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Autobiography of a Yogi: Summary in 5 Key Points

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda — book cover
Edition and cover reference
Written by brefly editorial teamUpdated October 12, 2026

AI-assisted book brief. Verify important claims against the original book; this page does not claim personal reading or independent expert review.

✍️ Paramahansa Yogananda📅 1946📚 Memoir📖 2 min brief
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda book cover
Book cover source. Rights belong to the author and publisher.

Scope: Nonfiction overview; claims are attributed to the author and are not universal or clinical guarantees.

The brief
Yogananda tells his life through the lens of spiritual seeking, describing childhood, training, and the search for a guru.
The memoir introduces readers to Indian spiritual teachers and the author's account of their teachings.
Yogananda's stories include extraordinary experiences presented from his own religious perspective and devotional understanding.
Those accounts should be understood as memoir and spiritual testimony, not independently established scientific evidence.
The book helped introduce many English-language readers to the author's presentation of yoga and Indian spirituality.

Key ideas worth keeping

notice the forces shaping the characters’ choices
separate the story’s premise from its larger questions
carry one question into the next chapter

Questions about this book

When was it first published?

Paramahansa Yogananda's memoir first appeared in 1946.

Is it a novel?

No; it is a spiritual autobiography and memoir.

Are its extraordinary events scientifically verified?

They are the author's reported experiences and beliefs, not established scientific findings.

Sources and scope

Original editorial orientation based on the cited work overview and reference edition. Theme takeaways are interpretation; this is not a chapter-by-chapter synopsis. Page counts vary by edition and are omitted.

Sources checked October 12, 2026.

Who should read the full book

Readers interested in spiritual memoir and yoga history who can distinguish testimony from scientific proof.

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