Autobiography Of A Yogi - Paramahansa Yogananda

Paramahansa Yogananda:
Paramahansa Yogananda born Mukunda Lal Ghosh,was an Indian yogi and guru who introduced many westerners to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his book, Autobiography of a Yogi.
Yogananda's seeking after various saints mostly ended when he met his guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, in 1910, at the age of 17. He describes his first meeting with Yukteswar as a rekindling of a relationship that had lasted for many lifetimes:
“We entered a oneness of silence; words seemed the rankest superfluities. Eloquence flowed in soundless chant from heart of master to disciple. With an antenna of irrefragable insight I sensed that my guru knew God, and would lead me to Him. The obscuration of this life disappeared in a fragile dawn of prenatal memories. Dramatic time! Past, present, and future are its cycling scenes. This was not the first sun to find me at these holy feet!”
In 1920, he went to the United States and that same year he founded the Self-Realization Fellowship to disseminate worldwide his teachings on India's ancient practices and philosophy of Yoga and its tradition of meditation. For the next several years, he lectured and taught on the East coast and in 1924 embarked on a cross-continental speaking tour. Thousands came to his lectures. The following year, he established in Los Angeles, California, an international headquarters for Self-Realization Fellowship, which became the spiritual and administrative heart of his growing work. Yogananda was the first Hindu teacher of yoga to make his permanent home in America, living there from 1920-1952
In 1935, he returned to India to visit Yukteswar and to help establish his Yogoda Satsanga work in India and in 1936, while Yogananda was visiting Kolkata, Yukteswar died in the town of Puri.
On March 7, 1952, he attended a dinner for the visiting Indian Ambassador to the U.S., Binay Ranjan Sen and his wife at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. At the conclusion of the banquet Yogananda spoke of India and America, their contributions to world peace and human progress, and their future cooperation, expressing his hope for a "United World" that would combine the best qualities of "efficient America" and "spiritual India." According to two eyewitnesses — long-time disciples Swami Kriyananda and Daya Mata — as Yogananda ended his speech, he read from his poem My India, concluding with the words "Where Ganges, woods, Himalayan caves, and men dream God—I am hallowed; my body touched that sod". At the very last words, he slid to the floor,dead from a heart attack.Kriyananda wrote that Yogananda had once stated in a lecture, "A heart attack is the easiest way to die. That is how I choose to die."

The book – Autobiography Of A Yogi:
In 1946, Yogananda published his life story, Autobiography of a Yogi. It has since been translated into twenty-five languages. In 1999, it was designated one of the "100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century" by a panel of spiritual authors convened by HarperCollins publishers.
Autobiography of a Yogi describes Yogananda's spiritual search for enlightenment, in addition to encounters with notable spiritual figures such as Therese Neumann, Anandamoyi Ma, Mohandas Gandhi, Nobel laureate in literature Rabindranath Tagore, noted plant scientist Luther Burbank (the book is 'Dedicated to the Memory of Luther Burbank, An American Saint'), famous Indian scientist Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose and Nobel Prize winning physicist Sir C. V. Raman.
Amelita Galli-Curci, one of the most famous opera singers of the early twentieth century, said about the book:
"Amazing, true stories of saints and masters of India, blended with priceless superphysical information–much needed to balance the Western material efficiency with Eastern spiritual efficiency–come from the vigorous pen of Paramhansa Yogananda, whose teachings my husband and myself have had the pleasure of studying for twenty years."

Kriya Yoga:
Kriya Yoga is described by its practitioners as the ancient Yoga system revived in modern times by Mahavatar Babaji through his disciple Lahiri Mahasaya, c 1861, and brought into widespread public awareness through Paramhansa Yogananda's book Autobiography of a Yogi. The system consists of a number of levels of Pranayama based techniques that are intended to rapidly accelerate spiritual development and engender a profound state of tranquility and God-communion.Kriya Yoga is traditionally learned via the Guru - disciple relationship.
Yogananda gave a general description of Kriya Yoga in his Autobiography:
“The Kriya Yogi mentally directs his life energy to revolve, upward and downward, around the six spinal centers (medullary, cervical, dorsal, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal plexuses) which correspond to the twelve astral signs of the zodiac, the symbolic Cosmic Man. One-half minute of revolution of energy around the sensitive spinal cord of man effects subtle progress in his evolution; that half-minute of Kriya equals one year of natural spiritual unfoldment.”
Kriya Yoga is referred to by Krishna, India’s greatest prophet, in a stanza of the Bhagavad Gita:
“Offering inhaling breath into the outgoing breath, and offering the outgoing breath into the inhaling breath, the yogi neutralizes both these breaths; he thus releases the life force from the heart and brings it under his control.” The interpretation is: “The yogi arrests decay in the body by an addition of life force, and arrests the mutations of growth in the body by apan (eliminating current). Thus neutralizing decay and growth, by quieting the heart, the yogi learns life control.”

My Introduction to the Book:
My introduction to the book came when I was going through a crucial period of my life in 2000. I had just lost my uncle who had been a guiding factor throughout the major part of my life and my mother gave me the book to read. She was infact given the book by someone else and she recommended it to me. The book gave me a relief and a sense of comfort at a time when I needed it. To this day whenever iam upset or worried , I just need to pick up the book and read a few pages of my favourite chapters and I have a feeling that come what may be ,I can solve anything. Thx Mom Dear.
The narration in the book is matter of fact , truthful , simple and beautiful – to describe it in a few words. I have a number of my Western colleagues who have told me this book is a good read, especially for people who would like to know more about India and its cultures. The search of a young man for God is beautifully told. The language that the author has used to write the book is something which none can outdo in the current days.
I would highly recommend it to any one interested in spirituality, India, history, Yoga and just life. The more you read about Kriya Yoga , the more one wants to start putting it into use. The effects of practicing is good for mind and body.
I recommend this book to all my friends , and for friends who are avid readers I gift this book. To date I have a copy of the book wherever I travel. In fact Post marriage I was leaving for US and i did not bring along my copy of the book.So i went rushing around in Chennai to get a copy of the book and finally got it in the third shop(it was in great demand).My husband was so surprised he said he had to read it. Now he is also an avid reader and we have good discussions at home.

For people who would like to read the book , Wiki has an online edition. The link is as below :
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Autobiography_of_a_Yogi

People who have already read the book / reading / planning to read please do leave your comments on the book.

Hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I do.