21 Paramahansa Yogananda Quotes to Unveil Your Inner Light

Paramahansa Yogananda was one of the most influential spiritual gurus to ever grace the world with their profound wisdom.

His book, Autobiography of a Yogi, gives a first hand account of his life experiences and has sold millions of copies around the world. And was included in the 100 best spiritual books of the 21st century.

Whether you want to be more peaceful in life or get past any obstacles in relationship or career, the only thing you need is spiritual strength.

Here are 21 powerful Paramahansa Yogananda quotes to help you discover your inner light.

1. When the mind is calm, how quickly, how smoothly, how beautifully you will perceive everything. – Paramahansa Yogananda Quotes

When the mind is imbalanced, it’s hard to perceive the truth about any situation. Balance your mind by being in the present – meditate, breathe deeply, and ground yourself into the present moment.

2. 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.

Our happiness is in our own hands, we are the creator of our life. When we blame others, we give our power away.

3. Change yourself and you have done your part in changing the world.

People talk about doing big things, leaving a legacy, and make a difference in the world. But every extraordinary change comes from within you.

4. It takes a long time-many incarnations of right action, good company, help of the guru, self-awakening, wisdom, and meditation-for man to regain his soul consciousness of immortality. To reach this state of Self-realization, each man must practice meditation to transfer his consciousness from the limited body to the unlimited sphere of joy felt in meditation. – Paramahansa Yogananda Quotes

Practice meditation to go beyond the nuisances of the thinking mind. You are not your thoughts.

5. Never do anything that taints your mind. Wrong actions cause negative or evil mental vibrations that are reflected in your whole appearance and personality. Engage in those actions and thoughts that nurture the good qualities you want to have.

We need to act in harmony with our values or we will suffer from anxiety, guilt, and self-destructive behaviors.

6. Mind is the creator of everything. You should therefore guide it to create only good. If you cling to a certain thought with dynamic will power, it finally assumes a tangible outward form. When you are able to employ your will always for constructive purposes, you become the controller of your destiny.

Tame your mind and it will be your best friend. Leave it untamed and you will eventually work against yourself.

7. Incredible amounts of energy are hidden in your brain; enough in a gram of flesh to run the city of Chicago for 2 days. And you say you are tired?

A huge reservoir of energy inside us becomes accessible when we build spiritual strength.

8. People are running, running, but there is no place in the world to which they can flee to escape themselves. Ultimately, each one must face himself. – Paramahansa Yogananda Quotes

You can’t run from yourself. Face your obstacles. Take one small step at a time and soon you’ll come out stronger on the other side.

9. Do not take life’s experiences too seriously. For in reality they are nothing but dream experiences. Play your part in life, but never forget that it is only a role.

Never be too serious in life. When time gets tough, know that you can still be peaceful by controlling your own mind and emotions.

10. Having lots of money while not having inner peace is like dying of thirst while bathing in the ocean. – Paramahansa Yogananda Quotes

Money is a means to create things. But there are a lot of people in the world who lost their mind and made a hell out of their lives after they made a big fortune.

11. I don’t want people to think that they can attain realization simply by listening to others or by reading books. They must practice what they read and hear.

Knowledge isn’t enough. You must take action.

12. By the practice of meditation, you will find that you are carrying within your heart a portable paradise.

Everything you experience, you experience with your mind. If you can learn to control your mind with the help of meditation, you’ll discover that being blissful is natural.

13. Your trials did not come to punish you, but to awaken you – to make you realise that you are a part of Spirit and that just behind the sparks of your life is the Flame of Infinity. – Paramahansa Yogananda Quotes

Everyone faces difficulties and everyone needs love and support of others to overcome them. It shows that we all come from the same Source.

14. The season of failure is the best time for sowing the seeds of success.

Steve Jobs said that when he was fired from Apple, it led him to one of his more creative periods in life and that’s when he founded Pixar, the world’s greatest animation company.

15. Be as simple as you can be; you will be astonished to see how uncomplicated and happy your life can become.

Keep things very simple. Complicating and overthinking things keeps you in your head. Get out of your head – feel, be, live!

16. Is a diamond less valuable because it is covered with mud? God sees the changeless beauty of our souls. He knows we are not our mistakes. – Paramahansa Yogananda Quotes

We all have greatness inside us because we come from the same source. Be gentle with yourself when you make mistakes because it’s just a step in your evolution.

17. I am no longer the wave of consciousness thinking itself separated from the sea of cosmic consciousness. I am the ocean of Spirit that has become the wave of human life.

No matter where you are in life – whatever background, education, family, culture, or desires you have – you are the part of the same whole that humanity is.

18. Success is hastened or delayed by one’s habits. It is not your passing inspirations or brilliant ideas so much as your everyday mental habits that control your life.

Habits are the pillars on which your dreams will be built. So create healthy habits to create a healthy mind.

19. It is better to meditate a little bit with depth than to mediate long with the mind running here and there. If you do not make an effort to control the mind it will go on doing as it pleases, no matter how long you sit to meditate. – Paramahansa Yogananda Quotes

Put in the effort to still your mind. Do one thing at a time or you’ll never really enjoy anything. The best moments in life are those when we are so engrossed in doing things that we lose sense of time.

20. No action is ever an isolated event. Always, it invites from the universe a reaction that corresponds exactly to the type and the force of energy behind the deed.

Every action you take is your karma and brings corresponding results. The lesson here is to commit yourself to the things you want to achieve in life.

21. When you make up your mind to do good things, you will accomplish them if you use dynamic will power to follow through. No matter what the circumstances are, if you go on trying, God will create the means by which your will shall find its proper reward.

Dynamic will means that you will fall down seven times and get up eight. It means taking a firm resolve to achieve a very specific, worthwhile goal and not giving up. Will is the switch you use to interact with the world. How you direct your will determines the results you create.