William Walker Atkinson's 1906 systematic course in Raja Yoga, written under the Yogi Ramacharaka pseudonym, presenting twelve graded lessons on the 'I AM' consciousness, mental discipline, will-development, concentration, and meditation. The framework borrows from Patanjali's eight-limbed structure but recasts it in the language of New Thought psychology — concentration as a trainable mental faculty, will as the executive function of the higher self.
The lessons originally appeared as monthly instalments issued by the Yogi Publication Society in Chicago between October 1905 and September 1906, then collected into the present volume. Philip Deslippe's scholarship has established Atkinson as the author behind the Ramacharaka persona, clarifying that the 'Yogi' framing was a marketing device rather than a transmission lineage from an Indian teacher. The book is read alongside Vivekananda's 1896 Raja Yoga as one of the two primary English-language entry points to Patanjali in the early twentieth century.
When the soul sees itself as a Centre surrounded by its circumference—when the Sun knows that it is a Sun, surrounded by its whirling planets—then is it ready for the Wisdom and Power of the Masters.
Frontispiece
First lines
In India, the Candidates for Initiation into the science of "Raja Yoga," when they apply to the Yogi Masters for instruction, are given a series of lessons designed to enlighten them regarding the nature of the Real Self, and to instruct them in the secret knowledge whereby they may develop the consciousness and realization of the real "I" within them.
Contents
The "I"
The Ego's Mental Tools
The Expansion of the Self
Mental Control
The Cultivation of Attention
Cultivation of Perception
The Unfoldment of Consciousness
The Highlands and Lowlands of Mind
The Mental Planes
Sub-Consciousing
Sub-Conscious Character Building
Sub-Conscious Influences
Reception
One of Atkinson's most influential pseudonymous outputs and a key vehicle through which Raja Yoga vocabulary entered American New Thought decades before Indological scholarship reached general readers. Read alongside Vivekananda's 1896 Raja Yoga as one of the two primary English-language entry points to Patanjali in the early 20th century. Indologists have long noted that Atkinson's presentation is more New Thought than classical Yoga; Philip Deslippe's recovery of Atkinson's authorship has clarified that the 'Yogi Ramacharaka' framing was a marketing device rather than a transmission lineage. Continuously in print through Yogi Publication Society and successor reprints.
Frequently asked
What is A Series of Lessons in Raja Yoga about?
It is a twelve-lesson course in mental discipline Atkinson calls Raja Yoga, structured around the 'I' consciousness, concentration, perception, and the subconscious mind. The framework borrows from Patanjali's eight-limbed yoga but recasts it in New Thought psychology — treating concentration as a trainable mental faculty and the will as the executive function of the higher self.
Who is the real author behind the Yogi Ramacharaka name?
William Walker Atkinson (1862–1932), an American attorney and New Thought publisher. Philip Deslippe's scholarship established Atkinson as the author of the pseudonymous Ramacharaka titles. The 'Yogi Ramacharaka' persona was a marketing device rather than a transmission lineage from an Indian teacher.
How does this book compare to Vivekananda's Raja Yoga?
The two are the primary English-language entry points to Patanjali for early-twentieth-century Western readers. Vivekananda's 1896 text is a translation and commentary on Patanjali's sutras from a Vedantic perspective; Atkinson's course is a popular reformulation in New Thought language, more accessible but less textually faithful to classical yoga.