Chapter 1 Summary and Analysis

Mukunda Lal Ghosh, later known as Paramahansa Yogananda, was born in northeastern India in 1893. His parents, although affluent, were "saintly" and quite spiritual. Due to a recurring memory of an earlier life, young Mukunda, the fourth child, longed to live in the Himalayas. His parents were initiated into Kriya Yoga by Lahiri Mahasaya, a revered master, whose teachings had a profound influence on Mukunda's entire life, as well as on the life of his own teacher, Yukteswar. Lahiri Mahasaya was pure spirit who could become invisible before a camera unless he chose not to. Mukunda claims that praying to his photo as a child healed him from cholera.

Mukunda was visited in meditation by Himalayan yogis, and learns the power of the spoken word by experimenting with deep concentration. He tests his psychic abilities with childhood games, such as willing two...