practice of Concentration
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Editorial Reviews

Review

One book in particular stayed with Steve Jobs his entire life, Autobiography of a Yogi...'the guide to meditation and spirituality that he had first read as a teenager, then re-read in India and had read once a year ever since.' -- Huffington Post, review of Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs

Fabulous stories from Yogananda's life keep the reader inspired, informed, and thoroughly entertained from beginning to end. --Yoga Journal

This book is a must-read for the budding yogi, the spiritual veteran looking for a deeper understanding, and everyone in between...Yogi Times --Yoga Journal --Yoga Journal

Fabulous stories from his life keep the reader inspired, informed, and thoroughly entertained from beginning to end. --Yoga Journal

About the Author

Born in India on January 5, 1893, Paramahansa Yogananda devoted his life to helping people of all races and creeds to realize and express more fully in their lives the true beauty, nobility, and divinity of the human spirit. After graduating from Calcutta University in 1915, Sri Yogananda took formal vows as a monk of India's venerable monastic Swami Order. Two years later, he began his life's work with the founding of a how-to-live school since grown to twenty-one educational institutions throughout India where traditional academic subjects were offered together with yoga training and instruction in spiritual ideals. In 1920, he was invited to serve as India's delegate to an International Congress of Religious Liberals in Boston. His address to the Congress and subsequent lectures on the East Coast were enthusiastically received, and in 1924 he embarked on a cross-continental speaking tour. Over the next three decades, Paramahansa Yogananda contributed in far-reaching ways to a greater awareness and appreciation in the West of the spiritual wisdom of the East. In Los Angeles, he established an international headquarters for Self-Realization Fellowship, the nonsectarian religious society he had founded in 1920. Through his writings, extensive lecture tours, and the creation of Self-Realization Fellowship temples and meditation centers, he introduced hundreds of thousands of truth-seekers to the ancient science and philosophy of Yoga and its universally applicable methods of meditation. Today, the spiritual and humanitarian work begun by Paramahansa Yogananda continues under the direction of Sri Mrinalini Mata, one of his closest disciples and president of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India since 2011. In addition to publishing his writings, lectures and informal talks (including a comprehensive series of Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons for home study), the society also oversees temples, retreats, and centers around the world.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 503 pages
  • Publisher: Self-Realization Fellowship; 13th edition (2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0876120834
  • ISBN-13: 978-0876120835
  • Product Dimensions: 1 x 5.9 x 8.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (126 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

It has been a life changing book. MARK  |  49 reviewers made a similar statement
The writing in this book is very vivid. Robert G Yokoyama  |  23 reviewers made a similar statement
It is the ONLY book I have read twice cover to cover. Roy Vongtama  |  18 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Spiritual Classic For the Ages June 6, 2007
Format:Paperback
Words truly do not do justice to this classic work by Paramahansa Yogananda who wrote one of the premiere books about the science of Yoga.

Yogananda not only helps to introduce Yoga science to the West, but also demonstrates that yoga (which means "union") is the unifying science that shows the underlying truth among ALL religions. Using many scriptural passages from both the Bible and the Hindu Bible (the Bhagavad Gita), he also demonstrates that they are saying, essentially, the same thing; the same TRUTH.

This book chronicles the life of Mukunda La Ghosh whose passion and yearning for God leads him to many saints and sages in India.

We find that it is the wish of Jesus Christ and Babaji (One of India's great masters who has been living for an untold number of centuries) that it be revealed to the world that TRUTH is universal and that it does not matter what path you've chosen (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc.)

Whether you are religious or not, you will find this masterfully well-written work touch you in ways that you've not dreamed of. Yogananda orchestrates chapters about the astral realms, great scientists, poets, saints (in India as well as in the West), masters, Gandhi, and others which are both moving and inspirational.

This book also reveals, for the first time to Westerners the lost science of Kriya Yoga (which means, "Divine Union"), which is a scientific technique to develop direct experience of God. Yogananda explains this technique, its history, and why it is so effective.

This is a book that can be read many times, and you will find that each time, it still has a "divine" effect. If nothing else, it will help you to ask yourself about your Self. This is one of the greatest books ever written, not only of modern times, but of ALL time.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars East meets West May 2, 2007
Format:Paperback
What a great book. After years of reading Carlos Castaneda books--I've never read the Bible but plan to someday--I felt my mind open with Yogananda's autobiography.

This is because there is a one sidedness to Shamanism, which may stem from the fact that Native Americans never had a chance to reflect on their religion, and how it contrasts with Western Civilization. Yet Yogananda does just that . . .

In the context of his own life, he relays the stories, and myths, that shape his spiritual progression through life. There are some real mind blowing chapters in this book that force the reader to step back and think. However, it is cleverly interlaced with Western tradition so that any average American could read this book and not be offended.

That is the mission Yogananda's gurus sent him out to accomplish. This book is the product of that goal.

Still, my favorite part of this book is a passage about Alexander the Great. I've only heard the Western Civilization stories about his military conquests. But in this book Yogananda speaks of the one conquest Alexander could not complete, the conquest of India's spirit.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Causing me to re-examine yoga and spirituality December 24, 2005
Format:Paperback
A friend gave me this to read on my holiday flights. I couldn't put it down! It's giving me a whole new perspective on Christianity, Hinduism, yoga, and personal development. I've always wanted a way to find the spiritual core that should be at the root of real religions - and yet respect a humanistic and scientific/practical approach to improving the world.

This man's life shows me for the first time what Christ-like living could look like in the modern world.

I've already sent to the SRF publishers for his meditation "lessons". I always thought of meditation as impossible for a busy consultant in the real world. I'm now thinking that it may open the way to new ways to help all of humanity as we struggle to live together.

I may even reconsider my rejection of the "God" concept. I really liked Yogananda's phrase, "Those who find it impossible to believe in the immortality of any MAN... will at last discover the immortality of their own SELVES." That could work for me ;)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Yogi Yogananda
Better than I expected. Yogi Yogananda cuts across all religious lines and gives a fresh understand to humanity and how we should strive to be better.
Published 6 days ago by John Parsons
5.0 out of 5 stars Life changing.
This book is so spiritually charged. I cannot describe in words how great it is. I had questions about so many things in life, this book has opened my eyes, mind and has answered... Read more
Published 25 days ago by Roshan Contractor
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book-reference
Its a great pleasure to have this book. Highly recommend to anyone who wants learn about a life of a Yogi. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Udayan Joshi
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational
Captivating and inspirational - a beautiful story that unfolds with simplicity and truth. I re-read it every now and then, just for a boost.
Published 2 months ago by Miss Irene
4.0 out of 5 stars Spiritual fodder
I like Robin Sharma's writings, and this book seems to highlight the life of a person with similar spiritual attributes. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Saurabh Ghosh
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read if you want answers!
This book is a classic masterpiece of spirituality. When I read it over 40 years ago, the light went on in my head! Read more
Published 2 months ago by Night Skipper
5.0 out of 5 stars Autobiography of a Yogi
This is a life changing book. It is the best book I have ever read and often reread.. It is too bad he is no longer with us in the physical, but like all the great ones they pass... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Ellen K. Sweeney
5.0 out of 5 stars Life-changing book for me.
I first read Autobiography of a Yogi thirteen years ago, in 2000. A friend bought me a copy from a metaphysical bookstore and just handed it to me, saying he felt I should read... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Rick
5.0 out of 5 stars Autobiography of a Yogi
This was a book club selection for a Spirituality and Religions book group and I found it very interesting. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Karen Winburn
5.0 out of 5 stars Life altering! in the best of ways.
Abraham Lincoln said, "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Roy Vongtama
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Jesus travels in INDIA.
The Second Coming of Christ by Paramahansa Yogananda provides some insight about the life of Christ during the years before he began his ministry. There are also documents in a monastery uncovered by a Russian, Nicolas Notovitch, in the late 1800s. He writes about his experience in The Unknown... Read more
Oct 24, 2009 by 1593 |  See all 4 posts
Autobiography Movie?
the Life and Work of Paramahansa Yogananda, a feature film will be ready in a couple of years
and will no doubt include many stories from those who falsely oppose
Yogananda's church of Self-Realization Fellowship.
There are persons involved in this project who for many years
have been promoting... Read more
Sep 12, 2009 by PYisLOVE |  See all 3 posts
Question for an A-theist ??
Atheism is not a religion.

Why should I believe in fairy tales?
Why shouldn't I be skeptical of what is told to me as truth?
That's it - Label me if you must.

Although I have been thinking of praying to Zeus.
Nov 21, 2007 by The Bobdude |  See all 3 posts
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