Philip Goldberg – författare

He was called “the 20th century’s first superstar guru” (Los Angeles Times), and today, nearly a century after he arrived in the United States, he’s still the best known and most beloved of all the Indian spiritual teachers who have come to the West. Now, finally, Paramahansa Yogananda has the authoritative biography he deserves.

Yogananda, considered by many to be the father of modern yoga, has had an unsurpassed global impact thanks to the durability of his teachings, the institutions he created or inspired, and especially his iconic memoir, Autobiography of a Yogi.

Since its publication in 1946, that book has sold millions of copies and changed millions of lives. But it doesn’t tell the whole story.

Much of Yogananda’s seminal text is devoted to tales about other people, and it largely overlooks the three vital decades he spent living, working, and teaching in America. Huge chunks of his life —challenges, controversies, and crises; triumphs, relationships, and formative experiences —remain unknown to even his most ardent devotees. In this captivating biography, scholar and teacher Philip Goldberg fills the gaps, charting a journey that spanned six decades, two hemispheres, two world wars, and unprecedented social changes. The result is an objective, thoroughly researched account of Yogananda’s remarkable life in all its detail, nuance, and complex humanity.

But this is more than a compelling life story. “Yogananda would, I believe, want any book about him to not only inform but transform,” Goldberg writes. “It is my hope that readers will be enriched, expanded, and deepened by this humble offering.” That is sure to be the case for both Yogananda enthusiasts and those who discover him for the first time in these illuminating pages.

A Spirituality & Practice "Best Spiritual Book of 2025"

“A wise, inspiring, and beautiful book offering potent medicine for our times.” -Miranda Macpherson, author of The Way of Grace: The Transforming Power of Ego Relaxation 

“Karma” is in our vocabulary, but do we really know what it means?

The word is everywhere—not just in alternative spirituality, and among Hindus and Buddhists, but in news reports, ads, sitcoms, sports columns, and the everyday conversations of people who wouldn't know the Upanishads from Us Magazine. Stephen Colbert invokes the term on TV and Taylor Swift summons it in song.

This book chronicles the origin and evolution of karmic theory and describes how the concept came to the West. It explains exactly what karma means—and, crucially, what it doesn’t mean—then shows how to apply karmically sound ethical principles to relationships, life decisions, health, death, and all aspects of self-development. “We’re always planting karmic seeds,” writes Philip Goldberg. Our task is to “choose the right seeds and plant them skillfully, in the right way, at the right time, under the right conditions.”

Karma is a profoundly useful idea, and Karmic Relief is a profoundly useful book. It offers a blueprint for building a fulfilling life and a way to reconcile some of life’s most vexing conundrums.