Suddenly I beheld myself in rags. Seated on the hard stones of poverty I wept, and my teardrops fell on the unheeding, unrelenting stones of my present circumstances.

The Essence of “Karma and Reincarnation.”

You must exercise your will in every undertaking, until it drops its mortal delusion of being human will and becomes one with all-powerful Divine Will.

The mother squirrel’s dynamic will, perfected in attunement with the divine will in former incarnations, had prepared her to continue her strange activity as long as the world endured.

I do not want to lose myself. Thy tiny dewdrop craves only, by merging in Thee, to feel that I am one with all the other drops in Thy ocean.

Adam and Eve came under the sway of duality and lost their attunement with the Divine. Their “sin” was in choosing the outward sexual energy over the inner bliss to which God had invited them.

A sudden idea flashed across the hunter’s mind: “If I put on an orange robe every day and pose as a harmless saint, then I can create enough trust in the birds that they will perch on me, and swarm all around me.”

I am aware that this turbulent dancing show is only a vast illusion. I am happy to have acted both tragic and comic parts. Still, Father, give me now and then a few days of respite from my task!

Union with the Cosmic Beloved is the most enjoyable experience possible. It is dream after dream, joy after joy; a thousand million divine romances in one, ever thrilling your heart.

As the King’s procession passed along the boulevard, the first blind man was shouting, “To whom the King gives, he alone becomes rich.” The second blind man was shouting, “To whom God gives, he alone becomes rich.”

I have burnt my past, destroying every seed of evil destiny. I am the Eternal NOW, having torn to shreds my enclosing cocoon of ignorance with the sharp knife of free will.

Remember that your difficulties did not come to crush you, but to strengthen your determination to use your limitless divine powers to succeed. God wants you to conquer the difficult tests of life and to come back to His home of wisdom.

The sheep-lion opened his eyes, and was astonished to find the reflection of his head in the water was not, as he expected, a sheep’s head but a lion’s head.

I beheld Thy bliss-face emerge from the dark shadows of my ignorance, where it had been hidden for long aeons by my indifference. And, seeing Thy smiling joy, I know that my own happiness mirrored Thy blessed image.

Sickness is the result of breaking some mental or physical law, either in this life or in a past incarnation. It is your job to free yourself from the shackles of undesirable hereditary tendencies, including habits of ill health.

Many of the great modern scientific discoveries merely confirm what the rishis (sages) of India discovered centuries ago about the atomic constitution of matter and the basic laws of the physical world.

After many hours of word-battle in frog language, the sea-frog persuaded the frog of the well and his brother-frogs to visit the ocean.

I take this sacred vow: Never will I lower my love’s gaze below the eyebrow-horizon of my constant thoughts of Thee! Never will I turn my uplifted inner sight away from Thee!

Devotees who are unattached to the body, and who have achieved control over the life force, experience no loss of consciousness at death. They move consciously through the spiritual eye and experience what is known as “conscious death.”

One day, when the great Buddha and his disciples were resting in the cool shade of a tree, a courtesan approached him, attracted by the glowing body and face of the Master.

No more will I remain moving through the sea of cosmic consciousness—night and day, years, decades, and how many incarnations!—so close, yet never able to contact Thy sea.

A luxurious material life is pleasing only to the eyes; few realize “what price material comforts.” Don’t be a slave to money or possessions. Learn to live simply, renouncing unnecessary “wants” and ever-increasing desires.

This story illustrates that if you leave the world for God, see that you also forsake worldly thoughts from within. Otherwise, wherever you go, your worldliness will go with you, attracting to you a worldly environment.

My lot is small, and my life’s season is short, yet now I would produce a mighty harvest. I will expand my kingdom of will power. To do so, I must conquer new states of consciousness, enlarge my achievements, and outgrow, in consciousness, every limiting horizon.

Yogananda never forgot for an instant that the real Doer was God. Inwardly, he was always free and at peace.

I am Thy child.
The wealth of earth and universe
Belongs to me, belongs to me,
O belongs to me, belongs to me.

Why do people doubt God? Doubts arise from uncertainty, and uncertainty arises from attachment. Many people saw Jesus display miraculous powers, but failed to perceive his spiritual greatness.

Sananda was a great saint who traveled across the plains of India with a large group of disciples. Many householders considered it a privilege to entertain a true saint and his disciples.

I bring Thee all the honey from the hive of my heart. All that was ever mine is now Thine alone.