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Namaste!

Conquest of Mind
by Swami Sivananda

THAT form which the Infinite, All-pervading Atman has assumed through its power of imagination is called ‘mind’. Mind creates and destroys. It creates the whole universe by its power of imagination. The chief characteristic of the mind is imagination. Mind is the creator and enjoyer of all happiness and miseries. It is the cause for bondage and liberation. Mind is all in all. It is everything. It is your true friend and bad enemy. The lower mind is your enemy. It causes various sorts of attachment. It is filled with various base desires and appetites. The higher mind is a rare friend and benefactor because it imparts true counsels in the way of obtaining the supreme goal of life. The higher mind becomes your guiding Guru. Hear its sweet, small voice and follow its instructions. The voice of the pure mind is the voice of God. It is an infallible voice. In Gita you will find: “A man should uplift himself by his own self, so let him not weaken the Self. For, this self is the friend of oneself and this self is the enemy of oneself. The self is the friend of the self, for him who has conquered self, the self is inimical (and behaves) like (an external) foe for him who has not conquered the self.” (Chapter VI. 5-6). There is no other vessel on this earth to cross the ocean of Samsara than the mastery of the lower instinctive mind.

This world is a very big wheel. It is revolving unceasingly. The mind is the nave of this wheel. Those who are egoistic, proud, passionate and greedy are caught up in this wheel. If you can stop the mind from moving, the world-wheel will come to a standstill and you will be freed from the rounds of  births and deaths. If you wish to stop the mind from moving, you will have to annihilate egoism, pride, desire and greed.

It is the mind that is the root of the tree of Samsara with its thousands of shoots, branches, tender leaves and fruits. If you annihilate Sankalpas or thoughts, you can destroy the tree of Samsara at once. Destroy the Sankalpas as soon as they arise. The root will dry up through the annihilation of Sankalpas and the tree of Samsara will wither soon. This demands considerable patience and perseverance. No pains, no gains. You will be bathed in the ocean of bliss when all Sankalpas are extirpated. This state is indescribable. You will have to feel it yourself.

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• Cosmic Meditation

Yours in the service of Gurudev,

Pannirselvam

BOOK SYNOPSIS

Lectures on Yoga and Vedanta
by Sri Swami Sivananda

Yoga is an exact science. It aims at the harmonious development of the body, the mind and the soul. Yoga bestows perfection, peace and eternal bliss.

The path of Vedanta is the most natural. It is nothing but manifesting what you exactly are in essence.

Be Thyself. Thou art the resplendent Atman. Be rooted in this supreme consciousness. Eternity is thy very nature. Realise this now and here.

Deep as the ocean is thy life. Nothing can harm you. Thou art the all-pervading Immortal Soul.

It is mainly through books that we establish a connection with and obtain the fruits of a great mind’s lofty labours. This avenue is open to all. In their books the Great Ones present themselves before you, talk to you, giving you the most precious thoughts and ideas and pouring their souls into you.

The present book, ‘Lectures on Yoga and Vedanta’, is a collection of lectures given by Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj on different occasions.

It is earnestly hoped that the readers will be highly benefited by a study and practice of these lectures.

For more information, please see: Lectures on Yoga and Vedanta

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SUFFICIENT FOR THE DAY: The Master had completed his office work and was about to get up to leave. He said, “Sufficient for today. Now let us go.

“ ‘Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof’. Do you know its meaning?” he enquired of a disciple, and he himself answered, “It means that we should not worry about anything. We should not worry about the morrow.

God will take care of everything. Only we should take note of the evils done today so that we may not repeat them tomorrow.”

“Humanity is found to be so diverse with varying languages, cultures, customs, manners etc., that if we try to bring about a sort of superficial unity by forcing upon diverse mankind a single way of life, a single language, a single type of living, a single type of education, we will not succeed, because we will not touch the innermost core of the being in man. There is something much deeper than the appearance. The essential being of man has to be touched if the sense of unity is to be roused within him. Uniformity is not unity; it will always be only in appearance. Real unity is in the heart, in the feeling and being. The innermost being of man provides the ultimate rock-bottom basis of unity.” – Swami Chidananda

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