Autobiography of a Yogi
Had heard a lot about this book since long and finally got the chance to read this. It is the autobiography of Paramhansa Yogananda, who was a proponent of Kriya Yoga and disciple of Swami Yukteshwar. He was the first Yogi/Guru to visit the US after Swami Vivekananda and stayed there for more than 30 years establishing Self Realization Fellowship Centre and Society, which developed a considerable following there.
This book can be considered as a very rare and unique account wherein the author has described his entire journey of becoming a yogi in detail which includes numerous encounters with the divine he had, how he found his guru and how a divine force was driving him towards Him.
Right from childhood till date, we keep hearing about various saints & godmen and about the kind of miracles they can perform or about how they or their followers had the divine realization but rarely do you find any guru giving a first-person account of that. But this book does precisely that. In fact, it is full of details of the divine and magical experiences which Paramhansa Yogananda, his gurus and other saints of his era had. Through this book, he has introduced his pioneer guru, who initiated the philosophy of Kriya Yoga, first time to the world. Many of the stories or anecdotes narrated are hard to believe in the present day but that's what philosophy and divine bliss and knowledge are. He has tried to give scientific clarity to the miracles which he saw some Yogis perform. It is a very detailed and deliberate account written beautifully in a way that you remain engrossed throughout.
It is a different book with a different take. I would recommend you to read irrespective of your belief in what he experienced and writes, or not. Happy Reading!