Yogananda life

Youthand running of a school for boys in a remote hamlet
Yogananda was born Mukunda Lal Ghosh inof Bengal, called Dihika, by the side of river Damodar,
Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India into a devout Bengalithat combined modern educational techniques with
family.[1] According to his elder brother, Sananda,yoga training and spiritual ideals. A year later, the
from his earliest years young Mukunda's awarenessschool relocated to Ranchi. This school would later
and experience of the spiritual was far beyond thebecome Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, the
ordinary. In his youth he sought out many of India'sIndian branch of Yogananda's American organization.
Hindu sages and saints, hoping to find an illuminatedMove to America
teacher to guide him in his spiritual quest.In 1920, he went to the United States as India's
In Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, he relatesdelegate to an International Congress of Religious
numerous stories of saints, scientists, and miracleLiberals convening in Boston. That same year he
workers that he visited as a youth, including thefounded Self-Realization Fellowship to disseminate
renowned scientist Jagdish Chandra Bose, his personalworldwide his teachings on India's ancient practices
tutor Mahendranath Gupta (biographer ofand philosophy of Yoga and its tradition of
Ramakrishna), the Nobel winning Bengali poetmeditation. For the next several years, he lectured
Rabindranath Tagore, the 'Tiger Swami', the 'Perfumeand taught on the East coast and in 1924 embarked
Saint', the 'Saint with Two Bodies', the 'Levitatingon a cross-continental speaking tour. Thousands came
Saint', and others.to his lectures. [2] The following year, he established
Yogananda's seeking after various saints mostlyin Los Angeles an international headquarters for
ended when he met his guru, Swami Sri YukteswarSelf-Realization Fellowship, which became the spiritual
Giri, in 1910, at the age of 17. He describes his firstand administrative heart of his growing work.
meeting with Sri Yukteswar as a rekindling of aYogananda was the first Hindu teacher of yoga to
relationship that had lasted for many lifetimes:make his permanent home in America, living there
We entered a oneness of silence; words seemed thefrom 1920-1952.
rankest superfluities. Eloquence flowed in soundlessVisit to India, 1935-6
chant from heart of master to disciple. With anIn 1935, he returned to India to visit Sri Yukteswar
antenna of irrefragable insight I sensed that my guruand to help establish his Yogoda Satsanga work in
knew God, and would lead me to Him. TheIndia. During this visit, as told in his autobiography, he
obscuration of this life disappeared in a fragile dawnmet with Mahatma Gandhi, the Bengali saint Sri
of prenatal memories. Dramatic time! Past, present,Anandamoyi Ma, Nobel winning physicist
and future are its cycling scenes. This was not theChandrasekhara Venkata Raman, and several disciples
first sun to find me at these holy feet!of Sri Yukteswar's Guru Lahiri Mahasaya.[2] While in
After passing his Intermediate Examination in ArtsIndia, Sri Yukteswar conferred upon him the title
from the Scottish Church College, Calcutta, he did hisParamahansa, which means "supreme swan."[2] In
graduation in religious studies from the Serampore1936, while visiting Calcutta, Yogananda lost his Guru,
College, a constituent college of the University ofSri Yukteswar, who died in the town of Puri.
Calcutta. This allowed him to spend time at SriBack in America
Yukteswar's ashram in Serampore. In 1915, he tookAfter returning to America, he continued to lecture,
formal vows into the monastic Swami Order andwrite, and establish churches in Southern California.
became 'Swami Yogananda Giri'.[2] In 1917,On March 7, 1952, he died while giving a lecture at
Yogananda began his life's mission with the foundingthe Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.