Paramahansa Yogananda

Most people imitate others. You should be original, and whatever you do, do well.

Remain calm, serene, always in command of yourself. You will then find out how easy it is to get along.

Careless indifference and bodily restlessness in meditation cause negative vibrations.

The Western day is indeed nearing when the inner science of self-control will be found as necessary as the outer conquest of nature. This new Atomic Age will see men's minds sobered and broadened by the now scientifically indisputable truth that matter is in reality a concentrate of energy.

The season of failure is the best time for sowing the seeds of success.

As a broken microphone cannot broadcast a message, so a restless mind cannot transmit prayers to God.

Brotherhood is an ideal better understood by example than precept!

Yoga is a method for restraining the natural turbulence of thoughts, which otherwise impartially prevent all men, of all lands, from glimpsing their true nature of Spirit. Yoga cannot know a barrier of East and West any more than does the healing and equitable light of the sun.

Introspection, or 'sitting in the silence,' is an unscientific way of trying to force apart the mind and senses, tied together by the life force. The contemplative mind, attempting its return to divinity, is constantly dragged back toward the senses by the life currents.

The kingdom of God is just behind the darkness of closed eyes, and the first gate that opens to it is your peace.

Stop dreaming that you are just an ordinary mortal, constantly going through mental ups and downs. No matter what happens, remember always that you are made in the true image of Spirit.

The man form is higher than the angel form; of all forms it is the highest. Man is the highest being in creation, because he aspires to freedom.

Nothing is impossible unless you think it is.

When the yogi starts to meditate, he must leave behind all sensory thoughts and all longings for possessions by quieting the waves of feeling (chitta), and the mental restlessness that arises therefrom, through the application of techniques that reinstate the controlling power of the untrammeled superconsciousness of the soul.

The ordinary man considers solids and liquids and the energy manifestations of the material world to be vastly different, but the yogi sees them as various vibrations of the one cosmic light.

Man is important in one sense only. He was made in the image of God: That is his importance. He is not important for his body, ego, or personality. His constant affirmation of ego-consciousness is the source of all his problems.

There is a magnet in your heart that will attract true friends. That magnet is unselfishness, thinking of others first; when you learn to live for others, they will live for you.

Untrained warriors are soon killed on the battlefield; so also persons untrained in the art of preserving their inner peace are quickly riddled by the bullets of worry and restlessness in active life.

Brotherhood is an ideal better understood by example than precept

Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes, that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts.

Medicine has its limitations, Life Force has none.

Be kind to others, so that you may learn the secret art of being kind to yourself.

It is better to meditate a little bit with depth than to mediate long with the mind running here and there. If you do not make an effort to control the mind it will go on doing as it pleases, no matter how long you sit to meditate.

Whoever comes to me finds me a mirror to whatever is in his heart. Thus, I try to help him to see qualities in himself that he needs to overcome.

Sri Yukteswar showed no special consideration to those who happened to be powerful or accomplished; neither did he slight others for their poverty or illiteracy. He would listen respectfully to words of truth from a child, and openly ignore a conceited pundit.

Seclusion is the price of greatness.

Affirm divine calmness and peace and send out only thoughts of love and goodwill if you want to live in peace and harmony. Never get angry for anger poisons your system.

The sense of being a separate, egoic self begins with the astral, not with the physical, body. The soul is individualized spirit.

Happiness lies in making others happy in forsaking self interest to bring joy to others.

There are always two forces warring against each other within us.

Freedom means the power to act by soul guidance, not by the compulsions of desires and habits. Obeying the ego leads to bondage; obeying the soul brings liberation.

The scenery of mountains painted on the ever-changing azure canvas of the sky, the mysterious mechanism of the human body, the rose, the green grass carpet, the magnanimity of souls, the loftiness of minds, the depth of love - all these things remind us of a God who is beautiful and noble.

Hypnotism is trespass into the territory of another's consciousness. Its temporary phenomena have nothing in common with the miracles performed by men of divine realization.

Wise guidance never violates peoples free will. A superior who demands obedience of his subordinates should show respect for their capacity to understand and also for their innate right to their own free will.

It is wisest to be impartial. If you have health, but are attached to it, you will always be afraid of losing it. And if you fear that loss, but become ill, you will suffer. Why not remain forever joyful in the Self?

As often as you fail, get up and try again. God will never let you down, so long as you don't let Him down, and so long as you make the effort.

The yogi offers his labyrinthine human longings to a monotheistic bonfire dedicated to the unparalleled God. This is indeed the true yogic fire ceremony, in which all past and present desires are fuel consumed by love divine.

Some people try to be tall by cutting off the heads of others.

Possession of material riches, without inner peace, is like dying of thirst while bathing in a lake. If material poverty is to be avoided, spiritual poverty is to be abhorred. For it is spiritual poverty, not material lack, that lies at the core of all human suffering.

When the mind is calm how quickly how smoothly how beautifully you will perceive everything.

Cosmic energy enters the body through the medulla and then passes to the cerebrum in which it is stored or concentrated.

Truth is exact correspondence with reality.

Ignoring all prejudices of caste, creed, class, color, sex, or race, a swami follows the precepts of human brotherhood. His goal is absolute unity with Spirit.

Only the wise know just where predestination ends and free will begins. Meanwhile, you must keep on doing your best, according to your own clearest understanding. you must long for freedom as the drowning man longs for air. Without sincere longing, you will never find God.

Be careful what you choose to do consciously for unless your will is very strong that is what you may have to do repeatedly and compulsively through the habit influencing power of the subconscious mind.

All honest work is good work; it is capable of leading to self-development, provided the doer seeks to discover the inherent lessons and makes the most of the potentialities for such growth.

The happiness of one's own heart alone cannot satisfy the soul; one must try to include, as necessary to one's own happiness, the happiness of others.

Many great works of art, poetry, and music are inspired by astral memories. The desire to do noble, beautiful things here on Earth is also often a carryover of astral experiences between a person's earth lives.

Weaken a bad habit by avoiding everything that occasioned it or stimulated it without concentrating upon it in your zeal to avoid it. Then divert your mind to some good habit and steadily cultivate it until it becomes a dependable part of you.

When the mind is calm, how quickly, how smoothly, how beautifully you will perceive everything.

Evil spreads with the wind truth is capable of speading even against it.

The ideal of an all-sided education for youth had always been close to my heart. I saw clearly the arid results of ordinary instruction, aimed only at the development of body and intellect.

Affirm divine calmness and peace, and send out only thoughts of love and goodwill if you want to live in peace and harmony. Never get angry, for anger poisons your system.

Kindness is the light that dissolves all walls between souls, families, and nations.

Learn to be calm and you will always be happy.

Remain calm serene always in command of yourself. You will then find out how easy it is to get along.

If you have a strong mind and plant in it a firm resolve, you can change your destiny.

One cannot tell when he is going to be healed, so do not try to set an exact time limit. Faith, not time, will determine when the cure will be effected.

I find my earliest memories covering the anachronistic features of a previous incarnation. Clear recollections came to me of a distant life, a yogi amidst the Himalayan snows. These glimpses of the past, by some dimensionless link, also afforded me a glimpse of the future.