Posts tagged yoga

By meditation we connect the little joy of the soul with the vast joy of the Spirit. Meditation should not be confused with ordinary concentration. Concentration consists in freeing the attention from distractions and in focusing it on any thought in which one may be interested. Meditation is that special form of concentration in which the attention has been liberated from restlessness and is focused on God. Meditation, therefore, is concentration used to know God.

- Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda Yogoda Satsanga Lessons

The aspiring yogi of the West as well as of the East must discipline himself…. He should refrain from making too much fuss about the body. If he sees he is finding time for everything else but is too busy for God, he should take the whip of discipline to himself. Why be afraid? There is everything to gain. If a man will not himself cry and struggle to attain his own salvation, will anyone else do it for him?

- Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda “Man’s Eternal Quest”

Kriya Yoga is the real “fire rite” oft extolled in the Gita. The yogi casts his human longings into a monotheistic bonfire consecrated to the unparalleled God…. All past and present desires are fuel consumed by love divine. The Ultimate Flame receives the sacrifice of all human madness, and man is pure of dross. His metaphorical bones stripped of all desirous flesh, his karmic skeleton bleached by antiseptic suns of wisdom, inoffensive before man and Maker, he is clean at last.

- Sri Sri Parama­hansa Yogananda “Autobiography of a Yogi”

When someone tells me how much he has worked for God, I see the poor quality of his spirit. Those who work for the Lord in the right way never think in terms of how much they are doing for Him. Rather, they think only of how much He is doing for them - giving them a body through which they can render service to others, a mind to think about Him and His wonders, and a heart to love Him as their Father, Maker, and sole Benefactor.

- Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda “Yogoda Satsanga Magazine”

Sri Sri Mahavatar Babaji Smriti Divas Mahavatar Babaji has promised to guard and guide all sincere Kriya Yogis in their path toward the Goal…. “Whenever anyone utters with reverence the name of Babaji,” Lahiri Mahasaya said, “that devotee attracts an instant spiritual blessing.”

- Sri Sri Parama­hansa Yogananda “Autobiography of a Yogi”

God is approachable. Talking of Him and listening to His words in the scriptures, thinking of Him, feeling His presence in meditation, you will see that gradually the Unreal becomes real, and this world which you think is real will be seen as unreal. There is no joy like that realization.

- Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda “Man’s Eternal Quest”

Whenever your mind wanders in the maze of myriad worldly thoughts, patiently lead it back to remembrance of the indwelling Lord. In time you will find Him ever with you - a God who talks with you in your own language, a God whose face peeps at you from every flower and shrub and blade of grass. Then you shall say: “I am free! I am clothed in the gossamer of Spirit; I fly from earth to heaven on wings of light.” And what joy will consume your being!

- Sri Sri Paramahansa Yoga­nanda “Sayings of Paramahansa Yogananda”

When you meditate, immerse your whole mind in God. And when you are performing a duty, put your whole heart into it. But as soon as you are through with work, place your mind on the Lord. When you learn to practise the presence of God in every moment that you are free to think of Him, then even in the midst of work you will be aware of divine communion.

- Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda “Yogoda Satsanga Magazine”

Once when I was meditating I heard His voice, whispering: “Thou dost say I am away, but thou didst not come in. That is why thou dost say I am away. I am always in. Come in and thou wilt see Me. I am always here, ready to greet thee.”

- Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda “Man’s Eternal Quest”

If I were to give you the gift that I would like best of all to offer you, it would be the right attitude toward God and Guru; toward life; toward your work; toward the others of your group. But the best gifts cannot be purchased and given. The gifts and graces of the soul must be acquired by patient, daily practice. All will surely be yours in time, for if you do not obtain them in the position to which God has called you, where, in all the world, are they to be found?

- Sri Gyanamata “God Alone: The Life and Letters of a Saint”