Autobiography of a Yogi
1946
- autobiography
- yogis
- yoga
- yoguis
- biografía
- spiritual biography
- biography & autobiography
- new age
- nonfiction
- biography
The story
The autobiography of Paramahansa Yogananda (1893 - 1952) details his search for a guru, during which he encountered many spiritual leaders and world-renowned scientists. When it was published in 1946 it was the first introduction of many westerners to yoga and meditation.The famous opera singer Amelita Galli-Curci 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."
What it’s like
Measured, reflective prose with a devotional warmth, the kind of book that reads like a long conversation with an unhurried storyteller who keeps stopping to marvel at the world. Its sensory world is India and early twentieth-century America rendered in gentle detail: Himalayan retreats, hermitages of quiet stone, tea and sunlight in ashrams, the hush of a meditating room. The voice is earnest and sincere, sometimes breathless with wonder, moving between anecdote, miracle and philosophy without much tension of plot. Pacing is episodic and leisurely, so it suits a slow weekend morning, a long train journey, or a bedside chapter before sleep. The emotional register is hopeful and contemplative, with an arc that follows a young seeker searching for a teacher and gradually finding his path. Violence and sexual content are absent; fear and cruelty barely appear, and any hardship is handled gently and framed as a lesson. It suits readers drawn to spiritual memoir, meditation, and calm, uplifting nonfiction, and those curious about the early encounter between Eastern mysticism and Western seekers.
More books like Autobiography of a Yogi
Closest in mood, pacing and theme. Tell us why you loved Autobiography of a Yogiand we’ll explain which ones fit you.
