Self-Realization Fellowship Blog

As we near the close of the centennial anniversary of Paramahansa Yogananda’s arrival in America and the founding of Self-Realization Fellowship, the Thursday, November 19 issue of the Los Angeles Times featured a Column One article whose online edition begins with the words: “If you practice yoga, thank this man who came to the U.S. 100 years ago.”

The article, by Times feature writer Deborah Netburn, introduces readers to how Paramahansaji came to establish his international headquarters atop Mount Washington in Los Angeles, and explores the lasting influence of Paramahansaji’s teachings on the landscape of yoga and spirituality worldwide.

The article includes insights from SRF/YSS President Brother Chidananda, as well as religious studies scholars Varun Soni and Diana Eck and writer Philip Goldberg, giving context to Paramahansaji’s role in bringing Kriya Yoga to the West, and making popular an awareness of yoga as a means to pursue a life-transforming connection with the Divine.

In its “Essential California” e-newsletter, the LA Times cited the article as one of the week’s “great reads” in magazines and newspapers across the country.