The Book of Life: Everyone's Commonsense Guide to the Purposeful Living and Spiritual Growth Into the 21st Century and Beyond Paperback – 1 January 1997

Roy Eugene Davis was born in 1931 in Leavittsburg, Ohio, approximately 40 miles south of Cleveland, and grew up in a farming community. In his early teenage years he frequented the public library, reading books on psychology, philosophy, and yoga. When he was 18 years of age, he read Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi and immediately sensed a spiritual connection with Yogananda and the kriya yoga tradition. In December 1949, he traveled to Los Angeles, California, to meet his guru (teacher) and was accepted for monastic discipleship training. Mr. Davis was ordained by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1951 and was appointed as the minister of the Phoenix, Arizona, Self-Realization Fellowship Center in March 1952. In late 1953, aware of a need to learn to live effectively in the secular world, he withdrew from the organization--but not from his relationship with the kriya yoga tradition or his commitment to serve. After 2 years in the U.S. Army Medical Corps at Fort Riley, Kansas, he began his mission as an independent teacher. Since then, he has taught in more than 100 cities in North America and in Japan, Brazil, Europe, West Africa, and India. Some of his books are published in 10 languages and in 11 countries. He is also the publisher of Truth Journal magazine and writes monthly lessons for CSA members around the world.