Rating: 
Summary: LIFE CHANGING AT EVERY LEVEL
Review: This book gives Great rewards for the reader now and hereafter, if you can go beyond the
two dimensional view of life, and really attune yourself to the Master by the listening and right practice. The author will show you the way of Realization here and beyond. He will aid you in fulfilling your purpose in life -to know truth, to know God!
This testament is one of the most complete and comprehensive revelations to have come to our struggling world.What does this book really do? Paramahansa Yogananda, being a fully realized son of God,
can directly help the new devotee (or seeker) transcend the limitations of the small self.
He does this by clearly and fully explianing how things work in this world and in the spiritual world,
and how the crucial element of the Guru-disciple relationship works.
Yogananda takes the devotee to a life transforming renewal of material, mental, and spiritual
Existence that only the new awareness of the real Self can give.
He shows us how to go beyond the little self,(the ego) Unlike some older religious works, He has brought us all a brighter light to clarify and harmonize the essence of all true religions,
especially to orthodox doctrines that have been longing to come out of the dark ages since the crucifixion.
BR>But as a bonus to this, Yogananda shares the very effective methods to be able to fulfill the expectations of their promises.
Those same methods which show him to be a fully liberated/ascended master of life and death.
Which until this wisdom came from India remained largely theoretical and unknown to most religious persons.
He shows us the evidence in this autobiography that in our age of information and literacy we need no longer by duped into
the "One Way Syndrome." It is true that following the teachings of the Saviour Yogananda enhances our lives in this world to
the degree that we properly practice it, but more than that one becomes ever free from the limits
of this relative world and from the cause effect syndrome that some call sin. From which his teachings also free us not only on the earth plane but also on the spiritual non-corporeal dimensions as well. This is true freedom. Yogananda's Autobiography, as inspiring and revolutionary as it is, is only the tip of this revelatory iceberg.
Only those who are still locked into the dark of primitive/controlling cultural programming are still reeling against all the good that He brings. They usually read a few lines or paragraphs and arrogantly assume they know all that is wrong with what they have not really barely begun to study. Thus arises their imaginary contradictions.
They are like the Eskimo who could not understand how the Sheiks people were still alive without eating whale meat. Assumptions of a programmed limited awareness. It will take many persons a few readings plus other research, to reach beyond their habitual two dimensional thinking in order to accurately appreciate the wisdom and stature of Paramahansa Yogananda.
But once you can go beyond the narrow view that leads to destruction ( the popular view) this book will do great things for you life in all worlds. As JC also said, "whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, whatever you are free of on earth you will be free of in heaven."
Rating: 
Summary: Not Free
Review: "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." (Mark 8:34) This is what Jesus said about the Self: deny it. He did not say "realize your Self." I am somewhat irritated where Yogananda got the idea from that he taught the same as Jesus. Jesus offer is that you give yourself to Him and He will shower you with His first-rate gifts and free you from the frustrations, the second best offers, the foul compromises and the lies of the world. Yogananda, on the other hand, offers that you will be able to utilize the powers of the world more effectivly. He offers you a promotion within the hirarchies of the world. With Yogananda you might be better of than before. However, you are even more bound to the rules of the world. You are not free. Whereas with Jesus you are free in the world.
Rating:
Summary: Awkwardly Uncarnal
Review: Yogananda's attitude towards sex is quite odd. It seems as if he never had sex and never wanted to. With this he reminds one of the ancient Gnostics. Of course, it is up to him to enjoy or not to enjoy sex. However, it is astonishing that, with his decision, he views himself in the tradition of Jesus Christ and the early Christians. Jesus Christ was a Jew, and as Raymond J. Lawrence ('The Poisoning of Eros') has shown, as a Jew he, of course, was sexually involved with women. The same is probably true for Paul. New Testament Christianity was deeply rooted in Judaism which always has been very carnal. Much more carnal than its pagan environment. As Michael Walzer has shown in his book 'Exodus and Revolution', the the idea of the Promised Land had always been a very earthy idea. Only the church from the second century A.D. onwards became more and more involved with paganism and Greek (i.e. Indian and Iranian) philosophy and by this took over their uncarnal attitudes. Yogananda, obviously because he was not very conversant with New Testament Christianity and Judaism, took Roman catholic and bourgeois middle class protestant church doctrines for the teachings of Jesus and compared himself to Him. This indicates not exactly a strong yoga connection to Jesus.
Rating:
Summary: Yogananda's Esoteric Knowledge not like Jesus Christ's
Review: Yogananda asserts that the esoteric knowledge he has to offer is the same as the one Jesus Christ revealed especially to his disciples. Scholars, however, like Walter Wink ("Engaging the Powers") and William Herzog ("Parables of Subversive Speech") have shown that "Discernment does not entail esoteric knowledge, but rather the gift of seeing reality as it really is. Nothing is more rare, or more truly revolutionary, than an accurate description of reality." (Wink, p. 89) What Jesus Christ did was to unmask unjust and supressive power structures and hypocritc lies of the ruling classes. He provided means to his disciples to rid their own spirits of the supressive and enslaving value systems they had taken over from their masters and internalized. And He gave them alternative value systems which enabled them to feel and act like truly free men and women. Liberation for Jesus Christ was very down to earth. It meant walking, talking, thinking and acting like a free man in this supressive world. It did not mean escape from this world by extreme asceticism or extended yoga practices.
Rating:
Summary: Yogi for EVERYONE regardless of creed
Review: It's difficult to say anything new about this masterpiece by PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA. It's a book that EVERYONE SHOULD ATLEAST TRY TO READ. REGARDLESS OF ONE'S CREED, THIS TEXT INSPIRES THE SPIRIT AND EMBLAZENS (EVEN LIGHTENS) THE HEART. Written over one hundred years ago, this book speaks to the contemporary spiritual seeker. BUY IT! READ IT! AND FEEL YOURSELF CHANGED SOMEHOW.
Rating:
Summary: Yogananda Magus
Review: The author asserts that he is equal or even superior to Jesus Christ. To me, however, he seems to be more in a spiritual tradition of Simon Magus, the witch of Endor, the Egyptian priests who fought Moses, the priests who fought Elia, the Greek Pythagoras, the Iranian Zoroaster, the German D. Faustus, etc. The difference between these magi and Yogananda is that they never asserted to be equal to Jesus Christ. On the contrary, the three magi from the Orient who came to Jesus birth acknowledged His superiority and prayed to Him as the Son of God. Yogananda, on the other hand, tries to make Jesus someone of his lot and belittle him by this. Through this it seems that we have come to a new level of magicians' tricks of deception targeted at humble followers of Jesus Christ. Yogananda seems to be one of the leaders of this new school of magic. It is astonishing, however, that people like Yogananda cannot do without Christ.
Rating:
Summary: A SPIRITUAL CLASSIC FOR TRUTH SEEKERS
Review: Every once in a while one finds a book and author that is very inspiring & believable,
an Author who has truly lived what He writes about, and whose history and reputation supports His work.
Paramahansa Yogananda is such an author, Prophet, and great Yogi. This autobiography turned my life around.
From many interesting years as a student of world religions, it gave me the most convincing and inspiring motivation to change from an academic search to an active spiritual practice and lifestyle. It gave me true hope, purpose and direction.
The author began revising this book after its first publication to enhance the presentations of His teachings.
He personally trained successor editors, Whom he personally trained, who have also made improvements to this work according to directions left by him. Thus the latest by SRF editions clarify and fully show the master's final concepts for his work.
This is like the adding finishing touches which an artist puts on his work. He also made the only Organization he founded the sole legal authority for the publishing of all his talks and writings etc. The author, a Hindu Yogi of great lineage was the first great Yogi to introduce Kriya Yoga and advanced meditation methods [ Pranayama] in the west. He is now known as the father of Yoga to America. His succeeding organizations offer courses in advanced spiritual teachings and yoga meditation by correspondence with personal consultations from the monastic order which he founded. This book has changed the lives of millions around the world and was chosen by 3 sources as one of the best spiritual books published in the 20th century.......... It has now been translated into 19 languages. Reading this book was the single most significant inspiration in my life.
This book also contains many interesting photos of the authors family and other well known
spiritual greats from the east and the west.
Yogananda founded Yogoda Sat Sanga in India & Self-Realization Fellowship in the West, which have been doing Educational and humanitarian work since 1916 throughout India and the world. The main point of his teachings is to bring harmony and cooperation amongst the peoples of all religions and cultures. This appreciation and interfaith ecumenicism is prevalent throughout this work. This book will answer many of your most life seeking questions and give you a better sense of direction. Yogananda's book and other writing cover a great wealth of spiritual topics, including bios of great world saviours, other religions, the function of the master-disciple relationship, seeking God with intense devotion and clear directions. Table of Contents & Chapters 1979 edition; 1. My Parents and Early Life
2. Mother's Death and the Amulet
3. The Saint with Two Bodies (Swami Pranabananda)
4. My Interrupted Flight Toward the Himalayas.
5. A "Perfume Saint" Performs his Wonders.
6. The Tiger Swami.
7. The Levitating Saint (Nagendra Nath Bhaduri)
8. India's Great Scientist and Inventor, Jagadis Chandra Bose
9. The Blissful Devotee and his Cosmic Romance (Master Mahasaya)
10. I Meet my Master, Sri Yukteswar.
11. Two Penniless Boys in Brindaban.
12. Years in my Master's Hermitage.
13. The Sleepless Saint (Ram Gopal Muzumdar)
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 Guru Appears Simultaneously in Calcutta and Serampore
20. We Do Not Visit Kashmir
21. We Visit Kashmir
22. The Heart of a Stone Image (a healing miracle)
23. My University Degree
24. I Become a Monk of the Swami Order
25. Brother Ananta and Sister Nalini
26. The Science of Kriya Yoga
27. Founding of a Yoga School at Ranchi
28. Kashi, Reborn, and Rediscovered.
29. Rabindranath Tagore and I Compare Schools
30. The Law of Miracles
31. An Interview with the Sacred Mother.
32. Rama is Raised from the Dead
33. Babaji, the Yogi-Christ of Modern India
34. Materializing a Palace in the Himalayas
35. The Christlike Life of Lahiri Mahasaya
36. Babaji's Interest in the West
37. I Go to America (in Sept 1920)
38. Luther Burbank -- An American Saint
39. Therese Neumann,Catholic Stigmatist of Bavaria.
40. I Return to India.
41. An Idyl in South India.
42. Last Days with my Guru.
43. The Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar.
44. With Mahatma Gandhi at Wardha.
45. The Bengali "Joy-Permeated Mother" (Ananda Moyi Ma)
46. The Woman Yogi who Never Eats.(Giri Bala)
47. I Return to the West.
48. At Encinitas in California.
49. The Years 1940-1951.(this chapter is missing in
the earliest editions, and was added by the author)
Rating:
Summary: The Mystical Genius of Paramahansa Yogananda's Life/work
Review: When one reads the Gospels it is usually through the colored glasses of the programming created by our chruch and culture.
If you program a computer to read 5+5=21, that's all you will ever understand, even though it is fully incorrect.
The Great world prophet Paramahansa Yogananda not only shows us how to go beyond our limited programming with Yoga meditation methods, and by the living examples of His life, but also teaches us the original way that JC gave for those who want an introduction and direction to a better life here and forever.
The author not only proves this through the book from a literary standpoint, but also by many reliable examples that the old context of orthodox interpretation has many questionable gaps/flaws.
There are many good things in the gospels of JC, but unfortunately, because of antiquity and human & executive church errors, there are also many missing links in those same gospels. As the apostle John writes,"If I were to write down all that He said, all the books in the world could not contain it."
What is missing? Most of the advanced personal teaching between Jesus the Guru and His disciples. Most of what got written were incidents and parables - as these were easier for His humble followers to remember. So much of that personal instruction is missing, maybe 95 percent of it![As JC told them,"for you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kindgom of God - but for them[the masses] it is not." They took this statement to mean that they were to keep the deeper teachings secret, as was the custom of those days. Now, in the Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism we have the opposite situation. It is sparse on stories, but instead contains the extensive esoteric teachings [that JC told his own, the masses could not understand]. That extensive inner advanced teaching on how to know God is all there, all that stuff that is mostly left out of the Gospels of JC. The Gita clearly shows one how to live the inner spiritual life in greater detail. So it is no less than pure divine genius on Yogananda's part to link these two Divine scriptures in His efforts to create global interfaith harmony,understanding & cooperation. As they fully complement one another and are at the same level of teachings. When one says that certain quotes are given a wrong meaning because they are used out of context, that actually depends on who is doing the interpreting, and what that interpretation is. To the enlighted soul,["those that have eyes to see and ears to hear"] those interpretations may actually give the context a deeper and more accurate & complete meaning than was previously understood. During Yogananda's early years in Boston, he received a anonymous letter saying his teachings about the Gospels were wrong. A short time later when he was in the Boston library he approached a stranger and asked, "why did you send me that letter?" The startled man replied,"How could you know it was me?" Yogananda said,"by the same power that I know about Jesus Christ." Some may ask why Yogananda made so many references to Jesus. The main reason being that he was initially approaching Christian communities in America, and this was their language and cultural training by and large.
Also, Yogananda was spoke positively about most world prophets all his life. As for His own salvation, his own Guru had already provided for that. "All scripture is the revealed word of God." KJV
Rating:
Summary: Wrong Information on Jesus Christ
Review: Mr. Yogananda's account of his life is vividly and fluently written. However, his remarks on Jesus Christ show that obviously he does not know very much about Him. For instance, the Christ described in the New Testament and as experienced by many Christians does not need things like astrology rings to overcome the power of the stars. He does not need to sit for hours and days and meditate in order to powerfully make unusual things happen. On the contrary, the gift of Jesus Christ is much easier to obtain. You don't need elitist techniques for this. The only thing you need to do is to say "Yes." The bible quotations employed by Yogananda are totally out of context and could be used to support any kind of religion or philosophy. Everybody who reads the bible in its entirety will notice that Yoganandas quotations then become a completly different meaning. Yogananda's approach is typically Gnostic, and it is unfair of him not to mention this. An intereresting counterbalance to Yogandanda's book is Milton's almost forgotten poem "Paradise Regained". In this poem there are described effects of materialisation and dematerialisation very similar to Yoganandas descriptions, only that here they are done by the Lord of the Earth and not by Jesus Christ.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book
Review: i'm not even worthy of rating this book.
anyway all i'll say is that if you've sought this book out ...its cool.
all the events that are shown in this book may sound incredible to some people but take it from me..it's all very real.
this book will give you the affirmation you need to carry out your own spiritual journey.
All the best and God Bless
j
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