Autobiography of a Yogi (Self-Realization Fellowship)

by Paramahansa Yogananda

“The one who pursues a goal of evenmindedness is neither jubilant with gain nor depressed by loss. He knows that man arrives penniless in this world, and departs without a single rupee.”

“What is behind the darkness of closed eyes?”

“God is simple. Everything else is complex.

“Mind is the wielder of muscles. The force of a hammer blow depends on the energy applied; the power expressed by a man’s bodily instrument depends on his aggressive will and courage.

Outward frailty has a mental origin; in a vicious circle, the habit-bound body thwarts the mind. If the master allows himself to be commanded by a servant, the latter becomes autocratic; the mind is similarly enslaved by submitting to bodily dictation.”

“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.”

‘Come with me; I will teach you to subdue the beasts of ignorance roaming in jungles of the human mind.

Grateful friends are only the Lord in disguise, looking after His own.

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

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

“Extravagance will bring you discomfort.”

Man may be compelled to exterminate harmful creatures. He is not under a similar compulsion to feel anger or animosity. All forms of life have an equal right to the air

Really, it has been your thoughts that have made you feel alternately weak and strong.’ My guru looked at me affectionately. ‘You have seen how your health has exactly followed your subconscious expectations. Thought is a force, even as electricity or gravitation. The human mind is a spark of the almighty consciousness of God. I could show you that whatever your powerful mind believes very intensely would instantly come to pass.’

“In shallow men the fish of little thoughts cause much commotion. In oceanic minds the whales of inspiration make hardly a ruffle.”

“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.

Father and Master deeply admired each other. Both had built a beautiful inner life on foundations of spiritual granite, insoluble against the ages.

Under Master’s unsparing rod, however, I soon recovered from the agreeable delusions of irresponsibility.

“So long as you breathe the free air of earth, you are under obligation to render grateful service. Only he who has fully mastered the breathless state17 is freed from cosmic imperatives.” He added dryly, “I shall not fail to let you know when you have attained the final perfection.”

I shook many times under the weight of his disciplinary hammer.

“Tender inner weaknesses, revolting at mild touches of censure, are like diseased parts of the body, recoiling before even delicate handling.”

“In sleep, you do not know whether you are a man or a woman,” he said. “Just as a man, impersonating a woman, does not become one, so the soul, impersonating both man and woman, remains changeless.

“Do not allow yourself to be thrashed by the provoking whip of a beautiful face,” he told the disciples. “How can sense slaves enjoy the world? Its subtle flavors escape them while they grovel in primal mud. All nice discriminations are lost to the man of elemental lusts.”

“Conserve your powers. Be like the capacious ocean, absorbing quietly all the tributary rivers of the senses. Daily renewed sense yearnings sap your inner peace; they are like openings in a reservoir that permit vital waters to be wasted in the desert soil of materialism. The forceful, activating impulse of wrong desire is the greatest enemy to the happiness of man. Roam in the world as a lion of self-control; don’t let the frogs of sense weakness kick you around!”

Thus Jesus plucked ears of corn on the day of rest. To the inevitable critics he said: “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.”21

“But what original commentary can you supply, from the uniqueness of your particular life? What holy text have you absorbed and made your own? In what ways have these timeless truths renovated your nature? Are you content to be a hollow victrola, mechanically repeating the words of other men?”

“If one busies himself with an outer display of scriptural wealth, what time is left for silent inward diving after the priceless pearls?”

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

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

I planned to meditate, but my laudable purpose was unshared by disobedient thoughts. They scattered like birds before the hunter.

The creative voice of God I heard resounding as Aum,2 the vibration of the Cosmic Motor.

The divine experience comes with a natural inevitability to the sincere devotee. His intense craving begins to pull at God with an irresistible force. The Lord as the Cosmic Vision is drawn by that magnetic ardor into the seeker’s range of consciousness.

“Outward longings drive us from the Eden within; they offer false pleasures that only impersonate soul happiness.

“I do realize now that I have found God, for whenever the joy of meditation has returned subconsciously during my active hours, I have been subtly directed to adopt the right course in everything, even in minor details.”

Intuition is soul guidance, appearing naturally in man during those instants when his mind is calm.

The goal of yoga science is to calm the mind, that without distortion it may hear the infallible counsel of the Inner Voice.

“It is not a question of belief; the scientific attitude one should 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.

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

“The deeper the Self-realization of a man, the more he influences the whole universe by his subtle spiritual vibrations, and the less he himself is affected by the phenomenal flux.”

To achieve final salvation in the Lord is indeed to find that the human body has completely fulfilled its purpose; a master then uses it in any way he deems fit.

Man’s sensitive body, with its electrical life currents, is a center of many mysteries as yet unexplored.

The life force, which is ordinarily absorbed in maintaining heart action, must be freed for higher activities by a method of calming and stilling the ceaseless demands of the breath.”

‘seek divine wealth, not the paltry tinsel of earth. After acquiring inward treasure, you will find that outward supply is always forthcoming.’

‘Truth is for earnest seekers, not for those of idle curiosity.

“Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Matt. 23:12). To humble the ego or false self is to discover one’s eternal identity.

“Solve all your problems through meditation.14 Exchange unprofitable speculations for actual God-communion.

“Clear your mind of dogmatic theological debris; let in the fresh, healing waters of direct perception. Attune yourself to the active inner Guidance; the Divine Voice has the answer to every dilemma of life.

“Divine union,” the Yogavatar proclaimed, “is possible through self-effort, and is not dependent on theological beliefs or on the arbitrary will of a Cosmic Dictator.”

“Seek truth in meditation, not in moldy books. Look in the sky to find the moon, not in the pond.”

Evil is pointed out to them as being that which produces misery; good as those actions which result in true happiness.

“The things I prize and find of real worth are trees, which are my shelter; blooming plants, which provide my daily food; and water, which assuages my thirst. Possessions amassed with anxious thought are wont to prove ruinous to those who gather them, causing only the sorrow and vexation that afflict all unenlightened men.