Depression and Devotion by Swami Sivananda Every aspirant in the spiritual path becomes a victim to the mood of depression in the beginning. You have to overcome this mood through discrimination, reflection, singing God’s name, prayer, etc. This mood is like a passing cloud. It will pass off if you are vigilant. Do not mistake emotion for devotion. Whenever you get into a mood of depression, sing God’s name vigorously; sitting alone in your room, sing with a melting heart. You may sing silently if you wish. This is an easy way to drive away this undesirable mood. Try to control all wild outbursts of weeping. This is a weakness, a negative state. But do allow the pearl drops of divine love or ecstasy to trickle down your face occasionally, when you are in a profoundly prayerful or meditative mood. Shed the tears of pure, divine love when you are alone, when you are in communion with the Lord. Do not weep in the presence of others. The rare pearl-drops of divine love are the outcome of the melting of the heart by the fire of devotion and the fire of painful separation from the Lord. Sometimes a man feigns to be a devotee. He sheds false tears to make his neighbours think he is a great devotee. On account of sympathetic action, his neighbours also begin to weep – but there will not be one iota of devotion in their hearts. Devotion is a very rare gift from God. Weeping itself is not a criterion by which to judge the devotional nature of a man or a woman. Do not mistake the crocodile tears of a hypocrite bhakta (devotee) for the genuine pearl drops of divine love which inspire and elevate bystanders. One may not weep outwardly and yet he may be a genuine, silent devotee. Identify yourself with the emotionless state or Brahman, and rest peacefully for ever. Satvic (peaceful) emotion is quiet. Rajasic (passionate) emotion is terrible. Tamasic (dull) emotion is confused. Rajasic and tamasic emotions are of a turbid nature and therefore cannot receive a reflection of the blissful nature of atman. Rajasic and tamasic emotions present a reflection of intelligence but not of bliss. Satvic emotions present a reflection of both blissfulness and intelligence.

Persevere in Sadhana by Swami Sivananda Let the sadhana (spiritual practice) always be regular, continuous, unbroken and earnest. Not only regularity but also continuity in sadhana and meditation are necessary if you want to attain selfrealisation quickly. A spiritual stream, once set going, does not dry up unless the channelbed gets blocked, unless there is stagnation. Be vigilant eternally. Meditate regularly. Annihilate the undercurrent of vasana (habitpatterns). Patience, perseverance, courage, determination, discrimination and dispassion are needed to tread the spiritual path. Put away thoughts, stimuli, perceptions, intentions, emotions, feelings, preoccupations and deliberations arising out of the senses and the sense objects. You will attain supreme blessedness or the peace of the eternal. Keep the flame of thy aspiration ever kindled bright. Let purity, serenity, compassion, truth and oneness, manifest in thy thoughts and actions. Through penance, prayer and meditation the soul ascends on the divine chariot, to the realms of infinite bliss, to God’s halls of wisdom. Regularity is of paramount importance in spiritual practice. Spiritual aspirants must be arduous and efficient in performing their tasks without a break. Pray without a break. Have unshakable faith. Remember vairagya (dispassion) and abhyasa (constant practice). Prayer is the wing by which you fly to God. Meditation or intuition is the eye by which you see God. Pray fervently unto the Lord. Pray for the Lord’s light and guidance. Meditate on the great truth within. Strive ever to keep thyself close to the divine centre. Day by day draw nearer unto the Lord. Strive inwardly to grow into the likeness of the divine ideal.

Soul Power by Swami Sivananda O man! Do not be discouraged when sorrows, difficulties and tribulations manifest in the daily battle of life. Thou art the master of thy destiny. Thou art divine. Live up to it, feel it, realise it. Draw up spiritual strength and courage from within. Learn the ways to tap the source. Dive deep within. Sink down. Plunge into the sacred waters of immortality. You will be refreshed, renovated and vivified. Understand the laws of the universe. Move tactfully in this world. Learn the secrets of nature. Learn the best ways to control the mind. Conquer the mind. Conquest of the mind is really conquest of nature and the world. Do not murmur or grumble when troubles and sorrows descend upon you. Difficulties strengthen your will, augment your power of endurance and turn your mind towards God. Face them with a smile. In your weakness lies your real strength. Conquer the difficulties one by one. This is the beginning of a new spiritual life, a life of expansion, glory and divine splendour. Expand, grow. Build up all positive virtues – fortitude, patience and courage. Start a new life. Have a new angle of vision. Arm yourself with discrimination, cheerfulness, discernment, alacrity and undaunted spirit. A brilliant future is awaiting you. Let the past be buried. You can work miracles. Do not give up hope. You can neutralise the effect of evil influences and the antagonistic dark forces that may come against you. You can nullify destiny – many have done this. Assert. Recognise. Realise. Thou art the immortal self – claim thy birthright now. You have created your destiny through thoughts and actions. You can undo them by right thinking and right action. Wrong thinking is the root cause of human sufferings. “I am the immortal self” – this is right thinking. Work in terms of unity – work unselfishly – work with atman bhava (feeling that the self is all). This is right action. There is no such thing as sin. Sin is only a mistake; it is a mental creation. The baby soul must commit some mistakes during the process of evolution. Mistakes are your best teachers. Think, “I am pure atman”, and the idea of sin will be blown in the air.

Body Is Not I by Swami Sivananda This is a world of diversity. Intellects are different; faces are different; sounds are different; religions are different; faiths are different. Colours are different; faculties are different tastes and temperaments are different. But one thing is common to all every one of us wants nitya sukha (eternal happiness), infinite knowledge, immortality, independence and freedom. These things can be attained by knowledge of the self alone. Everybody wants happiness that is not mixed with sorrow and pain but he does not know where he can get this supreme bliss. The best means to acquire this knowledge is by the enquiry, “Who am I?” This has the potentiality of producing the quiescence of mind which will enable it to wade through this ocean of samsara (cycle of birth and death). It demands a sharp, subtle, pure intellect, bold understanding and gigantic will. The commonplace ‘I’ that everyone is glibly talking about and relishing acutely every moment of his life, from the babbling baby to the garrulous old man, must be clearly understood. The physical body is not the ‘I’, it is the product of food it lives on food and dies without food. It is a bundle of skin, flesh, fat, bones, marrow, blood and a lot of other filthy things. It does not exist before birth or after death. It lasts for a short intervening period. It is transient. It undergoes changes such as childhood, youth and old age. It has six changes existence, birth, growth, modification, decay and death. It is not of one homogeneous essence; it is manifold, insentient, inert. It is an object of perception like a chair or a table. You continue to live even when hands and legs have gone. How can the body be the selfexistent, eternally pure atman, the knower, the silent witness of the changes that take place in the body and in all things, the inner ruler of all ? You have learned that body and mind are not ‘I’. You have learned that prana is not ‘I’. The world is unreal, this thou hast understood. Thou hast understood that Brahman alone is real. Now meditate on the formula ‘I am Brahman’ Lose thyself, unite with him. Rest there peacefully, joyfully. This is the proper place, the abode of the pure.

World Is the Body Of God by Swami Sivananda The universe is a mirror in which is reflected the being and beauty of God. God’s universe is ruled by his eternal laws. In the East, the law of cause and effect is called the law of karma. In the New Testament it is expressed in the words : “Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” What is written is written and no man can change the eternal plan. That which is decreed by God’s will occurs on this earth. There is system, method, order, regularity everywhere in this universe because the universe is, ultimately governed by God. This world is the body of the Lord. This world, though it really is not, appears to be. Know that it is nothing but a reflection. When you know the rope, the snakeknowledge disappears. Even so the world does not really exist and yet appears to be existing through ignorance. It disappears with the knowledge of the atman on which the illusion of the world is superimposed. In Brahman or the absolute, this world shines falsely, owing to ignorance. It is not true, even as dreams under the influence of sleep. It is because of illusory superimposition on the part of the individual that the empirical names and forms appear to be real. When, by the power of meditation, the effect (world) is negated as unreal, the cause (Brahman) also ceases to be a cause. The certitude or conviction that the universe is not the supreme Brahman is itself avidya (ignorance). Hence the certitude that, “The universe is Brahman alone”, is emancipation. The world is a spirit manifested in space and time. When you look at the absolute, through the senses, it appears as the universe. The puryastaka (body) is composed of the eight that is mind, egoism, intellect and the five objects of the senses (sound, sight etc.). All these, composed of the five elements, are appearances only. So also is time through right discrimination. In this mortal world, everything perishes, but the ideas and the ideals do not perish. Ideas are more enduring than objects, which are perishable, but atman, the immortal soul endures forever. Just as the universe appears dark to the blind, and shining to those who have eyes to see, so it appears blissful to the sages and painful to the ignorant.

Learn from Sleep by Swami Sivananda Study the condition of deep sleep, where there is neither the play of the mind nor the senses. There are no objects; there is neither attraction nor repulsion . Wherefrom do you derive ananda in sleep? This experience is universal; everyone says: “I slept soundly. I knew nothing. I was very happy in sleep.” During deep sleep you rest in satcidananda atman and enjoy the atmic bliss which is independent of objects. The difference between deep sleep and samadhi (superconsciousness) is that in deep sleep there is the veil of ignorance and in samadhi this veil is removed. From sleep you draw four conclusions: You exist. There is a feeling of continuity of consciousness. There is advaita (oneness). You are ananda svarupa (blissitself). The world is mithya (a play of the mind). Names and forms are illusory. The world is mere play of the mind. When there is mind, there is world. If You can produce destruction of the mind consciously through yoga sadhana (practice), the world will disappear and you will feel the atman everywhere. Even in the daytime you become one with the atman whenever a desire is gratified. When you enjoy an object you become mindless for a short time. You rest in your own atman and enjoy the atmic bliss. ignorant persons attribute this happiness to the objects. Just as the dog which sucks a dry bone foolishly imagines that the blood comes from the dry bone whereas in reality the blood oozes out of its own palate, so also foolish persons imagine that happiness comes from external objects, while they actually derive the happiness from their own Atman within. They are deluded owing to the force of illusion and ignorance. Have no longing for objects. Reduce your wants. Cultivate vairagya (dispassion); it thins out the mind. Do not mix much. Do not talk much. Do not walk much. Do not eat much. Do not sleep much. Control the emotions. Abandon desires and vasanas (tendencies). Control irritability and lust.

How Impressions are Formed by Swami Sivananda An experience in the sense plane sinks into the depths of the subconscious mind. There it becomes a samskara (an impression). The impression of an experience is formed, in the citta, (subconscious mind), at the very moment that the mind experiences it. There is no gap between the present experience and the formation of the samskara in the subconscious mind. One specific experience leaves one specific samskara and the memory of this specific experience springs from that particular samskara only, which was formed out of that particular experience. When you first perceive an orange and taste it, you get knowledge of an orange. A samskara is formed in the subconscious mind at once. At any time this samskara can generate a memory of the object, the orange and knowledge of the orange. Though the object and the act of knowing are distinguishable, yet they are inseparable. Samskara is also known as ‘residual potency’. When all vrttis or thoughts die away, the frame of the mind remains, with the samskaras. This is termed the ‘potential mind’. All samskaras co-exist in the mind. Vrttis slowly subside, leaving traces in the mind. These traces are samskaras. From them springs memory. If you have yogic vision, you can vividly notice the marvels that take place in the mental factory of an individual. You can see how the vrtti arises in the mind-lake. You can see how it subsides. And you can see how a samskara is formed. You will be struck with wonder. Samskaras are like forces they either aid or inhibit one another. The sum total of all samskaras is known as karmasaya (receptacle of works) and this is called sancita karma (accumulated works). When a man leaves the physical body he carries with him his astral body of seventeen tatvas (elements) and the karmasaya, to the mental plane. Karmasaya is burnt in toto by the highest knowledge, obtained through asamprajnata samadhi (the non-dual superconscious state).

Be Firm in Wisdom by Swami Sivananda Viveka (wisdom) gives inner strength and mental peace. A viveki (wise one) gets no troubles. He is always on the alert. He never gets entangled in anything. He has farsightedness. He knows the true value of the objects of this universe. He is fully aware of the worthlessness of these shallow toys. Nothing, nothing can tempt him. Maya (illusion) cannot approach him now. Associations with mahatmas (holy ones) and study of vedantic literature will infuse viveka in man. Viveka should be developed to the maximum degree; one should be well established in it; viveka should not be an ephemeral or occasional mood in an aspirant. It should not fail him when he is in trouble, when any difficulty stares him in the face. It must indeed become part and parcel of his nature. He should exercise it at all times without any effort. If one is careless in the beginning, viveka may come and go. So the aspirant should live in the company of sages for a long time till viveka burns in him like a big steady flame. Maya is very powerful. She tries her extreme level best to lead the aspirant astray. She throws many temptations and obstacles on the path of young inexperienced aspirants. Therefore the company of sages and mahatmas is like an impenetrable fortress for the neophyte. Now no temptations can assail him. He will undoubtedly develop true and lasting viveka. He will then have permanent and spontaneous viveka. Then only he is truly and perfectly safe. The dangerous zone is past. Only a true viveki can claim to be the richest, happiest and most powerful man in the world. He is a rare spiritual gem. He is a beaconlight and torchbearer. If viveka is developed all other qualifications will come by themselves. From viveka is born vairagya (dispassion). Discrimination is the faculty which distinguishes between the real and the unreal. The whole world outside and the universe that is inside, are unreal. Earth, water, wind, fire, the sky, the ocean, our bodies and the vital force animating them, our minds, our consciousness of ourselves all are but airy nothingness. The only real thing is the atman (self) or Brahman, the absolute.

Rise Above the Two Moods by Swami Sivananda In vedanta there are only two kinds of moods – joy, exultation or exhilaration and grief or depression. Now there is joy and five minutes later there is depression – the currents alternate. They belong to the sad Urmis (six waves, i.e. grief, delusion, hunger, thirst, decay and death). People of gloomy moods attract gloomy thoughts from others and from the akasic (etheric) records in the psychic ether. Persons with hope, cheerfulness and confidence attract similar thoughts from others – they are always successful in their attempts. People with negative moods of depression, anger and hatred do positive harm to others – and great damage in the thought world. Try to eradicate depression through prayer, meditation, counter-thoughts of joy, chanting Om, self-enquiry and singing divine songs. There are various causes for depression – cloudy day, associating with evil persons, indigestion, influence of astral spirits and revival of old impressions of depression. When you get into a talking mood – practise mouna (silence) at once. When you are in a mood of hatred, develop the opposite virtue, love, and the mood will pass quickly. When you feel selfishness arise, do selfless work. When you are in the mood of separateness, mix with others – through service, love, kindness and forgiveness. If you feel lazy, do some active work. A liberated being is free from all moods – he has become their master. In atman (self) there are no moods, there is only pure consciousness. Identify with Atman and you will easily destroy all moods. However, there is one good mood – the meditative mood. When this manifests, immediately give up reading, writing, talking etc., and begin to meditate. Watch for this kind of mood – when meditation comes by itself, without effort. Laugh and smile. How can a mind that is dull and gloomy think of God? Try to be happy always. Happiness is your very nature. The spirit of cheerfulness must be cultivated by all aspirants. With the growth of the mind, the pains will increase. But with its extinction there will be great bliss. Having mastery over the mind, free yourself from the world of perceptions in order that you may be of the nature of jnana or wisdom. Though surrounded by pleasurable or painful objects which disturb the equilibrium of your mind, remain rock-like, and receive all things with equanimity.