Vairagya by Swami Sivananda Why do you laugh in vain, friend! when you have just the cause really to weep? You have wasted this life in foolish mirth and carnal pleasures. You have done various sinful acts. You have not done anything to improve your nature. You have no clear conscience Your heart is filled with all sorts of impurities. You have no peace of mind. Remember that all carnal pleasure will bite and sting you to death in the end.In the Gita, Chapt. XVIII-38, you will find: That pleasure which arises from the contact of the sense-organ with the object is at first like nectar but in the end it is like poison. Open your eyes now. Do virtuous actions. Seek the company of the wise. Remember Him. Practise meditation. You will have a new glorious life.Vairagya is purely an internal, mental state. A man may remain in the world amidst luxuries, women, riches etc., and yet may possess perfect Vairagya, while a Sadhu who remains in the cave in the Himalayas may be attached to his Kamandalu, stick or piece of loin cloth. Raja Janaka was a perfect dispassionate man though he ruled a vast kingdom. So was Raja Bhagiratha. Queen Chudala possessed perfect Vairagya though she ruled a dominion, while her husband who retired into the forest was intensely attached to his body and Kamandalu. You cannot form a correct opinion of any Sannyasin or a householder as to his state of Vairagya or mental condition by a casual talk with him for a few hours or staying with him for a few days. You will have to live with him for a very long time and study his internal mental attitude. Generally people make serious mistakes. They are deluded by external appearances. They take a physically nude Sadhu for a great Mahatma in the beginning. Later on, they change their impression after close contact. Physical nudity alone will not constitute real Vairagya. What is wanted is mental nudity, i.e., complete eradication of Vasanas, egoism, etc. Do not be deceived by external appearances!

What is True Vairagya? by Swami Sivananda UNNECESSARY torture of the body in the name of Tapas is highly depreciable. This is Asuric Tapas of ignorant persons. This is condemned by Lord Krishna in the Gita. Body is the moving temple of the Lord. It is an instrument for Self-realisation. You cannot do any Sadhana if the body is not kept strong and healthy. Attachment to Vairagya is as much an evil as attachment to sensual objects. Give up Vairagya-Abhimana. This Abhimana of Sadhus and Sannyasins is more dangerous and inveterate than the Abhimana of worldly person.Vairagya-Abhimana is a deadly canker. It is difficult to get rid of the Vairagya-Abhimana as long as there is the body-idea. The feeling, ‘I am a great Vairagi or Tyagi’ is Vairagya-Abhimana. The body of a Sannyasin who has dedicated it unto the service of humanity, is a public property. He has no claim on it because he denies the existence of body and tries to feel always; ‘I am Shiva (Sivoham).’ The public will take care of his body.Lord Buddha tortured the body, did severe austerities, gave up food and yet he was not able to attain the goal. He heard the song:Fair goes the dancing when the Sitar’s tuned,Tune us the Sitar neither low nor high,And we will dance away the hearts of men.The string o’er stretched breaks and the music flies,The string o’er slack is dumb and music dies,Tune us the Sitar neither low nor high.Then he ate food, adopted the middle path and succeeded in achieving Nirvana. Extreme asceticism is not at all necessary for attaining perfection. What is wanted is strong mental Vairagya born of strong discrimination. All bodies are not fit for the practice of severe austerities. The body will drop down if you tax it too much by way of rigid Tapas. Do not spoil your health and body in the name of Tapas. Have a strong, healthy body, but have no attachment for the body. Be prepared to give it up at any time for a noble cause.The care-taker of the horse feeds it with proper nutrition when it is over-worked, when it is ailing. Then only it is ready for further work. Even so, this body should be injected with proper nutrition. Then only it will turn out good work. Then only it will soon regain its lost vitality on account of over-work or ailment. Work will suffer if the body is not well attended to. When the body grows old it must be well protected against cold and well-looked after. If hard Titiksha is practised now it will give way soon. Consequently the other shore of immortality and fearlessness cannot be reached. O Ram, neglect not this body. The society and Prakriti will extract and continue to extract as much work as possible from those selfless workers who have dedicated their lives to the service of humanity. They are yoked to service till the last breath leaves their bodies. Lord Vishnu instructs Prahlada, My dear Prahlada! Enough of your Tapas. Take care of your body. Rise from your Samadhi. Serve people now. Disseminate Bhakti far and wide. Yoga Vasishtha speaks of one as a ‘Maha Tyagi’ and ‘Maha Bhogi’, who has renounced the idea of ‘I am a Tyagi’ and ‘I am a Vairagi’, who neither accepts nor rejects things that come by themselves by identifying himself with the silent witness, the Immortal Atman, who feel always ‘I am Akarta (non-doer)’, ‘I am Abhokta (non-enjoyer)’ even while moving amidst objects. The Gita says, But the disciplined self, moving among sense-objects, with senses free from attraction and repulsion mastered by the Self goeth to Peace. Chapter II-64. Some neophytes and raw aspirants pose themselves for ‘Maha Tyagis’ or ‘Maha Bhogis’ and quote scriptures also: ‘We eat without tongues; we see without eyes.’ The thief of the hypocrite will be found out soon. They are just like the people who catch fishes from the Ganges to satisfy their palates and quote Gita: ‘Nainam Chindanti Sastrani Nainam Dahati Pavakah; Na chainam kledayantyapo na soshayati marutah – Weapons cleave him not, nor fire burneth him, nor waters wet him, nor wind drieth him away.’ Sublime philosophy indeed of perverted people with perverted intellect! The gilted ornaments cannot shine for a long time. The crow that shines under borrowed feathers of the peacock will be found out soon. Their Trishnas and Vasanas will burst out and any lay bystander can detect the hypocrite without and difficulty. A Maha Tyagi or Maha Bhogi will not refuse to accept some mangoes or a cup of milk when they come by themselves. But he will not crave for them. He will not say, ‘I have enjoyed to-day good mangoes or good milk.’ If an aspirant is seriously ailing, if he is not able to eat solid food-stuffs, if there is a feeling of want in him for milk, if he has no money with him to purchase milk, if any devotee causally offers of his own accord some milk, he should not refuse it. God works mysteriously. He takes care of his devotees by working through the minds of various persons. The child sometimes eats food at night while he is sleeping. If the mother asks the child in the morning, ‘Baby, you took food last night,’ he replies, ‘I have not taken anything last night. You are playing and joking with me.’ Such is the condition of a Jivanmukta, or a Maha Tyagi or Maha Bhogi. He eats and yet he does not eat. He eats without a mouth and smells without a nose. Sometimes a man talks at nigh when he dreams. If you ask him when he comes to waking consciousness, ‘O Prem, do you know that you talked last night when you were dreaming? He replies, ‘I do not remember anything.’ Such is the state of a Jivanmukta or a Maha Tyagi and a Maha Bhogi.Durvasa ate a sumptuous meal and yet he said, ‘I am a

Upanishads on Food by Swami Sivananda Food As Matter: Its Philosophy The Upanishads mean by ‘food’ that which is experienced by consciousness, either directly by itself or indirectly through certain organs. An object that is presented to a conscious subject is the food of that conscious subject. That which supports or maintains, or preserves a thing is the food of that thing. In short, food is that which feeds and sustains individuality. Hence, in the Upanishads, food is identified with matter. The Maitrayani Upanishad says: The conscious person exists in the midst of matter. He is the enjoyer because he enjoys the food of matter (Prakriti). Even this individual soul is food for him; its producer is matter. Hence, what is to be enjoyed has three attributes (Gunas). The enjoyer is the person who exists in the midst of matter. Matter is that which is to be enjoyed. Pleasure, pain, delusion, everything is food. There is no knowledge of the essence (i.e., quality) of the source (matter), when it is not manifest. The manifest is food, and the unmanifest also is food (VI. 10). It is also further said that the intellect and the other organs are manifested only to enable the consious subject to experience food or matter. Food is experienced as an object when it is manifest and as ignorance when it is unmanifest. Food has qualities, but the enjoyer of the food has no qualities. The fact that he is able to enjoy shows that he is consciousness in nature (VI. 10). The eater of the food is consciousness; the eaten is the matter which is the substance of all kinds of food or objects of experience. The fact that food is any extraneous experience is brought out by the same Upanishad: Verily, all beings fly forward day by day with a desire to obtain food. The sun takes food for himself through his rays. Fire blazes up with food. This world was created by Brahma with a desire for food (VI. 12). But it should not be thought that food is something quite different from the experiencer, or that matter is absolutely foreign to Spirit. Food is identical with the experiencer. Matter is only a phase of the Spirit. Food is only a manifestation of the Atman. One should adore food as the Atman (Maitra. Up. VI. 12). It is eaten and it eats all things (Taitt. Up. II. 2). I am food; I am the eater of food; I, who am food eat the eater of food (Taitt Up. III. 10). But, the form of food is not the same as the Atman, though its essence is identical with the Atman. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says, Some say that food is Brahman. This is not correct. For, food rots without life (within) (V. 12). Hence, food which is eaten is not, literally, Brahman. Only the ultimate essence of food is Brahman. The Prasna Upanishad describes the creation of Food and Life (Rayi and Prana) as two aspects of the One Creator Prajapati. The whole Universe is the effect of the interaction of food and life, or matter and energy, which are respectively food and the eater of food. Life or Prana is the same as energy. Food is converted into energy, and hence, energy eats food. Prana is the eater of food. Sun is energy and Moon is matter or food. All this is merely food, whatever seen or not seen, (Prasna. Up. 1. 5). Here the sun is compared to the eater of food which is moon. Moon is controlled and enlivened by the light and energy of the sun. Hence sun is the eater of the moon in the form of food. The whole universe is only a manifestation of matter or food in the form of its eater which is energy. Matter and energy are different only figuratively, in their forms and their functions. The truth is that they are the gross and the subtle aspects of Prajapati. Wherever is energy, there is matter, and vice versa. Matter or food has form and energy or the eater of food has no form. Accordingly, Time, as controlled by the sun and as manifest in the forms of Uttarayana and Dakshinayana, Sukla-Paksha and Krishna-Paksha, day and night, is described as constituting food and the eater of food respectively, the bright half being the effect of sun’s light and the dark half the effect of moon or matter or food. Further, the Prasna Upanishad says that the sun as the centre of life and energy, i.e., as the eater of food, energises the whole world whenever he pervades it with his rays. The importance of sun’s light and heat lies in that these are the life-givers or the feeders of all beings who are confined in matter or food. Food will not grow and beings cannot live without their father who is the life-giving sun. In this Upanishad it is shown that there is no such thing as birth and death except only a formation or a manifestation of the universal food and the universal eater of food, which, too, are not actually two, but simply appearance of the One Creator. Food and Drink: Their Assimilation and Function The Chhandogya Upanishad describes the process of the assimilation of food and drink. Food which is eaten, gets divided into three parts. That which is its coarsest part becomes faeces. That which is medium, the flesh; that which is finest the mind. Water, which is drunk, gets divided into three parts. That which is its coarsest part becomes urine; that which is medium, the blood; that which is finest, the breath. Fire which is eaten, gets divided into three parts. That which is its coarsest part becomes bone; that which is medium the marrow; that which is finest, the voice. The mind consists of food; the breath consists of water, the voice consists of heat. It is also said that hunger is absorption of food that is

Upanishadic Sadhana by Swami Sivananda The Upanishads constitute the central basis of Hindu Religion and Philosophy. They are the Vedanta or the end of the Vedas, the culmination of Knowledge. Nothing can be a match to the wonderous suggestiveness of the Upanishads. They have satisfied the greatest thinkers of the world and they have pacified the greatest of spiritual men here. Nothing that went before or after has been able to surpass the Upanishads in the depth of Wisdom and the message of Satisfaction and Peace. Dadhyanch, Uddalaka, Sanatkumara, Sandilya and Yajnavalkya are some of the outstanding philosophers and sages of the Upanishads who have lit up the torch to the path of Perfection. The Upanishads mainly preach Knowledge through philosophising. They are the textbook, for the seekers after the Self. They are styled by different names: Brahma Vidya, Adhyatmasastra, Vedanta, Jnana. One who practises the teachings of the Upanishads attains to the Supreme. He breaks the knot of the heart, clears all doubts and destroys all sins. He enters into the All. He is liberated from embodiment. He becomes immortal. He becomes the Self of all. He is an Apta Kama. He is really blessed. He crosses over sorrow. He crosses over sin. He does not return to the mortal coil. He exists as the Absolute. The Upanishads are a book of Spiritual Knowledge. The Supreme is pervading all that appears here. One should therefore really enjoy by renouncing the sense of worldliness. He has no reason to covet other’s property. Life is not a misery. One should live for hundred years by performing action without attachment. Life is not a bondage when it is looked with the proper light. Such a man of proper knowledge looks on all beings as his own Self and his Self as all beings. To him everything is his own Self, and he is not affected by grief, delusion or sorrow of any kind. The Supreme Reality is indescribable. It is beyond the reach of the mind and the senses. It is beyond even the intellect. It is the light of all else, nothing is a light to It. Speech cannot express It. Mind cannot think It. Intellect cannot understand It. Senses cannot perceive It. Such a wonderful Being is the Truth. Brahma-Jnana is not a knowledge of something but becoming Absolute Knowledge itself. It is the Infinite subject if speech can be permitted to express like that. It is an experience and not a perception. It is Absoluteness and is, therefore, beyond the conception of duality and pairs of opposites. The greatest blessedness is to know That, and he is an unfortunate man who dies without the knowledge of It. Mortal things are ephemeral and so are not worth pursuing. Even a whole life of many years is only very slight. It is nothing. There is no use of enjoying object. Man is not satisfied with wealth. He craves to become immortal even against his own conscience. Unfortunately he pursues after the pleasant as against the really good. The good is one thing and the pleasant another. The one liberates and the other binds. One should not catch the pleasant though it is tempting for a moment.The Atman is not born, nor does It die. It has not come from anywhere and it has not become anything. Unborn, constant, eternal, primeval, this one is not slain when the body is slain. This Atman is hidden in the deep core of the heart of beings. It cannot be attained by any amount of reasoning, study or instruction. It comes only through the Supreme Grace. A man of bad conduct, who has not ceased from crookedness, cannot hope to attain the Atman. The road to the Supreme is clothed with pricking thorns. It is sharp like the edge of a razor, hard to tread, a very difficult path! It can be trodden only with the help of knowledge obtained from men of wisdom. Knowing That, one is liberated from the terrible mouth of death.The mind and the senses always run outwards. Only the man of self-discipline and perseverance can gaze inward and experience the state of Atman as it really is. The childish who have no knowledge of the Truth, run after external pleasures and they fall into the net of widespread Death. Only the wise, knowing the state of Immortality, seek not the stable Brahman among things which are impermanent here. One need not be anxious to possess things of the world. Whatever is here, that is there; whatever is there, that is here. He obtains death after death who perceives diversity in the world. There is nothing as ‘many’ here actually. The One Supreme Substance appears as many things, clothed in different names, forms and actions.The Atman or the Brahman has no connection with the world of change. As the sun is not sullied by the faults of the eyes, the Antaratman is not sullied by the defects of the world. As one fire has entered the world and becomes corresponding in form to every form, so the One Antaratman of all things is corresponding in form to every form, and yet is outside all these. The goodness, the light, the pleasure and the beauty of the world is not to be found there even in name. Even the splendour of the Sun and the grandeur of the creator is superseded by the Absolute. That State is experienced when the senses cease to work together with the mind and when the intellect does not move, and when there is mere consciousness. When all desires which are lodged in the heart are liberated, then the mortal becomes Immortal. Herein he attains Brahman.The State of becoming the Absolute is not a loss of all that we love, but is the perfect fulfilment of all our aspirations. Our finitude is broken, imperfections destroyed and we are installed in the blessed State of Eternal Satisfaction. All our desires are fulfilled at one and the same

Jnana Yoga Sadhana by Swami Sivananda This is otherwise known by the name Nirguna Dhyana, meditation on Om, Pranava Upasana or Brahma Upasana. Purify the Chitta by doing Nishkamya Karma for one year. The effect of Chitta-Suddhi is the attainment of Viveka and Vairagya. Acquire the four qualifications or Sadhana Chatushtaya Viveka, Vairagya, Shad-Sampat and Mumukshatva. Then approach a Sat-Guru. Have Sravana, Manana and Nididhyasana. Study carefully and constantly twelve classical Upanishads and Yoga Vasishtha. Have a comprehensive and thorough understanding of the Lakshyartha or indicative (real) meaning of the Maha Vakya, Tat Tvam Asi. Then, constantly reflect over this real meaning throughout the twenty-four hours. This is Brahma Chintana or Brahma Vichara. Do not allow any worldly thoughts to enter the mind. Vedantic realisation comes not through reasoning but through constant Nididhyasana, like the analogy of Bhramarakeeta Nyaya (caterpillar and wasp). You get Tadakara, Tadrupa, Tanmaya, Tadityata, Tadleenata (oneness, identity). No Asana is necessary for Vedantic Sadhana. You can meditate while talking, standing, sitting, lying in an easy chair, half-reclining posture, walking and eating.Generate the Brahmakara Vritti from your Sattvic Antahkarana through the influence of reflection on the real meaning of the Maha Vakyas Aham Brahma Asmi or Tat Tvam Asi. When you try to feel that you are infinity, this Brahmakara Vritti is produced. This Vritti destroys Avidya, induces Brahma Jnana and dies by itself eventually, like Nirmal seed or strychnos potatorum which removes sediment in the water and itself settles down along with the mud and other dirty matter.

Intuition:The Blessedness and Source of all Knowledge by Swami Sivananda Intuition is an active inner awareness of the immortal blissful Self within. It is the eye of wisdom through which the sage senses in everything the unseen Presence. It is the Divya Chakshu (or Prajna Chakshu or Jnana Chakshu) through which the Yogi or the sage experiences the supreme vision of the all-pervading Atman or Brahman. It corresponds to the Brahmakara Vritti of the Vedantins. It is the third spiritual eye of Yogins and sages. Instinct is present in animals and birds, intellect in human beings, intuition in adepts or Yogis or illumined sages. Pure reason or Visuddha Buddhi takes the aspirant to the door of intuition. Intuition does not contradict reason. It transcends reason. The eye of intuition opens when the heart is purified through the practice of Yama, Niyama, when the mind, intellect and the senses stop their functioning. Sanjaya had this eye of intuition through the grace of Sri Vyasa. Arjuna also had the eye of intuition through the grace of Lord Krishna and experienced Visvarupa Darshan. Bergson won recognition for intuition as the possible method of knowing the transcendental ‘I’ and the Thing-in-Itself. But his work is merely a theory of the method of intuition. It is purely methodological. He could not say how that method could be developed in a way to give practical results. In a word he could not show the path to get at the Self or the Thing-in-Itself. It was left to Bergson to declare man to be a geometrician. His consciousness has adapted itself to understanding the world in terms of time and space. If it were freed from keeping busy with the perception of the outer world and focussed upon a world of ‘Noumenon’, it would transcend time and space and adapt it to perceiving noumenon in a special way. This way he calls intuition and is distinguished from sensuous perception. But how to free it from the world of phenomenon, it is left for the Indian Yogic method of developing intuition through Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation) and Samadhi (superconscious state). Intuition is the only method of science of Yoga or the science of the Soul (Brahma Vidya). Yoga as practised by the Indian Yogis is essentially scientific. It is capable of uniform application and guarantees uniform results to the average man who trains himself in the method of intuition. The goal of life is intuitive realisation of the Self or Atman which is the substratum for everything, which is the cause for everything and which is the soul of everything. What is the goal of life? What is the summum bonum? What is the supreme purpose for which we are born in the world? Western philosophy gives no certain answer. Whatever answers they give are in terms of life. What life itself is, they try to explain in terms of the physical sciences which are themselves formulated by a living being. Intuition, intuitive discernment, in fact is the only touch- stone of philosophy. The method of intuition is the only method of discerning the Truth ultimately. Intuition is the method. Realisation of the Self is the goal. Without developing intuition the intellectual man remains imperfect and blind to the Truth behind the appearances. The important point to remember is that the solution of the problem of religion, philosophy and science is one, namely, the development of intuition as in the sages of the Himalayas. The goal of life which these sages indicate is truth itself. The goal has been discerned in the clear perspective of complete knowledge, immediate and direct (Aparoksha Anubhuti or Aparoksha Brahma Jnana). It involves no guess or conjecture or inferences. Intuition opens up new and difficult regions to conquer. No pursuit is far more glorious than the prizes of inner war. In the light of developed intuition all other philosophies seem to be interesting table-talks, funny essays, humorous attempts in the game called blind-man’s buff. They cannot stand serious criticism. The intuitive method alone is the method of philosophy. There are also lower forms of intuition. Really they are not intuition. The creative power of the unconscious mind is such that sometimes the rational activity of the mind will go on below the subliminal level. It will go on far below the threshold of consciousness in sleep and dream very often. It will yield ready forms of rational thought. Coleridge composed Kublai Khan, an originally long poem in dream. The problem of a proper needle for the sewing machine was symbolically solved for its inventor in dream. Shelley poured out ready forms of poetry. Mathematical geniuses give ready calculations but none of these are intuitional in the sense of the spiritual science. These activities do not permit conscious willing except in the limited forms in which they manifest. Also they brook no encroachment by reason. But intuition as developed by the spiritual science widens the scope of reason and makes conscious willing possible in the highest possible degree in every direction. Indian philosophy by developing intuition fulfils the highest aspirations of the Western philosophy. Without the philosophy of intuition, as it is practised in the East, the philosophy of the West is similar to that of science before the telescope, the microscope and the special instruments of science were invented. It was not possible to know what the microbes were before the invention of the microscope. Any attempts to form a conjecture of the microscopic cells of life or matter must, obviously, have been perfect failure. To philosophise before developing all the latent powers of observation that are there in a man is not really scientific. It cannot engage serious men of action. It can never yield any tangible results. The proverb of the philosopher running after a black cat in a dark room while the cat is not there must continue to hold its own unless intuition is developed. Intuition is the golden key of blessedness. Intuition is the science of success.

Fourfold Sadhana by Swami Sivananda FOURFOLD Sadhana of the student in the path of Jnana Yoga consists of Viveka, Vairagya, Shadshampat or sixfold virtues and Mumukshutva or strong yearning for liberation. Viveka dawns in a man, through the grace of God, who has done virtuous actions in his previous births as offerings unto the Lord without expectation of fruits and without egoism. Viveka is the discrimination between the real and the unreal, the permanent and the non-permanent, Atman and Anatma. You must first develop Viveka or discrimination between the real and the unreal and Vairagya or dispassion for the enjoyment of objects herein and hereafter. Then only you will have success in the practice of Sama. Vairagya born of Viveka only will be of a lasting nature. Such a Vairagya only will be helpful to you in your spiritual practices. Karana Vairagya due to loss of property of death of wife or son will be temporary. It will be of no use to you. It is volatile like ammonia. Sama is serenity of mind produced by the constant eradication of Vasanas or desires. Whenever desires crop up in your mind do not try to fulfil them. Reject them through discrimination, right enquiry and dispassion. You will get tranquillity of mind and mental strength by constant practice. The mind is thinned out. The mind is checked directly from wandering. Its out-going tendencies are curbed. If the desires are eradicated, the thoughts also will die by themselves. The mind is detached from the manifold sense objects by continually observing their defects and is fixed on Brahma. In the practice of Sama, the five Jnana-Indriyas or organs of knowledge, viz., ear, skin, eye, tongue and nose are also controlled. Dama is the control of the external organs, i.e., the organs of action or the five Karma-Indriyas, viz., organ of speech, hands, feet, genitals and the anus and the external instruments, the organs are withdrawn and fixed in their respective centres. The eyes run outside to see a beautiful object. If you at once withdraw the eyes from that object, it is called Dama. You should restrain the other Indriyas also by the practice of Dama. Some say, Practice of Dama is not necessary. It is included in Sama. The Indriyas cannot work independently. They can work only in conjunction with the mind. If the mind is checked, the Indriyas will come under control automatically. The mind will come under control very easily if Dama also is practised. It is a double attack on the enemy from within and without. He is crushed or subdued soon. If the front and back doors are closed simultaneously, the enemy is caught quite readily. There is no escape for him on any side. by practice of Dama you do not allow either the Indriyas or the mind to come in contact with the objects. You do not allow the mind to come through the external instrument, viz., the eye, to assume the form of the object. In neophytes the mind never remains self-centred despite rigorous practice of Sama. It tries to run outside towards external objects. If Dama is also practised, it will be of immense help to curb the mind efficiently. If you tie the hands of a mischievous boy, he tries to do mischief with the feet. If his feet, also are tied he keeps quiet. Sama corresponds to the tying of the hands and Dama to the tying of the feet. Therefore the practice of Dama is also necessary. Dama is a practice of a student of Jnana Yoga. Pratyahara corresponds to the practice of Dama. Pratyahara is the practice of a Raja Yogi. In the former it follows the practice of Sama; in the latter it follows the practice of Pranayama. In the former the Indriyas are withdrawn by calming or restraining the mind; in the latter the Indriyas are withdrawn by restraining the Prana. The Indriyas can be withdrawn more effectively by the process of double withdrawal, by withdrawing the mind and the Prana at the same time. It is the mind that moves the Indriyas. It is the Prana that vivifies or energises or galvanises the Indriyas. Sama and Dama are strictly speaking Raja Yogic practices. Now we come to the practice of Uparati. Some define Uparati as renunciation of all works and taking up Sannyasa. Uparati follows the practice of Sama and Dama. Uparati is self-withdrawal. It consists in the mind-function ceasing to act by means of external objects. Uparati is extreme abstention. It is the turning of the mind from the objects of enjoyment. The mind of the student who is established in Uparati will never be agitated even a bit when he sees a beautiful object. There will be no attraction. He will have the same feeling which he experiences when he sees a woman as when he looks at a trees or a log of wood. When he looks at delicious fruits or palatable dishes, he will not be tempted. He will have no craving for them. He will have no craving for any particular object or dish. He will never say, I want such and such a preparation for my food. He will be satisfied with anything that is placed before him. This is due to the strength of mind he has developed by the practice of Viveka, Vairagya, Sama and Dama. Further the mind is experiencing a wonderful calmness and transcendental spiritual bliss by the above practices. It does not want these little, illusory pleasures. If you have got sugar-candy, your mind will never run after black sugar. You can wean the mind from the object to which it is attached by training it to taste a superior kind of bliss. If you give cotton-seed extract to a bull or a cow, it will not run towards dry grass or hay. Mind is like the bull. Those who practise Brahmacharya must be fully conversant with the technique of Sama, Dama and Uparati. Then only

Vedantic Sadhana by Swami Sivananda O FRIEND! Why dost thou weep? Thou hast neither birth nor old age nor death. Thou hast neither passion nor craving. Thou hast neither gross nor subtle body. Thou hast neither mind nor Prana. Thou art the eternal, unchanging, all-pervading Self. Feel this and be free. O Friend! Why dost thou grieve? Thou hast neither name nor form. Thou hast neither caste nor age. Thou hast neither sex nor Indriyas. Thou art neither strong nor weak. Thou hast neither father nor mother. Thou art ever free, pure, eternal and immortal. Realise this and be free. Find out the real inner man. The real man is bodiless and formless. Do not identify the man with the outer food-sheath, Annamaya Kosha or the physical body. The gross physical body is like the shell of a coconut. The real man is the Immortal Spirit, which cannot be annihilated. Man in essence is the Imperishable Atman. He is the silent witness of the three states, viz., Jagrat, Svapna and Sushupti (waking, dreaming and deep-sleep states). Just as a rope is mistaken for a snake in the darkness, a post for a man, so also this impure body is mistaken for the pure Self through Avidya or ignorance. If you bring a light, the illusory snake in the rope will disappear. Even so, if you attain knowledge of the Self, the illusory identification with the body will vanish. The essential qualities of the man are not actually transferred to the post, nor the essential qualities of the post actually transferred to the man. Even so, consciousness does not belong to the body and the attributes of the body, such as decay and death, pleasure and pain, do not belong to the Self or Consciousness. If you have direct knowledge of the Supreme Self or Brahman through meditation, you will attain Immortality. There is no other way to reach the goal. If you know the Self you have gained the true end of life. You will be afraid of nothing. That Vastu or something which has neither beginning nor end is the Imperishable Brahman (Akshara). Akshara only is unchanging, infinite, eternal, self-luminous, indivisible, pure, perfect, ever free and independent. Akshara is your Immortal Soul. The fields or bodies are different but the knower of the field is one. Jivatmas are different but Paramatman is one. Wherever there is mind, there are Prana, egoism and Jiva-Chaitanya or reflected intelligence or Abhasa Chaitanya side by side. He who has the sense of duality (Dvaita Bhava) will take births again and again. This delusion of duality (Bheda Bhranti) can only be removed by the knowledge of identity of Jiva and Brahman. ‘Aham SukhiI am happy’, ‘Aham DuhkhiI am miserable’, ‘Aham KartaI am the doer’, ‘Aham BhoktaI am the enjoyer’ is the experience of all human beings. Therefore the Jivatma is a Samsarin and is subject to pleasure and pain. Jivatmas are different in different bodies, whereas Paramatman is free from pleasure and pain. He is Asamsarin. He is eternally free. He is one. If there is only one Jivatma in all bodies, all should have similar experiences at the same time. If Rama suffers from abdominal colic, Krishna also should experience the pain at the same time. If John experience joy, Jacob also should have a similar experience. If Choudhury is stung by a scorpion, Banerjee also should suffer from the sting. But this is not the case. When Rama suffers, Krishna rejoices. When John is jubilant, Jacob is depressed. When Choudhury suffers from the sting of a scorpion, Banerjee is enjoying his breakfast. Jivatma in essence is identical with Para-Brahman. Fields are different, bodies are different, minds are different and Jivatmas or individual souls are different. But the knower of Paramatman in all these fields or bodies is one. The Self is not affected by pleasure and pain, virtue and vice. He is the silent witness only. Pleasure and pain are the Dharmas of the mind only. They are ascribed to the Self through Avidya or ignorance. The ignorant man only regards the physical body as the Self. He is swayed by the two currents of Raga Dvesha and does virtuous and vicious actions, reaps the fruits of these actions, viz., pleasure and pain and takes births again and again. But the sage who knows that the Self is distinct from the body is not swayed by Raga Dvesha. He identifies himself with the pure eternal Brahman and is always happy and actionless, thought he performs actions for the welfare of the humanity. The disease Timira which causes perception of what is contrary to truth pertains to the eye but not to the man who perceives. If the Timira is removed by proper treatment, he perceives things in their true light. Even so, ignorance, doubt, pleasure and pain, virtue and vice, Raga Dvesha, false perception, non-perception of truth as well as their cause belong to the instrument, viz., mind, but not to the silent witness. The wheel of Samsara or the world’s process rotates on account of Avidya. It exists only for the ignorant man who perceives the world as it appears to him. There is no Samsara for a liberated sage. Any disease of the eye cannot in any way affect the sun. The breaking of the pot will not in any way affect the pot-ether. The water in the mirage cannot render the earth moist. Even so, Avidya and its effects cannot in the least affect the pure, subtle, attributeless, formless, limbless, partless and self-luminous Self. Avidya can do nothing to the Self. Avidya or ignorance born of Tamas acts as a veil and prevents man from knowing his essential Sat-Chit-Ananda Brahmic nature. It causes perception of what is quite the contrary of truth, or causes doubt or non-perception of truth. As soon as knowledge of the Self dawns, the three forms of Avidya vanish in toto. Therefore the three forms of Avidya are not attributes of the Self. They

Siva-Jnanamrita Upanishad by Swami Sivananda Om! O gods! may we, with our ears, hear what is auspicious! O ye, fit to be worshipped! May we, with our eyes, see what is auspicious! May we enjoy the life allotted to us by the gods, offering our praise with our bodies strong of limbs! Om Peace Peace Peace! Mantra 1

Vidyas from the Upanishads by Swami Sivananda 1. Sat-Vidya This Vidya occurs in the Chhandogyopanishad, VI. 2. 1 & 2, where Uddalaka instructs Svetaketu on the nature of Existence. In the beginning O son, this was mere Exis�tence, one only without a second. Regarding this some others sayat first this was mere non-exis�tence, one alone without a second. From that non-existence proceeds existence. But verily, O son, how can this be? How can existence come from non-existence? Hence, O son, this was existence only in the beginning, one alone without a second. From non-existence existence cannot come out, for, even non-existence is an existence, a being. As regards the sentence in the Taittiriyopanishad which says that existence came from non-existence, it is explained that here non-existence refers to the state of Avyaktam where the manifold world does not exist and from which the existence of the world is evolved. Meditation on Sat-Vidya enables one to assert the reality of the Sat aspect of the Absolute whose essential nature is Chit and Ananda. In con�tinuation of this, Uddalaka asserts the great dictum of identity, Tat Tvam Asi, That thou art. 2. Bhuma Vidya This Vidya occurs in the Chhandogyopani�shad, VII. 24, where Sanatkumara instructs Narada in the nature of the Unconditioned Infinite Plenum or the Fullness of Being. Where one sees nothing else, hears nothing else, understands nothing else, that is called the Infinite Plenum. But where one sees something else, hears something else, understands something else, that is called the little finite. That which is Infinite is Immortal, and that which is finite is mortal This is perhaps the greatest of all the Upanishadic Vidyas, for it sums up the entire result of all philosophies and Vedantic enquiries. It treats of the most exalted Absolute State of unlimited bliss and immortal life after attaining which one returns not to mortal existence. In continuation of this, Sanatku�mara mentions that the Infinite, the Self, the I are all identical and that this One Being alone is the Truth. The knower of this Vidya becomes the Self-Emperor and exists as the Infinite whole. 3. Maitreyi Vidya This Vidya occurs in the Brihadaranyakopani�shad, II. 4 and IV. 5. Sage Yajnavalkya instructs his Brahmavadini wife, Maitreyi, on the nature of the Highest Self. O Dear, not for the love of this all, this all is dear, but for the love of the Self, this all is dear. This Atman (Self), O Maitreyi, is to be seen, heard of, reflected upon and meditated upon. O dear, through the seeing of hearing of reflecting upon and knowledge of this Self, all this becomes known. Where there is duality as it were, there one sees the other, smells the other, hears the other, speaks to the other, thinks of the other, understands the other. But where one’s Self alone exists everywhere, then through what can one see what, through what can one smell what, through what can one hear what, through what can one speak to what, through what can one think of what, through what can one understand what? Through what can one under�stand that by which everything else is understood? O dear, through what can one understand the understander? The Bhuma Vidya and the Maitreyi Vidya form the culmination of the entire philosophy of the Upanishads. The Absolute Reality is affirmed and declared in boldest terms in these two Vidyas. The non-existence or the illusory nature of the world-phenomenon and the truth of the One Indivisible Essence is asserted. When cause and effect are di�fferent from one another there arises the concept of duality. When cause and effect are blended into one, everything becomes One without a second. These two Vidyas are useful for the highest Advaitic Medita�tion on the unconditioned Absolute. 4. Sandilya Vidya This Vidya occurs in the Chhandogyopanishad, III, 1. This Vidya is ascribed to the sage Sandilya. Verily all this is Brahman; Tranquil, one must worship it as that from which this comes forth, as that into which this will be dissolved, as that in which this lives. This, the Soul of mine within the heart, is Brahman. Into Him I shall enter on departing hence. This Vidya further extends its form of meditation by conceiving of the Self as smaller than an atom and bigger than the universe, containing all works, desires, mind, life, odours, tastes, as being unspeaking and unconcerned, etc. Thus the Vidya is suited to Saguna Meditation, though by divesting it of such particular attributes it may be used for Nirguna Advaita Meditation also. 5. Dahara Vidya This Vidya occurs in the Chhandogyopanishad, VIII. 1. This abode, the small lotus that is here within this city of Brahman, and the small space within that lotuswhat is there within this space, that is to be searched out, that certainly is to be known. Verily, as extensive as the external Akasa, is this eternal Akasa. Within it are contained the hea�ven and the earth, both fire and wind, both Sun and moon, lightning and stars, both what exists here and what does not exist; everything here is contain�ed within it. This is one of the greatest of the Vidyas. The all-pervading and all-inclusive nature of the Self is stressed upon in this Vidya. In this meditation, the meditator feels the whole universe as his Self and excludes nothing from the One Self. This Vidya further explains the identity of the external and the internal, the objective and the subjective, the macrocosmic and the microcosmic, the universal and the individual. Brahman and Atman. 6. Vaisvanara Vidya This Vidya occurs in the Chhandogyopanishad, V. 12 to 18. Asvapati Kaikeya describes the Vaisvanara Vidya to Uddalaka and five other seekers after knowledge of the Vaisvanara Self. Its head is heaven, its eye Surya, its breath Vayu, its trunk Akasa, the Apas its bladder, its feet the earth, its breast the sacrificial altar, its hand the sacrificial grass, its heart the Garhapatya fire, its mind the Anvaharyapachana fire (Dakshinagni), its mouth the Ahavaniya fire. Thus the Vaisvanara