Envisioning better joys

Many human beings refuse to undergo the restraint of giving up sense pleasure for an unknown soul pleasure. Most follow their misery-making sense longings because they cannot picture the nature of divine bliss. Their bad habits blind them completely, and destroy the power of envisioning any better joys.

-Paramahansa Yogananda

Destroying material desire

To destroy this consciousness, one should dissociate himself from his own personality and in his imagination identify himself with others. He will find out that the resultant state of mind is the same in everyone-momentary pleasure followed by dissatisfaction and more desires. Ceasing to desire, he will discover that what he really wants is not ego-satisfaction,or whim satisfaction, but satisfaction of the Self or soul.

The soul, being unlimited,does not allow itself to be circumscribed by the ego's narrowness. The destruction of ego consciousness does not mean that we should live aimless lives, but that we should not limit ourselves by being identified with ego's attachments. We are not to throw away our possessions, or not to take care of the things we have, or cease trying to possess what we really need; but in the course of performing our duties, we should eliminate the bondage of attachment. Those who free themselves from ego's narrowness and the consciousness of ego's possessions hold dominion over earth adn heaven. A child of Spirit who is free from ego's material attachment may surely have everything that is in the universe as his rightful divine inheritance. All his desires are satisfied.

-Paramahansa Yogananda 

God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita

Renunciation - Yogananda

Any man who renounces the fruits of action and acts only for God is a man of renunciation as well as a yogi. He is a man of renunciation because he relinquishes the desire to be the beneficiary of his actions; he is also a yogi, united to God, because he works only to please him.

A devotee can attend to his health, his family, his business, and still be a renunciant within. He says to himself "I did not create this body or this world. So why should I have attachments to them? I perform my material duties to my family and others, because God gave those tasks to me. I will meditate deeply and play this temporary role just to please him." Such a man of inner renunciation is also a yogi, for he is ever moving toward union with God through both meditation and right action.

By this way of being in the world but not of the world one can obtain peace. It is difficult, but it can be accomplished by an iron will. The path of outward renunciation, complete escape from the earthly scenes of material trouble, relingquishing longings by constant discrimination and withdrawal of objects of temptations, is suited to the nature of a choice few devotees.

The yogi-householder, who moves among sense objects, must free himself from the internal desires that cause bondage more real than the temptations of the outer world. The man of renunciation must remove himself from the entanglements of the outer jungle of material objects as well as free himself from inner longings for the objects he has relinquished. Then and only then-whether in the world or in a woodland seclusion, whether a householder, or a renunciant-one can attain peace.

Whether he is working in the world or sitting silently in a forest, the one objective of the yogi should be to recover the lost peace of the soul, and the soul's lost identity with Spirit. He who is wholly desireless and ego-free has realized this objective.

-Paramahansa Yogananda 

God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita

Keep your life uncomplicated - Yogananda

Happy are those who are wise enough to seek contentment by cultivating true joy and peace in a simple environment - a place that is neither a dreary waste nor a cultivated center of restlessness, driving, artificial living.

Those who keep their life uncomplicated, and do not depend on material conditions for their happiness, possess more than the rich and powerful, who want for happiness amid material plenty and are friendless among self- seeking friends; who are lonely even in a crowd, and joyless amid false pleasures.

-Yogananda

Sri Yukteswar discussion with Yogananda

Sri Yukteswar: "Mukunda (Yogananda's boyhood name), why don't you get an astrological armlet?"
Yogananda: "Should I, Master? I don't believe in astrology."
Sri Yukteswar: "It is never a question of belief; the only scientific attitude one can take on any subject is whether it is true. The law of gravitation worked as efficiently before Newton as after him. The cosmos would be fairly chaotic if its laws could not operate without the sanction of human belief."

Kama (Lust) - Paramahansa Yogananda

In the name and guise of fulfilling one's needs, ego lures man to continuous seeking of self-satisfaction, resulting in suffering and vexation. What would content the soul is forgotten, and the ego goes on endlessly trying to satisfy its insatiable desires. Kama (lust) is therefore the compelling desire to indulge in sensory temptations. Coercive materialistic desire is the instigator of man's wrong thoughts and actions. Interacting with the other forces that obstruct man's divine nature-influencing as well as being influenced by them-lustful desire is the consummate enemy. The perfect exemplay is Duryodhana, whose unwillingness to part with even an inch of sensory territory or pleasure was the cause of the war of Kurukshetra. Only little by little, with fierce determination in battle, could the Pandavas win back their kingdom.

Kama, or lustful desire, supported by the other Kaurava forces, can corrupt the sensory instruments of man to expression of their basest instincts. It is taught in the Hindu Scriptures that under the strong influence of kama, sane learned men act like asses, monkeys, goats, and swine.

Lust applies to the abuse of any or all the sensory in the pursuit of pleasure or gratification. Through the sense of sight man may lust after material objects; through the sense of hearing, he craves the sweet, slow poison of flattery, and vibratory sounds as of voices and music that rouse his material nature; through the lustful pleasure of smell he is enticed toward wrong envirnments and actions; lust for food and drinks cause him to please his taste at the expense of health; through the sense of touch he lusts after inordinate physical comfort and abuses the creative sex impulse. Lust also seeks gratification in wealth, status, power, domination- all that satisfies the "I, me, mine" in the egotistical man. Lustful desire is egotism, the lowest rung of the ladder of human character evolution. By the forces of its insatiable passion, kama loves to destroy one's happiness, health, brain power, clarity of thought, memory and discriminative judgement.


-Paramahansa Yogananda
God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita

How to Be Happy All the Time - Yogananda

Happiness consists in making the mightiest efforts to reduce your desires and needs, and in cultivating the ability to meet those needs at will, always trying to smile, both outwardly and inwardly, in spite of every predicament.

Be silent and calm every night for at least ten minutes (longer if possible) before you retire, and again in the morning before rising. This will produce an undaunted, unbreakable inner habit of happiness that will make you able to meet all the trying situations of the everyday battle of life. With that unchangeable happiness within, go about seeking to fulfill the demands of your day.

Seek happiness more in your mind and less in the acquisition of things. Be so happy in your mind that nothing that comes can possibly make you unhappy. Then, you can get along without things you have been accustomed to. Be happy knowing you have acquired the power not to be negative. Know, too, that you will never again become so materially minded that you forget your inner happiness, even if you become a millionaire.

-How to Be Happy All the Time
by Paramhansa Yogananda

Only the ignorant man expects fulfillment from this earth

Only the ignorant man expects perfection and lasting fulfillment from this earth; and brokenhearted he enters the portals of the grave. The enlightened man, knowing the delusive nature of the world, does not build his hopes here. Remaining unmoved by worldly desires, the wise seek the lasting Reality; they enter the vastness of Eternal Fulfillment.

-Paramahansa Yogananda

Self-discipline is not self-torture - Yogananda

Self-discipline is not self-torture; it is the way to organize and concentrate the unruly forces of the mind on those specific habits of living that can bring us true happiness. By doggedly following the methods of self-discipline we can rid ourselves of restlessness, bad habits, and misery-producing desires, and become truly happy.

-Paramahansa Yogananda

Seclusion is the price of greatness

Always remember that seclusion is the price of greatness... Walk in silence; go quietly; develop spirituality. We should not allow noise and sensory activities to ruin the antennae of our attention, because we are listening for the footsteps of God to come into our temples.

-Paramahansa Yogananda

Yogananda - Sense Slave

Only a sense slave finds it torture to eat moderately, to control the sex urges, to abstain from intoxicants. Even a well-balanced worldly man, not to mention a saint, knows from practical experience how necessary for well-being is a discipline of the senses. The sense slave eats to satisfy his palate and ultimately finds himself the victim of disease. The soul urges man to discipline the palate; after a short period of demonstrations of outraged dignity, the palate gives no further trouble! Like a good servant, the sense of taste learns to be satisfied with the wholesome decisions of its master, the soul.

The senses disregard the bliss of the soul and try to be happy by making the soul miserable. The soul, on the other hand does not seek to torture the senses, but to relegate them to their true station of man's servant, not master.

-Paramahansa Yogananda
God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita

Enjoy solitude - Yogananda

Be alone within. Don't lead the aimless life that so many persons follow. Meditate and read good books more... Once in a while it is all right to go to the movies and have a little social life, but mostly remain apart and live within yourself... Enjoy solitude; but when you want to mix with others, do so with all your love and friendship, so that those persons cannot forget you, but remember always that they met someone who inspired them and turned their minds toward God.

-Paramahansa Yogananda
"Man's Eternal Quest"

Don't joke all the time - Yogananda

Don't joke all the time with each other. Be happy and cheerful inside. Why dissipate in useless talk the perceptions you have gained? Words are like bullets: when you spend their force in idle conversation, your supply of inner ammunition is wasted. Your consciousness is like a milk pail: when you fill it with the peace of meditation you ought to keep it that way. Joking is often false fun that drives holes in the sides of your bucket and allows all the milk of your peace to run out.

-Paramahansa Yogananda, In a talk to disciples

Vast difference between imagination and Self-realization

There is a vast difference between imagination and Self-realization. Through your imagination you may have subconscious dreams and visions of Christ every day. But such experiences do not mean that you are truly in touch with him. The real visitation of Jesus is the communion with Christ Consciousness. If you are in tune with that Christ, your whole life will change.

-Paramahansa Yogananda

"I will wait"

In one of His aspects, a very touching aspect, the Lord may be said to be a beggar. He yearns for our attention. The Master of the Universe, at whose glance all stars, suns, moons, and planets quiver, is running after man and saying: 'Won't you give Me your affection? Don't you love Me, the Giver, more than the things I have made for you? Won't you seek Me?

But man says: 'I am too busy now; I have work to do. I can't take time to look for You.'

And the Lord says: 'I will wait.'

-Paramahansa Yogananda

Self-control is not self-torture

The reason few people seek God in earnest as do the saints is that millions believe they cannot do without evil, misery-producing pleasures. They are addicted, as is the alcoholic toward health-killing drink. But these very persons, if they were to form good habits, would say:"We cannot do without the pleasure and peace of meditation. We become miserable now if we had to mingle in our old environments."

Those who cling to their materialistic nature fail to understand why the pleasure-producing senses are inimical to the joy of the Spirit. "Why," they ask, "were the senses given to man if he is not to enjoy them?" (This query is supposed to completely "floor" the ascetic!)

The metaphysical reason for self-control is nothing but a spiritual business proposition calculated to bring the greatest happiness to man. Just as one must invest a certain sum of money in order to reap a greater gain, so the devotee forgoes indulgence in materialistic pleasures for the sake of gaining the pure joy of Spirit found in meditation.

Man is the image of God: within himself, as the tree is hidden in the seed, is the latent unmanifested bliss of the Spirit. As roasted seeds do not germinate, so when the seeds of consciousness is scorched by flames of material desires. The innate tree of Divine Happiness never has a chance to sprout.

Therefore, self-control is not self-torture, but leads instead to soul happiness. By withdrawing the mind from indulgence in lower kinds of paltry pleasures of the senses, man enters a vast kingdom of unending joy. It is the arrant chicanery of the malevolent ego that tells man otherwise.

-Paramahansa Yogananda
God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita

Health and disease

Perfect health is given by God. Disease is man-made. The baby who is born blind, or who is born a moron, brings such a condition from a past form of existence. Diseases acquired from the past or created through transgressions of the laws in this life are the results of human error. God wants His children to enjoy health and happiness, but they create disease and sorrow by breaking His laws.

-Paramahansa Yogananda

Take a deep breath and summon courage - Yogananda

The spiritual aspirant hopeful of obtaining ultimate illumination must "take a deep breath" and summon courage for a long-drawn struggle to conquer flesh consciousness.

-Yogananda