About This Book

How You Can Talk With God is compiled from two talks given by
Paramahansa Yogananda in 1944 at the Self-Realization Fellowship temples
he founded in San Diego and Hollywood, where it was his custom to speak
on alternate Sundays. Often, after speaking on a certain topic at one temple,
he would speak the following Sunday at the other, addressing different
aspects of the same subject he had presented the previous week. His talks
through the years were taken down stenographically by Sri Daya Mata, one
of his earliest and closest disciples. How You Can Talk With God was first
published in 1957, and has been translated into multiple languages.
 Copyright © 1957 Self-Realization Fellowship
The trademarks in this publication are the property of Self-Realization
Fellowship.

The Yogoda Satsanga Society of India name and emblem shown above
appear on all YSS books, recordings, and other publications, assuring the
reader that a work originates with the society established by Sri Sri
Paramahansa Yogananda and faithfully conveys his teachings.
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ISBN: 978-81-89955-33-5 (hardcover)
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 The Spiritual Legacy of
Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
This Complete Writings, Lectures, and Informal Talks
Paramahansa Yogananda founded Yogoda Satsanga Society of India
(YSS) in 1917 and Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) in 1920 to
disseminate his teachings worldwide and to preserve their purity and
integrity for generations to come. A prolific writer and lecturer from his
earliest years in America, he created a renowned and voluminous body of
works on the yoga science of meditation, the art of balanced living, and the
underlying unity of all great religions. Today this unique and far-reaching
spiritual legacy lives on, inspiring millions of truth seekers all over the
world.
In accord with the express wishes of the great Guru, Yogoda Satsanga
Society of India/Self-Realization Fellowship has continued the ongoing task
of publishing and keeping permanently in print The Complete Works of
Paramahansa Yogananda. These include not only the final editions of all
the books he published during his lifetime, but also many new titles—works
that had remained unpublished at the time of his passing in 1952, or which
had been serialized over the years in incomplete form in Yogoda Satsanga
Society of India/Self-Realization Fellowship’s magazine, as well as
hundreds of profoundly inspiring lectures and informal talks recorded but
not printed before his passing.
Paramahansa Yogananda personally chose and trained those close
disciples who have headed the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India/Self-
Realization Fellowship Publications Council since his passing, and gave
them specific guidelines for the preparation and publishing of his teachings.
The members of the YSS/SRF Publications Council (monks and nuns who
have taken lifelong vows of renunciation and selfless service) honour these
guidelines as a sacred trust, in order that the universal message of this
beloved world teacher will live on in its original power and authenticity.
 The Yogoda Satsanga Society of India/Self-Realization Fellowship
emblem (shown above) was designated by Paramahansa Yogananda to
identify the nonprofit society he founded as the authorized source of his
teachings. The YSS/SRF name and emblem appear on all YSS/SRF
publications and recordings, assuring the reader that a work originates with
the organization founded by Paramahansa Yogananda and conveys his
teachings as he himself intended they be given.
— Yogoda Satsanga Society of India/
Self-Realization Fellowship
The glory of God is great. He is real, and He can be
found….Silently and surely, as you walk on the path
of life, you must come to the realization that God is
the only object, the only goal that will satisfy you; for
in God lies the answer to every desire of the heart.
—Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
 How You Can Talk With God
Extracts from lectures by Paramahansa Yogananda on March 19 and
March 26, 1944
Talking with God is a definite fact. In India I have been in the presence
of saints while they were talking with the Heavenly Father. And all of you,
also, may communicate with Him; not a one-sided conversation, but a real
talk wherein you speak to God and He responds. Everyone can talk to the
Lord, of course. But I am discussing today how we may persuade Him to
reply to us.
Why should we doubt? The scriptures of the world abound in
descriptions of talks between God and man. One of the most beautiful of
these incidents is recorded in I Kings 3:5–13 in the Bible: “The Lord
appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, Ask what I shall
give thee. And Solomon said....Give therefore Thy servant an understanding
heart....And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast
not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast
asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to
discern judgment; Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have
given thee a wise and an understanding heart...And I have also given thee
that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honour.”
David, too, held converse many times with the Lord, and discussed
even mundane matters with Him. “And David inquired of God, saying,
Shall I go up against the Philistines? and wilt Thou deliver them into mine
hand? And the Lord said unto him, Go up; for I will deliver them into thine
hand.”1

God Is Moved Only by Love

The average man prays to God with his mind only, not with all the
fervour of his heart. Such prayers are too weak to bring any response. We
should speak to the Divine Spirit with confidence and with a feeling of
closeness, as to a father or a mother. Our relationship with God should be
one of unconditional love. More than in any other relationship we may
rightfully and naturally demand a reply from Spirit in Its aspect as the
Divine Mother. God is constrained to answer such an appeal; for the
essence of a mother is love and forgiveness of her child, no matter how
great a sinner he may be. The relationship between mother and child is the
most beautiful form of human love that the Lord has given us.
A definite conception of God (such as that of the Divine Mother) is
necessary, otherwise one does not receive a clear response. And the demand
for the Lord’s reply should be strong; a half-believing prayer is not
sufficient. If you make up your mind: “He is going to talk with me”; if you
refuse to believe differently, regardless of how many years He has not
answered you; if you go on trusting Him, one day He will respond.
I have written in Autobiography of a Yogi about some of the numerous
occasions on which I have talked with God. My first experience in hearing
the Divine Voice came when I was a little child. Sitting on my bed one
morning, I fell into a deep reverie.
“What is behind the darkness of closed eyes?” This probing thought
came powerfully into my mind. An immense flash of light at once
manifested to my inner gaze. Divine shapes of saints, sitting in meditation
in mountain caves, formed like miniature cinema pictures on the large
screen of radiance within my forehead.
“Who are you?” I spoke aloud.
“We are the Himalayan yogis.” The celestial response is difficult to
describe; my heart was thrilled. The vision vanished, but the silvery beams
expanded in ever widening circles to infinity.
I said, “What is this wondrous glow?”
“I am Ishwara (the Lord). I am Light.” The Voice was as murmuring
clouds.
My mother and eldest sister Roma were nearby when I had this early
experience, and they too heard the Divine Voice. I received such happiness
from God’s response that I determined then and there to search for Him
until I would become wholly one with Him.
Most people think there is only darkness behind closed eyes. But, as
you develop spiritually and concentrate on the “single” eye in the forehead,
you will find that your inner sight is opened. You will behold another world,
one of many lights and great beauty. Visions of saints, such as those I saw
of Himalayan yogis, will appear before you. If your concentration goes still
deeper, you too will hear the Voice of God.
 Again and again the scriptures tell us of the Lord’s promise that He will
communicate with us. “And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall
search for Me with all your heart.”—Jeremiah 29:13. “The Lord is with
you, while ye be with Him; and if ye seek Him, He will be found of you;
but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you.”—II Chronicles 15:2. “Behold,
I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the
door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.”—
Revelation 3:20.
If you can just once “break bread” with the Lord, break His silence, He
will talk often with you. But in the beginning it is very difficult; it is not
easy to become acquainted with God, because He wants to be sure that you
really desire to know Him. He gives tests to see if the devotee wants Him or
something else. He will not talk with you until you have convinced Him
that no other desire is hiding in your heart. Why should He reveal Himself
to you if your heart is filled only with longings for His gifts?

Man’s Love Is His Sole Gift to God

The whole creation was designed as a test for man. By our conduct in
this world we disclose whether we want the Lord or His gifts. God will not
tell you that you should desire Him above all else, because He wants your
love to be freely given, without “prompting.” That is the whole secret in the
game of this universe. He who created us yearns for our love. He wants us
to give it spontaneously, without His asking. Our love is the one thing God
does not possess, unless we choose to bestow it. So, you see, even the Lord
has something to attain: our love. And we shall never be happy until we
give it. So long as we are wayward children, pygmies crawling on this ball
of earth and crying for His gifts while we ignore Him, the Giver, we fall
into many pits of misery.
As God is the Essence of our own being, we cannot truly express
ourselves until we learn to manifest His presence within us. This is the
truth. It is because we are Divine, a part of Him, that we are unable to find
lasting satisfaction in anything material. “Naught shelters thee, who wilt not
shelter Me.”2 Until you attain contentment in God, you will not win
contentment from anything else.

Is God Personal or Impersonal?

 Is God personal or impersonal? A little discussion of this point will
help you in your attempts to communicate with Him. Many people don’t
like to think of the Lord as personal; they feel that an anthropomorphic
conception is limiting. They consider Him to be Impersonal Spirit, All-
Power, the Intelligent Force that is responsible for the universe.
But if our Creator is impersonal, how is it that He has created human
beings? We are personal; we have individuality. We think, feel, will; and
God has given us not only the power to appreciate the thoughts and feelings
of others but to respond to them. The Lord is surely not devoid of the spirit
of reciprocity that animates His own creatures. When we permit it, our
Heavenly Father can and will establish a personal relationship with each
one of us.
Considering the impersonal aspect of God, we get the impression of a
Remote Being, One who merely receives the prayer-thoughts we offer,
without responding to them; One who knows everything, yet maintains a
heartless silence. But this is a philosophical error, because God is
everything: personal as well as impersonal. He created persons, human
beings. Their Originator could not be wholly impersonal.
It satisfies a deep need in our hearts to think that God may take a
human form and come to us and talk with us. Why doesn’t He do it for
everyone? Many saints have heard the voice of God. Why can’t you?
“Thou, O Lord, art invisible, impersonal, unknown, and unknowable; yet I
believe that by my devotion’s frost, Thou canst be ‘frozen’ into a form.”
God can be persuaded to take a personal form by your intense devotion.
You, like St. Francis of Assisi and other great ones, may see the living body
of Christ, if you pray deeply enough. Jesus was a personal manifestation of
God. He who knows Brahma (God) is Brahma himself. Did not Christ say:
“I and my Father are one”?3 Swami Shankara also declared: “I am Spirit”
and “Thou art That.” We have the word of many great prophets that all men
are made in the image of Divinity.
I receive much of my knowledge from God, rather than from books. I
seldom read. I tell you what I have perceived directly. That is why I speak
with authority, the authority of my direct perception of Truth. The opinion
of the whole world may stand against it, but the authority of direct
perception will always be accepted eventually.
 Meaning of “The Image of God”
In the Bible we read: “For in the image of God made He man.”4 No one
has ever fully explained in what ways man is the image of God. God is
Spirit; and man, in his essential nature, is also Spirit. That is the primary
meaning of the Biblical passage, but there are many other true
interpretations as well.
The whole human body and the consciousness and motion in it are a
microcosmic representation of God. In consciousness is om-niscience and
omnipresence. You can imme-diately think you are at the North Star or on
Mars. In thought there is no gulf between you and anything else. By virtue
of the consciousness within man, therefore, he may be said to be made in
the image of God.
Consciousness is aware of itself; it intuitively feels itself. God, through
His cosmic consciousness, is aware of Himself in every atom of creation.
“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on
the ground without [the awareness of] your Father.”5
Man also has the innate power of cosmic consciousness, though few
develop it. Man also has will, whereby he, like the Creator, can create
worlds instantaneously; but few develop that power which is within them.
The animals cannot reason, but man can. All the attributes that God has—
consciousness, reason, will, feeling, love—man has too. In these qualities
man may be said to be made in the image of God.

The Physical Body Is Not Matter, but Energy

The energy that we feel in the body implies the existence of a vaster
power than is required just to operate the individual physical vehicle. The
power of cosmic energy that sustains universes is vibrating in our bodies
also. Cosmic energy is one aspect of God. Therefore we are made in His
image even from the physical standpoint.
What is the energy we have in the body? Our physical form is made of
molecules, molecules are made of atoms, atoms are made of electrons, and
electrons are made of life force or “lifetrons”—countless billions of specks
of energy. With your spiritual eye you can see the body as a mass of
scintillating specks of light—the energy that is emanating from your
twenty-seven thousand billion cells. Only through delusion do you see the
body as solid flesh. In reality it is not matter, but energy.
It is because you think you are made of flesh and blood that you
sometimes imagine yourself to be a weakling. But if you register the
consciousness of God in your body, you will realize that flesh is nothing
more than a physical manifestation of the five vibratory elements of earth,
water, fire, air, and ether.

Five Universal Elements Compose Man’s Body

The whole universe—which is God’s body—is made of the same five
elements that compose man’s body. The starlike shape of the human body
represents the rays of these five elements. The head, the two hands, and the
two feet form the five points of the star. So in this way, too, we are made in
the image of God.
The five fingers also represent the five vibratory elements of the
Cosmic Intelligent Vibration that maintain the structure of creation. The
thumb represents the grossest vibratory element, earth; hence its thickness.
The first finger represents the water element. The second finger represents
the darting fire element; that is why it is the longest. The third finger
represents air. The smallest finger represents ether, which is very fine.
Rubbing each finger animates the particular power that it represents.
Hence rubbing the middle finger (representing the fire element) and the
navel (opposite the lumbar or “fire” centre in the spine, which governs
digestion and assimilation) will help one to overcome indigestion.
God manifests motion in creation. Man has developed legs and feet
because of the urge to express motion. The toes are materializations of the
five rays of energy.
The eyes epitomize God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in the pupil,
iris, and white. When you concentrate at the point between the eyebrows,
the current in the two eyes reflects as one light, and you behold the spiritual
eye. This single orb is the “eye of God.” We have developed two eyes
because of the law of relativity that prevails in our dualistic universe. Jesus
said, “If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of
light.”6 If we look through the spiritual eye, the single eye of God, we
perceive that all creation is made of one substance, His light.
 One With God, One With God’s Power
In the ultimate sense man has all power. You can change anything you
want to when your consciousness is united with God’s. Automobile parts
can be replaced or changed, as needful; but to effect a similar change in the
physical body is more complicated. Mind, which controls all the cells, is the
basic factor. When a man attains full control of mind, his bodily cells and
parts may be replaced or changed as often as desired, and at will. For
example, he could, just by a thought, cause the bodily atoms to change and
bring into being a whole new set of teeth. There is complete control of
matter when one is advanced spiritually.
The Lord is Spirit; the Impersonal is invisible. But when He created the
physical world He became God the Father. As soon as He assumed the role
of Creator, He became personal. He became visible: this whole universe is
the body of God.
In the form of the earth He has a positive and a negative side—the
north and south poles. The stars are His eyes, the grass and trees are His
hair, and the rivers are His bloodstream. The ocean’s roar, the skylark’s
song, the cry of the newborn babe, and all other sounds of creation are His
voice. This is the personal God. The heartthrob behind all hearts is His
pulsing cosmic energy. He is walking in mankind’s twenty-six hundred
million pairs of feet. He is working through all hands. It is the One Divine
Consciousness that is manifesting through all brains.
Because of God’s law of attraction and repulsion, the cells of the
human body are harmoniously held together in the same way that stars are
kept in balance in their proper orbits. The omnipresent Lord is ever active;
there is not a place anywhere without some form of life. With illimitable
prodigality God incessantly projects protean forms—inexhaustible
manifestations of His cosmic energy.
The Divine Spirit had a specific idea or pattern in mind when He
created. He first externalized the whole universe, then created man. In
forming for Himself a physical body of planetary systems, God manifested
three aspects: cosmic consciousness, cosmic energy, and cosmic mass or
matter.
These three correspond respectively to man’s ideational or causal body,
astral or energy body, and physical body. And the soul or Life behind them
is Spirit.
Spirit manifests macrocosmically as cosmic consciousness, cosmic
energy, and the body of universes; and microcosmically as human
consciousness, human energy, and the human body. Again we see that man
has indeed been made in the Divine Image.

God “Talks” Through Vibration

God does appear to us in physical form. He is more personal than you
can imagine. He is as real and actual as you are. This is what I want to tell
you today. The Lord is ever responding to us. The vibration of His thought
is constantly being sent forth; this requires energy; the energy manifests as
sound. There is a very strong point here. God is consciousness. God is
energy. “Talking” means vibrating. In the vibration of His cosmic energy
He is talking all the time. He has become the Mother of creation that
materializes Herself as solids, liquids, fire, air, and ether.
The invisible Mother is continuously expressing Herself in terms of
visible forms—in flowers, mountains, seas, and stars. What is matter?
Nothing but a particular rate of vibration of God’s cosmic energy. No form
in the universe is really solid. That which appears so is merely a compact or
gross vibration of His energy. The Lord is talking to us through vibrations.
But the question is, how to communicate directly with Him? That is the
most difficult accomplishment of all: to talk with God.
If you speak to a mountain, it doesn’t answer. Talk to the flowers, as
Luther Burbank did, and you may feel in them a little response. And of
course we can talk to other people. But is God less responsive than flowers
and human beings, that He lets us keep on talking to Him and yet fails to
answer us? It appears that way, doesn’t it? The trouble is not with Him, but
with us. Our intuitive telephonic system is out of order. God is calling us
and speaking to us, but we do not hear Him.

Cosmic Vibration “Speaks” All Languages

But saints hear Him. Whenever a certain master I knew would pray,
God’s answering voice would seem to come from the sky. God doesn’t need
a throat in order to speak. If you pray strongly enough, those prayer
vibrations bring a vibratory response immediately. It manifests in whatever
language you are ac-customed to hearing. If you are praying in German you
hear the reply in German. If you talk in English you hear the answer in
English.
The vibrations of different languages originate in the cosmic vibration.
God, being the cosmic vibration, knows all languages. What is language? It
is a certain vibration. What is vibration? It is a certain energy. And what is
energy? It is a certain thought.
Though God hears all our prayers He does not always respond. Our
situation is like that of a child who calls for his mother, but the mother does
not think it necessary to come. She sends him a plaything to keep him quiet.
But when the child refuses to be comforted by anything except the mother’s
presence, she comes. If you want to know God, you must be like the
naughty baby who cries till the mother comes.
If you make up your mind never to stop crying for Her, Divine Mother
will talk with you. No matter how busy She is with Her housework of
creation, if you persist in your cries, She is bound to speak. The Hindu
scriptures tell us that if for one night and one day, without a moment’s
interruption, a devotee talks to God with intense devotion, He will respond.
But how few will do it! Every day you have “important engagements”—the
“devil” that keeps you away from God. The Lord will not come if you just
say a little prayer and then start thinking of something else; or if you pray
like this: “Heavenly Father, I am calling to You, but I am awfully sleepy.
Amen.” St. Paul said, “Pray without ceasing.”7
Patient Job held long conversations with God. Job said to Him: “Hear, I
beseech Thee, and I will speak. I will demand of Thee; and declare Thou
unto me. I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye
seeth Thee.”8
When a lover protests his devotion mechanically, his beloved knows
that his words are not sincere; she is “hearing” what is really in his heart.
Similarly, when God’s devotees pray to Him He knows whether their hearts
and minds are dry of devotion and whether their thoughts are dashing
wildly everywhere; He does not respond to halfhearted calls. But to those
devotees who day and night with utmost intensity pray and talk to Him, He
does appear. To such devotees He comes without fail.

Do Not Be Satisfied With Less Than the Highest

 Don’t waste time in seeking little things. Naturally it is easier to get
other gifts from God than the supreme gift of Himself. But don’t be
satisfied with anything less than the highest. I haven’t cared about the gifts
that have come to me from God, except that I see, behind them, Him who is
the Giver. Why are all my desires materialized? Because I go deep; I go
straight to God. In every aspect of creation I see Him. He is our Father; He
is nearer than the nearest, dearer than the dearest, more real than anybody
else. He is both unknowable and knowable.
God is crying for you. He wants you to return to Him. It is your
birthright. You will have to leave this earth someday; it is not an abiding-
place for you. Earth life is only a school in which He has put us to see how
we shall behave here; that is all. Before He will reveal Himself God wants
to know whether we desire earth’s tinsel glory or whether we have acquired
enough wisdom to say:
“I am through with all this, Lord. I want to talk with You alone. I know
You are all I really own. You will be with me when everyone else is gone.”
Human beings are seeking happiness in marriage, in money, in wine,
and so forth; but such people are puppets of destiny. Once this realization is
attained, one finds out the true purpose of life and naturally begins to seek
God.
We must claim our lost divine heritage. The more unselfish one is, the
more he tries to give happiness to others, the more likely he will be to think
about God. And the more one thinks of worldly goals and of human desires,
the farther his soul’s happiness recedes from him. We were not put here on
earth to grovel in the mud of the senses and get nipped with sufferings at
every turn. That which is of the world is evil because it suppresses the bliss
of the soul. The greatest happiness comes by immersing the mind in
thoughts of God.

Why Postpone Happiness?

Why don’t you think ahead? Why do you consider nonessentials so
important? Most people concentrate on breakfast, lunch, and dinner, work,
social activities, and so on. Make your life more simple and put your whole
mind on the Lord. Earth is a place of preparation for getting back to God.
He wants to see if we love Him more than His gifts. He is the Father and all
of us are His children. He has a right to our love and we have a right to His
love. Our troubles arise because we neglect Him. But He is always waiting.
I only wish He had put a little more sense in all of us. We have the
freedom to cast God away or to accept Him. And here we are begging,
begging, begging for a little money, a little happiness, a little love. Why ask
for things that must be taken away from you one day? How long shall you
be moaning about money and sickness and difficulties? Seize immortal-ity
and the kingdom of God! That is what you really want.

A Divine Kingdom Is at Stake

The saints stress nonattachment so that one strong point of material
attachment may not prevent our attaining the entire kingdom of God.
Renunciation doesn’t mean giving up everything; it means giving up small
pleasures for eternal bliss. God talks to you when you are working for Him,
and you should speak to Him constantly. Tell Him any thought that comes
into your mind. And say to Him, “Lord, reveal Thyself, reveal Thyself.”
Don’t take silence for an answer. He will first respond by giving you
something that you have wanted, showing you that you are in His attention.
But don’t be content with His gifts. Let Him know that you will never be
satisfied until you have Him. Finally He will give you an answer. In a
vision you may see a face of some saintly being, or you may hear a Divine
Voice talking to you; and you will know that you are in communion with
God.
To coax Him to give Himself takes steady, unceasing zeal. Nobody can
teach you that zeal. You have to develop that yourself. “You can take a
horse to water but you cannot make him drink.” Yet when the horse is
thirsty it seeks out water with zeal. So, when you have an immense thirst
for the Divine, when you will not give undue importance to anything else—
the tests of the world or the tests of the body—then He will come.
Remember, when your heart-call is intense, when you accept no excuse,
then He will come.
You must remove from your mind all doubt that God will answer. Most
people don’t get any response because of their disbelief. If you are
absolutely determined that you are going to attain something, nothing can
stop you. It is when you give up that you write the verdict against yourself.
The man of success doesn’t know the word “impossible.”
 Faith is the limitless power of God within you. God knows through His
consciousness that He created everything; so faith means knowledge and
conviction that we are made in the image of God. When we are attuned to
His consciousness within us, we can create worlds. Remember, in your will
lies the almighty power of God. When a host of difficulties comes and you
refuse to give up in spite of them; when your mind becomes “set,” then you
will find God responding to you.
God, being cosmic vibration, is the Word. God as the Word is humming
through all atoms. There is a music coming out of the universe that deeply
meditating devotees can hear. Now, at this moment, I am hearing His voice.
The Cosmic Sound9 that you hear in meditation is the voice of God. That
sound forms itself into language intelligible to you. When I listen to Aum
and occasionally ask God to tell me something, that sound of Aum changes
into English or Bengali language and gives me precise instructions.
God also talks to man through his intuition. If you learn how to listen10
to the Cosmic Vibration it is easier to hear His voice. But even if you just
pray to God through the cosmic ether, if your will is strong enough the ether
will respond with His voice. He is ever talking to you, saying:
“Call Me, speak unto Me from the depths of your heart, from the core
of your being, from the very depths of your soul, persistently, majestically,
determinedly, with a firm resolve in your heart that you will go on seeking
Me, no matter how many times I do not answer. If you unceasingly whisper
in your heart to Me, ‘O my silent Beloved, speak to me,’ I will come to you,
My devotee.”
If once you can get that response you will never feel separated from
Him again. The divine experience will always remain with you. But that
“once” is difficult because the heart and mind are not convinced; doubt
creeps in because of our previous materialistic beliefs.

God Answers the Heart Whispers of True

Devotees
God will answer every human being, irrespective of caste, creed, or
colour. There is a saying in Bengali that if you give a soul call to God as the
Universal Mother, She cannot remain silent. She has to speak. That is
beautiful, isn’t it?
 Think of all the things that came to me today and that I have told you.
You should never again doubt that God will respond to you, if you are
constant and persistent in your demands. “And the Lord spake unto Moses
face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.”11
1 I Chronicles 14:10.
2 The Hound of Heaven, by Francis Thompson.
3 John 10:30.
4 Genesis 9:6
5 Matthew 10:29.
6 Matthew 6:22.
7 I Thessalonians 5:17.
8 Job 42:4–5.
9 Aum (Om), the conscious, intelligent, cosmic vibration or Holy Ghost.
10 Through a certain ancient technique taught in Yogoda Satsanga Lessons.
11 Exodus 33:11.
 About the Author
“The ideal of love for God and service to humanity found full expression
in the life of Paramahansa Yogananda .... Though the major part of his life
was spent outside India, still he takes his place among our great saints. His
work continues to grow and shine ever more brightly, drawing people
everywhere on the path of the pilgrimage of the Spirit.”
In these words, the Government of India paid tribute to the founder of
Yogoda Satsanga Society of India/Self-Realization Fellowship, upon
issuing a commemorative stamp in his honour on March 7, 1977, the
seventeen anniversary of his passing.
A world teacher whose presence among us illumined the path for
countless souls, Paramahansa Yogananda lived and taught the highest truths
of life. Born in Gorakhpur, India, in 1893, Paramahansa Yogananda was
sent by his guru to the United States in 1920 as India’s delegate to an
International Congress of Religious Liberals. Subsequent lectures in
Boston, New York, and Philadelphia were enthusiastically received, and in
1924 he embarked on a cross-continental speaking tour.
For the next decade Paramahansaji travelled extensively, giving lectures
and classes in which he instructed thousands of men and women in the yoga
science of meditation and balanced spiritual living.
Today, the spiritual and humanitarian work begun by Paramahansa
Yogananda continues under the direction of Sri Sri Mrinalini Mata, one of
his closest disciples and current president of Yogoda Satsanga Society of
India/Self-Realization Fellowship. In addition to publishing Paramahansa
Yogananda’s writings, lectures, and informal talks (including a
comprehensive series of lessons for home study),1 his society oversees
ashrams, kendras, and meditation centres around the world; monastic
training programs; and the Worldwide Prayer Circle, which serves as a
channel to help bring healing to those in need and greater peace and
harmony among all nations. Seekers in India and surrounding territories are
served by Yogoda Satsanga Society of India.
Quincy Howe, Jr., Ph. D., Professor of Ancient Languages, Scripps
College, wrote: “Paramahansa Yogananda brought to the West not only
India’s perennial promise of God-realization, but also a practical method by
which spiritual aspirants from all walks of life may progress rapidly toward
that goal. Originally appreciated in the West only on the most lofty and
abstract level, the spiritual legacy of India is now accessible as practice and
experience to all who aspire to know God, not in the beyond, but in the here
and now .... Yogananda has placed within the reach of all the most exalted
methods of contemplation.”
The life and teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda are described in his
Autobiography of a Yogi, which has become a classic in its field since its
publication in 1946 and is now used as a text and reference work in many
colleges and universities throughout the world.
1 These lessons present the art of spiritual living and the yoga meditation techniques taught by
Paramahansa Yogananda, including Kriya Yoga, an ancient spiritual science whose devoted practice
leads to direct, personal experience of God. Information about the lessons is available from Yogoda
Satsanga Society of India.
 Paramahansa Yogananda:
A Yogi in Life and Death
Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda entered mahasamadhi (a yogi’s final
conscious exit from the body) in Los Angeles, California, on March 7,
1952, after concluding his speech at a banquet held in honour of H.E. Binay
R. Sen, Ambassador of India.
The great world teacher demonstrated the value of yoga (scientific
techniques for God-realization) not only in life but in death. Weeks after his
departure his unchanged face shone with the divine lustre of
incorruptibility.
Mr. Harry T. Rowe, Los Angeles Mortuary Director, Forest Lawn
Memorial-Park (in which the body of the great master is temporarily
placed), sent Self-Realization Fellowship a notarised letter from which the
following extracts are taken:
“The absence of any visual signs of decay in the dead body of
Paramahansa Yogananda offers the most extraordinary case in our
experience....No physical disintegration was visible in his body even twenty
days after death....No indication of mould was visible on his skin, and no
visible desiccation (drying up) took place in the bodily tissues. This state of
perfect preservation of a body is, so far as we know from mortuary annals,
an unparalleled one....At the time of receiving Yogananda’s body, the
Mortuary personnel expected to observe, through the glass lid of the casket,
the usual progressive signs of bodily decay. Our astonishment increased as
day followed day without bringing any visible change in the body under
observation. Yogananda’s body was apparently in a phenomenal state of
immutability....
“No odour of decay emanated from his body at any time.... The
physical appearance of Yogananda on March 27th, just before the bronze
cover of the casket was put into position, was the same as it had been on
March 7th. He looked on March 27th as fresh and as unravaged by decay as
he had looked on the night of his death. On March 27th there was no reason
to say that his body had suffered any visible physical disintegration at all.
For these reasons we state again that the case of Paramahansa Yogananda is
unique in our experience.”
 Additional Resources on
the Kriya Yoga Teachings of
Paramahansa Yogananda
Yogoda Satsanga Society of India is dedicated to freely assisting
seekers. For information regarding spiritual discourses and classes,
meditation and inspirational services at our centres, a schedule of retreats,
and our spiritual, as well as our medical, educational, emergency relief, and
other charitable activities, we invite you to visit our website or our Sakha
Math:
www.yssofindia.org
Yogoda Satsanga Society of India
Paramahansa Yogananda Path
Ranchi 834001, Jharkhand
Tel (0651) 2460071, 2460074, 2461578
 Yogoda Satsanga Lessons
Personal guidance and instruction from Paramahansa Yogananda on the
techniques of yoga meditation and principles of spiritual living
If you feel drawn to the spiritual truths described in Autobiography of a
Yogi, we invite you to enroll in the Yogoda Satsanga Lessons.
Paramahansa Yogananda originated this home-study series to provide
sincere seekers the opportunity to learn and practice the ancient yoga
meditation techniques introduced in this book — including the science of
Kriya Yoga. The Lessons also present his practical guidance for attaining
balanced physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.
The Yogoda Satsanga Lessons are available at a nominal fee (to cover
printing and postage costs). All students are freely given personal guidance
in their practice by Yogoda Satsanga Society of India monks.
For more information…
Complete details about the Yogoda Satsanga Lessons are included in
the free booklet Undreamed-of Possibilities. To receive a copy of this
booklet and an application form, please visit our website or contact Yogoda
Satsanga Sakha Math, Ranchi.”
 Other Books by Paramahansa Yogananda
Available at bookstores or online at
www.yssbooks.org
Autobiography of a Yogi
Autobiography of a Yogi
(MP3 Audiobook, read by Sir Ben Kingsley)
God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita
(A New Translation and Commentary)
The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You — A Revelatory
Commentary on the Original Teachings of Jesus
Inner Peace: How to Be Calmly Active and Actively Calm
The Collected Talks and Essays
Volume I: Man’s Eternal Quest
Volume II: The Divine Romance
Volume III: Journey to Self-realization
In the Sanctuary of the Soul: A Guide to Effective Prayer
Where There Is Light:
Insight and Inspiration for Meeting Life’s Challenges
Whispers from Eternity
Wine of the Mystic: The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
A Spiritual Interpretation
How You Can Talk With God
Metaphysical Meditations
Prayers of a Master for His Disciples
Sayings of Paramahansa Yogananda
The Science of Religion
Words of Cosmic Chants
Scientific Healing Affirmations
Songs of the Soul
To Be Victorious in Life
Living Fearlessly
Audio Recordings of
Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
 Audio Recordings of
Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
Beholding the One in All
Awake in the Cosmic Dream
The Great Light of God
Songs of My Heart
To Make Heaven on Earth
Be a Smile Millionaire
One Life Versus Reincarnation
Removing All Sorrow and Suffering
In the Glory of the Spirit
Self-Realization: The Inner and the Outer Path
A complete catalogue describing all of the Yogoda Satsanga Society of
India
publications and audio/video recordings is available on request or
by download from online bookstore.
Free Introductory Booklet:
Undreamed-of Possibilities
The scientific techniques of meditation taught by Sri Sri Paramahansa
Yogananda, including Kriya Yoga — as well as his guidance on all aspects
of balanced spiritual living — are taught in the Yogoda Satsanga Society
Lessons. For further information, please write for the free introductory
booklet, Undreamed-of Possibilities.
YOGODA SATSANGA SOCIETY OF INDIA
Paramahansa Yogananda Path
Ranchi 834001, Jharkhand
Tel. (0651) 2460071, 2460074, 2461578
www.yssbooks.org
 Aims and Ideals
of
Yogoda Satsanga Society of India
As set forth by Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda Gurudeva and Founder
Sri Sri Mrinalini Mata, Sanghamata and President
To disseminate among the nations a knowledge of definite scientific
techniques for attaining direct personal experience of God.
To teach that the purpose of life is the evolution, through self-effort, of
man’s limited mortal consciousness into God Consciousness; and to this
end to establish Yogoda Satsanga temples for God-communion, and to
encourage the establishment of individual temples of God in the homes and
in the hearts of men.
To reveal the complete harmony and basic oneness of original Yoga as
taught by Bhagavan Krishna and original Christianity as taught by Jesus
Christ; and to show that these principles of truth are the common scientific
foundation of all true religions.
To point out the one divine highway to which all paths of true religious
beliefs eventually lead: the highway of daily, scientific, devotional
meditation on God.
To liberate man from his threefold suffering: physical disease, mental
inharmonies, and spiritual ignorance.
To encourage “plain living and high thinking”; and to spread a spirit of
brotherhood among all peoples by teaching the eternal basis of their unity:
kinship with God.
To demonstrate the superiority of mind over body, of soul over mind.
To overcome evil by good, sorrow by joy, cruelty by kindness,
ignorance by wisdom.
To unite science and religion through realization of the unity of their
underlying principles.
To advocate cultural and spiritual understanding between East and
West, and the exchange of their finest distinctive features.
To serve mankind as one’s larger Self.