Remembering Paramahansa Yogananda: Spreading the Science of Self-Realization Worldwide

Paramahansa Yogananda is honored as a world teacher whose mission was to bring the ancient science of Self-realization to people of all cultures and backgrounds. Born in India in 1893, Yogananda was sent to the West by his guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, to spread the universal teachings of yoga and meditation. His life’s work emphasized not renunciation of the world, but spiritual growth while living an active, balanced life—a principle central to Ananda’s way of life.

Yogananda’s teachings form the spiritual foundation of Ananda, a worldwide movement founded by his direct disciple Swami Kriyananda. Ananda seeks to live and share Yogananda’s ideals through communities, meditation centers, education, and service. At the heart of these teachings is Kriya Yoga, a powerful and precise meditation technique handed down through an unbroken line of realized masters. Yogananda described Kriya Yoga as a practical, scientific method for accelerating spiritual evolution by harmonizing breath, life force, and awareness along the spine.

Kriya Yoga is not merely a technique, but part of a complete path of Self-realization. Yogananda taught supporting practices such as right attitude, devotion, ethical living, and service to others, all of which help prepare the mind and heart for deep meditation. He emphasized joy as a natural state of the soul and taught that lasting happiness comes from inner awakening, not external circumstances.

Through his writings—especially Autobiography of a Yogi—and through the living work of Ananda, Paramahansa Yogananda’s teachings continue to guide sincere seekers toward inner freedom, self-realization, and a life centered in joy.

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