Autobiography of a Yogi

Born in 1893, Paramhansa Yogananda was the first yoga master of India to take up permanent residence in the West.

He arrived in America in 1920 and traveled throughout the country on what he called his “spiritual campaigns.” Hundreds of thousands filled the largest halls in major cities to see the yoga master from India. Yogananda continued to lecture and write up to his passing in 1952.

Yogananda’s initial impact on Western culture was truly impressive. His lasting spiritual legacy has been even greater. His Autobiography of a Yogi, first published in 1946, helped launch a spiritual revolution in the West. Translated into more than fifty languages, it remains a best-selling spiritual classic to this day.

Before embarking on his mission, Yogananda received this admonition from his teacher, Swami Sri Yukteswar: “The West is high in material attainments but lacking in spiritual understanding. It is God’s will that you play a role in teaching mankind the value of balancing the material with an inner, spiritual life.”

In addition to Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda’s spiritual legacy includes music, poetry, and extensive commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita, the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and the Christian Bible, showing the principles of Self-realization as the unifying truth underlying all true religions. Through his teachings and his Kriya Yoga path millions of people around the world have found a new way to connect personally with God.

His mission, however, was far broader than all this. It was to help usher the whole world into Dwapara Yuga, the new Age of Energy in which we live. “Someday,” Swami Kriyananda wrote, “I believe he will be seen as the avatar of Dwapara Yuga: the way shower for a new age.”

A prolific author, accomplished composer, playwright, and artist, and a world-renowned spiritual teacher, Swami Kriyananda (1926–2013) referred to himself simply as a close disciple of the great God-realized master, Paramhansa Yogananda. He met his guru at the age of twenty-two, and served him during the last four years of the Master’s life. He dedicated the rest of his life to sharing Yogananda’s teachings throughout the world.

Kriyananda was born in Romania of American parents, and educated in Europe, England, and the United States. Philosophically and artistically inclined from youth, he soon came to question life’s meaning and society’s values. During a period of intense inward reflection, he discovered Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi, and immediately traveled three thousand miles from New York to California to meet the Master, who accepted him as a monastic disciple. Yogananda appointed him as the head of the monastery, authorized him to teach and give Kriya initiation in his name, and entrusted him with the missions of writing, teaching, and creating what he called “world brotherhood colonies.”

Kriyananda founded the first such community, Ananda Village, in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California in 1968. Ananda is recognized as one of the most successful intentional communities in the world today. It has served as a model for other such communities that he founded subsequently in the United States, Europe, and India.

Nayaswami Jyotish is a disciple of the great master Paramhansa Yogananda (author of Autobiography of a Yogi) and a student of Swami Kriyananda. His and Nayaswami Devi's, his wife and co-director, mission is to help others live the teachings of Self-realization through meditation, devotion, and service.

Their lifelong dedication to the spiritual path has led them to lecture, teach, counsel, and serve throughout the world, spreading the message of peace through meditation.

Nayaswmi Jyotish and Nayaswmi Devi are recipients of the Global Ambassador Peace Award. This honor was conferred at the United Nations in a special ceremony by the Institute of International Social Development in recognition of their contribution to fostering world peace.

Since 1984 they have been the Spiritual Directors of Ananda Worldwide, pioneering Ananda’s work in Italy and India and guiding the spiritual welfare of thousands of Yogananda’s devotees. They are the co-authors of Touch of Light, Touch of Joy, Touch of Love, Touch of Peace, and Touch of Divine Wisdom. To see their schedule of appearances, lectures, classes, and events online and in person, go to jyotishanddevi.org.

Nayaswami Jyotish was named by Swami Kriyananda as his spiritual successor after decades of helping him build Ananda’s work around the world. Jyotish began taking classes from Kriyananda in 1967. In 1969 they moved together to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California to found Ananda Village, a model spiritual community. Jyotish has also written several other books: Lessons in Meditation,How to Meditate,30-Day Essentials for Marriage, and 30-Day Essentials for Career.