Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya! Namaste! *Essence of Yoga Vasishtha* by Sri Swami Sivananda If the four sentinels that wait at the gates of Moksha—Shanti (peace), Vichara (Atmic enquiry), Santosh (contentment) and Satsanga (association with the wise)—be befriended, then there will be no obstacle to the attainment of the final emancipation. Even if one of them be befriended, he will introduce you to the rest of his companions. If you attain knowledge o ...Continue Reading

Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya! Namaste! *Spiritualisation of Human Nature* by Sri Swami Sivananda The petty, obstinate egoism which actuates the human personality is a serious obstacle in meditation or the path of Self-realisation. This little self-arrogating principle supports its surface thoughts and dominates its habitual ways of feeling, character and action. This is Rajasic and Tamasic egoism which conceals or covers the higher, divine, Sattvic n ...Continue Reading

Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya! Namaste! *The Dynamics of Selfless Service* by Sri Swami Sivananda Before proceeding to consider the bearing that the Ethics of the Bhagavad Gita has upon the various aspects of human conduct, it is important to emphasise that the cosmic love that forms the fundamental basis of these ethics is not an ideal to be fondly meditated upon, nor an idol to be bowed to from a distance, nor even an idler’s subject-for-gossip. Cos ...Continue Reading

Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya! Namaste! *The Liberating Wisdom at Our Doorsteps* by Sri Swami Chidananda Painful experiences are inevitable in this life, but bliss is your birthright. The presence of bliss is the absolute Reality. Your attainment is absolutely assured, but it unfolds to the extent that you really long for it. Your highest welfare lies in attaining the eternal that we call God. Life is a journey towards Him, and all aspects of our life ...Continue Reading

Om Namah Sivaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya! Namaste! *Sivaratri – A Celebration of Transcendence* by Sri Swami Krishnananda Glory to God Who Alone can be regarded as glorious, Whose glory is reflected in the glory of this world, and the shadow of Whose glory is the magnificence of all this Earthly pageantry. To that great Lord Who is amusing Himself with a play of hide and seek under our very nose here, Who instructs us and teaches us, at the same ...Continue Reading

Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya! Namaste! *Svarnakesa* by Sri Swami Sivananda ONCE UPON a time there lived a Mahatma in a beautiful valley of the Himalayas. He had a small cottage made of grass on the banks of the river Bhagirathi. He was content with what he got by chance and was leading a very happy life, spending his time in divine contemplation. It so happened that one fine morning the thought entered his mind that he should leave his Himalayan sol ...Continue Reading

Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya! Namaste! *What Does A New Year Mean To You?* by Sri Swami Chidananda Revered Immortal Atman! I have addressed you as "Revered Immortal Atman". This address contains the message for the New Year! When Swamiji writes a letter, he does not begin it with "My dear John" or "My dear Govind", but he begins with "Revered Immortal Atman" or "Glorious Immortal Atman". This mode o ...Continue Reading

Om Sri Durgayai Namah! Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya! Namaste! *Navaratri Message: Our Worship of the Threefold Justice of the Cosmos* by Sri Swami Krishnananda Twice a year there is a religious custom in India to observe a unique festive worship for the great Mother of the universe, these two occasions of worship being called the Vasanta Navaratri and Sharada Navaratri festivals. The seasonal changes in spring and autumn are generally periods when ou ...Continue Reading

Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya! Namaste! What Makes Swami Chidananda So Special! by Sri Swami Paramananda In Ananda Kutir, even a few of the important workers who are in charge of the Divine Life Society, Forest University and other major institutions, do not mix with others much. Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj has started hundreds of sections of work to suit the taste and temperament of various types of /sadhakas; /and the workers or inmates are too busy to move closely with one anothe ...Continue Reading

Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya! Namaste! *Karma Can Be Transformed Into Yoga* by Sri Swami Sivananda If you always keep the goal of Self-realisation before you all the time you will have quick progress. No doubt, you are eternal; no doubt you have eternity before you. You are deathless. You are beyond the bounds of time. It is true; but let this not slacken your efforts to realise the Self in this birth. You do not know when you will get this human bir ...Continue Reading