Why God Permits Evil: and How to Rise Above It

By Paramahansa Yogananda

Philosophers and religious scholars the world over have sought to answer the question of why a loving God permits evil. In these pages, Paramahansa Yogananda provides strength and solace for times of adversity by explaining the mysteries of God’s lila, or divine drama. Readers will come to understand the reason for the dualistic nature of creation — God’s interplay of good and evil — and receive guidance on how to rise above the most challenging circumstances.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Self-Realization Fellowship
• Release date: Dec 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9780876128541

Paramahansa Yogananda

Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) es mundialmente reconocido como una de las personalidades espirituales más ilustres de nuestro tiempo. Nació en el norte de la India, y en 1920 se radicó en Estados Unidos, donde enseñó, durante más de treinta años, la antigua filosofía y la ciencia de la meditación yoga, originarias de la India, así como el arte de vivir en forma equilibrada la vida espiritual. Fue el primer gran maestro del Yoga que vivió y enseñó durante un prolongado periodo en Occidente. Él viajó extensamente impartiendo conferencias en Estados Unidos y en el extranjero, disertando en auditorios de las más importantes ciudades, que registraban siempre un lleno total, y en los cuales revelaba la unidad fundamental que existe entre las grandes religiones del mundo. A través de la célebre historia de su vida, Autobiografía de un yogui, y de sus originales comentarios sobre las escrituras de Oriente y Occidente, así como por medio del resto de sus numerosos libros, él ha inspirado a millones de lectores. Self-Realization Fellowship —la organización internacional que Paramahansa Yogananda fundó en 1920 con el fin de diseminar sus enseñanzas en todo el mundo— continúa llevando a cabo su obra espiritual y humanitaria. 

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Frontispiece




Title Page

About This Book

The lectures in this volume were originally published by Self-Realization Fellowship in its quarterly magazine Self-Realization, which was founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1925. These talks were given at the Self-Realization Fellowship temples founded by the author in Hollywood and San Diego, California; and were recorded stenographically by Sri Daya Mata, one of Paramahansa Yoga­nanda’s earliest and closest disciples.

Copyright © 2002 Self-Realization Fellowship

All rights in this digital edition of Why God Permits Evil and How to Rise Above It are reserved by Self-Realization Fellowship.

Note to the Reader

Self-Realization Fellowship welcomes you to download this edition for your individual, non-commercial use, and to print for your own reference whichever excerpts may fulfill your personal needs.

Kindly note, however, that upon acquiring this edition the reader agrees to abide by applicable national and international copyright laws and abstain from distributing, reproducing, or transmitting the contents to other individuals or entities, by any means (electronic, mechanical, or otherwise) without Self-Realization Fellowship’s prior written consent. We appreciate your thoughtfulness in helping to preserve the integrity of the author’s work by upholding these principles.

Thank you for supporting our non-profit publishing endeavors in connection with the legacy of Paramahansa Yogananda.

Authorized by the International Publications Council of

SELF-REALIZATION FELLOWSHIP

3880 San Rafael Avenue

Los Angeles, California 90065-3219

The Self-Realization Fellowship name and emblem (shown above) appear on all SRF books, recordings, and other publications, as an assurance that a work originates with the society established by Paramahansa Yogananda and faithfully conveys his teachings.

Ebook edition, 2022.

ISBN: 978-0-87612-461-1 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-0-87612-855-8 (Kindle edition)

ISBN: 978-0-87612-854-1 (ePub edition)

Good and evil must ever be complements on this earth. Everything created must bear some guise of imperfection. How else could God, the Sole Perfection, fragment His one consciousness into forms of creation distinguishable from Himself? There can be no images of light without contrasting shadows. Unless evil had been created, man would not know the opposite, good. Night brings out the bright contrast of day; sorrow teaches us the desirability of joy. Though evil must come, woe to him by whom it comes. He who is enticed by delusion to play the villain’s part must suffer the villain’s sad karmic fate, while the hero receives the hallowed reward of his virtue. Knowing this truth, we must shun evil; becoming good, we ultimately rise to God’s high estate — beyond both evil and good.

— Paramahansa Yogananda

Contents

Preface

Part I

Why Evil Is a Part of God’s Creation

Part II

Why God Created the World

Part III

A World of Cosmic Entertainment

Part IV

Discovering God’s Unconditional Love Behind the Mystery-Veil of Creation

How-to-Live Series

Preface

"Self-realization is the knowing — in body, mind, and soul — that we are one with the omnipresence of God; that we do not have to pray that it come to us, that we are not merely near it at all times, but that