This year marks the 75th anniversary of Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda; to celebrate it, Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), the spiritual organization founded by Yogananda, will issue a deluxe edition of the book in October.

With several million copies in print and having been translated into more than 50 languages, Autobiography made HarperCollins’ list of “100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century.”

Yogananda is widely recognized as playing a major, if not the primary. role in introducing the science of yoga to the West. He writes of his search for a guru, his ten years of training with his master Sri Yukteswar, and his 30 years in America where he established SRF on a stretch of Los Angeles beach. He shares stories of many encounters with spiritual masters including Mahatma Gandhi and the Catholic stigmatic Therese Neumann.

“The book also provides clear, scientific explanation of the subtle but definite laws by which yogis perform miracles and attain self-mastery,” says Lauren Landress, SRF’s director of public affairs.

According to Walter Isaacson’s biography of Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs, Jobs first read Autobiography as a teenager, and at some point forward, then read the book every year. The autobiography was given to everyone who attended Jobs’ memorial service.

Also, famously, the four gurus of kriya yoga, including Yogananda, are featured on the cover of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.  

For more information: Yogananda.org