Born Mukunda Lal Ghosh in Uttar Pradesh, India, in 1893, Yogananda took on his new name when he became a member of the Swami Order. Yogananda worked to foster spiritual engagement between East and West in the 20th century, particularly by founding the Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles, California, in 1920.

In his autobiography, Yogananda combines his interpretations of Hindu scripture with stories from his life and the lives of other Indian gurus and mystics. He uses a humorous, self-deprecating tone in describing his youthful deficiencies as a student, and this humor advances a larger point about the primacy of direct experience over knowledge gleaned from books.

Despite the modesty with which he describes his youth, Yogananda speaks in an authoritative tone about spiritual matters. In parts of the book, including “The Law of Miracles” and “India’s Great Scientist J.C. Bose,” he combines spiritual and scientific rhetoric, attempting to use scientific concepts to explain spiritual phenomena. This epistemic synthesis is akin to the one Bose himself undertakes in describing the power of the crescograph, which measures not only the growth but also the emotional lives of plants.

Yogananda worked on his book for many years, mostly from 1937 to 1945.