Paramahansa Yogananda was an Indian yogi and guru who introduced millions of people including westerners to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his book, Autobiography of a Yogi. On the occasion of International Yoga Day tomorrow, we hereby publish an article written by K.G. Manjunath on the contributions of Paramahansa to the world of Yoga.
Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (YSS) was established by Gurudeva and founder Sri Paramahansa Yogananda in 1917. Commemorating 100 years of YSS, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a commemorative stamp on March 7, 2017. We have no doubt that Paramahansa Yogananda would be pleased that the world is now paying homage annually to India's ancient science of God-realisation by celebrating the International Day of Yoga, as his life was dedicated to introducing all truth-seekers to the time-honoured techniques of Yoga meditation. "Man remains engaged in an unceasing quest for that 'something else' and he hopes it will bring him complete and unending happiness. For those individual souls who have sought and found God, the search is over: He is that something else." This gem of wisdom was perhaps the essence of Paramahansa Yogananda's teaching of Raja Yoga/ Kriya Yoga — the scientific path for attaining all-fulfilling personal communion with God. Paramahansa was born in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, on January 5, 1893. After graduating from Calcutta University in 1915, he was initiated into sanyas. His guru, Swami Sri Yukteswarji encouraged him to take up organisational work, reminding him that he who renounces worldly duties must love and serve, as his own, the larger family of humanity. Thus, Yogoda Satsanga Society of India was founded in 1917, with an Ashram and a small school in Ranchi, Jharkhand. Yogananda spent over thirty years in America, spreading the ancient science of Kriya Yoga as taught and practiced by Lord Sri Krishna, Pathanjali and other illumined sages of India over the centuries. He advocated the brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God. A century after the birth of Paramahansa Yogananda, he has come to be recognised as one of the pre-eminent spiritual figures of our time. The influence of his life and work continues to grow. Many of the religious and philosophical concepts and methods he introduced decades ago through his prolific writings are now finding expression in science, education, psychology, medicine, business and other spheres of endeavour— contributing in far-reaching ways to a more integrated, humane and spiritual vision of human life. His magnum opus, ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ is acclaimed as a spiritual classic and masterpiece, read all over the world by people of all creeds and paths. Those who read the book claim they are transformed and their spiritual understanding of life greatly clarified. Selected as one of the 100 best spiritual books of the last 100 years in 2000, it was published in 1946 and expanded in subsequent editions. Written for a modern audience and translated into 45 worldwide languages including 13 Indian languages, it is widely regarded today as a spiritual masterpiece, one of the most important, relevant and readable works on Yoga and ancient Indian philosophy. In one of the chapters on Cosmic Consciousness, Yogananda says: “After the mind has been cleared by Kriya Yoga of sensory obstacles, meditation furnishes a twofold proof of God. Ever-new joy is evidence of His existence, convincing to our very atoms. Also in meditation, one finds His instant guidance, His adequate response to every difficulty.”
