The Divine Romance Quotes

“Remember that every time you worry, you put on a mental brake; and in struggling against that resistance, you place strain on your heart and mind. You wouldn’t try to drive off in your car with the brake on, because you know it would severely damage the mechanism. Worry is the brake on the wheels of your efforts; it brings you to a dead stop. Nothing is impossible, unless you think it is. Worry can convince you that it is impossible to do what you want to do. Worrying wastes time and energy.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, The Divine Romance: Collected Talks and Essays on Realizing God in Daily Life – Volume 2

“Grieve not for lost love, whether it is through death or the fickle fluctuations of human nature. Love itself is never lost, but just plays hide-and-seek with you in many hearts; that in pursuing it you might find its ever greater manifestations. It will keep hiding from you, and disappointing you, until you have quested long enough to find its abode in the One who resides in the deepest recesses of your own soul, and in the heart of everything. Then you will say: “O Lord, when I resided in the house of mortal consciousness, I thought I loved my parents and my friends; I fancied I loved birds, beasts, possessions. But now that I have moved into the mansion of Omnipresence, I know it is Thee alone I love, manifested as parents, friends, all creatures and all things. By loving Thee alone, my heart expanded to love the many. By being loyal in my love to Thee, I am loyal to all I love. And I love all beings forever.” I see life on earth as only a scenic backdrop behind which my loved ones hide at death. As I love them when they are before my eyes, so does my love follow them with my ever-watching mental gaze when they move elsewhere, behind death’s screen. Those whom I have loved I could never hate, even though they grow uninteresting through ugly behavior. In my museum of recollections, I can still behold those traits that caused me to love them. Beneath the temporary mental masks of those whose behavior I dislike, I see the perfect love of my great Beloved, even as I see it in those worthy souls that I love. To stop loving is to stem the purifying flow of love. I shall loyally love every being, every thing, until I find all races, all creatures, all animate and inanimate objects embraced by my love. I will love until every soul, every star, every forsaken creature, every atom, is lodged in my heart; for in the infinite love of God, my breast of eternity is large enough to hold everything in me. O Love, I see Thy glowing face in the gems. I behold Thy shy blush in the blossoms. I am enraptured, hearing Thee warble in the birds. And I dream in ecstasy when my heart embraces Thee in all hearts. O Love, I met Thee in all things—only a little and for a while—but in Omnipresence I clasp Thee entirely and forever, and I rejoice in Thy joy evermore.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, The Divine Romance: Collected Talks and Essays on Realizing God in Daily Life – Volume 2

“The ghost of ignorance is right within you. Ignorance means not using the power God gave you. Why are you saying and doing the same harmful things over and over every day? To think you cannot change at will is delusion. You must be able to change, to expel harmful habits immediately when you choose to do so.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, The Divine Romance: Collected Talks and Essays on Realizing God in Daily Life – Volume 2

“Daily, make this affirmation: “I will be neither lazy nor feverishly active. In every challenge of life I shall do my best without worrying about the future.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, The Divine Romance: Collected Talks and Essays on Realizing God in Daily Life – Volume 2

“How tragic is this world! It is a place of uncertainty. But no matter what has happened to you, if you throw yourself at the feet of the Father and seek His mercy, He will lift you up and show you that life is but a dream.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, The Divine Romance: Collected Talks and Essays on Realizing God in Daily Life – Volume 2

“Love all, keep your own counsel, and do not worry.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, The Divine Romance: Collected Talks and Essays on Realizing God in Daily Life – Volume 2

“if you bring out by your all-conquering God-given will the conviction that you cannot be left to suffer in difficulties, you will feel a secret divine power coming upon you; and you will see that the magnetism of that conviction and power is opening up new ways for you. Do not grieve over your present state, and do not worry. If you refuse to worry, and if you make the right effort, you will remain calm and you will surely find a way of reaching your goal.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, The Divine Romance: Collected Talks and Essays on Realizing God in Daily Life – Volume 2

“The purpose of life is that you find God and receive directly from Him His all-satisfying eternal love.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, The Divine Romance: Collected Talks and Essays on Realizing God in Daily Life – Volume 2