Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah!
Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya!
Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya!

Namaste!

Aspire to be A Shining Star Like Swami Chidananda
by Sri Swami Sivananda

A talk delivered during the Thirty-Ninth Birthday Celebration of Sri Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj

Celebration of Swami Chidanandaji’s Birthday is in essence, worship of God. There is nothing in this world but God. Everything is Brahman. You worship an idol. The idol is only an extremely minor part of the virat. But all the same, God is pleased, though you have touched only a small part of the virat. He blesses the devotee and the devotee attains purity of heart which is so essential for God-realisation.

During the celebrations of the Birthdays of great men you hear of their actions, their thoughts, their instructions, and the way in which they led their lives. You imbibe several good qualities from their glorious example. You try to emulate them. You put those qualities into practice in your daily life.

You have heard so much today about Swami Chidanandaji. He who has made a determination now, to become like Chidanandaji, alone will be benefited.

Maya is very powerful. You will think that you are all elevated now, but as soon as you get up in the morning, the mind will run in its own grooves. He who keeps constant satsanga and studies books on vairagya — books like ‘Necessity for Sannyasa’, ‘Lives of Saints’ and ‘Illuminating Stories’, will keep up the current, and he alone can lead a virtuous life. Lectures you have heard. Everybody knows the power of Rama-Nama. But, you do not put it into practice! You have no faith in the Lord’s Name, you have faith only in money. It is celebration of these Birthdays that makes you constantly dwell upon the thoughts and actions of saints. Then alone will you get an impetus and stimulus to attain the Goal which they have reached.

Frequent Birthday celebrations are necessary. Constant hammering of sublime ideas on the mind is necessary. Your mind will otherwise run in its own old grooves. Through daily japa you will have to bring it under control. Regularity is very important thing. Again and again, study books written by saints who have attained Self-realisation. Study Viveka-Chudamani, Atma-Bodha, Tattva-Bodha. Life here is a great battle, but if you have faith in God, it is a great song of love. Again and again approach the saints. Maintain a spiritual diary. Find out how far you have evolved, how many virtues you have developed, how many vicious qualities you have eradicated, how much of selflessness have you inculcated. These are the necessary elements.

It is easy to forget these important things of life. You don’t forget the minute items of your food, but you forget God. An ounce of practice is better than tons of theory. Practice! Then alone you will know how difficult it is. A harsh word upsets you. That is due to the force of previous vicious samskaras. Your task now is to take the waters of the Ganga to their own source. So difficult it is. Yet, with God’s Grace, with determination, you will succeed.

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"You are not what you are thinking and dreaming yourself to be. You think yourself to be a petty, little human being, full of weaknesses, full of drawbacks, full of unfortunate limitations, with no other goal than to struggle through life, and sigh and weep. No! No! No! No! All this is a delusion. Snap out of it! This is all due to the wrong knowledge about yourself. You are ajo nityah saasvato’yam purnaano na hanyate hanyamaane sareere — unborn, eternal, permanent, ancient, beyond time, immortal, imperishable and indestructible! (Bhagavad Gita II.20.) You are heir to immortal glory! You are heir to the divine blessedness, which is your original source, a state of divine perfection, which knows no sorrow, no pain, no limitation, no birth and no death. It is a realm of absolute, unalloyed bliss. That is your origin; that is your inalienable permanent state. You exist always in a state of that absolute, indescribable bliss. It is always present. It can never be absent. It is here, now. " - Swami Chidananda

Glory to Gurudev, Our Ideal
by Sri Swami Chidananda

Speech on the Thirty-Ninth Birthday Celebrations

I am happy that this Birthday was celebrated.

At first I told Sri Swamiji that I might be excused for this. But, on account of these celebrations we have just now heard the essence of all scriptures, the core of the teachings of all saints of all climes and ages from his lips. We have heard the Upanishads in simple language.

We have heard the Quran, the Bible, the Gita, the Puranas -- all the scriptures given in simple, forceful, thrilling, fiery, inspiring, direct living words from Gurudev. For this one thing, it is worthwhile that the Birthday was celebrated. I can’t say how happy I am.

What countless merits of previous births have given us this wonderful opportunity of sitting in this sacred place and hearing this fire coming out of this living blaze of infinite spirituality, infinite divinity that Gurudev embodies. What you have heard just now is something that cannot be described. He has simply poured out the divine light into us. Every word is a flaming fire of living spirituality. And, as Gurudev has said, we will get up tomorrow morning the same old people. To ensure against this, God has sent Swami Venkatesananda. Every word is now recorded and it will be printed. I pray to each one of you to treasure this copy of the printed report of Swamiji’s speech. Read it daily, the first thing in the morning and the last thing before going to be bed. This one talk of his is sufficient for our whole life, to give us the ideal pattern for our whole life, to transform us from jivas to infinite satchidananda atman, to elevate us to the Highest Divinity.

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Today, 24th Sep 2016, marks the auspicious 100th birthday anniversary of Revered Sri Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj. In honour of this occasion, 100 booklets, consisting of talks by Swamiji as well as articles about Swamiji, have been published. About 40 of these have been uploaded to the e-books section of Swamiji's Website. The remaining will be uploaded as they become available.

The Divine Life Society of Malaysia has launched a Sivananda App in conjunction with Swamiji's birthday. You may download the same from Google Play Store for Android phones. The App for IOS (Apple Phones) should be available soon.

Yours in the service of Gurudev,

Pannirselvam

We are currently having a Special Aradhana Concession on all our publications from 1st June 2016 to 30th September 2016. The discount on publications is as follows:

20% on Orders Upto Rs. 300/-
30% on Orders Upto Rs. 1,000/-
35% on Orders Above Rs. 1,000/-
40% on Orders Above Rs. 25,000/-
 

40% Special Discount on the following Pictorial Volumes of Worshipful Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji and Worshipful Sri Swami Chidanandaji
1. ES8 Glorious Vision
2. ES4 Gurudev Sivananda
3. EC70 Ultimate Journey
4. EC71 Divine Vision

Please visit our online bookstore for further details.

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