Hailed as “the father of Yoga in the West,” Paramahansa Yogananda is regarded as one of the great spiritual figures of our time. Born in northern India, he came to the United States in 1920, where for more than 30 years he taught the ancient science of Kriya Yoga meditation and the art of balanced spiritual living. That same year he founded Self-Realization Fellowship to disseminate his writings and teachings worldwide.
Through his best-selling classic, Autobiography of a Yogi, and his numerous other books, he has introduced millions throughout the world to the spiritual principles of yoga meditation and the universal truths underlying all world religions. Yogananda taught the unity of all great religions in his Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons on India’s ancient science and philosophy of yoga and meditation methods for attaining direct personal experience of God.
Central to Paramahansa Yogananda’s teachings are scientific techniques of concentration and meditation that lead to the direct personal experience of God. These yoga methods quiet body and mind, and make it possible to withdraw one’s energy and attention from the usual turbulence of thoughts, emotions, and sensory perceptions. In the clarity of that inner stillness, one comes to experience a deepening interior peace and awareness of God’s presence
Paramahansa Yogananda’s spiritual legacy continues to grow with meditation groups, centers, retreats, and temples affiliated with his Self-Realization Fellowship spreading worldwide.
On March 7, 1952 Paramahansa Yogananda left his body, entering the superconscious state of mahasamadhi, a God-illumined Master’s conscious exit from the body. The effects of this phenomenon were documented by Forest Lawn Memorial Park in their testimony that “No physical disintegration was visible in his body even 20 days after death. Yogananda’s body was apparently in a phenomenal state of immutability.”
For more information on the great teacher, author, and guru, click on the links below:
Paramahansa Yogananda: “I come to Thee with folded hands, bowed head, and heart laden with the myrrh of reverence.”
“EVERYTHING ELSE CAN WAIT, BUT OUR SEARCH FOR GOD CANNOT WAIT.”