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Autobiography of a Yogi

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Brief overview

A vision, his guru's blessing and Babaji's command send Yogananda to America with Kriya Yoga.

  1. The vision came before the invitationHe announced he was going to America while meditating in the Ranchi storeroom, and the Boston delegate invitation arrived only the following day.
  2. Money given disciple to disciple, not father to sonHaving said "No, never," his father handed over a large cheque the next day explicitly as a faithful disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya.
  3. Babaji's blessing kept privately for yearsYogananda says he had never recounted the meeting to anyone, holding it as the most sacred of his human experiences, and tells it only so readers will believe Babaji is real.
Executive Summary AI
  • Meditating behind dusty boxes in the storeroom of the Ranchi School, Yogananda sees a panoramic vision of western faces and concludes the Lord is calling him to America, news his pupil Bimal spreads through the whole school.
  • The day after he entrains for Calcutta he is invited to serve as India's delegate to an international congress of religious liberals convening that year in Boston under the American Unitarian Association, and Sri Yukteswar answers his doubts about never having lectured in English with "All doors are open for you" and "It is now, or never."
  • His father, who had refused help outright the day before, hands him a cheque for a large amount given not as a father but as a faithful disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya, and at sixty-seven says they may not meet again in this life.
  • After praying from early morning until noon for divine permission, Yogananda opens his door on the Gourpas Road room to Babaji, who says his prayer has been heard, names him the one chosen to spread Kriya Yoga in the West, and foretells that the technique will spread in all lands and help harmonize the nations.
  • He leaves India in August 1920 on the City of Sparta, is struck speechless for ten minutes before the steamer's audience until his guru's voice comes and he speaks for forty-five minutes, addresses the Boston Congress on 6 October, spends four years in Boston, and by the end of 1925 has an American headquarters on the Mount Washington estates of Los Angeles that he had seen years earlier in a visi
Key Quote
“I have news for you. The Lord is calling me to America.”
— Yogananda
Key Quote
“All doors are open for you”
— Sri Yukteswar
Key Quote
“English or no English, your words on yoga shall be heard in the West.”
— Sri Yukteswar

Transcript

0:00 CHAPTER XXXVII. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI.
0:06 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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0:18 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI by Parahamsa Yogananda
0:23 I go to america america surely these people are americans this was my thought as a panoramic vision of western faces passed before my inward view Immersed in meditation, I was sitting behind some dusty boxes in the storeroom of the Ranchi School.
0:48 A private spot was difficult to find during those busy years with the youngsters.
0:53 The vision continued.
0:55 A vast multitude, gazing at me intently, swept, actor-like, across the stage of consciousness.
1:04 The storeroom door opened. As usual,
1:07 one of the young lads had discovered my hiding-place.
1:11 Come here, Bimal, I cried gaily. I have news for you. The Lord is calling me to America.
1:20 To America, the boy echoed my words in a tone that implied I had said to the moon, yes,
1:28 I am going forth to discover America, like Columbus. He thought he had found India,
1:36 surely there is a karmic link between those two lands. Bimal scampered away. Soon the whole school was informed by the two-legged newspaper.
1:48 I summoned the bewildered faculty, and gave the school into its charge. I know you will keep
1:55 Lahiri Mahasaya's yoga ideals of education ever to the fore, I said. I shall write to you frequently god willing some day i shall be back tears stood in my eyes as i cast a last look at the little boys and the sunny acres of ranchi I knew, henceforth, I would dwell in far lands. I entrained for Calcutta a few hours after my
2:29 vision. The following day I received an invitation to serve as the delegate from India to an
2:36 international congress of religious liberals in America. It was to convene that year in Boston, under the auspices of the American Unitarian Association.
2:50 My head in a whirl, I sought out Sri Yukteswar in Serampore.
2:57 Guruji, I have just been invited to address a religious congress in America.
3:03 Shall I go?
3:05 All doors are open for you,' Master replied simply.
3:09 "'It is now, or never.'
3:11 "'But, sir,' I said in dismay,
3:14 "'what do I know about public speaking? Seldom have I given a lecture, and never in English.'
3:22 "'English or no English, your words on yoga shall be heard in the West.
3:30 I laughed. Well, dear Guruji, I hardly think the Americans will learn Bengali.
3:38 Please bless me with a push over the hurdles of the English language. When I broke the hurdles of the english language when i broke the news of my plans to father life he doubtless hoped that his question would bring my project to an embarrassing halt I thought of the similar one I had given long ago to my brother Ananta in Agra.
4:28 Without ever much guile, I added,
4:30 Father, perhaps God will put it into your mind to help me.
4:35 No, never, he glanced at me piteously.
4:40 I was astounded.
4:42 Therefore, when Father handed me the following day a cheque made out for a large
4:47 amount. I give you this money, he said, not in my capacity as a father, but as a faithful disciple
4:56 of Lahiri Mahasaya. Go then to that far western land, spread there the creedless teachings of Kriya Yoga. I was immensely touched
5:08 at the selfless spirit in which father had been able to quickly put aside his personal desires.
5:16 The just realization had come to him during the preceding night that no ordinary desire for
5:23 foreign travel was motivating my voyage. Perhaps we shall not
5:28 meet again in this life. Father, who was sixty-seven at this time, spoke sadly. An intuitive conviction
5:36 prompted me to reply, Surely the Lord will bring us together once more. As I went about my preparations to leave Master, and my native land for the

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