This is something I don't personally know anything about and so the information came as something new to me. If anyone has information to add to this (to verify or disprove) I would be interested in hearing from you.
I received a tip from someone who had some ancient information concerning someone who was in SRF in the 1930's and 40's. I know, it sounds very cryptic but this is all anonymous and confidential and so forth, so I can only say I got the scuttlebutt. The names were known and recognizable and so I looked into the tip. (I Know, I Know, it sounds like something from a Nancy Drew novel,
You can file this under rumors, as I cannot give any first hand information, it is just a tip from an undercover informant. I do not have the authority to release the source who wants to remain anonymous. I can say that the source was someone close to the information. (Yikes! this sounds like a spy novel!)
"Bond, James Bond..."
Anyway..
The tip I received (which appears to be pretty authentic) said that Yogananda had a ghost writer writing for him named Warnack. Warnack was a professional writer who worshipped Yogananda (Literally). There is a claim of an eye witness report that this ghost writer wrote the Autobiography (which was later edited and embellished on by Laurie Pratt) and other materials.
There were actually teams of people involved in editing and writing, but the notes were organized and the text written by this man Warnack (according to the informant who contacted me using the Bat-signal).
The name Warnack, didn't ring any bells for me but I did find that there was a religion writer for the Los Angeles times until 1938 named James Warnack. In a google search, his name came up on an Ananda site.
Using this information I looked in the EAST WEST magazine and I found many poems and articles by him. This of course doesn't prove anything, but it is an interesting coincidence to be sure.
Articles in Los Angeles Times 1938
His Own Book :
SOUL SYMPHONIES by James Warnack
published in 1928 by James Warnack
The introduction is by Swami Dhirananda
Book of Spiritual poems
EAST WEST:
Excerpts from articles written for East West:
GOD’S GRANDEST POEM
—By James Warnack
... Peak piled on peak, tier after tier, stretching out and away forever, a cosmic theater in which the gods may sit to watch the human drama; baby foothills smiling in their sleep; tiny stars flung by the glacier gods from a towering precipice; lofty redwoods everlastingly young, and barren trees on brown hills dreaming of the days when they were green; footprints of giants in the boulders; sweet azaleas whispering fragrant secrets to the streams; mariposa lilies, embraced by ardent love-vines, peeping from crevices in the rocks, and breathing, singing bits of blue sky flitting among the trees at dawn—that is Yosemite.
And the rose replied: "You love me because I am the symbol of the beauty and fragrance of your soul."
I saw a lily leaning over to admire the reflection of her face in a limpid lake, and I said: "Why do I love you, fair flower?"
And the lily said: "I represent the purity of your inner self."
I heard a lark caroling in the meadow, and I said: "Why do you thrill me, beautiful bird?"...
EAST WEST
And the dream flew straight from the Dreamer’s heart, like a bird from its home in the heart of the hills. And strange was the dream of the Infinite One, for He thought that He, Who had ever been lonely, was espoused to a Goddess, divine as Himself—and He called her the Holy One. Trembling with joy, the Spirit drew near Her, till His breath was on Her lips, and She nestled close to His mighty heart. And in the silence She conceived and gave Her Lord a Son. Gentle and fair and innocent was he, and yet he had a wisdom above worlds. His thoughts were like the lilies of the valley, and his face was radiant as a new-born dawn....
EAST WEST
....
..The Western mind, which considers such ways of approaching the Supreme Being to be not in keeping with the spirit of reverence, should strive to remember that, to the Hindu, "Brahma" is everywhere, at all times, imminent and pre-eminent,—and that He is called "Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, Friend," all in a breath, and—to the Hindu—not inconsistently.
When the Hindu sings, "I am the bubble, make me the Sea" (one of Yogananda’s favorite original songs), he is praying not for absorption in the sense of self-destruction (as is erroneously imagined by many critics of Hindu thought), but rather, he is seeking the expansion of the personal self into the greater Self, his own true Selfhood., "Nirvana," instead of meaning a state of nothingness, means, instead, a consciousness of the All-ness of life—a difference so vast as to be incalculable by finite mind.
One soul, out of many thousands, reaches in this phase of existence what the Hindus call the state of "Samadhi." When that height of development is at last the reward of many centuries of God-craving, the man becomes a "Master." Swami Yogananda is a Master of Masters, a Swami of Swamis. He cannot be compared with lesser teachers. Every line in "Whispers From Eternity" tells a story of greatness. One has only to read these prayer-demands, in order to feel a definite spiritual growth within himself. The book cannot be recommended too highly.
EAST WEST
Reflection
—By James Warnack
I SAW a wild rose bending over to kiss the stream that sang its love to her, and I asked: "Why do you charm me, sweet rose?"And the rose replied: "You love me because I am the symbol of the beauty and fragrance of your soul."
I saw a lily leaning over to admire the reflection of her face in a limpid lake, and I said: "Why do I love you, fair flower?"
And the lily said: "I represent the purity of your inner self."
I heard a lark caroling in the meadow, and I said: "Why do you thrill me, beautiful bird?"...
EAST WEST
A DREAM OF THE EVERLASTING
—BY JAMES M. WARNACK
In majesty, walking the fields of Forever, in darkness and silence and space never-ending, the Infinite One grew weary and lonely, and paused for a moment to rest and to dream. For the Spirit of Life, including all things, comprehends even dreams and illusions.And the dream flew straight from the Dreamer’s heart, like a bird from its home in the heart of the hills. And strange was the dream of the Infinite One, for He thought that He, Who had ever been lonely, was espoused to a Goddess, divine as Himself—and He called her the Holy One. Trembling with joy, the Spirit drew near Her, till His breath was on Her lips, and She nestled close to His mighty heart. And in the silence She conceived and gave Her Lord a Son. Gentle and fair and innocent was he, and yet he had a wisdom above worlds. His thoughts were like the lilies of the valley, and his face was radiant as a new-born dawn....
EAST WEST
And his review of Whispers..
REVIEW OF SWAMI YOGANANDA’S BOOK OF GLORIOUS PRAYERS
—BY JAMES W. WARNACK
....
..The Western mind, which considers such ways of approaching the Supreme Being to be not in keeping with the spirit of reverence, should strive to remember that, to the Hindu, "Brahma" is everywhere, at all times, imminent and pre-eminent,—and that He is called "Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, Friend," all in a breath, and—to the Hindu—not inconsistently.
When the Hindu sings, "I am the bubble, make me the Sea" (one of Yogananda’s favorite original songs), he is praying not for absorption in the sense of self-destruction (as is erroneously imagined by many critics of Hindu thought), but rather, he is seeking the expansion of the personal self into the greater Self, his own true Selfhood., "Nirvana," instead of meaning a state of nothingness, means, instead, a consciousness of the All-ness of life—a difference so vast as to be incalculable by finite mind.
One soul, out of many thousands, reaches in this phase of existence what the Hindus call the state of "Samadhi." When that height of development is at last the reward of many centuries of God-craving, the man becomes a "Master." Swami Yogananda is a Master of Masters, a Swami of Swamis. He cannot be compared with lesser teachers. Every line in "Whispers From Eternity" tells a story of greatness. One has only to read these prayer-demands, in order to feel a definite spiritual growth within himself. The book cannot be recommended too highly.
EAST WEST
Peace and Best wishes,
Katie
Katie
UPDATE:
This information came from a reader. I do not have personal knowledge of it's validity. I am adding it for anyone who may want to do their own research into the matter.
According to this reader:
James Warnack died in 1974 at age 95 in Escondito California. Escondito is near Encinitas where The Autobiography of a Yogi was completed.
Update:
I received an email saying that the Autobiography notes were sent off to a Ghostwriting firm in the midwest. The person writing the E-mail referred to it as a rumor and did not know the name of the company. We may never know what happened here, but I suspect that Warnack wrote the notes (This has an eye witness report) and the notes may have been sent off for rewrite and editing by someone else.
