Paramahansa Yogananda and the Power of Conscious Choice
Origins of This Powerful Conscious Choice
Paramahansa Yogananda stands as one of the most influential spiritual teachers of the twentieth century. He brought ancient yogic philosophy to the Western world at a time when mainstream culture largely dismissed Eastern spirituality. Born as Mukunda Lal Ghosh in Gorakhpur, India, in 1893, Yogananda came from a Bengali family already steeped in spiritual tradition. His mother was a devoted practitioner of yoga and meditation. His father, a railroad executive, balanced worldly success with spiritual aspiration. This duality would become central to Yogananda’s life work: the idea that spiritual realization need not require withdrawal from modern society.
His early years were marked by intense spiritual hunger and remarkable mystical experiences. A dramatic encounter with a revered saint crystallized his commitment to the yogic path. Rather than disappearing into a cave or monastery, Yogananda took an unprecedented step for an Indian spiritual teacher. He traveled to America in 1920 and arrived at the International Congress of Religious Liberals in Boston. He would spend the next thirty-two years there, establishing himself as a bridge between Eastern wisdom and Western pragmatism.
Yogananda likely developed the quote about conscious choice during his later years. By then, he had immersed himself thoroughly in teaching Western students who struggled to integrate spiritual practice into daily life. Unlike many traditional gurus who emphasized renunciation and withdrawal from worldly concerns, Yogananda understood his American disciples faced unique challenges. They held jobs, raised families, pursued ambitions, and battled habitual patterns formed by modern life. The quote reflects his mature understanding of how the subconscious mind operates. It exerts far more influence over behavior than most people recognize, working beneath the threshold of awareness.
It emerges from his broader teaching that consciousness itself is the fundamental currency of spiritual development. What we do repeatedly shapes who we become at the deepest levels of our being. During the 1930s through the 1950s, Yogananda delivered lectures across America. The psychological study of habits and the subconscious was gaining credibility through Freudian psychology and early behavioral science. This created a cultural moment ripe for his synthesis of ancient spiritual wisdom and modern psychological insight.
Be careful what you choose to do consciously
Yogananda called his philosophy Kriya Yoga. It centered on the idea that scientific spirituality could be practiced by anyone, regardless of background or lifestyle. His seminal work, “Autobiography of a Yogi,” published in 1946, became a sensation. It offered not merely spiritual teachings but a pragmatic approach to self-realization. He rejected the notion that spirituality was impractical or otherworldly. Instead, he argued that the methods of yoga—particularly meditation and energy regulation—were as scientifically valid as any laboratory technique. They studied the inner realm rather than the outer world.
This revolutionary stance meant that a businessman could practice Kriya Yoga as effectively as a monk. A mother raising children could progress spiritually while fulfilling her responsibilities. Modern people need not abandon their lives to seek truth. His establishment of the Self-Realization Fellowship in 1920 formalized this vision. It created an organization that would survive and flourish long after his death. International headquarters in Los Angeles reflected his commitment to meeting spirituality in the heart of American modernity.
How Subconscious Habits Shape Your Future
Many people don’t realize how shrewd a cultural operator and entrepreneur Yogananda was. He adapted ancient teachings to contemporary media and marketing. He was one of the first spiritual teachers to embrace radio broadcasts of his lectures. He understood intuitively that technology could extend his reach exponentially. He was also surprisingly sophisticated about Western psychology. He read Freud and contemporary psychological literature to find common ground with scientific thinking. Perhaps most intriguingly, accomplished artists, scientists, and influential figures in Hollywood and business became his most devoted students.
He cultivated these relationships deliberately because he believed spirituality should infiltrate and transform the highest levels of culture. It should not merely comfort the marginalized. While widely portrayed as perpetually serene and unworldly, Yogananda had a sharp sense of humor. He could be quite witty. He enjoyed good food and had a particular fondness for certain Indian sweets, which he would share with visitors. He also maintained complex relationships with his own family in India, revealing a deeply human figure beneath the transcendent persona.
Yogananda’s quote about conscious choice and subconscious habit represents one of his most enduring and practical contributions to modern spirituality. He grasped something that neuroscience would only confirm decades later. Repeated actions literally reshape neural pathways. What begins as a deliberate choice gradually becomes automatic. Eventually it operates outside conscious control. The subconscious mind, in his view, isn’t some dark Freudian repository of repressed desires. Rather, it is the seat of habit-formation—a powerful force that can either enslave us or liberate us.
It depends on what patterns we consciously establish. This insight carries profound implications: freedom isn’t found in spontaneous impulse but in the disciplined choice of what we will repeatedly do. A person who consciously chooses to meditate each morning doesn’t remain in a state of conscious effort forever. Eventually, the practice becomes automatic. The subconscious mind drives the action without resistance. Conversely, someone who consciously chooses to engage in destructive behavior—whether substance abuse or overeating—gradually embeds that pattern into their subconscious. The habit eventually operates compulsively, independent of conscious intention.