Biography of a Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda and the Origins of Modern Yoga

104 Biography of a Yogi

began his demonstration of the “metaphysical unity of Hinduism and

Christianity.”

...

The preacher of the evening surely had his audience with him— at

least its audible members. Clearly they felt in him a source of truth and

comfort, inspiration and stimulation. They nodded assent to his pro-

nouncements and laughed heartily at his jokes, especially when he called

Christian preachers “spiritual victrolas” and proclaimed that Christianity

was suffering from “theological indigestion.”^30

Although Thomas does not specify the year this lecture took place, based on
the published books that kindled his interest in Yogananda it must have taken
place sometime between 1926 and 1929,^31 likely during Yogananda’s return to the
East Coast after the opening of his Los Angeles center. This time frame would
be reflective of a more established point in Yogananda’s career (see fig. 3.1). His
personal letters to Dr. Lewis make reference to earlier— and more difficult— days,
when he would lecture to largely empty halls.^32
Nevertheless, Yogananda’s enterprise must have undergone significant growth
even in its first two years, as evidenced by his letter to Satyananda:

Look. You all know that I can do the work of propagation, and people do

come together, but running it in an orderly fashion is something I cannot

write about. So, either Dhirananda or Satyananda, one of the two of you

Figure 3.1 Yogananda’s audience in Los Angeles on February 22, 1925, in East- West 1(1)