Editing Paramahansa Yogananda (section)

==Early years==
[[File:Yogananda menino.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Yogananda at age six]]
Yogananda was born Mukunda Lal Ghosh in [[Gorakhpur]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], India to a [[Hindus|Hindu]] [[Bengali Kayastha]] family.<ref name="mejda">Sananda Lal Ghosh, (1980), Mejda, Self-Realization Fellowship, p.3-4</ref> He was the fourth of the eight children, and second of the four sons, of Bhagabati Charan Ghosh, the vice president of [[Bengal Nagpur Railway|Bengal-Nagpur Railway]], and Gyanprabha Devi. According to his younger brother Sananda, Mukunda's awareness and experience of the spiritual were far beyond the ordinary even from his earliest years.<ref name="mejda" /> The nature of his father's job caused the family to move several times during Mukunda's childhood, including to [[Lahore]], [[Bareilly]], and [[Kolkata]].<ref name="autob2" /> According to ''Autobiography of a Yogi'', he was eleven years old when his mother died, just before the marriage of his eldest brother Ananta; she left behind a sacred [[amulet]] for Mukunda, given to her by a holy man, who told her that Mukunda was to possess it for some years, after which it would vanish into the ether from which it came. Throughout his childhood, his father would fund train passes for his many sight-seeing trips to distant cities and pilgrimage spots, which he would often take with friends. In his youth he sought out many of India's Hindu sages and saints, including the [[Soham Swami|Soham "Tiger" Swami]], Gandha Baba, and [[Mahendranath Gupta]], hoping to find an illumined teacher to guide him in his spiritual quest.<ref name="autob2">''Autobiography of a Yogi'', 1997 Anniversary Edition. Self-Realization Fellowship (Founded by Yogananda) yogananda.org</ref>

After finishing high school, Mukunda formally left home and joined a Mahamandal Hermitage in [[Varanasi]]; however, he soon became dissatisfied with its insistence on organizational work instead of meditation and God-perception. He began praying for guidance; in 1910, his seeking after various teachers mostly ended when, at the age of 17, he met his guru, [[Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri]];<ref name="autob2"/> at that time his well-guarded amulet mysteriously vanished, having served its spiritual purpose. In his autobiography, he describes his first meeting with Sri Yukteswar as a rekindling of a relationship that had lasted for many lifetimes:

<blockquote>"We entered a oneness of silence; words seemed the rankest superfluities. Eloquence flowed in soundless chant from heart of master to disciple. With an antenna of irrefragable insight I sensed that my guru knew God, and would lead me to Him. The obscuration of this life disappeared in a fragile dawn of prenatal memories. Dramatic time! Past, present, and future are its cycling scenes. This was not the first sun to find me at these holy feet!"<ref name="autob2"/></blockquote>