Isha Upanishad / Yogananda / 4

When tilling the ground for the cultivation of crops,
one needs patience to destroy all useless weeds and
to wait, even though the ground then appears barren,
until the hidden good seeds sprout into plants. It
requires still more patience to clear the field of
consciousness that is overgrown with weeds of useless
attachments to sense pleasures, which are very difficult
to uproot. Yet when the field of consciousness is
cleared, and sown with seeds of good qualities, plants
of noble activities sprout forth, yielding abundantly
the fruits of real happiness. Above all, have patience
to seek communion with God through deep meditation
and to become acquainted with your indestructible
soul, hidden within your perishable earthly body.
–Paramahansa Yogananda, in a “Para-gram”

O Christ, take possession of my heart and mind!
Be thou reborn in me as love for all men. May thy
consciousness which is in every atom manifest in me
as unconditional loyalty to Guru and the Great Ones,
and to thee, O Blessed Jesus, and to the Supreme who
is the Father of all.
–Paramhansa Yogananda, “Self-Realization Magazine”

Those who renounce life truly, in fact, enjoy life better than those
who do not, because the true sanyasis are not troubled by the fear
of loss or the possibility of gain. They accept their lot, what
comes to them without struggle and seeking and remain indifferent to what does not come to them or what has departed from them.
–Isha Upanishad (Translation and Commentary by Jayaram V)

Renunciation is not negation of life. It is not some morose and
lifeless experience. We should not renounce life because of despair
or depression arising out of our fears, frustration or personal
failures. True renunciation arises out of intense longing for the
divine, out of a state of mind in which attachment with the Divine
alone makes sense and out of a sense of freedom and fearlessness
that stem from unflinching faith in God and His supreme will.
–Isha Upanishad (Translation and Commentary by Jayaram V)

Life has to be enjoyed, but without seeking, without coveting, and
without struggling to get things done or get things for oneself. It
is the renunciation of seeking and of desiring things which
constitute the central feature of a life of true renunciation.
–Isha Upanishad (Translation and Commentary by Jayaram V)