112 Biography of a Yogithat Yogananda was his biological father. The suit was settled in 2002 when DNA
evidence submitted by the SRF showed no biological relationship. The validity of
this same DNA evidence is hotly contested within the community of Yogananda’s
detractors.
The Man with Superpowers
When it comes to the matter of superpowers, Yogananda’s Autobiography tells
a double- layered narrative. Although the earlier chapters are full of spectacular
feats performed by Yogis making cameo- style appearances and accounts of power
displayed by Yogananda’s guru Sri Yukteswar and his guru Lahiri Mahasaya,
Yogananda generally diminishes the significance of powers in the later parts of his
book, focusing instead on metaphysics and the evolution of his spiritual under-
standing. There are no more superpowers on American soil. In proper fashion,
he certainly claims none for himself. Yet the historical evidence suggests that
Yogananda’s youthful fascination with superpowers— including cultivating some
of his own— followed him well into adulthood and his American career.
To his followers, Yogananda was a man of paradox. His casual student Hilda
Charlton describes a fedora- wearing Yogananda whose eyes would light up with
delight over the novelty of a garbage disposal^50 even as she acknowledges his evi-
dent mental powers. Kriyananda— who, like Davis, met Yogananda in 1948 after
reading his Autobiography— talks of Yogananda as a kind- hearted trickster who in
his childhood caused the family cook’s hand to stick to a wall after the man had
teased him about his meditation practice. He also attributes to Yogananda such
feats as healing with the touch of his hand, levitating during meditation, pacifying
a tiger with a mere glance, and smuggling Mexican mangoes into California using
a Jedi- style mind trick. With the exception of the mango incident, however, these
are not occurrences that Kriyananda himself witnessed, though he does recount
a number of “miracles” performed by Yogananda in his presence, which generally
tend to fall into the realm of synchronicity. Kriyananda attributes these abilities
to “magnetism,”^51 a term which Yogananda himself used and, as discussed earlier,
was quite careful to distinguish from hypnotism and Mesmerism. Kriyananda is
careful to avoid stating that magnetism has any direct influence on the psycholo-
gies of others but rather explains it as a method of “attracting,” by the sheer force
of one’s will, desired effects.
Dr. Lewis captures both the playfulness of Yogananda’s character and his aura
of power when he describes their relationship as follows:
As I have said, many nights were spent in listening to his wonderful words
and his experiences and romping about the house as brothers keeping