You will find, by continued practice of meditation, that you will gain perceptions of an ever-new, ever-increasing joy, a joy that is not just an abstract mental state of short-lived mortal pleasure, but the God-joy of meditation that will receive and respond to your prayers. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

For example, yoga enables one to solve all problems by soul guidance, the wisdom born of Self-realization. So long as problems occupy the mind, there is little opportunity for mental and spiritual freedom, for these cannot coexist with mental turmoil. The mind should be cleared of confusing moods, worries, and fears so that in the sky of mental calmness the liberated bird of paradise, the soul, can soar and spread its wings over one’s whole existence. By gradually easing the perplexities and difficulties that burden one’s life from within and without, yoga paves the way to freedom. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

Yoga is primarily a science of meditation: concentration on God and absorption of one’s consciousness in Him. But as a natural prerequisite to the ability to meditate uninterruptedly on God, yoga also inculcates discipline and proper direction to spiritualize every aspect of human nature and daily life. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

Uniting the soul with Spirit is Yoga - reunion with that great Happiness everyone is seeking... Isn’t this a wonderful definition? In the ever new Bliss of Spirit you are convinced that the joy you feel is greater than any other happiness, and nothing can get you down. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

Had India no other gift for the world, Kriya Yoga alone would suffice as a kingly offering. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The more you live in someone’s shadow, the longer it takes to cast your own. - Anonymous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aloud, then in a whisper, and finally just mentally affirm: “Father, Thou and I are one.” Repeat the affirmation until you feel your oneness with Him, not only as an intelligent perception of the conscious mind and subconscious imagination but as a superconscious conviction. Melt the words of the affirmation into intelligent flames of intuitive perception. Then pour those flaming, soulful affirmations into the mold of your calm, restful, firm faith. There your crude words will turn into a sparkling golden garland offering to lay at the feet of Cosmic Deity. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

Thoughts have to be understood and applied rightly before they are effective. Ideas first enter man’s mind in a crude or undigested form; they need to be assimilated by deep reflection. A thought without soul conviction behind it has no value. That is why persons who use affirmations without comprehending the truth on which they are based — man’s inseverable unity with God — get poor results and complain that thoughts have no healing power. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

Sincere words or affirmations repeated understandingly, feelingly, and willingly are sure to move the Omnipresent Cosmic Vibratory Force to render aid in your difficulty. Appeal to that Power with infinite confidence, casting out all doubt; otherwise, the arrow of your attention will be deflected from its mark. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

Any word spoken with clear realization and deep concentration has a materializing value….The infinite potencies of sound derive from the Creative Word, Aum, the cosmic vibratory power behind all atomic energies. The full power of this principle can be utilized when the mind becomes attuned with that superfine Aum vibration in meditation and superconscious perception. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

All affirmations of the conscious mind should be impressive enough to permeate the subconsciousness, which in turn automatically influences the conscious mind. Strong conscious affirmations thus react on the mind and body through the medium of the subconsciousness. Still, stronger affirmations reach not only the subconscious but also the superconscious mind — the magic storehouse of miraculous powers. - 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.

As the perfect thoughts of God have created the cosmos and keep it in balance and rhythm, so the right thoughts of His children, when expressed in rightly uttered words, or affirmations, set up corresponding rhythmic, etheric vibrations in the cosmos and in the individual who utters them. These creative vibrations, in turn, harmonize all circumstances and activate the forces necessary to bring into manifestation the desired result. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

 

 

 

 

 

The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does. - Anonymous.

 

 

 

The Fisherman and the Businessman
By Anonymous

A very rich industrialist was horrified one day to find a fisherman lying lazily beside his boat, smoking a pipe.

"Why aren't you out fishing?" asked the industrialist. "Because I have caught enough fish for the day", said the fisherman.

"Why don't you catch some more?" "What would I do with them?"

"You could earn more money," said the businessman. "With that, you could have a motor attached to your boat and then go into deeper water and catch more fish. Then you would make enough money to buy bigger and better nets. These would bring you more fish and more money. Soon you would be able to buy one or two more boats, even a fleet of them. Then you would be rich like me!"

"What would I do then?" "Why, then you could really enjoy life."

"What do you think I am doing right now?"

This great law some know, but few put into practice: Continuously think that your body is full of vitality, especially at times when it seems weak, and you will feel strength percolating into your body from the mind. You will start to open a new, secret, invisible source of self-vitalization apart from the external material sources of food, air, and sunlight. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

Proper breathing is so important to keep your blood charged with vitality….Learn and practice this method: First, throw out the breath with a strong double exhalation (one short and one long breath). Then, inhale in a double inhalation (one short and one long breath), filling the lungs as full as is comfortable. Hold the air in the lungs for a few seconds, allowing the oxygen to be fully absorbed and converted into prana. Then repeat the double exhalation, followed by the double inhalation. Practice this method in the fresh air 30 times in the morning and 30 times at night. It is very simple. You will be healthier than ever if you follow this. This exercise brings in a great deal of extra life force; and also decarbonizes your blood, promoting calmness. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

The system of Energization Exercises, which I discovered and developed in 1916, is a most beneficial, simple, and nonstrenuous method for recharging the body consciously with life-giving prana. This stimulation and electrification of the tissues, cells, and blood helps to immunize them against disease. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

[The body] is kept dancing with life by forces derived from external sources (food, oxygen, and sunshine); and by vitality (prana) derived from the internal source — Cosmic Consciousness. Without the life forces and consciousness from the inner soul source, the external sources of bodily energy are of no avail in maintaining life in the body. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

When you see from a hilltop how beautiful are the twinkling lights of a city, you forget that it is the dynamo that is providing the electricity to illumine the bulbs. So when you see the sparkling vitality of human beings, but you do not know what is enlivening them, then you are spiritually blind. That Power, even though unseen, is very evident. It is all the time playing hide-and-seek behind our thoughts. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

Whether man acknowledges God or not, the truth is that our very existence from moment to moment depends on the life and vitality and intelligence that constantly flows from the unseen Divine Source.” - Sri Daya Mata.