The 447 pages long The Divine Romance is an anthology of the talks of Paramhansa Yogananda ,
suggesting how we can awaken our divine
nature. Yogananda started Yogoda Satsanga Society of India
in 1917 , and founded its international
headquarters in Los Angeles
in 1925.
It is essentially a spiritual book and gives
guidelines for a healthy and
spiritual living.I have tried to put
together some of the precious thoughts
as follows.
1. Your first goal must be to know God. The greatest of all achievements for a
human being is to find God.
2.True friendship is friendship for the sake of friendship,
without expectation of anything in
return. Lying destroys friendship. There is no attachment in true friendship.
When friendships develop into
attachment , they remain on the plane of human love , taking the soul
away from supreme friendship with God. True
friendship may be developed between woman and woman, man and man , or man and
woman. This can come only when you free yourself from the consciousness that
you are a man or a woman . One must
practice celibacy if one wants to know divine love through friendship. Then
friendship nurtures the cultivation of divine love. To wish for perfection for
the loved one, and to feel pure joy in thinking of that soul, is divine love , and
that is the love of true friendship. In a friendship ,regardless of differing
views, you have mutual respect and
cherish your friendship above every
thing else. True friendship established in God is the only relationship that is
lasting.
3. Reserve your nights for meditation. Meditate with
undivided attention.
4. One of the most important spiritual principles to apply
is truthfulness. Those who develop the habit of telling little lies all the
time will find it hard ever to be wholly truthful in any statement.
5.Every very person
should keep a mental diary, in which she should constantly watch her thoughts and actions.
6. Silence and seclusion are the secrets of success. The
less you mix with others who just waste your time , the better it is for your
spiritual life. Seclusion is the price of greatness. After starting on
spiritual path , do not go to movies or seek such other distractions. Remain
secluded from people. Seek time to be
alone; and in the cave of inner silence , you shall find the wellspring of
wisdom. As soon as you are too much with people
on the social plane , you are not with
God any more. Don’t engage in too many socials. They are alright once in a while, but frequent socializing takes up
too much valuable time.
7.If you want friends, you must learn to love all
unselfishly. Never profess friendship with anyone unless you mean it.
8. Learn to fast for one to three days at a time. Never drink
water, milk , or other liquids with your meals. It is best to take liquids a
half-hour before a meal or two hours afterward. Whenever the body feels tired,
drink a glass of pineapple or orange juice. It will give you much energy. Walking
is good. Six or seven hours sleep
is enough. Go out in the fresh air for
ten to fifteen minutes and exhale and inhale
deeply, off and on , several times.
9. When someone wrongs you , it is far better to love him
spiritually , give him your blessing , and forget it. Forgiveness is more
powerful than revenge.
10.If you have a possessive love for any thing , you will
suffer.
11. It requires eight years to form a habit. Never be
addicted to anything.
12. To live for self is the source of all misery.
13..I am a citizen of the world.
14. Love is thy strength, and thy greatest ally.
15.Those who flatter
thy faults are thy worst enemies. Do not speak of others’ faults.
16.In most cases, the
free will man is nothing more than a slave-in the guise of freedom , but
fettered to past tendencies. You are born with about seventy-five percent of
your life predetermined by your past. You will make up the remaining
twenty-five percent. Spiritual training designates the methods to mould the
brand new twenty-five percent that we ourselves are going to create by the
exercise of our freedom.
17.Sow the seeds of
good habits in the soil and weed out
worries and wrong actions of the past. If you have a strong mind and
plant in it a firm resolve , you
can change your destiny. Take your
health, or your moral life, or spiritual life –one thing at a time- and change
it as you desire. Inwardly determine to change yourself, and you can change
your destiny according to your will. until you are able to create a good habit, meditate. Don’t
flirt with unproductive , dangerous habits. Get rid of your bad habits. Change
yourself every day. If you have not given up mentally , you are not defeated
before the Lord. Saints are sinners who never gave up. Those who don’t analyze
themselves never change.
18 You should pray for others who are suffering but do not
pray for things of the world .Always sit upright , with the spine straight.
19.The little man with small thoughts who goes into the jungle of books becomes absorbed in intellectualizing about God; he does not find
the nectar of God-realization .But the
little man who meditates, who constantly thinks of the joy of God, who
constantly prays to Him , becomes one with the infinite. Beliefs, reading books ,
cannot give you realization .It is only by
meditating in the right way that you can have that great
realization and joy. Practice of
religion , not just intellectual understanding , is most important-practice of
the perception of God.
21. Devotees on the
spiritual path have even more
tests than those who follow a material path ,so don’t use your worldly
obligations as an excuse to ignore God.
22. America
is advancing rapidly in spirituality.
When the
soul meets the greatest Lover of the universe , then the eternal romance
begins.
The book inspires us to be spiritual and to serve other
human beings.I recommend you to read this book .
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