As all colleges in the world teach the same principles of science, which can be proven by application, so all true religious schools, if they followed yoga, would be aware that it is the one scientific highway to the Infinite.
Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda often referred to the Kriya Yoga path, with its scientific techniques of meditation, as “the highway to the Infinite.” Instead of wandering on byways of intellectual curiosity or wasting time on any other spiritual side roads, we should seek the way that will lead us directly to experience of the divinity within ourselves. The path of Kriya Yoga was found by Paramahansaji to be the most effective method of attaining the highest goal of religion, and indeed life itself: union with Bliss.
The sacred science of Kriya Yoga contains the distilled essence of Raja Yoga. At its heart are advanced techniques of meditation whose devoted practice leads to a state of inner stillness that enables us to realize our inherent soul nature and infinite potentiality.
As one steadily journeys toward the ultimate goal of Bliss-consciousness through regular study and application of the principles and meditation techniques SRF teaches, he or she will experience a natural unfoldment of tangible inner peace and other soul qualities that are part of the balanced development and well-being of body, mind, and soul.
Paramahansa Yogananda brought to the world at the behest of his God-attuned line of gurus — Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Swami Sri Yukteswar — a spiritual path that is both profound and practical. It encompasses all phases of the spiritual quest and teaches one how to bring spiritual awareness and true devotion into every aspect of daily life. With this complete teaching, seekers of higher consciousness and illumination can wholly transform themselves.
Despite our varying achievements in life, there often still remains a sense of emptiness or lack of purpose. The Kriya Yoga meditation teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda provide us with the necessary tools to fill the void—to bring out from within ourselves all the peace and joy of the soul.
“Divine Joy outlasts everything,” Paramahansaji said. “It is enduring. When all else melts away, that Joy remains.” As we start to discover this everlasting joy by practicing the techniques of meditation, we also learn to hold onto that joy during daily life, so that it enlivens and animates all our other activities. We more and more manifest happiness—and evenmindedness—as we are pursuing success in any field of endeavor, no matter what obstacles come in our way.
In a very short time the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda can make a greater contribution to our lives—health, happiness, peace of mind, and realization of the fullness of our being—than can all the comforts offered by the developments of material science....
We have an urge for something higher; we don’t know what it is. But it is an urge for happiness and joy—happiness that lies within us. We cannot find it until we discover it within the soul.
Rajarsi Janakananda, second president of SRF/YSS
In our search for Bliss we can greatly benefit from following the example of those who have attained the realization we seek—and who actively reach out to help us make progress toward the goal shining before us.
“The sun shines equally on a piece of charcoal and a diamond placed side by side in the sunlight,” Paramahansa Yogananda said, “but the diamond reflects the light while the charcoal does not. Those who have become spiritual diamonds reflect the sunlight of God’s consciousness….The great masters are the diamond mentalities after whom we should pattern our lives. To follow them is to find quick and direct exit [from the prison of limitations] to divine liberation.”
In his Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansaji presents in vivid detail the lives of the great masters of this path and their significance for understanding the spiritual wealth of what Kriya Yoga can bring to those who practice it faithfully. Paramahansaji’s own search for the Divine, recounted in his autobiography, provides one of the greatest testaments to the transforming power of this sacred science and the blessings that come when one embarks on this path to Bliss.
I gave my life to this SRF path of our great Gurus because these teachings give to the world a practical methodology whereby all devotees can know by tangible experience that they are progressing toward God.