As an avid reader, I have a “must read” and “recommended reads” list about a mile long. This particular book, Autobiography of Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda has been on my “to read” list for quite some time now.
Described to me as, “The autobiography of the man responsible for bringing yoga to America in the 1920’s” and, “a good primer for what yoga traditionally is” and a, “learning the roots of yoga” type read, I went into it with curiosity and an open mind.
As someone whose experience with yoga is limited to group gym classes where it is stressed that “yoga is in no way a religious practice” and online apps like Downward Dog, where no instruction is given beyond the mechanics of each pose, I wasn’t quite ready for the wall to wall spirituality that exudes from each page and paragraph and sentence in this book.
A vast majority of the book expounds on miracles and saints that Yogananda claims to have met in his lifetime in India, and miracles that he claims to have personally witnessed. Much of what he shares makes me raise a skeptical eyebrow and I feel my mind shutting down and walls flying up in the face of his claims. Many feats of supernatural prowess just strike me as unnecessarily outlandish and nonsensical. But off the wall miracles in India aside, the spirit behind the philosophy (as far as I can tell) is one that I do share – peace, love, unity and transcending the ego to reach the higher self – and on this common ground I continued to read.
I was disappointed to learn that, while Kriya Yoga is mentioned countless times throughout the book, not ONCE did Yogananda expound on WHAT is it and HOW to do it. I was so curious that I found myself on the Self Realization Fellowship website (Yogananda’s American based establishment), seeking more information on how to practice Kriya Yoga. I found that to get started with distance courses / training, it is a $90 investment. Ugh.
Regardless, I am happy I’ve read this book, if only to have a better grasp of the men behind the yoga movement in America. They sound like amazing souls I would have loved to meet. I would love to sit down with someone who currently practices Kriya Yoga today (following the Yogananda lineage) to learn more about the philosophy and practice, just to sate my curiosity, but for the moment my interest ends there. I don’t know that anything I read and learned will change the course of my yoga practice at this point – except maybe encourage me to stay steadfast in my meditation and yoga practice, and stay open to where it might lead!
More about Autobiography of a Yogi from Amazon:
“As an eyewitness recountal of the extraordinary lives and powers of modern Hindu saints, the book has an importance both timely and timeless….His unusual life document is certainly one of the most revealing…of the spiritual wealth of India ever to be published in the West.”— W. Y. Evans-Wentz, M.A., D.Litt., D.Sc.,renowned scholar and author of many books on Eastern religion”I am grateful to you for granting me some insight into this fascinating world.”— Thomas Mann,Nobel laureate “Few books…have had greater impact on popular theology than Paramahansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi.”— Phyllis A. Tickle,Author, God-Talk in America “In [Yogananda’s] celebrated Autobiography of a Yogi, he offers a stunning account of the ‘cosmic consciousness’ reached on the upper levels of yogic practice, and numerous interesting perspectives on human nature from the yogic and Vedantic points of view.”— Robert S. Ellwood, Ph.D.,Chairman, School of Religion, University of Southern California” Autobiography of a Yogi is justifiably celebrated as one of the most entertaining and enlightening spiritual books ever written.”— Tom Butler-Bowdon,Author, 50 Spiritual Classics: Timeless Wisdom from 50 Great Books of Inner Discovery, Enlightenment & Purpose”One of the most charmingly simple and self-revealing of life-stories…a veritable treasure-house of learning. The great personalities one meets in these pages…return to memory as friends endowed with rich spiritual wisdom, and one of the greatest of these is the God-intoxicated author himself.”— Dr. Anna von Helmholtz-Phelan,Professor of English, University of Minnesota
CURRENT STATS
Start Weight (May 15, 2020): 201 pounds
Current Weight (July 1, 2020): 185.4
Total Pounds Lost (Since May 15, 2020): 15.6
Pounds Left to Lose to Reach Goal Weight of 130 pounds: 55.4
