A talk given by Sri Daya Mata at the 1993 SRF World Convocation in Los Angeles as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Paramahansa Yogananda’s birth. Sri Daya Mata was the president of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India from 1955 until her passing in 2010. 

In this talk Daya Mata explains that Paramahansaji was sent to the West to address humanity’s hunger for direct personal experience of God. She provides insight into the deep underlying reasons for the current difficulties in the world situation, along with uplifting counsel to help us to connect with the Inner Source of security and reassurance.  

She says: “We must change. That was the message of Master [Paramahansa Yogananda]; that is why this work will grow on and on and on—because it can and will help people to change. 

Afflicted by suffering, people say: ‘Why did God do this to me?’ He didn’t do it to us. We must take responsibility for ourselves. When we hit a stone wall, the wall doesn’t mean to hurt us; but we may break our knuckles, or our head! This is what we must learn.  

“That is why God created divine laws and set them forth as guidelines in all the great religions of the world. To each of us He is saying, ‘My child, these are the absolutes you must follow.’ He knew that we were weak; He knew that we were frail. He knew we had lost contact with Him by our becoming too much immersed in this material world. Those laws are there to help us know when we are doing wrong. We must not go against those ancient divine principles.” 

In his How-to-Live teachings, Paramahansa Yogananda has given to people of all cultures, races, and creeds the means to free themselves from physical, mental, and spiritual inharmonies — to create for themselves a life of enduring happiness and all-round success. 

To learn more about the SRF Lessons, which present Yogananda’s personal step-by-step instruction in the science of meditation and the art of balanced spiritual living of the Kriya Yoga path: https://yogananda.org/lessons

To read the ebook of Yogananda’s “Autobiography of a Yogi”: https://bookstore.yogananda-srf.org/product/autobiography-of-a-yogi-ebook/

To view the collection of ebooks available from SRF: https://bookstore.yogananda-srf.org/product-category/books/ebooks/

To subscribe to the SRF Newsletter or Self-Realization magazine: https://yogananda.org/subscribe

If you would like to support the spiritual and humanitarian work of SRF, please click on this link: https://donatesrf.org