The Wisdom of Paramahansa Yogananda
Self-Realization Fellowship monks and nuns share Paramahansa Yogananda’s profound inspiration, and their own stories of applying his practical teachings on meditation and balanced living, to encourage you to have a truly victorious life — transcending limitations, fear, and suffering — by awakening to the infinite power and joy of your real Self: the soul.
The teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda (author of Autobiography of a Yogi) and his renowned line of gurus offer to people of all cultures, races, and creeds the means to free themselves from physical, mental, and spiritual inharmonies — a way of life of inner happiness and all-round success. To facilitate the spread of his “how-to-live” teachings worldwide — including the spiritual principles and meditation techniques of Kriya Yoga — Yogananda founded Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) in 1920 and established the headquarters for his work in Los Angeles, California, shortly thereafter.
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“Self-realization is the knowing — in body, mind, and soul — that we are one with the omnipresence of God; that we do not have to pray that it come to us, that we are not merely near it at all times, but that God's omnipresence is our omnipresence; that we are just as much a part of Him now as we ever will be. All we have to do is improve our knowing.” — Paramahansa Yogananda
The Wisdom of Paramahansa Yogananda
What Is the Soul?
SRF monk Brother Kamalananda conveys wisdom from Paramahansa Yogananda on the nature of the soul and how we can discover for ourselves the answers to profound questions such as, “Why are we here and what is the purpose of existence on this planet? How did we get here and where are we going?”
As a soul we are a perfect individual reflection of the eternal, ever-newly blissful consciousness of God — but usually we are mistakenly identified with the limitations of the body and mortal consciousness. Through progressing through many incarnations we gradually desire to awaken from that delusion. And by practicing the yoga science of meditation we can greatly quicken that process to fully realize our true identity — ever one with infinite Spirit.
This talk was given at the SRF temple in Glendale, California, in July 2025.
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During his talk, Brother Kamalananda refers to two of the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons: Lesson 9, “God and His Universe”; and Lesson 10, “The Cycles of Life and Death.” You can receive Paramahansa Yogananda’s personal and comprehensive instruction in the science of meditation and art of balanced living through his SRF Lessons, a home-study course available for a nominal fee. To learn more and about how to enroll: https://srflessons.org
Brother Kamalananda also refers to the following book published by Self-Realization Fellowship:
“Autobiography of a Yogi,” Paramahansa Yogananda’s acclaimed life story, available at https://bookstore.yogananda-srf.org/product/autobiography-of-a-yogi-ebook/
To view more talks from this series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCqADxk3PzvgapvuKmZMZzL8eloisokH6
If you would like to support the spiritual and humanitarian work of SRF, please click on this link: https://donatesrf.org