A Divine Life

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10th Anniversary CommemoratingSwami Vishnu-devananda’s Mahasamadhi

Over the next 16 pages YogaLife celebrates the life and worksof Swami Vishnu-devanandaji in words and pictures

Swami Vishnu-devananda

A Divine Life

a special tribute to

A short biography

Swami Vishnu-devananda was sent to the West in 1957by his Master with the words People are Waiting

In 1957 Swami Vishnu-devananda set out from thefoothills of the Himalayas to carry out the biddingof his teacher Swami Sivananda. His instructions

were to spread the teachings of yoga in the West.For 37 years, he worked tirelessly as an active anddedicated spiritual teacher travelling around theworld establishing city centres and ashrams wherehis work could be accomplished.

Swami Vishnu-devananda was born in the southIndian state of Kerala on December 31, 1927. Aftercompleting school he entered the Engineering Corpsof the Indian Army. It was while he was in the armythat he first met Swami Sivananda, one of the greatsaints of modern times. After being discharged fromthe army, Swamy Kuttan Nair, as he was then known,was a schoolteacher in his native Kerala for a shortwhile, before leaving his life behind and entering theSivananda Ashram in Rishikesh in 1947. Within ayear, he had embraced the order of sannyas with thename of Swami Vishnu-devananda.

Remaining at the Ashram for ten years, he wasappointed as the first Professor of Hatha Yoga at theYoga Vedanta Forest Academy. He held a number ofother positions at the Ashram, including personalsecretary to Swami Sivananda.

Upon leaving India for the West, Swami Vishnu-devananda spent a year travelling, arriving on theWest Coast of America in 1957.

It soon became apparent that Westerners wereso caught up in the whirlwind of their lives that theyneither knew how to relax nor how to live healthylives. Swami Vishnu-devananda devised the conceptof the Yoga Vacation and set about creating placeswhere people could have a complete rest of body,

mind and spirit. Several ashrams and city centres werefounded based on an integrated approach to yoga.

In 1969 the True World Order was established tocreate unity and understanding between peoples ofthe world. A unique Yoga Teachers’ Training Coursewas developed with the aim of bringing harmony inthe world by teaching the basics of yoga discipline.In 1971 Swami Vishnu-devananda made headlinesby flying around the world in his small two-seaterplane dropping flowers and leaflets of peace overtrouble spots of the world. He sponsored numerousfestivals, conferences, symposiums and world tours-all calling for peace and understanding.

In addition to being a tireless worker for worldpeace and inspiring teacher, Swami Vishnu-devananda is well known for his books The CompleteIllustrated Book of Yoga and Meditation and Mantras.Swami Vishnu-devananda left his body onNovember 9, 1993 leaving behind him a worldwideorganisation dedicated to propagating the ancientand timeless wisdom of yoga.

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Swami Vishnu-devananda – A Divine Life

Swami Vishnu-devananda

Below: SwamiVishnu-devananda – the yoga teacher

‘It soon became apparent thatWesterners were so caught up inthe whirlwind of their lives thatthey neither knew how to relaxnor how to live healthy lives’

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Ifirst heard about Swami Sivananda in astrange way. Looking in the waste paperbasket for a lost paper, I found one small

pamphlet called Sadhana Tattwa. His teachingswere so simple and straightforward, ‘an ounce ofpractice is worth a ton of theory.’

I got a couple of days’ leave of absence fromthe army and went to see him. There was no kindof religious hypocrisy, no sitting on a tiger skinwith ashes smeared all over his body. He had anextraordinary spiritual glow. The second time Isaw him, Swami Sivananda was coming up thestairs in my direction. I didn’t want to have tobow my head to him. I was young and arrogantand never wanted to bow my head to anybody –Swami, God-realised soul, or whoever – I didn’tcare. But it is the tradition that you should bowyour head to a holy man.

To avoid the situation, I just moved out of hispath. Master saw me and headed in my

Swami Vishnu-devananda remembers hisvery first contact with Swami Sivananda

How I met Master

‘He touched my heart not with miracles or showsof holiness, but with his perfect egoless nature’

Right: ‘I didn’t wantto have to bow myhead to him’

Above: SwamiSivananda (centre)with his closedisciples. SwamiVishnu-devanandawith arms folded

direction. He asked me who I was and where Iwas coming from. Then he bowed down andtouched my feet!! My whole body began toshake violently. With all my heart, with all my lifeand love, I learned to bow without any type ofreservation.

He touched my heart not with miracles orshows of holiness, but with his perfect egolessnature. He didn’t consider that I was just a stupidboy standing there, although I was just that. Hetouched my heart and broke that egoism in me. I didn’t think anything else in this world wouldhave broken this ego. That was my first lesson,and if I could attain one millionth of the state ofegolessness of the Master, it is His Grace."

"

m

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In 1968 Swami Vishnu-devananda had avision of the world being destroyed by fire,of people fleeing in turmoil breaking down

the barriers between nations in an attempt toescape. From that moment on, he embarkedon a series of peace missions whose purposewas to show ‘that the idea of nationalism, orpatriotism must disappear, and only one unityshould exist.’

In 1971 he made dangerous low-flyingtrips in his two-seater Piper Apache plane overareas of serious conflict including NorthernIreland, the Suez Canal and the India Pakistanborder ‘bombing’ these troubled areas withflowers and leaflets calling for peace.

In 1983 he gained world-wide recognitionwhen he made an historic and perilous journeyacross the Berlin Wall in a microlight airplane,

the first to be made by a private plane since thewall was erected twenty years previously. Hiscourage and fearlessness in these missions andin his work throughout his life can be summedup in these words "Many people have died forwar; if necessary I shall die for peace."

PEACE MISSIONSTHE

‘And so, my boundary breaking mission came. It came to symbolicallydemonstrate that the world planet is small. The time has come that thisidea of nationalism, of patriotism must disappear, and only one unityshould exist’ – Swami Vishnu-devananda

Designed by theartist Peter Max,Swamiji carriedthis passportonly, on all hispeace missionsaround the world

PLANET EARTHPASSPORT

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Taking off with his homemade Planet Earthpassport, Swami Vishnu-devananda flew firstto Northern Ireland, arriving on September 8,1971. Accompanied by his student, PeterSellers, he ‘bombed’ Belfast with rose petalsand leaflets urging peace.

His next stop was Egypt where Arabs andIsraeli armies faced each other from oppositebanks of the Suez Canal. Ignoring danger fromanti-aircraft batteries and military jets, he flewsouth with his co-pilot Bren Jacobson fromPort Said on October 8, ‘bombing’ troopsalong the canal with flowers and peace leafletsprinted in Arabic and Hebrew. When helanded in Cairo, he was taken prisoner,blindfolded, and interrogated for three daysbefore his release.

Belfast Ireland 1971A Plea for Tolerance

Suez Canal Middle East 1971Drop Flowers not Bombs

Above: Handing out peaceleaflets to heavily armedBritish troops in Belfast

Above: An ever-courageousSwami Vishnu-devananda sitsin Padmasana on the wing ofhis plane before one of hismissions

Top and left: Swami Vishnu-devananda and his two-seaterPiper Apache plane painted bythe artist Peter Max

Right: Swami Vishnu-devananda at the controls

Left: Swamiji demonstrating the pointthat the world was ‘topsy turvy’ onthe wing of his Piper Apache plane

‘A Swami ‘Bombs’ Suezwith Leaflets for Peace’ – The New York Times Oct 6th 1971

‘All my years of flying had only onepurpose – to break the boundarieswithout passport and visa’

‘The leaflets and flowerswere flying everywhere;they were all over. It was abeautiful sight – like whitedoves everywhere’

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On September 15th, 1983, at the height of theCold War, Swami Vishnu-devananda flew hisone-seater ultra-light aircraft over the BerlinWall. His purpose was to demonstrate hisconviction that the barriers between peoplemust be broken down –"to fly as a bird flies,without regard for borders or boundaries."

It was November 1989. The Berlin wall was about to fall. Swami Vishnu-devananda held a peace demonstration at ‘Checkpoint Charlie’ and theBrandenburg Gate where pigeons and hundreds of brightly colouredballoons were released to celebrate this momentous occasion.

Berlin Germany 1983Over the Berlin Wall

Berlin Germany 1989The Wall Comes Down

Right: Heading East –Flying over the wall

Bottom Right: Swamijiloads up with chrysanth-emum petals to scatterover the divided city

Below: Swami Vishnu-devananda leads peaceprocession through streetsof West Berlin

Left: clockwise – Releasing doves,thanking East German PresidentEgon Krenz for opening the Wall,peace balloons in front of theBrandenburg Gate

Right: Reunited with the EastGerman farmer in whose fieldSwamiji’s plane landed in 1983

‘Symbolically we want to show thatlove and flowers can overcomebarriers better than bombs’

‘Swami Vishnu-devananda has todaysuccessfully flown over the wall from West toEast Berlin in a symbolic bid for world peace.By this mission he has shown that it is onlyman-made boundaries that separate East fromWest, nation from nation, man from man. Onlywhen we recognise the unity of mankind willthere be any hope of universal peace’

‘Swamiji thanked the East GermanPresident in the name of all thepeace-loving people of the world’

Soon after take-off, the following telegramwas sent to all the major world leaders

A Telegram to the World’s Leaders

The following message wasprinted on hundreds ofcelebratory balloons

‘Thank you Mr Gorbachevfor bringing world peaceand breaking not onlythe Berlin Wall, but theman made East-Westboundaries’

Message of Thanks

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In 1984, Swami Vishnu outfitted a Londondouble-decker bus marked "Yoga for Peace" and had it driven overland through Europe,Iran and Pakistan into the Punjab, where he tried to mediate between Hindu and Sikhfactions in Amritsar. Entering the Golden Templeaccompanied by a small entourage, he spoketo Sikh leaders who were then fortressed within.A few days later he held a Yoga for PeaceFestival. Over two thousand people came to add their support to his peace campaign.

With his love of humanity, Swamiji had no fear ofvisiting these territories on one of his incomparable"flower and peace leaflet" peace bombings.Three cars full of enthusiastic but nervous yogastudents travelled with Swamiji to the military guardpost outside Kalkaliya, a small town on the West Bankof the River Jordan. The contingent of sixteen, mainlyIsraeli nationals, were not sure how the inhabitants ofthe town would react to them. The media had beentelling the public to avoid such areas. But Swamiji waswith us and his presence was like a rock; what harmcould there be?

It took about half an hour for the soldiers tocomplete formalities; then we were led into the villageby two military jeeps. Despite the quietness of kafiya-crowned Arabs slowly milling around, we felt a rathereerie vibration. We parked the vehicles and emergedinto the unknown environment. The streets werelined at short intervals with Israeli soldiers, heavy riflesmenacingly hung from their shoulders. We were toldnot to depend on the soldiers to protect us. Just theday before they themselves had been victims ofvicious stone-throwing.

The first thing Swamiji did was to enter apharmacy. His exuberance took the proprietors bystorm and soon the flowers and pamphlets weredelivered. Fortunately they knew English; Swamijiexplained his purpose; it was happily accepted. Aspirit of friendship and love was created. Returning tothe street, Swamiji left his band of disciples topersonally offer flowers and pamphlets to eachperson he met. Each individual was taken by surprise.At one point Swamiji handed flowers and pamphletsto an older Palestinian man. Holding the man’s handfirmly in his own, Swamiji spoke, his voice full ofurgency, of the need to love in peace. The man spokeno English, Swamiji no Arabic. As Swamiji lookeddeeply into the man’s eyes, a very deep level ofcommunication took place. One of the staff watchingthe situation remarked that it was like Swamiji giving initiation.

After ‘conquering’ a few blocks, Swamiji sat downon a small traffic island in the middle of the street. Asdisciples followed suit, he broke into loud chanting forpeace. Soldiers watched smilingly and withincredulity. Some even approached, asking for flyers.Looking up the street, one could feel the powerfulvibration set up by Swamiji. One could hardly believeany longer that this was a battlefield. As the chantingcontinued two young Arab women approached.There were shy to speak to Swamiji directly. Howeveran introduction was soon made and they beganspeaking, as though to an older uncle. One, ajournalist complained about how badly the Israeligovernment was treating them. Swamiji listenedsympathetically and spoke in a loving way of the needto open up dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians.

- Swami Padmapadananda

The West Bank Israel 1989The Intifada

Above: Accompanied by studentsSwamiji visits the village ofKalkaliya, on the Israeli-occupiedWest Bank, during a particularlyexplosive period of Israeli-Palestinian history

Above: Meeting SantBrindiwale (top), theGolden Temple (left) andMeeting Sant Longowal

Left: The Yoga Peace Buswhich drove all the wayoverland from London,England to India

Amritsar India 1984Inside the Golden Temple

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Left: Sivananda Ashram,Rishikesh, India – Swami Vishnu-devananda demonstratingthe twelve basic postures

‘Health is Wealth. Peace of Mind is Happiness.Yoga shows the Way.’- Swami Vishnu-devananda

5 6

8

9 10 11


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Left: Advanced Crow Variation – The Cock Kukutasan

THE HATHA YOGI

1 2 3 4

7

BENEFITS OF THE ASANAS

1 Headstand – SirshasanStimulates the pineal and pituitary glands,revitalising the entire mind and body

2 Shoulderstand – SarvangasanBalances the thyroid gland which regulatesmetabolism; relieves depression and insomnia

3 Plough – HalasanRejuvenates the entire spine; relievesindigestion and constipation

4 Fish – MatsyasanStrengthens and cleans the respiratory system;calms the emotions

5 Forward Bend – PaschimottanasanIncreases digestive power; invigorates theentire nervous system

6 Cobra – BhujangasanTones the deep and superficial muscles of theback; tones the adrenal glands

7 Locust – SalabhasanMassages the pancreas, liver and kidneys;relieves lower back pain and sciatica

8 Bow – Dhanurasan (pose shown is the Full Bow)Removes abdominal fat; improves bloodcirculation; regulates the pancreas

9 Half Spinal Twist – Ardha Matsyendrasan(pose shown is the Full Spinal Twist)Tones and stimulates the sympathetic nervoussystem; stimulates the liver and large intestine

10 Crow – KakasanStrengthens arms, wrists and shoulders;promotes mental and physical balance

11 Standing Forward Bend – Pada HastasanIncreases blood supply to the brain; makesthe spine elastic

12 Triangle – TrikonasanRelieves nervous depression; strengthens thepelvic area; tones the abdominal organs

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Your body and mind might makemistakes; but your Soul remains pure, itis the witness to the action. There is

nothing wrong with making mistakes, we all doit. The baby soul – we are all baby soulsotherwise we would not be on earth – mustcommit some mistakes during the process ofevolution. The purpose of coming to earth isto make mistakes and learn by them. Mistakesare our best teachers.

Without mistakes we do not grow. Everytime we make a mistake, some kind of pain

comes as a consequence. Then we turn awayfrom the painful experience, just like a child.The other day I saw a little girl sitting by an oillamp looking at it longingly. She wanted topour oil into it, but her father had told her no.She kept quiet for a while, but the moment herfather looked away, she tried to pour oil in andwas burned. She now knows to keep clear ofthe lamp. We all learn like this, throughsuffering. Without suffering we do not grow.Through suffering we learn the differencebetween right and wrong and we start to

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Say Karma Swami Vishnu-devananda

‘Without mistakes we do not grow. Every time we make a mistake,some kind of pain comes as a consequence. Then we turn awayfrom the painful experience, just like a child’

There is no such thing as sin. Sin is another word for a mistake.

Never

question what it is that we are doing wrong.And we try fruitlessly to find a way we canescape suffering the consequences of ouractions!

But because there is no sin this does notmean you can do anything you want; that noone has seen what you are doing, that there isno witness. There is one witness who watchesyour action all the time, even when you sleep.That witness is God or Soul – the name doesnot matter. You think no one has seen theaction, but still your Soul has seen. You cannever escape from this witness however hardyou try. However much you try to camouflageyour action, there will be a witness and therewill always be a karmic reaction. That is thelaw. You can't escape your karma, your action.Whatever action you do, it comes back to you.Today Bharata gave me some sweets; at somepoint in the future when he is in pain or indifficulty, someone will give to him. But if hecame and stole sweets from my house, then ata later date there would be a negative reactionand he would suffer.

There are ways you can escape from thissuffering. One of these is to follow the path of

jnana yoga; you identify with the Self, the pureSelf, the Soul who witnesses.

If you write a beautiful poem, it is not thepen that moves or the hand that writes that arepraised, it is the intellect and the mind behindthe pen and hand that receive the credit. Youare considered creative, intelligent andsensitive to have written such a poem. Thejnani goes one step further and says behindeven the intellect there is the witness, the Souland that the mind and the intellect are just areflection of the Soul. The jnani does notidentify with the mind, the body or the action.He sees them as separate from his true Self.The jnani separates the actor from the acting.

Once you realise that you are the Self theconcept of ‘sin’ rolls away like water off a lotusleaf. The Soul, like the lotus leaf, is notaffected by any wrong action or good action.The problems come only when we do notidentify with the Soul. We identify with ourbody and our actions. We see ourselves asdoing good actions or bad actions, or weblame ‘karma’ for our situation. This is amistake. Gurudev used to exhort us to exert.Do purushartha. Do tapas. Concentrate.Purify. Meditate, he would tell us.

When we look at karma there are twoaspects to consider: firstly karma which is theaction you perform and its result, as in "mykarma has brought all these problems to me,"and secondly, purushartha which is action youperform through your will, or will power. Weknow that once an action is performed, wecannot change the result. We will reap thefruits. But we have full control over the actionwe are going to perform, now or in the future.The mistake you made in the past has put you

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Above: SwamiVishnu-devanandapractises anulomaviloma pranayama

‘Do intensepranayama,japa, asanas,service,karma yoga,and thingswill come toyou. It is notmoney thatbrings youwhat youwant. It isthe powerof thought’

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in the painful condition you are now in. So re-member that if you do a negative action, youwill have pain. The trick is to avoid the action.You have full control over the actions you aregoing to perform, as the man who has arrowsin the quiver has full control over thesearrows. He can shoot anywhere he wants;right, left, above. Or he can just not shoot andput the arrow away. But once the arrow hasgone from the bow he then has no control, it istoo late. Similarly as long as an action is notperformed, as long as it only exists in the mindthen you still can control that action bystopping it. But once that action is performedyou have no control over it and it willinevitably generate a reaction.

So you need to use purushartha, free will,use effort to exert. You can promise yourselfthat you will get up in the morning andmeditate. But then you wake up and roll overblaming bad karma and go back to sleep!!!This is wrong. You have full control over yourpresent and future actions. So purushartha –exert. Exert! Never say karma. Otherwise,you will have to suffer. No one else can do thesuffering for you. You can go to a party, getdrunk and eat all the turkey you want, andthen get sick. That's up to you. But once youhave learned from where the suffering comes,then you can avoid the actions that cause it.This is the purpose of the suffering.

You are all free. We are here to work outour karma. If a thing has to happen, it will. Ifnot, it won't. It depends on our past actions,on what we have done in the past. You cannotchange that. You cannot run away.

Do not be a fatalist. Do not yield to inertia.Do not bleat like a lamb. Swami Sivanandaused to say, roar OM OM OM like a lion ofVedanta. Look how Markandeya who wasdestined to die in his sixteenth year became achiranjivi - an immortal boy of sixteen. Heprayed to Lord Siva. He concentrated on LordSiva's statue and held it. Lord Yama – the Lordof Death – put out his jaws to take his soul andastral body out from the physical body, but theboy was so strong in his will power and sodevoted to Lord Siva that Yama's jaws couldnot reach him. He escaped. And he hasbecome permanently living, an immortal. Soyou can change your karma through youraction, through your will. You can perform anaction with knowledge of the consequence oryou can act blindly, with no heed to the future.

No one is given special status by God.There is no doubt that whatever others havedone you can also do. You create your ownstanding, and you can change it because youcreated it yourself. Similarly you can changeyour nature. You must always understand thatyou are the master of your destiny. If thingsgo wrong, you can always change direction.You can work miracles if you apply yourself tospiritual sadhana such as tapas andmeditation, Om Namo Narayanaya mantra andpranayama. When you practise these youautomatically increase your thought power.

Develop a programme for your life. I'm nottalking egoistically now, but if I had left Indiathinking that someone would help me, then Iwould never have left. There was no money.But I knew that by hard work – not only hardphysical work, but also mental work – byintense pranayama and intense japa, I wouldbe able to go. All these things strengthen themind and body and then everything comes toyou. Nothing happens by accident. Forexample once I was in London and we badlyneeded some money for the Centre.Suddenly, at midnight, a call comes telling usthat we had received a donation of $80,000. Idid not know the donor nor did I know why hewas giving. All I knew was that we neededmoney. It was and is all God's Grace.

Do intense pranayama, japa, asanas,service, karma yoga, etc. and things will cometo you. It is not money that brings you whatyou want. It is the power of thought. Whenyou do something negative, instead of havingthe next meal, do ten japa mala. Your willpower will increase and your mind willstrengthen. And the power is stored; it isnever lost. Because his motive was pure, thestudent who gave $80,000, will receive


‘If I hadleft Indiathinkingthatsomeonewouldhelp me,then Iwouldneverhave left’

Above: Arrivingin the West

‘You must always understand that you are the master of your destiny’

dividends in this life; as well as in the next life,and the next. If he had put the money in thebank, or bought stocks and shares with thatmoney what would have happened to thestock ……... Crash!

I have just created a bank in Gangotri, onthe top of Vishnu peak, called the Om NamoNarayanaya Bank!! I have put all the OmNamo Narayanaya mantras written by studentsinto the bank, and buried them in a cave there.And I am quite sure that dividends will comeout of them from which you also will benefit.

Everyone's thought in the form of thewritten mantra is buried there. And becausewe know that mantra has power, all those OmNamo Narayanaya mantras are continuallyradiating power. Most people do notunderstand this power. They understand onlypaper money, diamonds, or gold which holdno permanency. Today the diamond isvaluable; the next day worthless. Today youown lots of dollars, and, the next day they havegone. Is it not better to meditate, repeat OmNamo Narayanaya, have no money and worryabout nothing?

Even if everything collapses tomorrow youwill still have your clothes. If you can say that,you are richer than billionaires. With all themoney they have they cannot buy the peaceyou have, the freedom you have, the innerstrength you have. You don't have to run forthe tranquillisers -- sleeping pills and wake-uppills – or fight alcoholism. How free you are.Understand this freedom you have that youcannot buy. I have nothing. Even so, with onlythis pair of clothes, I can go anywhere in theworld. Remember that all that you give comesback to you. As you start giving, everythingstarts coming to you in a different way. Youmay not be able to see things physically, butyour mind becomes stronger and morepowerful. Your thought becomes powerful.Things will just materialise for you, by merethought alone. Have renunciation. Do

everything in the service of the humanity.Then you will have everything.

Finally, become desireless. If you have nodesire, you are the king of kings. Even Indra,the king of the heaven, is like a beggar. Hewants all the comforts and conveniences. Heachieved his position through good action andcharity, but that will also disappear. He worriesabout who will take his post, like a worldlyman. But I can sleep comfortably in my housewith no worries. I always pray to Gurudev notto give too much money. Money is the worstthing; all you need is just enough to keep yourhead above water – that is enough. Then youwill have to work and through work you willlearn the right path. You will learn that thefuture is dependent upon God, and not on abank balance or the stock market. The stockmarket collapsed yesterday, and yet no onehere despaired. Instead we have peace andlove and compassion. Help others and do notworry about money. If you have money, use itfor the good of humanity. Here life is takencare of through Gurudev and God. Have fullfaith in God and Gurudev. There is nothing toworry about. When you give, everyone startsgiving. Then the world becomes heaven.

That's Gurudev's message today. May Lordbless you all.

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‘You are all free. We are here towork out our karma. If a thing hasto happen, it will. If not, it won't.It depends on our past actions, onwhat we have done in the past.You cannot change that. Youcannot run away’

Below: The EarlyDays – Hard work,self effort andGod’s grace

Above: Radiating‘Thought power’ – The Om NamoNarayanaya Bankon the top ofVishnu Peak,Himalayas

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Iscream, you scream, we all scream for icecream!" Swamiji absolutely loved ice cream.And what he loved even more than eating it

himself, was making sure that everyone else waseating it too. At every special occasion, rangingfrom a staff-only Karma Yoga night to a birthdayparty, to the TTC talent show, radiating pure joySwamiji would call out, " Ice cream for everyone!!!"followed of course, by the jingle above.

I am, as my Kids’ Camp peers appropriatelylabelled me, an Ashram baby. My parents,Swami Srinivasananda and Laksmi Ashley, meteach other in the Sivananda Centre in Paris, weremarried in the Yoga Camp in Canada, and as theirchild I have lived in the ashrams founded bySwami Vishnu-devananda all my life. Therewould be no Sivakami Ashley without Swamiji.Swami Vishnu-devananda has influenced nearlyevery aspect of my identity. He joined myparents, created my home, and taught me theyogic philosophy which so often colours mythoughts. However, rather than using these fewpages to dwell on myself, I much prefer to sharemy fond memories of this saintly man.

When I was only eight years old, Swamiji lefthis physical body. Therefore, my memories ofhim are that of a little girl: very blurred, morecoloured with feelings than with facts. Iremember loving Swamiji very much. Perhapsyou could compare my relationship with him tothe relationship one has with a lovinggrandparent. It was a combination of adorationand respect. Similar to a grandparent Swamijiloved to spoil me, ignoring completely thedisapproval of my parents. I adored ice cream asmuch as Swamiji enjoyed giving it and this madeus a wonderful pair. My mother, however, wasof the opinion that ice cream gave me a stuffynose and therefore did her best to keep me fromhaving it. Swamiji’s demands that she give meice cream did not please her in the least. Oneday, I remember this very clearly, a karma yoga

night was scheduled and every one knew whatwould follow: ICE CREAM! My mother decidedthat she would sneak me a sherbet substituteand no one would ever know. Well I certainlyknew, and when Swamiji found out, to make along story short, I got my beloved ice cream.

I was very fond of Swamiji. As a child I loved"lap hopping", that is, sitting on one person’s lapfor a few moments and then moving on toanother. Satsang of course was the perfectopportunity for this, and as I made my rounds,Swamiji´s lap was never forgotten. His, after thatof my mother’s, was my favourite. My movingabout surely disrupted the satsang he was giving,but Swamiji never seemed to mind. I onlyremember him smiling.

When I was five years old Swamiji initiatedme into my mantra for a second time. Before Iwas born, Swamiji had already decided that mymantra would be OM NAMAH SIVAYA and thatif I were a boy my name would be Sivaram, girl,Sivakami. When, after nine months, I enteredthe world as a girl, Swamiji blessed me with myspiritual name and mantra. At the age of five,however, I realised that I could not remember myinitiation and therefore decided to accompanymy Kids’ Camp friends who were to receiveinitiation. All the children who wanted a nameand/or mantra put on their cleanest Kids’ Campuniform, prepared a gift of flowers and fruit, andwalked down to Swamiji’s house singing OMNAMO NARAYANAYA in unison. When wearrived, Swamiji separated us into sections,depending on what mantra we had chosen. Hethen went to each group, placed the three sacredpowders on each member’s forehead, and thenrepeated the group’s mantra until the groupjoined him chanting their mantra correctly andwith full prana. I can remember having to pull mybangs back, (it was still the 80s) while Swamijiplaced, first the sandalwood paste, this felt verycool, then the red kumkum, neutralising the

‘I adored ice cream as much asSwamijienjoyedgiving it andthis made usa wonderfulpair’

Sivakami Ashley remembersher favourite ‘grandfather’

Swamiji"

coldness, and finally the three lines of ash on myforehead. As he sang my mantra with me Irealised how incredibly beautiful those threewords sounded. After the initiation there weresweets and ice cream for everyone!

When Swamji was not too busy, I would rundown the long dirt path which led to his housecarrying a bouquet of wild flowers as a gift.Swami Kartikeyananda would always greet me atthe door ready to offer me some sweets andplastacine. Then, accompanied by my treasures, Iwould make my way up the dingy, carpeted stairsand into Swamiji´s room. I remember the staircasebeing very dark, a sharp contrast to the brightroom in which I would meet Swamiji. I remembera whole wall of this room was a window and in thesummer I loved to gaze at the rather large pondbelow, ornamented here and there by a lily flower.

When I was very young, four perhaps, Iwould find Swamiji sitting up in his hammocksmiling at the world outside. I would offer myflowers, and sit cross-legged on the floor. It wasthen that he would tell me stories. His storieswere very simple, but they stuck in my youngmind, carrying seeds of vedanta. Swamiji´sfavourite story to tell me was about a family ofmice and a "meditating" cat.

The story ran like this: Once upon a time tenmice lived in a field. One day a fat cat moved inas their neighbour. However, because this clevercat was clothed in orange robes, sported ashstreaks in the appropriate places, and sat crossed-legged on a tiger cloth with his eyes closed, themice assumed that he was harmless. Theythought to themselves, look, this cat is dressedlike a Yogi. Yogis are vegetarian and practise non-violence so we have nothing to fear. Naivelythese mice went on their way, living their lives asthey had before. That night, however, onemouse was missing. At this moment Swamijiwould ask me, "And now Sivakami, how manymice are there?" Every night another mousewent missing until there were no mice left at all.

In addition to teaching me how to count, andcount backwards at that, Swamiji´s story taughtme that a person’s appearance does not dictatetheir inner nature. The unfortunate mice of thisstory mistakenly placed their faith in the yogi-likeattire and ignored that it was a cat that wore it.Thus, Swamiji explained to me that I must lookbeyond the physical appearance of a person andinstead consider the nature of their inner being. Ibelieve that this story has many layers of

meaning. As I mature I may understand itsdeeper truths.

Swamiji’s second favourite story for myafternoon visits was a humorous explanation ofkarma. The story depicted the relationshipbetween a man and a tomato. Imitating the man,Swamiji would say, "Look at this juicy tomato. Itlooks sooooooo good!" He would then pretend tobe biting into a big, plump tomato that filled hisentire right hand. Next, taking a narrator’sposition, Swamiji would tell me that several yearshad gone by and that the man had passed away.His family, being aware of his love for tomatoes,had kindly planted a tomato bush over his grave.Now, the tomato plant is flourishing and hascome to fruit. Thinking to itself, the tomato plantsays, "How delicious, this body tastes sooooogood!" Through this little story Swamijiexplained to a little girl the basic nature of karma.He told me that I was no more important than thetomato. All actions will have a balanced reaction.Therefore, the idea of power is completelyillusory. My food today, which I pretend to havecomplete control over, will one day, eat me. Theman and the tomato in Swamiji´s story are equallysignificant and powerful. The only differencebetween the two is that one has had control overthe other at a different time.

When I was six years old, Swamiji had hissecond stroke. This removed his ability to walk aswell as to speak. His story-telling days had cometo an end. I continued to visit him, however, stillcarrying my flowers and still being warmlywelcomed by Swami Kartikeyananda. I would findhim in a bed rather than a hammock, but Icontinued to sit beside him, cross-legged on thefloor. Swamiji´s room was filled with books, andso, instead of listening to his stories I now spentmy visits flipping through the pages of a book withinteresting pictures. Even though he no longerspoke, sitting beside him in silence I rememberfeeling his love. Swamiji loved everyone.

Swami Vishnu-devananda passed away whenI was nine years old. I remember being surprisedthat I was not sad that he had died. His energy inthe organisation was so strong I felt that he hadn´tleft. Today I continue to feel his presence in mydaily life, that he is watching over me and makingsure that I am as spoiled as possible. He is mygrandfather, my teacher, my inspiration.

Autumn 2003 43

‘Even though he no longerspoke, sitting beside him insilence I remember feeling hislove. Swamiji loved everyone’

Right: Sivakamiwith SwamiVishnu-devanandaand friend

Above: Swamijiloved everyone –Snap-shots duringYoga Kids’ Camp inVal Morin Canada.Sivakami is inbottom row centre

44 Autumn 2003

THE THREE BAGSMaster always carried three ordinary cloth bags.One contained the important correspondencewhich he would give to the various swamis incharge of various departments. Anothercontained his personal things: fountain pens,glasses, and so forth. The third contained fruits,nuts and snacks. You may wonder why. Theyweren’t for him. The basic philosophy of SwamiSivananda is "Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate,Realise". Serve and love and give. Without givingyou can’t serve and love. If you keep everythingfor yourself and say, "O yes, I love you all," and ifyou eat without giving something to others,that’s not loving. You have to show your love inaction. So Master served and loved. He sharedeverything, everything, he never kept anything.If there were two fruits, he would immediatelygive one to others and then he’d eat part of theother one.

UNCONDITIONAL LOVEI would carry Master’s things as we walked fromhis kutir to the office and the other devoteeswould be following. Master would walk in thefront and on the way he would deliver tidbits. It was only about a fifteen minute walk and hedidn’t talk much, but sometimes he would makethe trip a little longer by stopping to tell a fewanecdotes or ask a few questions aboutsomeone’s welfare or health. Maybe a new guesthad come and he would say, "How are you?Where do you come from? Do you keep aspiritual diary?" Then he would ask after theirspiritual welfare and their family affairs. He washappy to encourage and help in any way peoplewanted him to. Each of the devotees thoughtthat Master took special care of him, loved himmore than anyone else. I also felt Sivananda lovedme more than anyone else. All of the devoteesthought the same thing. "Sivananda loves memore than anyone else." That’s the beauty of agreat master. I actually think that only one otherperson had this quality: Lord Krishna. When Hewas in the physical world every gopi thought thatKrishna loved her better than any other gopibecause they reached oneness with Him. In thisway we were all happy to be near Master and toget this feeling, more and more each day.

Swami Vishnu-devananda remembers his time at SivanandaAshram, Rishikesh, India with Swami Sivananda

Memories of Master

‘He shared everything,everything, he neverkept anything’

Above: With the Master – (toppicture) Swami Vishnu on left.(Bottom picture) Swami Vishnuimmediately behind Master

Left: Swami Vishnu-devanandawith Swami Sivananda

‘Each of thedevoteesthoughtthat Mastertook specialcare of him,loved himmore thananyone else’

FOR FURTHER DETAILS CONTACTany Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre, Ashram or

www.sivananda.org

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A Divine Life