Seldom has a great master come into the world with such an outwardly commanding and heroic role as Jesus. The age Jesus lived in was a hard one. He had to survive a public mission in a rough, dogmatic, and intolerant society. Never did he hesitate to “thunder” when the occasion called for a divine rumble.

When we reach outward from our egos to a broader reality, our consciousness and self-identity expand. The more expansive our consciousness, the happier we feel, and the more self-fulfilled. We offend against our own deepest nature when we divorce ourselves from that reality.

Remember, when your love for God becomes a constant, silent yearning of your heart, all other things will melt away like morning mist before the rising sun. The greatest way to cling to God is to cling first to love.

Live more and more in that center where God dwells. Radiate this to others, and their lives, and your own, will be changed.

I’ve always been certain I could do anything well I set my mind to — not because I considered myself particularly adept, but because, 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!”

For all its persuasiveness, life is as unreal as any movie. There is no substance at all to the manifested universe—except inasmuch as movies are real: as appearances, merely. The vast drama of time, space, and active life is a colossal fiction!

Worry-consciousness not only creates problems where none really exist, but actually interferes with one’s efforts to resolve problems where they do exist.

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. Success in every aspect of life depends on the power of your magnetism to attract it. By developing “success magnetism,” you will find victory in all situations even in the midst of widespread difficulties.

The only free will we have is to turn toward God or to reject Him— to love Him or to spurn Him. Otherwise, since God is omniscient, everything that we do — and will do– is already known, even what color shirt we will wear this morning.

Yoga techniques are a means of self-improvement, that we might make ourselves a more fit instrument to receive and express God’s love. Surely it will be a sign of our love for Him if we practice those methods which have been found helpful by others who have known Him.

Money is a form of energy. In learning to attract money, to use it rightly, we learn to attract energy, and to use energy rightly. In the process, we develop will power and concentration—essential attributes not only for success in the world but also on the spiritual path.

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.” When I expressed surprise at this astonishing description of the greatness of Judas, Yogananda replied, “Oh yes! He would have had to be, to be one of the twelve disciples. But he had to go through two thousand years of suffering for his treachery.

The next morning the boys entered the large hole in the back wall, which in fact was a tunnel leading gently downward. The first thing they noticed as they got deeper inside was a low humming sound.

Remember, your body changes constantly. If you will change your mental “picture,” the incoming cells will fit themselves to the new pattern.

Clearly, then, those eighteen years of Jesus’ life must have been deliberately omitted from the official account of Christ’s life. Two vital questions forcibly intrude themselves on this picture: What was omitted? And: What was the reason for that omission?

Victim consciousness puts the blame on other people. It’s the kind of thinking that says: “I have these difficulties and problems because of what people did to me.” But this perspective is wrong.

Drugs seem to inspire a sort of spiritual self-centeredness, an attachment to experiences, that is the very opposite of self-giving. In the long run, they actually reduce one’s sensitivity to reality as a whole.

A very different kind of world and universe will open up as we advance into this age. 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.

By the end of Treta Yuga, most people will understand that time, like space, is a delusion, and that the most ancient civilizations exist, not in the distant past, but right now, in the eternal present.

The spiritual path requires courage, dedication, and the absolute conviction that only God can ever satisfy the soul’s yearning for true happiness. “So long as you continue to make the effort,” Paramhansa Yogananda said, “God will never let you down.”

Love, to me, means consciousness reaching out to embrace the universe, not merely a human emotion that confines the heart to one or to a few human beings.

The marriage relationship is usually the focal point of the greatest tests a person faces, whether it’s wanting a relationship but not having it, or being in a relationship that’s not working out.

To express love toward the lower astral “deities” is, in the great scheme of things, one way of sharing God’s love, particularly if, by expressing that love, we are offering appreciation to Him, above all, for His inexhaustible bounty.

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.

All delusions endanger one’s peace of mind, strengthen the ego, and deepen one’s sense of isolation from others and from any sense of support from the universe. Worst of all, they cause us to seek fulfillment in means that always prove to be, in the end, mere shadows.

What we draw to us now is also the result of many attitudes of the past. If people treat us harshly despite our present kindness to them, it is because the seeds of harshness have not been completely erased from our own consciousness.

When I first read “Education for Life,” by Swami Kriyananda, I recognized the principles in this book as the “cure” for the ills of our society.

When we understand that our joy lies in doing whatever God has given us to do, then what we do is no longer a burden but a wonderful opportunity to grow spiritually. And when we act in that spirit, He blesses us.

For devotees, the purpose of all work is to put into action those divine qualities you’re developing inside. The consciousness with which you do your work is the most important aspect, not the outward form.

The avatars come again and again, to correct people’s misunderstandings of the eternal, unchanging truth.

It seems far better to trust in Him, and to try to follow His guidance, rather than to get sidetracked in the questionable truths of astral beings who purportedly speak to us through mediums.

Swami Kriyananda emphasizes that no sign is inherently more or less spiritual than any other.

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.

What is needed today is a spiritual army of souls demonstrating — not militantly or aggressively, but with sincerity declared — their commitment to higher values, to God, and to a firm rejection of worldly values.