The thought that this world can ever be perfected is one of man’s greatest delusions. What this world is, simply, is a school, through which the soul passes on its upward evolution.

During the early years of Christianity, the importance of inner communion and a personal relationship with God were particularly emphasized by the Gnostics, a school of early Christians who were eventually suppressed.

Truth seekers must understand that finding God is not like the supreme effort required, say, to climb Mount Everest. Finding God is the simplest, most obvious, and most supremely natural thing to do in the world!

Our true nature is healthy. It can’t be otherwise because we are children of God. Illness and other health troubles come from not being in touch with our deepest reality.

Paramhansa Yogananda came to America’s shores with a message of divine promise and hope. He had been sent by God with the divine mission of guiding mankind out of the fogs of delusion into the clear light of divine understanding.

Seldom has a great master come into the world with such an outwardly commanding and heroic role as Jesus.

Instead of holding the thought hopelessly, “I can’t do that!” I’ve told myself, “Even though I don’t see how I can do that, I know God can do anything, even through the poorest instrument!”

I believe we’re on the eve of difficult times but if you have the right kind of magnetism, even if there’s a depression, it won’t be a predicament for you.

I once had an interesting talk with my Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, on the subject of Judas. He told me, “Of course, Judas was a prophet.”

Clearly, then, those eighteen years of Jesus’ life must have been deliberately omitted from the official account of Christ’s life.

By the end of Dwapara Yuga in 4100 A.D., mankind will conquer the delusion of space and people will be able to go, not only to other planets, but to distant galaxies.

The ultimate purpose of visualization and of devotional images is to lift the mind into communion with the Absolute. Always, the quest must be for transcendence.

The consciousness with which you do your work is the most important aspect, not the outward form.

This is a time when people need to “stand up and be counted” – a time for active participation in the outer struggle of light against darkness.

Today anyone who is truly aware of human directions believes we’re in for very hard times. For devotees, such times present an extraordinary opportunity for service and spiritual growth, greater than any in recorded history.

Paramhansa Yogananda told us more than once that in a former life he had been William the Conqueror.