” ‘What is the best religion?’ queried a truth seeker.
‘Self-realization,’ Yogananda replied. ‘Self-realization is, in fact, the only religion. For it is the true purpose of religion, no matter how people define their beliefs. A person may be Christian or Jewish, Buddhist or Hindu, Moslem or Zoroastrian; he may proclaim that Jesus Christ is the only way, or Buddha, or Mohammed — as indeed, millions of believers do. He may insist that this ritual, or that place of worship bestows salvation. But it all comes down to what he is, in himself.
A thousand Christs wouldn’t be able to give you God, if you didn’t first make love to Him yourself.
What does God care how you define Him? Could any dogma encompass Him, Who is everything and far more than everything?
Don’t you suppose that a Moslem or a Hindu who loves God is as dear to Jesus Christ as any Christian — and much more acceptable to Him than those among his own followers who believe in God with their minds, but have no love for Him in their hearts?
Self-realization is the eternal message of religion. Whatever your beliefs and practices, the essential purpose of religion is to help you to fulfill your own highest potential, as a
child of God.
Your religion is not the garb you wear outwardly, but the garment of light you weave around your heart. By outward garb I don’t mean your physical raiment only, but rather the thoughts and beliefs n which you enclose yourself. They are not you. Discover who you are, behind those outer trappings, and you will discover who Jesus was, and Buddha, and Krishna. For the masters come to earth for the purpose of holding up to every man a reflection of his deeper, eternal Self.’ “
The Essence of Self-Realization – The Wisdom Of Paramhansa Yogananda, Recorded and compiled by his disciple, J. Donald Walters, pgs. 117 – 119.
In 1917, Yogananda, in India, “began his life’s work with the founding of a ‘how-to-live’ school for boys, where modern educational methods were combined 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 convening in Boston. His address to the Congress, on ‘The Science of Religion,’ was enthusiastically received. For the next several years he lectured and taught across the United States. His discourses taught of the ‘unity of ‘the original teachings of Jesus Christ and the original Yoga taught by Bhagavan Krishna.’ “[63]
