Place yourself in the presence of one of the leading spiritual figures of the 20th century. These collected talks and essays capture the unique blend of all-embracing wisdom, love for humanity, and thrillingly universal spirituality that drew thousands to hear Paramahansa Yogananda, the Father of Yoga in the West, (and author of the spiritual classic
Autobiography of a Yogi) in his pioneering mission to bring India s ancient spiritual science alive for countless seekers around the world. Many of the talks in this collection were transcribed from these historic lectures, in which the great master, with inimitable warmth and wit, showed how spirituality in its depths can be practically applied across the full range of our daily human needs and challenges.
For anyone who has wanted to believe that a divine universal plan exists and that it is beautiful and full of joy, this wonderfully solacing anthology addresses such wide-ranging topics as:
How to Overcome Karma
Developing Intuition to Know the Purpose of Your Existence
Real Love versus Selfish Love
Recognizing Friends from Former Lives
How to Express Everlasting Youthfulness
How to Quicken Your Spiritual Progress
Regaining Your Divine Nature
Hailed as "the father of Yoga in the West", Paramahansa Yogananda - author of the spiritual classic Autobiography of a Yogi - is regarded as one of the great spiritual figures of our time. Born in northern India on January 5, 1893, he devoted his life to helping people of all races and creeds to realize and express more fully in their lives the true beauty, nobility, and divinity of the human spirit. After graduating from Calcutta University in 1915, Yogananda took formal vows as a monk of India's venerable monastic Swami Order. Two years later, he began his life's work with the founding of a how-to-live school since grown to twenty-one educational institutions throughout India where traditional academic subjects were offered together with yoga training and instruction in spiritual ideals. In 1920, he was invited to serve as India's delegate to an International Congress of Religious Liberals in Boston. His address to the Congress and subsequent lectures on the East Coast were enthusiastically received, and in 1924 he embarked on a cross-continental speaking tour. Over the next three decades, Paramahansa Yogananda contributed in far-reaching ways to a greater awareness and appreciation in the West of the spiritual wisdom of the East. In Los Angeles, he established an international headquarters for Self-Realization Fellowship, the nonsectarian religious society he had founded in 1920. Through his writings, extensive lecture tours, and the creation of Self-Realization Fellowship temples and meditation centers, he introduced hundreds of thousands of truth-seekers to the ancient science and philosophy of Yoga and its universally applicable methods of meditation. Today, the spiritual and humanitarian work begun by Paramahansa Yogananda continues under the direction of Sri Mrinalini Mata, one of his closest disciples and president of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India since 2011. In addition to publishing his writings, lectures and informal talks (including a comprehensive series of Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons for home study), the society also oversees temples, retreats, and centers around the world.