The more you learn to live in the thought of God, the more you will free yourself from all ruts of fear and anger and unhappiness and disease and death. Speed ahead on the smooth highway of right behavior, right thinking, and meditation that leads to God. Keep on, until you come to the land of the rising sun of joy - of peace, of happiness, of inner strength that can never be taken away. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

Every day in deep meditation, close your eyes and affirm: “I am out of all ruts. I am not a man nor a woman. I am pure Spirit. I am a child of God, and like an ever-growing perfect plant of divinity, I will continue growing and flowering until I permeate the whole universe with the fragrance of soul qualities.”  - Paramahansa Yogananda.

Introspect to see if you have progressed in any undertaking that you have set your mind upon. Ask yourself in what ways you are in ruts. Practice this review at least once a week, keeping a mental diary. The best way to see yourself is to look through the eyes of conscience: “Have I become more peaceful? Have I become more understanding? Have I become more tolerant? Have I become more loving toward others? - Paramahansa Yogananda.

There is an art to getting out of mental ruts. Sit in a quiet place away from everybody and talk quietly with yourself. Think about the ways in which you can make your life more worthwhile and interesting, ways to improve yourself. The very best way is to develop a deeper relationship with God by practicing His presence more in your life. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

If you are traveling along a dirt road and your automobile gets stuck in the mud, it takes skillful driving - and perhaps a tow truck! To free your car from that rut. Likewise, mankind gets stuck in mental ruts; and how to get out of them is a subject that needs our attention. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

Anything that you can subtract from your consciousness without losing your sense of “I-ness,” you are not that. You must peel off these titles from the soul. “I think, but I am not the thought. I feel, but I am not the feeling. I will, but I am not the will.” What is left? The you that knows you exist; the you that feels you exist — through the proof given by intuition, the soul’s unconditioned knowing of its own existence. That is what I learned in India: to be centralized in the Self and constantly remain in that unbounded attitude… - Paramahansa Yogananda.

As you become more and more aware of God and the eternal power within you, the focus of life becomes reversed. Instead of constantly feeling the processes of the body, you feel the Eternal Silence behind the flesh. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

Isn’t it strange that you do not know who you are? that you do not know your own Self? You define yourself by so many different titles applicable to your body and mortal roles. But are you the body? No, because you can exist without the body. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

By teaching you the techniques whereby you may live in the joyous consciousness of the presence of God, nonattached to matter’s false securities, yoga frees you from the pangs of material disappointments, and enables you to enjoy a happier, more fruitful and meaningful life. It bestows a deep inner state of fulfillment, which you automatically want to share in willing service to others. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

Life should be chiefly service. Without that ideal, the intelligence that God has given you is not reaching out toward its goal. When in service you forget the little self, you will feel the big Self of Spirit. As the vital rays of the sun nurture all, so should you spread rays of hope in the hearts of the poor and forsaken, kindle courage in the hearts of the despondent, and light a new strength in the hearts of those who think that they are failures. - Paramahansa Yogananda.