32 Powerful Paramahansa Yogananda Quotes on Spirituality (2023)

Looking for Yogananda quotes to support your spiritual journey?

You’re in the right place!

First, who is Yogananda?

Paramahansa Yogananda is a Hindu guru and spiritual master from India who brought Eastern philosophy to America in the 1920s. 

He is considered the pioneering “Father of Yoga in the West.” 

Yogananda created Self-Realization Fellowship and taught Kriya Yoga (an ancient meditation technique) to spiritual seekers seeking enlightenment and spiritual truth.

The late Steve Jobs famously had a copy of Yogananda’s book, Autobiography of a Yogi, given to all his funeral guests. According to his biography, Steve Jobs re-read the book during his adult life once a year after a trip to India. 

If you haven’t read the book and are looking to, mystical experiences may happen after reading it, just saying. 

Popular Paramahansa Yogananda Book: Autobiography of a Yogi

Related: 81 Sadhguru Quotes on Mysticism, Yoga, and Spirituality (2023)

What are Daily Inspirational Quotes?

Daily inspirational quotes are a powerful way to connect with the deepest parts of ourselves and help us better understand why we are here. 

It can help us connect to our inner faith and remind us of what is really important when manifesting our lives. 

Below are 32 inspirational Yogananda quotes to support your spiritual development and enlightenment journey.

32 Yogananda Quotes on Spirituality

“Learn the art of right living. If you have joy you have everything.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“Read a little. Meditate more. Think of God all the time.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“The power of unfulfilled desires is the root of all man’s slavery” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“Your Spine is your Body’s Battery. Keep it Charged!” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“Every tomorrow is determined by every today.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“The body is literally manufactured and sustained by mind.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“Retire to the center of your being, which is calmness.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“Be honest with yourself. The world is not honest with you. When you are honest with yourself, you find the road to inner peace.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“Dharma (cosmic law) aims at the happiness of all creatures.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“The poet is intimate with truth, while the scientist approaches awkwardly.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“Discerning placement of a comma does not atone for a spiritual coma.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“Having lots of money while not having inner peace is like dying of thirst while bathing in the ocean.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“There is a magnet in your heart that will attract true friends. That magnet is unselfishness, thinking of others first; when you learn to live for others, they will live for you.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“Making others happy, through kindness of speech and sincerity of right advice, is a sign of true greatness. To hurt another soul by sarcastic words, looks, or suggestions, is despicable.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“God is simple. Everything else is complex. Do not seek absolute values in the relative world of nature.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“If you don’t invite God to be your summer Guest, He won’t come in the winter of your life.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“You must not let your life run in the ordinary way; do something that nobody else has done, something that will dazzle the world. Show that God’s creative principle works in you.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“Forget the past, for it is gone from your domain! Forget the future, for it is beyond your reach! Control the present! Live supremely well now! This is the way of the wise.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“The happiness of one’s own heart alone cannot satisfy the soul; one must try to include, as necessary to one’s happiness, the happiness of others.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“The true basis of religion is not belief, but intuitive experience. Intuition is the soul’s power of knowing God. To know what religion is really all about, one must know God.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“After deep prayer and meditation the devotee is in touch with his divine consciousness; there is no greater power than that inward protection.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“The soul having been often born, or, as the Hindus say, ‘traveling the path of existence through thousands of births’… there is nothing of which she has not gained the knowledge; no wonder that she is able to recollect… what formerly she knew…. For inquiry and learning is reminiscence all.”-Emerson.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“Mankind is engaged in an eternal quest for that “something else” he hopes will bring him happiness, complete and unending. For those individual souls who have sought and found God, the search is over: He is that Something Else.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“The goal of yoga science is to calm the mind, that without distortion it may hear the infallible counsel of the Inner Voice.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“The more deeply we perceive, the more striking becomes the evidence that a uniform plan links every form in manifold nature.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“Forget you were born a Hindu, and don’t be an American. Take the best of them both,” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“Persons of strong character are usually the happiest. They do not blame others for troubles that can be traced to their own actions and lack of understanding. They know that no one has the power to add to their happiness or detract” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“from it, unless they themselves allow the adverse thoughts or wicked actions of others to affect them.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“Devote your entire willpower to mastering one thing at a time; do not scatter your energies, nor leave something half done to begin a new venture.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“Even when you do not know where the next dollar is coming from, you should refuse to be apprehensive. When you do your part and rely on God to do His, you will find that mysterious forces come to your aid and that your constructive wishes soon materialize. This confidence and consciousness of abundance are attained through meditation.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“Plain living and high thinking should be your goal. Learn to carry all the conditions of happiness within yourself by meditating and attuning your consciousness to the ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new Joy, which is God. Your happiness should never be subject to any outside influence. Whatever your environment is, don’t allow your inner peace be touched by it.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“Be satisfied with your part. Do not bemoan your fate. In this life everyone has troubles which he thinks nobody else has. Never wish to be in the shoes of someone else who you think is better off than you are. It is best to wish for nothing, but to ask the Lord to give you what is for your highest good. You are a part of the Lord’s creation: He needs everybody to carry on this drama. Never compare yourself with anybody else. You are what you are. Nobody is like you. Nobody can act your part as you can. Similarly, you should not try to play somebody else’s part. What is important is to do the will of Him who sent you; that is what you want. While you do your part, think all the time that God is working through you” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

Closing Thoughts on Paramahansa Yogananda Quotes

I hope these powerful Yogananda quotes help your healing and spiritual journey. I wish you many blessings, so much love, and joy!

You might also enjoy: The Map of Consciousness by Dr. David R. Hawkins Explained

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Happy manifesting and much gratitude. 

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