The soul is absolutely perfect, but when identified with the body as ego, its expression becomes distorted by human imperfections. Yoga teaches us to know the divine nature in ourselves and others. Through yoga meditation, we can know that we are gods. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
It is possible to put religion into practice, to use it as a science that you can prove by experimenting on yourself. The search for Truth is the most marvelous search in the world. Learn how to build your life around spiritual ideals. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
Just as electricity was discovered in the West, and we in India benefit from it; so India has discovered the ways by which God can be known, and the West should profit by them. By experimentation, India has proved the truths in religion. In the future, religion everywhere will be a matter of experimentation; it will not be based solely upon belief. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
The science of religion identifies the universal truths common to all — the basis of religion — and teaches how by their practical application persons can build their lives according to the Divine Plan. India’s teaching of Raja Yoga, the “royal” science of the soul, supersedes the orthodoxy of religion by setting forth systematically the practice of those methods that are universally necessary for the perfection of every individual, regardless of race or creed. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
Yoga consists of the actual methods for rising above our narrow identification with the mortal body and restless mind and identifying ourselves with the calm immortal soul. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
India’s priceless contribution to the world, discovered anciently by her rishis, is the science of religion — yoga, “divine union” — by which God can be known, not as a theological concept but as an actual personal experience. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
To read and attain inwardly [through meditation] the full realization of the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita is to burn ignorance in the fire of wisdom. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
The Lord is with me and I am with Him. That is His promise in the Bhagavad Gita: “He who perceives Me everywhere and beholds everything in Me never loses sight of Me, nor do I ever lose sight of him.” - Paramahansa Yogananda.
As a preeminent treatise on Yoga, the renowned Bhagavad Gita speaks both pragmatically and esoterically to embrace the broad spectrum of human seeking. It cites not only the practical application of spiritual principles required of the aspirant but also the consummate expression of those principles as realized by the advanced yogi. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
[The Gita is] at once a profound scripture on the science of yoga, union with God, and a textbook for everyday living. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
The entire knowledge of the cosmos is packed into the Gita. Supremely profound, yet couched in revelatory language of solacing beauty and simplicity, the Gita has been understood and applied on all levels of human endeavor and spiritual striving — sheltering a vast spectrum of human beings with their disparate natures and needs. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
The Bhagavad Gita — a comprehensive metaphysical and psychological treatise — describes all experiences that will come to the spiritual traveler on the path of emancipation. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
The Bhagavad Gita is one of the very greatest expressions of the universal spiritual wisdom that is the unifying legacy of all humanity. Because it is so encompassing and universally practical, no matter where one is on the spiritual path “the Gita will shed its light on that segment of the journey. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
Awake! Open your eyes and you shall behold the glory of God — the vast vista of God’s light spreading over all things. I am telling you to be divine realists, and you will find the answer to all questions in God. Meditation is the only way. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
The ethereal power of God flows through me: through my speech, my brain, my cells, every wisp of my consciousness — every thought is a channel through which His divine light is passing. Open your hearts and realize that the Divine Light is also passing through you. As I perceive, may you perceive; as I behold, may you behold. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
[Affirm:] “I know I am one with the light of Thy goodness. May I be a lighthouse for those who are tossed on the sea of sorrow.” - Paramahansa Yogananda.
Darkness is the absence of light. Delusion is darkness; Reality is light. Your eyes of wisdom are closed, so you see only the darkness, and you are suffering in that delusion. Change your consciousness; open your eyes and you will see in the stars the sparkle of that Divine Light. In every atom of space, you will see the twinkle of God’s light of laughter. Behind every thought, you shall feel the ocean of His wisdom. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
Each year at Christmastime there are stronger than usual vibrations of Christ-love and joy that emanate to earth from the heavenly realms. The ether becomes filled with the Infinite Light that shone on Earth when Jesus was born. Those persons who are in tune through devotion and deep meditation feel in a wondrously tangible way the transforming vibrations of the omnipresent consciousness that was in Christ Jesus. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
Darkness may reign in a cave for thousands of years, but bring in the light, and the darkness vanishes as though it had never been….You can drive it away by opening your spiritual eye in deep meditation, filling your consciousness with its all-revealing divine light. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
As moving pictures are sustained by a beam of light coming from the projection booth of a movie house, so are all of us sustained by the Cosmic Beam, the Divine Light pouring from the projection booth of Eternity. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
As oil in sesame seed, as butter in cream, as water in hidden springs, as fire in sticks, so is the atman grasped in one's own self when one searches for him in truth and with fervor. - Mundaka Upanishad.
What I hankered after, that existed already in my heart. - Krishnabihari.
Love is perennial. It chooses the lovers, not the other way around. - Hafiz.
If you are worried about being on your spiritual track, don't be, because the fact that you are thinking about it means that you are on the right path. - Anonymous.
Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They have been with each other all along. - Rumi.
The best yoga is the yoga you do. - Anonymous.
What is meant for you will find you even if you feel like it has already passed you. - Anonymous.
When you choose peace, it comes with a lot of goodbyes. - Anonymous.
Always listen to your heart. It may be on your left, but it is always right. - Anonymous.
Not every place you fit is where you belong. - Anonymous.
Oh, the things you can find if you don't stay behind! - Dr. Seuss.
It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine. - Eeyore.
Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore. - Andre Gide.
Sometimes we can only find our true direction when we let the wind of change carry us. - Mimi Novic.
I helped a man climb a mountain and found that I too had reached the top. - Anonymous.
When a student is ready the teacher will appear. When the student is truly ready, the teacher will disappear. - Tao Te Ching.
You will never speak to anyone more than you speak to yourself in your head, be kind to yourself. - Anonymous.
Hunger is the first element of self-discipline. If you can control what you eat and drink, you can control everything else. - Anonymous.
The best way out is always through. - Robert Frost.
The fears we do not face, become our limits. - Anonymous.
Bad leaders care about who is right. Good leaders care about what is right. - Simon Sinek.
Work incessantly, but be not attached to it. - Swami Vivekananda.
Be not afraid. Think not how many times you fail. Never mind. Time is infinite. Go forward, assert yourself again and again and light must come. - Swami Vivekanand.
Don't look back - forward, infinite energy, infinite enthusiasm, infinite daring, and infinite patience - then alone can great deeds be accomplished. - Swami Vivekananda.
Have patience with all things but first of all with yourself. - Francis De Sales.
It will get tough before it gets easy. - Anonymous.
If life was an ice cream, how long would you wait before you enjoy it? - Anonymous.
There is no wrong you can do that God won't forgive you for if you have a realization of your actions. - Anonymous.
The stories we tell literally make the world. If you want to change the world, you need to change your story. This truth applies to both individuals and organizations. - Michael Margolis.
You often feel tired, not because you have done too much, but because you have done too little of what sparks a light in you. - Anonymous.
And God said love your enemy and I obeyed him and loved myself. - Khalil Gibran.
The genius of a man is hidden in the silent, settled state of mind from where every thought emerges. - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Food influences the mind and it must be kept pure. - Ramana Maharishi.
The greatest error of a man is to think that he is weak by nature, evil by nature. Every man is divine and strong in his real nature. What is weak and evil are his habits, his desires, and thoughts, but not himself. - Ramana Maharishi.
Be empty of worrying. Think of who created thought. Why do you stay in prison when the door is open? - Rumi.
I have seen the Lord with the eye of my heart. And I said, "Who are you?" He said, "You" - Mansur Al Hallaj.
The moon stays bright when it doesn't avoid the night. - Rumi.
The only happiness there is, is of the self. That is the truth. There is no happiness in worldly objects. Because of our ignorance, we imagine we derive happiness from them. - Ramana Maharishi.
Jesus demonstrated in his every act of ministering to the sick and forsaken, and in the consummate sacrifice of his body to alleviate the sins of many, the incomparable love of God that is an infinitude of mercy and forgiveness. The paramount meaning of the birth of Jesus is the forgiveness of God. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
“One should forgive, under any injury,” says the Mahabharata. “It hath been said that the continuation of the species is due to man’s being forgiving. Forgiveness is holiness; by forgiveness, the universe is held together. Forgiveness is the might of the mighty; forgiveness is sacrifice; forgiveness is quiet of mind. Forgiveness and gentleness are the qualities of the Self-possessed. They represent eternal virtue.” - Paramahansa Yogananda.
It is all right not to become a doormat, letting others trample upon you. It is good to be firm, stoically resisting ill-treatment; but at no time should you lose your inner calm attitude of forgiveness and understanding, and your unruffled mentality. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
All men and women should remember that their worldly life can be freed from endless physical and mental ills if they add deep meditation to their daily routines of living. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
Balance material and spiritual duties in your life; that will bring you supreme happiness. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
By realizing God within you, develop a divine, humble self-confidence founded on the conquering of your mortal weaknesses and upon real growing achievements — holding the consciousness that all your attainments come from the power you have borrowed from God. In this way, you will be free from all inferiority and superiority complexes. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
What you are is much greater than anything or anyone else you have ever yearned for. God is manifest in you in a way that He is not manifest in any other human being. Your face is unlike anyone else’s, your soul is unlike anyone else’s, and you are sufficient unto yourself; for within your soul lies the greatest treasure of all — God. - 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.
Every good action you perform digs like a pickax into the soil of consciousness and brings forth a little spray from the fountain of God’s joy. But the pickax of meditation, which is the highest form of good action, opens the inner surface of consciousness and lets all the joy of life spout forth. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
Kriya Yoga practiced deeply, will dissolve breath into mind, mind into intuition, intuition into the joyous perception of the soul, and soul into the cosmic bliss of Spirit. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
I have never known any pleasure in the world as great as the spiritual joy of Kriya Yoga. I would not give it up for all the comforts of the West or all the gold in the world. I have found it possible through Kriya Yoga to carry my happiness always with me. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
