There is a reason Steve Jobs read Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda close to forty times throughout his lifetime. Plus, he gave five hundred copies away to guests at the conclusion of his funeral service.
In 1974, Jobs made a pilgrimage to India with friend Daniel Kottke. “I’d been turned on to the idea of enlightenment and trying to figure out who I was and how I fit into things.” While in India, Jobs was initiated by Haidakhan Babaji, a legendary religious teacher, who told him he came to Earth to enlighten and advance the planet. Jobs said of the trip, “There was a copy there of Autobiography of a Yogi in English that the previous traveler had left, and I read it several times because there was not a lot to do, and I walked from village to village and recovered from dysentery.” “The people in the Indian countryside don’t use their intellect like we do, they use their intuition instead, and their intuition is far more developed than in the rest of the world. Intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect, in my opinion. That had a big impact on my work.”
Autobiography of a Yogi follows Paramahansa Yogananda’s adventures seeking enlightenment through swamis and saints he encounters, his guru Sri Yukteswar, the Immortal Babaji, and Kriya Yoga Science. Throughout the book, magical, mysterious, and miraculous healings take place, his guru appears in multiple spots at the same time, and resurrects himself from the dead in front of Yogananda. The book is all about realizing one’s true soul essence through the consistent and persistent practice of Kriya Yoga. True peace and bliss can be attained in a lifetime. You can be liberated and awaken to higher states of consciousness. Sri Yukteswar stated, “Kriya Yoga is an instrument which human evolution can be quickened.” In Autobiography of a Yogi Yogananda says, “The goal of Yoga science is to calm the mind, that without distortion it may hear the infallible counsel of the Inner Voice.” “Intuition is soul guidance, appearing naturally in man during those instances when his mind is calm.”
Steve Jobs was a lifelong meditator, seeker, and artist. He was able to make the impossible possible, and foresee the future with such clairvoyance, focus, and with determined intensity which no one else possessed in his field. Where Paramahansa Yogananda used all of his life force energy to turn others inward and towards self-realization, Jobs used all of his life force energy to advance human civilization through technology. Autobiography of a Yogi taught him everything and anything is possible, and intuition and soul consciousness leads to peak moments of inspiration and creativity. Yogananda taught him any human feat can magically be achieved. The highest form of learning does not come from intellect or rational mind. Steve was greatly aware of this and it manifests in his products. He broke down old paradigms and belief systems which needed to go. This was done via his work as he remolded reality. Without Autobiography of a Yogi, Steve Jobs would not have accomplished everything he did.