17 h 34 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 17 h 34 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a boy’s longing for God becomes a lifelong search for a teacher?
In Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda tells his story from a devout Bengali home to his work teaching in America. His search leads him to Sri Yukteswar, whose discipline and care shape his training. Family hopes, college life and the pull of spiritual practice all press upon his choices.
Along the way, Yogananda introduces saints, scientists and leaders, including Jagadish Chandra Bose, Luther Burbank and Mahatma Gandhi. He describes Kriya Yoga as a path of breath and meditation, and recounts events he understands as miracles. These accounts express his faith, inviting readers into his view of spiritual life rather than a detached history.
What you’ll discover
- A restless spiritual search Follow a young seeker whose longing draws him toward saints and dreams of the Himalayas.
- The teacher and student Enter the conversations and daily training that define Yogananda’s bond with Sri Yukteswar.
- The practice of Kriya Yoga Explore the breathing and meditation method at the heart of Yogananda’s teaching.
- Extraordinary encounters and claims Read his accounts of saints, visions and seemingly impossible events through the eyes of a believer.
- A journey between cultures Trace his move from India to America as he brings his teachings to Western readers.
Who will love it
If you love true stories of seekers and teachers, and big questions about meditation, miracles and the soul, this memoir is for you. It suits curious readers of every faith.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Bengali boyhood shaped by faith
- Loss of a mother sets the course
- Strange saints met along the road
- Science and devotion in two remarkable men
- Finding the guru in a crowded lane
- Training under a stern and tender master
- Kriya Yoga and the line of teachers
- Degree, vows and a school for boys
- Crossing to the West and back again
- Loss, return and the final promise
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Autobiography of a Yogi
by Paramahansa Yogananda · 1946
A boy sees his mother's ghost and a guru's photograph glow, then crosses oceans to share what he learns.
Challenging10–20 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
What does a boy do when light from a saint's photograph heals him of cholera? He grows up to search for the source of such power.
Autobiography of a Yogi at a glance
- Reading time
- About 10 h 30 min8 h 20 min fast, 12 h 30 min slow
- Length
- 149,900 words48 chapters
- Pages
- 431 pages651 in large print
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1946by Paramahansa Yogananda
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Bengali boyhood shaped by faith
Mukunda Lal Ghosh is born in Gorakhpur, the second son in a family of eight children. His father is a mathematician and railway official who lives plainly. His mother teaches her children through love and through stories from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
Both parents are disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya, a householder master who taught Kriya Yoga. His framed picture stands on the family altar in every city where the father is posted. The boy meditates before it, and the image slowly grows from a picture into a living presence.
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1946
- Language
- English
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Yogananda. Autobiography of a Yogi. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/autobiography-of-a-yogi.
Yogananda. (2026). Autobiography of a yogi. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/autobiography-of-a-yogi (Original work published 1946)
Yogananda. Autobiography of a Yogi. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/autobiography-of-a-yogi.
@book{yogananda2026autobiography,
author = {Yogananda},
title = {Autobiography of a Yogi},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/autobiography-of-a-yogi},
note = {First published 1946}
}
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What is Autobiography of a Yogi about?
It is the life story of Paramahansa Yogananda, from his childhood in Bengal to his years teaching yoga in America. It follows his search for a guru, his training under Sri Yukteswar, and his meetings with saints in India and the West.
Who is Babaji in Autobiography of a Yogi?
Babaji is a Himalayan master described in the book as a deathless teacher who revived Kriya Yoga. He initiated Lahiri Mahasaya, who taught Sri Yukteswar, and he later tells the author to carry the teaching to the West.
What is Kriya Yoga?
Kriya Yoga is a meditation method involving breath and attention that the author says calms the senses and speeds spiritual growth. He gives an overview but not the technique itself, which he says must be learned from a trained teacher.
The author
Paramahansa Yogananda
1893–1952 · Indian spiritual teacher and author
Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952) was an Indian yoga teacher and writer. He was born in Gorakhpur, India, and moved to the United States in 1920. He founded the Self-Realization Fellowship that year. His Autobiography of a Yogi appeared in 1946. He lived in Los Angeles, where he died in 1952.
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