Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya!Namaste!*Devotion and Dedication Personified…* by Sri Swami NirliptanandaMy humble prostrations and salutations at the holy feet of most worshipful Guru Maharaj Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj, whose spiritual presence indwells the hearts of all his sincere devotees and disciples. Our Param Pujya Swamiji Maharaj was a guiding light of the Divine Life Society for over half a century. When he was elected President by the Board of Trustees on August 18th 1963, he obs ...Continue Reading

Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah! Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya!Namaste!Lord Ganesa -- The Remover of Obstacles by Sri Swami Krishnananda(Ganesa Chaturthi message given in September, 1981.)Human life is beset with obstacles. We face oppositions and encounter difficulties galore, and the whole of our daily activity may, in a sense, be considered as a struggle against all odds which come in different forms as the sorrows of life. The moment we wake up in the morning, ...Continue Reading

Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya!Namaste!*Early Days of Ashram Life* by Sri Swami ChidanandaIn the early forties Gurudev used to come to the upper side of the Ashram for an evening walk. It was a sight to see him coming up in the summer evenings. He loved to be on the banks of Gangaji. The breeze blowing over the waters is cool like an air-conditioner’s breeze. After leaving the Kutir he used to come to the office first. It was at the present Post Office. He used to enter the office from the Ganga side, step in and sit in ...Continue Reading

Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah! Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya!Namaste!Guru – The God-Incarnate by Sri Swami Sivananda*Taken from Divine Life Magazine 1950*The Vyasa Purnima is the sacred occasion when the Vedic Preceptor, Vyasa, and all the Brahmavidya-Gurus are worshipped. Spiritual seekers of all stages of life are all actually the disciples of these great Gurus who have handed down spiritual knowledge through Shishya-parampara. The qualities of the soul and th ...Continue Reading

Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah! Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya!Namaste!Your Highest Good! by Sri Swami ChidanandaLet not passing events merely happen and pass away without leaving something of value to you. All experiences occur to teach some lesson to human beings; they are meant to remind the human individual of something.Passing events, by the very fact that they are passing, may not have any intrinsic value, even though they can have a very great importance an ...Continue Reading

Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah! Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya!Namaste!Spirit of Renunciation by Sri Swami Krishnananda(Taken from the Divine Life Magazine, 1958 issue)Thirty-four years have now been completed since Sri Gurudev Swami Sivananda entered the holy order of Sannyasa. This memorable event has been not only a landmark in his adventurous march in the quest of Truth, but has set a brilliant example and serves as a shining ideal to all aspiring souls. This ...Continue Reading

Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah! Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya!Namaste!Instructions on Meditation by Sri Swami SivanandaMokshapriya said:O Blessed Teacher, now instruct me on Meditation. My mind is ever wandering despite my effort in the early morning during Brahmamuhurta-4 a.m.Swami Sivananda replied:O Mokshapriya, hearken to me with rapt attention and one-pointed mind. Dhyanam nirvishayam manah: meditation is freeing the mind from thoughts of sense-objects. Mind ...Continue Reading

Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah! Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya!Namaste!*Homage to Swami Krishnananda* by S. BhagyalakshmiBorn to parents highly orthodox and deeply religious, Swami Krishnananda inherits an illustrious lineage of Vedic and scholarship of exceptional calibre. On April 25, 1922, in the village of Keminje a child later named Subbaraya Putturaya was born. He now lives at the Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh, as His Holiness Swami Krishnananda Sarasvati. The village Keminje is in South Kan ...Continue Reading

Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah! Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya!Namaste!Practical Aspect of Meditation by Sri Swami SivanandaThis world is full of miseries and sufferings. If you want to get rid of the pains and afflictions of this Samsara, you must practise meditation. Meditation leads to the knowledge of the Self, which brings about Eternal Peace and Supreme Bliss. Meditation prepares you for the integral experience or direct intuitive knowledge. Meditation is th ...Continue Reading

Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah! Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya!Namaste!Introspect Regulary by Sri Swami SivanandaPractise self-examination for ten minutes before you go to bed. Sit comfortably on a chair. Close your eyes. Think of all actions—good and bad—that you did during the course of the day. Think of all mistakes that you committed consciously or unconsciously.A man, who has no life of introspection, whose mind is of outgoing tendencies, cannot find out his ...Continue Reading