The Essence of Self-realization Quotes

“A visitor asked Paramhansa Yogananda, "Is renunciation necessary on the spiritual path?"
"Yes!" declared the Master emphatically. "Whether married or single, one should always feel in his heart that God is his one true Beloved, Who alone resides in the temple of all human hearts.
"Renunciation means, above all, non-attachment. It is not how you live outwardly that matters, but how you live within.
"Make your heart a hermitage, I always say, and your robe your love for God.”
― Swami Kriyananda, The Essence of Self-Realization: The Wisdom of Paramhansa Yogananda

“Pray thus to God:
"`My Infinite Beloved, I know that Thou art nearer than these words with which I pray; nearer even than my nearest
thoughts.
"`Behind my every restless feeling, may I feel Thy concern for me, and Thy love.
"`Behind my awareness, may I feel sustained and guided by Thy consciousness.
"`Behind my love for Thee, may I become ever more deeply conscious of Thy love.'
"If you continuously pray to Him in this way, and if you pray with all sincerity, you will feel His presence suddenly as a great joy in your heart. In that bursting joy you will know that He is with you, and that He is your very own.”
― Swami Kriyananda, The Essence of Self-Realization: The Wisdom of Paramhansa Yogananda

“The wave must realize that its reality, as a mere wave, is temporary. It may appear again and again as other waves, but in the end it has to realize that its reality lies not in its separateness as a wave, but in the ocean of which the wave is a manifestation. Realization of its true identity demands merging into the ocean and becoming one with it.”
― Swami Kriyananda, The Essence of Self-Realization: The Wisdom of Paramhansa Yogananda

“The desires of incarnations keep one endlessly wandering. Once, however, a sincere longing for God awakens in the heart, liberation is already assured, even though the process take more incarnations. For that longing for God, too, is a desire, and must be fulfilled eventually.”
― Swami Kriyananda, The Essence of Self-Realization: The Wisdom of Paramhansa Yogananda

“A room may be in darkness for thousands of years, but if a light is brought into it, in that very instant the darkness vanishes.
"So is it with sin. You cannot drive sin out of the mind any more than you can beat darkness out of a room with a stick. By concentration on delusion, indeed, you may only increase its hold on your mind. Bring in the light of God, however, through deep meditation and devotion, and the darkness will vanish as though it had never been.”
― Swami Kriyananda, The Essence of Self-Realization: The Wisdom of Paramhansa Yogananda

“Ah, blindness! How long must you continue before, suffering from satiety, boredom, and disgust, you seek joy within, where alone it can be found?"-”
― Swami Kriyananda, The Essence of Self-Realization: The Wisdom of Paramhansa Yogananda