The Life of Paramahansa Yogananda’s First Spiritual Successor
This book tells the story of James J. Lynn, a man who achieved tremendous success in the material world, and, at the same time, became a God-illumined saint. This expanded edition includes a detailed account of his dramatic life story and more than 60 pages of excerpts from Paramahansa Yogananda’s personal correspondence with him—words of guidance and love that offer glimpses of the intimate spiritual accord they shared, and powerfully conveys the depth of the guru-disciple relationship.
Rajarsi Janakananda (James J. Lynn) was a beloved and highly advanced disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, and first successor to him as president and spiritual head of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India from 1952 until his passing in 1955. Born in Louisiana in 1892, he rose from a poverty-stricken boyhood to become a self-made millionaire and one of the most successful business executives in America. Mr. Lynn first received Kriya Yoga initiation from Paramahansaji in 1932 in Kansas City; his spiritual advancement was so swift that the Guru lovingly referred to him as “Saint Lynn,” until bestowing on him the monastic title of Rajarsi Janakananda when he was initiated as a swami in the ancient order of renunciation in 1951. 
