A Review of The Life of Yogananda by Yogacharya David Goldberg, Philip, The Life of Yogananda: The Story of the Yogi Who Became the First Modern Guru. Hay House, Inc. There is a new biography about Paramhansa Yogananda—the first serious biography that I know of for the great master. While Phillip Goldberg is not a disciple or student of Yogananda’s, he has been his great admirer ever since he first read Autobiography of a Yogi in 1970. Phillip is a teacher of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s “Transcendental Meditation.” He is an author of several spiritually oriented books, and the research he did for one, American Veda, made it clear to him that Master was “a teacher for the ages.” After writing about Master in American Veda, he had the seed-thought for writing his full biography. He traces Master’s life in India from birth and boyhood to being Sri Yukteswar’s disciple, and eventually creating and leading the school at Ranchi. The story he tells of Yogananda details the outward facts of Master’s early life, with supporting quotes from the Autobiography. Mr. Goldberg also draws upon firsthand accounts from Mejda, by Master’s brother Sananda Lal Gosh, and from the writings of his dear boyhood friend and brother disciple, Swami Satyananda. Since Autobiography includes precious little about Master’s life in America, the author sets out from the beginning to fill in those missing years. He uses first-person accounts from Treasures Against Time (a book about Dr. and Mrs. Lewis and their guru), Gyanamata’s, God Alone, Durga’s, Trilogy of Love, and Kamala’s, The Flawless Mirror. The author also researched newspaper accounts of Master’s continual travels throughout the twenties and thirties and interviewed knowledgeable sources. Newspaper articles and public records helped fill out the picture of those busy years, going into some detail about the trials Master endured, including lawsuits and an attack by what was called “yellow journalism”— salacious stories geared to sell newspapers without the necessity of facts or perspective. Mr. Goldberg also gives historical context to the times, particularly the impact of the Great Depression on the country and how it affected Master’s work. The biography makes reference to the Reverend Yogacharya Mother Hamilton; some of his descriptions are factual, others completely inaccurate. Here is a relevant quote: Some of the new devotees would make significant contributions to his mission. He met two on his return to Seattle in July. One was Edith Bissett, who was mentioned in the last chapter. Fifty- six at the time, she would move to Mt. Washington in 1932, after her husband’s death, and take renunciate vows as Sister Gyanamata. The other was Mildred Hamilton. Not yet 21, Mildred quickly accepted Yogananda as her guru. She later married, had children, and ran the Self-Realization Fellowship’s (SRF’s) Seattle center for decades. It is said that she was the only woman to whom Yogananda gave the title Yogacharya, which means simply “teacher of Yoga” but is customarily reserved for teachers of distinction. After Yogananda’s passing, she went to India and, acting on a statement by her guru that she often quoted—“I don’t want people to have Yogananda realization, I want them to have Self-Realization”—she met her second guru, Swami Ramdas. Eventually, she founded a spiritual community called the Cross and the Lotus, and ran it until her passing in 1991.”

A Review of The Life of Yogananda Page 2 The author goes seriously wrong when he writes, “she met her second guru.” Mother was always clear that Master was her guru. This is mentioned several times on our Cross and Lotus Website, which I assume he consulted before writing his book—he did not make personal contact with us when he was doing his research. This is poor scholarship on his part, and he is knowledgeable enough about the nuances of the guru-disciple relationship to understand this very important point. While Papa (Swami Ramdas) played a vital role in Mother’s spiritual development, there was never a question of a doubt that Master was her Sat-guru. Papa himself understood this distinction very well. When others would say to Papa that Ramana Maharshi was his guru, due to the vital role he played in Papa attaining the universal vision, he corrected them, saying his father was his guru—having given him initiation him into Ram mantra. Master too had many important spiritual influences in his life, but Sri Yukteswarji was ever his Sat-guru. The second stated fact which is wrong is that Mother founded a spiritual community which she called the Cross and the Lotus. Mother Hamilton taught without ever forming an organization, and she had no spiritual community as it is often understood, an ashram or people living together as disciples. Mother floated a couple of names for her spiritual group over the years, one was “The Master’s Disciples,” and at other times “The Church of Christian Yoga.” However, there was never a formal name, and while people look for an easy name association and organizational status to know how you fit into the scheme of things, Mother had neither. (Note: “The Cross and The Lotus” phrase came from Mother, however it was my choice to use it for our publications: The Cross and The Lotus Publishing, Journal and website.) When it comes to some of the controversies that swirled around Master, Mr. Goldberg is most often generous in understanding what Master was trying to accomplish and the obstacles he had to overcome. He also makes it a point to stay with the facts based on his research. He does refer to some uncomfortable facts about Master’s life, but again shows balance of perspective. When it comes to the changes SRF has made in Master’s work, he does not express any strong opinion one way or the other, but seems to be generally sympathetic to SRF’s point of view, or at least does not object. I believe that if you were to ask this author if he would think it appropriate that someone make over 300 changes to his new book post-mortem, and (for instance), change the spelling of his name and his child’s name (i.e. changing the spelling of Rajasi’s name) after his passing, he would most definitely not approve. Yet, he seems to have no problem with the heavy-handed editing by those in the organization in regard to Master’s writings. The author brings to light many interesting facts about Master’s life that I had not known before. He also makes the point that Master was an evolving human being during his life; that he could and did make mistakes along the way, and that he learned and grew from his experiences—a perspective Mother taught to all of us. This view of Master’s humanity in no way diminishes him as a teacher for the ages, for which the author gives him full credit for the important and singular role he played here in the West— as well as around the globe. In so many ways, understanding Master’s humanity makes us appreciate all the more the titanic labor and spiritual pioneering work he accomplished in his life. This biography does not carry the shakti-power of Master’s Autobiography, nor do I think he got everything right. However, this biography is an important supplement to understanding the life and teachings of this great God-man, our dear Param-Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda.