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AYDo you have a story about how you first found Autobiography of a Yogi?

Did reading it bring about something unexpected?

If Paramhansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi has touched your life in some way, please take a moment to share your story.

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            • nabha says:

              I was seven years old when I first tried to read Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi. I remember bits of it from that age, like Yogananda’s account of the Tiger Swami, but not too much.

              When I was 20 years old I finally read all of it. It started me on a lifelong search for God, truth, and inspired me to start the practice of meditation. 

              It’s an extraordinary book. People from all backgrounds and faiths find inspiration in it, and it will remain a well-loved source of wisdom for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years.

            • Mrudula says:

              My brother in law causally told me that if you are spiritually inclined there is this book called “Autobiography of a Yogi” which you should read. Prior to that I had read Many Lifes Many Masters by Brian Weiss.

              The next thing I did was got a copy of that book, and I was totally and deeply in love with the eyes of the person whose photograph was on the cover page. That was enough for me to not keep the book the down until I finished it.

              I was initiated into Kriya Yoga by Nayaswami Jayaji and I continue to practice the teachings. I make it a point to gift this book to everyone who have made a difference in my life,

            • Anil Kumar Sinha says:

              I was 30 years old in 1992 when my boss gifted me the Autobiography of a Yogi as a prize for participating in a lecture competition. I read a few chapters and then put it aside thinking it is has too many of miracles. 

              But it always remained on by book shelf. After around 3-4 months I again started reading it from here and there. The chapter on ‘The law of Miracles’ attracted and engaged me much. Being a student of science I am attracted by scientific explanations. Again after a gap of 3-4 months I read the chapter ‘The Science of Kriya Yoga’. I had been doing hatha yoga and pranayam since adolescence and I had also read the book on Kundalini Yoga by Swami Satyananda Saraswati. I was mesmerised by this chapter and the seed of desire to learn kriya yoga was sown in my heart.

              Subsequently I read the whole book and I kept reading from the book off and on.

              In 2004, I was transferred to Kolkata and the seed of desire of learning Kriya Yoga sprouted in April 2006, when I saw an ad of Ananda Sangha to learn kriya yoga. Immediately I registered for the classes and by the end of 2006 I became a kriyaban of Ananda.

              Since then I am associated with the activities of Ananda in Kolkata and amd participating in its programmes.

              The extraordinary book has changed my life.

            • Dambara says:

              I was desperate to find truth, and was making plans to literally walk around the world to find it. A friend, knowing my interest in world travel, mentioned a flyer they’d seen posted, mentioning a slide show about India. I walked into the Ananda center in Palo Alto to hear Asha Praver narrating a slide show of Ananda’s first pilgrimage to India. The slides were great; but even greater was Asha’s clarity, and I just had to know more.

              I saw the Autobiography of a Yogi, but (ahem) that cost money, so I didn’t buy it. Instead, I picked up what was then a free pocket-paperback-sized copy of The Path by Swami Kriyananda. Reading that, I was hooked. When I got to the part where Kriyananda met Yogananda, I just HAD to buy the Autobiography of a Yogi!

              Reading that, I finally found the truth I’d been seeking. Plus, Yogananda kindly saved me from the time and expense of walking around the world!

            • Premkumar S says:

              Jai Guru,.
              I deeply thank my friend Muhilan , who presented me this treasure. I started reading it and then kept it in the shelf , I see the book everyday and say that I will read it. I shall take the book, look at Guru’s photo , pray him and close it again .  The divine eyes with so much power attracted me. This was going on for 3 years I guess, reading a chapter after a long time gap and keeping ti back , but praying to the masters.  I started reading the tamil version . There were closer to 100 pages left and I that took a long while to complete. The last 100 + pages I read in the English Version that was foreword and afterword by Swami Kriyananda .  The line ‘Oh God, Thou has given this monk a large family ‘. Such a powerful and pampering statement that makes me feel Guru is with me always . Babaji Krishna ,  Jesus Christ ,  Lahiri Mahasya , Sri Yukteswarar Giri ,  Pramahansa Yogananda, reading about them in master’s word was bliss :-). Sri Yuketswarar Resurrection, the way that masters explains is so divine.  My Grandmom read the book and reading it quite often.   God & Guru thank you for encouraging me to read this beautiful book. Yes , love to read again. Jai Guru 🙂

            • Gyandev says:

              I was taking a self-imrovement course that focused largely on developing psychic abilities. One of the other students had recently returned from India with some sacred ash, and I asked what it was for. She said to put some on my tongue and make a spiritual wish. I truly didn’t know what “spiritual” meant; I thought it was like “metaphysical” or “psychic.” Anyway, I put the ash on my tongue and wished, “I want to grow spiritually.”

              That very day, the teacher recommended Autobiography of a Yogi, and a friend said to me: “You’d like that  book. I’ll loan you my copy.” She brought it the next day, and my life has not been the same ever since I started reading it.

              My main impression was great relief that there really were answers to life’s biggest questions (I had despaired of that, but I felt utter truth in the book), and that anyone could know them.

            • Kalamali says:

              Autobiography of a Yogi came to me when I was in the midst of inner turmoil and had reached a bottom point while struggling to keep calm during an intense graduate school program in Boston. 

              My father, a long time meditator and follower of the spiritual path, had had a dream that he needed to guide his daughters spiritually, and that the opportunity or window to do so was approaching. When he saw me over the Christmas holidays, he could see that I was in great need of something more in life, something to hold on and grasp that could uplift me and connect me to things outside the material world (job, grades, self-worth determined by how much I accomplished…)

              I started by reading Autobiography of a Yogi just one chapter at a time, maybe a few pages per night. But it immediately re-awakened something inside of me. My parents had taught my sister and I to meditate when we were younger, and so immediately I felt to start practicing again, and inspired by Yogananda, to do so every day. I also started practicing yoga, gave up drinking, and started to be healthier and happier and more accepting of life as it came. Not fearing the future anymore, I found I could sleep better through the night, I was kinder and more loving to others, and I began to enjoy life again. 

              At the end of my graduate program, nearly a year after reading the book, I decided that I wanted to take the practice of yoga and meditation more deeply. I thought for my graduation, I could go on a yoga retreat. I went on the internet to do a search of yoga retreats in India, Thailand, Bali, etc. but I came across a local retreat center in California that had been rated a top retreat center by Newsweek magazine. So I thought, hmm! That could save me a lot of time and money to go close to home, let me check out their site. 

              On the home page, with beautiful eyes staring back at me, was Paramhansa Yogananda, author of the Autobiography. And I knew instantly that any yoga retreat with His teachings as the inspiration had to be good! 

              A few months later I was at the Expanding Light Retreat Center in Ananda Village, a spiritual community where people live Yogananda’s teachings of yoga and meditation. Once I arrived, I felt a sense of home and belonging. And I knew that the book brought me onto my spiritual path, and to my spiritual teacher, Paramhansa Yogananda. 

            • karen says:

              I found autobiography after a chain of events that started with me renouncing spirituality forever! I guess master had other plans for me. I loved the book of course but I was hooked the first time I heard the word ‘Yogananda’ Thankfully.

            • sadhana devi says:

              During my college years one of my instructors kept a copy of the Autobiography of a Yogi on his desk.  Although I saw it many times and was vaguely curious, I never asked about it.  Still, somehow I knew that I would read it one day.  
              After college when I was on my own, I suffered a tragedy in my life.   In those days there weren’t many options for bereavement counseling and I felt as if I was going crazy with grief.  
              I “coincidentally” ran into a old friend.  When I told him what was happening with me, he turned to his bookshelf,  handed me the Autobiography, and said, “it’s time for you to read this”.  
              Most of it was too fantastic for me to take seriously, but Master put his vibrations into it, and  each time I put the book down I found myself being called back to it.  That book is what got me through that difficult time and led me to this spiritual path more than 40 years ago.  And Yogananda’s vibrations and guidance are what has gotten me through the joys and challenges of life ever since.

            • Mary Kretzmann says:

              I first heard about the Autobiography when I was age 18, from my friends who were reading it. They were enthralled about Babaji flying from one mountain to the other. I found attraction to such phenomena rather silly, so I ignored the book. It’s not that I disbelieved it, for I had no problem with that. I just thought it was shallow to be fascinated with that, so I assumed that was all the book had to offer, since that was what they liked talking about.

              At age 20 I met my husband to be, Timothy. We fell in love immediately, and lived in his very remote cabin in the Ozarks. We were very happy… We had no electricity, phone, or running water.We bathed in a babbling brook. Simplicity was at it’s blissful best. It was one of the happiest times of my life.

              And then the cabin burned to the ground from a freak fire. It was by then winter, cold and bleak… This was no longer some spring and summertime “simplicity” This was life threatening.

              We both went home to our east coast families for Christmas. I decided I needed to rethink things and went to UNH for a semester. That is when Tim wrote me a letter about the Autobiography. He had just built a replacement cabin, and he had read the book there. He found it very inspiring, especially the part about Yogananda’s parents praying for spiritual children.

              Long, and lovely story held short: I eventually ended up back in the woods with Tim, and the first thing I did in that new cabin was to read the Autobiography of Yogi. I was enthralled. It was so beautiful to read it in that quiet, remote setting. I became it and it became me. There was no choice but to let the book change my life completely.

              By the time i was 23, we were married and driving a remodeled school-bus-home across the country to move to Ananda Village, sight unseen. We raised our family there, and we have been beautifully blessed in so many ways…And it all started with this book… Thank you, Master,

              AUM Guru AUM Guru AUM Guru AUM Guru AUM

            • Boris Badinov says:

              I was dropping a lot of acid in the mid-1960s and getting increasingly distanced from reality. One of the acid gurus of Venice Beach, CA suggested the path of “turn on, tune in, drop out” was not for me. He suggested I read the AY – “I think that’s the path for you.”

              I continued to do drugs until I bombed out and spent nine weeks at UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute (NPI). It was known as the “Brill Hilton” because Dr. Brill was the head, and movie stars with frazzled brains would check in there – I saw one or two.

              After graduating from NPI, I read AY. I’d realized that God was the only answer. Being a Stanford grad, I decided I would make an objective study of religion. I liked that the AY (and the Bible) challenged me to test the spirits. And that’s exactly what I did.

              The AY appealed to me because it made religion completely scientific. Every day, whenever I had some question about something that Master said in the AY, or a general question about the spiritual life, I prayed with fierce energy for the answer. I thought, “If religion is real, and Yogananda is right, then I will receive an answer.”

              And I did – every single time. Here’s a good example. At one point, I wanted to know if I should consult a psychiatrist about the lingering after-effects of my drug use, which were pretty severe. So I prayed for help to understand that difference between yoga and western psychology.

              I was lying on a towel on Huntington Beach when I said the prayer. I got up and following a feeling, drove to downtown Long Beach and went into a used book store that I didn’t like much. Walked in, turned left, down three rows, turned right, stopped midway down the high shelves, looked at the top and say Geraldine Coster’s book, Yoga and Western Psychology, published in 1933, I believe. Took it back to the beach and found it had exactly the answers I needed.

              I was overjoyed when I found that Swami Kriyananda was really bringing out this aspect of Master’s teachings – that they were scientific. I love his books Out of the Labyrinth, Hope for a Better World, and Education for Life. Swamiji said, “Labyrinth is my most important book.” I believe it is – it has the potential and the power to change the direction of western civilization. And the source of that power, intellectually and spiritually, is of course Paramhansa Yogananda and the AY.

            • Bhaktimarg says:

              I read Autobiography in Vigo, Spain where I’m from. I was about 18 years old. The book touched my heart very deeply. I remember saying: “I’d love to have a guru like Yogananda!” When I read that the headquarters was in California, it was so far away that I didn’t think I was ever going to have Yogananda for my guru. That is what I thought a the time, not knowing much about gurus. Now I’m writing this note from Ananda Village, where I’ve been living since 1993. Yogananda created an incredible number of ‘coincidence’ for me to move to California. One of them was to have met my husband to be in the Bahamas in 1986. Having Yogananda for my guru, was a dream that came true. Thank you Master!

            • Kailash says:

              I knew about Autobiography of a Yogi from reading SRF’s publication of Master’s Gita. What attracted me to that book more than anything else was His face on the back cover. I remember looking at it for a minute and thinking to myself – “He just can’t be any other ordinary Swami. There is really something more to him.” I came to know about his autobiography and I was desperate to read it, and knowing that I was in Saudi Arabia back then, there was no chance of buying it. So I searched online and lo and behold! there was the entire autobiography on a site called Ananda. Then onwards it was a completely different chapter in my life, starting from the reading the best book ever.

            • G.L. "Mitch" Mitchell says:

              I was a associate minister in a multi-faith church in San Jose, CA, we had in our congregation representatives from virtually every faith on the planet.  As was our custom each Sunday’s worship included a sermon of sorts from one of these religions.  In my spirit I knew (as Master and Swami would say) I was drilling many holes in the ice for no apparent reason.  Our pastor one day gave me the task of researching east Indian mysticism.  So I set about selecting five books on the subject from our library to read as resources for my sermon.  One of the ones I didn’t select was Autobiography of a Yogi. The ones I did select were commentaries by western scholars on the history and evolution of the India’s religions.  Even through those texts I felt a drawing upon my spirit and I thought often about Masters face on the cover of Autobiography of a Yogi. There was something familiar about that face.

              Twelve months later I had moved from San Jose and I was visiting the Unity church on Angel and Watson here in Portland.  I shared with one of the ministers there the story detailed above and she said pointing north about a block and a half away. See that building there, that’s where you belong. Then coincidentally a short time later a friend handed me a book and said here read this and see if it speaks to you. There was that face again.

              In every page I found a piece of myself, a step of the path of my life, a shared epiphany of spiritual experience.  Master has in this life time truly gone before me and been beside me every step of the way.

              Blessings to all and thanks for the opportunity to share in this way.

            • Lewis Howard says:

              In 1975 I first heard of the “Autobiography of a Yogi” from a friend who told me that it was a book warning people not to practice yoga or meditation; that it would really mess up your life and mind. Being rather gullible I believed him and put the book out of my mind for another year. It was just as well because I was very involved in a touring rock & roll band with commitments. After I finished the tour I rediscovered the A/Y from another friend, read it and, like all of us, it changed my life and eventually led me to Ananda and Swami Kriyananda. I still have the original copy I bought in a Houston book store in 1976. A bit faded and worn, it is one of my most treasured spiritual possessions. 

            • Bhushan Patel says:

              When I realized I will need Guru for spiritual progress I prayed to GOD please send me Guru.
              One day I visited my elder’s brothers house and suddenly I saw a book lying on his table on which photograph of guruji was printed and I could not take off my eyes when I saw the photograph, so I asked my brother who is this ? Look at his eyes so powerful and lot of magnetism in it. My brother told me the book is Autobiography of Yogi and you can take it and read. I read it and my search for Guru came to end and I thanked GOD for granting my wish to have guru. Since than I am on this path and Paramhansa Yoganandji is guiding me protecting me and love me and I never felt that is far away I always found him near and near to my heart.

            • Kyle McDonald says:

              I moved to San Francisco in 1992.  I was seeing a kinesiologist for health issues and told him that I had been praying for a spiritual teacher and guide. He asked if I had read AY and when I said I hadn’t heard of it, he gave me his old tattered copy.  I loved the photo of Master on the cover, but when I started to read, I would fall asleep!  I couldn’t get through the first chapter so I put it on the bookshelf and spent the next 5 years traveling down different paths, feasting at the spiritual smorgasbord available in the Bay Area.
              In 1997 I went through a difficult personal crisis, I moved to a new apartment and when I unpacked my books, AY was on top;  Masters beautiful eyes drew me in.  I started to read the book that night and couldn’t put it down! About 2 weeks later, I was in a used book store looking in the art section, I pulled a book off the shelf and with it came DIvine Romance, which fell right on my foot.  It had been “misfiled”. When I saw Masters face on the cover I knew that this was his way of he reminding me that he was here, that he had been here all along, waiting for me to accept him as my guru.
              I made my way that week to the SRF temple in Richmond, CA and began my journey as one of Masters, loving and grateful devotees!
              jai guru

            • Connor Burke says:

              A few years ago, during the late summer before entry into my junior year of college, my uncle, – who had been exploring spirituality and spiritual literature for many, many years – sent me an e-mail saying he had read a book that was considered one of the top 100 spiritual books of the century. He said he felt guided to send me this book. In his words, he felt a ‘nudge’ in meditation to send me this book. Upon reading the first several chapters of Autobiography of a Yogi, a great clarity dawned upon me and I realized for the first time that there is a purpose to Life – and that purpose is to find God. And – as I’m sure Swami Kriyananda (not to mention, Master) would appreciate and encourage – to share Him with all.
              God bless us all in this Great Spiritual Adventure!

            • Rory Foster says:

              When I was a teenager in Chicago I knew intuitively that there was a way in which I could go inward and have a direct, experiential connection with the source of my being, my existence, i.e. become one with my God.  But I didn’t know how to do it.  Some years had passed and I was living and working in New York City in the 70’s when meditation was becoming more well known and accepted (the Beatles had been to India to study with various maharishis along with Ram Das and Krishna Das) and Transcendental Meditation was all the rage—many of my friends were doing TM and trying to get me to try it.  I thought that this “meditation thing” was what I had been looking for but for some reason I wasn’t drawn to TM even though I really knew nothing about it. 

              I was dating a young woman from Australia and one night I told her that I was interested in learning about meditation and asked her if she knew anything about it.  She went to her bookshelf, turned and handed me a copy of “Autobiography of a Yogi” and said, “Here, read this before you do anything else and then you will know what to do.”  I took it home and could not put it down.  I knew this was what I had been searching for since my teenage years and that Paramhansa Yogananda was my guru and that I would always be his devotee.  That was forty years ago.  
              Postscript: The young woman and I stopped seeing each other shortly after she gave me the book and I realized years later that she came into my life solely for that purpose. 

            • Lisa says:

              The fall of 1973 I’d just turned 18 and was in my first month at San Jose State. My drawing instructor took us to sketch an amazing fantasy world of miniature scenes sculpted from concrete, in the front garden of a home nearby, where the artist’s widow still lived. The teacher warned us that this elderly woman was a “religious fanatic.”  She greeted us upon arrival and invited us inside. There, on a table, was a photo of Yogananda at the Lake Shrine dedication. She regaled us with metaphysical stories, and mentioned Autobiography of a Yogi. I was enraptured. A short time later I noticed I was the only one still inside. At the end of class I made a beeline to the closest used bookstore and found a copy of the AY.

              I’d been gazing into space and wondering why I was here, and what was life about, since I was seven. Barely into the book I knew that Yogananda had the answers. But I was just leaving my teen years and starting school. There was so much life to be lived!

              1980: now I was 24. I passed a poster that appeared on the Personnel bulletin board at the hospital where I was working – a place reserved for hospital business only – it shouldn’t have been there. It advertised a yoga and meditation class series nearby, and on that poster was the AY photograph of Yogananda. The chorus of my heart and soul shouted, “I can’t put this off any longer!” I went to the advertised classes, given by people from Ananda. At the end of the series we were encouraged to visit Ananda Village in the Sierra foothills. Somehow I found my way to that simple remote retreat.  In two short days God reached inside me and reset the vibration of my being.  When I returned home I didn’t recognize my own eyes. My husband and I both became involved with Ananda, first at Ananda Village, then in San Francisco, Atherton, and then in Palo Alto. In 1990 we bought land adjacent to Ananda Village, moved our business there, and built a home.

              Now I’m closing in fast on 60, and I can’t imagine living any other way than in spiritual community, living a life of divine joy, and growing tremendously through sadhana, service, satsang, and self-forgetfulness.

            • jamie says:

              i love stories… and the story of Yogananda’s life transported me to a beautiful space where god and life are one, and every detail is so vividly presented for all my senses to awaken and even moreso my soul.
              after reading autobiography, i began a search for more fellowship and found Ananda NYC and in Rhode Island. After two years now, I have been practicing medtiation, chanting, prayer and overall the presence of God. Now I understand the mission planted in my heart more than 15 years ago when I was a teenager, to create a sanctuary community. The mission of spiritual communities that was near and dear to Yogananda’s heart is also mine ^_^ and now I have the Guru to guide me.
              I am so grateful and filled with peace, and look forward to the next step in realizing this plan.

            • Janet Yoder says:

              In 1975 I was going to Indiana University and my roommate at the time was getting her minor in Eastern Religious Studies. She would come back from her class and tell me Wow you need to read this book or this article. I remember I was intrigued to say the least and she gave me a copy on 8 x 11 sheets of paper all stapled together on part of the chapter “The Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar” Titled “Auras: The Rainbows Around Our Bodies” from the book “Autobiography of a Yogi”. I read this article over and over so fascinated by what was being said and how this seemed believable but so different than anything I had ever heard or read.
              It wasn’t until later I read the whole book, Autobiography of a Yogi. I was never the same after reading the book! That first book has long ago, being so worn and pages falling out I bought another book Auto of a Yogi and I still have this book but it also is worn out, pages falling out and edges are frayed. So I bought another new book Auto of a Yogi, last year with a CD. It is bigger with more photos but the same text. I also have a tendency at times to take the book everywhere with me, in the car, around the house, in my pack when hiking and on my nightstand before retiring. It is rarely on the shelf but always seems to end up by my side; Yoganandaji’s eyes are so magnetic.
              I am attracted to the book like no other and often go back to read parts of it gaining even more wisdom so to speak than before realizing more depth to the chapters and stories and doing my best to integrate this into my daily life. I also realize it is now time for me to be around those who are more like minded the regular world is tiring on me and I feel lonely at times for those who are living these teachings of Yogananda.

            • Rashmi Krishnan says:

              My father brought this book to our house when I was, maybe, 16 years old. I was an avid reader and consumed the book in a couple of days. 
              Somehow, what really caught me was the possibility of transcending time and space through Kriya Yoga.
              I began to search for where I could learn Kriya Yoga from, and at age 51 I found Ananda Sangha, which attracted me because of the sincerity of my teachers, Daya and Keshava, and the loving, all embracing and patient  nature of the teachings of the path.
              Ananda has felt like home ever since.

            • william weiss says:

              my brother sent me a copy of Autobiography of a yogi. after reading the book I became a member of Self Realiztion Fellowship. What sets this Fellowship apart from all other forms of yoga is in its scientific practice of kryia yoga. it works like mathematics

            • Helen Hewitt says:

              I began the reading of Autobiography of a yogi and immediately started the Bhagavad Gita ,it took me just two weeks to read them all complete including other books of Paramahansaji . I then began to study them in more detail so re-read them again and again. Two years later I have read many many volumes and papers of Paramahansa’s and of the whole Kriya tradition .I’m to visit India soon to fulfil my lifelong dream and I am a fully fledged devotee . God is everywhere and everything and I feel the love from Paramahansaji every day. Meditation should be taught in schools and to every household throughout the world . I intend to write one day of my experiences as a author and scholar i feel it right and fitting to leave this legacy for my family and friends and whoever else might be inspired through his teachings .

            • Jyotindra K Jani says:

              It is wonderful book and after reading in 1 986( I became member of YSS and enjoying powerful positive attitude. Reading the book at free time.

            • Mary Jane Lee says:

              In 1970 I read Autobiography of a Yogi for the first time.  Each page filled me with a yearning that forever filled my heart.  One night after a busy day with my young children as I was reading the chapter about Luther Burbank my life changed forever.  I was alone in my bed and turned the light off at 9 pm.  Instants later I became aware that my universe was suddenly changing and I was more awake than ever before. At first I was frightened and moved my hands to see if I was still here, when from I “heard”, “no reason to be afraid.” At once I was out of my known world into a place where I can only use the phrase to describe it as, “Lovejoy” and infinite well being. And then I heard”, “every thing will be ok”.  
              I was back in my bed and turned on the light it was 9:11pm, it felt like an infinite time. I was awake most of the night feeling the greatest lovejoy of my life.  I watched my children sleep and wept deeply in lovejoy. 
              The next day a guest in our home upon seeing me said, “What has happened to you, you look different?”
              I told him the story, and awe filled us both.
              Those eleven minutes changed my life and inspired me everyday all these 45 years later.
              I am deeply grateful everyday.

            • rajeev says:

              I am from nepal and actually i was an drug addict but after my recovery i found a gurudev vikashananda and i mostly listen his prabachan and one day he refers some books for us that include biography of yogananda as well.this book changed my life drastically and now i am very good as well.this book inspired me how we have to live a life and actual meaning of the art of living.now i am heartly loving with guruji and i want him to show me the actual way but for this i am so hurry to learn kriya yoga but how can i do it and who is gonna teach me kriya yoga i dont know but i am sure thar i will learn it and practice in my daily life.

            • Sherry batisse says:

              Just recently in the past year as I slept a man had shown himself to me. When I woke I hadn’t a clue who this man was, I’ve never seen him before. 
              I went for a walk to the book shop that day, I like to hang out in the new age section as well as the religion and eastern philosophy sections. Just as I sat on the floor and started to pull a book from the shelf there was the man in my dream on the fron cover of this book, I have now come to know him as paramhansa yogananda. As I picked up this book my entire body started to have this tingly star sensation all throughout and this sudden overwhelming sense of happiness and tears overcame me. I normally get this sensation when truth is involved. So I just said ok this is the book you want me to get, ok I’ll get it then. Ever since then I’ve many more dreams about this man and things he teaches me, I am so great fun to have him appear to me in this way and help me along the path as I know he is doing for so many wonderful souls as well. 

            • Varun Lokre says:

              I was in my 10th grade in high school, when my father got Kriya Yoga initiation. Just a few days after my exams got over in december, I found the Autobiography Of A Yogi on our centre table. I instantly loved the photo of Master on the front page and started reading the book. Today I am his disciple and his book has completely changed my life. Joy.

            • julio larraz says:

              i first read ‘auto bio,’ when i was fourteen years old, im now seventy one, it has always accompanied me trough my life as a fountain of inspiration and solace, in the worse of situations , and those moments of happiness; He was a bridge not only between East and West, but between life as we know it and the inefable, may God bless you wherever you are. 

            • Jill Ann says:

              I started my journey at the beginning of 2014 about 1 month after my mom passed. I was searching for some of the funny birthday cards she would send after we turned 40. I had wonderful parents, I just somehow went down the wrong path for many years. I came across my guru’s memoriem given to me by a good friend 9 years before, who said this will change my life. By that time after losing my brother to suicide my dad, my seizure dog and my mom. By this time I was drinking popping pain pills sometimes cocaine and just waiting to die of depression. After reading his memorium I started ordering more books and by March I was doing Kriya yoga and meditating. By last summer the pills and booze slowly tapered off. Next thing I knew it had been 4 days since I had a drink or taken too many pills. So I decided to become a teacher for beginners. The reason the SRF gave me for rejecting me was because I talk to dead people. Well this is what My Yogi’s faith is based on. As of last Easter I am now a student of Yogananda. He took me on as a student, I was shocked and pleased to find out I was a student in Encinitas in the life before this one. I have had the best year of my life. He has helped me start 2 new businesses, own my own little home, and my very own car for the first time in about 20 years. I continue my progress EVERY day I am now a full time student and still converse with the dead every day due to his love, trust and support. I have only a short time left but I want to become as perfect as him, if possible. This is only the tip of the iceberg for all the miracles I have witnessed. Truly a challenging and difficult journey, but I have not been this happy and sober since I gave birth 31 years ago. My Master will continue to help me from beyond until I find a Guru on Earth. He also says that the SRF would be thrilled to have me, but I don’t want to be judged by the wonderful gifts I have been blessed with. Jill Ann

            • Riccardo says:

              Hi, i’m writing from Italy and I’m now reading the new book made by Nayaswami Jyotish and Devi titeled a touch of light and in the chapter 26 devi talks about how people first met the Autobiography of a Yogi and invite us to write about our own experience so here i am.
              I’m 27 years old and i met the biography about 3 years ago. I wasn’t a big fan of biographies so at first time the picture of the Guru at the first page touched my heart with the power of his look, but i still didn’t bought the book. From that day everywhere i went the book appeared to me, in all books stores and on internet, so after so many times i decided to buy it. After 3 years i’m now a discepole of Yogananda and i truly think that that day was the best day of my life. Thanks Guru, Swamiji, and all Ananda’s people. With Love, Riccardo

            • kolluru visweswara rao says:

              My story of “autobiography of a yogi”.
              While browsing books in a book store, I have seen the book, but ignored it thinking that it is another autobiography. This happened on two occasions. After some time, one of my erstwhile colleagues came to my house, and handed over the “autobiography of a yogi” to me saying that he could not understand it. I was in India that time during my annual vacation from gulf. This book was in Telugu, my mother tongue. I read the book without stopping. It took me two days. It certainly changed my life after that. Later on, I purchased the autobiography and gave as a gift to my colleagues. I read it several times. Some chapters, more than others. It is a unique book in Indian spiritual literature, as was the personality of Paramahansa yoganananda. I took Kriya yoga diksha also.
              KV Rao, India

            • Nitai Deranja says:

              It was October, 1969. I had graduated from college, spent a year in civil rights work, and come to the end of my road in searching for some way to make sense of life. My desperation took me on a long trip that ended up in New Delhi where I hoped to find someone who could teach me about meditation. My American roommate at the hostel told me about this book that was so good, he almost didn’t come to India. The next day I went to a local bookstore and bought the AY. It was everything I had been looking for and remains that way 46 years later. Jai Guru!

            • Pat Wolff says:

              I credit the little poodles I rescued as the way I found Autobiography of a Yogi and Master’s path. This poodle pair was blind and  I tried to find a psychic to help me find how to help them as the organization I attended at that point was psychically oriented. The psychic I found and contacted told me about the SRF as I had heard of Autobiography of a Yogi but had no idea Master had founded an organization. Attending the local SRF temple led me to read AY and also to find Ananda, which is where I commit myself to follow Master’s path. I still have poodles though that original did not live long. Since I can, I feel I should give some toy poodles a home in gratitude for the priceless gift the first pair brought me. 

            • Mary Jo Cleaveland says:

              I was 47 years young when I intensely began my search for truth.  I had been caring for children with cancer as a nurse for almost all of my nursing career, walking through their deaths.  My young years spent as a practicing Catholic had not answered my questions about meaning of life and what exists beyond death.

              In 1987, I was taking a course in metaphysics and the Autobiography of the Yoga was a required reading…twice.  No other writing got that recommendation.  I then read an article about Ananda in a yoga magazine and made a mental note that I would visit there.

              Three years later I completed graduate school and had some daily discipline in meditation when I made that trip.   Stepping onto the grounds of Ananda’s retreat center, I knew that I had found my spiritual home.

              I read the Autobiography frequently for the inherent wisdom and guidance found in Yogananda’s words.  Thank you, Guruji

            • Savitri Simpson says:

              It was 1968. I was 24 years old, living in an apartment in Houston, Texas, working as an airline reservation agent. One night there was a party going on at the apartment which I shared with a roommate. Our parties were frequent and open to anyone who wanted to drop in. This particular evening I worked late, and when I got home the party was in full swing. I noticed a young man whom I had not met standing on his head over in one corner of our living room. This was somewhat unusual behavior, so I went over and asked him what he was doing. “Yoga” he said. “Tell me more about it,” I said, and he did, recommending that I read Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda. Soon after that I was in a bookstore with my roommate. I had told her of my conversation with this young man. She said that she would buy the book, and I could read it when she finished reading it. Reading it changed my life completely. It answered all my questions about what my purpose in life was to be. It took me another 3 years to find out about Ananda and Swami Kriyananda, But I knew I was a disciple of Master’s and I’ve never doubted that fact for a single minute, since I first read the AY. I am eternally grateful that Master found me through his book and set my feet on the perfect (for me) path.

            • Bunny Paine-Clemes (Radha) says:

              My experience is similar to yours, Jyotish. The teachings found ME.

              In 1978 I was meditating and doing yoga every day, and I’d had experiences of past lives, but I called myself an atheist. After all, I no longer believed what the Methodist church taught, so what else was there? There was reincarnation—of that I was sure—but what evidence was there that any God played a part in it?
              A student in one of my college English classes put a copy of The Path in my hands and said, “I think you should read this.” I thanked her politely. Usually in such cases, I paged through the book enough to find one detail I could relate to the student as I handed the book back with a thank you. However, in this instance, I could not put the book down. Without understanding what was going on, I saw Swamiji’s face on the cover, read his first few words, and KNEW: “This is my teacher.” Teacher? For an atheist?
              By the time I was midway through the book and reading about the Bhagavad Gita, every mention of it drew my heart’s devotion. I even grew angry: “THIS is what I believe! Why didn’t anyone tell me about it before?”
              I returned The Path with genuine thanks and told the student I had found my teacher. The next step was to read Autobiography. I found it hard going for such a recent atheist as I had been. How could all of this be true? The answer of my heart was simple. Swami Kriyananda believed it, so I did, too. It wasn’t until much later that I experienced my own connection to Master.
              As I tried to digest this new frame of reference, my student came up after class and said, “Swami Kriyananda is coming to town!” It was Houston, Texas, in November of 1978. That night I picked up my student, and we drove to the other side of town to see Swami.
              I sat in the first row. As he spoke and sang I felt waves of love going to him and coming back from him. At the break I went up to him and said, “I was an atheist until I read your book. Now I believe in God.” He took my hand in two of his, stared straight into my eyes, and said, “Bless you.”
              I was hooked. He had zapped me. For a week afterward I had out-of-body experiences and mystical revelations. I saw my husband’s aura.
              I came to Master through Swami. He was Swamiji’s great gift to me. Now, of course, I love Master as deeply as I do Swamiji. But my karmic connection was with my beloved teacher.

            • Breanna says:

              My story of how I found this book begins December 30, 2013. I was in my car when I lost control of my vehicle while driving on a bridge. My car smashed into one side of the baricade which sent it to the opposite side. It took just a few seconds to go from one side of the road to the other, but these were the longest and hardest seconds of my life. There was snow piled up against the baricade and I knew my car was about to go off the bridge and crash into the river below. I thought my life was about to end.
              My car went off the bridge and dropped 40 feet down into the river below. When I realised I survived the crash and that my windshield had a small hole in it I was so incredibly relieved and grateful to simply be alive! I needed to get out of my vehicle before it sank, so I kicked a hole in the windshield large enough to crawl through. I pulled myself out of my car and sat on the hood of my floating vehicle until it sank into the river.At this point I lowered myself into the freezing water and swam to the edge of the ice.
              I swam despite my bleeding hands from trying to break the windshield. I swam despite my fractured clavicle from the impact of the seatbelt. I swam despite the fact that it was minus forty degrees celsius that day. I swam despite the fact that I was wearing full winter gear. I swam to the edge of the ice and managed to pull myself up and crawl to the river bank.
              At this point emergency personelle arrived and I started my physical healing journey through means of Western medicine. Surgery, chiropractic, massages, and physical therapy became a large part of my life. These were supposed to fix my broken bone as well as the whip lash I experienced from the impact. The plan was to heal my physical body, though it didn’t work because my injuries encompassed so much more than my physical self.
              After a few months, it was clear my healing was not going as planned. I was still in constant pain and my team of western medicine health care providers had no answer for what was going on. Structurally and mechanically everything seemed just fine and they were unable to diagnose where the sudden sharp pains shooting down my arm were coming from. They didn’t know why I was unable to complete my back-to-work program. I was failing physically and they had no physical answers. The chronic pain and lack of answers had me spiral down into a depression and I lost my joy for life. How could I be 24 and be so incredibly broken? I wished so badly that my life could simply go back to normal, that I had never been involved in a car accident.
              At one point I decided I couldn’t take it anymore and I made a commitment to heal myself and become pain free. I realised this might not be possible, so I made a secondary commitment as well.I decided to live simultaneously with both chronic pain and happiness. If I was going to be in pain all the time, I was going to be joyful and in pain all the time. In the beginning, I had no idea how to do this.
              This decision led me on a journey which taught me to be happy no matter what. It was the spark that ignited a complete and total healing journey of my mind, body, and soul. I changed my diet. I quite my casual smoking. I realised that happiness comes from within and I can choose to be happy all the time regardless of what is going on around me.
              I realised what it truly means to live in the moment. I realised that what we think about ourselves, the world, and everything else shapes our lives. I began to tell my shoulder “I love you. I know you’re just trying your best to be a shoulder.” THis was a shift from my thoughts of “I hate my left shoulder. It causes me so much pain and it doesn’t work the way it is supposed to”.
              I realised that everyone simply tries their best in this life and there is no need to judge anyone. No need for me to judge myself. No need for me to judge others. We are all just trying our best.
              I discovered what it is that truly makes me happy and I connected to my life’s purpose and started following my path, rather than the path that I thought I should be on. I started listening to my intuition rather than try to build a life that society deems as successful.
              I realised that everything happens for a reason and the car accident went from the worst thing that ever happened to me, to the best thing that ever happened for me. I still remember driving to work with tears of joy sliding down my cheeks because I was so grateful for crashing my car that cold day in December.
              All of these inner changes and realisations ended up having a large impact on my external life. I ended a relationship and become single rather than get engaged. I decided to go on a three month solo Europe trip instead of buying a house.I made the decision to leave behind my career as a Registered Nurse and pursue a career as a Holistic Health Practitioner. The list of changes can go on and on because the physical manifestations of my inner work is truly endless.
              Finally and most importantly I discovered the deep joy of life and the truly blissful feeling of knowing I am connected to something much greater than myself. The door opened for me to experience the absolute ecstasy that comes from having a connection to the Divine. To God. I was thirty to know more and I was constantly reading books and watching documentaries. One of the shows that I watched was “Finding Happiness” and I found it to be the most beautiful show and the most amazing way of life I had ever seen. As I watched I was constantly thinking thoughts such as “These people!!! These people know what I just discovered!!! They have known it for years!!! I could learn so much from spending time with them!!! It is a whole community of like-minded people!!!! They’re so amazing!!! I wish I could live there!!!”
              I ended up having an opportunity to spend time with the beautiful people of Ananda when I travelled Europe. I spent a week at Ananda Assisi and had an incredibly uplifting experience there. I was with people who understood me. With people who had been living and practicing the life I had so recently discovered. It was absolutely amazing.
              While I was at Ananda it seemed I was asked by many different people numerous times a day “Have you read Autobiography of a Yogi?” 
              I had not read it, though a few days into the retreat I bought the book at the little Ananda shop and I began reading the book during my time at the retreat.
              And that book! Prior to reading it I felt a strong connection and so much love for Paramhansa Yogananda and after reading the book this love simply grew and I was able to realise what a truly amazing life Yogananda lived!
              I am now 25 and still on this new journey in which I am following my spiritual path. I am currently in school taking a holistic health practitioner course. I think about Paramhansa Yogananda often and frequently look to his teachings when I feel I am in need of some inspiration. I always seem to get exactly what I need at that time. It is so beautiful how Paramhansa Yogananda continues to inspire and teach so many of us so many years after the passing of his physical self. But as I learnt, the physical self is simply a small part of the puzzle of the total human being.
              I know that I will find my way back to an Ananda village and learn the art of Kriya Yoga, I just do not now when yet. Though I do know that it will happen when I am ready and I look forward to when I find myself once again at an Ananda center. 
              Sat Nam everybody,
              May all your lives be filled with peace and happiness,
              Thank-you for taking the time to read a part of my story.

            • Prabhjot Singh says:

              Dear i am going through similar situation now and your message inspired me alot,can i connect with you please this is my email id gnbidar@gmail.com

            • chandi charan banerjee says:

              I came to know of the book “autobiography of a yogi” while watching a video of Sandeep Maheshwari presumably titled”The biggest Mystry of the Universe”

              I tried in vain to get a copy of the book for reading from friends & relatives.Then I decided to search Internet & I got it for free. I started reading it.It took me a few days to comolete it & that too wityhout going through notes in details because you know how difficult it is to gaze at the computer screen constantly at my age(77).
              I was overwhelmed with awe while going through the incidents narrated by the Master I very much regretted myself that I did not know of another son of Bengal that over shook the world, the West, in particular through his scientific religion of SELF-REALISATION after the great Swami Vivekananda.I am keenly interested to know further details of the Master & Kriya Yoga Can you please help me out?

            • kalamali says:

              Hello! We have a wonderful resource online for beginning the Path of Kriya Yoga, called the Ananda Course of Self-Realization. It’s available through Ananda USA (http://www.ananda.org/meditation/ananda-course-in-self-realization-the-path-of-kriya-yoga/) as well as Ananda India (https://kriyahomestudy.org/). So happy to hear you have found the “Autobiography of a Yogi” and want to learn more about the liberating technique of Kriya. Many blessings to you.

            • Makineedi Surya Bhaskar says:

              I was very much inspired by the book, which is a daily ‘paraayana grantha’ to me. Everyday, I used to read two or three pages from the book and charge myself into the daily routine with a faith of success. 

            • RAMESH says:

              Dear ones it is great pleasure to find a website like this, many a times i recollect how my relationship with guruji started. it was in 1987 at the age of 21 one of my friend gave me a copy of Autobiography of Yogi, I started reading it after my office hours i still rejoice those days with great sweetness because i could not close the book without completeing it, i hosted a lunch for my friend with all love, whether my friend enjoyed the lunch or not i dont know but my heart was full of love for serving him. how can i forget him who bridged my present life with guruji. 

            • Mary Jo Cleaveland says:

              In 1987, I was experiencing what some would call a mid-life crisis.  I had spent my working years caring for children with cancer and their families.  Having spent my childhood in the Roman Catholic faith, I was influenced by the lives of the saints.  My confirmation name was Bernadette.  In this crisis, I had turned to yoga for stress relief, spent some time with New Thought, and had been attracted to taking a course in “Self_Actualization”.  In this course we were assigned to read many books, the only one that resonated with me was The Autobiography of a Yoga.  In fact we were guided to reading it twice!.  Then I began to search for other people who were putting into practice the teachings that Yogananda brought to us in the West.  It set me on the path of Kriya Yoga which has changed my life.  I completed my “career” has a nurse in the Western tradition and became a disciple and teacher of Raja Yoga.  Master’s guidance has taken me through health challenges, loss of husband and many other events.  I am forever grateful for being lead by reading the Autobiography of a Yogi.

            • Mayuri says:

              I found autobiography of aYogi when I was about 10 years old..rather I must say..It found me. A friend of our nieghbour who we had never known before visited our house with Yogananda’s photograph and the great book. while I was running here and there in the house..my father..who was talking with our guest..for a moment..stopped me and showing me the photograph..said..’ Mayuri..Dekh ye inke(guest) k guru h’..I..indulged in my play..returned.. took the photo in my hand..and not so caring, observing or noticing and not even asking who he was..simply uttered.’arey wah”..and bowed to the photograph. our guest was an intense devotee of Paramhansa yogananda..and a seeker of truth through his path..whether  he was initiated by a guru or not..I dont know… his name was Mr Harshawardhan and he was working on a high paid..lavished post at Tata international, Dewas at the time. after that pranam to the photo..i went away. after that..I dont know what crossed over the mind of our guest..who was not a direct friend of my father..he said he was delighted by the little girl’s (me) bow to his master and some day or on the same day i do not remember..he presented the hindi translation of the autobiography to me.. as a kid I’d not many sources with which i could pass my time..but i had a deep passion for reading,,and as my summer vacations were going on..and i had not much work.. ibegan reading the book.. i had no understanding at that time that it was about spirituality and the life story of one of the greatest saints on earth..yet I thoroughly enjoyed the book..once i took it in my hands i simply was unable to give it for whole day..i was indulged in nothing but that. I read it everyday..repeatedly..even after completing it..i could not resist muself from reading it..thigh not understanding its depth yet some of its accounts left me overwhelmed..particularly the ones related to babaji..Lahiri Mahashaya..yoganandas travels with sri yukteshwar ji.. his first meeting with him..his account at Dakshineshwari kali temple..vrindaban visit.. the story of his devotee Kashi..and his childhood..his prayers his intense love for his mother..and what not…then years passed by nd  i dont remember whether i had read the book in that duration or not..but i certainly could not forget it. then in my class 10th..just..2 months before my boards..my best friend committed suicide..and i was shattered..at the time again..my father bought for me the book..mine I’d given to my cousin..and it helped me to revive and revitalized me with happiness and healing. This book has added to my delightful childhood..a transformative chapter..that has guided me in my tough times..the great master..Yogananda has always encouraged me to strive towards the essential element of life..that is God.. I’m initiated in the path of Namasmarana..by my Sadguru..and when i was lacking faith n devotion towards him..Yogananda once appeared in my dream..and talked to me in Marathi..i.e the mother tongue of my Guru..I dont know the words he spoke to me..then..and not even now..but i certainly felt guided and dedicated towards my guru after that.. my granny told me that my guru only appeared to me in the form of Yogananda..

            • B.K. Dash says:

                             I fill happiness as  if I am looking “some one is discussing with God”. The book increases my believe to god..   

            • Sufira Mingara Lai says:

              Hi,
              I first read Autobiography of a Yogi in the late 1990’s but when I was in Delhi, Swami came to me in my dreams and talked to me about BABAJI. I was taken up the hills of Rishi Kesh and felt very much at home there and met BABAJI, he was sitting in front of a small fire, with we talked for a while. (in the dream)

              The next evening, the whole room was lighted up as if I had turned on the lights, at that time I was very sick and dying of pneumonia.
              Then, Sai Baba came and asked me to see him in Puttarpathi which I did the next few days and got better after that.
              I absolutely adore the Last
              Smile and always feel like I am wearing it myself.

            • Zach Hill says:

              Searching theological texts and beliefs has taken much of my time for the past six years. Truly much longer than that, but I count only those that were self motivated. Naturally over six one develops a system of belief based on the knowledge attained, and even holds what I personally considered fantastic, almost wish it were true feelings about reality. With the Highs field proven my force fantasies could not be scientifically disproven any longer. But finding his book last month has brought a Deja-vu like feeling. Personal feelings never before spoken were supported literally word for word. I have found the courage to chase those beliefs.

            • Tiff says:

              I was feeling very low and in need of some spiritual guidance. My daughter was playing at a playground and near the playground was a little free library. A voice told me “Go to the little library, open the door, the first book you see is from me.” I opened the door to the little library, and staring right at me was the beautiful face of Yogananda. I knew the book was for me. And I have felt the guidance and presence of Yogananda ever since. Maybe I felt it all along. Very special. A true gift. <3

            • Ramesh says:

              JAI SHREEGURUDEV
              MUST READ INCIDENT TO ALL DEVOTEES OF OUR BELOVED GURUDEV
              “GURUJI’S OMINPRESENCE SAVES US AT TIMES OF NEED WITHOUT ASKING FOR”
              This incident happened yesterday at 8.05 pm on the 4th October 2016 in Bangalore. Myself I am a follower of guruji sri.sri.paramahansa yogananda since the age of 21.
              Yesterday after parking my car as usual freshened up and went to Lord Shiva Temple & Lord Sri. Rama Temple both the temples near my house. My wife who is a devotee of Lord Subramanya (Murga) was performing puja at home, I informed her that I would be going to temple and left the house. Celebration of Dasara festival was going on in the temples. My wife after puja left to Devi.Mata Sri.Yellamma temple, my son had not come home from office.
              It is a custom at home she lights 12 oil lamps two ghee lamps to Lord Sri.Subramanya, on Tuesdays after pooja she locked the house and left to temple.
              As I was returning to house, the lady in the ground floor give me shocking news that our house was on fire.
              I started running to my house on the first floor, and opened the door,( lucky I had key in my pocket) the whole of the house was filled with thick smoke and chocked me fully, my eyes started burning and I was gasping for breath, inspite of all this I went inside and saw the pooja room was fully on fire raging 8 to 9 feet in length and 5 feet in width.
              I rushed to the bathroom and there was no water in the bucket, opened the taps to fill the bucket with water, and started dousing the fire it took 10 -15 minutes to fully douse the fire.
              All Divine photos with frames , pooja articles, such as camphor, Agarbathi, Doop, oil, ghee, devotional books, clothes, were turned into ashes, silver lamps, bell & silver plates, were on raging fire which changed their shapes due to the heat.
              THE MIRACLE WAS OUR BELOVED GURUJI’S PHOTO WAS INTACT BUT THE FRAME WAS REDUCED TO ASHES.
              Now to inform you the consequences of the fire accident, the cooking gas cylinder was just two feet away from the fire, the gas lantern was already on fire but did not burst, in the event of the gas cylinder bursting the house would have been damaged, to a great extent the losses would be around 50 lakhs. But the omnipresent guru saved me and the family from all the consequences.
              Guruji demonstrated his power by not allowing his body to usual disintegrating now he showed that even fire kept away from him.
              What else to tell, the ocean of grace showered by guruji cannot be explained it should be experienced.
              Jai Guru.

            • Ben says:

              During a recent very bleak time I began looking through various self-improvement books that had been sitting undisturbed for many years on bookshelves. One of these led me to do some online searching and I encountered the Ananda pages. I downloaded the Autobiography and read it over several nights. This hardened my resolve to begin my own journey and to use the Ananda organisation as my guide. Until now I’ve mostly been a cautious man, albeit one who has done some foolish and regrettable things, but I am now more trusting of what the universe has to offer me and and deriving considerable comfort from twice-daily meditation and other contemplative activity. There is no Ananda base in England that I know of but I have re-started practicing yoga after a short burst a dozen years ago. I cannot tell you how good I felt this morning after my second session. That and my meditation look to be the saving of me from a miserable period and I feel herald the beginning of new and more joyful times. So I am glad that I have come to know of these teachings and how – slowly and not without occasional stumbling – to put them into practice in my daily life.

            • patricia wolff says:

              It was 2008 (I was born in the same year Autobiography was published and it took me this long to learn he had founded an organization) and since I had just joined SRF, having been told about it by a psychic I had contacted for advice about caring for the dogs I had recently got from a rescue organization and I thought therefore I should read the book. Some time in one of the middle chapters, I wish now I had noted which one, I suddenly came to the realization that this is the guru I want. I felt completely satisfied with this thought. I later joined Ananda, took discipleship and kriya. But that one moment change me forever. My life is transformed

            • Kate says:

              1974 was the year that I was introduced to The Autobiography by two followers. This phenomenal book directed my life in such a way that Yogananda’s teachings and practices have become my life’s work. What a blessing that I was given on that day in 1974.

            • Dan says:

              In 2001 and 2002 I was working outdoors in the Berkshire mountains of western Massachusetts four days per week as part of an AmeriCorps program. Because I had very little money or resources at that time in life I spent many of my free hours and days in the Pittsfield public library. One late afternoon as I was weaving my way between computer workstations and rotating book shelves I spotted an orange-colored book cover featuring a portrayal of a saintly face looking back at me. For some unknown reason I was immediately excited, and knew I couldn’t just leave it there; I had to investigate, and learn what a self-proclaimed saint might say about himself. Soon after reading the introductory pages I was devouring this Spiritual adventure, feeling my heart open, and wounds from a confusing western Christian upbringing beginning to heal through what I can only call a Spiritual acceptance and reconciliation. This vibrantly alive tome reawakened my wonder about the Universe and significantly enhanced my beliefs about human potential.
              And to this day I donate funds to libraries because a special book found in one was formative to the remainder of my life. Post script: ing this message the idea occurs that I could purchase used copies and donate them to any library branches in my area that are missing copies.

            • darlehen online berechnen says:

              Hey Alli.If you are ok normally with strangers, but only get nervous in interviews, then there should be some classes or workshop that can help you out with that.At least you are not timid all the time. Best of luck!

            • Elisabeth Sirowatka says:

              Dearest!!
              This book accompanies me since my childhood. It belonged to my mother and I read The “Autobiographie of a yogi “for the first time, at the age of 13 years and was deeply impressed.
              I inherited it after my mother died and often lent it to friends, but some day it got lost.
              In magical ways it returned over and over again to me. When I was 40 years old, my lifes journey seamed to be at the end, because I walked through a deep and cruel depression.
              Often I was not able to stood up out of my bed. One day it became so bad that I thought I cannot live this life a moment longer. In that moment I heard a loud noise and I jumped up to see what has happened. In front of my bookshelf Paramahansas Book laid on the ground. I picked it up, crawled to my bed and started to read it again. Then everything changes. Hope came back to me and light. I felt so blessed an loved.
              I wish you all the best from deep of my heart.
              Greetings from Bremen, North Germany. Elisabeth

            • Kailash Menon says:

              I will never forget those moments when I read Autobiography of a Yogi for the first time. It is, and shall be, just as Swami Kriyananda says, the greatest book I have ever read. I came to know about this book when I was reading God Talks With Arjuna, and I remember just staring at Master’s photo there for about a minute. I was sure that there was something about this man, and that I have never seen such a powerful and radiant face before, with such deep and powerful eyes. I have seen other people similarly stare at that photo for the same duration! I therefore searched for Autobiography of a Yogi on the net, and hit upon the entire book on Ananda’s website.

              It took me about a month to read the book, mostly because I did not want to finish it very fast! Those 3 or 4 months since were such a blissful time for me, and I even had some experiences during that period. It was like I uncovered some hidden treasure within me after such a long time, a joyful feeling that made me feel that something was calling me to come back home.

            • Phalguni Dahal says:

              I have read the ‘autobiography of yogi’ . I would like to read those books which has written by paramhamsa yogananda.

            • Gyanananda says:

              In college, random people kept trying to interest me in yoga but I never bit. However, soon after college, a trusted coach suggested I read the AY. I was hooked, as I have been the quarter century since. I went on to read everything PY ever wrote as well as SK, whether in print, or out. I try to practice it all the time.

            • Pritika Kumar says:

              This book opened my mind. I experienced a deep spiritual awakening. Not only was I connected to the energy of the earth, but also the light above. Ever since, I have attained clarity of purpose. I now live a fearless, purposeful and happy life. Everything is working out for me. I believe you don’t choose this book, it chooses you. When you need it, you will receive it.

            • RAMESH says:

              Hi, very very well said this book autobiography of a yogi is not chosen by us but it is the book who chooses us. very well said , lovely thought.
              warm regards

            • Sander Bressers says:

              Exactly. Well said. It feels indeed llike the book finds us and not the other way around.

            • Princy Singh says:

              It was a life changing experience ,I feel blessed that m able to get n read that book , it was amazing spiritual journey I really like to show my gratitude towards Guruji that through his book he gave us insight into  his Life n his special experiences of meeting God 

            • Sander Bressers says:

              I got the book from a friend. After i read it I actually read it 3 times. I was inspired and i felt loved. I also realised that there was a long way ahead on my journey to self realusation. I have met manny shapes and forms of my ego. I have found out that god is everywhere. And now, 8 years later, i am finally starting to get the picture that we are all children of God. Even if I do mot get selfrealisation in this life I am forever gratefull for having read the book, looking at guruji’s face and know that selfrealisation is possible. It has put my life upside down in every way possible. And all i feel when i think of the teachings of guruji, is love, being loved, grattitude and bliss. I am practicing yoga and meditation and i take it seriously. In my meditation i pray to meet a guru who can help me. I will not give up. Thank you guruji for showing me a way to take away my ignorance.

            • Carlos Romero says:

              Queridos hermanos, este es mi humilde comentario en referencia a lo tan importante que ha sido en mi vida la lectura y la comprensión de este amado legado que el Maestro Parahasa Yogananda, nos ha dejado.
              El designio divino que implícitamente cada Alma en evolución trae en cada cada encarnación , es a manera de bosquejo o guión de lo que en la vida a cada uno le toca hacer. El Maestro P.Y. ha tomado ante EL Gran Espíritu , el sagrado compromiso de mostrar de una manera sencilla y didáctica la forma de comulgar con la Nuestra Divinidad y a medida que nuestro vínculo interior se afianza, cosechar los maravillosos frutos del Espíritu en la vida diaria , con las benéficas implicancias que esto proyectado en tiempo nos depara. Seria aburrido detallar los beneficios que tuve, pero en realidad han sido muchos y va desde aquí mi amoroso afecto al gran Activador de Conciencias por haber puesto en mis manos una bisagra muy grande en mi vida, Autobiografía de un Yogui . Toda mi gratitud y amor a EL.

            • RAJESHWARI .M.Singh says:

              after reading the book and becoming adevotee istiill want to live in an ashram of yss but iam getting no opportunity!iwant to renounce ,can i get help?my no. is 9871167836.gurgaon

            • RAJESHWARI .M.Singh says:

              IFEEL IMPATIENT WITH ENERGISING EXERCISES.IWISH THEY WERE SHORTENED.ALSO CAN LISTENING TO SONGS HELP AS MUCH AS MEDITATION?

            • Devidas Patil says:

              I had registered for membership at Ranchi Ashram in the year 2006 – 2007 for monthly magazine. I would like to find out the membership number for communication purpose please.

            • JAGADEESHWAR A says:

              IT IS WONDERFUL BOOK LEADING ME TO THE DOORSTEPS OF SPIRITUALITY. MANY SADHUS MENTIONED IN BOOK ARE HIGHLY INSPIRATIONAL.

              WE VISITED LAHARIMAHASAY ASHRAM AT VARANASI AND YUKTESWAR BABA ASHRAM AT PURI TO FURTHER ENHANCE MY SPIRITUAL PATH.

              I WILL BE READ SEVERAL CERTAIN TOPICS TO UNDERSTAND THE DEPTH LIKE KRIYA YOGA.

            • Patrick "Paki" Story says:

              In 1981, near the end of March, I tried to take my life by getting my 1969 Thunderbird up to 125 mph and took my hands off the steering wheel. I wrecked the car and myself horribly. I went into a ditch and flew about 25 yards over a pond. I was thrown from the car and was face-down in the pond when the police pulled me out. The owner of the house where I landed thought that UFO’s were landing in her yard and had called them. I broke my back in 2 places and was off work for more than 6 months. The pain medications that I was prescribed fueled my addiction even more; it was my addiction and lifelong depression that led to my suicide attempt in the first place. While I was recovering in the hospital, a friend of mine, more of an acquaintance really, came to visit me and brought me a copy of “Metaphysical Meditations.” She encouraged me to read it and offered that it might help. She only knew that I had been in an accident, not the whole truth of it. Well, I didn’t read the book then, but I didn’t get rid of it either.
              Sometime during the summer of 1995, I was making attempts at sobriety and recovery. I was still horribly depressed and had countless suicide attempts, mostly drug overdoses, behind me. Most of them were half-hearted, but some were more serious. I was coming upon a realization that perhaps there was some force preventing me. This was anathema to me, as I considered myself a “militant atheist” by this point; I didn’t believe in god and it wasn’t ok with me if you did. Anyway, I girded myself for one more attempt. I can’t even remember today what my plan was, but I am convinced (as I was then) that it would’ve worked, had I completed. But I didn’t complete. This time, unlike the others, I decided that I was going to go through my belongings and make piles of things that I wanted specific people to have. It was an early afternoon, and I had plenty of time. As I was going through my belongings, I came across that copy of “Metaphysical Meditations.” I had carried that copy with me, across the country from Sanibel Island, Florida to Santa Cruz, California where I was then living. Well, I picked it up and started to flip through it, having never read it, to decide to whom it should go. I came across the instructions for learning to meditate. I would like to describe what happened next.
              I fixed my eyes between my brows, trying to find my third eye. I can’t remember exactly which affirmation I was focused on, but I know it was about divine love (aren’t they all?). Suddenly, there appeared a light between my eyes, and I became that light. I was a particle of light, traveling at the speed of light, and I could feel every aspect of light, including the speed and the heat. I was being drawn into a pool of colored light particles, and the closer I came, the faster I travelled, and the more intense the feeling of heat became. I vibrated with the light. At last, I came to rise above a conglomerate of colors (light particles), only they were not colors in the ordinary sense. I had never experienced anything like this. The colors were not early color, they were instead visual representations of divine states. As I traveled through the, each color imbued in me a feeling of a distinct aspect of Love: Joy, Knowledge; Wisdom; Kinship; Animals; Service; Gratitude; Hope; Faith; Integrity; and I multitude I can barely recall and I’m not sure I could’ve named them at the time. I was becoming One with every aspect of Love that exists. It was Ecstasy!!! I have never experienced anything like that since.
              I opened my eyes to the darkness and coldness of the room. I was keenly aware of the tears running down my cheeks. I looked at the clock. I was confused, because it seemed like it had only been a short time, yet it was dark, and it had been bright daylight when I started. Six hours had passed. I collected my belongings and put them back. I knew something had changed. I knew I was choosing life, or letting life choose me. My journey since has been slow and still painful at times. I have been drug free for nearly thirty years. I have read “Autobiography of a Yogi,” and many other writings of Paramahansa Yogananda. I hope to begin the instructions in Kriya Yoga soon. I believe that’s what is prompting my writing now. A desire to move forward. I struggle with meditation. I believe my first experience was a Divine Gift that altered the course of my journey, and in some ways has become my journey.

            • Sk says:

              Thank you Patrick for sharing your story! It certainly sounds like grace, a gift of the divine.

              All the best wishes on your new journey

            • Siid says:

              how could paramahanasa praise Henry ford who was antisemite he knew slave labour was beefing used in nazi factories and accepted the highest civil award give to a civilian by the nazi regime this accepting who the nazi were..
              Confuse how a this could happen..

            • Debora Kovacs says:

              I was introduced to The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer. He said that he read The Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramhansa  Yogananda and that it changed his life. That is where the book came from, along with The Surrender Exoeriment. I read both books, which have helped  me immensely, and then I decided that I would find the book that inspired Michael Singer to write these books. I found The Autobiograohy of a Yogi, Parsmhansa Yogananda, and I I continue to read it and several of his other books . They have changed my life. I love all of this amazing truth and  it is showing me the way to Lufe and Love for all.

            • Poornima says:

              It was just three months after I got married in 1994. My husband held a book to me saying it’s a very good book, read it, you will like it. He had wrapped the cover and I didn’t even ask what the book was about etc. I simply put it aside not deciding read it anyway, as I was already with a different spiritual guru. That night I had a vision. A relatively fat bodied person wearing an ochre robe with flowing hair was giving datshan in an arena song with few of his disciples around him.
              His face was round with sharp features, his eyes half closed and his thin lips in a blissful smile. He was pink in complexion and on the whole very very beautiful. In my dream I exclaimed…Wow is there anything more beautiful than this in this earth? Nothing comparable…Divine beauty.
              I realised that I was seated in the front row of the fully crowded arena watching him. He slowly drifted towards me. I bowed to him and asked him to bless me. He raised his right hand above his head and said …I bless you, I bless you, I bless you…Thrice. That was a heavenly and very manly voice never heard before.
              The next day I woke up and incidentally searched for the book my husband gave the previous day and just wanted to flip through and to my shock and pleasant surprise I saw the photo of the man who appeared in my vision the previous night .
              I read the book fully and keep reading it often.
              Guru dev never left me till now. He is with me always.
              Jai Gurudev.

            • varsha prabhugaunkar says:

              I received the book as a1st prize in Bhagwatgeeta Recitation competition and i wrote a poem named Realisation( which was later published in govapuri Magazine)

            • Carmen Charles Rudd says:

              About 50 years previous, I was studying Hatha Yoga and Chanting Om and Teaching Basic Hatha Yoga to about 100 of the students of Guru Vipin Hari Bhatt in Canada.
              I wanted to learn as much as I could about Yoga and Meditation and found Paramhansa Yogananda at the local library. Reading his words I was enlightened by the Truth I found there. These Truths applied to various areas in my life and after fifty years, I have returned to more deeper studies in Yoga to learn where this will take me, as I enter the concluding years of this physical Life on Earth.
              Yogananda and Mahatma Gandhi are two major Influences in my Life.

              You might open the Link to know the Humanitarian direction they gave me.

              Linked In, Carmen Charles Rudd, Global Relief Worker, Fine Artist.

              Kindly,
              C. Charles Rudd

            • nagasai.tirthala@gmail.com says:

              i felt very happy and vibrations of divinity passed through ny entire body, mind and heart filled with joy and happiness

            • valentina says:

              My psychoanalyst showed me this book and the photo of Paramhansa Yogananda. After getting in contact with his teachings and the teachings of Swami kriyananda one of his direct disciples, my life has changes forever. Since that meeting, 15 years ago, I have in my hands a compass for any area of life, any situation, pointing me toward the highest happiness possible.

            • Ranu says:

              I just read yogi kathamrit
              I want to learn the kriyayog tecnices
              So plz suggest me how and where
              I am from nepal biratnagar

            • Vikram Anchal says:

              I am aware of the importance of this book and that is why I just have to read it as well as other books written by other scholarly yogis. Although I am happy but at the same time also very sad that the eye of my mind has opened so late in my life.

            • Ashwinee says:

              I actually saw a video of Jacqueline Fernandez where she went to a Himalayan cave in India as she was inspired by the book Autobiography of a yogi which was handed by her friends on her birthday. I was a huge fan of her and wanted to read that book too. I couldn’t buy the book but I found the book online. I am still reading.

            • Ashu says:

              I actually saw a video of Jacqueline Fernandez where she went to a Himalayan cave in India as she was inspired by the book Autobiography of a yogi which was handed by her friends on her birthday. I was a huge fan of her and wanted to read that book too. I couldn’t buy the book but I found the book online. I am still reading.

            • Kai Tham says:

              Have you heard about this quote?
              “When the student is ready, the teacher will show up.”

              This quote is related to my story about finding Autobiography of a Yogi (AY) and it has appeared in many discussions I had with other “teachers”.

              I was practicing meditation and yoga since 1992 with a Tibetan Buddhist teacher called Rama. He was introduced to me by a dear friend of mine who used to work together with me at Phibro Energy in Greenwich, CT. In addition to teaching us (followers and disciples), he taught us how to be successful in material life. I owe my material and spiritual success to his teachings.

              Prior to his spiritual teachings, the only thing close to associating the practice of spirituality was burning incense and praying for some Buddhist ritual(s) during certain Chinese “festive” days. On some occasions earlier in my life, I was taught by my mom to pray to Kwan Yin (goddess of compassion, kindness, and mercy) to help pass my exams.

              When I was running my consulting firm in my Tokyo office, I felt a loss of guidance from Rama, which was odd since he guided me for many years. Even when I left New York to work in Tokyo, I could feel his guidance when I asked for it during my hour-long meditation twice a day. That one day at the office in Tokyo in 2003, I could not feel it. I felt like a ship without a rudder in a huge ocean. I asked him in my prayer/meditation what happened. It prompted me to search for him on the Internet and found out that he had passed away.

              Upon my return back to New York, I was driving home. When I was stopped at a light on my way home, I asked Rama out loud “Who will guide me now, now that you have passed away?” As soon as I asked that question, a radio announcement from my car radio broadcast an advert about a free meditation class in Manhattan and the number to call. I immediately took down the number to call after I went home.

              The number I called was a greeting from a messaging system to leave my number so someone could call back to give me the details. That following Saturday, I was shopping for my business shirts at a mall in Long Island and I received a call from Phil Romano (now Narayan, a Spiritual Director of Ananda Los Angeles). He gave me the details of the meditation class starting the following Wednesday at 6 pm.

              That Wednesday evening, I met Phil and two attendees (Rachelle and Pushpendra). We started with the Energization Exercise and meditated for 30 minutes. After meditation, he read one of the chapters from the Autobiography of a Yogi about Yogananda’s adventure to the Himalayas. I immediately connected with the book as I had similar desires to go to the Himalayas.

              And some years later, I did finally go to the Himalayas. That’s another story for another time.

              Hope you enjoy your journey wherever it leads you.

              Kai

            • jaganmohan says:

              I read this book nearly 12 times.when I get doubt go through book.I enjoy the smile of lahrimahasyas which has compelling attraction and captivating grace.yogananda did not speak on surrender which is inevitable in yoga.once surrender true state of pranamaya will come according to ramakrishna parama hamsa..

            • Ajith prasanna Rajakaruna says:

              It’s encouraging my spiritual journey

            • Michael says:

              My girlfriend of 1992 professed the teachings of Yogananda to be Gnostic. I bought the book and I believe in Prana.

              Sadly she was swept under the tyranny of anti light to gather insanity and later murder to commit jealousy.

            • Chris Burgan says:

              Why are you asking devotees to follow your site when you are note an official srf site? What is your hidden motive?

            • Ramakrishna Ogirala says:

              Swami ji”s life gave me a great inspiration and it made me realize what is the naked truth of LIFE. Jai Gurudev

            • ManojRanjanMohanty says:

              My father had been initiated by H.H.Daya Mata.After 15yrs of ‘Kriya Yoga’ practices, he had told me, ” He was capable of hearing of Divine tune of flute, conch shell sound..Humming celestial sound.By dream he had been called by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. He had gone to Prashanti Nilayam, A.P,India,got Baba’s Special Darshan & Pada namaskar.Returning from Prashanti Nilayam within a few day’s he left his mortal coil peacefully at the age of 87.It was Kriya Yoga which uplift him & brings him to a peaceful end.

            • PANKAJ KUMAR NIGAM says:

              Started reading now Come to know about yogi ji while reading meher baba books

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