Autobiography of a Yogi

 

 

Autobiography of a Yogi is one of the world's most acclaimed spiritual classics.

As the life story of Paramahansa Yogananda — who is often referred to as the Father of Yoga in the West — the book has touched the hearts and minds of millions around the globe. Translated into many languages, it has served as an ambassador for India's ancient science of Yoga, introducing countless readers to the methods for attaining God-realization that are India's unique and lasting contribution to world civilization.

In 1999, a Harper Collins panel of distinguished authors and scholars selected Autobiography of a Yogi as one of the "100 Best Spiritual Books of the Century."

Alive with all the love, warmth, joy, and wisdom that characterize Paramahansa Yogananda, this masterwork of religious literature includes chapters about: 

the science of Kriya Yoga meditation; the law of miracles; the lives and missions of Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Swami Sri Yukteswar; Yogananda's meetings with Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Ramana Maharshi, Luther Burbank, Therese Neumann, and other spiritual luminaries of East and West.

Initially published in 1946 to widespread critical acclaim, Autobiography of a Yogi quickly gained recognition as a literary masterpiece as well as a seminal work in the field of Eastern philosophy.

Before his passing in 1952, Paramahansaji revised the book — adding extensive material, including the lengthy last chapter. Since then, Self-Realization Fellowship has kept the book in print continuously. A perennial bestseller, it is one of the most widely read and respected books ever published on the wisdom of the East, and is used as a text and reference work in colleges and universities throughout the world.

"There has been nothing before,
written in English or in any other European language,
 like this presentation of Yoga."

 

— Columbia University Press

---

Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master

One of the most read and discussed books of modern times:

 

 

 

Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master:
A Yogi's Autobiography by Sri. M

The author Sri 'M' is an extraordinary individual. His uniqueness lies not only in the fact that at the young age of 19 and a half, he travelled to snow clad Himalayas from Kerala, and there he met and lived for several years with a 'real-time' yogi, Babaji, but also that he should undertake such an unusual and adventurous exploration, given his non-Hindu birth and antecedents.

The metamorphosis of Mumtaz Ali Khan into Sri 'M', a yogi with profound knowledge of the Upanishads and deep personal insights, born of first hand experiences with higher levels of consciousness is indeed a fascinating story.

The bonus for those interested in the secrets of yoga, meditation and sankhyan metaphysics is that Sri 'M' is still living and easily reachable. He leads a normal life, married with two children, wears no special robes and conducts himself without pomp or paraphernalia.

Someone who met him recently said, "I expected a flashy godman and instead I saw a jean clad gentleman with a smile of his face, ready to discuss my problems. In five minutes flat, I said to myself, this is no ordinary man. The peace and tranquility that enters your system is tangible".

For more information about Sri M, please visit
www.satsang-foundation.org

---

Breaking Patterns.

It is required that we frequently break away from our methods so that we don't fall into patterns. It often becomes necessary because we cannot wait for someone or something to complement us. We have to do both parts and then there is peace. One should be quite hasty and at the same time consciously slow-paced. Then the stress graph will show a flat line.

---

Good deeds return.

There was a Nebraska farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he
entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon...

One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something
interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer
shared his seed corn with his neighbours.

"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when
they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter
asked.

"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from
the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow
inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my
corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."

He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve
unless his neighbors corn also improves.

So it is in other dimensions. Those who choose to be at peace must help
their neighbors to be at peace. Those who choose to live well must help
others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it
touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find
happiness for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must
help our neighbors grow good corn.**

Woodcutter and the mine of dreams.

Woodcutter and the mine of dreams

Once there was a woodcutter who used to cut wood from forest and sell it in the market to earn his living. Every day he used to come across a sage meditating in the forest. He used to feel some kind of attraction towards that sage but sage never used to talk to any one.

One day he decided to take blessings from the Sage. So he went to the sage for his blessings. Sage just said "go deep into the forest" and closed his eyes in meditation. That day Woodcutter went deep inside the forest and to his surprise he found big sandal wood trees. That day he made lot of money enough for one week. Now he used to cut sandalwood only in a week.

After some days he felt I should go more deep inside the forest and to his surprise he found the silver mine just ahead of the place where he had stopped last time. Now he was very happy almost on the 7th heaven. He came back and thanked the Sage but sage repeated his words "go deep into the forest" and he went still further inside the forest.

To his surprise he found Gold mine there. For a while he thought it's a dream. Then he thought why not go still further.

So the Woodcutter went very deep inside the forest. Path was not easy and there was danger of wild animals also. But some voice was constantly asking him keep on moving inside the forest. At times he was scared also and wanted to turn back and enjoy the luxurious life by selling Gold.

Any other day he would have stopped and turn back but today some inner voice was pushing him towards the forest. At last he came across a diamond mines. He was literally shocked. It was too much. He sat under the tree and remembers his past. Few weeks ago he was a poor Woodcutter earning every day just enough to feed his family and today he is the richest person in the whole country.

Long time he sat under a tree and then he realized its all because of the blessings of that sage. And there must be some thing better than this Diamond mines that's why sage is not after these diamonds.

He came back and fell at the feet's of the sage and asked for his blessings again.
Sage took him up by arms and said "all the while I was waiting for you only. Now go deep inside your heart. You will come across many beautiful experiences; many spiritual powers will come to you. But don't stop there. Just keep on moving inside until you found yourself."

---

Gift and Present.

Gift is something which we receive from someone greater than you, by age or position. By that token, we cannot make a "gift" to someone greater than us. We can only give a "present". That is why we refer to people as "gifted" (by God perhaps) and not "presented", when we see some talent in them. Presenting is an act of humility and love. "Present" has both the meanings of "giving" and "being there." When we "present" or "are present", it means that we love and respect the person to whom we present or before whom we are present.

---

A Story.

Mind of a Sage

One Zen monk, Bokuju, was passing through a street in a village. Somebody came and struck him with a stick. He fell down, and with him, the stick also. He got up and picked up the stick. The man who had hit him was running away. Bokuju ran after him, calling, "Wait, take your stick with you!"

He followed after him and gave him the stick. A crowd had gathered to see what was happening, and somebody asked Bokuju, "That man struck you hard, and you have not said anything!"

Bokuju is reported to have said, "A fact is a fact. He has hit, that's all. It happened that he was the hitter and I was the hit. It is just as if I am passing under a tree, or sitting under a tree, and a branch falls down. What will I do? What can I do?"

But the crowd said, "But a branch is a branch, this is a man. We cannot say anything to the branch, we cannot punish it. We cannot say to the tree that it is bad, because a tree is a tree, it has no mind."

Bokuju said, "This man to me is also just a branch. And if I cannot say anything to the tree, why should I bother to say anything to this man? It happened. I am not going to interpret what has happened. And it has already happened. Why get worried about it? It is finished, over."

This is the mind of a sage – not choosing, not asking, not saying this should be and this should not be. Whatsoever happens, he accepts it in its totality. This acceptance gives him freedom, this acceptance gives him the capacity to see. These are eye diseases: shoulds, should nots, divisions, judgments, condemnations, appreciations. 

 

Source: from book "Vedanta: Seven Steps to Samadhi" by Osho

---