Paramhansa Yogananda CHAPTER: 1 My Parents and Early Life The characteristic features of Indian culture have long been search for ultimate verities and the concomitant disciple-guru 1-2 relationship. My own path led me to a Christlike sage whose beautiful life was chiseled for the ages. He was one of the great masters who are India's sole remaining wealth. Emerging in every generation, they have bulwarked their land against the fate of Babylon and Egypt. I find my earliest memories covering the anachronistic features of a previous incarnation. Clear recollections came to me of a distant life, a yogi ...Read More

CHAPTER: 2 My Mother's Death And The Mystic Amulet My mother's greatest desire was the marriage of my elder "Ah, when I behold the face of Ananta's wife, I shall find heaven on this earth!" I frequently heard Mother express in these words her strong Indian sentiment for family continuity. I was about eleven years old at the time of Ananta's betrothal. Mother was in Calcutta, joyously supervising the wedding preparations. Father and I alone remained at our home in Bareilly in northern India, whence Father had been transferred after two years at Lahore. I had previously witnessed the ...Read More

CHAPTER: 3 The Saint With Two Bodies "Father, if I promise to return home without coercion, may I take sight-seeing trip to Benares?" My keen love of travel was seldom hindered by Father. He permitted me, even as a mere boy, to visit many cities and pilgrimage spots. Usually one or more of my friends accompanied me; we would travel comfortably on first-class passes provided by Father. His position as a railroad official was fully satisfactory to the nomads in the family. Father promised to give my request due consideration. The next day he summoned me and held out ...Read More

CHAPTER: 4 My Interrupted Flight Toward The Himalayas "Leave your classroom on some trifling pretext, and engage a hackney Stop in the lane where no one in my house can see you." These were my final instructions to Amar Mitter, a high school friend who planned to accompany me to the Himalayas. We had chosen the following day for our flight. Precautions were necessary, as Ananta exercised a vigilant eye. He was determined to foil the plans of escape which he suspected were uppermost in my mind. The amulet, like a spiritual yeast, was silently at work within me. ...Read More

CHAPTER: 5 A "Perfume Saint" Displays His Wonders "To every thing there is a season, and a time to purpose under the heaven." I did not have this wisdom of Solomon to comfort me; I gazed searchingly about me, on any excursion from home, for the face of my destined guru. But my path did not cross his own until after the completion of my high school studies. Two years elapsed between my flight with Amar toward the Himalayas, and the great day of Sri Yukteswar's arrival into my life. During that interim I met a number of sages-the ...Read More

CHAPTER: 6 The Tiger Swami "I have discovered the Tiger Swami's address. Let us visit him tomorrow." This welcome came from Chandi, one of my high school friends. I was eager to meet the saint who, in his premonastic life, had caught and fought tigers with his naked hands. A boyish enthusiasm over such remarkable feats was strong within me. The next day dawned wintry cold, but Chandi and I sallied forth gaily. After much vain hunting in Bhowanipur, outside Calcutta, we arrived at the right house. The door held two iron rings, which I sounded piercingly. Notwithstanding the ...Read More

CHAPTER: 7 The Levitating Saint "I saw a yogi remain in the air, several feet above the ground, last at a group meeting." My friend, Upendra Mohun Chowdhury, spoke impressively. I gave him an enthusiastic smile. "Perhaps I can guess his name. Was it Bhaduri Mahasaya, of Upper Circular Road?" Upendra nodded, a little crestfallen not to be a news-bearer. My inquisitiveness about saints was well-known among my friends; they delighted in setting me on a fresh track. "The yogi lives so close to my home that I often visit him." My words brought keen interest to Upendra's face, ...Read More

CHAPTER: 8 India's Great Scientist, J.C. Bose "Jagadis Chandra Bose's wireless inventions antedated those of Marconi." Overhearing this provocative I walked closer to a sidewalk group of professors engaged in scientific discussion. If my motive in joining them was racial pride, I regret it. I cannot deny my keen interest in evidence that India can play a leading part in physics, and not metaphysics alone. "What do you mean, sir?" The professor obligingly explained. "Bose was the first one to invent a wireless coherer and an instrument for indicating the refraction of electric waves. But the Indian scientist did ...Read More

CHAPTER: 9 The Blissful Devotee And His Cosmic Romance "Little sir, please be seated. I am talking to my Mother." Silently I had entered the room in great awe. The angelic appearance of Master Mahasaya fairly dazzled me. With silky white beard and large lustrous eyes, he seemed an incarnation of purity. His upraised chin and folded hands apprized me that my first visit had disturbed him in the midst of his devotions. His simple words of greeting produced the most violent effect my nature had so far experienced. The bitter separation of my mother's death I had thought ...Read More

CHAPTER: 10 I Meet My Master, Sri Yukteswar "Faith in God can produce any miracle except one-passing an examination study." Distastefully I closed the book I had picked up in an idle moment. "The writer's exception shows his complete lack of faith," I thought. "Poor chap, he has great respect for the midnight oil!" My promise to Father had been that I would complete my high school studies. I cannot pretend to diligence. The passing months found me less frequently in the classroom than in secluded spots along the Calcutta bathing ghats. The adjoining crematory grounds, especially gruesome at ...Read More

CHAPTER: 11 Two Penniless Boys In Brindaban "It would serve you right if Father disinherited you, Mukunda! How foolishly are throwing away your life!" An elder-brother sermon was assaulting my ears. Jitendra and I, fresh from the train (a figure of speech merely; we were covered with dust), had just arrived at the home of Ananta, recently transferred from Calcutta to the ancient city of Agra. Brother was a supervising accountant for the Bengal-Nagpur Railway. "You well know, Ananta, I seek my inheritance from the Heavenly Father." "Money first; God can come later! Who knows? Life may be too ...Read More

CHAPTER: 12 Years In My Master's Hermitage "You have come." Sri Yukteswar greeted me from a tiger skin on floor of a balconied sitting room. His voice was cold, his manner unemotional. "Yes, dear Master, I am here to follow you." Kneeling, I touched his feet. "How can that be? You ignore my wishes." "No longer, Guruji! Your wish shall be my law!" "That is better! Now I can assume responsibility for your life." "I willingly transfer the burden, Master." "My first request, then, is that you return home to your family. I want you to enter college in ...Read More

CHAPTER: 13 The Sleepless Saint "Please permit me to go to the Himalayas. I hope in unbroken solitude to continuous divine communion." I actually once addressed these ungrateful words to my Master. Seized by one of the unpredictable delusions which occasionally assail the devotee, I felt a growing impatience with hermitage duties and college studies. A feebly extenuating circumstance is that my proposal was made when I had been only six months with Sri Yukteswar. Not yet had I fully surveyed his towering stature. "Many hillmen live in the Himalayas, yet possess no God-perception." My guru's answer came slowly ...Read More

CHAPTER: 14 An Experience In Cosmic Consciousness "I am here, Guruji." My shamefacedness spoke more eloquently for me. "Let go to the kitchen and find something to eat." Sri Yukteswar's manner was as natural as if hours and not days had separated us. "Master, I must have disappointed you by my abrupt departure from my duties here; I thought you might be angry with me." "No, of course not! Wrath springs only from thwarted desires. I do not expect anything from others, so their actions cannot be in opposition to wishes of mine. I would not use you for ...Read More

CHAPTER: 15 The Cauliflower Robbery "Master, a gift for you! These six huge cauliflowers were planted with my hands; have watched over their growth with the tender care of a mother nursing her child." I presented the basket of vegetables with a ceremonial flourish. "Thank you!" Sri Yukteswar's smile was warm with appreciation. "Please keep them in your room; I shall need them tomorrow for a special dinner." I had just arrived in Puri 15-1 to spend my college summer vacation with my guru at his seaside hermitage. Built by Master and his disciples, the cheerful little two-storied retreat ...Read More

CHAPTER: 16 Outwitting The Stars "Mukunda, why don't you get an astrological armlet?" "Should I, Master? I don't believe astrology." "It is never a question of belief ; the only scientific attitude one can take on any subject is whether it is true . The law of gravitation worked as efficiently before Newton as after him. The cosmos would be fairly chaotic if its laws could not operate without the sanction of human belief. "Charlatans have brought the stellar science to its present state of disrepute. Astrology is too vast, both mathematically 16-1 and philosophically, to be rightly grasped ...Read More

CHAPTER: 17 Sasi And The Three Sapphires "Because you and my son think so highly of Swami Sri Yukteswar, will take a look at him." The tone of voice used by Dr. Narayan Chunder Roy implied that he was humoring the whim of half-wits. I concealed my indignation, in the best traditions of the proselyter. My companion, a veterinary surgeon, was a confirmed agnostic. His young son Santosh had implored me to take an interest in his father. So far my invaluable aid had been a bit on the invisible side. Dr. Roy accompanied me the following day to ...Read More

CHAPTER: 18 A Mohammedan Wonder-Worker "Years ago, right in this very room you now occupy, a Mohammedan wonder-worker performed miracles before me!" Sri Yukteswar made this surprising statement during his first visit to my new quarters. Immediately after entering Serampore College, I had taken a room in a near-by boardinghouse, called Panthi . It was an old- fashioned brick mansion, fronting the Ganges. "Master, what a coincidence! Are these newly decorated walls really ancient with memories?" I looked around my simply furnished room with awakened interest. "It is a long story." My guru smiled reminiscently. "The name of the ...Read More

CHAPTER: 19 My Master, In Calcutta, Appears In Serampore "I am often beset by atheistic doubts. Yet a torturing sometimes haunts me: may not untapped soul possibilities exist? Is man not missing his real destiny if he fails to explore them?" These remarks of Dijen Babu, my roommate at the Panthi boardinghouse, were called forth by my invitation that he meet my guru. "Sri Yukteswarji will initiate you into Kriya Yoga," I replied. "It calms the dualistic turmoil by a divine inner certainty." That evening Dijen accompanied me to the hermitage. In Master's presence my friend received such spiritual ...Read More

CHAPTER: 20 We Do Not Visit Kashmir "Father, I want to invite Master and four friends to accompany me the Himalayan foothills during my summer vacation. May I have six train passes to Kashmir and enough money to cover our travel expenses?" As I had expected, Father laughed heartily. "This is the third time you have given me the same cock-and-bull story. Didn't you make a similar request last summer, and the year before that? At the last moment, Sri Yukteswarji refuses to go." "It is true, Father; I don't know why my guru will not give me his ...Read More

CHAPTER: 21 We Visit Kashmir "You are strong enough now to travel. I will accompany you to Kashmir," Sri informed me two days after my miraculous recovery from Asiatic cholera. That evening our party of six entrained for the north. Our first leisurely stop was at Simla, a queenly city resting on the throne of Himalayan hills. We strolled over the steep streets, admiring the magnificent views. "English strawberries for sale," cried an old woman, squatting in a picturesque open market place. Master was curious about the strange little red fruits. He bought a basketful and offered it to ...Read More

CHAPTER: 22 The Heart Of A Stone Image "As a loyal Hindu wife, I do not wish to complain my husband. But I yearn to see him turn from his materialistic views. He delights in ridiculing the pictures of saints in my meditation room. Dear brother, I have deep faith that you can help him. Will you?" My eldest sister Roma gazed beseechingly at me. I was paying a short visit at her Calcutta home on Girish Vidyaratna Lane. Her plea touched me, for she had exercised a profound spiritual influence over my early life, and had lovingly tried ...Read More

CHAPTER: 23 I Receive My University Degree "You ignore your textbook assignments in philosophy. No doubt you are depending an unlaborious 'intuition' to get you through the examinations. But unless you apply yourself in a more scholarly manner, I shall see to it that you don't pass this course." Professor D. C. Ghoshal of Serampore College was addressing me sternly. If I failed to pass his final written classroom test, I would be ineligible to take the conclusive examinations. These are formulated by the faculty of Calcutta University, which numbers Serampore College among its affiliated branches. A student in ...Read More

CHAPTER: 24 I Become A Monk Of The Swami Order "Master, my father has been anxious for me to an executive position with the Bengal-Nagpur Railway. But I have definitely refused it." I added hopefully, "Sir, will you not make me a monk of the Swami Order?" I looked pleadingly at my guru. During preceding years, in order to test the depth of my determination, he had refused this same request. Today, however, he smiled graciously. "Very well; tomorrow I will initiate you into swamiship." He went on quietly, "I am happy that you have persisted in your desire ...Read More

CHAPTER: 25 Brother Ananta And Sister Nalini "Ananta cannot live; the sands of his karma for this life have out." These inexorable words reached my inner consciousness as I sat one morning in deep meditation. Shortly after I had entered the Swami Order, I paid a visit to my birthplace, Gorakhpur, as a guest of my elder brother Ananta. A sudden illness confined him to his bed; I nursed him lovingly. The solemn inward pronouncement filled me with grief. I felt that I could not bear to remain longer in Gorakhpur, only to see my brother removed before my ...Read More

CHAPTER: 26 The Science Of Kriya Yoga The science of Kriya Yoga, mentioned so often in these pages, became known in modern India through the instrumentality of Lahiri Mahasaya, my guru's guru. The Sanskrit root of Kriya is kri, to do, to act and react; the same root is found in the word karma, the natural principle of cause and effect. Kriya Yoga is thus "union (yoga) with the Infinite through a certain action or rite." A yogi who faithfully follows its technique is gradually freed from karma or the universal chain of causation. Because of certain ancient yogic ...Read More

CHAPTER: 27 Founding A Yoga School At Ranchi "Why are you averse to organizational work?" Master's question startled me bit. It is true that my private conviction at the time was that organizations were "hornets' nests." "It is a thankless task, sir," I answered. "No matter what the leader does or does not, he is criticized." "Do you want the whole divine channa (milk curd) for yourself alone?" My guru's retort was accompanied by a stern glance. "Could you or anyone else achieve God-contact through yoga if a line of generous- hearted masters had not been willing to convey ...Read More

CHAPTER: 28 Kashi, Reborn And Rediscovered "Please do not go into the water. Let us bathe by dipping our I was addressing the young Ranchi students who were accompanying me on an eight-mile hike to a neighboring hill. The pond before us was inviting, but a distaste for it had arisen in my mind. The group around me followed my example of dipping buckets, but a few lads yielded to the temptation of the cool waters. No sooner had they dived than large water snakes wiggled around them. The boys came out of the pond with comical alacrity. We ...Read More

CHAPTER: 29 Rabindranath Tagore And I Compare Schools "Rabindranath Tagore taught us to sing, as a natural form of expression, like the birds." Bhola Nath, a bright fourteen-year-old lad at my Ranchi school, gave me this explanation after I had complimented him one morning on his melodious outbursts. With or without provocation, the boy poured forth a tuneful stream. He had previously attended the famous Tagore school of "Santiniketan" (Haven of Peace) at Bolpur. "The songs of Rabindranath have been on my lips since early youth," I told my companion. "All Bengal, even the unlettered peasants, delights in his ...Read More

CHAPTER: 30 The Law Of Miracles The great novelist Leo Tolstoy wrote a delightful story, The Three Hermits. His Nicholas Roerich 30-1 has summarized the tale, as follows: "On an island there lived three old hermits. They were so simple that the only prayer they used was: 'We are three; Thou art Three-have mercy on us!' Great miracles were manifested during this naive prayer. "The local bishop 30-2 came to hear about the three hermits and their inadmissible prayer, and decided to visit them in order to teach them the canonical invocations. He arrived on the island, told the ...Read More

CHAPTER: 31 An Interview With The Sacred Mother "Reverend Mother, I was baptized in infancy by your prophet-husband. He the guru of my parents and of my own guru Sri Yukteswarji. Will you therefore give me the privilege of hearing a few incidents in your sacred life?" I was addressing Srimati Kashi Moni, the life-companion of Lahiri Mahasaya. Finding myself in Benares for a short period, I was fulfilling a long-felt desire to visit the venerable lady. She received me graciously at the old Lahiri homestead in the Garudeswar Mohulla section of Benares. Although aged, she was blooming like ...Read More

CHAPTER: 32 Rama Is Raised From The Dead "Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus. . . . Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.'" 32-1 Sri Yukteswar was expounding the Christian scriptures one sunny morning on the balcony of his Serampore hermitage. Besides a few of Master's other disciples, I was present with a small group of my Ranchi students. "In this passage Jesus calls himself the Son of God. Though he was truly united with God, his ...Read More

CHAPTER: 33 Babaji, The Yogi-Christ Of Modern India The northern Himalayan crags near Badrinarayan are still blessed by the presence of Babaji, guru of Lahiri Mahasaya. The secluded master has retained his physical form for centuries, perhaps for millenniums. The deathless Babaji is an avatara. This Sanskrit word means "descent"; its roots are ava, "down," and tri, "to pass." In the Hindu scriptures, avatara signifies the descent of Divinity into flesh. "Babaji's spiritual state is beyond human comprehension," Sri Yukteswar explained to me. "The dwarfed vision of men cannot pierce to his transcendental star. One attempts in vain even ...Read More

CHAPTER: 34 Materializing A Palace In The Himalayas "Babaji's first meeting with Lahiri Mahasaya is an enthralling story, and of the few which gives us a detailed glimpse of the deathless guru." These words were Swami Kebalananda's preamble to a wondrous tale. The first time he recounted it I was literally spellbound. On many other occasions I coaxed my gentle Sanskrit tutor to repeat the story, which was later told me in substantially the same words by Sri Yukteswar. Both these Lahiri Mahasaya disciples had heard the awesome tale direct from the lips of their guru. "My first meeting ...Read More

CHAPTER: 35 The Christlike Life Of Lahiri Mahasaya "Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." 35-1 In these to John the Baptist, and in asking John to baptize him, Jesus was acknowledging the divine rights of his guru. From a reverent study of the Bible from an Oriental viewpoint, 35-2 and from intuitional perception, I am convinced that John the Baptist was, in past lives, the guru of Christ. There are numerous passages in the Bible which infer that John and Jesus in their last incarnations were, respectively, Elijah and his disciple Elisha. (These are the spellings in ...Read More

CHAPTER: 36 Babaji's Interest In The West "Master, did you ever meet Babaji?" It was a calm summer night Serampore; the large stars of the tropics gleamed over our heads as I sat by Sri Yukteswar's side on the second-story balcony of the hermitage. "Yes." Master smiled at my direct question; his eyes lit with reverence. "Three times I have been blessed by the sight of the deathless guru. Our first meeting was in Allahabad at a Kumbha Mela." The religious fairs held in India since time immemorial are known as Kumbha Melas; they have kept spiritual goals in ...Read More

CHAPTER: 37 I Go To America "America! Surely these people are Americans!" This was my thought as a panoramic of Western faces passed before my inward view. Immersed in meditation, I was sitting behind some dusty boxes in the storeroom of the Ranchi school. A private spot was difficult to find during those busy years with the youngsters! The vision continued; a vast multitude, 37-1 gazing at me intently, swept actorlike across the stage of consciousness. The storeroom door opened; as usual, one of the young lads had discovered my hiding place. "Come here, Bimal," I cried gaily. "I ...Read More

CHAPTER: 38 Luther Burbank -- A Saint Amidst The Roses "The secret of improved plant breeding, apart from scientific is love." Luther Burbank uttered this wisdom as I walked beside him in his Santa Rosa garden. We halted near a bed of edible cacti. "While I was conducting experiments to make 'spineless' cacti," he continued, "I often talked to the plants to create a vibration of love. 'You have nothing to fear,' I would tell them. 'You don't need your defensive thorns. I will protect you.' Gradually the useful plant of the desert emerged in a thornless variety." I ...Read More

CHAPTER: 39 Therese Neumann, The Catholic Stigmatist "Return to india. I have waited for you patiently for fifteen years. I shall swim out of the body and on to the Shining Abode. Yogananda, come!" Sri Yukteswar's voice sounded startlingly in my inner ear as I sat in meditation at my Mt. Washington headquarters. Traversing ten thousand miles in the twinkling of an eye, his message penetrated my being like a flash of lightning. Fifteen years! Yes, I realized, now it is 1935; I have spent fifteen years in spreading my guru's teachings in America. Now he recalls me. That ...Read More

CHAPTER: 40 I Return To India Gratefully I was inhaling the blessed air of India. Our boat Rajputana docked August 22, 1935 in the huge harbor of Bombay. Even this, my first day off the ship, was a foretaste of the year ahead-twelve months of ceaseless activity. Friends had gathered at the dock with garlands and greetings; soon, at our suite in the Taj Mahal Hotel, there was a stream of reporters and photographers. Bombay was a city new to me; I found it energetically modern, with many innovations from the West. Palms line the spacious boulevards; magnificent state ...Read More

CHAPTER: 41 An Idyl In South India "You are the first Westerner, Dick, ever to enter that shrine. Many have tried in vain." At my words Mr. Wright looked startled, then pleased. We had just left the beautiful Chamundi Temple in the hills overlooking Mysore in southern India. There we had bowed before the gold and silver altars of the Goddess Chamundi, patron deity of the family of the reigning maharaja. "As a souvenir of the unique honor," Mr. Wright said, carefully stowing away a few blessed rose petals, "I will always preserve this flower, sprinkled by the priest ...Read More

CHAPTER: 42 Last Days With My Guru "Guruji, I am glad to find you alone this morning." I had arrived at the Serampore hermitage, carrying a fragrant burden of fruit and roses. Sri Yukteswar glanced at me meekly. "What is your question?" Master looked about the room as though he were seeking escape. "Guruji, I came to you as a high-school youth; now I am a grown man, even with a gray hair or two. Though you have showered me with silent affection from the first hour to this, do you realize that once only, on the day of ...Read More

CHAPTER: 43 The Resurrection Of Sri Yukteswar "Lord Krishna!" The glorious form of the avatar appeared in a shimmering as I sat in my room at the Regent Hotel in Bombay. Shining over the roof of a high building across the street, the ineffable vision had suddenly burst on my sight as I gazed out of my long open third-story window. The divine figure waved to me, smiling and nodding in greeting. When I could not understand the exact message of Lord Krishna, he departed with a gesture of blessing. Wondrously uplifted, I felt that some spiritual event was ...Read More

CHAPTER: 44 With Mahatma Gandhi At Wardha "Welcome to Wardha!" Mahadev Desai, secretary to Mahatma Gandhi, greeted Miss Bletch, Wright, and myself with these cordial words and the gift of wreaths of khaddar (homespun cotton). Our little group had just dismounted at the Wardha station on an early morning in August, glad to leave the dust and heat of the train. Consigning our luggage to a bullock cart, we entered an open motor car with Mr. Desai and his companions, Babasaheb Deshmukh and Dr. Pingale. A short drive over the muddy country roads brought us to Maganvadi, the ashram ...Read More

CHAPTER: 45 The Bengali "Joy-Permeated" Mother "Sir, please do not leave India without a glimpse of Nirmala Devi. Her is intense; she is known far and wide as Ananda Moyi Ma (Joy- Permeated Mother)." My niece, Amiyo Bose, gazed at me earnestly. "Of course! I want very much to see the woman saint." I added, "I have read of her advanced state of God-realization. A little article about her appeared years ago in East-West." "I have met her," Amiyo went on. "She recently visited my own little town of Jamshedpur. At the entreaty of a disciple, Ananda Moyi Ma ...Read More

CHAPTER: 46 The Woman Yogi Who Never Eats "Sir, whither are we bound this morning?" Mr. Wright was driving Ford; he took his eyes off the road long enough to gaze at me with a questioning twinkle. From day to day he seldom knew what part of Bengal he would be discovering next. "God willing," I replied devoutly, "we are on our way to see an eighth wonder of the world-a woman saint whose diet is thin air!" "Repetition of wonders-after Therese Neumann." But Mr. Wright laughed eagerly just the same; he even accelerated the speed of the car. ...Read More

CHAPTER: 47 I Return To The West "I have given many yoga lessons in India and America; but I confess that, as a Hindu, I am unusually happy to be conducting a class for English students." My London class members laughed appreciatively; no political turmoils ever disturbed our yoga peace. India was now a hallowed memory. It is September, 1936; I am in England to fulfill a promise, given sixteen months earlier, to lecture again in London. England, too, is receptive to the timeless yoga message. Reporters and newsreel cameramen swarmed over my quarters at Grosvenor House. The British ...Read More

CHAPTER: 48 At Encinitas In California A surprise, sir! During your absence abroad we have had this Encinitas built it is a 'welcome-home' gift! Sister Gyanamata smilingly led me through a gate and up a tree-shaded walk. I saw a building jutting out like a great white ocean liner toward the blue brine. First speechlessly, then with Oh's! and Ah's! , finally with man's insufficient vocabulary of joy and gratitude, I examined the ashram-sixteen unusually large rooms, each one charmingly appointed. The stately central hall, with immense ceiling-high windows, looks out on a united altar of grass, ocean, sky-a symphony ...Read More