Having read this for class, I can say it is neither interesting nor useful. The writing style is incredibly dull and dry. It would take me hours just to get through one page. Definitely not recommended.

Most people interested in Paramhansa's work will have already read the majority of what's on offer in this collection of the teachings of the master. Given that, this may not be the best for those who are looking for new or a significantly large amount of unpublished material. I counted perhaps fifteen to twenty pages that can not be obtained through other, complete, in-print sources. The rest is a hodge-podge of other books and writings.

So it's not great for those very familiar with Kriya Yoga. On the other hand, it's also not the best introduction for beginners. The fact that it is a mishmash of earlier works means it jumps around a lot, and if you don't already know the basics of what's being talked about (or even if you do!) you'll just end up confused. And the formatting is... odd... to say the least.

The one true positive, and why I give it a higher rating than I would otherwise, is that unlike the more recent SRF publications, the material printed here- even though it is in excerpted form- has not been heavily edited or revised. It's a good way to see what was really meant to be said before others came and reworked it.

In the battle field of Mahabharata, when Arjuna refuses to fight against his evil cousins, Lord Krishna revealed him Bhagavad-Gita and the concept of kriya Yoga. Lord convinces Arjuna to do his duty or karma, not to worry about the fruit of the karma.

In his book “Essence of kriya yoga”, Paramahamsa Yogananda discusses different types of yogas as expained in Bhagavad gita . Yoga is a means to realize our self. In that journey kriya yoga is helping us to reach the goal of self realization quickly. I think only a person on the way to self realization can make a review on this great book. But with the spiritual knowledge I have got with me I can say this book is a gift to mankind. If we read this book with a purpose, along with yoga practice , we can find a small path way towards the ultimate goal.

I read this book only for reference in learning a little about what Yoga is, and why it's considered a religion. The book content is 50 years old with the death of the author. But, I found the insight intriging. This book contains poems, revelations, and songs, as well as what is expected of a "Yogi" master.

Do I understand Yogi any more then I did before reading the book? No, I found that it was so confusing in
many areas because the concepts are foreign to me. The text jumped around alot and seemed to be pieced together from various resources that appeared to be all the author's work, but just from different texts.

Do I recommend the book? To someone who is familiar with the author, yes, I would recommend it... as a
book where various works were put into one. For someone like myself, just wanting a better understanding... no I would not recommend the book, in this case I would recommend talking with a yogi master in person.

Well, seeing that the Self-Realization Fellowship did NOT publish this made me WANT to read it. They are adept at omitting P. Yogananda's words and in essence changing the Beloveds' message. For example, there were over 8,000 omissions from the orange jacketed "Autobiography of a Yogi" published by the SRFellowship. The REAL / TRUE original version is the blue book of "Autobiography of a Yogi." That said, this is kind of a dry book but okay to add to your collection.