Autobiography of a Yogi is Paramahansa Yogananda’s spiritual memoir, tracing his journey from a spiritually ardent childhood in India to his role as a yoga master in the West. The narrative follows his intense search for God, his discovery of and training under his guru Sri Yukteswar, and his encounters with saints and sages such as Lahiri Mahasaya and Mahavatar Babaji. Through these life episodes, the book portrays a living spiritual lineage and presents diverse expressions of God-consciousness. Yogananda’s mission to the West, culminating in the founding of Self-Realization Fellowship (also known in India as Yogoda Satsanga Society), is presented as an extension of this lineage into a global context.

At the heart of the work stands Kriya Yoga, described as an ancient, scientific method of meditation for accelerating spiritual evolution and attaining God-realization. Yogananda depicts Kriya Yoga as a practical discipline that works directly with life energy and consciousness, offering a systematic path to the direct experience of the divine. The memoir thus functions not merely as a life story, but as an introduction to the “science of yoga,” especially Kriya Yoga, framed as a universal path rather than a sectarian doctrine.

The book is also rich in accounts of spiritual experiences and miracles, including visions, healings, materializations, and demonstrations of extraordinary spiritual powers. These episodes are presented not as spectacles, but as indications of higher laws of consciousness and of what disciplined spiritual practice can awaken in human beings. By describing such events in a matter-of-fact yet reverent tone, the narrative invites the reader to contemplate the deeper capacities of the soul and the subtle dimensions of reality that ordinarily remain hidden.

Throughout, Yogananda seeks to bridge Eastern and Western spiritual thought, drawing connections between yoga philosophy and the mystical core of various religious traditions. The memoir emphasizes the underlying unity of all religions and portrays yoga and meditation as universal tools for realizing that unity. By presenting Indian spiritual wisdom in a form accessible to Western readers, the book offers both a personal pilgrimage and a broader vision: that direct experience of the divine is the ultimate goal of human life, available to all who earnestly seek it through sincere practice.