“To commune daily with God in deep meditation, and to carry His love and guidance with you into all your dutiful activities, is the way that leads to permanent peace and happiness.”
~ Paramahansa Yogananda
The writings of Paramahansa Yogananda have been a guide to me ever since I took up yoga more than 10 years ago. You may or may not know that March 7th marks the 60th anniversary of Paramahansa Yogananda’s mahasamadhi (a yogi’s final conscious exit from the body at the time of physical death). The spiritual legacy of Yogananda –– author of Autobiography of a Yogi, founder of Self-Realization Fellowship, and one of the preeminent spiritual figures of our time –– continues to flourish today, with evermore seekers internationally turning to the sacred science of yoga meditation.
As so much of Yogananda’s life work and teachings focused upon the inward journey, on this important anniversary, we offer the following quotes on meditation from the master himself:
“Through meditation one can experience a stable, silent inner peace that can be a permanently soothing background for all harmonious or trialsome activities demanded by life’s responsibilities. Lasting happiness lies in maintaining this evenly peaceful state of mind.”
– from Inner Peace: How to Be Calmly Active and Actively Calm by Paramahansa Yogananda
“The moon’s reflection cannot be seen clearly in ruffled water, but when the water’s surface is calm a perfect reflection of the moon appears. So with the mind: when it is calm you see clearly reflected the moonèd face of the soul. As souls we are reflections of God. When by meditation techniques we withdraw restless thoughts from the lake of the mind, we behold our soul, a perfect reflection of Spirit, and realize that the soul and God are One.”
– from Where There is Light by Paramahansa Yogananda
“Through meditation I will stop the storm of breath, mental restlessness, and sensory disturbances raging over the lake of my mind. Through prayer and meditation I will harness my will and activity to the right goal.”
– from Metaphysical Meditations by Paramahansa Yogananda
To discover more information on the Self-Realization Fellowship teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda visit www.yogananda-srf.org.
[Quotes and photograph provided courtesy of Self-Realization Fellowship, Los Angeles, CA. All rights reserved].
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Daily Cup of Yoga 
These are great quotations. Yoga is good for ridding yourself of all the stresses from everyday life. This type of exercise can give you some inner peace, as well as being very rewarding.