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Summary: Candid biography, inspired prose, unparalled insights
Review: Like Gandhi, Yogananda writes humbly and includes his foibles and the pratfalls he takes as he journeys through life's lessons. In fact, unless you read elsewhere about his life you won't realize how much he understates his own accomplishments while he honors other spiritual seekers and teachers he encounters. His stories of encounters with amazing saints of all regions and religions are spell-binding, and you may find yourself (like me) devouring the whole book on your first read -- just reveling in the wonders of these true spiritual seekers. On successive readings I delved deeper into the equally fascinating footnotes, learning about the exotic realms of Indian spirituality and its unexpected parallels with the original Christian teachings of Christ, St. John, and St. Paul. In fact, the countless strata of insights and implications that surface with repeated readings of Autobiography of a Yogi argue for spending a few more dollars on the trade paperback rather than the mass market paperback edition, since you'll want to return numerous times over the years. The Self-Realization Fellowship editions are to be preferred over others. Yogananda himself started that organization (SRF), and the award-winning quality of SRF editing and printing shines through them - in contrast to bootlegged editions printed up by renegade outfits. In all my reading in spirituality, yoga, and comparative religion, I have discovered no work that so completely fulfills Carl Jung's prophecy that yoga science (the whole science, not just the athletic postures) will offer you ''undreamed-of possibilities'' as Yogananda's autobiography. As the author explains, 'yoga' comes from the root meaning 'union' - and he reveals, ever more deeply, the underlying oneness of Christianity and yoga, of spiritual truth and scientific truth, of the worldly and the spirituality. It will deepen anyone's own faith and sensibility -- of whatever religion (or none), of the science of matter... or mind... or Spirit.
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Summary: The answers to your questions.
Review: If you are a person who feels that life is a spiritual journey rather than simply an existence and if you also find that the further you travel the more you find unanswered, then this book will reveal to you a whole new world of understanding. If you were born, raised and now live as a Christian believer, understand that this book does not contradict your beliefs as much as it will reinforce them. When you open the first page to begin reading, do so with patience and an open mind because in your hands is not really a book but a jewel of knowledge given to us as a gift by the author and his teachers. Keep your yellow highlighter at hand because in simple sentences hidden in the autobiographical text you will find answers to all of your doubts and questions.
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Summary: Yogananda's First Edition was edited !!!
Review: A great read and eye opener for the truthseeker and student of comparative religion.
All editions from the original have been edited! ...I am pleased to say that it appears that the latest editions from Self-Realization Publishers do reflect most clearly the Master's finest teachings and qualities. This becomes very clear usually after studying the master's life and work more thoroughly. They have accomplished a rare result, changing a few of the masters words to complete His editing work without losing any of His outstanding wisdom, compassion, message, philosophy, living presence. Presenting us with the master's deepest wishes and final thoughts exactly as He Himself was working to do... All readers will savour the full essence of Paramahansa Yogananda's light, love and joy in all Publications from His attuned & dedicated Publishers, SRF. They will gain this and the 49th chapter & other changes which Yogananda hismelf added after publishing the first edited edition. Everything is here that one needs to plant firm footsteps on the path to Self-Realization...
Enjoy the inspiration.....
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Summary: Rare Unedited Words of Yogananda
Review: What a joy to read Yogananda's original words! The 1946 reprint was my only companion during a week of seclusion. Yogananda came alive as I read. It seemed as though he was sitting next to me, telling me the story of his life. His simple, personal way of speaking made him feel much more accessible than he had felt when I read the later editions that were published and edited by his own organization, after his passing. Read this book and discover the real Yogananda!
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Summary: Autobiography of a Yogi - a must read for every serious Yogi
Review: This book was required reading for certification. I am so grateful it was required! I learned so much more about Yoga than I ever knew before reading this book. I found it fascinating, interesting, educational, and a constant source of reference. I encourage all of my serious students to read this incredible book. What I found most educational was the spiritual side of Yoga that seems to be the basic topic and experience for Paramahansa. To sum it up.....INCREDIBLE! I highly recommend this book!
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Summary: A challenge to our western way of thinking
Review: I very much consider this a very important book to read. It may not be the easiest, because you will find promotion of a way of thinking which is significantly different from our own western philosophy. This way of thinking opens the way for the stories of many "miracle workers" who perform feats that defy western logic. And these stories can be stumbling blocks to many readers. These stories do, however, illustrate various points of the vedic philosophy. I believe that any person interested in religious thought will find much of value here. Many precepts of the Hindu religion are explored throughout this autobiography, and some of them shed light from a different perception upon the Christian and Judaic faiths. If a person is open to looking at one's own beliefs through another person's eyes, understanding of all beliefs may be increased. A person who does not wish to understand beliefs of another person's religion should, however, stay away from this book. Along with the personal, spiritual autobiography and the open sharing of belief and faith are stories of many swamis and saints, and also of two of current culture and times. One chapter is devoted to noted horticulturist Luther Burbank, and his friendship with Yogananda, giving a different view of the man and of his accomplishments than that generally learned in our schooling. Another chapter is given to Mahatma Ghandi as Yogonanda briefly knew him. This isn't the easiest book for the western mind to understand, much less accept. However, it's worth the effort.
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Summary: Stunning, informative, affirming, brilliant
Review: The story of a compelling, beautiful man that everyone should read, and often. The spiritual principles and lessons available for the gleaning are simply immeasurable. Enough said.
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Summary: Wonderfully Enchanting !
Review: This book seems many times life a book of fiction so much it is unbelievable. I have personnaly been in love(still am) with all the lineage from the wonderful Master Babaji to Lahiri Mahasaya and Sri Yukteswar. One day I met a Master of Thruth, named John de Ruiter, and I told him about my love to them and he said yes but I am here for you. The message is that they are and the book is fantastic but you can't compare with the relationship with a real Master of Thruth like Jesus was. Yogananda talk about it so often. For sure it is only for the really hungry of Thruth
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Summary: A spiritual classic, but filled with distractions
Review: I came across this book by way of Jon Anderson's liner notes from the Yes album "Tales from Topographic Oceans," which he says he formulated after getting caught up in a footnote about the four-part shastras in Yogananda's book. (See the chapter called "I Meet My Master, Sri Yukteswar.") I never got around to reading the book until just this year, and though I can certainly see its influence on "Topographic Oceans," I found the book to be a mixed bag overall. "Autobiography of a Yogi" is certainly an enjoyable account of one man's life and travels in India and later the West, as he works out his own spiritual quest and eventually chooses to share his hard-won knowledge with the rest of the world. The greatest strength of Yogananda's book is not his storytelling talents, though; it is rather that the book possesses the ability to open receptive Westerners to a new and perhaps more harmonious spiritual way of thinking--one that is inclusive, undoubtedly with Hindu roots but uniting disparate religious beliefs into a direct experience of the "ultimate" that transcends individual dogmas, precisely by showing that those dogmas are really no more than different paths to the same destination. His fresh interpretations of the Bible, from an Eastern/Hindu point of view but transcending both Eastern and Western traditions into a dynamic unity of new spiritual thought, illustrates this approach nicely. If nothing else, it may leave the Judeo-Christian with a fresh perspective on his own religious beliefs. Yogananda refers to his all-encompassing cosmic ultimate as "God," but probably only for the sake of making his message more palatable to the West, for his idea of "God" certainly transcends the anthropomorphic limitations placed upon it by the Abrahamic traditions, yet it's more personal than the concept of Tao, for (according to the author) it can and does play an active role in our lives, both now and in the afterlife. Direct knowledge of this "God" and, ultimately, a direct, tangible experience of it, can be acquired through a disciplined path of meditation and kriya yoga, according to the author. Which brings us to the downside of this book. Kriya yoga is presented as a revived ancient tradition with the ability to harmonize human and "God," and countless times Yogananda shares with us his tales of others--including Gandhi himself--being initiated into this blissful secret tradition. But the practice itself is never revealed to the reader, except in passing hints and subtle suggestions that it can only be learned directly from a master of the art. I know that Self-Realization Fellowship inserted many of these references in later editions, but even in the original text (which I've read online) the suggestions are already there. The end result is that the book comes off not so much as an autobiography but as a sales pitch for kriya initiation by way of SRF--the "we've enticed you; now here's how to find out more" marketing mindset of so many cheesy infomercials. But it doesn't stop there. Yogananda also fills his books with dozens of accounts of fantastical occurrences--saints who never eat, others who levitate, still others who can materialize at will, create food out of thin air, and even raise the dead. The stories seem to serve no other purpose than to further impress upon or convince the reader that this particular brand of all-encompassing spirituality really does hold the key to something very special. Yogananda's uplifting philosophy alone is enlightening and enriching in itself, without the need for repetitive supernatural justification; indeed, to seemingly attempt to justify it by rolling out an endless list of "miracles" undermines and cheapens it, as if the philosophy alone can't speak for itself and has to be justified by these occurrences. It's not much different from all those TV evangelists trying to prove the veracity of their religious paths by trotting out an endless display of poor souls who have ostensibly been "healed" by the evangelist's particular deity. In short, if you have to rely on the display of miracles to justify your faith, then your faith is pretty shaky. Perhaps the best way to approach "Autobiography of a Yogi," then, is the same way one should approach the Bible itself--taking its sound moral teachings to heart but not getting caught up in the baldfaced sales pitches or the supernatural claims that stretch credulity to its limits. But also as with the Bible, don't necessarily dismiss the claims in this book--it's best to take a skeptical/agnostic stance, I should think--but also don't let them distract you from the underlying message being imparted, which is one of personal happiness and spiritual bliss and, ultimately, despite this book's shortcomings, should not be lightly dismissed. Taking Yogananda's philosophy to heart could certainly contribute greatly to a happier, more harmonious society, which is something so sorely missing in today's world. It's worth reading for that reason alone.
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Summary: Wonderfully uplifting!
Review: What a delightful subject and a delightfully written and compiled book. I loved every minute of it. It exposed and somehow made more accessible the yogi-state of the mystics. For anybody that ever wonders what are some of the trials and life experiences of those that commonly experience the miraculous - this is one of the best books to read. I was taken on a journey through the world of the Indian mystic and my love of the process called life was further deepened on the road. -Not to mention the practical examples it showed of how to live a life close to God!
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