125-595: "You are walking on the earth as in a dream. Our world is a dream within a dream; you must realize that to find God is the only goal, the only purpose, for which you are here. For Him alone you exist. Him you must find." – from the book The Divine Romance Traditional Paramahansa Yogananda (born Mukunda Lal Ghosh ; January 5, 1893 – March 7, 1952) was an Indian-American Hindu monk , yogi and guru who introduced millions to meditation and Kriya Yoga through his organization, Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) / Yogoda Satsanga Society (YSS) of India –
250-671: A Little India have emerged in the New York City Metropolitan Area. Other metropolitan areas with large Indian American populations include Atlanta , Austin , Baltimore–Washington , Boston , Chicago , Dallas–Ft. Worth , Detroit , Houston , Los Angeles , Philadelphia , Phoenix , Raleigh , San Francisco–San Jose–Oakland , and Seattle . The three oldest Indian American communities going back to around 1910 are in lesser populated agricultural areas in California including Stockton and Yuba City in
375-596: A 2,221.5% increase over that period. Affluent professionals and senior citizens , a temperate climate with numerous greenbelts , charitable benefactors to COVID relief efforts in India in official coordination with Monroe Township, Hindu mandirs , Indian food trucks and language classes, and Bollywood actors with second homes all play into the growth of the Indian population in the township, as well as its relative proximity to top-ranked Princeton University . By 2022,
500-438: A 2019 survey, it was found that households headed by an Indian immigrant had a median income of $ 132,000, compared to $ 64,000 and $ 66,000 for all immigrant and U.S.-born households, respectively. Indian immigrants were also much less likely to be in poverty (5%) than immigrants overall (14%) or the U.S. born (12%). According to 2023 US Census data, the median Indian American household income is now $ 157,005. Indian Americans had
625-557: 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
750-408: A bachelor's degree and 40% had obtained a postgraduate degree, whereas of all Americans, 19% had obtained a bachelor's degree and 11% had obtained a postgraduate degree. The median household income for Indian immigrants in 2019 was much higher than that of the overall foreign- and native-born populations. Indians overall have much higher incomes than the total foreign and native-born populations. In
875-571: A business partnership and that Yogananda owed him wages and royalties. The lawsuit was eventually settled, but some of Yogananda's students chose to instead follow Bagchi, who shed his monastic name and became a married academic. In the late 1920s, a disciple of Yogananda's named Adelaide Erskine served as his photographer. Her descendants would later accuse Yogananda of having an illicit affair with Adelaide and fathering one of her children, Ben Erskine, even though Ben admitted that she never told him who his father was. In 1995 Ben Erskine's daughter took it
1000-486: 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!" He would go on to train under Sri Yukteswar as his disciple for the next ten years (1910–1920) at his hermitages in Serampore and Puri . Later on Sri Yukteswar informed Mukunda that he had been sent to him by the great guru of their lineage, Mahavatar Babaji , for
1125-503: A group in California that campaigned for Indian independence , facilitated illegal crossing of the Mexican border, using funds from this migration "as a means to bolster the party's finances." The Ghadar Party charged different prices for entering the U.S. depending on whether Punjabi immigrants were willing to shave off their beard and cut their hair. It is estimated that between 1920 and 1935, about 1,800 to 2,000 Indian immigrants entered
1250-639: A high-astral planet, and expounded truths in deep detail regarding: the astral realm , astral planets and the afterlife; the lifestyles, abilities and varying levels of freedoms of astral beings; the workings of karma; man's various superphysical bodies and how he works through them, and other metaphysical topics. Yogananda and his two western students left India via ocean liner from Mumbai; staying for several weeks in England, they conducted several yoga classes in London and visited historical sites, before leaving for
1375-782: A holiday there; while in Jersey City, the four schools with major Asian Indian populations mark the holiday by inviting parents to the school buildings for festivities. Mahatma Gandhi Elementary School is located in Passaic, New Jersey . Efforts are also progressing toward making Diwali and Eid official holidays at all 24 school districts in Middlesex County. At least 12 school districts on Long Island closed for Diwali in 2022, and over 20 in New Jersey. In March 2015, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio officially declared
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#17327939087561500-571: A leading figure in Western spirituality. A biographer of Yogananda, Phillip Goldberg, considers him "the best known and most beloved of all Indian spiritual teachers who have come to the West". Yogananda was born Mukunda Lal Ghosh in Gorakhpur , Uttar Pradesh , India to a Hindu Bengali Kayastha family. He was the fourth of the eight children, and second of the four sons, of Bhagabati Charan Ghosh,
1625-519: A new group of Indian immigrants from the state of Gujarat opened several small hotels. In 1955, 14 of 21 hotels enterprises in San Francisco were operated by Gujarati Hindus. By the 1980s, Indians owned around 15,000 motels, about 28% of all hotels and motels in the U.S. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 dramatically opened entry to the U.S. to immigrants other than traditional Northern European groups, which would significantly alter
1750-467: A number of non-Punjabi converts to Sikhism. Sikh men are typically identifiable by their unshorn beards and turbans (head coverings), articles of their faith. Many organisations like World Sikh Organisation (WSO), Sikh Riders of America, SikhNet, Sikh Coalition, SALDEF, United Sikhs , National Sikh Campaign continue to educate people about Sikhism. There are many " Gurudwaras " Sikh temples present in all states of USA. Adherents of Jainism first arrived in
1875-445: A population of more than 5.1 million, Indian Americans make up approximately 1.47% of the U.S. population and are the largest group of South Asian Americans , the largest Asian-alone group, and the second-largest group of Asian Americans after Chinese Americans . Indian Americans have the highest median household income and the second highest per capita income (after Taiwanese Americans ) among other Asian ethnic groups working in
2000-483: A sample of the best and brightest people in India emigrate to the United States in order to seek better financial opportunities. Indians form the second largest group of physicians after non-Hispanic Caucasian Americans (3.9%) as of the 1990 survey, and the share of Indian physicians rose to approximately 6% in 2005. According to Pew Research in 2015, of Indian Americans aged 25 and older, 72% had obtained
2125-588: A special world purpose of yoga dissemination. After passing his Intermediate Examination in Arts from the Scottish Church College, Calcutta , in 1915, he graduated with a degree similar to a current-day Bachelor of Arts or B.A. (at the time referred to as an A.B.) from Serampore College , the college having two entities, one as a constituent college of the Senate of Serampore College (University) and
2250-571: A step further and gave SRF paternity claims along with financial demands. In 2002, SRF hired a former San Diego prosecutor, G. Michael Still, to compare the DNA from Yogananda's three male relatives in India to Erskine's DNA. The lab work was done in two separate labs, one in Missouri and one in Louisiana. The results from both labs showed no biological connection between Yogananda and Erskine, settling
2375-560: A total of 716 Indian immigrants to the U.S. between 1820 and 1900. Emigration from India was driven by difficulties facing Indian farmers, including the challenges posed by the colonial land tenure system for small landowners, and by drought and food shortages, which worsened in the 1890s. At the same time, Canadian steamship companies, acting on behalf of Pacific coast employers, recruited Sikh farmers with economic opportunities in British Columbia . The presence of Indians in
2500-775: A vision one day in 1920 while meditating at his Ranchi school: faces of a multitude of Americans passed before his mind's eye, intimating to him that he would soon go to America. After giving charge of the school over to its faculty (and eventually to his childhood friend Swami Satyananda ), he left for Calcutta. On the following day, he received an invitation from the American Unitarian Association to serve as India's delegate to an International Congress of Religious Liberals convening that year in Boston . Yogananda sought his guru's advice, and Sri Yukteswar advised him to go. According to Philip Goldberg, Yogananda shared
2625-561: Is 'Dedicated to the Memory of Luther Burbank, An American Saint'), famous Indian scientist Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose and Nobel laureate in physics Sir C. V. Raman . One notable chapter of this book is "The Law of Miracles", where he gives scientific explanations for seemingly miraculous feats. He writes: "the word 'impossible' is becoming less prominent in man's vocabulary." The Autobiography has been an inspiration for many people including George Harrison , Ravi Shankar and Steve Jobs . In
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#17327939087562750-687: Is also recognized by Monroe Township, New Jersey . Efforts have been undertaken in Millburn , Monroe Township, West Windsor-Plainsboro , Bernards Township , and North Brunswick, New Jersey , Long Island , as well as in New York City (ultimately successfully), among other school districts in the metropolitan region, to make Diwali a holiday on the school calendar. According to the Star-Ledger , Edison, New Jersey councilman Sudhanshu Prasad has noted parents' engagement in making Deepavali
2875-480: Is important that we remove from our mind all doubt that God will answer." The "science" of Kriya Yoga is the foundation of Yogananda's teachings. An ancient spiritual practice, Kriya Yoga is "union (yoga) with the Infinite through a certain action or rite (kriya). The Sanskrit root of kriya is kri , to do, to act and react." Kriya Yoga was passed down through Yogananda's spiritual lineage: Mahavatar Babaji taught
3000-549: Is really all about, one must know God." Echoing traditional Hindu teachings, he taught that the entire universe is God's cosmic motion picture, and that individuals are merely actors in the divine play who change roles through reincarnation . He taught that mankind's deep suffering is rooted in identifying too closely with one's current role, rather than with the movie's director, or God. He taught Kriya Yoga and other meditation practices to help people achieve that understanding, which he called Self-realization : Self-realization
3125-426: Is the knowing – in body, mind, and soul – that we are one with the omnipresence of God; that we do not have to pray that it come to us, that we are not merely near it at all times, but that God's omnipresence is our omnipresence; and that we are just as much a part of Him now as we ever will be. All we have to do is improve our knowing. In his book, How you can talk with God , he claims that anyone can talk with God, if
3250-666: The Los Angeles Times . Arriving in Boston in 1920, he embarked on a successful transcontinental speaking tour before settling in Los Angeles in 1925. For the next two and a half decades, he gained local fame and expanded his influence worldwide: he created a monastic order and trained disciples, went on teaching tours, bought properties for his organization in various California locales, and initiated thousands into Kriya Yoga. By 1952, SRF had over 100 centers in both India and
3375-593: The 2010 United States census , the Asian Indian population in the United States increased from almost 1,678,765 in 2000 (0.6% of U.S. population) to 2,843,391 in 2010 (0.9% of U.S. population), a growth rate of 69.37% , one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States. The New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area , consisting of New York City , Long Island , and adjacent areas within New York , as well as nearby areas within
3500-660: The Autobiography influenced his life in a positive manner and also urged everyone to read it. As reported in Time on August 4, 1952, Harry T. Rowe, Mortuary Director of the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, where Yogananda's body was received, embalmed and interred, wrote in a notarized letter The absence of any visual signs of decay in the dead body of Paramahansa Yogananda offers
3625-632: The Central Valley , as well as in the Imperial Valley . These were all primarily Sikh settlements. Asian Indian population in Combined Statistical Areas of the United States of America as per Census 2020 The following table shows the number of people in each state who identified as "Hindu" in the 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 censuses, as well as the number of people identifying as "Asian Indian" in each state from
3750-788: The Dharmic holy day Deepavali (Diwali) as a holiday on school district calendars in the New York City metropolitan area . New York City announced in October 2022 that Diwali would be an official school holiday commencing in 2023. Passaic, New Jersey established Diwali as a school holiday in 2005. South Brunswick, New Jersey in 2010 became the first of the many school districts with large Indian student populations in Middlesex County in New Jersey to add Diwali to
3875-588: The Muslim holy days Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha holidays on the school calendar. School districts in Paterson and South Brunswick, New Jersey observe Ramadan . Like the terms "Asian American" or " South Asian American ", the term "Indian American" is also an umbrella label applying to a variety of views, values, lifestyles, and appearances. Although Asian Indian Americans retain a high ethnic identity, they are known to assimilate into American culture while at
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4000-605: The New York City Metropolitan Area to and from Delhi and Mumbai . In May 2019, Delta Air Lines announced non-stop flight service between New York JFK and Mumbai, to begin December 22, 2019. And in November 2021, American Airlines began non-stop flight service between New York JFK and Delhi with IndiGo Air codesharing on this flight. At least 24 Indian American enclaves characterized as
4125-570: The Soham "Tiger" Swami , Gandha Baba, and Mahendranath Gupta , hoping to find an illumined teacher to guide him in his spiritual quest. 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
4250-554: The South , though initially facing racism, effectively circumvented any such discrimination via wearing a turban . Indians started moving up the social ladder by getting higher education. For example, in 1910, Dhan Gopal Mukerji went to UC Berkeley when he was 20 years old. He was an author of many children's books and won the Newbery Medal in 1928 for his book Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon . However, he committed suicide at
4375-652: The University of California, Berkeley in 1912, became the science editor of the San Francisco Examiner and was the first Indian American to win the Pulitzer Prize for journalism. After World War II , U.S. policy re-opened the door to Indian immigration, although slowly at first. The Luce–Celler Act of 1946 permitted a quota of 100 Indians per year to immigrate to the U.S. It also allowed Indian immigrants to naturalize and become citizens of
4500-505: The 1980 census onwards. Between the 1910 and 1940 censuses, " Hindu " was a census category for race, a term which is now associated with religion but then referred to South Asians in general. At the time, the South Asian American population was 85% Sikh, 12% Muslim, and 3% Hindu, but all were nevertheless referred to as Hindus. Midcentury liberalization of immigration law has led to more diverse migration from India, and
4625-663: The 1990–1999 period. At 16.4% of the Asian population, Indian Americans make up the third largest Asian-American ethnic group, following Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans . A joint Duke University-UC Berkeley study revealed that Indian immigrants have founded more engineering and technology companies from 1995 to 2005 than immigrants from the United Kingdom, China, Taiwan, and Japan combined. The percentage of Silicon Valley startups founded by Indian immigrants has increased from 7% in 1999 to 15.5% in 2006, as reported in
4750-653: The 1999 study by AnnaLee Saxenian and her updated work in 2006 in collaboration with Vivek Wadhwa . Indian Americans have risen to top positions at many major companies (e.g., IBM, PepsiCo, MasterCard, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, Adobe, Softbank, Cognizant, Sun Microsystems.) A 2014 study indicates that 23% of Indian business school graduates take a job in the United States. Indian Americans continually outpace every other ethnic group socioeconomically per U.S. census statistics. Thomas Friedman of The New York Times , in his 2005 book The World Is Flat , explains this trend in terms of brain drain , whereby
4875-451: The 2011 book Steve Jobs: A Biography the author writes that Jobs first read the Autobiography as a teenager. He re-read it in India and later while preparing for a trip, he downloaded it onto his iPad2 and then re-read it once a year ever since. Jon Anderson was inspired by Paramahansa Yogananda and his book Autobiography of a Yogi when he wrote Tales From Topographic Oceans India national cricket team captain, Virat Kohli said that
5000-588: The 20th Century" by a panel of spiritual authors convened by Philip Zaleski and HarperCollins publishers. Autobiography of a Yogi is the most popular among Yogananda's books. According to Philip Goldberg, who wrote American Veda , "the Self-Realization Fellowship which represents Yogananda's Legacy, is justified in using the slogan, 'The Book that Changed the Lives of Millions.' It has sold more than four million copies and counting". In 2006,
5125-429: The 20th Century". Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs ordered 500 copies of the book, for each guest at his memorial to be given a copy. It was also one of Elvis Presley's favorite books, and one he gave out often. The book has been regularly reprinted and is known as "the book that changed the lives of millions". A documentary about his life commissioned by SRF, Awake: The Life of Yogananda , was released in 2014. He remains
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5250-703: The American Hindu population was around 2.2 million. Hindus form the plurality religious group among the Indian American community. Many organizations such as ISKCON , Swaminarayan Sampradaya , BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha , Chinmaya Mission , and Swadhyay Pariwar are well-established in the U.S. and Hindu Americans have formed the Hindu American Foundation which represents American Hindus and aim to educate people about Hinduism . Swami Vivekananda brought Hinduism to
5375-661: The FBI and the British authorities, who were concerned about the growing independence movement in India. A confidential file was kept on him from 1926 to 1937 due to concern over his religious and moral practices. Philip Goldberg's biography describes Yogananda as being up against a perfect storm of America's worst defects: media sensationalism , religious bigotry, ethnic stereotyping, paternalism, sexual anxiety, and brazen racism. In 1928, Yogananda received unfavorable publicity in Miami, and
5500-537: The Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA) to represent a network of Indian Christian organizations in the U.S. FIACONA estimates the Indian American Christian population to be 1,050,000. The Syro-Malabar Church, an Eastern Catholic Church, native to India since the 1st century, established St. Thomas Syro-Malabar diocese of Chicago was established in
5625-558: The Great Mausoleum (normally closed off to visitors but Yogananda's tomb is accessible) in Glendale, California . There are differing accounts of his death. The medical verdict was "acute coronary occlusion", i.e., a heart attack. According to other accounts, Self-Realization disciples claim that their teacher entered mahasamadhi (a yogi's conscious exit from the body). In 1917, Yogananda, in India, "began his life's work with
5750-656: The Indian population surpassed one-third of Monroe Township's population, and the nickname Edison -South had developed, in reference to the Little India stature of both Middlesex County, New Jersey townships . In 2014, 12,350 Indians legally immigrated to the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA core based statistical area; As of February 2022, Indian airline carrier Air India as well as United States airline carrier United Airlines were offering direct flights from
5875-555: The Jain community in United States does not find sectarian differences—both Digambara and Śvētāmbara share a common roof. Hasan Minhaj , Fareed Zakaria , Aziz Ansari , and Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan are few well-known Indian American Muslims. Indian Muslim Americans also congregate with other American Muslims , including those from Pakistan , Bangladesh , Nepal , Sri Lanka , Bhutan , and Myanmar when there are events particularly related to their faith and religious believes as
6000-451: The Kriya technique to Lahiri Mahasaya , who taught it to his disciple, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri , Yogananda's Guru. Yogananda gave a general description of Kriya Yoga in his Autobiography : "The Kriya Yogi mentally directs his life energy to revolve, upward and downward, around the six spinal centers (medullary, cervical, dorsal, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal plexuses) which correspond to
6125-658: The Miami city manager and Chief Quigg "recognized the fact that the swami was a British subject and apparently an educated man, but unfortunately he was what is considered in this part of the country a coloured man." Given the South's cultural mores, he noted, "the swami was in great danger of suffering bodily harm from the populace." In 1929, Yogananda was sued by his long-time friend Basu Kumar Bagchi, who had been initiated as Swami Dhirananda by Yogananda in 1911 and had come to help Yogananda teach in America. Bagchi claimed that they had
6250-738: The Middle East; he undertook visits to other living Western saints like Therese Neumann , the Catholic Stigmatist of Konnersreuth , and places of spiritual significance: Assisi, Italy to honor St. Francis , the Athenian temples of Greece and prison cell of Socrates , the Holy Land of Palestine and the regions of the Ministry of Jesus , and Cairo, Egypt to view the ancient Pyramids. In August 1935, he arrived in India at
6375-666: The State of New Jersey legally designated October of every year to be Hindu Heritage Month. From the time of their arrival to the U.S. in the late 1800s, Sikh women and men have been making notable contributions to American society. In 2007, there were estimated to be between 250,000 and 500,000 Sikhs living in the United States, with largest populations living on the East and West Coasts, together with smaller additional populations in Detroit , Chicago , and Austin . The United States also has
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#17327939087566500-762: The U.S. also helped develop interest in Eastern religions in the U.S. and would result in its influence on American philosophies such as transcendentalism . Swami Vivekananda arriving in Chicago at the World's Fair led to the establishment of the Vedanta Society . Escaping from racist attacks in Canada, Sikhs migrated to Pacific Coast U.S. states in the 1900s to work in the lumber mills of Bellingham and Everett, Washington . Sikh workers were later concentrated on
6625-527: The U.S. illegally. By 1920, the population of Americans of Indian descent was approximately 6,400. In 1923, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind that Indians were ineligible for citizenship because they were not "free white persons." The court also argued that the "great body of our people" would reject assimilation with Indians. Furthermore,
6750-700: The U.S., effectively reversing the Supreme Court's 1923 ruling in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind . The Naturalization Act of 1952, also known as the McCarran-Walter Act , repealed the Barred Zone Act of 1917, but limited immigration from the former Barred Zone to a total of 2,000 per year. In 1910, 95% of all Indian Americans lived on the western coast of the United States. In 1920, that proportion decreased to 75%; by 1940, it
6875-442: The US in October 1936. In late 1936, Yogananda's ship arrived in New York harbor, passing the Statue of Liberty ; he and his companions then drove in his Ford car across the continental US back to his Mount Washington, California , headquarters. Rejoined with his American disciples, he continued to lecture, write, and establish centers in southern California. He took up residence at the SRF hermitage in Encinitas, California , which
7000-401: The US in mid-1936. According to his autobiography, in June 1936, after having a vision of Krishna , he had a supernatural encounter with the resurrected form of his guru, Sri Yukteswar, while in a room at the Regent Hotel in Mumbai. During the experience, in which Yogananda physically grasped and held onto his guru's solid form, Sri Yukteswar explained that he now served as a spiritual guide on
7125-401: The United States aboard the ship "The City of Sparta" on a two-month voyage that landed near Boston by late September. He spoke at the International Congress in early October and was well received; later that year he founded Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) to disseminate worldwide his teachings on India's ancient practices and philosophy of Yoga and its tradition of meditation. Yogananda spent
7250-525: The United States during the American colonial era. In particular, court records from the 1700s indicate a number of "East Indians" were held as slaves in Maryland and Delaware. Upon freedom, they are said to have blended into the free African American population , considered " mulattoes ". Three brothers from "modern day India or Pakistan" received their freedom in 1710 and married into a Native American tribe in Virginia. The present-day Nansemond people trace their lineage to this intermarriage. In 1850,
7375-467: The United States in the 20th century. Jain immigration became more significant in the second half of the 20th century. The U.S. has since become the epicenter of the Jain diaspora. Jains in America are also one of the highest-earning socio-economic adherents of any religion in the United States. The Federation of Jain Associations in North America is an umbrella organization of local American and Canadian Jain congregations. Unlike India and United Kingdom,
7500-447: The United States, but terms such as "American Indian" remain among indigenous as well as non-indigenous populations. Since the 1980s, Indian Americans have been categorized as "Asian Indian" (within the broader subgroup of Asian American ) by the U.S. Census Bureau . While "East Indian" remains in use, the term "Indian" and " South Asian " is often chosen instead for academic and governmental purposes. Indian Americans are included in
7625-399: The United States. In the Americas , the term "Indians" had historically been used to describe indigenous people since European colonization in the 15th century. Qualifying terms such as " American Indian " and "East Indian" were and still are commonly used in order to avoid ambiguity. The U.S. government has since coined the term "Native American" in reference to the indigenous people of
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#17327939087567750-432: The United States. The website USIndian.org has collected a comprehensive list of all the traditional St. Thomas Christian Churches in the U.S. There are also Catholic Indians hailing originally from Goa , Karnataka and Kerala, who attend the same services as other American Catholics , but may celebrate the feast of Saint Francis Xavier as a special event of their identity. The Indian Christian Americans have formed
7875-567: The United States. According to 2023 Pew Research Center research, 48% consider themselves Hindu, 15% as Christian (7% Catholic, 4% Evangelical Protestant, 4% Nonevangelical Protestant), 18% as unaffiliated , 8% as Muslims, 8% as Sikh, and 3% as a member of another religion. The first religious center of an Indian religion to be established in the U.S. was a Sikh Gurudwara in Stockton, California in 1912. Today there are many Sikh Gurudwaras, Hindu temples, Muslim mosques, Christian churches, and Buddhist and Jain temples in all 50 states. As of 2008,
8000-401: The United States. As of 2012, they had groups in nearly every major American city. His "plain living and high thinking" principles attracted people from all backgrounds among his followers. He published his Autobiography of a Yogi in 1946 to critical and commercial acclaim. It has sold over four million copies, with Harper San Francisco listing it as one of the "100 best spiritual books of
8125-469: The United States. His discourses taught of the "unity of 'the original teachings of Jesus Christ and the original Yoga taught by Bhagavan Krishna .'" In 1920, he founded the Self-Realization Fellowship and in 1925 established in Los Angeles, California, US, the international headquarters for SRF. Yogananda wrote the Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You and God Talks With Arjuna – The Bhagavad Gita to explain his belief in
8250-479: The West at the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions . The Vedanta Society has been important in subsequent Parliaments. In September 2021, the State of New Jersey aligned with the World Hindu Council to declare October as Hindu Heritage Month. Today, many Hindu temples , most of them built by Indian Americans, have emerged in different cities and towns in the United States. More than 18 million Americans are now practicing some form of Yoga . Kriya Yoga
8375-586: The age of 17, he met his guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri ; 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: "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
8500-416: The age of 46 while he was suffering from depression. Another student, Yellapragada Subbarow , moved to the U.S. in 1922. He became a biochemist at Harvard University , and he "discovered the function of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as an energy source in cells, and developed methotrexate for the treatment of cancer." However, being a foreigner, he was refused tenure at Harvard. Gobind Behari Lal , who went to
8625-449: The banquet, Yogananda spoke of India and America, their contributions to world peace and human progress, and their future co-operation, expressing his hope for a "United World" that would combine the best qualities of "efficient America" and "spiritual India". According to his direct disciple and eventual head of the SRF Daya Mata , who was present at the banquet, as Yogananda ended his speech, he read from his poem My India , concluding with
8750-414: The case of Paramahansa Yogananda is unique in our experience." Rowe wrote that Yogananda's body was embalmed approximately twenty-four hours after his death. On March 26 a barely noticeable desiccation on his nose was seen and on March 27 Rowe noted that Yogananda's body looked fresh and unravaged by decay as it did on the day of his death. Yogananda's remains are interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in
8875-405: The census grouping of South Asian Americans , which includes Bangladeshi Americans , Bhutanese Americans , Indo-Caribbean Americans , Maldivian Americans , Nepalese Americans , Pakistani Americans , and Sri Lankan Americans . Beginning in the 17th century, members of the East India Company would bring Indian servants to the American colonies . There were also some East Indian slaves in
9000-587: The claim. According to Watanabe of the Los Angeles Times, G. Michael Still said "the results would prevent Erskine from claiming standing in court to seek any inheritance, copyright assets or the disinterment of the guru's body." In 1935, he returned to India via ocean liner , along with two of his Western students, to visit his guru, Sri Yukteswar Giri, and to help establish his Yogoda Satsanga work in India. While enroute, his ship detoured in Europe and
9125-456: The court ruled that based on popular understanding of race, the term "white person" referred to people of northern or western European ancestry rather than "Caucasians" in the most technical sense. Over fifty Indians had their citizenship revoked after this decision, but Sakharam Ganesh Pandit fought against denaturalization . He was a lawyer and married to a white American, and he regained his citizenship in 1927. However, no other naturalization
9250-670: The demographic mix in the U.S. Not all Indian Americans came directly from India; some moved to the U.S. via Indian communities in other countries , including the United Kingdom , Canada , South Africa , the former British colonies of East Africa , (namely Kenya , Tanzania , and Uganda , Mauritius ), the Asia-Pacific region ( Malaysia , Singapore , Australia , and Fiji ), and the Caribbean ( Guyana , Trinidad and Tobago , Suriname , and Jamaica ). From 1965 until
9375-419: The devotee's life." Yogananda wrote in Autobiography of a Yogi that the "actual technique should be learned from an authorized Kriyaban (Kriya Yogi) of Self-Realization Fellowship /Yogoda Satsanga Society of India." In 1946, Yogananda published his life story, Autobiography of a Yogi . It has since been translated into 45 languages. In 1999, it was designated one of the "100 Most Important Spiritual Books of
9500-561: The early 20th century, a range of state and federal laws restricted Indian immigration and the rights of Indian immigrants in the U.S. Throughout the 1910s, American nativist organizations campaigned to end immigration from India, culminating in the passage of the Asiatic Barred Zone Act in 1917. In 1913, the Alien Land Act of California prevented non-citizens from owning land. However, Asian immigrants got around
9625-471: The federal census of St. Johns County, Florida , listed a 40-year-old draftsman named John Dick, whose birthplace was listed as " Hindostan ", living in city of St. Augustine . His race is listed as white, suggesting he was of British descent. By 1900, there were more than 2,000 Indian Sikhs living in the United States, primarily in California . At least one scholar has set the level lower, finding
9750-431: The first Indian American senator in the history of the United States. In 2021, she became the first Indian American vice president. She was elected vice president as the running mate of President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election . This was a major milestone in Indian American history, and in addition to Harris, another 20 Indian Americans were nominated to key positions in the administration. According to
9875-531: The first known Indian to gain naturalized U.S. citizenship. As a Parsi , he was considered a "pure member of the Persian sect" and therefore a "free white person." In 1910, judge Emile Henry Lacombe of the Southern District of New York gave Balsara citizenship on the hope that the United States attorney would indeed challenge his decision and appeal it to create "an authoritative interpretation" of
10000-432: The following account in his Autobiography of a Yogi . While in deep prayer in his room, he received a surprise visit from Mahavatar Babaji , the foremost guru of his lineage, who told him directly that he was the one chosen to spread Kriya Yoga to the West. Reassured and uplifted, Yogananda soon afterwards accepted the offer to go to Boston. This account became a standard feature of his lectures. In August 1920, he left for
10125-481: The founding of a 'how-to-live' school for boys, where modern educational methods were combined with yoga training and instruction in spiritual ideals." In 1920 "he was invited to serve as India's delegate to an International Congress of Religious Liberals convening in Boston. His address to the Congress, on 'The Science of Religion,' was enthusiastically received." For the next several years he lectured and taught across
10250-445: The harmony and oneness of original Christianity as taught by Jesus Christ and original Yoga as taught by Bhagavan Krishna; and to present that these principles of truth are the common scientific foundation of all true religions. Yogananda wrote down his Aims and Ideals for Self-Realization Fellowship /Yogoda Satsanga Society : In his published work, The Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons , Yogananda gives "his in-depth instruction in
10375-498: The large number of migrations to the U.S. primarily from the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu in South India. There are sizable populations of people from the states of Punjab , Andhra Pradesh , Maharashtra , Telangana , Gujarat , West Bengal , Karnataka , Kerala , and Tamil Nadu in the United States. Indians comprise over 80% of all H-1B visas . Indian Americans have risen to become
10500-566: The largest Indian American population of any individual city in North America, estimated at 246,454 as of 2017. Monroe Township , Middlesex County , in central New Jersey , ranked the safest small city in the United States, has displayed one of the fastest growth rates of its Indian population in the Western Hemisphere , increasing from 256 (0.9%) as of the 2000 Census to an estimated 5,943 (13.6%) as of 2017, representing
10625-530: The law can natives of British India be regarded as white persons." After the Immigration Act of 1917 , Indian immigration into the U.S. decreased. Illegal entry through the Mexican border became the way of entering the country for Punjabi immigrants. California's Imperial Valley had a large population of Punjabis who assisted these immigrants and provided support. Immigrants were able to blend in with this relatively homogenous population. The Ghadar Party ,
10750-479: The law. The U.S. attorney adhered to Lacombe's wishes and took the matter to the Circuit Court of Appeals in 1910. The Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that Parsis are classified as white. On the same grounds, another federal court decision granted citizenship to A. K. Mozumdar . These decisions contrasted with the 1907 declaration by U.S. Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte : "...under no construction of
10875-411: The low tolerance in the U.S. for Indians and Sikhs, who were called " Hindoos " by locals. While anti-Asian racism was embedded in U.S. politics and culture in the early 20th century, Indians were also racialized for their anticolonialism, with U.S. officials, who pushed for Western imperial expansion abroad, casting them as a "Hindu" menace. Although labeled Hindu, the majority of Indians were Sikh. In
11000-476: The mid-1990s, long-term immigration from India averaged about 40,000 people per year. From 1995 onward, the flow of Indian immigration increased significantly, reaching a high of about 90,000 immigrants in the year 2000. The beginning of the 21st century marked a significant wave in the migration trend from India to the United States. The emergence of Information Technology industry in Indian cities as Bangalore , Chennai , Pune , Mumbai , and Hyderabad led to
11125-563: The monastic title of Paramahansa , meaning "supreme swan" and indicating the highest spiritual attainment. This title formally superseded his previous title of "swami". In March 1936, upon Yogananda's return to Calcutta after visiting Brindaban, Sri Yukteswar died (or, in the yogic tradition, attained mahasamadhi ) at his hermitage in Puri . After conducting his guru's funeral rites, Yogananda continued to teach, conduct interviews, and meet with friends for several months, before planning to return to
11250-411: The mortuary director, added: "The absence of any visual signs of decay … offers the most extraordinary case in our experience.... This state of perfect preservation of a body is, so far as we know from mortuary annals, an unparalleled one.... Yogananda's body was apparently in a phenomenal state of immutability.... No odor of decay emanated from his body at any time.... For these reasons we state again that
11375-468: The most extraordinary case in our experience... No physical disintegration was visible in his body even twenty days after death... No indication of mold was visible on his skin, and no visible drying up took place in the bodily tissues. This state of perfect preservation of a body is, so far as we know from mortuary annals, an unparalleled one... No odour of decay emanated from his body at any time... On another note, according to Catherine Wessinger, "the body
11500-426: The new president of the Self-Realization Fellowship, "performed a sacred ritual releasing the body to God." According to the book Divine Interventions: True Stories of Mysteries and Miracles That Change Lives , for three weeks after his death Yogananda's body "showed no signs of physical deterioration and 'his unchanged face shone with the divine luster of incorruptibility.'" A notarized letter from Harry T. Rowe,
11625-551: The next four years in Boston; in the interim, he lectured and taught on the East Coast and in 1924 embarked on a cross-continental speaking tour. Thousands came to his lectures. During this time he attracted a number of celebrity followers, including soprano Amelita Galli-Curci , tenor Vladimir Rosing and Clara Clemens Gabrilowitsch , the daughter of Mark Twain . In 1925, he established an international center for Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles, California, which became
11750-544: The only one he created to disseminate his teachings. A chief disciple of the yoga guru Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri , he was sent by his lineage to spread the teachings of yoga to the West. He immigrated to the US at the age of 27 to prove the unity between Eastern and Western religions and to preach a balance between Western material growth and Indian spirituality. His long-standing influence in the American yoga movement, and especially
11875-604: The other as an affiliated college of the University of Calcutta . This allowed him to spend time at Yukteswar's ashram in Serampore. In July 1915, several weeks after graduating from college, he took formal vows into the monastic Swami order; Sri Yukteswar allowed him to choose his own name: Swami Yogananda Giri. In 1917, Yogananda founded a school for boys in Dihika , West Bengal that combined modern educational techniques with yoga training and spiritual ideals. A year later,
12000-411: The person keeps persevering in the request to speak with God with devotion. He also claimed that God had spoken to him many times, apart from making miracles happen in his life. In the book, he claims that, "We may in a vision see a face of some divine/saintly being, or we may hear a Divine voice talking to us, and will know it is God. When our heart-call is intense, and we do not give up, God will come. It
12125-495: The police chief, Leslie Quigg, prohibited Yogananda from holding any further events. Quiggs said it was not due to a personal grudge against the Swami but rather in the interest of public order and Yogananda's own safety. Quigg had received veiled threats against Yogananda. According to Phil Goldberg: It turns out that Miami officials had summoned the British vice consulate to advise them on the matter ... One consulate officer said that
12250-688: The port of Mumbai , then called Bombay , and due to his fame in America, many photographers and journalists came to meet him during his short stay at the Taj Mahal Hotel . Upon taking a train eastward and reaching the Howrah Station near Kolkata (formerly Calcutta ), he was received by a huge crowd and a ceremonious procession led by his brother Bishnu Charan Ghosh and the Maharaja of Kasimbazar . Visiting Serampore, he had an emotional reunion with his guru, Sri Yukteswar – this meeting
12375-415: The practice of the highest yoga science of God-realization. That ancient science is embodied in the specific principles and meditation techniques of Kriya Yoga ." Yogananda taught his students the need for direct experience of truth, as opposed to blind belief. He said that "The true basis of religion is not belief, but intuitive experience. Intuition is the soul's power of knowing God. To know what religion
12500-587: The proportion of Sikhs amongst Indian Americans has fallen to 8%. In recent years, especially following the 1990 inception of the H-1B visa program and the dot-com boom , there has been a shift in the Indian American population from being dominated by immigrants from Gujarat and Punjab to being increasingly represented more broadly, including by immigrants from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana , Tamil Nadu , as well as immigrants from Kerala , Karnataka , and Maharashtra . Between 2010 and 2021, Telugu rose from being
12625-557: The publisher, Self-Realization Fellowship, honored the 60th anniversary of Autobiography of a Yogi "with a series of projects designed to promote the legacy of the man thousands of disciples still refer to as 'master'." Autobiography of a Yogi describes Yogananda's spiritual search for enlightenment, in addition to encounters with notable spiritual figures such as Therese Neumann , Anandamayi Ma , Vishuddhananda Paramahansa, Mohandas Gandhi , Nobel laureate in literature Rabindranath Tagore , noted plant scientist Luther Burbank (the book
12750-510: The railroads and began migrating to California; around 2,000 Indians were employed by the major rail lines such as Southern Pacific Railroad and Western Pacific Railroad between 1907 and 1908. Some white Americans, resentful of economic competition and the arrival of people from different cultures, responded to Sikh immigration with racism and violent attacks. The Bellingham riots in Bellingham, Washington on September 5, 1907, epitomized
12875-543: The richest ethnicity in America, with an average household income of $ 126,891, almost twice the U.S. average of $ 65,316. Since 2000, a large number of students have started migrating to the United States to pursue higher education. A variety of estimates state that over 500,000 Indian American students attend higher-education institutions in any given year. As per Institute of International Education (IIE) 'Opendoors' report, 202,014 new students from India enrolled in U.S. education institutions. In 2017, Kamala Harris became
13000-1093: The same can be applied for any other religious community, but there are prominent organizations such as the Indian Muslim Council – USA . New Jersey and New York contain notable numbers of mosques utilized by Muslims of Indian origin. There are many Indian Christian churches across the US, including India Pentecostal Church of God , Assemblies of God in India , Church of God (Full Gospel) in India , Church of South India , Church of North India , Christhava Tamil Koil, The Pentecostal Mission , Sharon Pentecostal Church, Independent Non Denominational Churches like Heavenly Feast, Plymouth Brethren . Saint Thomas Christians ( Syro-Malabar Church , Syro-Malankara Catholic Church , Chaldean Syrian Church , Kanna Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church , Jacobite Syrian Christian Church , CSI Syrian Christians , Mar Thoma Syrian Church , Pentecostal Syrian Christians and St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India ) from Kerala have established their own places of worship across
13125-474: The same. From the 1990 census to the 2000 census, the Asian Indian population increased by 105.87%. Meanwhile, the U.S. population increased by only 7.6%. In 2000, the Indian-born population in the U.S. was 1.007 million. In 2006, of the 1,266,264 legal immigrants to the United States, 58,072 were from India. Between 2000 and 2006, 421,006 Indian immigrants were admitted to the U.S., up from 352,278 during
13250-679: The school calendar. Glen Rock, New Jersey in February 2015 became the first municipality in Bergen County , with its own burgeoning Indian population post-2010, to recognize Diwali as an annual school holiday, while thousands in Bergen County celebrated the first U.S. county -wide Diwali Mela festival under a unified sponsorship banner in 2016, while Fair Lawn in Bergen County has celebrated an internationally prominent annual Holi celebration since 2022. Diwali/Deepavali
13375-491: The school relocated to Ranchi . One of the school's first group of pupils was his youngest brother, Bishnu Charan Ghosh , who learned yoga asanas there and in turn taught asanas to Bikram Choudhury . This school would later become the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, the Indian branch of Yogananda's American organization, Self-Realization Fellowship. In his autobiography, Yogananda writes that he received
13500-595: The second highest Per Capita Incomes among Asian Americans of $ 72,389 which was second only to Taiwanese Americans. 75.1% of Indian Americans worked in Management, business, science, and arts occupations, this is compared to only 43.2% for the total population. Religious Makeup of Indian Americans (2018) Communities of Hindus , Christians , Muslims , Sikhs , irreligious people , and smaller numbers of Jains , Buddhists , Zoroastrians , and Indian Jews , have established their religious (or irreligious) beliefs in
13625-473: The sixth most spoken South Asian language to being the third most spoken, while Punjabi fell from being the fourth most spoken South Asian language in the United States to become the seventh most spoken. There are significant differences between these groups in terms of socioeconomic factors like education, geographic location, and income; in 2021, 81% of Americans speaking Telugu at home spoke English very well while only 59% of Americans speaking Punjabi at home did
13750-430: The spiritual and administrative heart of his growing work. Yogananda was the first Hindu teacher of yoga to spend a major portion of his life in America. He lived in the United States from 1920 to 1952, interrupted by an extended trip abroad in 1935–1936, and through his disciples he developed various temples and meditation centers around the world. Yogananda was put on a government watch list and kept under surveillance by
13875-409: The states of New Jersey (extending to Trenton ), Connecticut (extending to Bridgeport ), and including Pike County, Pennsylvania , was home to an estimated 711,174 uniracial Indian Americans as of the 2017 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau , comprising by far the largest Indian American population of any metropolitan area in the U.S. New York City itself also contains by far
14000-403: The system by having Anglo friends or their own U.S. born children legally own the land that they worked on. In some states, anti-miscegenation laws made it illegal for Indian men to marry white women. However, it was legal for "brown" races to mix. Many Indian men, especially Punjabi men, married Hispanic women, and Punjabi-Mexican marriages became a norm in the West. Bhicaji Balsara became
14125-489: The twelve astral signs of the zodiac, the symbolic Cosmic Man. One-half-minute of revolution of energy around the sensitive spinal cord of man effects subtle progress in his evolution; that half-minute of Kriya equals one year of natural spiritual unfoldment". Mrinalini Mata , a former president of SRF/YSS, said, "Kriya Yoga is so effective, so complete, because it brings God's love – the universal power through which God draws all souls back to reunion with Him – into operation in
14250-400: The vice president of 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. The nature of his father's job caused the family to move several times during Mukunda's childhood, including to Lahore , Bareilly , and Kolkata . According to Autobiography of
14375-518: The words "Where Ganges, woods, Himalayan caves, and men dream God—I am hallowed; my body touched that sod." Daya Mata stated that "as he uttered these words, he lifted his eyes to the Kutastha center, and his body slumped to the floor." His funeral service, with hundreds attending, was held at the SRF headquarters atop Mt. Washington in Los Angeles. Rajarsi Janakananda , who Yogananda chose to succeed him as
14500-623: The year 2001. St. Thomas day is celebrated in this church on July 3 every year. The large Parsi and Irani community is represented by the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America . Indian Jews are perhaps the smallest organized religious group among Indian Americans, consisting of approximately 350 members in the U.S. They form the Indian Jewish Congregation of USA, with their headquarters in New York City. Momentum has been growing to recognize
14625-531: The yoga culture of Los Angeles , led him to be considered by yoga experts as the "Father of Yoga in the West". He lived his last 32 years in the US. Yogananda was the among the first Indian teachers to settle in the US, and the first prominent Indian to be hosted in the White House (by President Calvin Coolidge in 1927); his early acclaim led to him being dubbed "the 20th century's first superstar guru" by
14750-682: Was 65%, as more Indian Americans moved to the East Coast. In that year, Indian Americans were registered residents in 43 states. The majority of Indian Americans on the west coast were in rural areas, but on the east coast they became residents of urban areas. In the 1940s, the prices of the land increased, and the Bracero program brought thousands of Mexican guest workers to work on farms, which helped shift second-generation Indian American farmers into "commercial, nonagricultural occupations, from running small shops and grocery stores, to operating taxi services and becoming engineers." In Stockton and Sacramento,
14875-445: Was a surprise gift from his advanced disciple Rajarsi Janakananda . It was at this hermitage that Yogananda wrote his famous Autobiography of a Yogi and other writings. Also, at this time he created an "enduring foundation for the spiritual and humanitarian work of Self‑Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India." In 1946, Yogananda took advantage of a change in immigration laws and applied for citizenship. His application
15000-605: Was approved in 1949, and he became a naturalized U.S. citizen. The last four years of his life were spent primarily in seclusion with some of his inner circle of disciples at his desert retreat in Twentynine Palms, California , to finish his writings and to finish revising books, articles and lessons written previously over the years. During this period he gave few interviews and public lectures. He told his close disciples, "I can do much more now to reach others with my pen." Yogananda began hinting to his disciples that it
15125-418: Was embalmed but emulsion was not applied to the skin." Indian-American Indian Americans are people with ancestry from India who are citizens or permanent residents of the United States or migrants of other types. The terms Asian Indian and East Indian are used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States , who are also referred to as "Indians" or "American Indians". With
15250-604: Was introduced to America by Paramahansa Yogananda . A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada initiated the popular ISKCON , also known as the Hare Krishna movement, while preaching Bhakti yoga . The Sai Baba mandir with the tallest indoor statue in the Western Hemisphere opened in Monroe Township , Middlesex County, New Jersey as the Om Sri Sai Balaji Temple in 2024. On October 30, 2024,
15375-1051: Was noted in detail by his Western student C. Richard Wright. During his stay in India, he saw his Ranchi boys' school become legally incorporated, and took a touring group to visit various locales: the Taj Mahal in Agra , the Chamundeshwari Temple in Mysore , Allahabad for the Kumbh Mela of January 1936, and Brindaban to visit an exalted disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Keshabananda . He also met various people who caught his interest: Mahatma Gandhi , whom he initiated into Kriya Yoga; woman-saint Anandamoyi Ma ; Giri Bala, an elderly yogi woman who survived without eating; renowned physicist Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman ; and several disciples of Sri Yukteswar's guru, Lahiri Mahasaya . While in India, Sri Yukteswar gave Yogananda
15500-422: Was permitted after the ruling, which led to about 3,000 Indians leaving the U.S. between 1920 and 1940. Many other Indians had no means of returning to India. In 1927, Sri Lankan lecturer Chandra Dharma Sena Gooneratne , then frequently erroneously referred to as Indian, delivered several lectures across the country pertaining chiefly to indology —often advocating for Indian independence within them. While in
15625-470: Was time for him to leave the world. According to Phil Goldberg, one example was what Yogananda said to Daya Mata just before the dinner, "Do you realize that it is just a matter of hours and I will be gone from this earth?" On March 7, 1952, he attended a dinner for the visiting Indian Ambassador to the U.S., Binay Ranjan Sen , and his wife at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. At the conclusion of
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