Yoga: The science of religion

 

Essentially, what we are seeking is God, whether or not we use that name....What we crave at the deepest level of our being cannot be found in anything the world can give us.

One of the ancient scriptures of India says, in relation to this truth: "Know it now or after a thousand incarnations." In other words, do you want to go on seeking in the wrong place and continually be frustrated?...People are frantically searching, but they cannot find what they are looking for; and that leads to despair. And not just despair; tremendous resentment and anger accrue in the process – a lot of anger, a lot of violence. Again, it is because people are seeking in the wrong place and therefore not finding true fulfillment....

So...where do we find God?  God, or Spirit, or the Infinite Consciousness (it doesn't matter what word you want to use) is all-pervading, omnipresent. But as long as we are looking for That outside of ourselves, we are using the senses and the mortal mind, the faculties through which we cognize the outer world. Great saints of all religions have affirmed this truth: the senses and the human intellect cannot perceive God; these gross instruments are far too limited. We have to go inside. There, through the intuition of the soul, we find Him.

On this point, the esoteric teachings of all the great religions agree: what we seek is inside....Jesus Christ said, "The kingdom of God is within you."...The same truth is in the Old Testament: "Be still and know that I am God." But the Bible does not say how to do it. Lord Krishna personally taught the highest techniques of yoga to his disciples, yet those methods were not set forth in his discourse in the Bhagavad Gita....

How to go within? That is what Paramahansa Yogananda has given to us: the definite science of attaining direct, personal experience of God.

 Brother Anandamoy – Yoga: The science of religion Sjá: http://www.srf-yogananda.org/excerpts/xcerpts.html