Whispers from EternityParamhansa YoganandaSign in

The path

Learn the concepts

Yogananda called these pages "prayer-demands" rather than prayers. These seven lessons unpack the ideas behind them in the book's own words, then check your understanding.

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  1. Lesson 1
    A book of answered prayers
    What this book is, why Yogananda called it the supreme spiritual contribution of his life, and why Swami Kriyananda re-edited it.
    3 quiz questions Includes video
  2. Lesson 2
    Demand, don't beg
    The central teaching of the book: a son claims the father's property; a beggar cannot. Why Yogananda preferred the word "demand" to "prayer".
    3 quiz questions Includes video
  3. Lesson 3
    Why prayers go unanswered
    Cause and effect, free will, and Yogananda's insistence that God never punishes — we reward and punish ourselves.
    3 quiz questions Includes video
  4. Lesson 4
    Spiritualizing a prayer-demand
    The wet-match image, the one-paragraph rule, and the prayer-plant: Yogananda's own instructions in "Key to Demands".
    3 quiz questions Includes video
  5. Lesson 5
    How to practise: hints to the reader
    The posture, the sequence, and the decisive final step — believe absolutely that you have been heard, then go about your duties.
    3 quiz questions Includes video
  6. Lesson 6
    The Cosmic Idol, and one God for all
    How the Infinite is made tangible enough to love, and why this book invokes Christ, Krishna, Buddha, Moses and Mohammed alike.
    3 quiz questions Includes video
  7. Lesson 7
    Samadhi: where the demands lead
    The two states of samadhi in Yogananda's own commentary, and why the cosmic movie of life can be watched calmly.
    3 quiz questions Includes video
ॐAum