Blessed Divinity

“This world is your best teacher. There is a lesson in everything. There is a lesson in each experience. Learn it and become wise. Every failure is a stepping stone to success. Every difficulty or disappointment is a trial of your faith. Every unpleasant incident or temptation is a test of your inner strength. Therefore nil desperandum. March forward hero!”

There is no lasting bliss in perishable objects. In the infinite alone is true bliss. The Yoga of devotion points the way to attain the infinite. It cleanses the heart, steadies the mind, elevates the emotions, sublimates the impulses. It transmutes base desires into spiritual urges. It transfigures the animal in man into a divine being. It turns one’s mind from the miseries of the world to the protecting feet of the Lord. ~ Swami Sivananda


“A mountain is composed of tiny grains of earth. The ocean is made up of tiny drops of water. Even so, life is but an endless series of little details, actions, speeches, and thoughts. And the consequences whether good or bad of even the least of them are far-reaching.”

Swami Sivananda


“Forget like a child any injury done by somebody immediately. Never keep it in the heart. It kindles hatred.”

Swami Sivananda


“There is something good in all seeming failures. You are not to see that now. Time will reveal it. Be patient.”

Swami Sivananda


“Life has meaning only in the struggle. Triumph or defeat is in the hands of the Gods. So let us celebrate the struggle!”

Swami Sivananda


“Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.”

Swami Sivananda


“Do not brood over your past mistakes and failures as this will only fill your mind with grief, regret and depression. Do not repeat them in the future.”

Swami Sivananda


“Life is short. Time is fleeting. Realize the Self. Purity of the heart is the gateway to God. Aspire. Renounce. Meditate. Be good; do good. Be kind; be compassionate. Inquire, know Thyself.”

Swami Sivananda


“Practice meditation regularly. Meditation leads to eternal bliss. Therefore meditate, meditate.”

Swami Sivananda


“The education of the present-day students is a bit too bookish. The students aim at getting the degrees more than the real education of useful practical knowledge. The students go through their college career rather aimlessly without a definite plan or purpose.”

Sri Swami Sivananda


“If the mind is controlled, it is then capable of great service. If it is not subdued, it creates endless pain and suffering.”

Sri Swami Sivananda


“All that you are is the result of what you have thought. It is founded on your thoughts. It is made up of your thoughts.”

Sri Swami Sivananda


“Real education aims at controlling the mind, annihilating egoism, cultivating divine virtues, and attaining knowledge of the Self or Brahma-Jnana.”

Sri Swami Sivananda


“O nectar's son, O child of Immortality! Sing the song of strength. Sing the song of triumph. March forward fearlessly and reach the goal of illumination.”

Sri Swami Sivananda


“Come! Come! Practise Yoga. Meditate seriously. You will cross this ocean of darkness and ignorance and reach the Light and Life everlasting.”

Sri Swami Sivananda


“The greatest obstacles to Self-realisation are desire for property, desire for wealth and desire for name and fame. Desire is born of ignorance. The fundamental desire is the urge for mate. Destruction of desire is destruction of ignorance.”

Swami Sivananda


“Swami Sivananda O Man! O ignorant man! O arrogant, impertinent man! You have wasted your life-time. Now at least spend your life of retirement usefully in Japa, Kirtan, meditation and selfless service.”

Swami Sivananda


“Know that wealth, sex-delights, power, learning are all bondage. This is the beginning of wisdom.”

Swami Sivananda


To achieve that state of lasting happiness and absolute peace, we must first know how to calm the mind, to concentrate and go beyond the mind. By turning the mind's concentration inward, upon the self, we can deepen that experience of perfect concentration. This is the state of Meditation.

Swami Sivananda


The mental ability to concentrate is inherent to all; it is not extraordinary or mysterious. Meditation is not something that a Yogi has to teach you; you already have the ability to shut out thoughts. Swami Sivananda


Q: What is your opinion of the Masters of the Himalayas?

A: There is a great Master of Masters, the Indweller of your heart. Turn the gaze inwards, withdraw the Indriyas and seek His help. Rest in Him. Identify yourself with Him. Search Him in your heart. Don't talk to me of these Himalayan Masters in future. You will be deluded.

Swami Sivananda


Eating, Drinking, Sleeping! A little laughter, Much weeping! Is that all? Do not die here like a worm. Wake up! Attain Immortal Bliss.

Swami Sivananda


This world is your body. This world is a great school, This world is your silent teacher. Swami Sivananda


Faith induces one to pray.Prayer purifies the heart.In the purified heart is reflected the light of Lord.When the Light sighns the mortal becomes immortal.

Swami Sivananda


There is some truth in everything. Views and opinions are different aspects. Do not quarrel with others.

Swami Sivananda


Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.

Swami Sivananda


Love expects no reward. Love knows no fear. Love Divine gives - does not demand. Love thinks no evil; imputes no motive. To Love is to share and serve.

Swami Sivananda


All is the Self or Brahman. The saint, the sinner, the lamb, the tiger, even the murderer, as far as they have any reality, can be nothing else, because there is nothing else.

A few heart-whole, sincere, and energetic men and women can do more in a year than a mob in a century.

Swami Sivananda


A man may be the greatest philosopher in the world but a child in religion. When a man has developed a high state of spirituality he can understand that the kingdom of heaven is within him.

Swami Sivananda


A tremendous stream is flowing toward the ocean, carrying us all along with it; and though like straws and scraps of paper we may at times float aimlessly about, in the long run we are sure to join the Ocean of Life and Bliss.

Swami Sivananda


Above all, beware of compromises. Hold on to your own principles in weal or woe and never adjust them to others' 'fads' through the greed of getting supporters. Your Atman is the support of the universe-whose support do you stand in need of?

Swami Sivananda


After every happiness comes misery; they may be far apart or near. The more advanced the soul, the more quickly does one follow the other. What we want is neither happiness nor misery. Both make us forget our true nature; both are chains--one iron, one gold; behind both is the Atman, who knows neither happiness nor misery. These are states, and states must ever change; but the nature of the Atman is bliss, peace, unchanging. We have not to get it, we have it; only wash away the dross and see it.

Swami Sivananda


All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything.

Swami Sivananda


All is the Self or Brahman. The saint, the sinner, the lamb, the tiger, even the murderer, as far as they have any reality, can be nothing else, because there is nothing else.

Swami Sivananda


After every happiness comes misery; they may be far apart or near. The more advanced the soul, the more quickly does one follow the other. What we want is neither happiness nor misery. Both make us forget our true nature; both are chains--one iron, one gold; behind both is the Atman, who knows neither happiness nor misery. These are states, and states must ever change; but the nature of the Atman is bliss, peace, unchanging. We have not to get it, we have it; only wash away the dross and see it.

Swami Sivananda


A tremendous stream is flowing toward the ocean, carrying us all along with it; and though like straws and scraps of paper we may at times float aimlessly about, in the long run we are sure to join the Ocean of Life and Bliss.

Swami Sivananda


Be perfectly resigned, perfectly unconcerned; then alone can you do any true work. No eyes can see the real forces; we can only see the results. Put out self, forget it; just let God work, it is His business.

Swami Sivananda


Be strong! Don't talk of ghosts and devils. We are the living devils. The sign of life is strength and growth. The sign of death is weakness. Whatever is weak, avoid! It is death. If it is strength, go down into hell and get hold of it! There is salvation only for the brave.

Swami Sivananda


Brave, bold men and women, these are what we want. What we want is vigor in the blood, strength in the nerves, iron muscles and nerves of steel, not softening namby-pamby ideas. Avoid all these. Avoid all mystery. There is no mystery in religion.

Swami Sivananda


By doing well the duty which is nearest to us, the duty which is in our hands now, we make ourselves stronger; and improving our strength in this manner step by step, we may reach a state in which it shall be our privilege to do the most coveted and honored duties in life and in society.

Swami Sivananda


By the Vedas no books are meant. They mean the accumulated treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different persons in different times. Just as the law of gravitation existed before its discovery, and would exist if all humanity forgot it, so is it with the laws that govern the spiritual world.

Swami Sivananda


Change is always subjective. All through evolution you find that the conquest of nature comes by change in the subject. Apply this to religion and morality, and you will find that the conquest of evil comes by the change in the subjective alone. That is how the Advaitic system gets its whole force, on the subjective side of man.

Swami Sivananda


Come out into the universe of Light. Everything in the universe is yours, stretch out your arms and embrace it with love. If you every felt you wanted to do that, you have felt God.

Swami Sivananda


Desire, want, is the father of all misery. Desires are bound by the laws of success and failure. Desires must bring misery. The great secret of true success, of true happiness, is this: the person who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful.

Swami Sivananda


Discriminate within yourself between the real and the unreal. Have you not read the Vedanta? Even when you sleep, keep the sword of discrimination at the head of your bed, so that covetousness cannot approach you even in dream. Practicing such strength, renunciation will gradually come, and then you will see the portals of heaven are wide open to you.

Swami Sivananda


Do not go for glass beads leaving the mine of diamonds. This life is a great chance. What, seekest thou the pleasures of the world? He is the fountain of all bliss. See for the highest, aim at that highest, and you shall reach the highest.

Swami Sivananda


Do you think these sannyasi children of Sri Ramakrishna are born to simply to sit under trees lighting dhuni-fires? Whenever any of them will take up some work, people will be astonished to see their energy. Learn from them how to work.

Swami Sivananda


Even the greatest fool can accomplish a task if it were after his or her heart. But the intelligent ones are those who can convert every work into one that suits their taste.

Swami Sivananda


Ever mind failures; they are quite natural, they are the beauty of life, these failures. What would life be without them? It would not be worth having if it were not for struggles. Where would be the poetry of life? Never mind the struggles, the mistakes. I never heard a cow tell a lie, but it is only a cow-never a man.

Swami Sivananda


Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good; every action that retards it is evil.

Swami Sivananda


Face the brutes. That is a lesson for all life-face the terrible, face it boldly. Like the monkeys, the hardships of life fall back when we cease to flee before them.

Swami Sivananda