Paramhansa 
Yogananda

The pioneering father of Yoga in the West

Paramhansa Yogananda was born in 1893 in Gorakhpur, India. He was named Mukunda Lal Ghosh and was the fourth of eight children.
 

His mother passed away when he was about 11 years old, and soon after, he had a vision of the Divine Mother who said, "It is I who have watched over you, life after life, in the tenderness of many mothers!" The Divine Mother remained the center of Yogananda’s devotion for the remainder of his life.
 

As he was growing up, Yogananda sometimes attempted to run away to the Himalayas to devote himself completely to God. Eventually, he compromised with his family and moved into an ashram. On one trip to the market with another monk from the ashram, Yogananda saw a man with a powerful aura around him. He tried to walk away but found that his feet couldn’t move. He turned back to look at the man and suddenly realized that the man was his guru. Yogananda fell at his feet and expressed his love and gratitude. The man’s name was Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri.
 

Over the coming years, Yogananda learned and lived with his Guru who later shared with him that Yogananda was to go to the West and take the ancient Kriya Yoga with him. Kriya Yoga is a powerful and ancient meditation technique that aims to accelerate spiritual growth and self-realization. It is a systematic practice that combines specific breathing techniques (pranayama), meditation, and mental concentration.
 

He arrived in America in 1920 and proceeded to travel throughout the United States on his "spiritual campaigns" for the next four years. During this time, hundreds of thousands filled the largest halls in major American cities to see the yoga master from India.
 

His book, "Autobiography of a Yogi," first published in 1946, helped launch a spiritual revolution in the West. Translated into more than fifty languages, it remains a best-selling spiritual classic to this day.