add site
services
publishers
database
health videos
toolbar
stats
live show
health store
more stuff
JOIN/LOGIN
| advertise add site services publishers database health videos
| | about toolbar stats live show health store more stuff JOIN/LOGIN |
Yogi Tea Company And Yogi Tea Company Brand Products - Nutrition,... naturalwebstore.com | Sampoorna Yoga - Shri Yogi Hari - Yogi Hari's Ashram yogihari.com | - How to Write a Paper, Essay, or Autobiography... scientificpsychic.com | Mr Yogi: Listen to Mr Yogi on selected topics anandamarga.org |
In 1946, Paramahansa Yogananda (January 5, 1893–March 7, 1952), published his life story, Autobiography of a Yogi, which introduced many westerners to meditation and yoga.[1] It has since been translated into 25 languages, and the various editions published since its inception have sold over a million copies worldwide.[2] The book describes Yogananda's search for a guru, and his encounters with leading spiritual figures such as Therese Neumann, the Hindu saint Sri Anandamoyi Ma, Mohandas Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Sir C. V. Raman, and noted American plant scientist Luther Burbank, to whom it is dedicated. Amelita Galli-Curci, one of the most famous opera singers of the early twentieth century, said about the book:
[edit] Overview Autobiography of a Yogi is the most popular of Yogananda’s books. In 1999, it was designated as one of the "100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century" by a panel of theologians and luminaries convened by HarperCollins publishers.[4] Yogananda met many of India’s greatest sages. The book Mejda: The Family and Early Life of Paramahansa Yogananda,[5] written by his younger brother Sananda Lal Ghosh, sheds much light on the depth of his spiritual attainment well before his graduation from high school and his training with his guru, Sri Yukteswar. Yogananda recounts many of his spiritual experiences and meetings with Indian saints, which began when he was only a boy. An authoritative text on the spiritual science of yoga (not merely the Hatha Yoga postures so familiar in the West), the book is not so much a year by year chronicle of Yogananda's life, as it is a study of meditation and yoga, and the saints who had a profound influence on his life. The story of Yogananda's meeting and relationship to his guru, Sri Yukteswar, is highlighted throughout Autobiography of a Yogi, along with the importance of the guru–disciple relationship. The chapter "Years in My Master's Hermitage" is the longest in the book. The importance that Yogananda gave to that relationship is made clear by the very first paragraph of his autobiography:
[edit] Detailed description[edit] Spiritual quest begins in childhood Yogananda writes openly about his intense desire, even in childhood, to know what lay behind all the experiences of life and death. As a child he asked, "What is behind the darkness of closed eyes?" The death of his mother when he was 11, to whom he was deeply devoted, greatly intensified his personal search for God. He states "I loved Mother as my dearest friend on earth. Her solacing black eyes had been my refuge in the trifling tragedies of childhood." Later Yogananda states that in a spiritual vision God, in the aspect of Divine Mother, told him, "It is I who have watched over thee, life after life, in the tenderness of many mothers. See in My gaze the two black eyes, the lost beautiful eyes, thou seekest!" While still a student in high school, Yogananda, with three friends, attempted to run away from home and find his long sought guru amid the Himalayan mountains. But it was not until after his graduation from high school, which he had promised his father he would finish, that Yogananda was to meet Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri. [edit] Spiritual lineage and influencesLahiri Mahasaya was the guru of Yogananda's parents and also the guru of Sri Yukteswar, Yogananda's guru. At the age of eight, Yogananda was instantly healed of cholera after his mother's insistence that he pray to Lahiri Mahasaya. Beginning with chapter 31 of his autobiography, Yogananda spends the next five chapters interweaving the life of Lahiri Mahasaya with that of Lahiri Mahasaya's guru, Mahavatar Babaji. Using the stories and biographical facts collected on his return trip to India in 1935 from various disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya (including the wife of Lahiri Mahasaya) as well as Yogananda's own personal testimony, he pays tribute to the three individuals whose lives and collective influence became inseparable from his own life and teachings: Mahavatar Babaji, his chief disciple Lahiri Mahasaya, and his own guru Sri Yukteswar. [edit] The guru–disciple relationship Yogananda's lifelong search for his guru ended when he met Swami Sri Yukteswar. Even though Yogananda described many saints and miracle workers in his book, his relationship with Sri Yukteswar was unique. Yogananda spent several years being trained by Sri Yukteswar for the ultimate mission of spreading the science of yoga to the west. The wisdom of Sri Yukteswar, and the many spiritual lessons that Yogananda learned at his guru's feet are described in the chapter Years in My Master's Hermitage. His guru also bestowed on Yogananda the experience of samādhi, the ultimate goal of the yogi, as described in the chapter My Experience in Cosmic Consciousness. Yogananda explains the importance of his relationship with Sri Yukteswar, and the eternal bond between guru and disciple:
 Yogananda then spent the better part of ten years under his guru's strict discipline. Excerpts from Chapter 12: Years in My Master's Hermitage:
[edit] The science of Kriya YogaKriya Yoga is a specific technique of meditation that is referred to throughout Yogananda's autobiography. Yogananda writes in Chapter 26: "Kriya is an ancient science. Lahiri Mahasaya received it from his great guru, Babaji, who rediscovered and clarified the technique after it had been lost in the Dark Ages." In Chapter 4 Lahiri Mahasaya is quoted in regards to Kriya saying, "This technique cannot be bound, filed, and forgotten, in the manner of theoretical inspirations. Continue ceaselessly on your path to liberation through Kriya, whose power lies in practice." Yogananda goes on to say in Chapter 26:
[edit] God, miracles, religion and scienceSome 20 chapters of Yogananda's autobiography are expressly written about one or more miracles. Chapter 30, entitled "The Law of Miracles", attempts to explain a scientific understanding of the miraculous powers of saints, and the eternal relationship between God, human life, religion and science. Referring to the natural fascination with miracles, and those who possess miraculous power, Yogananda at the end of chapter 35 quotes Lahiri Mahasaya:
[edit] Founding a school and going to America In 1915 Yogananda became a monk of the Giri branch of the swami order. In 1917 heeding the counsel of his guru, "Remember that he who rejects the usual worldly duties can justify himself only by assuming some kind of responsibility for a much larger family", Yogananda founded a boys' school in Dihika with just seven children, that was moved to Ranchi in 1918. About education he said,
In chapter 37 "I Go to America", Yogananda describes a vision that occurred in which he realized "the Lord is calling me to America." He quickly assembled the faculty of the school and gave them the news that he was going to America. Within a few hours he was on a train to Calcutta. When an invitation to serve as the delegate from India to a religious conference being held in Boston suddenly arrived, Yogananda sought out his guru to ask if he should go. His reply was simply, "All doors are open for you. It is now or never." Yogananda received financing for the trip from his father who said "I give you this money not in my role as a father but as a faithful disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya. Go then to that far Western land; spread there the creedless teachings of Kriya Yoga." Yogananda was 27 years old when he left India on The City of Sparta, which docked near Boston on October 6 1920. It was the first passenger boat to America after the close of World War I. He continued to live in the United States until briefly returning to India during a year-long trip through Europe and the Holy Land in 1935-1936. [edit] Changes to Autobiography of a Yogi over the yearsThere have been a number of editions of "Autobiography" published over the years. These can be separated into 1) editions published prior to and within months after the author's death, and 2) editions published many years after his passing that have created controversy. Three editions of Autobiography of a Yogi were published during Yogananda's lifetime. A fourth edition was published in 1952 within months after his death in March of that year. These editions were published in the public domain by Philosophical Library, and do not contain contended edited material. The issue of whether Yogananda's edits appear in their entirety in the 1951 or 1952 edition is addressed on this page, below. Additions to the third and fourth editions were made by Yogananda, and are detailed below. Details of the material in editions through the fourth edition are as follows: The first in 1946, a second in 1949 (with the identical text of the 1946 edition), the 1951 volume which included a new chapter entitled "The Years 1940-51" with updated information about the author and the Self-Realization Fellowship, and the fourth edition in 1952, is the text of the Third Edition with an added page noting Yogananda's death, and a revised dust jacket that contains on its reverse, a description of the undecayed state of Yogananda's body many days after his death. Note: in the seventh edition, the Publisher's Note states that revisions drafted by Yogananda in 1951 did not appear in the 1952 fourth edition, given publishing logistics. Please see below for a more detailed explanation of the 1951 revisions by Yogananda, and where the revisions appear. The later editions, beginning in 1956, four years after Yogananda's passing, are a point of contention. The controversy has arisen over two major issues: the appropriateness of a change in spelling of Yogananda's name in his signature that appeared in the 1958 edition, and the integrity of edits - to what degree Yogananda's own edits were incorporated, and whether Yogananda's writings were preserved, given thousands of editorial changes made between 1952 and 1958.[6] There are two prevailing views regarding the changes. The publisher, Self-Realization Fellowship, claims that Yogananda authorized the changes. Others point out that there is no written record that Yogananda approved the changes. [edit] Self-Realization Fellowship's viewAccording to "Author's Revisions and Wishes for Later Editions of Autobiography of a Yogi" available at the Self Realization Fellowship website honoring the 60th year of the book's publication: "Three editions of Paramahansaji's autobiography appeared during his lifetime. In the third edition, published in 1951, he made significant changes -- revising the text thoroughly, deleting material, amplifying various points, and adding a new final chapter, 'The Years 1940-1951' (one of the longest in the book). Some further revisions made by him after the third edition could not be incorporated until the publication of the seventh edition, which was released in 1956." Additionally, the following Publisher's note was printed in the seventh edition: "This 1956 American edition contains revisions made by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1949 for the London, England, edition; and additional revisions made by the author in 1951. In a 'Note to the London Edition,' dated October 25, 1949, Paramahansa Yogananda wrote": "'The arrangement for a London edition of this book has given me an opportunity to revise, and slightly to enlarge, the text. Besides new material in the last chapter, I have added a number of footnotes in which I have answered questions sent me by readers of the American edition." Also from the same Publisher's note: "Later revisions, made by the author in 1951, were intended to appear in the fourth (1952) American edition. At that time the rights in Autobiography of a Yogi were vested in a New York publishing house. In 1946 in New York each page of the book had been made into an electrotype plate. Consequently, to add even a comma requires that the metal plate of an entire page be cut apart and resoldered with a new line containing the desired comma. Because of the expense involved in resoldering many plates, the New York publisher did not include in the fourth edition the author’s 1951 revisions." "In late 1953 Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) bought from the New York publisher all rights in 'Autobiography of a Yogi'. SRF reprinted the book in 1954 and 1955 (fifth and sixth editions); but during those two years other duties prevented the SRF editorial department from undertaking the formidable task of incorporating the author's revisions on the electrotype plates. The work, however, has been accomplished in time for the seventh edition." [edit] Critical view of changes made by Self-Realization Fellowship to later editions of the bookSome of the changes made over the years include: significant edits to Yogananda's poem Samadhi, the removal of two poems ("God, God, God" and "The Soundless Roar"), the addition of numerous footnotes, and the editing of many passages, including direct quotes. Yogananda wrote a note announcing his editing changes for the 1951 edition (see above), the last published during his lifetime. There was no note from Yogananda in later editions to confirm that he wanted changes made to his autobiography after his death.[6]
Among the many changes made long after Yogananda's death were significant editing changes to his poem "Samadhi". Yogananda told people that he originally wrote the poem while in the superconscious samadhi state. The original unedited poem can be read at Wikisource. Fourteen lines were removed for the 1956 edition, including the significant lines:
[edit] Change in the spelling of "Paramahansa"The change in spelling of Yogananda's title from "Paramhansa" to "Paramahansa", with the insertion of an extra "a" is the subject of controversy. During his lifetime, Yogananda always signed his name with the spelling "Paramhansa", without the extra "a". That was the title and spelling as it was given to him by his guru, Sri Yukteswar, in 1936. In the 1959 edition of the Autobiography of a Yogi, seven years after Yogananda died, the publishers altered the signature by copying and pasting an extra "a" from a different part of the signature.[7] In Indian tradition, both spellings are widely used.[8][9][10] This is common with Sanskrit words that have been transliterated into the more restricted Roman alphabet. In this case, opponents of the extra "a" point out that the "a" is not pronounced when "Paramahansa" is spoken, and therefore "Paramhansa" is the proper spelling. Proponents claim that the missing "a" changes the meaning of the word. However, Sanskrit has a number of Romanization schemes, which is why there is wide acceptance of both spellings, along with yet another version, "Paramahamsa",[10][11][12] with an "m" rather than "n" near the end of the word. Putting aside the issue of scholarship, the spelling in current editions published by Self-Realization Fellowship is not the version used by Yogananda himself. Nor is it the version given to him by his guru, Sri Yukteswar, who was conversant in Sanskrit (his book, The Holy Science, includes English translations of Sanskrit slokas). For further study in regards to the different English spellings of Paramahansa, see Paramahansa and Paramahamsa. [edit] Editions currently availableThere are at least four versions of Autobiography of a Yogi published as of August 2009: 1. The version published by Self-Realization Fellowship. ISBN 0-87612-079-6 2. A reprint of the first edition published by Crystal Clarity Publishers in 1993. ISBN 1-56589-734-X 3. An additional [print] version of the 1st ed. published by Crystal Clarity in 2005 that includes the extra chapter (No. 49, published as an appendix) added by Yogananda in 1951. ISBN 1-56589-212-7 4. An Online version of the 1st ed. published by Ananda Sangha/Crystal Clarity in 2009 that does not includes the extra chapter (No. 49, published as an appendix) added by Yogananda in 1951. [edit] Chapter listingAs titled in the 1997 Anniversary Edition: 1. My Parents and Early Life 2. My Mother's Death and the Mystic Amulet 3. The Saint with Two Bodies (Swami Pranabananda) 4. My Interrupted Flight Toward the Himalayas 5. A "Perfume Saint" Displays His Wonders 6. The Tiger Swami 7. The Levitating Saint (Nagendra Nath Bhaduri) 8. India's Great Scientist, J. C. Bose 9. The Blissful Devotee and his Cosmic Romance (Master Mahasaya) 10. I Meet my Master, Sri Yukteswar 11. Two Penniless Boys in Brindaban 12. Years in my Master's Hermitage 13. The Sleepless Saint (Ram Gopal Muzumdar) 14. An Experience in Cosmic Consciousness 15. The Cauliflower Robbery 16. Outwitting the Stars 17. Sasi and the Three Sapphires 18. A Mohammedan Wonder-Worker (Afzal Khan) 19. My Master, in Calcutta, Appears in Serampore 20. We Do Not Visit Kashmir 21. We Visit Kashmir 22. The Heart of a Stone Image 23. I Receive My University Degree 24. I Become a Monk of the Swami Order 25. Brother Ananta and Sister Nalini 26. The Science of Kriya Yoga 27. Founding a Yoga School in Ranchi 28. Kashi, Reborn and Discovered 29. Rabindranath Tagore and I Compare Schools 30. The Law of Miracles 31. An Interview with the Sacred Mother (Kashi Moni Lahiri) 32. Rama is Raised from the Dead 33. Babaji, Yogi-Christ of Modern India 34. Materializing a Palace in the Himalayas 35. The Christlike Life of Lahiri Mahasaya 36. Babaji's Interest in the West 37. I Go to America 38. Luther Burbank – A Saint Amid the Roses 39. Therese Neumann, the Catholic Stigmatist 40. I Return to India 41. An Idyl in South India 42. Last Days With My Guru 43. The Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar 44. With Mahatma Gandhi at Wardha 45. The Bengali "Joy-Permeated Mother" (Ananda Moyi Ma) 46. The Woman Yogi Who Never Eats (Giri Bala) 47. I Return to the West 48. At Encinitas in California 49. The Years 1940-1951 [edit] Notes
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ↑ top of page ↑ | about thumbshots |
