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

Namaste!

How To Develop Will Power
by Sri Swami Sivananda

Attention, power of endurance, overcoming aversion, dislikes and irritations, fortitude in suffering, TAPAS (austerities such as standing on one foot, sitting in the hot sun) or PANCHAGNI TAPAS before five fires, standing in cold water in piercing winter, raising the hands above and keeping in the same position for an hour, fasting, patience, command of temper, forbearance, clemency, mental power of endurance, firmness in meeting danger, power of resistance or attack, SATYAGRAHA, keeping up daily diary—all pave a long way in developing the will. One should patiently hear the words of others even though they are not interesting and charming. He should not fret and fume. Patient hearing develops will and wins the hearts of others. One should do actions or tasks that are uninteresting. This also develops the will-power. The actions that are not interesting will become interesting after sometime.

Never complain against bad environments. Create your own mental world wherever you remain and wherever you go. There are some difficulties and disadvantages wherever you go. If the mind deludes you at every moment and at every step, try to overcome the obstacles and difficulties by suitable means. Do not try to run away from bad, unfavourable environments. God has placed you there to make you grow quickly.

If you get all sorts of comforts in a place, you will not grow strong. Your mind will be puzzled in a new place when you cannot get these comforts. Therefore, make the best use of all places. Never complain against surroundings and environments. Live in your own mental world. Nothing can upset your mind. You will find RAGA-DWESHA even in the eternal snowy regions of the Himalayas, near Gangotri. You cannot get an ideal place and ideal surroundings in any part of the world. Kashmir is very cool, the scenery is very enchanting but PISSUS (small insects like flies) trouble you at night, you cannot sleep. Banaras is a centre of Sanskrit learning but it is famous for hot winds in summer. Uttarakasi in the Himalayas is beautiful but you cannot get vegetables or fruits there; the cold is so very biting in winter. This world is a relative plane of good and evil. Remember this point at all times. Try to live happily in any place, under any condition. You will become a strong and dynamic personality. This is a great secret, keep this in your pocket and unlock the Elysian Regions. You can get sanguine success in any undertaking. You can conquer any difficulty.

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• Thinking in Meditation

Yours in the service of Gurudev,

Pannirselvam

God-Realisation
by Sri Swami Sivananda

In this book you will find the true way to lasting peace, real happiness and freedom from all pain and sorrow. They will lead you to Immortality.

This book is meant to be a daily companion to the aspiring seeker on his journey along the path of arduous Yoga and inner spiritual Sadhana. This is a volume to which you can constantly refer for daily inspiration and upliftment of the spirit. Though brief, it is, at the same time also comprehensive in its scope and touches upon all aspects of the life spiritual. It is filled with invaluable instructions and admonitions and serves as an ideal blueprint for living the Divine Life.

This book of sublime spiritual admonition and guidance is a wave of the life-living waters from the living stream of Lokasangraha (selfless service unto humanity), and Seva (service) that flows forth from the dedicated personality and life's Mission of Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj.

This present volume is one such spiritual messenger from the Abode of Bliss where Siva dwells by Ganga's side, coming to fill your life with light, bliss and Divine unfoldment.

For more information, please see: God-Realisation

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TALKS WITH MRS LILAVATI MUNSHI: Her Excellency, Srimati Lilavati Munshi, wife of the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, came to the Ashram in April, 1955. As soon as she entered the Master’s cottage, she bowed to him and at once recognised that it was here that she first met the Master when she and Sri K. M. Munshi were returning from their trip to Badrinath.

“Yes, and this is where Sri Swamiji offered you the B. M. K. drink,” reminded Swami Chidanandaji.

And this led to a discussion of the chronic cold which Srimati Munshi had. She had tried several treatments and all of them gave her only temporary relief. The Master at once suggested ‘Namapathy’ to her and recited the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra.

“When all other ‘pathies’ fail, it is ‘Namapathy’ that cures. This Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra has saved many lives and relieved many people of their sufferings.”

“Is it a fact, Swamiji, that with Mantras one can do good or harm to others? Have Mantras really got such power?” Srimati Munshi asked.

“Yes, certainly the Mantra is God Himself. You see it practically demonstrated in the case of scorpion stings and snake bites. One who has attained Siddhi in the Mantra recites it and the pain is at once relieved and the poison neutralised. I have myself seen cases cured by the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra.

“The Conservator General of Forests in the Government of India, Captain Subramanian, was very sick. He was at Bangalore when I went there during my All-India Tour. His wife met me at the aerodrome and said that her husband was seriously ill. I gave her the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra and requested her to repeat it. The man miraculously recovered and then insisted on seeing me personally. Disregarding the advice of doctors, he came here along with his son-in-law, Dr Ranganathan. Such is the power of the Mantra!”

Swami Chidanandaji added, “The Mantra has power, but this power is to be developed only by constant and intense repetition. The power in the Mantra is roused only by incessant repetition.”

Mrs Munshi then narrated the story of some people in the West who claimed that they had miraculous powers with which they could effect healing in people, and was eager to know if the Master had seen anyone in India who had such power. The Master said that he had not seen anyone.

Swami Chidanandaji, intervening, said, “I would give the answer with a little history of this institution itself. For a number of years past many people have been writing to Swamiji that they have had miraculous experiences of his powers of distant healing, clairvoyance and clairaudience. They have also had visions of him. Sri Gurudev used to throw away such letters. But a senior brother-disciple, Swami Narayanandaji, has collected all these letters for our inspiration, in spite of being asked by Swamiji to throw them away.

“Recently, in order to satisfy certain sections of the people, whose faith and devotion can be inspired only by the demonstration of miracles, we have taken the liberty of publishing these experiences of aspirants. Many aspirants have seen Sri Gurudev in foreign lands; they have seen him enter hospitals and stand at the bedside of patients; and the patients miraculously recovered.

When Srimati Munshi turned to the Master, he quietly added, “I recite the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra several times a day for the health and peace of the whole of mankind.”

“If I may ask, Swamiji, is so much propaganda as is done here necessary in the spiritual field?”

“It is not propaganda. It is dissemination of knowledge. It is only as a result of this that people are coming from several foreign countries. We are conducting Sadhana Weeks and training camps. How will people know about these activities unless we tell them? What harm is there in this kind of propaganda?”

Swami Chidanandaji went on to explain, “Some people imagine that propaganda in the spiritual field is not at all necessary. They think that people will automatically come to the sage.”

The Master himself then continued, “If five people come that way, five lakhs will come here on account of the little propaganda that we do. That is my aim. I can do more service to the greatest number of people. I am not satisfied with a little service. I want that lakhs of people should come. I want to serve them all. Perhaps it is because of this propaganda only that you have come here!”

Her Excellency admitted that it was true.

Swami Chidanandaji said that he himself came to the Ashram after reading the Master’s articles in My Magazine.

“I work in different ways,” said the Master. “There is the conducting of Kirtan and correspondence with aspirants. There is the Forest University lecture. I cannot remain without intense service. It is my nature. The eye hospital is being built now. Diathermy, X-Ray and other laboratory equipment have come. The hospital is growing. I want the work to expand more and more so that more and more people may be benefited. This is my nature.”

Chidanandaji supplemented this by saying, “In ancient days people had greater faith and aspiration. Now they are much engrossed in worldly affairs and have to be forcibly drawn to the spiritual field through propaganda. Here we do propaganda with a purpose—to do the maximum good to the maximum number. Even Sri Ramanuja went to the temple-tower and shouted out the sacred Mantra, which his Guru had asked him to keep a secret. Saints are filled with compassion and this does not let them rest on their oars. Saints like Swamiji ceaselessly explore ways and means of serving a greater and greater number of people.”

“What is an easy method of attaining Self-realisation, Swamiji?” asked Srimati Lilavati.

“Japa, Kirtan and meditation.”

“It is easy to say that one should meditate, but it is very difficult to practise concentration. The mind ever wanders. What is to be done?”

“The best method of controlling the mind is to do what you are doing at present. Be always active in serving humanity. At the same time have constant remembrance of God by means of repetition of the Divine Name. Do Kirtan in the morning and evening. When the Lord’s Grace descends, the mind will be easily brought under control.”

Srimati Lilavati then discussed the Mahila Sahayak Sangh’s work. She suggested that she would send a batch of volunteers from the Sangh’s training centre at Lucknow, and requested the Master to impart spiritual training to them so that they will not treat their work in the villages as a mere job but as a sacred duty. The Master readily agreed to the proposal.

Her Excellency then visited the Yoga Museum which was explained to her by Swami Chidanandaji.

“Meditation is the abolition of the difference between you and what you see with your eyes. You have to abolish the difference between yourself and what you see with the eyes. That is samadhi. Otherwise, what is the good of sitting like this and seeing? You are seeing the same world as a harassing demon sitting in front of us. Meditation is a simple thing. It is the transcending of the difference that usually is seen with the eyes between oneself and other things – the mountain, river, sun, moon, stars, whatever it is. Actually, the difference does not exist.” – Swami Krishnananda

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