author
Paramahansa Yogananda
1893–1952
A pioneering spiritual teacher who helped bring yoga and meditation to a wide Western audience, he became best known for sharing Kriya Yoga and for the enduring classic Autobiography of a Yogi. His life joined deep devotion with a gift for speaking simply about inner discipline, joy, and direct spiritual experience.
1 Audiobook
Autobiography of a Yogi
by Paramahansa Yogananda
About the author
Born Mukunda Lal Ghosh in Gorakhpur, India, in 1893, Paramahansa Yogananda devoted himself from an early age to spiritual practice. He later became a disciple of Swami Sri Yukteswar and went on to teach a path centered on meditation, self-realization, and what he presented as the underlying unity of the world’s great religions.
In 1920 he traveled to the United States, where he founded Self-Realization Fellowship to share his teachings more widely. He became one of the best-known Indian spiritual teachers to live and work in the West, introducing many readers and students to yoga and meditation through lectures, lessons, and personal guidance.
Yogananda’s best-known book, Autobiography of a Yogi, has inspired generations of spiritual seekers since its publication. He died in Los Angeles in 1952, but his writings and the organizations he founded continue to carry his teachings around the world.