Introduction 9
of consciousness, or the origin of superhuman abilities, they did have something
very similar. In the Yogi’s case, this analogous phenomenon was most often
referred to as hypnotism, though the full meaning of that term cannot be under-
stood without reference to Mesmerism and the metaphysics of the ether, which
we will examine in chapter 2. Most average Westerners, however, had no meta-
physical understanding of why hypnotism worked, but they were overwhelmingly
convinced that it did.
Moreover, it was increasingly believed that while one did not have to be a Yogi
to practice hypnotism, it was part and parcel of the Yogi’s very being to be in pos-
session of this power. Thus, Westerners had an existing framework for interpret-
ing the Yogi’s claim to superhuman ability, and when Yogis themselves made such
claims, their assertions were easily translated into a kind of mental power that
their audiences could comprehend. Consequently, whatever his particular per-
sona, the Yogi’s access to and association with superpowers remained a constant
even as he entered the foreign framework of the West. As we will see through
the accounts of Yogis produced and consumed by Europeans and Americans, the
Yogi was defined not by any practice of yoga that we would recognize as such
today, but by his association with superhuman abilities and powers in one form
or another.
It is worth noting that this understanding is not uniform or monolithic.
Today, yoga functions as a truly transnational phenomenon and scholars focus-
ing on the second (post– World War II) wave of yoga globalization have empha-
sized this quality.^13 However, at the turn of the century when the movement
of both people and ideas was still far more restricted, the yoga that begins to
develop in Europe and America and the yoga that is undergoing a continuing
transformation in India share a more tenuous relationship. While one could cer-
tainly make the case for yoga as an emerging global phenomenon during this
period, this study will focus chiefly on its importation into and development
in the West where it represents a genuinely novel category worthy of specific
attention. Even more precisely, as evidenced by the choice of Yogananda as a case
study, our attention will chiefly be devoted to the United States. The cultural
and ideological tropes and movements that surround the Yogi and his associated
habits, including the emerging practice of modern postural yoga, are of course
mirrored and indeed exchanged transatlantically. For instance, Mesmerism
originated in France but Spiritualism in the United States and both became
exceedingly popular in Britain. However, the United States developed an espe-
cially robust population of Yogis during this time period. These Yogis went on
lecture tours and founded organizations, which attracted followers, which in
turn garnered media attention in a way that surpassed contemporary European
equivalents.