Preface

These words are not destined to place in your hands that which you expect to find, but rather to inspire your search...

...searching as those whom, in the depth of their souls, feel the overpowering need to discover... yet without the ambition to arrive at a specific goal or special objective ...without wanting or expecting to reach some ideal... without expecting to obtain a result... without the desire to arrive at a certain place....

For only then shall you realize that, in reality, you have never been lost ... real pleasure is only for those souls that are not compelled by what they find to give up the search.

I speak only of being... of watching... of observing... because I speak only of separating the apparent from the real... of disappearing, of dissolving in Reality...

These words are not destined to place in your hands that which you expect to find... My work and service is not in handing out the Truth, but in infecting people with a passion for the search...

And, please, never forget that you should be careful when searching for the Truth because it might just happen that the Truth will find you. And if it finds you, then you might realize that you were not prepared... remember that it is more beneficial to realize the Truth, even if it brings with it certain inconveniences, than to live in a lie, however pleasant that lie may be...

Never believe those who tell you that religion is a way to reach happiness. Those who say that are confused because every time they have encountered an authentically religious being, he or she was full of joy. There are no sad saints. There are no depressed enlightened. What these people fail to understand is that religion is a bird that likes to perch on blissful hearts... Do not strive to be religious, but to be happy... and from there on religion will blossom....

Exercise... Do not ignore or maltreat the physical body; it is an important instrument and the temple of God. (haṭha—yoga) 

Serve... Serve indiscriminately, seeing behind every being the same unique divine life that abides in the depths of you. (karma—yoga) 

Elevate yourself... until that divine energy that lies in you elevates and finally fuses with Śiva. (kuṇḍalinī—yoga) 

Purify... because cleanliness and purification will determine how high you will fly. (kriyā—yoga)

Love... for by loving you will discover the true meaning of your life... (bhakti—yoga) 

Observe yourself... because only by observing yourself, shall you distance yourself from all that you believe to be, and only by distancing from what you think you are, shall you discover what you really are...  (rāja—yoga)

Be... be... your own discovery... Be... only that which you really can be...  Be... the self... (jñāna—yoga)

yatroparamate cittaṁ 
  niruddhaṁ  yoga—sevayā
yatra caivātmanātmānaṁ 
  paśyann ātmani tuñyati

 sukham ātyantikaṁ  yat tad
  buddhi—grāhyam aténdriyam
vetti yatra na caivāyaṁ 
  sthitaś calati tattvataḥ

 yaṁ  labdhvā cāparaṁ  lābhaṁ 
  manyate nādhikaṁ  tataḥ
yasmin sthito na duḥkhena
  guruṇāpi vicālyate

 taṁ  vidyād duḥkha—saṁ yoga—
  viyogaṁ  yoga—saṁ jïitam

At the moment the mind is detained through yoga, it becomes quiet, and the self observes the Self, being satisfied only in the Self. When one is established there and experiences that total fullness, which is transcendental to the senses, and is perceived by intelligence, then one never separates from Reality. Once realized, it is impossible to perceive something of a superior value. No suffering can perturb this state. This is called yoga, the separation from misery. The path of yoga should be followed with determination and perseverance.

Swami Ramakrishnananda