Paramahansa Yogananda(1893 -1952) was an Indian guru, monk, and yogi who introduced the Hindu meditation tradition and the teachings of Kriya Yoga to the Western world. He was a disciple of the Bengali yoga guru Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri. The teacher gave him a commission to spread the teachings of yoga to the West and help people find a balance between Western material growth and Indian spirituality. In twenty years of his activity in the United States, he became the first yogi to be hosted in the White House by President Coolidge, founded several organizations and monastic orders, bought the property for his schools throughout the country, and established over 100 centers of his organization Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) in the United States and India.
