Paramahansa Yogananda Quotes

“Communion with God is the only thing to live for. You will have to come to that understanding eventually, often after much suffering. Why not learn now? He is ready to welcome you. You can’t fail to reach God ultimately. It is foolish to ask, 'Will I be able to get into the kingdom of heaven?' There is no other place you can stay, for that is your real home. You don’t have to earn it. You are already God’s child, made in His image. You have only to tear away the mask of the human being and realize your divine birthright.”

“God gave freedom to man, and man has misused that freedom; this is the cause of all suffering.”

“In the seclusion of concentrated thought lies hidden the factory of all accomplishment. Remember that. In this factory continuously weave your will pattern for attaining success over opposing difficulties. Exercise your will continuously. During the day and at night you have many opportunities to work in this factory, if you do not waste your time. At night I withdraw from the world’s demands and am by myself, an absolute stranger to the world; it is a blank. Alone with my will power, I turn my thoughts in the desired direction until I have determined in my mind exactly what I wish to do and how to do it. Then I harness my will to the right activities and it creates success. In this way I have effectively used my will power many times. But it won’t work unless the application of will power is continuous.”

“Life is very tricky and we must deal with it as it is. If we do not first master it ourselves we cannot help anyone else.”

“Surcharge your will power through concentration. The way to become receptive is to sit quietly and concentrate your thoughts on a worthy wish until your mind and thought become completely dissolved in that idea. Then will power becomes divine — omniscient and omnipotent — and can be successfully applied toward realizing your goal.”

“The greatest factor in achieving spiritual success is willingness. Jesus said 'The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.' People of the world seek the gifts of God, but he who is wise seeks the Giver Himself.”

“The greatest of all enemies of man is himself.”

“The Hindus have a saying: 'The child is busy with play, the youth is busy with sex, and the adult is busy with worries.' How few are busy with God!”

“The initiative to undertake your most important duty in life is often buried beneath the accumulated debris of human habits.”

“The secret of effective prayer is to change your status from beggar to child of God; when you appeal to Him from that consciousness, your prayer will have both power and wisdom.”

“To develop will by yourself is extremely difficult. You require an example before you. If you would be an artist, surround yourself with good paintings and artists. If you would be a divine man, surround yourself with spiritual company.”