Paramhansa Yogananda

Millions of people never analyze themselves. Mentally they are mechanical products of the factory of their environment, preoccupied with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, working and sleeping, and going here and there to be entertained. They don’t know what or why they are seeking, nor why they never realize complete happiness and lasting satisfaction. By evading self-analysis, people go on being robots, conditioned by their environment. True self-analysis is the greatest art of progress.

Everyone should learn to analyze himself dispassionately. Write down your thoughts and aspirations daily. Find out what you are – not what you imagine you are! – because you want to make yourself what you ought to be. Most people don’t change because they don’t see their own faults.

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Everyone is the product of his heredity and environment. If you were born in America you reflect distinctive American characteristics. If you were born in China or England, you are likely to reflect the interests of those nationalities. Your environment is the result of your true heredity – the traits and desires acquired by you in past lives. This heredity of past incarnations has led to your being born in the particular family and environment in which you now find yourself.

When we read about the families of important people, we often note that sons of great men are not necessarily of the same mental caliber as their fathers. This failure of biological heredity in man raises a great doubt in our minds: why don’t we find the same results in human life that we observe in the plant and animal kingdoms, where good pedigree usually produces good offspring? We must probe the inner life of man for an answer.