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

Namaste!

Sense of Urgency in Sadhana
by Sri N. Ananthanarayanan

An aspirant put this question once to the Holy Mother of the Aurobindo Ashram: "I have been practising Sadhana for so many years, but there has been no significant progress. Why?". Said the Holy Mother: "Because you have not taken the spiritual plunge!". To the same question put by different aspirants at different times, Gurudev Sivananda used to say: "You have not progressed much, because you have not given 100% of your mind to God, because you have not given your whole mind to God".

It is the same answer given in two different ways. Most aspirants stand on the shore of the spiritual sea, deliberating whether to take the spiritual plunge or not. This deliberation, this hesitation, this vacillation, goes on for years. As long as this vacillation is there, there is little progress. Because, the mind is not made up. As long as the plunge is not taken, the lower mind retains its strong hold on the aspirant. The worldly Samskaras have their sway. The earthly Vasanas rule supreme. They put up a tough fight. In this tug-of-war which goes on in the mind of the aspirant, the lower mind exercises the stronger pull.

Vedanta proclaims that creation is an illusion, that the Creator is the only Reality. It asserts that the unseen rope is the only reality, that the snake that is seen is an illusion; that the cinema screen is the reality, that the picture is an illusion. At one time we can see either the illusion or the reality. We cannot see both. The mind cannot perceive both the screen and the picture at the same time. The mind cannot perceive both God and the world at the same time. As long as it sees the world, it cannot see God.

Think of a foolish child in a dark room which cries for light, while at the same time refusing to come out into the open. Identical is the position of the weak-kneed Sadhak who refuses to give his whole mind over to God, who refuses to take his feet off the world, who refuses to take the spiritual plunge, but keeps crying all the time that there is no light in his life, that there is no spiritual progress. How can the Sadhak have spiritual progress when he is refusing to enter the spiritual waters?

"You cannot have light and darkness at the same time. You cannot have nectar and poison in the same cup." How many times has not Sivananda stressed this basic point that a person can have either this world or that, but not both! Yet, if you check on the generality of spiritual seekers all over the world, you will find that their feet are clinging fast to earth and things earthly, while a fraction of their mind is vaguely given over to God.

Read complete article

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The following articles by Sri Swami Krishnanandaji have been posted at Sri Swamiji's site:

• Isavasya Upanishad for Beginners - Verses 6 & 7
• India's Ancient Culture - Chapter 5: Introduction to the Epics

Yours in the service of Gurudev,

Pannirselvam

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BOOK SYNOPSIS

Health & Diet
By Swami Sivananda

Health is the greatest wealth and asset for you. Without good health and strength, you cannot achieve success in life and God-realisation. Without good health, you cannot enjoy life. Good health comes from following definite rules. Those who ignore the rules of health, suffer much and die prematurely. Even for spiritual pursuits good health is the prerequisite. Without good health you cannot penetrate into the hidden depths of the vast ocean of life within and attain the final beatitude of life. Without good health you cannot wage war against the turbulent senses and the boisterous mind.

Health is wealth. Health is a covetable possession indeed. Good health is a valuable asset for one and all. You should have physical as well as mental health. If you do not possess good health you cannot prosper in any walk of life.

Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj was a doctor before he embraced the holy Order of Sannyasa. Even before he began his medical career, he enthusiastically conducted a medical journal called "Ambrosia" in which he published regularly articles on health and hygiene, diet and healing.

This volume from the pen of the sage-doctor is of the greatest value, not only to the members of the medical profession, but to the layman as well who will gain immense knowledge from it, for enjoying good health and long life.

For more information, please see: Health & Diet

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SPECIAL ARADHANA CONCESSION

We are currently having a Special Aradhana Concession on all our publications from 1st July 2017 to 30th September 2017. 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                Rs. 650
2. ES4 Gurudev Sivananda        Rs. 250 
3. EC70 Ultimate Journey           Rs. 500
4. EC71 Divine Vision                 Rs. 300

Please visit our online bookstore for further details:
http://www.dlsbooks.org/

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HUMOUR AND INSTRUCTIONS: A bearded young man with flowing hair came to demonstrate Yoga postures at the Satsang one night. They said that he knew hundreds of Asanas, but he proceeded to demonstrate just a select few. The poses were perfect, but at the end of each, the young man looked into a piece of paper to ensure the correct sequence of the various Asanas. The Master praised the man every now and then for his excellent performance; he also made crisp comments on the therapeutic values of the different poses.

But as the man looked into the paper too frequently, the Master suggested to him, “When you go to America, no paper, all mental.”

Each time the long hair fell on his forehead and face, the budding Yogi pushed back the curly tresses.

“First thing in the morning,” the Master smilingly said to one of the Ashram Swamis, “take our Asana professor to Murari.” (Murari was the Ashram barber).

The underwear that the Yogi wore seemed a count too large; he was pulling it up frequently to keep it in position. The Master noticed this, too, and instructed again, “Get the tailor to make a beautiful pair of well-fitting ...!”

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“Because the Guru is a soul, he never dies. We will never say, "Our Guru died; we have nobody now." This is not intelligible to us. The Guru can never die, because the Guru is not the body. Nor is the Chela a body. Now we come to the other side of it. Neither is the Chela the body, nor is the Guru the body, and the relationship between Guru and Chela is not a bodily relationship. So even if the Guru is a thousand miles away, the Chela is happy. He is not bothered. He will not cry, "Oh, my Guru is far away. I have nobody." Distance is wiped out in the spiritual field. There is no distance in the world, really speaking. Distance is only a spatial concept. When even television and radio have wiped out distance, do you think that consciousness—the soul—cannot wipe it out? It can, and it does. Though this is a very advanced state, it is the truth of things. The disciple and the Guru are related in a mystical manner, and that relationship continues even after the death of the body.” – Swami Krishnananda

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