Autobiography of a Yogi

I never got to meet Paramahanza Yogananda. I heard he came to the West Coast of the United States in 1914 and established Self Realization Fellowship here (SRF).

As a young person since I was raised vegetarian the best two vegetarian Restaurants in the state of California (that I knew about as a child) were the two SRF restaurants (one in Hollywood and one in Encinitas near San Diego). So, after church on Sundays in Los Angeles we would often go to the one in Hollywood before going home to Glendale where I lived from 1956 until 1969(ages 8 until 21). Then if there was a church function in San Diego or Oceanside we sometimes would visit the SRF vegetarian Restaurant in Encinitas. I think both Restaurants might have closed in the early to late 1960s when everybody and their little brother began opening Vegetarian Restaurants and the competition became so fierce that it was no longer practical for the SRF to run these two restaurants.

After I read Autobiography of a Yogi(it's still in print from Amazon or SRF) I used to give it to hitchikers when I used to pick them up when it was still safe (1966 to about 1975 or 80) when I met a fairly troubled hitchiker that I thought might commit suicide sometime soon. So I gave away about 25 to 30 book in paperback of "Autobiography of a Yogi". It touched my soul more than any other book I read during that time in my life from 1965 to 1975.