Paramahansa Yogananda : A Biography

" My body shall pass but my work shall go on. And my spirit shall live on. Even when I am taken away, I shall work with you all for the deliverance of the world with the message of God."

Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda, one of the brightest stars in the spiritual firmament the world over, arrived on earth in order to fulfill a divine mission. The mission was to unveil the secrets of ancient yogic sciences of India in the spiritually starving nations of the West. The story began with Mahavatar Babaji Maharaj - the deathless Maha Guru, residing and wandering among the snowy mountains of the Himalayas - who bestowed upon Sri Yukteswar Giri a divine order. Sri Yukteswarji was the disciple of Sri Sri Lahiri Mahasaya through whom was resurrected and gifted to the world the ancient science of Kriya Yoga kept secretly in the Himalayas throughout the dark ages. In 1894, while roaming about the Kumbha mela in Allahabad, Sri Yukteswarji chanced upon Babaji who told him, "The West is now ready to receive Kriya Yoga. I am sending a disciple to you. Prepare him for the West." Our beloved Gurudeva, Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda who had been born only a year back was the chosen disciple.

Early Life and Spiritual Search ...

Paramahansa Yogananda was born Mukunda Lal Ghosh on January 5, 1893, in Gorakhpur, India into a devout and well-to-do family. From his very infancy, he had a strong spiritual inclination which became gradually intensified under the loving care and due encouragement of his mother, Smt. Gyanaprabha Debi. His intense yearning for the Divine led him to many Indian Saints and Yogis before finally meeting his Guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, in 1910.

Yoganandaji spent the next ten years in the hermitage of his Guru at Srirampur under the strict discipline and compassionate guidance of his God-realized master and moved quickly toward God-realization. After he graduated from Calcutta University in 1915, he took formal vows as a monk of India's

venerable monastic Swami Order, at which time he received the name Yogananda.

Brahmacharya Vidyalaya at Dihika ...

He had long nurtured a dream of setting up a school where students would be imparted moral and spiritual lessons apart from formal and vocational training. With this purpose in mind, Yoganandaji landed in Dihika - a lonely hamlet by the river Damodar some ten kms away from Asansol - in 1917 with only 7 pupils and founded his first Brahmacharya Vidyalaya there. The school was later shifted to Ranchi, but Dihika was the place which saw the formative period of a young Sannyasi and a great master destined to shake the West off its spiritual slumber a few years down the line.

Beginning of a world mission ...

A vision at Ranchi convinced Yoganandaji that the time was ripe for him to plunge into what he had been divinely assigned with. in 1920, he left for the USA to serve as India's delegate to an international congress of religious liberals. His electrifying presence and extempore lectures on Indian Yogic philosophies left the audience completely enthralled and had stunning impact on their lives. Many who for decades had only heard about India's great spiritual Masters, were now blessed with the living presence of one such self-realized being. Many Americans who were so accustomed to living in an opulent ambience but bereft completely of peace accepted him as their guru and became his disciples. That same year he founded Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) to disseminate worldwide his teachings on India's ancient science and philosophy of Yoga and its time-honoured tradition of meditation.

Yoganandaji 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 technique of Kriya Yoga, a sacred spiritual science originating millenniums ago in India, which had been lost in the Dark Ages and revived in modern times by his lineage of enlightened masters.

Return to India ...

In 1935, Yoganandaji came to India during his 18-month tour of Asia and Europe and met his ageing Guru who conferred upon him India's highest spiritual title, Paramahansa. After going back to the USA, Yoganandaji gradually withdrew from his public lectures and concentrated more on his writings. The 'Autobiography of a Yogi' published by him in 1946 bacame a best-selling spiritual classic since its publication. Considered as one of the 100 best spiritual books of the 20th Century, it is credited with having changed the lives of millions of readers.

Final Days & Mahasamadhi ...

Finally, when it seemed that the mission for which he had taken a bodily appearance was over, he decided to quit his body and merge blissfully into the omnipresent Spirit. On March 7, 1952, while speaking at a banquet hall in Los Angeles about his beloved homeland i.e. India, Yoganandaji consciously left his physical body.

On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Paramahansa Yogananda's passing, his far-reaching contributions to the spiritual upliftment of humanity were given formal recognition by the Government of India. A special commemorative stamp was issued in his honor, together with a tribute that read, in part:

" The ideal of love for God and service to humanity found full expression  in the life of Paramahansa Yogananda ... Though the major part of his life was spent outside India, still he takes his place among our great saints. His work continues to grow and shine ever more brightly, drawing people everywhere on the path of the pilgrimage of the Spirit."

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