The 104th Foundation Day of the Yogada Satsang Society of India (YSS) is on 22 March. On this day, Paramhansa Yogananda (1893 - 1952) founded the Yogada Satsang Society in 1917 to provide universal education of Kriya Yoga, the sacred spiritual science, which originated in India many millennia ago. These secular teachings, along with all-round success and prosperity, include a complete philosophy of the methods of meditation and knowledge of life-style for the ultimate goal of life - the soul's union with the divine.
Paramhansa Yogananda's teachings are available through the "Yogada Satsang Pathmala", as was also the case during his lifetime. Taught to Swadhyayas, read by innumerable people all over the world, this wide text series also contains information on all the meditation techniques of Kriya Yoga science and many other aspects of balanced spiritual life taught by Paramahansa Yogananda. Paramahamsa Yogananda is considered one of the best spiritual personalities of the modern period. Paramhans started his worldwide mission by establishing a yoga school for boys at a place called Dihika in Bengal. This was the historic moment when the Yogada Satsang Society of India was born.
This beloved Jagadguru, author of the best-selling spiritual book- "Yogi Kathamrit (Autobiography of a Yogi)", has introduced the rare knowledge to millions of readers. It has been 75 years since the publication of this unique book published in 1946. "Yogi Kathamrit" has been translated into more than 50 languages in India and abroad. Even in Urdu and Sanskrit. Today Paramahamsa Yogananda is known throughout the world as the "Father of Yoga in the West". After the establishment of YSS in 1917, he came to represent Hinduism in 1920 at the International Conference of Religious Liberals held in the city of Boston, USA. Yoganand established the Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) there, which continues to carry on his spiritual legacy around the world even today under the leadership of Sri Sri Swami Chidanand Giri. After Sri Sri Mrinalini Mata, Swami Chidanand is now the chairman (fifth) of both these institutions.
Paramahamsa Yogananda established the Yogada Satsang Society (YSS), Self-Realization Fellowship (SRAF) with the aim of promoting his teachings and keeping their purity and completeness safe for future generations. The members of the YSS, SRAF Publication Council regard these instructions as a sacred faith, so that the worldview message of these Jagadguru remains in its core strength and authenticity. The names of these institutions and their emblems were created by Paramhansa Yogananda to identify the institution established to carry out his worldwide spiritual and philanthropic work.
Paramahamsa Yoganand had taught in his classes and discourses on the art of meditation and balanced spiritual life, it was compiled as Yogada Satsang Pathmala according to his guidance. Yogada practitioners can study these printed lessons from home. They prepare themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually for the practice of Kriya Yoga by spending some time studying some of the early lessons and practicing the basic meditation techniques taught in them. In this early period they learn the three main methods of Yogada Satsang cultivation practice: strength communication exercises, method of concentration and Om method.
