.jpg)
— Paramahansa Yogananda
“When you enter these grounds, speak no evil, hear no evil, see nothing negative, and you will feel the sacred vibrations that are always present.”
The Life and Legacy of Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda was born in India in 1893. In the hundred years since his birth, this beloved world teacher has come to be recognized as one of the greatest emissaries to the West of India’s ancient wisdom. His life and teachings continue to be a source of light and inspiration to people of all races, cultures, and creeds.
Life and Early Calling
It was in 1910, at the age of 17, that he met and became a disciple of the revered Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri. After Yogananda graduated from Calcutta University in 1915, he took formal vows as a monk of India’s venerable monastic Swami Order. It was at this time he received the name Yogananda, signifying bliss (ananda) through divine union (yoga).
His ardent desire to consecrate his life to the love and service of God thus found fulfillment. In 1920, Yogananda traveled to America, where he founded the Self-Realization Fellowship to disseminate worldwide his teachings on India’s ancient science and philosophy of Yoga and its time-honored tradition of meditation.
Spiritual Legacy
Yogananda emphasized the underlying unity of the world’s great religions and taught universally applicable methods for attaining direct personal experience of God. To serious students of his teachings he introduced the soul-awakening techniques of Kriya Yoga.
Kriya Yoga is a sacred spiritual science originating millenniums ago in India. Lost during the Dark Ages, it was revived in modern times by Yogananda’s lineage of enlightened masters. In 1935 his guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, bestowed on him India’s highest spiritual title, Paramahansa. Literally “supreme swan” (a symbol of spiritual discrimination), the title signifies one who manifests the supreme state of unbroken communion with God.
Mahasamadhi
On March 7, 1952, Paramahansa Yogananda entered mahasamadhi, a yogi’s final conscious exit from the body at the time of physical death.
To learn more about the inspiring life of our Guru, we recommend reading his renowned spiritual classic, Autobiography of a Yogi.
Autobiography of a Yogi, a Spiritual Classic
If you wish to learn more about Self-Realization Fellowship and Paramahansa Yogananda’s Kriya Yoga teachings, the best introduction is his timeless work Autobiography of a Yogi, first published in 1946. This spiritual classic is available in our Bookroom, through SRF’s online Bookstore, and in many public libraries.
Visit Our Calendar and See Our Upcoming Events
