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Death is only an experience through which you are meant to learn a great lesson: you cannot die. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

When you meditate the glory of the Divine shines forth.
You realize then that all along there was something tremendous within you and you did not know it. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The sun shines equally on diamond and charcoal, but the former has developed qualities that enable it to reflect the sunlight brilliantly, while the latter is unable to reflect the sunlight. Emulate the diamond in your dealings with people. Brightly reflect the light of God's love. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Humbly serving all with their beauty, flowers say more to us about God than anything else. Each one brings a message that the Heavenly Father is right here. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Analyze yourself. All emotions are reflected in the body and mind. Envy and fear cause the face to pale, love makes it glow. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Your trials did not come to punish you, but to awaken you - to make you realise that you are a part of Spirit and that just behind the sparks of your life is the Flame of Infinity. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

If one marries out of necessity, he will have to reincarnate to reach the point where he wants to live only for God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

human being falsely identifies himself with his physical form because the life currents from the soul are breath-conveyed into the flesh with such intense power that man mistakes the effect for a cause, and idolatrously imagines the body to have life of its own. Man's -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Come into the silence of solitude, and the vibration there will talk to you through the voice of God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

What are you afraid of? You are an immortal being. You are neither a man nor a woman, as you may think, but a soul - joyous, eternal. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Is a diamond less valuable because it is covered with mud? God sees the changeless beauty of our souls. He knows we are not our mistakes. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Many people excuse their own faults but judge other persons harshly. We should reverse this attitude by excusing others' shortcomings and by harshly examining our own. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

There is a magnet in your heart that will attract true friends. That magnet is unselfishness, thinking of others first; when you learn to live for others, they will live for you. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

If you have a strong mind and plant in it a firm resolve, you can change your destiny. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Hypnotism is trespass into the territory of another's consciousness. Its temporary phenomena have nothing in common with the miracles performed by men of divine realization. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The ocean of Spirit has become the little bubble of my soul. Whether floating in birth, or disappearing in death, in the ocean of cosmic awareness the bubble of my life cannot die. I am indestructible consciousness, protected in the bosom of Spirit's immortality. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

As God talked with Arjuna, so will He talk with you. As He lifted up the spirit and consciousness of Arjuna, so will He uplift you. As he granted Arjuna supreme spiritual vision, so will He confer enlightenment on you. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The physical ego, the active consciousness in man, should uplift its body-identified self into unity with the soul, its true nature; it should not allow itself to remain mired in the lowly delusive strata of the senses and material entanglement. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes, that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Change your life by changing your thoughts. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

How you all will change the work after I am gone. If I came back a hundred years from now, I just wonder if I would even recognize it. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The so-called miraculous powers of a great master are a natural accompaniment to his exact understanding of subtle laws that operate in the inner cosmos of consciousness. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

To face death itself should not daunt you. Fear of death is ridiculous, because as long as you are not dead you are alive, and when you are dead there is noting more to worry about! -- Paramahansa Yogananda

From joy people are born; for joy they live; in joy they melt at death. Death is an ecstasy, for it removes the burden of the body and frees the soul of all pain springing from body identification. It is the cessation of pain and sorrow. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Making others happy, through kindness of speech and sincerity of right advice, is a sign of true greatness. To hurt another soul by sarcastic words, looks, or suggestions, is despicable. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Those who are unconquered in spirit are the real successes in life. If you can so train or condition your mind that you are content regardless of what you have or do not have, and if you can stand the challenge of all your trials and remain calm-that is true happiness. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Through the orifice of silence, the whole geyser of Bliss, perpetually shoots up and flows over the soul. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Change yourself and you have done your part in changing the world -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Xochimilco in Mexico, where skies, mountains, and poplars are reflected, -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The existence of such rays coming from man and all living things has been suspected by scientists for many years. Today is the first experimental proof of their existence. The discovery shows that every atom and every molecule in nature is a continuous radio broadcasting station ... -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The season of failure is the best time for sowing the seeds of success. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Ordinary love is selfish, darkly rooted in desires and satisfactions. Divine love is without condition, without boundary, without change. The flux of the human heart is gone forever at the transfixing touch of pure love. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Know that this universe is nothing but a dream bluff of nature to test your consciousness of immortality. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The sense of being a separate, egoic self begins with the astral, not with the physical, body. The soul is individualized spirit. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Self-realization may be and sometimes is attained even by people who are struggling with sick and otherwise imperfect bodies; but it cannot be attained unless one can concentrate and meditate uninterruptedly upon God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Untrained warriors are soon killed on the battlefield; so also persons untrained in the art of preserving their inner peace are quickly riddled by the bullets of worry and restlessness in active life. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Many a morning and evening found Mother and me meditating before an improvised shrine, offering flowers dipped in fragrant sandalwood paste. With frankincense and myrrh as well as our united devotions, we honored the divinity which had found full expression in Lahiri Mahasaya. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Medicine has its limitations, Life Force has none. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Beginning with the early dawn of each day, I will radiate joy to everyone I meet. I will be mental sunshine for all who cross my path. Before the unfailing light of my cheer, darkness will take flight. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Coercion or compulsion never brings about growth. It is freedom that accelerates evolution. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Forget you were born a Hindu, and don't be an American. Take the best of them both, -- Paramahansa Yogananda

As often as you fail, get up and try again. God will never let you down, so long as you don't let Him down, and so long as you make the effort. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Consider no one a stranger. Learn to feel that everybody is akin to you. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The ignorant man sees only the unsurmountable wall of death, hiding, seemingly forever, his cherished friends. But the man of unattachment, he who loves others as expressions of the Lord, understands that at death the dear ones have only returned for a breathing-space of joy in Him. The -- Paramahansa Yogananda

If you permit your thoughts to dwell on evil you yourself will become ugly. Look only for the good in everything so you absorb the quality of beauty. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Through every trial we grow. All suffering we experience has a meaning. Though it seems very cruel, it is like the fire that smelts the iron ore: the steel that emerges from that furnace is beautifully strong, useful for many purposes. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The master never counseled slavish belief. 'Words are only shells,' he said. 'Win conviction of God's presence through your own joyous contact in meditation.' "No -- Paramahansa Yogananda

He who is persistent will realize God. So try your best to make meditation a regular experience in your life. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The scenery of mountains painted on the ever-changing azure canvas of the sky, the mysterious mechanism of the human body, the rose, the green grass carpet, the magnanimity of souls, the loftiness of minds, the depth of love - all these things remind us of a God who is beautiful and noble. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

You must methodize your life. God created routine. The sun shines until dusk and the stars shine until dawn. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

If circumstances are bad and you have to bear them, do not make them a part of yourself. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Warriors like Alexander the Great seek sovereignty over the soil; masters like Sri Yukteswar win a farther dominion - in men's souls. It -- Paramahansa Yogananda

When the mind is calm, how quickly, how smoothly, how beautifully you will perceive everything. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

You naturally love those who are dear to you, and you must learn to give that kind of love to the whole world. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

He who conquers the mind, conquers the world. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Strengthen your mind and refuse to carry the burden of mental and moral weakness acquired in past years; burn them in the fires of your present divine resolutions and right activities. By this constructive attitude you will attain freedom. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The seeker of God is the real lover of vidya, unchangeable truth; all else is avidya, relative knowledge. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

When, by meditation, we withdraw restless thoughts from the lake of the mind, we behold our soul, a perfect reflection of Spirit. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

With the opening of the New Year, all the closed portals of limitations will be thrown open and I shall move through them to vaster fields, where my worthwhile dreams of life will be fulfilled. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Only the wise know just where predestination ends and free will begins. Meanwhile, you must keep on doing your best, according to your own clearest understanding. you must long for freedom as the drowning man longs for air. Without sincere longing, you will never find God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Today I forgive all those who have ever offended me. I give my love to all thirsty hearts, both to those who love me and to those who do not love me. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Always remember, nothing can touch you if you inwardly love God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

I relax and cast aside all mental burdens, allowing God to express through me His perfect love, peace, and wisdom. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Absolute, unquestioning faith in God is the greatest method of instantaneous healing. An unceasing effort to arouse that faith is man's highest and most rewarding duty. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

I shall remold my consciousness. In this new year I am a new person. And I shall change my consciousness again and again until I have driven away all the darkness of ignorance and manifested the shining light of Spirit in whose image I am made. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Just behind the darkness of closed eyes shines the light of God. When you behold that light in meditation, hold onto it with devotional zeal. Feel yourself inside it: That is where God dwells. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Never do anything that taints your mind. Wrong actions cause negative or evil mental vibrations that are reflected in your whole appearance and personality. Engage in those actions and thoughts that nurture the good qualities you want to have. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

invested with the dignity of possession. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Devote your entire will power to mastering one thing at a time; do not scatter your energies, nor leave something half done to begin a new venture. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

If God calls me tomorrow I will go without a moment's turning back. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Through delusion you are perceiving yourself as a bundle of flesh and bones, which at best is a nest of troubles. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

In your heart must well that sympathy which soothes away all pains from the hearts of others. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Realize that enough hidden strength lies within you to overcome all obstacles and temptations. Bring forth that indomitable power and energy. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The ideal of an all-sided education for youth had always been close to my heart. I saw clearly the arid results of ordinary instruction, aimed only at the development of body and intellect. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Introspection, or 'sitting in the silence,' is an unscientific way of trying to force apart the mind and senses, tied together by the life force. The contemplative mind, attempting its return to divinity, is constantly dragged back toward the senses by the life currents. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Continual intellectual study results in vanity and the false satisfaction of an undigested knowledge. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Sacred writings are beneficial in stimulating desire for inward realization, if one stanza at a time is slowly assimilated. Continual intellectual study results in vanity and the false satisfaction of an undigested knowledge." Sri -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Some people try to be tall by cutting off the heads of others. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Moral: Look fear in the face and it will cease to trouble you. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

We don't become angels merely by the instrument of death. If we are angels now, we will be angels in the hereafter. If we are dark, negative personalities now, we will be the same after death. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The true basis of religion is not belief, but intuitive experience. Intuition is the soul's power of knowing God. To know what religion is really all about, one must know God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Success is not rightly measured by the worldly standards of wealth, prestige and power. None of these bestow happiness unless they are rightly used. To use them rightly one must possess wisdom and love for God and man. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Having lots of money while not having inner peace is like dying of thirst while bathing in the ocean. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Success is hastened or delayed by one's habits. It is not your passing inspirations or brilliant ideas so much as your everyday mental habits that control your life. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Proper visualization by the exercise of concentration and willpower enables us to materialize thoughts, not only as dreams or visions in the mental realm, but also as experiences in the material realm. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Sri Yukteswar showed no special consideration to those who happened to be powerful or accomplished; neither did he slight others for their poverty or illiteracy. He would listen respectfully to words of truth from a child, and openly ignore a conceited pundit. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Calmness is the living breath of God's immortality in you. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

As water by cooling and condensation becomes ice, so thought by condensation assumes physical form. Everything in the universe is thought in material form. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

He who has realized oneness with God possesses all knowledge contained in Him. Knowing the Lord as Beginning and End of all beings and worlds, a true Brahmin has knowledge of the hereafter and of the workings of nature on this plane of existence. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Through Self-realization man becomes aware of true values as to his place in the divine plan and his relation to the past, present, and future of mankind. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Have only love in your heart for others. The more you see the good in them, the more you will establish good in yourself. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

No matter what you are doing, keep the undercurrent of happiness. Learn to be secretly happy within your heart in spite of all circumstances. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

A saint is a sinner who never gave up. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The Spirit could not create matter as anything different from Itself, for it had only Itself as the tissue or material with which to build the cosmos. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Just as a wet match, when struck, does not produce fire, so a mind saturated with restlessness cannot produce the fire of concentration even when one makes great efforts to strike the cosmic spark. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Whatever I do, I do with the greatest love that I have in me. Try this, and you will see that you do not become fatigued at all. Love is one of the greatest stimulants to the will. Under the influence of love the will can do almost anything. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Heavenly Father, my body cells are made of light, my fleshly cells are made of Thee. They are Spirit, for Thou art Spirit; they are immortal, for Thou art Life. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

After deep prayer and meditation the devotee is in touch with his divine consciousness; there is no greater power than that inward protection.
- Paramhansa Yogananda -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Work for god, love god alone, and be wise with god. When an ordinary man puts the necessary rime and enthusiasm into meditation and prayer, he becomes a divine man. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Affirm divine calmness and peace, and send out only thoughts of love and goodwill if you want to live in peace and harmony. Never get angry, for anger poisons your system. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The universal law of karma ... is that of action and reaction, cause and effect, sowing and reaping. In the course of natural righteousness, man, by his thoughts and actions, becomes the arbiter of his destiny. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Practice loving those who do not love you. Feel for those who do not feel for you. Be generous to those who are generous only to themselves. If you heap hatred on your enemy, neither he nor you are able to perceive the inherent beauty of your soul. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The ills attributed to an anthropomorphic abstraction called "society" may be laid more realistically at the door of Everyman. Utopia must spring in the private bosom before it can flower into civic virtue, inner reforms leading to outer ones. A man who has reformed himself will reform thousands. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

He is the wisest who seeks God. He is the most successful who has found God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Subtle astral colors ... are hidden in everything around you. Could you but see, you would be amazed at their beauty. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The adage: "He is a fool that cannot conceal his wisdom," could never be applied to my profound and quiet master. Though -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The Divine has loved me as mother, as father, and as friend, behind all friends. I searched for that one Friend behind all friends, that one lover whom I now see glimmering in all your faces. And that friend never fails me. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

If religion means primarily God-consciousness, or the realization of God both within and without, and secondarily a body of beliefs, tenets and dogmas, then, strictly speaking, there is but one religion in the world, for there is but one God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Self-realization means to know truth through yourself, and not through others. By seeking God first, through Self-realization, all things-strength, power, prosperity, wisdom, health, and immortality-will be added unto you. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

If we are to make progress, we must not repeat history but make new history. We must add to the inheritance left by our ancestors. If we may make new discoveries and inventions in the phenomenal world, must we declare our bankruptcy in the spiritual domain? Is -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The true stature of a great work may not at first be recognized by those of a more conventional cast of mind. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

As God is omnipresent in the cosmos but is undisturbed by its variety, so man, who as a soul is individualized Spirit, must learn to participate in this cosmic drama with a perfectly poised and equilibrated mind. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

To me there is no difference between one person and another; I behold all as soul-reflection s of the one God. I can't think of anyone as a stranger, for I know that we are all part of the One Spirit. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

It is wisest to be impartial. If you have health, but are attached to it, you will always be afraid of losing it. And if you fear that loss, but become ill, you will suffer. Why not remain forever joyful in the Self? -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Through the portals of silence the healing sun of wisdom and peace will shine upon you. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

As a broken microphone cannot broadcast a message, so a restless mind cannot transmit prayers to God -- Paramahansa Yogananda

To allot God a secondary place in life was, to me, inconceivable. Though He is the sole Owner of the cosmos, silently showering us with gifts from life to life, one thing yet remains which He does not own, and which each human heart is empowered to withhold or bestow - man's love. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Through love and sincerity continuously beautify your inner life in every way, by daily looking into the mirror of introspection. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Play your part in life, but never forget it is only a role. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Good manners without sincerity are like a beautiful dead lady," he remarked on suitable occasion. "Straightforwardness without civility is like a surgeon's knife, effective but unpleasant. Candor with courtesy is helpful and admirable. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The physical ego serves as its own worst enemy when, by delusive material behavior, it eclipses its true nature as the ever blessed soul. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

When you yearn for God with intensity, He will come to you. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The spine is the highway to the Infinite. Your own body is the temple of God. It is within your own self that God must be realized. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

I am no longer the wave of consciousness thinking itself separated from the sea of cosmic consciousness. I am the ocean of Spirit that has become the wave of human life. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Think of Divine Abundance as a mighty, refreshing rain. Whatever receptacle you have at hand will receive it. If you hold up a tin cup, you will receive only that quantity. If you hold up a bowl, that will be filled. What kind of receptacle are you holding up to Divine Abundance? -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The soul is bound to the body by a chain of desires, temptations, troubles and worries, and it is trying to free itself. If you keep tugging at that chain which is holding you to mortal consciousness, some day an invisible Divine Hand will intervene and snap it apart and you will be free. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Kindness is the light that dissolves all walls between souls, families, and nations. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Why be elated by material profit?" Father replied. "The one who pursues a goal of evenmindedness is neither jubilant with gain nor depressed by loss. He knows that man arrives penniless in this world, and departs without a single rupee. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The wave is the same as the ocean, though it is not the whole ocean. So each wave of creation is a part of the eternal Ocean of Spirit. The Ocean can exist without the waves, but the waves cannot exist without the Ocean. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Most people consider the course of events as natural and inevitable. They little know what radical changes are possible through prayer. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Trust in God and destroy fear, which paralyzes all efforts to succeed and attracts the very thing you fear. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

A saying from the Hindu scriptures is: "In shallow men the fish of little thoughts cause much commotion. In oceanic minds the whales of inspiration make hardly a ruffle." Because -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The kingdom of God is just behind the darkness of closed eyes, and the first gate that opens to it is your peace. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Fear was given to man as a cautionary device to spare him pain; it is not mean to be cultivated and abused. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

If man be solely a body, its loss indeed ends his identity. But if prophets down the millenniums spake with truth, man is essentially a soul, incorporeal and omnipresent. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Extend the boundaries of the glowing kingdom of your love, gradually including your family, your neighbors, your community, your country, all countries
all living sentient creatures. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Release for constructive purposes the power you already have, and more will come. Move on your path with unflinching determination, using all the attributes of success. Tune yourself with the creative power of spirit. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Happiness lies in making others happy, in forsaking self-interest to bring joy to others. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

People are running, running, but there is no place in the world to which they can flee to escape themselves. Ultimately, each one must face himself. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

I find my earliest memories covering the anachronistic features of a previous incarnation. Clear recollections came to me of a distant life, a yogi amidst the Himalayan snows. These glimpses of the past, by some dimensionless link, also afforded me a glimpse of the future. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

When you make up your mind to do good things, you will accomplish them if you use dynamic will power to follow through. No matter what the circumstances are, if you go on trying, God will create the means by which your will shall find its proper reward. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The Spirit of God, I realized, is exhaustless Bliss; His body is countless tissues of light. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The things you need in life are those that will help you to fulfill your dominant purpose. Things you may want but not need may lead you aside from that purpose. It is only by making everything serve your main objective that success is attained. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

People are so skillful in their ignorance! -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Self-realization is the knowing in all parts of body, mind, and soul that you are now in possession of the kingdom of God; that you do not have to pray that it come to you; that God's omnipresence is your omnipresence; and that all that you need to do is improve your knowing. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Seek spiritual riches within. What you are is much greater than anyone or anything else you have ever yearned for. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Never be petty. Do not feed resentments against anyone. I prefer good-hearted sinners to so called good people who are intolerant and devoid of compassion. Being spiritual is to have an open mind, understand and forgive, and be friends with everyone. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The yogi offers his labyrinthine human longings to a monotheistic bonfire dedicated to the unparalleled God. This is indeed the true yogic fire ceremony, in which all past and present desires are fuel consumed by love divine. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Before embarking on important undertakings sit quietly calm your senses and thoughts and meditate deeply. You will then be guided by the great creative power of Spirit. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Carrying a thought with dynamic will power means holding it until that thought pattern develops dynamic force. When a thought is made dynamic by will force, it can manifest according to the mental blueprint you have created. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

You had to fight to get into the womb. Not only you but many souls rushed to enter, and the ones that won are you, and you and I. It was not an easy victory. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Be afraid of nothing. Hating none, giving love to all, feeling the love of God, seeing His presence in everyone, and having but one desire - for His constant presence in the temple of your consciousness - that is the way to live in this world. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Harmony with nature will bring you a happiness known to few city dwellers. In the company of other truth seekers it will be easier for you to meditate and think of God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Environment is of supreme importance. It is greater than will power. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Many great works of art, poetry, and music are inspired by astral memories. The desire to do noble, beautiful things here on Earth is also often a carryover of astral experiences between a person's earth lives. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

It is often forgotten that He who has surrounded us with this ever-evolving mystery of creation has also implanted in us the desire to question and understand. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

If you want to be sad, no one in the world can make you happy. But if you make up your mind to be happy, no one and nothing on earth can take that happiness from you. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The ancient rishi Patanjali defines "yoga" as "control of the fluctuations of the mind-stuff. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Wise guidance never violates people's Free Will. A superior who demands obedience of his subordinates should show respect for their capacity to understand, and also for their Innate Right to their own Free Will. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

A swami may conceivably follow only the path of dry reasoning, of cold renunciation; but a yogi engages himself in a definite, step-by-step procedure by which the body and mind are disciplined, and the soul liberated. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Everything is Spirit - in essence, though hidden in manifestation. If you had the perception, you would see God in everything. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The entire universe is God's cosmic motion picture, and that individuals are merely actors in the divine play who change roles through reincarnation; mankind's deep suffering is rooted in identifying too closely with one's current role, rather than with the movie's director, or God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Protection of the cow means protection of the whole dumb creation of God. The appeal of the lower order of creation is all the more forceful because it is speechless." 6 -- Paramahansa Yogananda

By the definite science of meditation known for millenniums to the yogis and sages of India, and to Jesus, any seeker of God can enlarge the caliber of his consciousness to omniscience to receive within himself the Universal Intelligence of God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

We are all part of the One Spirit. When you experience the true meaning of religion, which is to know God, you will realize that He is your Self, and that He exists equally and impartially in all beings. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Meet everybody and every circumstance on the battlefield of life with the courage of a hero and the smile of a conqueror. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

With right attitude, life is very simple and very easy. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Love is the Song of the Soul singing to God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Self-realization is, in fact, the only religion. For it is the true purpose of religion, no matter how people define their beliefs. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The trivial preoccupations of daily life are not enough for man; wisdom too is a native hunger. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

I come not to entertain you with worldly festivities but to arouse your sleeping memory of immortality. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

A smooth life is not a victorious life. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

No one appears on our stage unless the director has placed them there for our benefit -- Paramahansa Yogananda

An artist doesn't really create anything - he just rearranges what is already there. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Stillness is the altar of spirit. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The more deeply we perceive, the more striking becomes the evidence that a uniform plan links every form in manifold nature. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

As a mortal being you are limited, but as a child of God you are unlimited ... Focus your attention on God, and you shall have all the power you want, to use in any direction. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Fearlessness means faith in God: faith in his protection, His justice, His wisdom, His mercy, His love, and His Omnipresence ... To be fit for Self-realization man must be fearless. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The best methods are those which help the life energy to
resume its inner work of healing -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Sing songs that none have sung -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The body is literally manufactured and sustained by mind. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Man is important in one sense only. He was made in the image of God: That is his importance. He is not important for his body, ego, or personality. His constant affirmation of ego-consciousness is the source of all his problems. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Death is not as terrible as you think. It comes to you as a healer. Sleep is nothing but a counterfeit death. What happens in death we can picture in sleep. All our sufferings vanish in sleep. When death comes, all our mortal tortures cease; they cannot go beyond the portals of death. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Thoughts are universally and not individually rooted; a truth cannot be created, but only perceived. The erroneous thoughts of man result from imperfections in his discernment. The goal of Yoga Science is to calm the mind, that without distortion it may mirror the Divine vision in the Universe. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The rains of Life's Blessings cannot gather on mountaintops of pride, but flow easily into valleys of humbleness. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

It is better to meditate a little bit with depth than to mediate long with the mind running here and there. If you do not make an effort to control the mind it will go on doing as it pleases, no matter how long you sit to meditate. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Yoga is a method for restraining the natural turbulence of thoughts, which otherwise impartially prevent all men, of all lands, from glimpsing their true nature of Spirit. Yoga cannot know a barrier of East and West any more than does the healing and equitable light of the sun. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Remain calm, serene, always in command of yourself. You will then find out how easy it is to get along. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Sincerity is a soul quality that God has given to every human being, but not all express it. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you. The future will take care of itself ... -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The deeper the Self-realization of a man, the more he influences the whole universe by his subtle spiritual vibrations, and the less he himself is affected by the phenomenal flux. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Be honest with yourself.
The world is not honest with you.
When you are honest with yourself
you find the road to inner peace -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Learn to be calm and you will always be happy. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

To commune daily with God in deep meditation, and to carry His love and guidance with you into all your dutiful activities, is the way that leads to permanent peace and happiness. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Humans become angels on earth, not in heaven. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Be careful what you choose to do consciously, for unless your will is very strong, that is what you may have to do repeatedly and compulsively through the habit-influencing power of the subconscious mind. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

You are walking on the earth as in a dream. Our world is a dream within a dream; you must realize that to find God is the only goal, the only purpose, for which you are here. For Him alone you exist. Him you must find. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The Western day is indeed nearing when the inner science of self-control will be found as necessary as the outer conquest of nature. This new Atomic Age will see men's minds sobered and broadened by the now scientifically indisputable truth that matter is in reality a concentrate of energy. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

It is never a question of belief; the only scientific attitude one can take on any subject is whether it is true. The law of gravitation worked as efficiently before Newton as after him. The cosmos would be fairly chaotic if its laws could not operate without the sanction of human belief. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Love cannot be had for the asking; it comes only as a gift from the heart of another -- Paramahansa Yogananda

A harmonized mind produces harmony in this world of seeming discord. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Success is not rightly measured by wealth, prestige and power. Success is measured by the yardstick of happiness. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Success should be measured by the yardstick of happiness; by your ability to remain in peaceful harmony with cosmic laws. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Smiling away your troubles requires a clear conscience that harbors no insincerity. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Yoga is, as I can readily believe, the perfect and appropriate method of fusing body and mind together so that they form a unity which is scarcely to be questioned. This unity creates a psychological disposition which makes possible intuitions that transcend consciousness. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

What you lose in the world will not be a loss to your soul. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

This life is not man's own show; if he becomes personally and emotionally involved in the very complicated cosmic drama, he reaps inevitable suffering for having distorted the divine 'plot.' -- Paramahansa Yogananda

It doesn't matter if a cave has been in darkness for 10,000 years or half an hour, once you light a match it is illuminated. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Sir P. C. Roy's History of Hindu Chemistry, in B. N. Seal's Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus, in B. K. Sarkar's Hindu Achievements in Exact Science and his The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology, and in U. C. Dutt's Materia Medica of the Hindus. 2 -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The human mind is a spark of the almighty consciousness of God. I could show you that whatever your powerful mind believes very intensely would instantly come to pass. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

A true yogi may remain dutifully in the world; there, he is like butter on water and not like the easily-diluted milk of unchurned and undisciplined humanity. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

I look forward optimistically to a healthy, happy world as soon as its children are taught the principles of simple and rational living. We must return to nature and nature's God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Retire to the center of your being, which is calmness. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

In meditation ... the power of God begins to reflect in the clear waters of your consciousness. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Never count your faults. Just see that your love for God is deeply
sincere. For God doesn't mind your imperfections: He minds your
indifference. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Remain quiet. Don't feel you have to talk all the time. Go within and you will see the Loveliness behind all beauty. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Incredible amounts of energy are hidden in your brain;
enough in a gram of flesh to run the city of Chicago for 2 days.
And you say you are tired? -- Paramahansa Yogananda

No action is ever an isolated event. Always, it invites from the universe a reaction that corresponds exactly to the type and the force of energy behind the deed. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Faithfulness in the performance of small duties gives us strength to adhere to difficult determinations that life will someday force us to make. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Since you alone are responsible for your thoughts, only you can change them. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

One may have many teachers, but only one guru, who remains as one's guru even in many different lives, until the disciple reaches the final goal of emancipation in God. You must remember this, once that relationship is formed. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The weakling who has refused the conflict, acquiring nothing, has had nothing to renounce. He alone who has striven and won can enrich the world by bestowing the fruits of his victorious experience. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Brotherhood is an ideal better understood by example than precept! -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Do not think of yourself as the body, but as the joyous consciousness and immortal life behind it. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

As you find your soul-reservoir of peace, less and less controversy will be able to afflict your life. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Happiness blooms naturally in the hearts of those who are inwardly free. It flows spontaneously, like a mountain spring after April showers, in minds that are contented with simple living. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Do not take life's experiences too seriously. For in reality they are nothing but dream experiences. Play your part in life, but never forget that it is only a role. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Structure of creation. Nature herself is maya; natural science must perforce -- Paramahansa Yogananda

You cannot make steel until you have made the iron white-hot in fire. It is not meant for harm. Trouble and disease have a lesson for us. Our painful experiences are not meant to destroy us, but to burn out our dross, to hurry us back Home. No one is more anxious for our release than God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

When the # mind is strong and the # heart is pure,
you are free -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The soul loves to meditate, for in contact with the Spirit lies its greatest joy. If, then you experience mental resistance during meditation, remember that reluctance to meditate comes from the ego; it doesn't belong to the soul. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Remember this: When I am gone, only love can take my place. Be absorbed night and day in the love of God, and give that love to all. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Anyone who practices a scientific technique for divine realization is a yogi. He may be either married or unmarried, either a man of worldly responsibilities or one of formal religious ties. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Remember, people suffer only because they think things ought to be different from what they are. A -- Paramahansa Yogananda

When you learn to get along with yourself, you will know how to get along with everybody. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Those who are socially inclined will find a new power to help humanity through the lessons of books written by noble and gifted people. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

You must not let your life run in the ordinary way; do something that nobody else has done, something that will dazzle the world. Show that God's creative principle works in you. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Evil spreads with the wind; truth is capable of spreading even against it. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Do your best and then relax. Let things go on in a natural way, rather than force them. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The happiness of one's own heart alone cannot satisfy the soul; one must try to include, as necessary to one's own happiness, the happiness of others. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Be as simple as you can be; you will be astonished to see how uncomplicated and happy your life can become. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

It is foolish to be afraid of death. Just think. No more repaired tires on the body vehicle, no more patchwork living. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Truths are not truths to you unless you realize them within yourself. Without realization, they are just ideas. For spiritual perception, spiritual consciousness, lies not in vague theological ideas, but in the acquisition of Self-realization. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

If you possess happiness you possess everything: to be happy is to be in tune with God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

No one can be a yogi, maintaining a state of mental equilibrium, free from inner involvement in planned desireful activities, unless he has renounced identification with his ego and its unsatisfiable lust for the fruits of actions. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The power of unfulfilled desires is the root of all man's slavery -- Paramahansa Yogananda

When we serve others, we serve ourselves. Do not think, I will help others - think rather, I will help my own, my world, because I cannot otherwise be happy. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The man form is higher than the angel form; of all forms it is the highest. Man is the highest being in creation, because he aspires to freedom. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

To work with God's happiness bubbling in the soul is to carry a portable paradise within you wherever you go. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

He who finds joy within himself discovers that his body is charged with electric current, life energy, not from food but from God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The Sama Veda of India contains the world's earliest writings on musical science. The -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The man of Self-realization knows a bliss that cannot be compared to anything in this world. His joy is independent of any object or sensory experience. It is an incomparable happiness that cannot be described in words. Such joy is known as sattvik-ananda. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Keep puffing on the bubble until it breaks its confining walls and becomes the sea of joy. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Mind is the creator of everything. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Peace is the altar of God, the condition in which happiness exists. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

When you know God as peace within, then you will realize Him as peace existing in the universal harmony of all things without. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

It is I who have watched over thee, life after life, in the tenderness of many mothers! See in My gaze the two black eyes, the lost beautiful eyes, thou seekest! -- Paramahansa Yogananda

All honest work is good work; it is capable of leading to self-development, provided the doer seeks to discover the inherent lessons and makes the most of the potentialities for such growth. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

To lay aside what you have in your head (selfish desires and ambitions); to freely bestow what you have in your hand; and never to flinch from the blows of adversity! -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Meditation is like giving a hug to our ourselves, getting in touch whith that awesome reality in us. While meditating we feel a deep sense of intimacy with God, a love that is inexplicable. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

So long as we believe in our heart of hearts that our capacity is limited and we grow anxious and unhappy, we are lacking in faith. One who truly trusts in God has no right to be anxious about anything. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Find god - he isn't hiding from you, you're hiding from him. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Television has a satanic influence. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Bring into play the almighty power within you, so that on the stage of life you can fulfill your high destined role. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The greatest romance is with the Infinite. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Little stones that are pelted into the lake of consciousness should not throw the whole lake into commotion. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Not by the hairsplitting distinctions of scholars but by the sure logic of faith, the childlike saint has solved the only problem in human life - establishment of unity with God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Have the unflinching determination to move on your path unhampered by limiting thoughts of past errors. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

One cannot tell when he is going to be healed, so do not try to set an exact time limit. Faith, not time, will determine when the cure will be effected. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Turning a corner, I ran into an old acquaintance - one of those long-winded fellows whose conversational powers ignore time and embrace eternity. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Seeds of past karma cannot germinate if they are roasted in the fires of divine wisdom. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

My keen love of travel was seldom hindered by Father. He permitted me, even as a mere boy, to visit many cities and pilgrimage spots. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Seclusion is the price of greatness. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Intuition is the discriminative faculty that enables you to decide which of two lines of reasoning is right. Perfect intuition makes you a master of all. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Loyalty is the first law of God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

It is blessedness for yourself and others if you are happy. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Truth is not afraid of questions. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

just imagine!" I ejaculated. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

A genuine smile distributes the cosmic current, Prana to every body cell.The happy man is less subject to disease, for happiness actually attracts into the body a greater supply of the Universal life energy. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Behold thine immortal Self resurrected with Christ in the illuminating Light of Christ Consciousness, present in every soul, every flower, every atom. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

You must stand unshaken amidst the crash of breaking worlds -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Some form of self-discipline is necessary to transmute material desires into spiritual aspirations. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

In the spiritual life one becomes just like a little child, without resentment, without attachment, full of life and joy. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The man who has perceived God looks upon all types of men as dream motion-picture images, made of the relativities of the light of Cosmic Consciousness and the shadows of delusion. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The mother's love is not given to us to spoil us with indulgence, but to soften our hearts, that we may in turn soften others with kindness. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

There are disciples who seek a guru made in their own image. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Opportunities in life come by creation, not by chance. You yourself, either now or in the past (including the past of former lives), have created all opportunities that arise in your path. Since you have earned them, use them to the best advantage. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

I will be calmly active, actively calm. I am a prince of peace, sitting on the throne of poise, directing the kingdom of my activity. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Forget the past, for it is gone from your domain! forget the future, for it is beyond your reach! control the present! Live supremely well now! This is the way of the wise ... -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The soul must stretch over the cosmogonic abysses, while the body performs its daily duties. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Ever-new Joy is God. He is inexhaustible; as you continue your meditations during the years, He will beguile you with an infinite ingenuity. Devotees like yourself who have found the way to God never dream of exchanging Him for any other happiness; He is seductive beyond thought of competition. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

You go often into the silence, but have you developed anubhava?" He was reminding me to love God more than meditation. "Do not mistake the technique for the Goal. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

We should bathe our spirits in the deep, pure feeling that stirs within us when we gaze on the glories of His creation. This is the way to know God as beauty. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Most of the world is like a mental hospital. Some persons are sick with jealousy, others with anger, hatred, passion. They are victims of their habits and emotions. But you can make your home a place of peace. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Persistence guarantees that results are inevitable. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Attachment is blinding; it lends an imaginary halo of attractiveness to the object of desire. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

It is spiritual poverty, not material lack, that lies at the core of all human suffering. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Nothing may truly be said to be a miracle except in the profound sense that everything is a miracle. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Heavenly Father, I will reason; I will will; I will act; but guide Thou my reason, will, and activity to the right thing that I should do. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The ordinary man considers solids and liquids and the energy manifestations of the material world to be vastly different, but the yogi sees them as various vibrations of the one cosmic light. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Everything, at first, is an idea, a special creation. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Build your inner environment. Practice Silence! I remember the wonderful discipline of the Great Ones. When we used to talk and chatter, they would say: "Go back into your inner castle." It was very hard to comprehend then, but now I understand the way of peace -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Those in the West who have adopted Christ as their own should remember that he was an Oriental. Love and sympathy for Jesus should be expanded into love and sympathy for all Orientals, and for all the world. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Just as oil is present in every part of the olive, so love permeates every part of creation. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

May Thy Love shine forever on the sanctuary of my devotion. And may I be able to awaken Thy love in all hearts. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Love is the heartbeat of all life. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

In the state of love, no matter what you do, it's going to be good. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

God is love. His plan for creation can only be rooted in love. Does not that simple thought, rather than erudite reasoning, offer solace to the human heart? -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Ignoring all prejudices of caste, creed, class, color, sex, or race, a swami follows the precepts of human brotherhood. His goal is absolute unity with Spirit. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The yogi should meditate on a firm seat, one that is clean - untainted by dirt or unspiritual vibrations of others. The thought or life force emanating from an individual saturates the objects he uses and his dwelling. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Those persons who have perceptive eyes enjoy beauty everywhere. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Music that is saturated with soul force is the real universal music, understandable by all hearts. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

he who discards his worldly duties can justify himself only by assuming some kind of responsibility toward a much larger family." The -- Paramahansa Yogananda

When you worry, there is static coming through your mind radio. God's song is the song of calmness. Nervousness is the static; calmness is the voice of God speaking to you through the radio of your soul. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Divisions are imaginary lines drawn by small minds. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

God is simple. Everything else is complex. Do not seek absolute values in the relative world of nature. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

You do not have to struggle to reach God, but you do have to struggle to tear away the self-created veil that hides him from you -- Paramahansa Yogananda

I am the Cosmic Ocean of sound and the little wave of the body vibration in it. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Noumenon beyond phenomena. Thought of the divine incorporeity -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Thought is the primary energy and vibration that emanated from God and is thus the creator of life, electrons, atoms, and all forms of energy. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

God made us angels of energy, encased in solids - currents of life dazzling through a material bulb of flesh. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Every night in sleep God takes away all your troubles to show you that you are not a mortal being; you are spirit. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Your success in life does not altogether depend on ability and training; it also depends on your determination to grasp opportunities that are presented to you. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Environment is stronger than will. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

We do not always see the things that are nearest to us. We pass by riches that lie close at hand and chase after rainbows. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

By the practice of meditation, you will find that you are carrying within your heart a portable paradise. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Live each moment completely and the future will take care of itself. Fully enjoy the wonder and beauty of each moment. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Do not do what you want, and then you may do what you like. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Careless indifference and bodily restlessness in meditation cause negative vibrations. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The Creator, in taking infinite pains to shroud with mystery His presence in every atom of creation, could have had but one motive - a sensitive desire that men seek Him only through free will. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The greatest of all enemies of man is himself -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Group Meditation is a castle that protects the new spiritual aspirants as well as the veteran meditators. Meditating together increases the degree of Self-realization of each member of the group by the law of invisible vibratory exchange of group magnetism. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The initiative to undertake your most important duty in life is often buried beneath the accumulated debris of human habits. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Be inwardly ever newly joyous, like the ever-fresh laughing waters of a gurgling brook. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Nothing is impossible unless you think it is. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Another qualification of success is that we not only bring harmonious and beneficial results to ourselves, but also share those benefits with others. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Never neglect what you can do for yourself in the form of another. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The fundamental cure for all human ills is everywhere one and the same: to raise one's consciousness. In -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The soul's first adventure is the fight between two ideas: the wish to return to earth in a human form, and the desire to feel the freedom of having no form. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The greater the will, the greater the flow of energy. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

I don't want people to think that they can attain realization simply by listening to others or by reading books. They must practice what they read and hear. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Great healers, people of divine realization, do not cure by chance but by exact knowledge. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Weaken a bad habit by avoiding everything that occasioned it or stimulated it, without concentrating upon it in your zeal to avoid it. Then divert your mind to some good habit and steadily cultivate it until it becomes a dependable part of you. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Dharma (cosmic law) aims at the happiness of all creatures. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Whoever comes to me finds me a mirror to whatever is in his heart. Thus, I try to help him to see qualities in himself that he needs to overcome. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The poet is intimate with truth, while the scientist approaches awkwardly. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

A wish is a desire without energy -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Minor-are the only ones which Occidental music employs, -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The Bhagavad-Gita is where God Himself talks to His devotee Arjuna. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Every morning I offer my body, my mind and any ability that I posses, to be used by Thee, O infinite creator, in whatever way Thou dost choose to express Thyself through me. I know that all work is Thy work, and that no task is too difficult or too menial when offered to Thee in loving service. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Words saturated with sincerity, conviction, faith, and intuition are like highly explosive vibration bombs, which, when set off, shatter the rocks of difficulties and create the change desired. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Be kind to others, so that you may learn the secret art of being kind to yourself. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The balanced rhythm of the universe is rooted in reciprocity, -- Paramahansa Yogananda

When your mind is fully withdrawn in superconsciousness, it becomes centered in the bliss of the spine. You are then in your ideational, or causal, body. That is the level of the soul. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

God-realization is attained only by great effort on the part of the yogi and by divine grace. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

With the realization of God comes all power. If the little wave knew that behind it is the great ocean, it could say, "I am the ocean." You should realize that just behind your consciousness is the Ocean of God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

From joy I came, for joy I live, in sacred joy I melt. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Freedom means the power to act by soul guidance, not by the compulsions of desires and habits. Obeying the ego leads to bondage; obeying the soul brings liberation. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

If one busies himself with an outer display of scriptural wealth, what time is left for silent inward diving after the priceless pearls?" Sri -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Truths are more than imagination; they are real. Yet their origin is a thought in the mind of God. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

You have come to earth to entertain and to be entertained. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

To repeat a prayer-demand over and over again, whether mentally or out loud, with ever-deeper attention and devotion, spiritualizes the prayer; it changes conscious, concentrated repetition into superconscious experience. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Your part is to awaken your desire to accomplish your worthy objectives. Then whip your will into action until it follows the way of wisdom that is shown to you. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Cosmic energy enters the body through the medulla and then passes to the cerebrum, in which it is stored or concentrated. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Thinkers do not accept the inevitable; they turn their efforts toward changing it. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Feel body as luxury
as a bird feels when shooting through the air, and as a child does always
is health -- Paramahansa Yogananda

We are what we think we are. The habitual inclination of our thoughts determines our talents and abilities, and our personality. So whatever you want to be, start to develop that pattern now. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Discerning placement of a comma does not atone for a spiritual coma. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The reality of my life cannot die for I am indestructible consciousness. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Do your best and then relax. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Each minute of life should be a divine quest. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

It is not a pumping-in from the outside that gives wisdom; it is the power and extent of your inner receptivity that determines how much you can attain of true knowledge, and how rapidly. You can quicken your evolution by awakening and increasing the receptive power of your brain cells. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

All Nature will commune with you when you are in tune with God. Realization of this truth will make you a master of your destiny. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The germ of success in whatever you want to accomplish is in your will power. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

If you open the door to the magnetic power of friendship, souls of like vibrations will be attracted to you. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

A good rule in life is to tell yourself simply, 'What comes of itself, let it come. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Every tomorrow is determined by every today. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Spirit is the vast stillness which is behind all created things. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Forget your dream-born mortal weakness. Wake up and know that you and God are one. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

There are always two forces warring against each other within us. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

You don't know what is going to come to you in this world; you have to go on living and worrying. Those who die are pitying us; they are blessing us. Why should you grieve for them? -- Paramahansa Yogananda

The goal of yoga science is to calm the mind, that without distortion it may hear the infallible counsel of the Inner Voice. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

He laughed. I mean a pension of fathomless peace - a reward for many years of deep meditation. I never crave money now. My few material needs are amply provided for. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

When you exercise your will power you release the power of life energy - not when you merely wish passively to be able to obtain an objective. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Roam in the world as a lion of self-control; see that the frogs of weakness don't kick you around. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Truth is exact correspondence with reality. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

If you are in a dark room, don't beat at the darkness with a stick, but rather try to turn on the light -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Intuition is soul guidance, appearing naturally in man during those instants when his mind is calm. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Whenever you want to produce something, do not depend upon the outside source: go deep and seek the Infinite Source. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Read a little. Meditate more. Think of God all the time. -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Whatever you want others to be, first be that yourself. Then, you will find others responding in like manner to you. -- Paramahansa Yogananda