Klaus mann s autobiography of a yogi

Paramahansa Yogananda was a pioneering guru and yogi. He founded the Self-Realization Fellowship in and the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India in which continue to carry on his spiritual legacy worldwide. Autobiography of a Yogi is one of his most popular books. A groundbreaking work in the field of physics and mathematics. In this monumental work, Newton fo No automation or mailing machines in those days!

But oh what joy to participate in this momentous event in Self-Realization Fellowship history. The world would know our blessed Master through this sublime ambassador. In the third-floor sitting room, Gurudeva sat at a desk for hours without a break, autographing every book. It was late when he summoned me to come upstairs. He was still autographing books.

The senior disciples urged him to take some rest, but he refused even to consider it until every book in that shipment was signed with his blessings. He had the most beatific expression on his face, as though a very real part of himself and his love for God were going out to all the world in those printed pages, and it should not be withheld one extra moment.

It was with inexpressible joy that we sat at his feet to meditate in the wee hours of the morning. The Master had handed each of us our personal copy of this treasure, and all other copies had been wrapped for mailing in the morning or packed for sending to his temples in Hollywood and San Diego. There were just a few of us living in the Encinitas Hermitage when Paramahansaji was writing Autobiography of a Yogia project that took him a number of years to complete.

I was living there for part of that time. Guruji did most of the writing of that book in his study at the Hermitage. 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. I was not involved with the secretarial duties like Daya Ma and Ananda Ma, who would sometimes take down his words in shorthand and at other times use the typewriter.

My responsibility was mostly cooking their meals so that they could work uninterruptedly! When Autobiography of a Yogi arrived from the publisher, there was great jubilation. Right away Guruji wanted us to send out his book to all those who had placed advance orders! So after the initial celebration, we were very busy filling the big backlog of orders that had accumulated.

Sister Shila and I wrapped many copies, stamped the packages, and got them all ready. Then we brought the car around, opening the trunk and all of the doors. When the car had been completely filled, we drove the parcels of books down to the main post office in Los Angeles. We were delighted: At last Autobiography of a Yogi was going to be available to people everywhere!

Shortly after I entered the ashram inParamahansaji spoke with a couple of us on the verandah of the Administration Building at Mt. He remarked to us that God told him he was to write certain books during his lifetime; and when those books were finished, his mission on earth would be over. Autobiography of a Yogi was one of those books. When the Autobiography first came out, I read it from cover to cover in a day, or two — how wonderful and inspiring!

To date we have seen only the tip of the iceberg. When I met Paramahansa Yogananda in I was nine years old. In I read his copy of Autobiography of a Yogiwhich Paramahansaji had given him. My father was very unassuming and never tried to influence others with his own beliefs. As a result, he never even showed me the book — I came across it accidentally.

It took me a while to read it — I was quite young and the book contained some rather large words! But from the beginning, Autobiography of a Yogi has been a haven for me, a healing balm for my soul Above all, Autobiography of a Yogi shows that it is possible for us to know God. I remember my first Christmas in the ashram in Autobiography of a Yogi was completed, and Paramahansaji gave klaus mann s autobiographies of a yogi to all of us.

How uplifted we had been hearing him recount many of those same events personally, and through this book all can share in that. I vividly recall when Autobiography of a Yogi was first released. Some time later I asked Paramahansaji if he would write a little thought in my copy. Though I would not have known where to go in the book to find it, it leaps off the page when I need to see it.

I was in my early teens when I spent a summer vacation with an aunt and uncle in the suburbs of Winterthur, one of the larger cities in Switzerland. My uncle was a musician, a member of a symphony orchestra. He too was on vacation, which he spent working in his large garden. I helped him. He told me of Buddha and how he had reached this blessed state, and other saints, which kindled in me a deep desire to follow their example.

I remember how I used to walk around repeating inwardly again and again: illumination, illumination. I asked my uncle how one could achieve that state, but the only thing he could say was that one has to meditate. He said that one has to have a guru who could teach everything. When I expressed my great desire to meet one, he just shook his head and smiled.

So I began to pray for a guru. But nothing happened. By then, I had given up my interest in Hindu philosophy, since it seemed hopeless that I could find a guru. I embarked on a career in art, and after three years I was invited to go to the United States to study with Frank Lloyd Wright, the famous architect. During my first week in America, I visited an uncle who had emigrated to this country in the s.

During a conversation he mentioned Hindu philosophy. When I told him that I had been interested in this subject years earlier, his face lit up and he took me to his private study and showed me Autobiography of a Yogi. He is a true master! To think of it, all these years when I had been longing for a guru, my uncle had known a master and his teachings!

I hungrily read the book. That was the first miracle. Frank Lloyd Wright too had written an autobiography, but I had tried in vain to read the first couple of pages. It took me a whole additional year of learning English before I was able to read that book. Yet I had been able to read Autobiography of a Yogi from cover to cover. I knew in my heart that I had found what I wanted, and made up my mind to study the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda and find God.

It was some months later, after I had learned more English, that I was able to make a trip to Los Angeles, hoping to see the Master. The Autobiography is now available in a Kindle edition. It is also offered as a download from iTunes. Self-Realization Fellowship has translated the book into over fifty languages. Contents move to sidebar hide.

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Klaus mann s autobiography of a yogi

Adaptations and translations [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Library of Congress. Yogoda Satsanga Society of India. Archived from the original on 29 December Retrieved 29 December Self-Realization Fellowship. Archived from the original on 9 October Retrieved 30 August Archived from the original on 9 January Retrieved 9 January Retrieved 26 August Archived from the original on 22 February Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

ISBN Archived from the original on 27 January Retrieved 28 August — via Project Gutenberg. The Washington Post. American Veda. Yogananda tells of his childhood in Gorakhpur, India, with his Bengali family, and his quest to find a guru who could satiate his desire for wisdom. After becoming a monk, he began his teachings of Kriya Yoga.