Paramahansa Yogananda Quotes Page 3

“The body of the average man is like a fifty-watt lamp, which cannot accommodate the billion watts of power roused by an excessive practice of Kriya. Through gradual and regular increase of the simple and foolproof methods of Kriya, man’s body becomes astrally transformed day by day, and is finally fitted to express the infinite potentials of cosmic energy, which constitutes the first materially active expression of Spirit.”

“The deeper the self-realization of a man, the more he influences the whole universe by his subtle spiritual vibrations, and the less he himself is affected by the phenomenal flux.”

“The goal of yoga science is to calm the mind, that without distortion it may hear the infallible counsel of the inner voice.”

“The more deeply we perceive, the more striking becomes the evidence that a uniform plan links every form in manifold nature.”

“The one who pursues a goal of evenmindedness is neither jubilant with gain nor depressed by loss.”

“The poet is intimate with truth, while the scientist approaches awkwardly.”

“The power of unfulfilled desires is the root of all man's slavery.”

“The rejuvenating effects of sleep are due to man’s temporary unawareness of body and breathing. The sleeping man becomes a yogi; each night he unconsciously performs the yogic rite of releasing himself from bodily identification, and of merging the life force with healing currents in the main brain region and in the six subdynamos of his spinal centres. Unknowingly, the sleeper is thus recharged by the cosmic energy that sustains all life.”

“The science of today is a light matter. Those amazing truths that our descendants will discover are even now all around us, staring us in the eyes, so to speak; and yet we do not see them. But it is not enough to say that we do not see them; we do not wish to see them — for as soon as an unexpected and unfamiliar fact appears, we try to fit it into the framework of the commonplaces of accepted knowledge, and are indignant that anyone should dare to experiment further.”

“The true stature of a great work may not at first be recognized by those of a more conventional cast of mind.”

“The weakling who has refused the conflict, acquiring nothing, has had nothing to renounce. He alone who has striven and won can enrich the world by bestowing the fruits of his victorious experience.”

“There are disciples who seek a guru made in their own image.”

“To lay aside what you have in your head (selfish desires and ambitions); to freely bestow what you have in your hand; and never to flinch from the blows of adversity!”

“Who am I? The great inquiry indeed.”

“Wisdom is not assimilated with the eyes, but with the atoms.”

“Worldly people do not like the candor which shatters their delusions.”

“Yoga has been superficially misunderstood by certain Western writers, but its critics have never been its practitioners.”

“Yoga is, as I can readily believe, the perfect and appropriate method of fusing body and mind together so that they form a unity which is scarcely to be questioned. This unity creates a psychological disposition which makes possible intuitions that transcend consciousness.”

“You do not have to struggle to reach God, but you do have to struggle to tear away the self-created veil that hides him from you”

“You have come to Earth to entertain and to be entertained.”

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

“Your spine is your body battery. Keep it charged.”

“Television has a satanic influence.”

“You must methodize your life. God created routine. The sun shines until dusk and the stars shine until dawn.”

“If devotees do not progress, it is because they discard their weapons of self-control.”

“When life force is shut off from the sensory organs, material sensations cannot reach the brain to snatch away the meditator’s attention from God.”

“Yoga meditation is the process of cultivating and stabilizing the awareness of one’s real nature, through definite spiritual and psychophysical methods and laws by which the narrow ego, the flawed hereditary human consciousness, is displaced by the consciousness of the soul.”

“If you want to be sad, no one in the world can make you happy. But if you make up your mind to be happy, no one and nothing on earth can take that happiness from you. If you have given up hope of ever being happy, cheer up.”

“Make up your mind that you will be happy whether you are rich or poor, healthy or unhealthy, happily married or unhappily married, young or old, smiling or crying. Don't wait for yourself, your family, or your surroundings to change before you can be happy within yourself. Make up your mind to be happy within yourself, right now, whatever you are, or wherever you are.”

“Persons of strong character are usually the happiest. They do not blame others for troubles that can be traced to their own actions and lack of understanding. They know that no one has the power to add to their happiness or detract from it, unless they themselves allow the adverse thoughts or wicked actions of others to affect them.”