When I started reading it, I didn’t like it much, as I found it full of miracles shown by the different gurus. I feel search of truth doesn’t include miracles only. This path is naked & rough. But somehow I kept reading because whenever I used to read it; a positive and contented aura used to surround me. I used to feel divine in those moments as Yogananda Ji has depicted such beautiful and wise learnings by him and his guru Shri Yukteshvar Ji, that it’s a must read for all the seekers. It took me more than usual time to finish this one as I am a slow reader when it comes to philosophy and learning. I read it very slowly, trying to get the hidden, profound messages rightly.
Sharing some of the wisdom, which I’ve highlighted:
The weakling who has refused the conflict, acquiring nothing, has had nothing to renounce. He alone who has striven and won can enrich the world by bestowing the fruits of his victorious experience.
All creative scientists know that true laboratory is the mind, where behind illusions they uncover the laws of truth.
In shallow men the fish of little thoughts cause much commotion. In oceanic minds the whales of inspiration make hardly a ruffle.
Disbelieve in the reality of sickness even when you are ill; an unrecognized visitor will flee!
Wisdom is not assimilated with the eyes, but with the atoms. When your conviction of a truth is not merely in your brain but in your being, you may definitely vouch for its meaning.
Softer than the flower, where kindness is concerned; stronger than the thunder, where principles are at stake.
One might have the whole universe, and still find the truth (God) elusive! Spiritual advancement is not measured by one’s outward powers, but only by the depth of his bliss in meditation.
Divine contemplation must not be made an excuse for material carelessness.
All thoughts vibrate eternally in the cosmos.
Meaning of Satsanga: Sat is literally ‘being’, hence ‘essence; reality’. Satsanga is ‘association’. “Fellowship with truth”.
It is never a question of belief; the only scientific attitude one can take on any subject is whether it’s true. The law of gravitation worked as efficiently before Newton as after him. The cosmos would be fairly chaotic if its laws could not operate without the sanction of human belief.
Astrology is the study of man’s response to planetary stimuli.
The deeper the self-realization of a man, the more he influences the whole universe by his subtle spiritual vibrations, and the less he himself is affected by the phenomenal flux.
Man is naught but a puppet of past actions (karma) and of nature or environment.
He, who discards his worldly duties can justify himself only by assuming some kind of responsibility toward a much larger family.
The atom or final particle of matter is, like the earth itself, a magnet with positive and negative poles. The entire phenomenal world is under the inexorable sway of polarity; no laws of physics, chemistry or any other science is ever found free from inherent opposite or contrasted principles.
Our relationship with nature is one of practical business. We tease her, so to speak, to know how she can be used to serve our purposes; we make use of her energies, whose source yet remain unknown. In science our relation with nature is one that exists between a man and his servant, or in a philosophical sense she is like a captive in the witness box.
Actually there are still many. But I’m tired of typing and you must be tired too; as it is quite a heavy philosophical dose. Isn’t it?
My conclusion: No doubt, this book contains a lot of wisdom. However I personally feel that still many questions are unanswerable. There still lies a path which is beyond Kriya-Yoga and that is the ultimate path to salvation. Where the soul attains the blissful state of a perfect zero. The yogis following this path still have some incarnations left on earth, for sure.
Thanks for your time. Have a pleasant evening!!!
Medhavi 🙂