The Book That Sparked a Spiritual Revolution

Autobiography of a Yogi: a first-hand account of the life experiences of Paramhansa Yogananda, a spiritual master, this book has sold millions of copies and is beloved around the world by those interested in yoga and spirituality.

Read Free Online Buy the Book

“Imagine Christ, Buddha, or Krishna telling their life story in their own words. That’s what you get when you read Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi."

—Richard Salva, author

Available in 19 Languages

Printed

Paperback, 516 pages

Audiobook

Audiobook, 19 hours

Digital

Kindle Edition, only $16.99
iTunes edition, not available
Online edition, free

What Makes Autobiography of a Yogi So Great?

Adapted from an answer on Quora by Nabha Cosley • January 9, 2016

A book about masters of yoga and saints, written by someone who was himself a master of yoga and a saint. This is an unusual and unique book.

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda talks about miracles, the yogic teachings, and the teachings of Jesus Christ in a modern way — a way that is easy to understand and even entertaining. For someone interested in spirituality, or even just alternate ways of looking at life, it's incredibly illuminating.

The world is a different place than it would have been without this book. The New Age movement in the West, the impact the book has had on leaders in many fields, and the rise in the practice of yoga and meditation are due in large part to Yogananda’s influence and the influence of his autobiography.

Philip Goldberg wrote in American Veda that “Among the people I interviewed about their key spiritual influences, a high percentage named a book, and by far the book most often mentioned was Yogananda's unique memoir. A distant second was Be Here Now by Ram Dass, and he mentioned the Autobiography.”

Sometimes people read it and have their life turned around entirely. It's a book that, like other scripture, inspires life-long devotion.

Anyone who is interested should read it. It is a great book in every sense of the word.

“As a bright light shining in the midst of darkness, so was Yogananda’s presence in this world. Such a great soul comes on earth only rarely, when there is a real need among men.”

The Shankaracharya of Kanchipuram

“The greatest book I ever read.”

Swami Kriyananda

A Life Transforming Book

Feature Box Title

The “last gift” of Apple’s CEO was 500 copies of the book. He was said to read it every year.

Learn More

Feature Box Title

The Beatle carried copies in his suitcase to hand out; he even gave one to President Ford.

Feature Box Title

The famous kirtan musician counts it as one of his favorite books.

Feature Box Title

Each day, a new person is touched by the teachings, the message, and the spirit of this spiritual classic.

 

About This Edition

This is the original edition of Autobiography of a Yogi, just as Yogananda wrote it, without the hundreds of changes made to editions published after Yogananda’s passing in 1952.

Utmost care has been taken to make this the most accurate reprint ever published.

Learn more

Introduction to Kriya Yoga Paramhansa Yogananda

Table of Contents

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

Ananda Meditation App

A free app with guided meditations and techniques, based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda. Go deeper in the joy of your own Self.

Download the app

Start a New Meditation Practice or Inspire Your Current One

The 10-week Ananda Course in Meditation online course is designed to provide in-depth instruction in scientific meditation techniques that bring more peace, deeper relaxation, and focused concentration to every area of your life, regardless of outer conditions.

These techniques are based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi.

Learn more