Quotes from Paramahansa Yogananda

How easy it is for the majority of people to be tempted materially, to languish spiritually and do the very things that will hurt themselves.

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.

The great guru taught his disciples to avoid theoretical discussion of the scriptures. "He only is wise who devotes himself to realizing, not reading only, the ancient revelations," he said. "Solve all your problems through meditation. 14 Exchange unprofitable speculations for actual God-communion. "Clear

Intuition is soul guidance, appearing naturally in man during those instants when his mind is calm. Nearly everyone has had the experience of an inexplicably correct "hunch" or has transferred his thoughts accurately to another person.

God is the Honey, organizations are the hives; both are necessary. Any form is useless, of course, without the spirit, but why should you not start busy hives full of the spiritual nectar?

The scientist seldom knows contemporaneous reward; it is enough to possess the joy of creative service.

Spirit projects the desire to create an individualized expression of Itself. The soul becomes manifest and projects the idea of the body in causal [=consciousness / idea / thought] form. The idea becomes energy, [=life force / prana] or the lifetronic astral body. The astral body becomes condensed into the physical body.

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

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

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

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.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.'" For

Really, it has been your thoughts that have made you feel alternately weak and strong.' My master looked at me affectionately. 'You have seen how your health has exactly followed your expectations. Thought is a force, even as electricity or gravitation. 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.

Before one can reach God, there has to be the "repentance" that turns the consciousness from delusive matter to the kingdom of God within. This withdrawal retires the life force and mind inward to rise through the spiritualizing centers of the spine to the supreme states of divine realization.

The cohesive force by which all three bodies [causal, astral and physical] are held together is desire. [...] The mere presence of a body signifies that its existence is made possible by unfulfilled desires. pg425, Chapter 43, The resurrection of Sri Yukteswar

God is pulling man and maya is pulling man, and man is free to move toward either.

Human life is beset with sorrow until we know how to tune in with the Divine Will, whose 'right course' is often baffling to the egoistic intelligence. God bears the burden of the cosmos; He alone can give unerring counsel.

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." He added humbly, "If ever you find me falling from a state of God-realization, please promise to put my head on your lap and help to bring me back to the Cosmic Beloved we both worship.

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

No matter what the disciple's problem, the guru advised Kriya Yoga for its solution.

I call myself a nationalist, but my nationalism is as broad as the universe. It includes in its sweep all the nations of the earth. My nationalism includes the well-being of the whole world. I do not want my India to rise on the ashes of other nations. I do not want India to exploit a single human being. I want India to be strong in order that she can infect the other nations also with her strength. Not so with a single nation in Europe today; they do not give strength to the others.

You may shut the mouth of the bear and the tiger; Ride the lion and play with the cobra; By alchemy you may earn your livelihood; You may wander through the universe incognito; Make vassals of the gods; be ever youthful; You may walk on water and live in fire: But control of the mind is better and more difficult.

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

there he is like butter on water, and not like the unchurned, easily diluted milk of undisciplined humanity. Fulfilling one's earthly responsibilities need not separate man from God, provided he maintains mental uninvolvement with egotistical desires and plays his part in life as a willing instrument of the Divine. There