Paramahansa Yogananda
Best Quotes
PEACE, CALMNESS — SHANTI
Peace (shanti) is a divine quality… One united to "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding"* is like a lovely rose, spreading around him the fragrance of tranquillity and harmony. [*Philippians 4:7]
The man who has peace in his soul has all the wisdom of the gods. (os)
Peace is the altar of God, the condition in which happiness exists.
The first proof of God's presence is an ineffable peace. This evolves into joy humanly inconceivable. Once you have touched the Source of truth and life, all nature will respond to you. Finding God within, you will find Him without, in all people and all conditions.
The Self-realized yogi is a prince of peace sitting on the throne of poise directing his kingdom of activity, wholly devoted to God in heart and mind, sacrificing to Him the fruits of all his actions. "That devotee," saith the Lord, "having obtained Me and remaining continually united to Me, shall truly be Mine own! [The Gita IX:34]" (bg p.766)
The ornament of a servant of God is devotion; the jewel of devotion is consciousless of nonduality.
The ornament of knowledge is meditation; the decoration of meditation is renunciation; and
the pearl of renunciation is pure, unfathomable Shanti.
The pure and unfathomable Shanti cuts the root of all misery. He who holds Shanti in his heart dwells in a sea of Bliss.
All sins that breed suffering, anxiety, and anguish disappear, together with all limitations....
Know him to be perfect who is most peaceful, who is taintless and free from all personal desires, whose mind vibrates with Shanti.
—Tulsidas, in Indian Mystic Verse
The state of constant calmness (neutralization of restless thoughts) is attained by the continuous practice of meditation and by keeping the attention fixed at the point between the eyebrows. In this state of calmness, man witnesses the thoughts and emotions and their workings without being disturbed at all, reflecting in his consciousness only the unchangeable image of Spirit. (bg p.196)
Peace emanates from the soul, and is the sacred inner environment in which true happiness unfolds.
I am calmly active. I am actively calm. I am a Prince of peace sitting on the throne of poise, directing the kingdom of activity.
Meditation is "active calmness." Passive calmness, as in sleep or idle daydreaming, is essentially different from active calmness—the positive state of peace found in scientific meditation.
Cultivate emotional poise. To overcome restlessness, start out with a firm determination that you will do each piece of work in its turn without unnecessary fret or fuss, without burdening your mind with useless queries. Limit your thoughts to the task at hand. Let go of the task just finished and allow the next task to take its turn.
Restlessness and noise are two of the most troublesome factors in life, and you must conquer them before you can begin to acquire the inner peace that is necessary to know God. You should choose as quiet a place as possible for your meditation time, and use the same place all the time if possible. Early in the morning before others are up, or late at night when all activity has ceased, are the best times.
Yesterday, I was sitting in my room, looking back over my life, and I realized that everything in the outer world that had promised great happiness had deceived me, but one thing has never deceived me — my inner peace. As I passed through various experiences over the years, that unchanging inner peace has been proof to me of the existence of God. (me)
My master Sri Yukteswar's training in this was wonderful. No matter what happened, he accepted no excuse for my becoming mentally ruffled. I used to go to the ashram and sit at his feet, to meditate and listen to his wisdom. When the time drew near for me to go to catch my train, he would be aware of my mental restlessness, and would just smile at me and say nothing that gave me leave to depart. At first I thought he was very unreasonable. But after a somewhat strained period of this discipline, he explained: "I am not grudging your preparing timely to go to the train; but I say there is no need for you to be restless. Why allow nervous excitement to ruffle the mind? You should be naturally calm when you are with me; and when train time comes, calmly get ready to go." He made me miss several trains until I learned how to be calmly active as well as actively calm.
This you must learn, likewise. Instead of hurrying in a state of emotional excitement to get some place, and then not enjoying it once you arrive because you are restless, try to be more calm. There is no excuse for being restless within. If you are always calm, you will also be more efficient. And if you want to wake up from this cosmic dream world, you must practice calmness, no matter what happens. As soon as your mind becomes restless, give it a whack with your will and order it to be calm. Don't make a fuss about anything. Whenever you worry, remember, you are deepening the cosmic delusion within you. (dr)
Live each present moment completely and the future will take care of itself. Fully enjoy the wonder and beauty of each instant. Practice the presence of peace. The more you do that, the more you will feel the presence of that power in your life.
God made us in His image. The way to remember the image of God within us is to retain the state of perfect inner calmness. He who is cal is fit for the kingdom of God. His mind is always still; never restless.
The temple of God is within your soul. Enter into this quietness and sit there in meditation with the light of intuition burning on the altar. There is no restlessness, no searching, or striving there. Come into the silence of solitude, and the vibration there will talk to you with the voice of God, and you will know that the invisible has become visible, and the unreal has become real.
Calmness
is the living breath of
God's immortality in you.
Peace emanates form the soul, and is the sacred inner environment in which true happiness unfolds.
TECHNIQUE OF RELAXATION
(Calming the Emotions)
Breathe slowly and deeply and then exhale the breath and keep it out as long as is comfortable, concentrating on the inner calmness of breathlessness.
Tense with will:
By command of will, direct the life energy (through the process of tension) to flood the body or any body part. Feel the energy vibrating there, energizing and revitalizing.
Relax and feel:
Relax the tension, and feel the soothing tingle of new life and vitality in the recharged area.
Feel that you are not the body; you are that life which sustains the body. Feel the peace, the freedom, the increased awareness that comes with the calmness produced by the practice of this technique. [SRF Magazine]
Tense with will.
Relax and feel.
On Spreading Ripples of Peace
Fix your mind inwardly between the eyebrows on the shoreless lake of peace. Watch the eternal circle of rippling peace around you. The more you watch intently, the more you will feel the wavelets of peace spreading from the eyebrows to the forehead, from the forehead to the heart, and on to every cell in your body. Now the waters of peace are overflowing the banks of your body and inundating the vast territory of your mind. The flood of peace flows over the boundaries of your mind and moves on in infinite directions.
With the sword of peace, O Lord, let me fight through the thick skirmish of trials.
I am the prince of perpetual peace playing in a drama of sad and happy dreams on the stage of experience.
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