Paramahansa Yogananda QUOTES

In order to go safely through this jungle of life you must equip yourself with the proper weapons.… The wise man who is armed against all forms of warfare—against disease, against destiny and karma, against all evil thoughts and habits—becomes the victor in this adventure.

Practice even-minded calmness all the time. Become a king, an absolute monarch, of your own mental realm of calmness... Let nothing disturb your peaceable kingdom of calmness... this even-mindedness, when maintained by regular, deep meditation, removes the boredom, disappointment, and sorrow from everyday life, making it instead a very interesting and enjoyable experience of the soul.

All physical pleasures arise on the surface of the body and are experienced by the mind through the nervous system. You love the outer pleasures of the senses because you happened to be captured by them first, and then you remained their prisoner. Even as some people get used to jail, so we mortals like the outward pleasures, which shut off the joys from within

Outer environment and the company you keep are of paramount importance. The specific outer environment of early life is especially important in stimulating or stifling the inner instinctive environment of a child.

Understand and feel the superior joys of the inner life, and you will prefer them to the fleeting pleasures of the outer world.

To remain in ignorance of your divine nature and to be overpowered by bad habits is to make an enemy of your own self. The best way to be successful in this adventure of life is to be your own friend.

If you want to be sad, no one in the world can make you happy. But if you make up your mind to be happy, no one and nothing on earth can take that happiness from you.