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Paramahansa Yogananda

Paramahansa Yogananda Books

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Self-realization

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“[Desires as seen on 3 planes of existence: Physical, Astral & Causal] Physical desires are rooted in egotism and sense pleasures. The compulsion or temptation of sensory experience is more powerful than the desire-force connected with astral attachments or causal perceptions. Astral desires center around enjoyment in terms of vibration. Astral beings enjoy teh ethereal music of the spheres and are entranced by the sight of all creation as exhaustless expressions of changing light. The astral beings also smell, taste and touch light. Astral desires ar thus connected with an astral being's power to precipitate all objects and experiences as forms of light or as condensed thoughts or dreams. Causal desires are fulfilled by perception only. The nearly-free beings who re encased only in teh causal body see the whole universe as realizations of the dream-idaes of God; they can materialize anything and everything in sheer thought. Causal beings therefore consider the enjoyment of physical sensations or astral delights as gross and suffocating to the soul's fine sensibilities. Causal beings work out their desires by materializing them instantly. pg 425, Chapter 43, The Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar”

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Book:Autobiography of a Yogi
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“{Yogananda on the death of his dear friend, the eminent 20th century scientist, Luther Burbank} His heart was fathomlessly deep, long acquainted with humility, patience, sacrifice. His little home amid the roses was austerely simple; he knew the worthlessness of luxury, the joy of few possessions. The modesty with which he wore his scientific fame repeatedly reminded me of the trees that bend low with the burden of ripening fruits; it is the barren tree that lifts its head high in an empty boast. I was in New York when, in 1926, my dear friend passed away. In tears I thought, 'Oh, I would gladly walk all the way from here to Santa Rosa for one more glimpse of him!' Locking myself away from secretaries and visitors, I spent the next twenty-four hours in seclusion... His name has now passed into the heritage of common speech. Listing 'burbank' as a transitive verb, Webster's New International Dictionary defines it: 'To cross or graft (a plant). Hence, figuratively, to improve (anything, as a process or institution) by selecting good features and rejecting bad, or by adding good features.' 'Beloved Burbank,' I cried after reading the definition, 'your very name is now a synonym for goodness!”

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Book:Autobiography of a Yogi
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“This creation is not run by blind forces. It operates according to an intelligent plan. […] It is unreasonable to suppose that this world is just a chance result of different combinations of atoms, with no guiding intelligence behind those atoms. On the contrary, is evident that there is law and order in the universe. Your life, and all life, is governed with mathematical precision by God’s intelligently framed cosmic laws. So by the divine law of action or karma, cause and effect, everything that you do is recorded in your soul. Thus, according to the measure of your work, whatever you accomplish through will power and creativity will be your passport after death to the heavenly regions earned by dutiful souls. And when you reincarnate in this world, you will be born with those mental powers developed by your previous efforts.”

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Book:To be Victorious in Life
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“Man lives in the body as a prisoner; when his term is over, he suffers the indignity of being thrown out. Love of the body is therefore nothing more than love of jail. Long accustomed to living in the body, we have forgotten what real freedom means. Being a Westerner is no excuse for not seeking freedom. It is vital to every man that he discover his soul and know his immortal nature. Yoga shows the way.”

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Book:Man's Eternal Quest
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“The soul, all-perfect and ever perfect, is compelled by the law of evolution to incarnate repeatedly in progressively higher lives— retarded by wrong actions and desires and accelerated by spiritual endeavors—until Self-realization and God-union are attained. Having then transcended the Lord’s delusion, the soul is forever freed. “Their thoughts immersed in That (Spirit), their souls one with Spirit, their sole allegiance and devotion given to Spirit, their beings purified from poisonous delusion by the antidote of wisdom— such men reach the state of non-return” (Bhagavad Gita V:17). In the Bible it is similarly written: “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out” (Revelation 3:12)”

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Book:Man's Eternal Quest
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“So remember, God is dreaming this world. And if we are in tune with Him, we will live a divinely intoxicated life and nothing will disturb us. We will watch this cosmic picture as we watch the films in a movie house, without being hurt. God created us that we may dream as He does, enjoying this dream, and all its contrasting experiences, as an entertainment, without being affected by it, absorbed in His eternal joy.”

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Book:Why God Permits Evil (Self-Realization Fellowship)
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“To love both the invisible God, Repository of All Virtues, and visible man, apparently possessed of none, is often baffling! But ingenuity is equal to the maze. Inner research soon exposes a unity in all human minds−the stalwart kinship of selfish motive. In one sense at least, the brotherhood of man stands revealed. An aghast humility follows this leveling discovery. It ripens into compassion for one's fellows, blind to the healing potencies of the soul awaiting exploration.”

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Book:Autobiography of a Yogi
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“The conception of hell as a place where souls are literally burned everlastingly with fire and brimstone is ridiculous. It is the propensity for vindictiveness in man's own heart that assumes such awful cruelty as the revenge of a Creator offended by the misdeeds of man. Poor God! That is a terrible declaration against Him—the Father-Mother who created all things in love, sustains them on the Infinite Bosom of love, and draws them back to Everlasting Bliss by the forgiveness of love. The transmigration of the soul through the matrix of reincarnation with its transforming opportunities for better efforts preclude any justification for an everlasting punishment meted out for man's temporary lapses into ignorance and evil. The evil man in time becomes again the perfect soul. At what point would a just God suddenly cancel an individual's divine birthright to keep striving toward the potentials of his true Self, to suffer instead an everlasting hell? It is untenable that Jesus, who was love, mercy, forgiveness incarnate, would support and preach such a doctrine. The context of his whole life and teachings forbids a literal reading of references to hell as a place of eternal fiery torment.”

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Author:Paramahansa Yogananda
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“The body is a treacherous friend. Give it its due; no more. Pain and pleasure are transitory; endure all dualities with calmness, trying at the same time to remove yourself beyond their power. Imagination is the door through which disease as well as healing enters. Disbelieve in the reality of sickness even when you are ill; an unrecognized visitor will flee!”

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Book:Autobiography of a Yogi
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“Medicines have limitations; the divine creative life force has none. Believe that: you shall be well and strong." [...] Chronic dyspepsia had afflicted me since childhood. [...] Master's words instantly convinced me that I could successfully apply their truth in my own life. No other healer (and I had tried many) had been able to arouse in me such profound faith. Day by day I waxed in health and strength. Through Sri Yukteswar's hidden blessing, in two weeks I gained the weight that I had vainly sought in the past. My stomach ailments vanished permanently.”

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Book:Autobiography of a Yogi
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“All creation is governed by law," Sri Yukteswar concluded. "The principles that operate in the outer universe, discoverable by scientists, are called natural laws. But there are subtler laws that rule the hidden spiritual planes and the inner realm of consciousness; these principles are knowable through the science of yoga. It is not the physicist but the Self-realized master who comprehends the true nature of matter. By such knowledge Christ was able to restore the servant's ear after it had been severed by one of the disciples." (Luke 22:50-51)”

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Book:Autobiography of a Yogi
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“Behind the subconscious mind is the superconscious mind. The power of God within you, the power of limitless control, lies in the superconscious mind. That mind cannot be suggested with failure, but it can be eclipsed by the suggestion of failure. The superconscious mind is the all-knowing intuitive consciousness of the soul. That mind can be tapped in deep concentration and in soul-contact in meditation.”

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Book:To Be Victorious in Life (Self-Realization Fellowship)
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“It is important to avoid identification with pain or anger or any kind of mental or physical suffering that comes. The best way to dissociate yourself from your difficulty is to be mentally detached, as if you were merely a spectator, while at the same time seeking a remedy. Don’t expect to attain unalloyed peace and happiness from earthly life. This should be your new attitude: no matter what your experiences are, enjoy them in an objective way, as you would a movie. You have to find true peace and happiness within yourself. Your outer experiences should be only fun.”

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Book:Man's Eternal Quest
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“The Upanishads have minutely classified every stage of spiritual advancement: - Jivanmukta ("freed while living") - a siddha ("perfected being") has progressed from the state of jivanmukta ("freed while living") to that of: - a paramukta ("supremely free" - full power over death); the latter has completely escaped from the mayic thralldom and its reincarnational round. The paramukta therefore seldom returns to a physical body; if he does return, he is: - an avatar, a divinely appointed medium of supernal blessings on the world. An avatar is unsubject to the universal economy; his pure body, visible as a light image, is free from any debt to Nature. The casual gaze may see nothing extraordinary in an avatar's form; but, on occasion, it casts no shadow nor make any footprint on the ground. These are outward symbolic proofs of an inward freedom from darkness and material bondage. [...] Krishna, Rama, Buddha and Patanjali were among the ancient Indian avatars. [...] Agastya, a South Indian avatar. - Mahavatar (Great Avatar) - Babaji's mission in India has been to assist prophets in carrying out their special dispensations. He thus qualifies for the scriptural classification of Mahavatar (Great Avatar). [...] Babaji is ever in communion with Christ; together they send out vibrations of redemption and have planned the spiritual technique of salvation for this age. The work of these two fully illumined masters is to inspire the nations to forsake wars, race, hatreds, religious sectarianism, and the boomerang evils of materialism.[...] Only one reason motivates Babaji in maintaining his physical form from century to century: the desire to furnish humanity wit ha concrete example of its own possibilities. Were man never vouchsafed a glumpse of Divinity in the flesh, he would remain oppressed by the heavy mayic delusion that he cannot transcend his mortality. - pg305-310, Chapter 33, Babaji, Yogi-Christ of Modern India”

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Book:Autobiography of a Yogi
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“[Lahiri Mahasaya was] awake in God, knew this world to be nothing but an objectivized dream of the Creator. Because he was compeltely aware of his unity with the Divine Dreamer, Lahiri Mahasaya could materialize or dematerialize or make any other change he wished in the dream atoms of the phenomenal world.”

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Book:Autobiography of a Yogi
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“If you can go to a movie and see a picture of war and suffering, and afterward say, “What a wonderful picture!” so may you take this life as a cosmic picture-show. Be prepared for every kind of experience that may come to you, realizing that all are but dreams. Each human life constitutes a drama; and the events of each day represent a drama. You are living a fresh one each of the year’s 365 days. The thought that you are merely a player in these dramas is very comforting. Realize that the acting out of whatever part you are called upon to play does not affect your real being. At the end of every earthly incarnation you are the same—the immortal soul—untouched by sickness, sorrow, or death. “He who cannot be ruffled by these (contacts of the senses with their objects), who is calm and evenminded during pain and pleasure, he alone is fit to attain everlastingness!” (Bhagavad Gita II:15.)”

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Book:Man's Eternal Quest
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“In sabikalpa samadhi the devotee has attained realization of his oneness with Spirit but cannot maintain his cosmic consciousness except in the immobile trance state. By continuous meditation he reaches the superior state of nirbikalpa samadhii, in which he may move freely in the world without any loss of God-perception. pg416, Chapter 43, The resurrection of Sri Yukteswar”

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Book:Autobiography of a Yogi
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“It is better to laugh a little than to make a tragedy of every misfortune. The Gita teaches: “He who feels neither rejoicing nor loathing toward the glad nor the sad (aspects of phenomenal life), who is free from grief and cravings, who has banished the relative consciousness of good and evil, and who is intently devout—he is dear to Me.” To have an optimistic disposition and try to smile is constructive and worthwhile; for whenever you express divine qualities, such as courage and joy, you are being born again; your consciousness is being made new by the manifestation of your true soul nature.”

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Book:Man's Eternal Quest: Collected Talks and Essays - Volume 1 (Self-Realization Fellowship)
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“Jesus taught his followers to think of God as Father. In India it is more common to speak of God as Divine Mother. Saints of various persuasions have successfully communed with God by similarly idealizing other human relations — such as Friend or Beloved. It makes no difference. When I feel the gravity of wisdom, I speak of God as the Father. When I feel unbounded, unconditional love I call God Divine Mother. When I feel God as the nearest of the near, supporter and confidant, I call Him Friend. Thus, it is a misnomer to refer to God always as "He." It is equally appropriate to call God "She." But in the ultimate, God is Spirit, neither masculine nor feminine. Spirit is above any human correlation. Similarly, the soul is neither male nor female, though karmic inclinations cause it to incarnate either with the body of a man or a woman.”

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Book:The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You (2 Volume Set) 1St edition by Yogananda, Paramahansa published by Self-Realization Fellowship Hardcover
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“A yogi who through perfect meditation has merged his consciousness with the Creator perceives the cosmical essence as light (vibrations of life energy); to him there is no difference between the light rays composing water and the light rays composing land. Free from matter-consciousness, free from the three dimensions of space and the fourth dimension of time, a master transfers his body of light with equal ease over or through the light rays of earth, water, fire and air.”

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Book:Autobiography of a Yogi
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“[According to Einstein] only a material body whose mass is infinite could equal the velocity of light. [...] The masters who are able to materialise and dematerialise their bodies or any other object and to move with the velocity of light, and to utilise the creative light-rays in bringing into instant visibility any physical manifestation, have fulfilled the lawful condition: their mass is infinite.”

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Book:Autobiography of a Yogi
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“[The causal] body is a matrix of the 35 ideas required by God as the basic or causal thought forces. The subtle astral body [has] 19 elements The gross physical body [has] 16 elements. [These are] 16 gross metallic and nonmetallic elements. - The 19 elements of the astral body are mental, emotional and lifetronic. The 19 components are: [1] Intelligence [2] ego [3] feeling [4] mind (sense-cosnciousness) [5-9] five intruments of knowledge, the subtle counterparts of the senses of sight, hearing, smell, aste, touch, [10-14] five instruments of action, the mental correspondence for the executive abilities to procreate, excrete, talk, walk and exercise manual skill [15-19] five instruments of life force, those empowered to perform the crystallizing assimilating, eliminating, metabolizing, and circulating functions of the body. pg424, Chapter 43, The resurrection of Sri Yukteswar”

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Book:Autobiography of a Yogi
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“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. In the seclusion of concentrated thought lies hidden the factory of all accomplishment. Remember that. [...] 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.”

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Book:Man's Eternal Quest
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