Judy brady autobiography of a yogi

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) was first published in 1946 and has since become a much-loved and admired book around the world.

As he wrote he relived inwardly the sacred experiences he was recording. I kept thinking, I’ve missed him! I knew I stood on holy ground.

Sunday morning I attended Paramahansaji’s morning service at the Hollywood Temple. I abruptly canceled important plans, stopped seeing people I knew and started seeking through books. A small group of us — Ananda Mata, Shraddha Mata, and myself — were around him much of that time, helping to type the manuscript.

His brother dies and his sister falls dangerously ill but recovers, thanks to the spiritual help he and Sri Yukteswa offer. Huge tables (flat boards on sawhorses) were set up in the office, ready for assembly-line wrapping of each individual book in brown mailing paper off a huge roll, hand-cutting it to just the right size, affixing labels and postage stamps moistened first from wet sponges.

He seems to have been born with a set of spiritual values that were reinforced by his parents, who were devotees of Lahiri Mahasaya, a celebrated saint and prophet. That was the first miracle.

Recording their conversations in voluminous notes, I verified facts and dates, and collected photographs, old letters, and documents.”

Upon his return to the United States at the end of 1936, he began to spend much of his time at the hermitage that had been built for him in his absence, in Encinitas on the southern California coast.

The gentle and kind-spirited Yogananda is destined to do many wonderful things, including establishing a progressive school for boys, and bringing eastern Indian spiritual teachings to the western world. Devotion, or bhakti, is portrayed as a powerful force that can accelerate spiritual progress by aligning one's emotions with the divine.

Aspects of meditation and devotion:

• Regular practice leads to progressive spiritual experiences
• Devotion can manifest as love for a personal deity or as cosmic love
• Both practices aim at transcending ego-consciousness
• The ultimate goal is union with the divine, or self-realization

The author emphasizes that while techniques are important, it's the sincerity and persistence of practice that lead to spiritual unfoldment.

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But I felt an indescribable joy coming into me through his hand and eyes.

I left the temple and walked in a daze along Sunset Boulevard. This trip begins a 15-year period in which he travels widely across the United States, speaking about Indian spirituality and teaching Kriya Yoga. The message of yoga will encircle the globe.

As I entered the grounds of the Mother Center, I felt an overwhelming peace, like nothing I had ever experienced anywhere before. Both of his parents are devotees of the guru Lahiri Mahasaya, and even as a child he often prays and experiences visions. I remember there were times when he might dictate all night long, and other occasions when it would continue for the entire day or even longer.

All activity stopped and our attention was fully concentrated on his broad smile and an even more beautiful than usual twinkle in his eyes.