The Life of Yogananda: The Story of the Yogi Who Became the First Modern Guru Hardcover – April 24, 2018

Have just finished reading the exceptionally interesting “The Life of Yogananda: The Story of the Yogi Who Became the First Modern Guru” by Phil Goldberg.To finally discover the details of a major part of his life were like finding the missing parts of the jigsaw after 44 years of curiosity. The details of a major part of his epochal life and how he so patiently persevered with it was deeply inspiring. What struck me also was the need to convey the value of reading this book to other students of Yogananda or Yoga. So many sincere students of his have dismissed an interest in reading this book on account of the fact that it has not been written by a reputed sanyasin who wears an ochre robe. Phil Goldberg has greatly respected experience and credentials as an author and is an honest biographer. He was greatly helped with access to the historical files by the board of directors of Self Realization Fellowship. This world is full of constraints and limitations and even though such an amazing subject is disappointingly short at less than 300 pages. I deeply hope one day Phil or some other great author can go into even more biographical detail with another riveting 1000 page tome.The great avatar wrote very little about the larger portion of his life while being resident of America. After reading the book you realize that his great humility did not want to focus on the dark forces he had to contend with on an almost daily basis. To advertise negativity can in itself give it a life-force and as a great soul he promoted all the good qualities he witnessed in the west while turning a blind eye to the aggressive racial discrimination, yellow journalism, Christian zealotry, jealous husbands, irate fathers, over anxious mothers and ongoing delusional actions of enormous disloyalty from those he was so tirelessly trying to help. The sheer and almost at times universal misunderstanding of his divine nature found endless repetitive ways to express itself while at the same time consistantly allowing Yogananda to exude the sweet forgiving understanding of a great saint. I was just chatting yesterday with a close friend who told me how once he was locked up in a jail in Florida, in the early 70’s for no other reason than for having long hair. I told him of the extreme angst and discrimination I received 46 years ago when I turned vegetarian. The point being that the generation of today has so little concept of how social evolutionary values have advanced in some areas and sadly deeply digressed in others. In the 1940’s it was illegal for an Asian to marry a white girl in California just to cite one example. And California was regarded as being way too tolerant by the other states!!Personally because I have read most info on Yogananda from the different books put out by SRF. I found the first 100 pages at best to be passed over, as it is just a repeat of Mejda or other books written by persons who had a more personal relationship to the events. But when Mr. Goldberg launched into Yogananda landing in Boston the book took on a whole new light of revealing and inspiring information. Life is so full of struggles and hard work and to see how a great saint deals with them and to walk in their shoes, as the pages turn, was a great darshan and series of lessons. I urge anyone to not dismiss this exceptional biography of truly Shakespearian drama, which has for so many years sat quietly in silent history but has finally been made available.

As a devotee of PY, I think this is an essential book for fellow devotees to read. My reason for saying this is twofold: The book masterfully reinforces what we already know of Master as an extraordinary spiritual figure and guru; and it fairly lays to rest, at least for me, a lot of the negative rumors, inuendos and gossip that creep up from time to time about PY and SRF via online banter and through casual conversation with other spiritual seekers. The author who, by the way, has no membership or affiliation with SRF other than being a fan of AOY and an admirer of Yogananda's huge contribution to the dissemina of "yoga" in the West, does a remarkable job of "laying it all out there" while remaining neutral.

Philip Goldberg has done Yogananda’s global mission, and our family of devotees a wonderful service. the Life Of Yogananda is meticulously written, and strikes a fine balance between objectivity and reverence for Master Yogananda and his teachings.Early on there are stories we all know from Autobiography of a Yogi, and Mejda (written by Yogananda’s younger brother Sananda). But there are also many interesting context pieces around the eras and regions where young Mukunda lived, which provides a fascinating backdrop for his rise.Admittedly I’m not completely through the book but I already can’t put it down. I’m thinking of it as beautifully produced “extras” on the “DVD” of AoY.Loved that he included commentary from Vedic scholars and astrologers on Yogananda’s birth chart. It’s rare such an avatar of God leaves behind such a treasure trove of teachings and writings. It’s rarer still that a biographer takes on such a monumental task of documenting the humanity of such a being.Highly recommended to devotees and skeptics alike. At face value, it’s packed with inspiring stories of conquering seemingly insurmountable odds, through unwavering faith and attunement with God.But look deeper, and you’ll get to know a truly extraordinary soul, and maybe expand the possibilities for your own life.

Well, I put four stars because the pictures on the cover are lovely.Master's loving gaze blessing us, and guiding us when our own eyes of wisdom are shut.I wish the author had written this as a simple list of verified facts and quotes, rather than trying to impress his own, narrow and oft misguided impressions and thoughts on the reader.Constantly trying to guess the thoughts of a manifested master, an Avatar for the coming age. When one's mind is busy with commonplace thoughts of the world, quite a task !A lot of these anecdotes are taken from other books and from the talks Guruji gave.

I couldn't stop reading it. A very objective and balanced perspective on the life of this great yogi-saint. Highly recommended.

This book the product of cut and paste from other books on Master. I was truly disappointed as it added nothing new to what we already knew from his Autobiography, articles, and the extensively quoted ‘Mejda’. Don’t waste your money!

A very well written book. Well researched and deeply respectful of the subject. A must read for all those who wanted more from the Autobiography of a Yogi.

Very interesting to look into the life of Yogananda whose teachings have impacted the life of so many, including my own. This book allows us to see how someone so close to divine understanding delt with the troubles, trials and hardships of a very human life. Very enlightening and inspirational!