Autobiography of a Yogi (Self-Realization Fellowship)

by Paramahansa Yogananda

Temple of Jagannath, “Lord of the World.”

I could see that his understanding and insight extended to the most mundane of problems, even though he was a man of Spirit.

the spiritual thought of the East — especially its unique science of direct personal communion with God

Many years later, Lahiri Mahasaya’s exalted disciple Swami Sri Yukteswar related this prophecy to Sri Yogananda. “You must do your part in spreading that message,” he declared, “and in writing that sacred life.” It was in 1945, exactly fifty years after Lahiri Mahasaya’s passing, that Paramahansa Yogananda completed his Autobiography of a Yogi, which amply fulfilled both of his guru’s injunctions: providing the first detailed presentation in English of Lahiri Mahasaya’s remarkable life, and introducing to a world audience India’s age-old science of the soul.

His divine intent was to share the joy and revelations encountered in the company of saints and great masters and in one’s own personal realization of the Divine.

Despite the newly born atomic age having enlarged the collective consciousness of humanity with a growing understanding of the subtle unity of matter, energy, and thought, the publishers of the day were hardly ready for such chapters as “Materializing a Palace in the Himalayas” and “The Saint With Two Bodies”!

‘literarity’!”

…The whole aim of the author is not to present Indian Yoga in opposition to the Christian teaching, but as allied with it — as companions traveling toward the same great goal.”

“Paramahansa Yogananda, like Gandhi, brought spirituality into the mainstream of society. It is reasonable to say that Yogananda did more to put the word ‘yoga’ into our vocabulary than any other person.”

“Yogananda can be said to be the father of yoga in the West — not the mere physical yoga that has become popular, but the spiritual yoga, the science of Self-realization that is the real meaning of yoga.”

“Autobiography of a Yogi is regarded as an Upanishad of the new age….

We have felt great satisfaction and pride that the immortal nectar of India’s Sanatana Dharma, the eternal laws of truth, has been stored in the golden chalice of Autobiography of a Yogi.”

“God is Love; His plan for creation can be rooted only in love.

Asoka’s inherited dominions included India, Nepal, Afghanistan, and Baluchistan. The first internationalist, he sent religious and cultural missions, with many gifts and blessings, to Burma, Ceylon, Egypt, Syria, and Macedonia. “Asoka, the third king of the Maurya line, was one...of the great philosopher-kings of history,” the scholar P. Masson-Oursel observed. “No one has combined energy and benevolence, justice and charity, as he did. He was the living embodiment of his own time, and he comes before us as quite a modern figure.

enjoying the greatest possible material power, he organized peace. Far beyond his own vast dominions he realized what has been the dream of some religions — universal order, an order embracing mankind.”

“Dharma (cosmic law) aims at the happiness of all creatures.”

Asoka lovingly advises the subjects of his far-flung empire that happiness is rooted ...

Mahatma Gandhi wrote: “Those who will meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day. There is not a single spiritual tangle which the Gita cannot unravel.”

9 A yogic technique, taught by Lahiri Mahasaya, whereby the sensory tumult is stilled, permitting man to achieve an ever-increasing identity with cosmic consciousness.

Any word spoken with clear realization and deep concentration has a materializing value.

The amulet was an astrally produced object. Structurally evanescent,

The potencies of sound and of vach, the human voice, have nowhere else been so profoundly investigated as in India.

Each time a man utters a word he puts into operation one of the three qualities of Aum. This is the lawful reason behind the injunction of all scriptures that man should speak the truth.

The Sanskrit alphabet, ideally constructed, consists of fifty letters, each one carrying a fixed invariable pronunciation.

Such an alphabet would approximate the phonetic perfection of the Sanskrit, whose use of fifty letters prevents mispronunciations.

A few great Hindu cities have been recently unearthed at Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, affording proof of an eminent culture that “must have had a long antecedent history on the soil of India, taking us back to an age that can only be dimly surmised”

“Since the revival of classical learning,” the Encyclopedia Americana states, “there has been no other event in the history of culture as important as the discovery of Sanskrit [by Western scholars] in the latter part of the 18th century. Linguistic science, comparative grammar, comparative mythology, the science of religion...either owe their very existence to the discovery of Sanskrit or were profoundly influenced by its study.”

a demonstration that man has televisional powers was given on Nov. 26, 1934, at the Royal University of Rome. “Dr. Giuseppe Calligaris, professor of neuro-psychology, pressed certain parts of a subject’s body and the subject responded with minute descriptions of persons and objects on the opposite side of a wall. Dr. Calligaris told the professors that if certain areas on the skin are agitated, the subject is given super-sensorial impressions enabling him to see objects that he could not otherwise perceive.

Dr. Calligaris said that when certain spots of the body are agitated, the subjects can see objects at any distance, regardless of whether they have ever before seen those objects.”

In deep meditation, the first experience of Spirit is on the altar of the spine, and then in the brain. The torrential bliss is overwhelming, but the yogi learns to control its outward manifestations.

he had not then become irrevocably established in nirbikalpa samadhi. In that perfect and unshakable state of consciousness, a yogi finds no difficulty in performing any of his worldly duties.

In The Story of Therese Neumann (Bruce Pub. Co.), A. P. Schimberg describes several occasions on which this Christian saint has appeared before, and conversed with, distant persons needing her help.

Da is a respectful suffix that brothers and sisters add to the name of their eldest brother.

Maya is the magical power in creation by which limitations and divisions are apparently present in the Immeasurable and Inseparable.

Charmer who will be believed By man who thirsts to be deceived.

the power expressed by a man’s bodily instrument depends on his aggressive will and courage. The body is literally manufactured and sustained by mind.

the mind is similarly enslaved by submitting to bodily dictation.”

The Tiger Swami fell into silence. Remoteness came into his gaze, summoning visions of bygone years. I discerned his slight mental struggle to decide whether to grant my request. Finally he smiled in acquiescence.

There is resentment against you in the jungle family; sometime it may act to your cost.’

The Tiger Swami made this confession with an impatient gesture, as though at some stupidity.

fistic punishment

Raja Begum was presented to me, as promised,

but I felt no elation. A spiritual change had entered my heart. It seemed that with my final exit from the cage I had also closed the door on my worldly ambitions.

a cyclonic life.

“Prince Princess” — so named to indicate that this beast possessed the combined ferocity of tiger and tigress.

Stern, exacting, mathematical judgment was alien to his gentle nature. “He can serve as an earthly prototype for the very angels of heaven!” I thought fondly, watching him one day at his prayers. Without a breath of censure or criticism, he surveyed the world with eyes long familiar with the Primal Purity. His body, mind, speech, and actions were effortlessly harmonized with his soul’s simplicity.

So deep was his sense of identity with Sri Ramakrishna that Master Mahasaya no longer considered his thoughts to be his own.

“I see this man doesn’t please you.” The saint’s whisper to me was unheard by the egotist, spellbound by his own monologue. “I have spoken to Divine Mother about it; She realizes our sad predicament. As soon as we get to yonder red house, She has promised to remind him of more urgent business.”

“I see, little sir, that you don’t like this bioscope. I have mentioned it to Divine Mother; She is in full sympathy with us both. She tells me that the electric lights will now go out and won’t be relit until we have a chance to leave the room.” As his whisper ended, the hall was plunged into darkness. The professor, whose strident voice had been stilled for a moment in astonishment, said, “The electrical system of this hall appears to be defective.” By this time Master Mahasaya and I were already across the threshold. Glancing back from the corridor, I saw that the hall was again illuminated.

Pedestrians as well as the passing trolley cars, automobiles, bullock carts, and iron-wheeled hackney carriages were all in noiseless transit. As though possessing an omnipresent eye, I beheld the scenes that were behind me, and to each side, as easily as those in front. The whole spectacle of activity in that small section of Calcutta passed before me without a sound.