The Yogi is deemed greater than body-disciplining ascetics, greater even than the followers of the path of wisdom or of the path of action; be thou, O Arjuna, a Yogi! - Bhagavad Gita VI:46.

 

 

My Guru showed me how to use the chisel of wisdom to make myself into a fitting temple to receive God’s presence. All persons can do the same if they follow the precepts of divinely illumined teachers. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

The true guru has no desire to place himself in the hearts of others, but rather to awaken in their consciousness the consciousness of God. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

I sought all over India to find a true master. I searched in books; I journeyed from temple to temple, from one holy place to another; but my doubts followed me everywhere. But when I found that one who had realization — my guru, Sri Yukteswarji — and saw that spirit divine in his eyes, all doubt went away. Through his blessing, my whole life changed. That is why I stress to you the importance of following a true guru and his teachings. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

When you are moving blindly through the valley of life, stumbling in darkness, you need the help of someone who has eyes. You need a guru. To follow one who is enlightened is the only way out of the great muddle that has been created in the world. I never found true happiness and freedom until I met my Guru, he who was spiritually interested in me and who had the wisdom to guide me. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

An understanding of the divine law of the guru-disciple relationship is necessary. We learn this in India. It is very simple but very important: you have to find the guru, first; then real spiritual progress begins. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

To understand the secular knowledge available in a school, you have to learn from a teacher who knows it. So also to understand spiritual truths it is necessary to have a spiritual teacher, or guru, one who knows God. Even if you cannot be in his physical presence, or even if he is no longer incarnate on earth, you must follow the teaching of such a teacher if you would find God. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

The guru helps you to uncover the soul within and to guide its upward climb to everlasting freedom in Spirit. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

A true guru is one who knows God…and therefore is able to lead others on the path to their own liberation and ascension. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

Your devotion, like a plummet, must go deeper and deeper into the sea of divine perception. Those whose eyes of inner sight are opened in meditation will perceive the Presence of God right here, in the heart. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

True love is divine, and divine love is joy. The more you meditate, seeking God with a burning desire, the more you will feel that love in your heart. Then you will know that love is joy, and joy is God. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

When you are absorbed in love for God, His response is there at the heart center, a tremendous feeling of calmness and divine joy welling up in the heart that draws your attention or concentration to that center. That feeling in the heart is like a great comet of light; and in that light is the love of God. It is that feeling which you should concentrate on in the heart….As soon as I concentrate on the heart, I feel that light, that glow of God’s all-consuming love. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

Sitting in silence trying to feel devotion may often get you nowhere. That is why I teach scientific techniques of meditation. Practice them and you will be able to disconnect the mind from sensory distractions and from the otherwise ceaseless flow of thoughts. By Kriya Yoga one’s consciousness functions on a higher plane; devotion to the Infinite Spirit then arises spontaneously in man’s heart. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

The love between the soul and Spirit is the perfect love, the love you are all seeking. When you meditate, love grows. Millions of thrills pass through your heart. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

That system of spiritual culture whereby one learns to “love God with all your heart” is known in India as Bhakti Yoga - union with God through unconditional love and devotion. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

To produce true lovers of God, true knowers of God, is the purpose of India’s teaching; this is what her scriptures have proclaimed to mankind. Long before the era of Christianity, Buddhism, or other religions, India showed the way. This is why I love her so much. And her teaching is what the world needs today. - Sri Daya Mata.

There is a personal element in the search for God that is more important than mastery over the whole science of Yoga. - Paramahansa Yogananda.

Kriya Yoga plus devotion - it works like mathematics; it cannot fail. - Paramahansa Yogananda.