Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
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Book Reviews of Autobiography of a Yogi
Book Review: The Autobiography of a yogi is a thought provoking book about spirituality.
Summary: 5 Stars
The Autobiography of a yogi has sparked my interest in reading spiritual books like the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita for the insightful pearls of wisdom they contain. These insights really make the book enjoyable to me. The Gita is India's most important spiritual text. The goal of the science of yoga is stated in Psalms 46:10 in the Bible. The goal of yoga is to achieve inner stillness so that a person can know God. I am not an overly religious person, but I do think inner stillness can be a worthy goal for every person. This book is filled with quotes from the Bible and the Gita. There is a passage from the Bhagavad Gita that talks about how the nature of man is to be active and not lazy.
The writing in this book is very vivid. Yogananda's description of how beautiful Kashmir is makes me want to book a flight just to see the beauty of nature there. I would love to see the caves and cathedrals in southern India described in this book.
This autobiography is not easy to read, but the information is valuable. Some of the names and words in the book are hard to pronounce. One thing is certain. Paramahansa Yogananda had a fascinating life. There is one photo in the book that shows him addressing a crowd of people. The caption under this photo states that in thirty two years in the West, he taught 100,000 people the practice of Kriya yoga. Kriya yoga is a form of yoga that relaxes a person senses and organs. It can improve concentration and quality of sleep.
Several miracles are described in this book that are hard to believe. There is a picture of a woman who did not eat or drink anything for over fifty years. There is another incidence of a miracle where the author suddenly has the ability to speak English just by praying to his guru. This book suggests that anyone is capable of performing a miracle if their belief in the Divine is strong enough.
The beliefs of Paramahansa Yogananda influenced a diversity of people like Gandhi and plant scientist Luther Burbank. Millions of regular citizens all over the world continue to be influenced by his form of meditation. One of the beliefs of his self realization fellowship is that yoga can liberate a person for physical disease and improve mental and spiritual health. This is a very hopeful message that makes this book so appealing to me. I highly recommend this book.
Book Review: The newer versions of this book are greatest.
Summary: 5 Stars
The author Yogananda and his trained/appointed editors who succeeded Him have made a great classic even better.
The changes introduced by the author and others at SRF pubishers have made it more accurately reflect the true overall teachings and intentions of Yogananda.
Even on the 60th anniversary of its original printing, there were many reviews that praised these latest editions with the orange cover.
One will have to study some of Yoganandas other great works to see how this all ties together, as the SRF's version of this spiritual classic is just the beginning of this amazing story of a modern day divine prophet.
The contiunually emerging testimonials of how this master is still working througha and inspiring many lives towards Self-Realization [Salvation] testifies to the quality of His organization and their handling of His publications.
I for one will add my voice to these testimonials.
This book and others that have flowed from the devoted editing/publishing of SRF publishers has done a great service to our global spiritual evolution and enlightenment. And the successful representation and promulgation of Yoganandas mission in this age.
[see review of "The Yoga of Jesus," By W. H. McDonald Jr. "The American Author Assoc... (Elk Grove, CA USA
Did you know that Yoganandas Self-Realization Fellowship is one of the very rare major world religions that allows women to occupy its highest offices? - Even as the president Daya Mata has been successfully doing for over 55 years. So much good has been achieved during her serving in this sacred position. This is only one example of what a wonderfully balanced teaching was left by Yogananda.
Also recommended;Please read "Amapedia" below on this page.
and see site, kriyayogatoday dot blogspot dot com
Only Love by Daya Mata., The Yoga of Jesus, the Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita, Mans Eternal Quest, The Journey to Self-Realization by Paramahansa Yogananda, Treasures against Time by Brenda Lewis.
Book Review: A Spiritual Classic For the Ages
Summary: 5 Stars
Words truly do not do justice to this classic work by Paramahansa Yogananda who wrote one of the premiere books about the science of Yoga.
Yogananda not only helps to introduce Yoga science to the West, but also demonstrates that yoga (which means "union") is the unifying science that shows the underlying truth among ALL religions. Using many scriptural passages from both the Bible and the Hindu Bible (the Bhagavad Gita), he also demonstrates that they are saying, essentially, the same thing; the same TRUTH.
This book chronicles the life of Mukunda La Ghosh whose passion and yearning for God leads him to many saints and sages in India.
We find that it is the wish of Jesus Christ and Babaji (One of India's great masters who has been living for an untold number of centuries) that it be revealed to the world that TRUTH is universal and that it does not matter what path you've chosen (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc.)
Whether you are religious or not, you will find this masterfully well-written work touch you in ways that you've not dreamed of. Yogananda orchestrates chapters about the astral realms, great scientists, poets, saints (in India as well as in the West), masters, Gandhi, and others which are both moving and inspirational.
This book also reveals, for the first time to Westerners the lost science of Kriya Yoga (which means, "Divine Union"), which is a scientific technique to develop direct experience of God. Yogananda explains this technique, its history, and why it is so effective.
This is a book that can be read many times, and you will find that each time, it still has a "divine" effect. If nothing else, it will help you to ask yourself about your Self. This is one of the greatest books ever written, not only of modern times, but of ALL time.
Book Review: It all sounds lovely, but....
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was a great read, all the way through, and a great introduction to Hindu philosophy. Some things that struck me about it though, are:
1) The almost homoerotic devotion to the guru: As a Westerner, I suppose I am finding the idea of having a guru as a prerequisite for enlightment off-putting. I don't like the idea that I can't do it myself.
2) The author extolls the benefits of Kriya Yoga all through the book as a speedy path to enlightment, but he doesn't tell how to DO it. In order to find out, you have to PAY for the lessons. That's another thing that discourages me about about Eastern philosophy, the idea that you have to be "initiated" into "secret" knowledge. And before you can get that knowledge, someone has to deem you worthy. You have to be "approved".
3) The culture is misogynistic. Paramahansa Yogananda, who travels with a male secretary, interacts with and discusses few women. And when he does discuss a few female "saints" toward the end of the book, particularly in his depiction of Ananda Moyi Ma, I thought that his tone was condescending.
4) The goal of the book was to describe living "saints" who perform miracles just like the ones that were attributed to Jesus in the New Testament, and then point out the similarities between Christianity and Eastern philosophy. It was at that point that I really began to lose interest, because considering the way that Christianity has been used as a political tool by the Bush administration, I did not think that making comparisons to Christianity was enhancing my view of Hinduism.
Book Review: A Stunning Read! Your Thirst for Spiritual Knowledge is hereby Quenched!
Summary: 5 Stars
P. Yogananada was too modest and humble to include in this book more of his own miracle-producing accounts (healing of the sick and raising of a dead girl, which are scattered throughout his other books). Instead he chose to give a lot of spotlight to other powerful yogis. I notice in reading his other writings and lectures, that Yogananda avoids talking about himself when he explains something, which I wish he would do. However, I am exceedingly thankful that he lectured as much as he did and his female disciple painstakingly wrote most of it down. From this autobiography I am able to make leaps in my own spiritual evolution and be awaken.
Especially informative in this book is his guru Sri Yukestwar's return to tell him of what is going on beyond this dimension. Finally the dead returns to tell us! Not only do we have earthly bodies to shed in reincarnation, but astral and causal, leaving the spark of the soul to remain, to be merged with God in the final hr. What this means, according to Yogananda's guru, is that we are encased in bodies that need to be recycled on earth, then in the astral world, then in the causal world, each of which can take untold thousands of yrs or even millions, before we finally enter the ocean of God-bliss forever.
There are so many eye-opening things in this book to ponder on...
To Sophia who said Yogananda has incarnated in a female in Taiwan today, be aware that in his book "Journey to Self-Realization" he explicitly states that he was in his final incarnation on earth.