author
Paramahansa Yogananda
1893–1952
A pioneering spiritual teacher who helped introduce yoga and meditation to the West, he remains best known for sharing Kriya Yoga and for writing the enduring classic Autobiography of a Yogi. His life and work continue to draw readers interested in inner calm, devotion, and practical spirituality.
1 Audiobook
Autobiography of a Yogi
by Paramahansa Yogananda
About the author
Born Mukunda Lal Ghosh in Gorakhpur, India, in 1893, he became a disciple of Swami Sri Yukteswar and later took the name Yogananda. In 1920 he traveled to the United States, where he began teaching meditation and yoga to Western audiences and went on to found the organizations known as Self-Realization Fellowship and Yogoda Satsanga Society of India.
He is widely remembered as one of the most influential early interpreters of Indian spiritual traditions for modern global readers. His teachings centered on direct personal experience of the divine through meditation, disciplined living, and Kriya Yoga, presented in a way meant to speak across religious backgrounds.
His best-known book, Autobiography of a Yogi, first published in 1946, became a spiritual classic and has reached readers around the world in many languages. He died in 1952, but his books, talks, and organizations continue to introduce new generations to his ideas.