Self-Analysis

Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952), an Indian yogi and guru, said that without self-analysis, we never truly understand ourselves. Most people don’t know why or what they are seeking, or why they are unhappy. We repeat the conditioning of our childhood—our wounded inner-child patterns—over and over until we open our hearts to receive unconditional love. This can break those patterns and begin the process of healing.

Unconditional love can come from a self-realized teacher or through meditation. Ideally we can get hugs from Amma.

Experiences like these can begin to change us. We start doing things differently—small steps at first that may feel enormous. We feel we are worthy of a better life.

This can’t happen on a superficial level; it only happens when we take our lives to heart and understand that we are responsible for them.

Transcript

Something Yogananda said I just want to read. Most people don't know what or why they are seeking, Nor why they never realize complete happiness or satisfaction. By evading self-analysis, People go on being robots conditioned by their environments. True self-analysis is the greatest art of progress possible. This self-analysis, It's like at some point, If you keep going, You will get that you are your injured child self. You think you're an adult, But actually you will be living your whole life from your injured child, And that's why the same things that happened to us as a kid happen again in adulthood. It's because we're running that, We're in it, We're broadcasting it. The only thing that will stop that is if somehow you start receiving love. You start receiving, You start opening to unconditional love, And that will flow in and heal these things. Now, It will actually flow in and heal the patterns so that you don't, You stop even attracting these events. Now, The easiest is hanging around someone who self-realized. The easiest is getting hugs from mama. I mean, Not only is she, She's an avatar, So she's born enlightened, But then she touches us. So our bodies get a physical experience of unconditional love. Okay, This changes us. Mama says one hug will change a lifetime. All you need is one hug for your lifetime. The trajectory to be changed. You can also do it through meditation. And all these, This, There will be moments, And this I feel is what Yogananda is talking about. There'll be a moment where you're faced with, Either you repeat what you did, What you've done, Your conditioning has done, You know, What happened to your child, You repeat it, Or you step out into thin ice, Like Amma says, And you presume that unconditional love is there, That Amma is there, That your soul is there, And that you'll be safe, And you do something different. And it could be just that you have a different inner attitude. It could be that you don't lose your temper, That you don't blame somebody else. It could be quite a subtle thing. I'm talking about when you've really taken it to heart, When you're really taken your life to heart, You've taken your existence to heart, You realize that nobody can do it for you, That you are responsible for your life, And that you want a good life, You want a life where you blossom, Where you help here on earth, Where things are better, Because you're here and you've lived.