The third source of suffering, according to Yogananda, comes from the actions of others and external events. While these circumstances are beyond our direct control, our response to them determines whether they enslave or strengthen us.

When we cultivate inner equanimity, we remain calm amid life’s storms. As Yogananda said, “Circumstances are always neutral — they seem either good or bad depending on the attitude of the mind.”

​This insight is profound: suffering doesn’t arise from what happens to us, but from how we perceive what happens.

Freedom begins with awareness. By awakening from delusion, aligning our actions with higher truth, and responding to life from our soul rather than our ego, we begin to transcend suffering itself.

​In this way, the three causes of suffering point us directly toward the path of liberation:

Ignorance Invites Awakening

In Yogananda’s and the yogic view, ignorance (avidyā) is forgetting our true nature — mistaking the temporary self (body, ego, thoughts) for the eternal Self (the soul).

But here’s the paradox: without ignorance, there would be no quest for truth.

When we feel the pain of separation — the confusion, the restlessness, the “something’s missing” — that discomfort is actually the soul’s alarm clock.

It pushes us to seek.

It’s the yearning that draws us toward meditation, spiritual study, and teachers like Yogananda.

So, ignorance “invites” awakening because it creates the tension that leads us to ask, Who am I really? and Why am I here?

Without the darkness of forgetfulness, we would never long for the light of awareness.

​In short: ignorance causes suffering, but awareness of that suffering becomes the very doorway to awakening.

Wrong Action Invites Alignment
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Every action driven by ego, fear, or desire creates imbalance — karma. When we act from delusion, we experience pain as feedback.

This is not cosmic punishment — it’s spiritual education.

Life continually mirrors our internal state back to us so we can see what’s out of alignment.

For example:
*Acting from insecurity might attract relationships that highlight that insecurity.

*Overworking out of fear of failure might result in exhaustion or emptiness.

Each “wrong” action reveals where we’re disconnected from our higher truth.

When we begin to recognize these patterns and adjust — choosing integrity, compassion, presence — our actions come into alignment with soul energy.

Karma transforms into dharma (right action).

So, wrong action invites alignment by showing us what doesn’t work and guiding us toward what does. It’s the universe whispering:
Try again — but this time, from love.​

External Pain Invites Inner Mastery
​
We can’t control what others do or what life brings — accidents, loss, injustice — but we can control our response.

This is where the deepest mastery emerges.

When we use pain as a catalyst for growth, we stop being victims of circumstance and become alchemists of experience.

Yogananda said, “Circumstances are neutral — they seem good or bad depending on the attitude of the mind.”

External pain is the ultimate training ground for inner strength, forgiveness, and peace. It calls us to cultivate the calm eye within the storm — to find freedom not from life’s challenges, but within them.

In that moment, suffering ends — not because life becomes perfect, but because we’re no longer tossed around by it.​

If we look closely, each cause of suffering is an invitation for a new outcome:

​Thus, Yogananda’s teachings reveal that every source of pain carries within it the seed of liberation. The very forces that cause suffering become the pathways to transcend it — once consciousness enters the equation.

Kriya Yoga and meditation offer the tools to dissolve the illusion of separation and experience the peace that has always lived within.

“Be calmly active and actively calm.”
​— Paramahansa Yogananda

When you remember who you are — pure consciousness, divine and free — suffering transforms into wisdom, and life becomes the sacred (and adventurous!) journey it was meant to be.
​
​Amor fati, memento mori
​Leesa xo