Man's Eternal Quest: Collected Talks and Essays on Realizing God in Daily Life [Hardcover]

Paramahansa Yogananda (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1982

Place yourself in the presence of one of the leading spiritual figures of the 20th century. These collected talks and essays capture the unique blend of all-embracing wisdom, love for humanity, and thrillingly universal spirituality that drew thousands to hear Paramahansa Yogananda, the Father of Yoga in the West, (and author of the spiritual classic Autobiography of a Yogi) in his pioneering mission to bring India s ancient spiritual science alive for countless seekers around the world. Many of the talks in this collection were transcribed from these historic lectures, in which the great master, with inimitable warmth and wit, showed how spirituality in its depths can be practically applied across the full range of our daily human needs and challenges.

For anyone who has wanted to believe that a divine universal plan exists and that it is beautiful and full of joy, this wonderfully solacing anthology addresses such wide-ranging topics as:
How to Overcome Karma
Developing Intuition to Know the Purpose of Your Existence
Real Love versus Selfish Love
Recognizing Friends from Former Lives
How to Express Everlasting Youthfulness
How to Quicken Your Spiritual Progress
Regaining Your Divine Nature

Editorial Reviews

Review

Captivates the reader....Abounds with a deep spiritual vitality. --Southern Crossings, May/June 1992

From the Publisher

"Man’s Eternal Quest" is a book about God: about God’s place in man’s life; in his hopes, will, aspirations, accomplishments. Life, man, achievement—all are but manifestations of the one omnipresent Creator, as inseparably dependent on Him as the wave is dependent on the ocean. Paramahansa Yogananda explains why and how man was created by God, and how he is immutably a part of God, and what this means to each one personally. Realization of the oneness of man and his Creator is the whole essence of Yoga. An understanding of man’s inescapable need for God, in every aspect of living, removes the otherworldliness from religion and makes knowing God the basis of a scientific and practical approach to life.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Self-Realization Fellowship (June 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876122330
• ISBN-13: 978-0876122334
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,245,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hailed as "the father of Yoga in the West," Paramahansa Yogananda - author of the bestselling classic "Autobiography of a Yogi" - is regarded as one of the great spiritual figures of our time. Born in northern India on January 5, 1893, he devoted his life to helping people of all races and creeds to realize and express more fully in their lives the true beauty, nobility, and divinity of the human spirit. After graduating from Calcutta University in 1915, Yogananda took formal vows as a monk of India's venerable monastic Swami Order. Two years later, he began his life's work with the founding of a how-to-live school since grown to twenty-one educational institutions throughout India where traditional academic subjects were offered together with yoga training and instruction in spiritual ideals. In 1920, he was invited to serve as India's delegate to an International Congress of Religious Liberals in Boston. His address to the Congress and subsequent lectures on the East Coast were enthusiastically received, and in 1924 he embarked on a cross-continental speaking tour. Over the next three decades, Paramahansa Yogananda contributed in far-reaching ways to a greater awareness and appreciation in the West of the spiritual wisdom of the East. In Los Angeles, he established an international headquarters for Self-Realization Fellowship, the nonsectarian religious society he had founded in 1920. Through his writings, extensive lecture tours, and the creation of Self-Realization Fellowship temples and meditation centers, he introduced hundreds of thousands of truth-seekers to the ancient science and philosophy of Yoga and its universally applicable methods of meditation. Today, the spiritual and humanitarian work begun by Paramahansa Yogananda continues under the direction of Sri Daya Mata, one of his earliest and closest disciples and president of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India since 1955. In addition to publishing his writings, lectures and informal talks (including a comprehensive series of Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons for home study), the society also oversees temples, retreats, and centers around the world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yogananda's best, November 8, 2002

By A Customer

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This review is from: Man's Eternal Quest: Collected Talks and Essays - Volume 1 (Paperback)

I think this is the best of the books written by Yogananda (that I have read). The essays taken from his talks inform the reader about spirituality in simple and profound ways, but the real focus is upon experiencing this on one's own rather than memorizing the words of others or relying on them for proof. This book, as well as the others that I have read by the same writer, demonstrates the importance of finding God despite the distractions in everyday life, so I disagree with one reviewer's assertion that this occurs in caves, nature, etc. While it would be nice to get away from it all, the very practical nature of Yogananda's lessons shows what everyday people can do to improve their lives, one small step at a time.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love letters from your best friend: your higher self!, December 27, 2002

By 

Ted Hinshaw (Bakersfield, California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Man's Eternal Quest: Collected Talks and Essays - Volume 1 (Paperback)

The most eloquent down to earth writing on holiness available to the masses on God's green earth. A must for those who seek love, for this books warm monologue will bring you closer to realizing your own joy that is within. Take time out and read this book! It is good food for your soul!

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A PRACTICAL- COMMONSENSE VIEW OF LIFE AND RELIGION, May 16, 1998

By 

Fred Parente (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Man's Eternal Quest: Collected Talks and Essays - Volume 1 (Paperback)

In "MAN'S ETERNAL QUEST" The author shows a special talent and wisdom in his explanation of life's deepest questions in a straight and clear manner. Such precise use of the English language by a foreigner on spiritual material is remarkable.

These talks gave me understrandings that changed my outlook and my life. One can feel that His source of every word is truly from the Living experience of God's reality. And the energy of divine light and love shines through it.This book deepened my Quietest moments.

Among the many areas dealt with in this book, the author has some serious ideas about world peace and brotherhood,"We have everything necessary in the world today to bring about the millennium........A federation of all religions and all nations is necessary. But such a union will come only when every individual engages in that meditation which leads to direct contact with God". So Yogananda places great importance on the practice of MEDITATION in these talks, as well as how to live life more abundantly inevery way.

His knowledge stands out in practical matters as diet also- here talks in the 20's and 30's he gives us ahead of time the accurate knowledge of proper diet that science has only recently (in the 90's) been verifying from years of research. What was the source of his precise wisdom in all these matters??? Is this what comes from "contact with God"? The author proves the value of his own teaching in this and many other ways. I loved the originality and directness of the authors open and intelligent dealings in such a wide range of subjects...

CONTENTS:

How Seekers first found God....................... The Universality of Yoga...................... The Infinite Nature of God..................... Answered Prayers................................ Making Religion Scientific................... Understanding the Unreality of Matter............. Man's Greatest Adventure...................... Self-Analysis-Key to the Mastery of Life.......... Healing by ! God's Unlimited power.................. Nervousness-Cause and cure........................ The Spirital Rewards of Fasting................... Self-Realization-Criterion of Religion........... The Desire That Satisfies all Desires............. In God is All Happiness................... How to Be More Likeable.................. Developing Personality................. Reincarnation Can Be Scientifically Proven........ The Dream Nature of the World................. The Invisible Man.................. Christ and Krishna- Avatars of one Truth.......... Even Mindedness in a World of Change........... Increasing the Power of Initiative............ The Art of Developing memory................ The Missing Link Between Consciousness & Matter... Man's Eternal Quest................... The Art of Living.................... Who Made God?............... Have I Found God?............... Steps Toward the Universal Christ Consciousness... The purpose of life is to Find God.......... and More...........

Also Recomended:The Autobiography of a Yogi(SRF Publishers)........The Divine Romance............Wine of the Mystic (the Rubaiyat)..........Enter the Quiet Heart.......How You Can Talk With God..........Sanctuary of the Soul........(Search on "Yogananda" on Amazons home page for more great books by "Self-Realization Publishers").