His Work in America

Yogananda’s work in America was one of the main reasons for Kriya Yoga’s popularity in the world today. As a leader, people can place their faith in this yogi to show them the right path, as he has done for thousands across cultures.

Yogananda giving a lecture in Boston. Credits: Wikimedia Commons

Yogananda established a boys' school at Dihika, West Bengal, in 1917, that blended contemporary educational practices with yoga instruction and spiritual values. He started his life's legacy by establishing a 'how-to-live' school for boys, where contemporary education was coupled with yoga and spiritual values training. The school was shifted to Ranchi the year after. This institution evolved into the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, the Indian affiliate of Yogananda's American organization, Self-Realization Fellowship. He coined the word 'Yogoda' where 'Yoga' means union and 'da' means to give.

Yogananda had a mystic vision one day in 1920 while meditating at the Ranchi school which showed him that now was the time to begin his mission in the West. Soon after this experience, he was asked to represent India in the International Congress of Religious Liberals in Boston. His speech at the Congress on 'The Science of Religion' was well received. He talked and taught around the United States over the following many years. His lectures emphasized the sameness of the teachings of Christ and the original Yoga provided by Bhagavan Krishna. In 1925, he spoke to an audience of over 3000 people in Los Angeles on "Mastering the Subconscious through Superconsciousness." He made a reputation for himself as a revered spiritual world leader. Several celebrities became his followers here.

Mahavatar Babaji, the deathless sage and originator of Kriya Yoga, paid Yogananda a visit just before his departure. "I have chosen you to spread the teachings of Kriya Yoga in the West," Babaji said to Yogananda. "I met your teacher Sri Yukteswar many years ago at a Kumbha Mela, and I told him then that I would send you to him for instruction. Kriya Yoga, the scientific process of God-realization, will eventually spread around the world and help to bring countries together through man's own transcendental awareness of the Infinite Father.”

In America, his goal was to lay the common basis upon which religion is founded and to unearth the insight of Christianity as well as Sri Krishna's original teachings. To promote knowledge of specific scientific methodologies for achieving the direct personal experience of God and focused on doing so with self-effort across the masses. He formed the Self-Realization Fellowship and established the SRF's worldwide headquarters in Los Angeles, California, USA, in 1925.

He fell in love with Los Angeles because of its location; the views of the breathtaking mountains and the gorgeous Pacific Ocean and decided to live there. Yogananda acquired a twelve-acre hilltop site in downtown Los Angeles with donations from prominent devotees, which established the International Center for Self-Realisation Fellowship. He also acquired additional spectacular estates in various regions of Southern California. Among all of these sites, the Lake Shrine Temple, a 10-acre property in Pacific Palisades, is indisputably the crown treasure. The Temple's gorgeous location and tranquil atmosphere have made it a popular tourist attraction for visitors from all over the globe.

People from all over the globe may now be introduced to the ancient system of Kriya Yoga as a result of his pioneering work in the West, as well as the blending of worldwide media, his appeal, and faith in the profound sciences that can lead to an actualized existence. It was in America that he published his book, 'Autobiography of a Yogi,' which transformed the lives of many people over the globe and continues to do so to this day.

The new Yogananda stamp from 2017 with YSS school at Ranchi in the back. Source: Wikimedia Commons