Who is this man?

Paramhansa (or Paramahansa) Yogananda (5 January 1893 - 7 March 1952) was an Indian yogi and guru who introduced millions of westerners and Indians to meditation and kriya yoga. His book "Autobiography of a Yogi" remains a spiritual masterpiece and was included in the 100 best spiritual books of the 21th century. He was the first Indian teacher to come to America (1920) and substantially remain there for the rest of his life, (he made one trip back to India for his guru's passing) purchasing a property in Los Angeles in 1925 and basing his organization there until his death in 1952. There are two major organizations that disseminate his work: Self-Realization Fellowship, which he founded, and Ananda (bliss) started by his American disciple Swami Kriyananda.

His lifetime work was to "disseminate among the nations a knowledge of definite scientific techniques for attaining direct personal experience of God...and to teach that the purpose of life is the evolution, through self-effort, of man's limited consciousness into (cosmic) consciousness."