5
Hagiography of a Yogi
I killed Yogananda long ago. No one dwells in this body now
but God.
— Paramahansa YoganandaMany autobiographies replete with famous names and color-
ful events are almost completely silent on any phase of inner
analysis or development. One lays down each of these books
with a certain dissatisfaction, as though saying : “Here is a
man who knew many notable persons, but who never knew
himself.”
— Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a YogiThe two statements above, both by Yogananda, reflect the central
paradox that characterizes his Autobiography of a Yogi. Despite the apparent
promise of its genre, the book actually contains relatively little information
about Yogananda himself. Indeed, the majority of the work is dedicated to
telling the stories of other men and women— other Yogis— whom Yogananda
found to be spiritually notable or didactically useful. At first glance, it might
seem like Yogananda has fallen into his own trap and filled his narrative with
“famous names and colorful events” at the cost of ignoring or willfully conceal-
ing his own inner life. And yet the title of the book is not Autobiography of
Paramahansa Yogananda. As I have argued, Yogananda saw himself first and
foremost as a Yogi. This reflects not only his conscious and subconscious shap-
ing of his persona to adhere to the cultural archetype of the Yogi figure, as dis-
cussed in chapter 3, but also his broader belief that to be a Yogi was ultimately
to lose one’s limited sense of ego- bound identity in absolute union with the
divine. Thus, Yogananda’s identity as a Yogi is reflected not only in his own life
but in the lives and stories of other Yogis, for they are not in the final analysis
separate from his own.
Keeping this in mind, it is important to note exactly which parts of his own
life Yogananda chooses to discuss and which parts remain unmentioned. Gone