Yogananda & Disciples

100 Years of a New Dispensation An avatar with a sacred mission 100 years ago, in 1920, Paramhansa Yogananda first stepped on Western soil. It was a step of major importance – a step which would have a lasting impact for countless truth seekers and for the spiritual landscape of the West. Unapparent to all, […]

Blissfully Hand in Hand With the Master     A window onto infinity  James Jesse Lynn, or Rajarshi Janakananda (May 5, 1892 – Feb. 20, 1955) was Yogananda’s principal disciple and successor. Today he is honored by Kriya Yogis, and yet his legacy remains far too small relative to his stature. He was a spiritual […]

The Perfect Role-Model Of Discipleship     Edith Anne Ruth D’Evelyn Bissett, better known as Sister Gyanamata (July 04, 1869- Nov.17, 1951), was Yogananda’s most advanced woman disciple. Already in her previous life, he stated, she had attained nirbikalpa samadhi, the highest state of God-union. In this incarnation she achieved complete liberation (moksha, mukti). Very […]

A Humble Angel Among Us The hidden disciple of high realization John Oliver Black (1893-1989) is one of the most underrated and least known of all of Yogananda’s advanced disciples. This is surprising because, spiritually speaking, he was a veritable giant, towering above all other disciples, except one, and yet relatively few know much about […]

The Third SRF President   Daya Mata (Rachel Faye Wright, 1914-2010) is probably Yogananda’s best-known disciple, as she represented him for over half a century as the President of his organization, Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF). Needless to say, she was one of his closest disciples. Her life of devotion, her advanced soul, and especially her love, […]

The Father of Yogananda’s Community Movement   Swami Kriyananda (James Donald Walters) was a direct, close, and important disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda. He created, in his Guru’s name, a work distinct from that of Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF): the Ananda communities. Some fellow disciples therefore accused him of being a “Judas”. He viewed his Gurus’ mission […]

The Householder Torchbearers It seems that every single disciple of Yogananda has his or her own precious message and gift to share with all of us. Each of them is a torchbearer for a specific aspect of the Master’s teachings. And certainly Yogananda loves them all equally. What, then, was Dr. Lewis’ role? He (Minott […]

Yogananda’s Roaring Editor     The brilliant editor-in-chief Yogananda declared that his Autobiography of a Yogi would be his “messenger”. Indeed, through this luminous spiritual classic, his message concerning Kriya Yoga circled the entire globe. Instrumental in this success was a tireless editor who had shaped Yogananda’s imperfect English into linguistic jewels. Her name was […]

The Secret, Free, Unconventional Disciple-Saint “I feel that he was a realized Masterbefore the end of his life.He was a great being, and certainlyone of the most unrecognized ones…Now is the timefor him to be really recognizedin this world.He has been one of the best kept secrets.Dr. Lewis used to call him ‘Saint George.’”(Bob Raymer, […]

The Life of Yogananda’s Secretary And His “Sparkling Travel Diary”   Clarence Richard Wright (9 Dec. 1911 – 9 Jan. 2002) is well-known to devotees of Yogananda as the young and faithful secretary who accompanied him on his visit to India in 1935/36. “At Ranchi, Calcutta, Serampore, everywhere he went, my secretary, who has a […]

An Unknown But Great Disciple Soul-friends incarnating together Over a century ago, a handful of spiritually towering soul-friends came down to earth, almost simultaneously, hand in hand like brothers – or better: like a father with his sons – in order to flood the world with a great Light: Yogananda (*1893); Rajarsi Janakananda (*1892); Lewis […]