Autobiography of a Yogi book club questions

1. 1.

   Yogananda describes numerous miraculous events as literal fact. How do you approach a text that makes empirical claims you cannot verify? What is the right intellectual stance?

2. 2.

   The guru-disciple relationship he describes assumes a kind of unconditional trust. Is that kind of trust in a spiritual teacher compatible with critical thinking, or does it require suspending it?

3. 3.

   Yogananda argues that Eastern mysticism and Western science are converging. Does that claim hold up in 2026, given the directions physics and neuroscience have taken?

4. 4.

   The book had a significant influence on Steve Jobs, who spoke of it as a guide to intuition and being present. What is it about the text that resonates with certain entrepreneurial and creative temperaments?

5. 5.

   Yogananda draws connections between Hindu Vedanta, Christian mysticism, and Jewish Kabbalah. Do you find the cross-cultural spiritual synthesis convincing, or does it flatten real differences?

6. 6.

   How does the concept of maya — the idea that the physical world is a kind of divine projection — change how you think about suffering, achievement, or failure if you take it seriously?

7. 7.

   The renunciation Yogananda describes is not about poverty but about non-attachment. What's the practical difference between renouncing attachment to outcomes and simply not caring?

8. 8.

   Yogananda came to America in 1920 and built a large following during a period of significant cultural exchange between East and West. What did American audiences find in his teaching that they weren't finding in conventional Western religion?

9. 9.

   Which of the teachers or saints Yogananda describes — Sri Yukteswar, Lahiri Mahasaya, Babaji — do you find most compelling, and what does that tell you about your own spiritual or intellectual orientation?

10. 10.

    The book is explicitly autobiographical but also clearly a work of spiritual instruction. How does the personal narrative form serve the philosophical and religious content?

11. 11.

    What would it mean to take seriously the book's claim that the primary purpose of a human life is self-realization — not achievement, relationship, or service, but the direct knowledge of one's own nature?

How to run the discussion

• Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
• Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
• Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
• Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.