Gurudev Swami Sivananda by Swami Krishnananda We bring to our memories today the advent of a great soul which incarnated upon this earth many, many years back. We remember the birth into this earth-plane the great Master Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj. Usually such indefinable individuals are called supermen, or if you would like to be a little more philosophical, super-individuals. An extended form of an individual person, – that is the meaning of super-individuality. In what way does he extend beyond the dimension of his visible personality? The extension of the dimension of a person is not actually the extension of the physical body, because the body is not the person. The mind or the consciousness that animates the body is what determines the meaning of a super-individual. We have to keep in our mind carefully the point that a person is not the body. The force that is exerted by a person, the knowledge and the capacity to execute action of any kind is not seen in the five element-based physical body. It is in the mind of that person. What the person thinks is itself the person, otherwise everybody looks alike. Even Sri Rama and Krishna looked like any other human being, but they were intensely super-individual, they extended beyond themselves. What is it that is extending beyond itself? It is that which is the person. Swami Sivananda never travelled abroad, but there is no country in the world that does not know his name. How did he spread himself around the globe of the earth without seeing anybody outside India? Living in a little cave-like room on the bank of the Ganga, with no ventilation even, dark inside; what is the principle working through him that made him so famous even today? As time passes, his name captures more and more people. The books that he has written are a magazine of magnetism. The writing of Sri Swami Sivanandaji is the manifestation of a soul force. He was entirely present in every word that he wrote. The author should be immersed in the words that he speaks or writes, otherwise the book will not cut ice. Whenever you think, you must be there wholly in your thought. It is not that you think something and at the same time think twenty other things – then that thought will not have any power. When you think a thing, you think only that, and not another thing. This is the principle not only of spiritual growth, but also even the maintenance of good health in the body. The dissipated action of the mind distracted in various directions does not permit its concentration on anything. Even when you eat your food, you cannot think you are eating food, the mind is in the railway station, you have to catch the train after half an hour. A person who is wanting to catch the train after half an hour need not eat the food. Better go. Else, the stomach cannot digest what you eat. The modern malady is in the haste with which things are being done. Everything is rapid, now it must be done, and now another thing must be done. Go on doing. But you are not in anything that you are doing, you are outside it. This kind of action, where you are not present, is called binding action. Action in which you are wholly present is liberating action. But any one of us can close one’s eyes for a few minutes and think deeply whether we are wholly present in anything in this world. We will find, to the dismay of our own selves, that we are not present wholly in anything, therefore there is failure in whatever one touches. Karma does not bind, says the Ishavasya Upanishad “na karma lipyate nare”, provided that you condition your action with the proviso in the first line of the Upanishad “ishavaysamidam sarvam”. If God does a work, it cannot bind, and if you do a work by uniting yourself with God, your action cannot bind you, because you are not the doer. Swami Sivananda is generally called a Godman. A French writer called Romain Rolland wrote a book giving a biography of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He strangely titled his book as “Sri Ramakrishna, the ManGods”. Not Godman, but ManGods. To a casual reader it looks very strange. What is ManGods? It is a man in whom every god can be found. Godman is a person who has planted God in his heart, and ManGods is a person in whom every god is residing. We may say this in connection with Sri Swami Sivananda also. Whatever word he uttered was a scripture. Whenever residents in this Ashram went and requested him to give a message, he would say “What message do you want? See how I’m living, see how I work, that is my message. If you can follow my footsteps and think as I am thinking, and do as I do, what other message do you want?” The life of a person is the message of that person. Sri Rama is not great because Valmiki wrote a book or Tulsidas wrote a book, but because his greatness was in his personality. Charming, resplendent, kind, compassionate and indomitably powerful, and so was Krishna. All the gods were present there, – Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, were operating through these incarnations. To every spiritual seeker Swami Sivananda was an ideal, an exemplary Guru, wanting nothing but giving everything. If anybody offers a basket of fruits he would immediately distribute it to everybody. He will not say �let me eat it, keep it there’. No, he won’t do like that, he doesn’t want anything. �Tena tyaktenabhunjiyhah’ is another passage from the Ishavasya Upanishad. �Enjoy the world, but under the condition that it is pervaded by God.’ It is like saying �enjoy God Himself’. Every leaf of the tree, every breeze that blows and every ray of the sun and the moon is the dazzling

My Religion, its Technique and Dissemination by Swami Sivananda THE DIVINE LIFE MOVEMENT I love seclusion. I have to hide myself at times. I do not crave for name and fame. I did not spend much time in a deep study of all the scriptures and religions of the world, for preparing thrilling lectures. I never liked to spend time in writing fine essays for publication through books or newspapers. I was not pleased when people called me: “Mahatma, Guru Maharaj.” I never planned for any Institution to perpetuate my name. But the Divine Will was different. The whole world came to me with all divine glory and splendour. That may be due to the intense prayers of thousands of sincere seekers after Truth coupled with my own inborn tendencies to share with others what I have and to serve the world on a large scale on the right lines, for the attainment of Light, Peace, Knowledge and Power. I was induced to start the Divine Life Society when I found some facility and useful hands to carry on the work. I carried the Message of the Sages and Saints and taught the world the way for Peace and Bliss. Because of the popularity of the Divine Life Society, many learned and pious souls from far off lands have come to see me and, sharing with me the love for selfless service, are doing valuable work in spreading right knowledge, which alone can confer lasting peace and happiness. Many foreign Branches of the Divine Life Society are reprinting parts of my writings and distributing them free in their respective regions. THE NEED OF THE HOUR When man gets entangled in selfishness, greed, lust, passion, he naturally forgets all about God. He always thinks of his body, family and children. He constantly attends to his food, drink, comforts and conveniences. He is drowned in the ocean of Samsara. Materialism and scepticism reign supreme. He gets irritated by little things and begins to fight. There is restlessness, misery, panic and chaos everywhere. Now the whole world seems to be in the grip of materialism. The invention of new kinds of bombs causes terror everywhere. People have lost faith in holy scriptures and the teachings of the sages and saints. People have become irreligious owing to wrong education and evil influences. The stirring events since the advent of the twentieth century did not fail to have their effect upon all spiritual-minded people, Sannyasins, saints and men-of-God. The horrors of world wars moved them greatly. The fateful epidemic and the world-wide depression that followed it, touched their compassionate heart. They saw that the sufferings of mankind were mostly brought on by its own deeds. To awaken man to his errors and follies and to make him mend his ways so that he may enthusiastically utilise his life for attaining worthier ends, was felt to be the urgent need of the age. Millions were eagerly looking for such guidance. This silent prayer was heard and I saw the birth of the Divine Life Mission with its task of rescuing man from the forces of bestiality and brutality and divinising his life upon this planet. Just at this critical juncture, I started the Divine Life Society. Now people consider it a blessing to the world. It has as its basis the quintessence of the teachings of all religions and of all saints and prophets of the world. Its principles are broad, universal, all-embracing and in accordance with science and reason. It has set for itself the task of raising man above the sorrows and miseries of this mundane life by making him see the Blissful Divinity that is hidden behind all outward forms. Good thoughts pervade and influence all good people. The thought-currents generated by the Divine Life Movement have had their effect upon the people of Europe and America, and now there is a great thirst for peace all over the world. Millions dread the speedy termination of the race by nuclear weapons. UNIVERSAL IDEALS FOR SPIRITUAL PERFECTION The Divine Life Society is an all-embracing and all-inclusive Institution; its objects, ideals and aims are very broad and universal. It does not condemn any of the principles or tenets of any cult. It includes all the fundamental principles of all religions and cults. There are no pet dogmas or sectarian tenets. It leads people to the spiritual path. It enables people to take easily to the Divine Life even while living in the world and following the teachings of some particular cult or religion. The Society has brought about a vigorous awakening throughout the world and has contributed much to a new life of freedom in action, a life of harmony amidst worldly turmoils and a life of bliss through mental non-attachment and mental renunciation of desires, egoism and mine-ness. There is universal appreciation of the principles, aims, ideals of the society and the method of its work. It lays great stress on the practical side of Sadhana. It expounds in a rational and scientific manner the Yoga of Synthesis. Members belonging to various institutions and organisations in all parts of the world become members of the Divine Life Society and write to me for spiritual guidance. I take special care of them and give them lessons through post for their spiritual progress and welfare. The Divine Life Society proclaims that any man can attain Wisdom in his own station of life, be he a Brahmachari, Grihastha, Vanaprastha or Sannyasi, be he a scavenger, Brahmin, Sudra or Kshatriya, be he a busy man of the world or a silent Sadhaka of the Himalayas. Divine Knowledge is not the sole property of Sannyasins, recluses. It explains how although the central basis is Jnana Yoga, Vedanta, it is necessary for one to practise Karma Yoga for purification of mind and heart; Hatha Yoga to keep up good health and strength and purify the Prana and steady the mind; Raja Yoga to destroy the Sankalpas and induce concentration

Gurudev Sivananda – THE SOUL OF ANANDA KUTIR At the foot of the snow-clad Himalayas, facing the eastern, rising sun, lies in deep contemplation of the heavenly scenery Rishikesh, the holy abode of Sannyasins. Here, the sacred river Ganges with her nectarous flow of crystal water ripples down to the sweet note of the distant cuckoo or the occasional cry of the jungle peacock on the one hand, while on the other, the sight of an ochre-robed, half-clad recluse sitting cross-legged on a solitary stone on its bank in silent meditation, springs upon our mind the hallowed memory of the ancient Sages who gave out to the world for the first time its authorised scriptures. Aspirations and spiritual hopes of thousands since the creation of the world have left deep impressions on its soil, while its heart still throbs with the cold breeze, the surging hope of countless others. Holier still is the celestial abode of our Swamiji – Ananda Kutir – overlooking the neighbouring countless Ashrams and Dharmashalas, standing aloof from the rest, and plying its own determined course in a world pulsating with life today, but at the same time unmindful of the uncertain morrow. Broad in its love for humanity, sincere in its aim for spreading the divine Knowledge, steady in treading the path chalked out for itself, it stands as a centre of pilgrimage to many a weary soul who often stops under its roof to drink deep from the very fountain source of spirituality and regale himself afresh. India has been proud of her galaxy of sages and seers who lived in God, travelled throughout the country, and worked incessantly for the spiritual uplift of the whole world. To this lineage belongs the Soul of Ananda Kutir, having descended from one of the saints of the south. If Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was the ideal for mankind in the Nivritti Marga after Adi Sankaracharya, Swami Rama Tirtha of the practical Vedantin in daily life, Sri Swamiji stands for silently implanting the seeds of the teachings of the two in the hearts of one and all who came within the circle of his influence. His writings on all branches of Yoga, Bhakti and Vedanta have cast forth a new light, a new approach to Vedantic Sadhana, a novel understanding of the sacred literature that so far remained a sealed booklet to many an aspirant unlettered in the domain of Sanskrit, and a new dictum that the dissemination of spiritual Knowledge is one of the most unifying and elevating forces on the face of the earth to guide humanity towards the goal of perfection. His efforts at bringing a new heaven on earth through the pursuit of a life in the divine, lovingly termed by him as “Divine Life”, reveal the cosmic and all-embracing vision he has on our spiritual regeneration, reassertion, and steady advancement. His love for humanity or any living being is not mechanical and never external; for he has immense faith in the innate genius of every individual, whether he be a good man or a rogue or a thief, to harmonise the divine factor in him in the light of a loftier ideal. “Satyam Jnanam Anantam Brahman” is the one Mantra which he hammers on the mind of one and all, who chance to enter his abode – the saying which centuries ago, at the dawn of civilisation, issued forth similarly from the illumined consciousness of the great sages of India, whom he so aptly represents. What was the motive force, the ideal, the goal and the vision behind his lifelong Sadhana? An inward joyful urge to tread the path of spirituality, silently and lonely, when his fellow-beings were torn asunder by sins and sorrows, tears and terrors, made Sri Swamiji to see beneath the misty veil of mundane sufferings and tribulations, the ever luminous soul of supreme purity, perfect goodness and universal kindness, and this brought him nearer to the goal of Self-realisation and face-to-face with the supreme Godhead. Today, his ceaseless Sadhana, his ever increasing aspiration and love to serve the aspirant in the spiritual path – however slow and sluggish he be – his lifelong desire to put one and all in the right path, nay, his surging faith and hope in transforming the whole of humanity into Godmen, shine all the brighter. Let us therefore pray to the all-merciful Lord that such a true spiritual guide be spared for our guidance, to cut asunder the thick veil of avidya that hangs before our vision and lead us safely to the immaculate seat of BLISS. SIVA THE GREAT ORGANISER Siva is a great organiser. He organised the Divine Life Society in 1936. He formed the All-World Religions Federation in 1945. He founded the All-World Sadhus Federation in 1946. He has suggested various methods for the organisation of Sadhus, Sannyasins, etc. His organising capacity is verily unique. His organising Power is Vilakshana. He does not organise merely through constitutional, man-made, binding rules, bye-laws and platform lectures. His way is unprecedented. He binds all people through love, affection and goodwill. He first establishes a Divine Life Centre in the heart of man. This sprouts forth, blossoms and finds its expression in the establishment of a Divine Life Centre in a town, city or village. Other organisations may collapse, dwindle or fail. But Siva’s organisation can never fail as it is born of Divine Sat Kama and Sat-Sankalpa. Siva’s pen has exercised a tremendous influence on the minds of people. People who have not seen him even once are ardent workers of the Society. His letters goad them to open centres of their own accord. They get a spontaneous inner urge to take part in the Divine Life movement. His pen acts as a sword in conversion, not through bloodshed or brute force but through the cutting of their knot of ignorance or the tree of nescience and its branches, viz., selfishness, crookedness, hatred and the like. His heart-to-heart talk with people in the