Autobiography of a Yogi

After six months in Sri Yukteswar’s ashram, Mukunda becomes restless and decides to visit Ram Gopal Muzumdar, a saint in the Himalayas known as the “sleepless saint.” Ram Gopal is not especially welcoming at first, rebuking him for failing to bow to the shrine at the temple, but after that he becomes more friendly and takes Mukunda to his cottage. The guru reveals that for the last 25 years, he has spent 20 hours a day in “yoga union” (157). In this state, he did not need any sleep because he was always with God. He says that one day, Mukunda will not need sleep either. At midnight, Ram Gopal falls silent, and Mukunda becomes aware that the room is filled with light. At dawn, Mukunda prepares to leave. Ram Gopal heals him of a pain in his back that had been troubling him for years. As he returns to Tarakeswar, Mukunda visits the temple again, and this time he makes sure that he prostrates himself before the altar.

Back at Sri Yukteswar’s ashram, the guru tells Mukunda that the Himalayan mountains cannot give him what he wants. He touches Mukunda above his heart, and his disciple instantly has an experience of divine illumination.