About the author
Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) was an Indian yogi and spiritual teacher who moved to the United States in 1920 and founded the Self-Realization Fellowship to teach Kriya Yoga meditation to Western audiences. His best-known work, Autobiography of a Yogi, first published in 1946 and still in print in multiple editions including a deluxe 75th-anniversary edition, recounts his upbringing, his search for a guru, and his years teaching in America, and remains one of the most widely read introductions to yoga philosophy in the West. Where There Is Light collects his reflections on meeting life's difficulties, while The Second Coming of Christ offers his verse-by-verse interpretation of the Christian Gospels through the lens of his teachings, and The Essence of Kriya Yoga sets out the meditation practice central to his lineage. Yogananda is widely credited with helping introduce yoga and meditation to a general Western readership in the twentieth century.
📖 Where to start with Paramahansa Yogananda
💬 What our editors say about Paramahansa Yogananda's books
“Yogananda presents a compelling case for spirituality as an empirical discipline, stripping away mysticism to reveal underlying universal laws. However, readers seeking traditional theological debate or historical religious…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on The Science of Religion (Revised)
“Yogananda’s commentary is undeniably profound, offering a unique allegorical lens that transforms the Gita from a historical epic into a manual for inner transformation. However, readers seeking strict academic philology or…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita
“While Yogananda’s approach is undeniably soothing and structurally sound for those aligned with his philosophical worldview, it may not resonate with readers preferring rigorous scientific validation or skeptical inquiry. Those…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Scientific Healing Affirmations
📋 Editions by Paramahansa Yogananda in the catalog
| Edition | Year | Publisher | Pages | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Science of Religion (Revised) | 1982 | Self-Realization Fellowshi | 101 | 9780876120057 |
| God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita | 1996 | Self-Realization Fellowshi | 2 | 9780876120309 |
| Scientific Healing Affirmations | 1987 | Self-Realization Fellowshi | 100 | 9780876121443 |
| The Second Coming of Christ, Volumes I & II: The Resurrection of | 2008 | Self-Realization Fellowshi | 1642 | 9780876125571 |
| Where There Is Light: Insight and Inspiration for Meeting Life's | 2016 | Self-Realization Fellowshi | — | 9780876127209 |
| Autobiography of a Yogi | 2021 | Self-Realization Fellowshi | — | 9780876129388 |
| The Essence of Kriya Yoga | 2006 | Alight Publication | 340 | 9781931833189 |
| Autobiography of a Yogi: Reprint of the original (1946) Edition | 2019 | Ancient Wisdom Publication | 268 | 9781950330089 |
| Autobiography of a Yogi | 2014 | Fingerprint | 512 | 9788172345365 |
