Romancing the Infinite

Paramahansa Yogananda (1893 –1952) has introduced millions of readers to the perennial wisdom of the East through his acclaimed life story, Autobiography of a Yogi, and his numerous other books. Today his work is carried on by Self Realization Fellowship, the international society he founded in 1920. The following are extracts from his anthology Man’s Eternal Quest.

The greatest romance is with the Infinite. You have no idea how beautiful life can be…. When you suddenly find God everywhere, when He comes and talks to you and guides you, the romance of divine love has begun.

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Dive deep in the ocean of meditation. If you don’t find the pearls of His presence, don’t blame the ocean, blame your diving. Dive again and again until you find Him.

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Success is not a simple matter; it cannot be determined merely by the amount of money and material possessions you have. The meaning of success goes far deeper. It can only be measured by the extent to which your inner peace and mental control enable you to be happy under all circumstances. That is real success. When you can look within and your conscience is clear, your reason unprejudiced, your will firm yet flexible, and your discrimination strong; and when you are able to obtain at will the things you need and the things you consider worthwhile, you are a success.

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Let no devotee miss his daily appointment with God. The mind may suggest the movies or some other distraction; but when the time comes for God each day, keep that sacred engagement. Otherwise you will be a long time finding Him.

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There is no way back Home if you weave around you a snare of worldly desires. You came to play your part on the stage of time, to fill the role that you were designed for in the divine drama; but the essential part of your role is to think of Him and to do His will, naught else. Every thought, every act, is deluded that does not place Him first….

Each soul must find its way back alone. No one but you is responsible for your mistakes and habits. Once you have found your Self in your soul, you are free. But so long as you are not free, so long there is danger; you will have to come back to earth and work out all the desires that remain unfinished.

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Until your devotion for God and awareness of Him become complete, don’t rest; don’t give in to sleep when you should be meditating. Never give anything preference before God! His love is the greatest love there is. So long as you let other things come first, He will wait. But your delay may be too long, and your suffering may be great. Don’t procrastinate. Be certain in the sincerity of your conscience that you have made the effort to commune with Him. Don’t rest, don’t give up until you can see Him with your own eyes, or feel Him in your heart. Birth, play, marriage, children, old age – life is finished. That is not living! Life is much deeper and more wonderful than that…. When you know God, there is no more sorrow. All those you loved and lost in death are with you again in the Eternal Life. You don’t know whom to consider your “own” anymore, because everyone is yours.

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It is impossible to deceive the Lord because He is sitting right behind your thoughts, and knows what you are thinking and desiring. If in your heart you truly renounce the world and seek inner communion with Him, He will come to you. But you must know that you want Him and nothing else. Once that desire for Him is established in your heart, He must come.

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Rouse the eternal flames of divine memory until they burn away your forgetfulness, and remember that you always have been, and are even now, one with the Lord.
_{Excerpts are taken from Yogananda’s anthology Man’s Eternal Quest. © 1982, Self-Realization Fellowship. All rights reserved. Used by permission}