Paramhansa Yogananda

Paramhansa Yogananda (1893-1952, often misspelled 'Paramahansa' Yogananda) was the first yoga master of India to live and teach in the West. Yogananda arrived in America in 1920, and traveled throughout the United States on what he called his ‘spiritual campaigns’. His enthusiastic audiences filled the largest halls in America. Hundreds of thousands came to see the yogi from India. Yogananda continued to lecture and write up to his passing in 1952.

Yogananda's initial impact was truly impressive. But his lasting impact has been even greater. Yogananda's "Autobiography of a Yogi" (Right),
first published in 1946, helped launch a spiritual revolution in the West. His message was nonsectarian and universal. Yogananda’s teacher sent him to the West with the admonition, “The West is high in material attainments, but lacking in spiritual understanding. It is God’s will that you play a role in teaching mankind the value of balancing the material with an inner, spiritual life.”

The Path of Self-Realization

“The true basis of religion is not belief, but intuitive experience. Intuition is the

soul’s power of knowing God. To know what religion is really all about, one must know God.”
- Paramhansa Yogananda from The Essence of Self-Realization

Yogananda brought to the West the path of Self-Realization. He said that “Self-Realization is the knowing in all parts of body, mind, and soul that you are now in possession of the kingdom of God; that you do not have to pray that it come to you; that God’s omnipresence is your omnipresence; and that
all that you need to do is improve your knowing.”

The path of Kriya Yoga, which Yogananda called the ‘jet-airplane’ route to God, consists of ancient yoga techniques to hasten the spiritual evolution of the student. Yogananda's techniques can be learned through the Ananda Kriya Ministry.