Autobiography of a Yogi: The Original 1946 Edition plus Bonus Material

by Paramahansa Yogananda

"Are we living in this material age, or are we dreaming?

Good and evil is the challenging riddle which life places sphinxlike before every intelligence.

Why should I desire that which pleases the body only?"

"But there are many kinds of tigers; some roam in jungles of human desires. No spiritual benefit accrues by knocking beasts unconscious. Rather be victor over the inner prowlers."

"Do not mistake the technique for the Goal."

The knowledge of yoga is free to all who will receive, like the ungarnishable daylight.

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.

All creative scientists know that the true laboratory is the mind, where behind illusions they uncover the laws of truth.

we should forever be free from the desecration of utilizing knowledge only for personal gain.

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

The scientist seldom knows contemporaneous reward; it is enough to possess the joy of creative service."

He who would find the Deathless Essence must not be dismayed by a few unadorned skulls.

How short is human memory for divine favors! No man lives who has not seen certain of his prayers granted.

Moral: Look fear in the face and it will cease to trouble you.

Moral: Attachment is blinding; it lends an imaginary halo of attractiveness to the object of desire.

To a man who has realized himself as a soul, not the body or the ego, the rest of humanity assumes a striking similarity of aspect.

"Be comfortable within your purse," he often said. "Extravagance will buy you discomfort."

"The body is a treacherous friend. Give it its due; no more,"

"If you don't like my words, you are at liberty to leave at any time,"

a worthy leader has the desire to serve, and not to dominate.

Personal idiosyncrasies, possessed even by masters, lend a rich complexity to the pattern of life.

Roam in the world as a lion of self-control; see that the frogs of weakness don't kick you around."

"Softer than the flower, where kindness is concerned; stronger than the thunder, where principles are at stake."

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

What one does not trouble to find within will not be discovered by transporting the body hither and yon.

Wrath springs only from thwarted desires. I do not expect anything from others, so their actions cannot be in opposition to wishes of mine.

Desire for material things is endless; man is never satisfied completely, and pursues one goal after another.

"Man is a soul, and has a body. When he properly places his sense of identity, he leaves behind all compulsive patterns.

The ancient rishi Patanjali defines "yoga" as "control of the fluctuations of the mind-stuff."

Kriya Yoga is thus "union (yoga) with the Infinite through a certain action or rite."

Master of his body and mind, the Kriya Yogi ultimately achieves victory over the "last enemy," death. So shalt thou feed on Death, that feeds on men: And Death once dead, there's no more dying then. 26-13

Pain is a prod to remembrance. The way of escape is through wisdom!

liberation is dependent on inner, rather than outer, renunciations.'

'Truth is for earnest seekers, not for those of idle curiosity. It is easy to believe when one sees; there is nothing then to deny.

The karmic law requires that every human wish find ultimate fulfillment. Desire is thus the chain which binds man to the reincarnational wheel.

"Always remember that you belong to no one, and no one belongs to you.

Through delusion you are perceiving yourself as a bundle of flesh and bones, which at best is a nest of troubles.

it is the barren tree that lifts its head high in an empty boast.

Evil is pointed out to them as being that which produces misery; good as those actions which result in true happiness. Evil may be compared to poisoned honey, tempting but laden with death.

"Do not do what you want, and then you may do what you like."

Utopia must spring in the private bosom before it can flower in civic virtue. Man is a soul, not an institution;