Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya!
Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya!
Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya!

Namaste!

Triumph Over Materialism
by Sri Swami Sivananda

From the tiniest creature to the mightiest gods, the entire creation is pervaded by God. Out of Himself, God has created the universe with countless beings in it. Every creature has its own rightful place in the universe, allotted to it by the Lord. The little ant has as much a right, and a need to live, as the great gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara. All this seeming diversity has been created by God, so that each one of us might through the practice of Truth, Love and Purity, evolve into a consciousness of basic indwelling Unity.

Infinite are the temperaments and infinite are the approaches to the Ultimate Reality. Each one has a place in the Lord’s Creation. The Glory of God lies in the truth that He is the one that underlies all this infinite variety, that He is the Goal that all men owing their allegiance to numberless faiths strive to reach through what apparently look like totally divergent paths.

Read complete article

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An Article by Sri Swami Krishnanandaji titled Meditation on God Almighty, the Total Knowing Subject has been posted at Swamiji's website.

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Next Saturday, September 24th, is the 100th birthday anniversary of Most Revered Sri Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj. Many programmes are being conducted in honour of this holy occasion. Please refer to the following links for further details:

1. 5 Day Spiritual Conference (18th - 22nd September, 2016)
2. Centenary Programmes
3. Live Telecast of Programmes

Yours in the service of Gurudev,

Pannirselvam

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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: http://www.dlsbooks.org/

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The following new books were released recently:

By Sri Swami Sivananda

ES49 Ananda Lahari
HS17 Gharelu Chikitsa (in Hindi)

By Sri Swami Chidananda

EC20 Autobiography
EC21 The All-embracing Heart
EC8 Sarvabhutahite Ratah (Cosmic Benefactor) 
EC18 The Divine Destination

By Sri Swami Krishnananda

EK41 Commentary on the Panchadasi (Vol. 1)
EK39 True Spiritual Living (Vol. 2)

EO18 Yoga Divine - A Self Guide to Yoga by Sri Swami Dharmanishtananda

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SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTIONS: It was the morning of May 17, 1962. A few devotees were gathered near the Master, who was sitting at his office desk. Among them were Advocate Tiwari from Gwalior, Dr Padma Mudholkar from Bombay, and Dr Narayana Murti, ENT specialist from Andhra. Dr Murti had come with his wife, Rajeswari, and children Latha and Niranjan.

The Master said to Tiwari, "You will now talk on Maya."

"Yes, Swamiji," said the unassuming advocate from Gwalior, and proceeded to say a few words.

"In reality there is no world. The world is superimposed on God. It is a mere appearance. There is no snake in the rope. When you get knowledge it is all Brahman only."

When the speaker had finished, the Master addressed Dr Murti. "Why don't you explain? I send you all my books. Twenty-four hours ENT? Have ENT for twenty hours and for four hours you can practise Vedanta in daily life. I sent you books, isn't it?"

Leaving Dr Murti to digest his advice, he turned to Mrs Murti, who appeared to be more interested in the subject. Referring to the "snake in the rope" analogy, he told her, "This is called Vivarta Vada. Only today you have understood Vedanta, is it not?"

The Master proceeded to glorify Vedanta. With great enthusiasm and love he exclaimed, "No trouble, no worry, no thought of food, no hunger--you like to attain that state, isn't it? The worldly man wants food every three hours. He has lunch and as soon as he has washed his hands he asks, 'What do I have for supper?' Practise Vedanta and attain liberation. Then you can create food. You can create money. You can create a motor car. You can create jewels."

The Master was in an inspired mood. His words fell apart as his fervour increased, "Shant, Shant--you can create ... embodiment as peace ... not quality ... peace as body ... wisdom as body, instead of flesh ... meditation, meditation."

The student of Vedanta, when he attains spiritual realisation, becomes one with the Divine in spirit, though he may continue to wear a physical body till his Prarabdha is exhausted. The liberated sage attains identity with God. There is no difference between the two. The sage is an embodiment of peace, of wisdom, of bliss. Peace, wisdom and bliss are the very stuff of which the spiritual body, the real body of the sage is made. They are not his attributes. That is what the Master meant.

He was still speaking those last words about meditation, about the need for meditation, when Mrs Murti interjected to express a doubt, "What about worship? Worship also, Swamiji?"

The Master said, "These people (the Vedantins) talk only about meditation. Don't give up worship. From early morning and throughout the twenty-four hours you will have to think of God. When coffee comes, it is Brahman. When breakfast comes, it is Brahman. Slowly, slowly."

The conversation continued.

Mrs Murti: "Will it stop all worries?"

Master: "Do Arati. Go to the Ganges bank. Repeat, 'Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram'."

Mrs Murti: "I do Japa also everyday."

Master: (hammering again on his Vedantic Sadhana) "See your children as God, your ..."

Mrs Murti: "What about the husband?"

Master: "Husband is God, everything is God."

Having said that, the Master turned to Dr Murti, and with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, said, "Murti sir, she cares more for you. I don't know whether you care for her?"

And once again, coming back to Mrs Murti, the Master touched his own heart, saying, "Inside this heart is eternal light. Murti's light is Rajeswari's light. There is one sun reflected in many vessels. View the house as Brindavan, the husband and children as God, and daily life as His worship."

The Master then glanced in the direction of Lalitananda, a Western disciple. "Lalita also is false. Brahman alone is the Truth."

"I am also false?" asked the shocked Lalitananda, unbelievingly.

"Yes, yes," said the Master, looking at her with eyes full of mercy and loving consideration.

It was now Dr Padma's turn to receive Vedantic instruction. The Master addressed her, "O Dr Padma! Maya has two powers, veiling and projecting. The veiling power puts a cover on your pure native intelligence, on your wisdom. The projecting power disturbs that wisdom. The objects of Maya draw your mind out so that you forget your identity with God and think that this world is true. Did you listen to Tiwari's lecture? These disciples (meaning Vedantins like Tiwari) adopt a kind of escapism. They use such words as 'Adhyas'."

The Master was just teasing one disciple in order to drive home a subtle point to another. He was by no means refuting Sri Shankara's marvellous theory of Adhyas or superimposition--the telling concept of snake in the rope.

In the darkness a rope is mistaken for a snake. When the torch is brought, the illusion of the snake disappears and only the rope exists. In the darkness of their ignorance, men see the illusion of the world. God-realised sages, on the other hand, who see through the light of their intuition, declare unequivocally that only God exists and that there is no world at all. But then, till a man realises God in his own personal experience, the world is very much a reality to him. Such a man can disregard the world only at his own peril.

So the Master pressed his point further, "You should not neglect matter. To be beggarly, to wear no clothes and have nothing to eat, this is not spirituality. Ramanuja had chariots and elephants."

At this point, there was distribution of some snacks and coffee. The Master also partook of a little. He then attended to diverse matters of Ashram administration. In between, there was a Gita recitation by a college girl from Hyderabad and a short lecture by a Swami from Delhi.

An hour passed thus. Then there was silence for a few seconds. The Master broke the silence. "You know," he said, looking at the assembled people, "Na ham, na tum, daftar gum."

The cryptic Hindi couplet, if freely translated, would mean: "Neither do I exist, nor you, nor the office; they have vanished in toto."

The Master proceeded to explain the purport of the couplet and pointed out that 'office' or 'daftar' here meant this phenomenal worldly existence.

"In the Samadhi state," he said, addressing Mrs Murti finally, "when you attain bliss, there is neither I nor you nor the daftar."

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