Contact: Lauren Landress Karen Lanza Tel (323) 225-2471 Fax (323) 225-1528
Contact: Lauren Landress • Karen Lanza Tel: (323) 225-2471 • Fax (323) 225-1528
Reviews/Comments
Autobiography of a Yogi
(A Partial Listing)
U.S. Press:
“A rare account.” — The New York Times
“A fascinating and clearly annotated study.” — Newsweek
“In a very readable style…Yogananda presents a convincing case for yoga, and those who ‘came to scoff’ may remain ‘to pray.’ ” — San Francisco Chronicle
“Sheer revelation…should help the human race to understand itself better…autobiography at its best…breathtaking…told with delightful wit and compelling sincerity…as fascinating as any novel.” — News-Sentinel
“Among the thousands of books that are published each year, there are those that entertain, those that instruct, those that edify. A reader can consider himself fortunate if he finds one that does all three. Autobiography of a Yogi is rarer still – it is a book that opens windows of the mind and spirit.” — India Journal
“Whatever your own religious beliefs, you’ll find Autobiography of a Yogi a joyous affirmation of the power of the human soul.” — West Coast Review of Books
“…cannot but impress and interest the Western reader.” — Saturday Review
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Autobiography of a Yogi - Reviews/Comments - 1
“There has been nothing before, written in English or in any other European language, like this presentation of Yoga.” — Columbia University Press
“For those interested in learning about Eastern philosophy and meditation techniques…. Autobiography of a Yogi….is one of the most compelling books available today.”
— San Diego Tribune
“Rewarding…a life filled with spiritual adventure.” — United Press
“At last, a non-contradictory and intuitively satisfying picture of the universe, from worlds whirling in space to the slightest detail of human life.” — Runners World
“Engrossing, inspiring; a ‘literarity’!” — Grandy’s Syndicated Book Reviews
“Keeps the reader spellbound….A vicarious journey through the mystical path taken by Yogananda.” — Institute of Noetic Sciences
“One cannot help but honor and respect Yogananda as a truly great spiritual teacher.”
— New Age Retailer
“At once a history of India, an anatomy of the miraculous state, a physiological primer, a lesson in ecstatic chanting….You don’t read this book. You sink into it.” — The Book Reader
World Press:
“A truly astounding book.” — Naturheil-Praxis, Germany
“…a wisdom so deep that one feels spellbound, permanently moved.”
— Haagsche Post, Holland
“The reader of our present times will seldom find such a beautiful, deep, and truthful book as Autobiography of a Yogi…Full of knowledge and rich in personal experiences…One of the most dazzling chapters of the book is one that deals with the mysteries of life beyond physical death.”
— La Paz, Bolivia
“Pages that will enthrall the reader, because they appeal to the aspiration and longing that slumber in the heart of every man.” — Il Tempo del Lunedi, Rome
“It is a book by which a reader…will see his horizon of thoughts enlarged to the infinite, and will realize that his heart is capable of beating for all human beings, irrespective of color and race. It is a book that can be called inspired.” — Eleftheria, Greece
“A monumental work.” — Sheffield Telegraph, England
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Autobiography of a Yogi - Reviews/Comments - 1
“One of the deepest and most important messages of this century.”
— Neue Telta Zeitung, Austria
“Whether Yogananda talks about deathless saints and miraculous healings or whether he transmits Indian wisdom and yoga science, the reader is enthralled.”
— Die Weltwoche, Zurich, Switzerland
“The autobiography of this sage makes captivating reading.” — The Times of India
“These pages reveal, with incomparable strength and clarity, a fascinating life, a personality of such unheard-of greatness that from beginning to end, the reader is left breathless…We must credit this important biography with the power to bring about a spiritual revolution.”
—Schleswig-Holsteinische Tagespost, Germany
Reviews for Audiobook Edition(Read by Ben Kingsley):
“Yogananda’s masterly storytelling epitomizes the Indian oral tradition with its wit, charm, and compassionate wisdom…This extraordinary work will greatly enrich any library.” — Library Journal
“First published in 1946 and later expanded by the author, this is one of the more important texts in the world’s spiritual literature because it conveys the essence of spiritual life.” — The Santa Fe Sun
“An engrossing and rewarding version that permits listeners to open their hearts and spirit by resting
their eyes. A rich personal experience.” — The Book Reader
“Superbly narrated…Kingsley’s distinctive voice brings Yogananda’s extraordinary and colorful story
to life with wit, grace, and elegance.” — Napra ReView
“Americans keep searching for spiritual experiences…Paramahansa Yogananda shows a way that is compatible with all the world’s religions.” — Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, NC)
“Yogananda’s autobiography has long been regarded as a spiritual classic…British actor Ben Kingsley’s voice embellishes this audio edition…[and] is excellent in enlivening the yogi’s account.” — Midwest Book Review
“[Kingsley’s] compelling reading takes the listener on an extraordinary journey into a life of unmistakable greatness.” — The Billings Gazette
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Autobiography of a Yogi - Reviews/Comments - 1
“Most highly recommended.” — Leading Edge Review
“Academy Award winner Kingsley is the perfect selection to read the esoteric and spiritual material covered in the book…A lot of food for thought.” — Herald Bulletin (Anderson, IN)
“Readers familiar with the yogi’s eloquence and wit will delight in Kingsley’s sensitive and subtle dramatization of Yogananda’s life story…There exist few parallels for the Autobiography’s sheer authenticity, guaranteed to penetrate you regardless of your religious beliefs.” — Branches
Comments:
“I am grateful to you for granting me some insight into this fascinating world.”
Thomas Mann, Nobel laureate
“Few books…have had greater impact on popular theology than Paramahansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi (Self-Realization Fellowship) that was first published here in 1946 and has maintained steady sales ever since.”
Phyllis A. Tickle,
Author, God-Talk in America
“In [Yogananda’s] celebrated Autobiography of a Yogi, he offers a stunning account of the ‘cosmic consciousness’ reached on the upper levels of yogic practice, and numerous interesting perspectives on human nature from the yogic and Vedantic points of view.”
Robert S. Ellwood, Ph.D.,
Chairman, School of Religion, University of Southern California
“Autobiography of a Yogi is justifiably celebrated as one of the most entertaining and enlightening spiritual books ever written.”
Tom Butler-Bowden,
Author, 50 Spiritual Classics: Timeless Wisdom from 50 Great Books of Inner Discovery, Enlightenment & Purpose
“One of the most charmingly simple and self-revealing of life-stories…a veritable treasure-house of learning. The great personalities one meets in these pages…return to memory as friends endowed with rich spiritual wisdom, and one of the greatest of these is the God-intoxicated author himself.
Dr. Anna von Helmholtz-Phelan,
Professor of English, University of Minnesota
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Autobiography of a Yogi - Reviews/Comments - 1
“You would be hard-pressed to find anyone on the spiritual path whose life has not been influenced by this profound work of literature….It started me in a path of yoga, meditation and self-exploration that has continued until this day.”
Jack Canfield,
Co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series
“Autobiography of a Yogi is regarded as an Upanishad of the new age…it has satisfied the spiritual thirst of hundreds of thousands of truth-seekers throughout the world. We in India have watched with wonder and fascination the phenomenal spread of the popularity of this book about India’s saints and philosophy. We have felt great satisfaction and pride that the immortal nectar of India’s Sanatana Dharma, the eternal laws of truth, has been stored in the golden chalice of Autobiography of a Yogi.”
Dr. Ashutosh Das,
M.A., Ph.D., D.Litt., Professor, Calcutta University
“There are many books in Western tongues that expound Indian philosophy and particularly Yoga, but none other reveals to us with such candor the experiences of one who embodies and lives these principles.”
Dr. Kurt F. Leidecker,
Professor of Philosophy, University of Virginia
“As an eyewitness recountal of the extraordinary lives and powers of modern Hindu saints, the book has an importance both timely and timeless…His unusual life document is certainly one of the most revealing…of the spiritual wealth of India ever to be published in the West.”
W. Y. Evans-Wentz,
M.A., D.Litt., D.Sc., Jesus College, Oxford
“I met Paramahansa Yogananda on two occasions in the 1930s as a boy…Twenty years later someone gave me Autobiography of a Yogi…the moment I started reading that book, it did something to me that I can’t describe. I have read many books on yoga, by yogis; but I was never impressed as with this book. It has some magic in it.”
Ravi Shankar, Indian classical musician
“The book I most wish I’d written is the Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, because then I would have had all of the fabulous experiences he described growing up in India in the early part of the century. Who would not want to have known genuine gurus and living saints?”*
Andrew Weil, M.D.
Health expert and author (Eight Weeks to Optimum Health)
*as told to The New York Times