Yukteswar Quotes

Forget the past,” Sri Yukteswar would console him. “The vanished lives of all men are dark with many shames. Human conduct is ever unreliable until man is anchored in the Divine. Everything in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort now.

Hay personas que tratan de ser altas cortando la cabeza a los demàs Sri Yukteswar

Wisdom is not assimilated with the eyes, but with the atoms.

Medicines have limitations; the divine creative life force has none. —Swami Sri Yukteswar

The Four Ideas: the Word, Time, Space, and the Atom. The ensuing effect is the idea of particles— the innumerable atoms, pair a or anu. These four — the Word, Time, Space, and the Atom — are therefore one and the same, and substantially nothing but mere ideas.

Todo mejorarà en el futuro, si estàs haciendo un esfuerzo espiritual en el presente. Sri Yukteswar a Paramahansa Yogananda

child is born on that day and at that hour when the celestial rays are in mathematical harmony with his or her individual karma. The resulting horoscope is a challenging portrait revealing his or her unalterable past, and its probable future result. But the natal chart can be rightly interpreted only by women and men of intuitive wisdom: these are few. ~ ~ ~ Swami Sri Yukteswar Guru of the great Paramahansa Yogananda

When love appears in the heart, it removes all causes of excitation from the system and cools it down to a perfectly normal state; and, invigorating the vital powers, expels all foreign matters - the germs of disease - by natural ways (perspiration and so forth). It thereby makes man perfectly healthy in body and mind.

When the carnivorous animal finds prey, he boldly seizes the prey and greedily laps the jetting blood. On the contrary, the herbivorous animal refuses his natural food, leaving it untouched, if it is sprinkled with a little blood. In men we find they cannot bear even the sight of [animal] killings. Slaughterhouses are always recommended to be removed far from the towns. Can flesh then be considered the natural food of man, when both his eyes and his nose are so much against it, unless deceived by flavors of spices, salt and sugar?

Algunos consideran que las deidades existen en el agua (es decir, en los elementos naturales), mientras que los eruditos consideran que ellas existen en el cielo (el mundo astral); el hombre ignorante las busca en la madera y las piedras (esto es, en imágenes o símbolos), pero el yogui realiza a Dios en el santuario de su propio ser.

[Reaching higher levels of spiritual development is attainable by] the purification of the body [from lower vibrations, habits and emotions]. Purification of [different parts of a person can be achieved in the following ways:] - the material body can be effected by things generated along with it by Nature; - the electric body, by patience in all circumstances; - the magnetic body by regulation of the breath.

All creation is governed by law,” Sri Yukteswar concluded. “The principles that operate in the outer universe, discoverable by scientists, are called natural laws. But there are subtler laws that rule the hidden spiritual planes and the inner realm of consciousness; these principles are knowable through the science of yoga. It is not the physicist but the Self-realized master who comprehends the true nature of matter. By such knowledge Christ was able to restore the servant’s ear after it had been severed by one of the disciples.”12

Warriors like Alexander the Great seek sovereignty over the soil; masters like Sri Yukteswar win a farther dominion—in men’s souls. It

The Hindu scriptures place the present world-age as occurring within the Kali Yuga of a much longer universal cycle than the simple 24,000-year equinoctial cycle with which Sri Yukteswar was concerned. The universal cycle of the scriptures is 4,300,560,000 years in extent, and measures out a Day of Creation. This vast figure is based on the relationship between the length of the solar year and a multiple of pi (3.1416, the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle). The life span for a whole universe, according to the ancient seers, is 314,159,000,000,000 solar years, or “One Age of Brahma.” The Hindu scriptures declare that an earth such as ours is dissolved for one of two reasons: the inhabitants as a whole become either completely good or completely evil. The world mind thus generates a power that releases the captive atoms held together as an earth. Dire pronouncements are occasionally published regarding an imminent “end of the world.” Planetary cycles, however, proceed according to an orderly divine plan. No earthly dissolution is in sight; many ascending and descending equinoctial cycles are yet in store for our planet in its present form. 6

Sri Yukteswar discovered the mathematical application of a 24,000-year equinoctial cycle to our present age. 4 The cycle is divided into an Ascending Arc and a Descending Arc, each of 12,000 years. Within each Arc fall four Yugas or Ages, called Kali, Dwapara, Treta, and Satya, corresponding to the Greek ideas of Iron, Bronze, Silver, and Golden Ages. My guru determined by various calculations that the last Kali Yuga or Iron Age, of the Ascending Arc, started about a.d. 500. The Iron Age, 1200 years in duration, is a span of materialism; it ended about a.d. 1700. That year ushered in Dwapara Yuga, a 2400-year period of electrical and atomic-energy developments: the age of telegraphy, radio, airplanes, and other space-annihilators. The 3600-year period of Treta Yuga will start in a.d. 4100; the age will be marked by common knowledge of telepathic communications and other time-annihilators. During the 4800 years of Satya Yuga, final age in an Ascending Arc, the intelligence of man will be highly developed; he will work in harmony with the divine plan. A Descending Arc of 12,000 years, starting with a Descending Golden Age of 4800 years, then begins for the world (in a.d. 12,500); man gradually sinks into ignorance. These cycles are the eternal rounds of maya, the contrasts and relativities of the phenomenal universe. 5 Men, one by one, escape from creation’s prison of duality as they awaken to consciousness of their inseverable divine unity with the Creator. Master

All creation is governed by law,” Sri Yukteswar concluded. “The principles that operate in the outer universe, discoverable by scientists, are called natural laws. But there are subtler laws that rule the hidden spiritual planes and the inner realm of consciousness; these principles are knowable through the science of yoga. It is not the physicist but the Self-realized master who comprehends the true nature of matter. By such knowledge Christ was able to restore the servant’s ear after it had been severed by one of the disciples.” 11 My

Yukteswar significa «unido a Ishwara» (un nombre de Dios). Giri es la denominación de una de las diez antiguas ramas de la Orden de los Swamis. Sri significa santo; no es nombre, sino título de respeto.

So long as the soul of man is encased in one, two, or three body-containers, sealed tightly with the corks of ignorance and desires, he cannot merge with the sea of Spirit.

I will tell you a few—each one with a moral!” Sri Yukteswar’s eyes twinkled with his warning. “My mother once tried to frighten me with an appalling story of a ghost in a dark chamber. I went there immediately, and expressed my disappointment at having missed the ghost. Mother never told me another horror-tale. Moral: Look fear in the face and it will cease to trouble you.

Forget the past,” Sri Yukteswar would console him. “The vanished lives of all men are dark with many shames. Human conduct is ever unreliable until anchored in the Divine. Everything in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort now.” Master

Bhuvanas, the stages of creation. The above-mentioned seven spheres or Swargas and the seven Patalas constitute the fourteen Bhuvanas, the fourteen distinguishable stages of the creation.

[How "magical charms" work for healing:] [It is Divine Love that heals and cures. But many people have difficulty accessing the full power of Divine Love. So magical charms can act as a permission slip to let Love and faith in, to do the healing.] Ignorant people in their blind faith would accept a piece of wood or stone as their Savior or Divinity in the external creation, for which their heart's natural love will develop till by its energetic tendency it will relieve them of all exciting causes, cool their system down to a normal state, and invograte their vital powers. The adepts, on the other hand, having full control over the whole material world, find their Divinity and Savior in Self and not outside in the external world.

We favor those persons whose magnetism affects us harmoniously, who cool our system, internally invigorate our vitality, develop out natural love, and thus relieve us of our miseries and administer peace to us.

Medicines have limitations; the divine creative life force has none. Believe that: you shall be well and strong." [...] Chronic dyspepsia had afflicted me since childhood. [...] Master's words instantly convinced me that I could successfully apply their truth in my own life. No other healer (and I had tried many) had been able to arouse in me such profound faith. Day by day I waxed in health and strength. Through Sri Yukteswar's hidden blessing, in two weeks I gained the weight that I had vainly sought in the past. My stomach ailments vanished permanently.

[The causal] body is a matrix of the 35 ideas required by God as the basic or causal thought forces. The subtle astral body [has] 19 elements The gross physical body [has] 16 elements. [These are] 16 gross metallic and nonmetallic elements. - The 19 elements of the astral body are mental, emotional and lifetronic. The 19 components are: [1] Intelligence [2] ego [3] feeling [4] mind (sense-cosnciousness) [5-9] five intruments of knowledge, the subtle counterparts of the senses of sight, hearing, smell, aste, touch, [10-14] five instruments of action, the mental correspondence for the executive abilities to procreate, excrete, talk, walk and exercise manual skill [15-19] five instruments of life force, those empowered to perform the crystallizing assimilating, eliminating, metabolizing, and circulating functions of the body. pg424, Chapter 43, The resurrection of Sri Yukteswar

[When] man directs his organs of sense through which he enjoys, towards the object of his desire, he can never be satisfied, and his desires increase in double force. On the contrary, if he can direct his organs of sense inward towards his Self, at that time he can satisfy his heart immediately.

Passing through this door [between the material world and the spritual world, by becoming victorious over the powers of Darkness and Ignorance, man] comes above the ideational creation of Darkness, Maya, and entering into the spiritual world, receives the true Light. Thus man overcomes all bondage of Darkness, Maya and becomes possessed by all aiswaryas, the ascetic majesties: [1] Anima, the power of making one's body or anything else as small as he likes, even as tiny as an atom, anu. [2] Mahima, the power of magnifying or making one's body or anything else mahat, as large as he likes. [3] Laghima, the power of making one's body or anything else laghu, as light in weight as he likes. [4] Garima, the power of making one's body or anything else guru, as heavy as he likes. [5] Prapti, the power of apti, obtaining anything he likes. [6] Vasitwa, the power of vasa, bringing anything under control. [7] Prakamya, the power of satisfying all desires, kama, by irresistible will force. [8] Isitwa, the power of becoming Isa, Lord, over everything.

All creation is governed by law," Sri Yukteswar concluded. "The principles that operate in the outer universe, discoverable by scientists, are called natural laws. But there are subtler laws that rule the hidden spiritual planes and the inner realm of consciousness; these principles are knowable through the science of yoga. It is not the physicist but the Self-realized master who comprehends the true nature of matter. By such knowledge Christ was able to restore the servant's ear after it had been severed by one of the disciples." (Luke 22:50-51)

The cohesive force by which all three bodies [causal, astral and physical] are held together is desire. [...] The mere presence of a body signifies that its existence is made possible by unfulfilled desires. pg425, Chapter 43, The resurrection of Sri Yukteswar

God encased the human soul succesively in three bodies - [1.] The idea, or causal body. A causal-bodied being remains in the blissful realm of ideas. [2.] The subtle astral body, seat of man's mental and emotional natures. An astral being works with his consciousness and feelings and a body made of lifetrons / prana. [3.] the gross physical body. [This utilises the] physical senses. [...] In wakeful state on earth a human being is conscious more or less of his three vehicles. When he is sensuously intent on tasting, smelling, touching, listening or seeing, he is working principally through his physical body. Visualizing or willing, he is working mainly through his astral body. His causal being finds expression when man is thinking or diving deep in introspection or meditation; the cosmical thoughts of genius come to the man who habitually contacts his causal body. [...] If he dreams, [man] remains in his astral body, effortlessly creating any object even as do the astral beings. [Such astral-level sleep is] not fully refreshing. If man's sleep be deep and dreamless, for several hours, he is able to transfer his consciousness to the causal body; such deep sleep is revivifying. pg416-431, Chapter 43, The resurrection of Sri Yukteswar

In sabikalpa samadhi the devotee has attained realization of his oneness with Spirit but cannot maintain his cosmic consciousness except in the immobile trance state. By continuous meditation he reaches the superior state of nirbikalpa samadhii, in which he may move freely in the world without any loss of God-perception. pg416, Chapter 43, The resurrection of Sri Yukteswar

The universe has been distinguished into seven different spheres: 7th Sphere, Satyaloka: The sphere of God, Sat - the only Real Substance in the universe. 6th Sphere, Tapoloka: Eternal Patience 5th Sphere, Janaloka: Sphere of spiritual reflection, wherein the idea of separate existence of Self originates. 4th Sphere, Maharloka: Sphere of the Atom, the beginning of the creation of Darkness, Maya. This, the connecting link, is the only way between spiritual and the material creation, and is called the Door. 3rd Sphere, Swarloka: Sphere of magnetic aura, the electricities. 2nd Sphere, Bhuvarloka: The sphere of electric attributes. It is conspicuous by the presence of the fine matters only. 1st Sphere, Bhuloka: The lowest sphere, the sphere of gross material creation, which is always visible to everyone.

Existence, consciousness and bliss are the three longings of the human heart. * * * Bliss [is attained by being] able to direct all his attention inward. He becomes capable of satisfying all the wants of his heart and can thereby gain contentment, Ananda, the Real Bliss. Consciousness of all the modifications of Nature up to its first and primal manifestation, the Word (Aum) and even of his own Real Self, gradually appears. Existence [involves knowing the difference between what's real;' what really exists and what does not. When man] withdraws all the developments of Ignorance, in this way, freed from the control of this creation of Darkness, he comprehends his own Self as Indestructible and Ever-Existince Real Substance. So Sat, the Existence of Self, comes to light.

Ignorance is the perception of the nonexistent, and the nonperception of the Existent.

When Divine Love becomes well developed, Ignorance (Maya) begins to be withdrawn.

[When] the heart becomes perfectly purified, instead of merely reflecting the spiritual light, [it] actively manifests [it]. Entering the kingdom of Spiritual Light, he becomes Christ[-like].

There are five states of the human heart. By these different states of the heart, man is classified, and his evolutionary status determined. [...] [1.] The Dark Heart: In the dark state of the heart, man thinks that his material portion of creation is the only real substance in existence, and that there is nothing besides. [2.] The Propelled Heart: When man becomes a little enlightened, his heart becomes propelled to learn the real nature of the universe and seeks for advice to determine what is truth. [3.] Steady Heart: The whole of that system is said to be in Dwapara Yuga. Man gradually comes to a pleasant state wherein his heart wholly abandons the ideas of the external world and becomes devoted to the internal one. [4.] Devoted Heart: Man become able to understand the whole of Darkness, Maya [=illusion] itself. This state of human being is called Treta; the whole of that system is said to be Treta Yuga. [5.] Clean Heart: Ignorance being withdrawn, his heart comes to a clean state, void of all external ideas. Then man becomes able to comprehend the Spiritual Light, Brahma, the Real Substance in the universe, which is the last and everlasting spiritual portion in creation. This stage of human being is called Satya; the whole of that system is said to be Satya Yuga. When the heart becomes purified, it no longer merely reflects, but manifests Spiritual Light. In this state, man is called Jivanmukta Sannyasi, like Lord Jesus of Nazareth. In this state, man comprehends himself as nothing but a mere ephemeral idea resting on a fragment of the universal Holy Spirit of God.

Victorious over the powers of Darkness and Ignorance, man becomes one with God.

[Desires as seen on 3 planes of existence: Physical, Astral & Causal] Physical desires are rooted in egotism and sense pleasures. The compulsion or temptation of sensory experience is more powerful than the desire-force connected with astral attachments or causal perceptions. Astral desires center around enjoyment in terms of vibration. Astral beings enjoy teh ethereal music of the spheres and are entranced by the sight of all creation as exhaustless expressions of changing light. The astral beings also smell, taste and touch light. Astral desires ar thus connected with an astral being's power to precipitate all objects and experiences as forms of light or as condensed thoughts or dreams. Causal desires are fulfilled by perception only. The nearly-free beings who re encased only in teh causal body see the whole universe as realizations of the dream-idaes of God; they can materialize anything and everything in sheer thought. Causal beings therefore consider the enjoyment of physical sensations or astral delights as gross and suffocating to the soul's fine sensibilities. Causal beings work out their desires by materializing them instantly. pg 425, Chapter 43, The Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar

Wrath springs only from thwarted desires. I do not expect anything from others, so their actions cannot be in opposition to wishes of mine. I would not use you for my own ends; I am happy only in your own true happiness.

Good manners without sincerity are like a beautiful dead lady. Straightforwardness without civility is like a surgeon's knife, effective but unpleasant. Candor with courtesy is helpful and admirable.

There are always those in this world who, in Browning’s words, “endure no light, being themselves obscure.” An outsider occasionally berated Sri Yukteswar for an imaginary grievance. My imperturbable guru listened politely, analysing himself to see if any shred of truth lay within the denunciation. These scenes would bring to my mind one of Master’s inimitable observations: “Some people try to be tall by cutting off the heads of others!” The unfailing composure of a saint is impressive beyond any sermon. “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” I often reflected that my majestic Master could easily have been an emperor or world-shaking warrior had his mind been centered on fame or worldly achievement. He had chosen instead to storm those inner citadels of wrath and egotism whose fall is the height of a man.

Masters are under no cosmic compulsion to limit their residence.” My companion glanced at me quizzically. “The Himalayas in India and Tibet have no monopoly on saints. What one does not trouble to find within will not be discovered by transporting the body hither and yon. As soon as the devotee is willing to go even to the ends of the earth for spiritual enlightenment, his guru appears nearby.” I silently agreed, recalling my prayer in the Benares hermitage, followed by the meeting with Sri Yukteswar in a crowded lane. “Are you able to have a little room where you can close the door and be alone?” “Yes.” I reflected that this saint descended from the general to the particular with disconcerting speed. “That is your cave.” The yogi bestowed on me a gaze of illumination which I have never forgotten. “That is your sacred mountain. That is where you will find the kingdom of God.” His simple words instantaneously banished my life-long obsession for the Himalayas. In a burning paddy field I awoke from the monticolous dreams of eternal snows. “Young sir, your divine thirst is laudable. I feel great love for you.” Ram Gopal took my hand and led me to a quaint hamlet. The adobe houses were covered with coconut leaves and adorned with rustic entrances. The saint seated me on the umbrageous bamboo platform of his small cottage. After giving me sweetened lime juice and a piece of rock candy, he entered his patio and assumed the lotus posture. In about four hours, I opened my meditative eyes and saw that the moonlit figure of the yogi was still motionless. As I was sternly reminding my stomach that man does not live by bread alone, Ram Gopal approached me. “I see you are famished; food will be ready soon.” A fire was kindled under a clay oven on the patio; rice and dal were quickly served on large banana leaves. My host courteously refused my aid in all cooking chores. ‘The guest is God,’ a Hindu proverb, has commanded devout observance from time immemorial. In my later world travels, I was charmed to see that a similar respect for visitors is manifested in rural sections of many countries. The city dweller finds the keen edge of hospitality blunted by superabundance of strange faces.

My guru was reluctant to discuss the superphysical realms. His only ‘marvellous’ aura was one of perfect simplicity. In conversation he avoided startling references; in action he was freely expressive. Others talked of miracles but could manifest nothing; Sri Yukteswar seldom mentioned the subtle laws but secretly operated them at will.

Forget the past,” Sri Yukteswar would console him. “The vanished lives of all men are dark with many shames. Human conduct is ever unreliable until anchored in the Divine. Everything in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort now.

Those who are too good for this world are adorning some other,” Sri Yukteswar remarked. “So long as you breathe the free air of earth, you are under obligation to render grateful service. He alone who has fully mastered the breathless state is free from cosmic imperatives. I will not fail to let you know when you have attained the final perfection.

Why are you stupefied at all this? The subtle unity of the phenomenal world is not hidden from true yogis. I instantly see and converse with my disciples in distant Calcutta. They can similarly transcend at will every obstacle of gross matter.” It was probably in an effort to stir spiritual ardour in my young breast that the swami had condescended to tell me of his powers of astral radio and television. But instead of enthusiasm, I experienced only an awe-stricken fear. Inasmuch as I was destined to undertake my divine search through one particular guru—Sri Yukteswar, whom I had not yet met—I felt no inclination to accept Pranabananda as my teacher. I glanced at him doubtfully, wondering if it were he or his counterpart before me.

Sri Yukteswar was a perfect human radio. Thoughts are no more than very gentle vibrations moving in the ether. Just as a sensitized radio picks up a desired musical number out of thousands of other programs from every direction, so my guru had been able to catch the thought of the half-witted man who hankered for a cauliflower, out of the countless thoughts of broadcasting human wills in the world.