A Glimpse of

ParamahamsaOmkarananda Saraswati

His Lineage and His Mission

OMKARANANDA — HIS LIFE, HIS TRADITION, HIS MISSION

Question:

The Journalist of the monthly newspaper HINDUISMTODAY asked the inmates of your Ashrams to describe you.We know the descriptions of you by them and by thousandothers. We need to have a description of yourself by your-self. Who are you, Swami Omkarananda?

Answer:

Who Am I? — Before I was born, I was. After I die, Iwill be. A timeless Being came from, and into, timelessEternity. Time was formed, and time is dissolved, and I remainwhat I have always been, a Being with depths to which there isno beginning, and heights to which there is no end.

Since the supreme Divinity as the Timeless Eternityand as the Time Eternity — Sadashiva Tripurasundari — isdwelling in my Heart, Life, Consciousness, and as there is nodifference between That and Me and Me and That, I am dwell-ing in the Soul of all Gods and Goddesses, all Saints andSages, all beings visible and invisible. And, yet I am what Iam, the Transcendent Reality. If you know here on earth thegreatest Sage, Saint, Guru, the greatest clairvoyant, prophet,or anyone to whom supernormal power of perception, or any-one to whom daily contact with God, is attributed — then, askthat person, who Swami Omkarananda is. He will confirm toyou that the only true and correct description of SwamiOmkarananda is the one he himself has given.

Question:

What is your Tradition and what is your Mission, SwamiOmkarananda?

Answer:

Tradition

My tradition is the tradition of the Truth in your inner heart.It is the tradition of the Divine everywhere. I have no traditionas the learned intelligence understands. If I had a tradition, Iwould be localised. I would belong to some creed, some reli-gion, some denomination, some Sampradaya, I would not beuniversal, not belong to all religions, all cultures, and yettranscend all religions, all cultures. I have no tradition exceptthe tradition of traditionless self-expressions of the Experienceof the one Truth.

Mission

I will not stop the activity of my being, not rest idle, untilevery creature in Creation and all of the Creation itself, istouched with the Light Eternal, until every individual entitygains in living experience the Love, the Peace, the Happinessand the fulfilment of the infinite One.

ParamahamsaOmkarananda Saraswati

His Lineage and his Himalayanand European Ashrams

Questions raised by Mr. Malik, Representative and Journalist in New Delhi, of

HINDUISM TODAY, the Hindu Family Newspaper,

published monthly in eight editions: North America, India, UK/Europe, Africa,

Mauritius, Singapore-Malaysia, a DutchLanguage Digest and the World Wide Web

Kauai’s Hindu Monastery107 Katholalele Road, Kapaa, Hawaii 96746, U.S.A.

Phone: (808) 822-3012FAX: (808) 822-4351

and our Answers1996

Omkarananda Ashram HimalayasSri Durga Mandir, Omkarananda Saraswati Road

P.O. Shivanandanagar 249 192,Town Muni-ki-Reti

Dist. Tehri Garhwal, U.P., Himalayas

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PUBLISHERS’ NOTE

Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami’s HINDUISMTODAY, a Newspaper circulated the world over, asked inthe form of questions for a description of ParamahamsaParivrajakacharya Sadguru Sri Swami OmkaranandaSaraswati and his Himalayan and European Ashrams.

The Answers have taken the form of this publi-cation. Can one present a verbal picture of a MysticSage rooted in the experience of the transcendentalTruth? Not possible. The life of this living liberated Man,Jivanmukta, Omkarananda Saraswati, a Brahmajnani(brahmavit brahmaiva bhavati) permanently settled inunconditioned and all-independent joy, peace, fearless-ness, and a dignity that can only belong to the divine Re-ality, is inward and invisible, though the traits of his dailyconsciousness, delineated here in this line, are palpableto an appreciable extent to our eyes. It is a life that staysbeyond mind and its words; it also remains supremelyuntouched by sky-high glorifications claiming howeverjustifiably fidelity to reality or by the green-eyed monsterjealousy’s death-dealing, self-destroying defamationsfalsely asserting themselves to be a progeny of facts.Only a Sage can truly know and really describe a Sage,and even here it is still on the surface, though we havehere universally valid knowledge obtained by inner iden-tity with the subject of description: for instance, whenOmkarananda writes on Sivananda. And, who shall de-scribe Omkarananda? Yet, for the public any inadequatedescription is better than no description. Here is one.

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And, when Omkarananda Saraswati was himselfasked repeatedly to present to the enquirers his own bio-graphical sketch, he always answered in three words:Aham Brahma Asmi.

July 1996

Dr. H. Eckert

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CONTENTS

PART I:

Questions for a Description of Omkarananda raisedby HINDUISM TODAY, a world-wide Newspaper, USA

1. Swami Omkarananda, His Guru, HisLineage, His Activities 7

2. The Central Teachings: See and ServeGod everywhere in all His Creation andalso Experience Him in His Transcendence 14

3. Services and Facilities of OmkaranandaAshram 16

4. Religious Freedom in OmkaranandaSchools and Colleges 20

5. The Spirit and the Background of theAshram Inmates 24

6. Views on a Controversial Subject 27

7. The Moral Law on abortion and thePrinciple of Brahmacharya 27

8. The 24-Hours Prayers and Worship inOmkarananda’s European Ashram since1974 and their Benefits for all Mankind 29

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9. Omkarananda’s Successor from the Divineand the Organisational Standpoints 30

10. Omkarananda Ashram — a Manifestationof God’s Will and Grace 34

11. Moral Integrity and Guidance fromthe Divine 37

PART II:

Description of Omkarananda by all the World and bythe Ashram Inmates

12. Supplement OneWhen a Born Sage writes on His Sage Guru —What says the Elite of the World?Sivananda and Omkarananda:Divine Flower and Divine Fragrance 40

13. Supplement TwoAdishankara, Saint Jnaneshwar andOmkarananda 44

14. Supplement ThreeFlowers of Homage to OmkaranandaAshram 49

15. Supplement FourOur Experiences of the Phenomenon thatOmkarananda Saraswati is in our dailyLife with Him 54

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H.T. Question 1:

Overall we need to describe Swami Omkarananda,who his Guru was, his lineage and his activities to-day.

Answers:

a) Swami Omkarananda Saraswati, a God-centredSaint and a Sage of Universal and TranscendentalKnowledge

Sri Swami Omkarananda Saraswati is a born Sage,Mystic and Genius. Already at the age of thirteen andfourteen his life was flooded with numerous spiritualexperiences of the omnipresent and omniscient God.Under the dictates of these experiences, he left his homecity in South India for the Himalayas, where the world-renowned Sage Sri Swami Sivananda recognised in himan embodiment of the high spirit of renunciation, pro-found divine wisdom, touching purity of heart, made himknown as Bala Yogi, Bala Jnani, titled him as AdhyatmaKavita-Bhaskara and crowned him with Sannyasa-Diksha at the age of seventeen.

No one knew and no one could know of the inner life ofthis solitude seeking and in seclusion living ascetic,wherein he nurtured under the witnessing eyes of theDivine Mother, his intimate inner relations with the Infiniteand the Eternal. His intense devotion gave to that Infiniteand that Eternal a visible Form, bhavana-murti, theDivine Mother. Goddess Meenakshi of Madura bestowedon him the Sri Vidya Mantra Diksha, and he was initiated

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into the science of Vedic Yagnas by a 105 year oldSiddha Purusha, in the presence of a 700 year old MahaYogi, who is invisible to all except to that Siddha Purushaand to Swamiji. It is a phenomenon that requires to beexplained to seeking aspirants after Truth-experience.He obtained from a Yogi of Siddhis Swami Nityanandathe secrets of higher Tantra Yoga in which there is in allthe world and in all the creation only one woman, theimmanent Divinity, the individual Self, seeking restlesslyunion with the transcendent Divinity, the AbsoluteReality.

In the same year in which Jagadguru Swami Sivanandagave him Sannyasa-Diksha, his first book (The Story ofan Eminent Yogi, 1947) was published and internation-ally appreciated and valued. He is the author of numer-ous publications, and several Professors of the Universi-ties and other prominent personalities around the world,esteem him as an intuitive philosopher, a versatile gen-ius, a profound scholar of universal knowledge, a brilliantwriter and a charismatic and inspired orator. He was theright hand of Swami Sivananda for over a decade andwrote among other works on Sivananda two monumentalpublications dealing with Sivananda Literature. When thefirst of the two Volumes was published in 1960, the worldreceived it with such statements as given in SupplementOne.

Paramahamsa Sri Swami Omkarananda’s divinepersonality was described by some renowned spiritualleaders as shown in Supplement T wo .

The renowned Mahapandita SRI VISHNU VASANTSHASTRI PANSHIKAR, Leicester, England, the Chief-

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Acharya of Omkarananda Ashram, adores, as thousandsaround the world do, Swami Omkarananda as anIncarnation of God, and in adoration of his Divine Naturecomposed on him highly inspiring and immortal Bhajans,Hymns, Stotras, Aratikyams as well as the SrimadOmkara-Atharvashirsham.

Many are the Saints of India who pay their Homage toSwami Omkarananda. Among them, His Holiness SRISATYAMITRANANDA, the builder of the GrandBharatmata Mandir in Hardwar and a spiritual leaderwith a vast following both in United Kingdom (GreatBritain) and in India, visited Omkarananda Ashram inSwitzerland. He was enchanted by what he saw, andwith reverence and awe exclaimed: This is the Benaresof Europe!

b) Swami Omkarananda and his Guru SwamiSivananda

The opulent literature of Swami Omkarananda onSivananda bears rich evidence that Omkarananda’s ownspiritual realisations enabled him to verify and describeby a direct personal inner knowledge the most luminousstates of divine Consciousness that informed andinspired the phenomenon of the covert and overt life ofthe great Saint Swami Sivananda and the Light of thedivine Knowledge in him. A magazine published fromMadras, the „Call Divine“ portrayed with deep insight therelationship between these two spiritual giants: „Whatsweetness is to sugar and what fragrance is to a flower,Swami Omkarananda is to Swami Sivananda; because,the former is as wonderful as the latter.“

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c) The Lineage of Omkarananda Sannyasis andDisciples

Our lineage, our Guruparampara, runs in this Order:Lord Narayana, Brahma, Dakshinamurti, Dattatreya,Four Kumaras, Vyasa, Vasishta, Gaudapada,Shankaracharya, Sivananda, Omkarananda. Our rootsare in the Vedas and the Upanishads. Our Heart isSrividya; the Soul of our Being is Sri Yantra. Our IshtaDevata is Parabrahmaswaroopini Sri Mahatripura-sundari. We are at the same time Siva Bhaktas andVishnu Bhaktas because Siva and Vishnu are two of themany Faces of Parameshwari Tripurasundari. And be-cause of our deep spirituality which is the quintessenceof all religions, we belong to all religions of the world. Weappreciate them, serve them, unite them and further thegrowth of the inner light in them.

From Sri Sadgurudeva Paramahamsa Omkarananda,sincere seekers of the Divine, no matter to which creed,caste, colour, race they belong, can obtain, if theyearnestly so desire, Shuddhi- and Nama-Karana,Upanayana Sacrament, Mantra- and Sannyasa-Diksha,practise Yoga of Synthesis, belong to our lineage,become universal personalities of intense Devotion,divine Wisdom and experience the ultimate Truth, thegoal of all great religions of the world. Over 170 discipleshave received Sannyasa-Diksha.

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d) Swami Omkarananda’s Activities today; his Ashramis a Myriad Faced Hinduism in Action!

Be it in the Himalayas or in the cities of Western Europe,Omkarananda Saraswati lives his life in seclusion, soli-tude and silence, far removed from publicity and propa-ganda. How detached he is even from persons stayingclosest to him can be seen from the fact that he neverduring the entire period of thirty-one years of his totalabsence from Himalayas wrote a single word, or phoned,or sought any kind of contact with the wonderful Swamiwho is taking care of his Kutir in Sivananda Ashramadjoining Omkarananda Ashram in the Himalayas. Inconsonance with this feature of his life, his AustrianAshram on the top of a Hill with its own forests on threesides, and a valley down, commanding a view of thesnowy Alps, affords him sceneries identical with the inte-rior Himalayas. In spite of this fact, he is in the very midstof the multifarious activities of his Ashram. Notwithstand-ing his activities, he is always what he has always been,a Non-Doer allowing the Divine Will and Divine Grace toexpress themselves through the instrumentality of hischarismatic personality and an institution that is self-born. Through correspondence, personal audiences,talks, speeches, phones, faxes, E-Mail, special prayers,this towering Sage serves seekers from all sections ofmankind. He is the guiding Presence behind all the cul-tural, religious, spiritual activities of his Ashram andAshram’s Temples. There are two publications on theactivities of the Ashram.

Mahamandaleshwar Swami Omkarananda Saraswati’sAshram is a myriad-faced Hinduism in action. All phases

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of Hinduism can be seen and experienced in his Euro-pean Ashrams and Temples. The daily RudraAbhishekas find additional recitations of Rudri onMondays. Every day Devi Puja of different types areconducted: Tripurasundari Puja with Trishati recitation;Lalita Sahasranamavali Archana; Durga Puja withChandi recitation. Every morning Satyanarayana KathaPuja, Sri Lakshmi Puja with Sri Suktam and Sri LakshmiSahasranamavali. Everyday Sarva-Devata Yagna.Navagraha Shanti Homa. Gayatri Mantra Yagna formsone of the most important Yagnas conducted in ourAshram. On Fridays special Pujas are performed forSubramanya Swami. On Saturdays Hanuman is spe-cially worshipped and Hanuman Chalisa is recited.

All the Twenty-four Hours of everyday, Agni Devata ispresent in our Ashrams. For the good and well-being ofall mankind, all Nature, all beings, a 24-Hours a dayAkhanda-Sarva-Devata Hawana is being maintainedsince 1974 (in 1996 now, it is a non-stop 22 year-Hawana). From the year 1974 to the year 1987, AkhandaMahamrityunjaya Japa was maintained for the welfare ofthe whole world and for the health, long life, freedomfrom accidents and spiritual Enlightenment of the needyand seeking aspirants. Since 1987 it is continuing 12Hours a day.

In all the three Satsang and Meditation Classes of every-day, we recite Purusha Sukta, Narayana Sukta, DurgaSukta, Bhagya Sukta, Medha Sukta. Etc. etc. Periodi-cally Shiva-Parvati Kalyanams are performed.Omkarananda Bhajan Mandali conducts Bhajans to theaccompaniment of instrumental music. We use all

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Mantras, Vedic, Pauranic, of all Devatas of the HinduPantheon, not only of Devi and Bija Mantras. Natya andSangita Sections give their recitals before the Deities.And so on and so forth. All Hindu Festivals are cele-brated. Every Thursday Guru Puja is performed, and onGuru Purnima the Festival assumes a highly festivemood with recitation of the Guru Gita and the conductingof colourful ceremonies. All the Parampara Gurus areworshipped.

The all-day, all-time lovers and servers of God, bearingpurity of heart, deep devotion and spiritual knowledge,the Priests of the Omkarananda Ashram are invited asPandits by prominent persons, families and institutions,for performing Yagnas and Pujas, purifying houses andconducting Grihapravesha ceremony, bestowing sacra-ments on the deserving and so on and so forth. Thereare numerous Temple publications of our Temples, circu-lated on limited scale.

Lovers of Truth from all over the world, and amidst themleading Indian Acharyas, Pandits, Swamis and most holymen and women, have visited the Omkarananda Ashramand its Vedic temples in quest of divine inspiration. Theirstatements (see Supplement Three) show how theywere filled with admiration for the divine works inOmkarananda Ashram.

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H.T. Question 2:

a) What are their Teachings?

Answer:

Everything that is in the Heart of Hindu SanatanaDharma, Yogas, Vedanta, Writings of Sivananda,and the Outpourings of a Genius and a Man ofUltimate Truth-experience.

The teachings of the descending line of Gurus, in thelineage of Swami Omkarananda, from Lord Narayana,Dakshinamurti, Dattatreya, Vyasa, Vasishta, Gauda-pada, Shankaracharya down to Sivananda andOmkarananda are already known to the world. Our AdiGuru Shankaracharya’s central teachings are availableto the seekers of the Truth and the public around theglobe. The inspiring Teachings of our ParamaguruSivananda are easily accessible to the people in all con-tinents of our planet. They are also on the Internet. Theentire universe of Sanatana Dharma is our field. Werepresent the Heart of the Vedas, Upanishads,Brahmasutras, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas, DharmaShastras. We are Saiwaites, Vaishnawaites, Bhaktas,Yogis and, what is more, you can find the essence of theessentials of all world religions in our fundamental teach-ings. The Values we live by, and present to mankind, aretimeless and therefore have a valuable message to peo-ple of all religions and races of all epochs. The wholemankind is our family, Sivakutumbam, and is to beserved in all manner of ways. Embodying in himself theMother of the Vedas, Aditi, Gayatri, Mahatripurasundari,

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Swami Omkarananda Saraswati is unique, and histeachings breathe the breath of the Truth-realisation.When he speaks, he does not think, as his words ladenwith light, power, wisdom flow from a Source of all-including divine Intelligence, behind and beyond themind.

Swami Omkarananda’s teachings are pregnant with hun-dreds of wonderful, dynamic and most practical methodsfor God-experience in all conditions and circumstancesof daily life. They are self-formulations of the realisationof the Infinite, offered to the individuals seeking a unionwith the ultimate Reality, Parabrahman. There are thou-sands of files full of writings of Swami Omkaranandawaiting to be edited and printed and published. Hisspeeches and talks are recorded on the magnetic tape,and the tape runs into thousands of kilometres. Sincethree decades his two hundred publications havetouched and transformed the lives of numerous seekersand aspirants. Since 1965 the Publication Department ofOmkarananda Ashram Switzerland has been issuing twoMagazines in the German language. Some of his workshave been published in 54 languages of the world.

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b) He is very active in Europe and has major Ashramsat least in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, England.We visited a small place associated with him inBombay, run by Madhu Shastri, who has visitedHawaii and is a fan of HINDUISM TODAY.

Answer:

Every Hindu around the world should feel it his preroga-tive to be a fan of the HINDUISM TODAY.

H.T. Question 3:

What are the facilities of the Ashram? What do theydo there? You can see from the literature that theyrun a number of schools. Is this their primary activ-ity ? What about sp iritual teaching and Sadhana?

Answers:

a) A Glimpse of Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas

Our Ashram has all the circumstances, conditions, facili-ties required for development of Bhakti, rendering inten-sive selfless service and realisation of God in daily life.All Ashramites’ activities have only one Aim: God-experi-ence. The running of schools is only one among themany forms of Selfless Service they render.

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All our Ashrams are in the form of Temples formally andinformally. Pujas go on day in and day out. We run tem-ples. We print and distribute spiritual literature. We haveour meditation classes, Bhajans, Yagnas, and individualshave their individual spiritual practices, apart from thegeneral spiritual activities of the Ashram.

Every speck of dust, every rock, every tree of the actualdwellings of Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas and be-yond are vibrant with the glow of Swami Omkarananda’sspiritual realisations and bear silent witness to thisincomparable Sage, his Wisdom and Purity and hisuninterrupted experience and adoration of the DivinePresence in all beings and in all things.

Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas is located in the mostsacred place near the bank of the holy river Ganga andin the proximity of both Rishikesh, the ancient place ofpilgrimage, the neighbouring Sivanandanagar and thefamous Lakshman Jhula. The Himalayan Ashram is —like other Omkarananda Ashrams in Europe — a placewhere God abides and announces His Presence in thewonders His Grace works, the works His Love inspires,the books His wisdom dictates and the deeds His Willperpetuates.

Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas carries its multipleactivities through two registered Charitable Trusts —Omkarananda Dharma Samsthan, and OmkaranandaCharitable Trust, as well as the Omkarananda Educa-tional Society and the Vani Educational Society.

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b) Spiritual Activities of Omkarananda Ashram Hima-layas

Omkarananda Dharma Samsthan is maintaining fourMandirs in the Himalayan area of Muni-ki-Reti andLakshman Jhula: Sri Durga Mandir , Muni-ki-Reti (1967,the original Temple and Ashram building was greatly ex-tended in the 1980s); Sri Dipeshwar Mandir , Tapovan(1987); Sri Ram Mandir , Ghugdani (1989); Sri Satya-Narayana Mandir , Lakshman Jhula (1991).

In the Ashram’s Temples daily Pujas and Agnihotra areperformed and regular Hawanas and Abhishekas areconducted (see details also under Answer 1d). Some-times visiting priests (like the famous priests of Tirupatiand of Kanchi Kamakoti Pitha) are conducting specialHomas, Abhishekas and prayers for special purposes(like world peace) or during festivals like Sivaratri,Dipavali, Krishna Janmashtami, Navaratri, etc.

In our Temples and Mandirs Sadhakas can meditate,study literature or can engage themselves in Karma-Yoga. Nature loving people can work in the fields, grow-ing trees, fruit and vegetables at our Ram Mandir.

The Ashram has its own Go-Shala, which is a veryessential part of an Ashram. The holy cow-dung is usedin Yagnas and the cows are inspired by the tunes ofBhajans. The holy cow finds its right place in ourAshram.

In the Ashram’s Dharma Shala on the river Ganges,daily Arati and Satsang are conducted by a renownedsaint and sage, Prabhuji Acharya Surya Prakash.

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A recognized Yoga Centre fulfils the wishes of many spir-itual seekers. The traditional teachings of Patanjali arethe main teaching. A nicely equipped Yoga hall with allfacilities has become a main attraction in this area.

c) Educational and Social Activities of OmkaranandaAshram Himalayas:

Apart from conducting religious and other activities, theAshramites are engaged in pure selfless service and inmanaging selflessly the Ashram’s educational and socialprojects:

Fifteen basic and junior high schools in the Garhwalhills (registered and recognised); an English MediumInter-College with a strength of over 1000 children inMuni-ki-Reti (affiliated to I.C.S.E., New Delhi); anOmkarananda Degree College in Deoprayag (affiliatedto H.N. Bahuguna Garhwal University, Shrinagar); aNatya Kala Academy (affiliated to Prayag Sangit Samiti,Allahabad), where not only the practical but also thetheoretical aspect of Indian classical temple dance isbeing taught; a Sangit Samsthan (in process of affilia-tion), where the traditional Indian instrumental music istaught.

Astrological science is also studied and taught in theAshram.

Furthermore, a Public Library, a Homeopathic Centreand a beautiful Guest House on the banks of holyMother Ganga are rendering great services to theTehri-Garhwal region at the Himalayan foothills.

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NOTE:

Certain activities andaspects which are not inOmkarananda AshramHimalayas, are in theEuropean OmkaranandaAshrams, and vice versa.

H.T. Question 4:

Do they teach Hinduism in the schools they run? Ifso, how and when?

Answer:

All Omkarananda Educational Institutions are situated inplaces which are since immemorial times impregnatedwith the vibrant spiritual presence of immortal Rishis andSages. At every turn the children are faced with thedynamisms of living Hinduism; the very atmosphere ofthe place teaches them the basic principles of Hinduism.

Omkarananda Educational Society aims at impartingeducation to all students irrespective of their caste,creed, colour, religion or sex. In all Omkarananda edu-cational institutions students enjoy total freedom of reli-gious views, beliefs and practices. Religion is presented

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joyously and with wisdom and love. Since students be-long to various religions, the teachings of Hinduism andthe essentials of all religions are being taught to the chil-dren in the Moral Science Classes.

Also guest lecturers and important personalities from allwalks of life give frequently talks on various subjects likehealth, spirituality, better living, yoga and medicine.These lights of learning inspire and impart to the childrenthe lessons and the wisdom they have gathered in theirlives.

Here are two of the most recent examples of prominentspiritual personalities lecturing to our school-children,thereby beneficially influencing the children to live a lifein accordance with the ethical, moral and spiritual ideals:

Last September His Holiness Sri Swami Shiva-premanandaji Maharaj, a direct disciple of SwamiSivananda, who runs an Ashram in Argentina, was re-ceived as Guest of Honour in our OmkaranandaSaraswati Nilayam. The children were enthusiastic abouthis inspiring lecture on the spiritual life.

In February / March, Omkarananda Ashram Himalayashosted the internationally renowned, most adorablegreat Saint Sri Vasant V. Paranjpe Maharaj with anumber of his distinguished disciples. The Ashram wasmost happy to facilitate the starting of his latest projectwhich aims at spreading his Fivefold Path — of whichAgnihotra and Yagna are the heart and soul — also inthe Himalayan area. Sri Vasantji has a special programof teaching basic principles of the Sanatana Dharma,

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including Agnihotra, to the children. The visit of his teamwas a great success at our Omkarananda SaraswatiNilayam.

These special hours with guest lecturers are of greatvalue to the school, and contribute to the shaping of theethical, moral and spiritual ideals of the children.

On the last anniversary of Sri Swami Sivananda’s birth-day all the schools of Rishikesh were invited to partici-pate in a prayer and speech competition at SivanandaAshram. When the Omkarananda students finished theirextraordinary performance of most rhythmic and en-chanting prayers, the hall was booming with applause,and non ending congratulations accompanied the win-ners of five first prizes, and one second prize for senior,junior and primary group-prayer in English and Hindi, aswell as two first prizes for the Hindi and Englishspeeches. Such successful programs constantly im-prove the already excellent reputation of Omkaranandaschools, and show the spiritual impact OmkaranandaAshram has on education.

„SARASWATI“, the Newsletter of OmkaranandaSaraswati Nilayam, which is published regularly sincethe mid-eighties, contains words of wisdom of Sri SwamiOmkarananda, messages of teachers, reports on guestlecturers with summaries of their speeches and — mostimportant — many student contributions in the form ofsmall articles, poems, witty comments, scientific knowl-edge, etc. The students try to excel each other in intelli-gence, in the depth of knowledge, spiritual insights andin giving Golden Rules of Life. The students demonstrate

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by their active participation that their school journal is„great fun“. This Newsletter is thus another most attrac-tive way of imparting and deepening moral, ethical andspiritual principles to the children and youth.

The Himalayan Ashram’s Publication Department edits,publishes and distributes since 1990 „VIDYAPRABODHINI“, the biannual Magazine of OmkaranandaAshram Himalayas, with leading articles of Sri SwamiOmkarananda, drawn from his speeches given duringthe daily three-times Satsang, as well as many othermost inspiring spiritual contributions and Ashram infor-mation concerning its activities, publications etc. Itreaches a still wider public, bearing as it does most in-spiring spiritual wisdom.

Furthermore the Ashram distributes publicationsand cassettes carrying the teachings of SwamiOmkarananda and other speakers. Cassettes and Pub-lications on Suktas, Stotras, Aratis, Ashtakams, Mantrasand Instrumental Music are also available.

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H.T. Question 5:

Who lives at the Ashram — how many Indians, howmany Europeans? What is their general back-ground? Are they disciples of the Swami, or arethey more like paying guests? Are there both boysand girls living together? That is an importantissue, as you know.

Answers:

a) Who lives in the Ashram? Their background!

People of all nationalities live in the Ashram. Those thatlive in the Ashram live by the eternal spiritual Values.Many of them have come to the Ashram as childrenand while yet in their teens. From their previous lives,they have inherited classical Hindu Nature and HinduSamskaras. By Swabhava they are real Brahmins. It isthe repeated opinion of the Experts in the field thatthey recite Vedic Hymns and other sacred Hindutexts better than the best of the Brahmins of South,North, East, West of India (see the statement ofVedadarshanacharya Mahamandaleshwar Sri SwamiGangeshwarananda and others, Supplement Three).They have brought pure hearts and innocent natures,and are made Hindus by special purificatory Vedic andTantric and Pauranic Rituals. They are given Upanayanasacrament and are made Brahmins. And they are givenSannyasa Diksha and are made Monks and Nuns ofAdishankaracharya’s Saraswati Order, belonging to SriSharada Pitha of Sringeri. We have our special predilec-tion for our Kanchi Kamakoti Pitha. Our lives are condi-

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tioned to highest purity as we are rooted in the worshipof the supreme Divine Mother, Srividya. The life in thisform of Worship, Vidya, requires from us uncompromis-ing inner and outer purity.

b) Who lives at Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas

Only Indians and Indian citizens of Western Europeanlands are living in the Ashram here: they are allSannyasis and spiritual aspirants. All of them are highlyeducated and specialised in various educational andengineering fields. They are all direct disciples of SwamiOmkarananda and have been with him since the late1960s.

The Ashram has some rare jewels such as the mostloved and respected Sage Prabhuji Acharya SuryaPrakash, the ever-serving and dynamic Mother UshaDevi and the saintliness-incarnate boy of many talentsSiddharta whose Bhajans sung by himself in a pure clas-sical style keep the audience spell-bound.

The guests that come to participate in the Ashram’s spir-itual activities are lodged and given food free of costs.

c) Are there both boys and girls living together in theAshram?

The Core of the individual spiritual disciplines in theAshram consists in Sri Vidya Upasana, a form ofdivine Worship and Yoga-practice that requiresunconditional inner and outer purity; it raises the

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consciousness of the Sadhaka into the realm of thetimeless and the spaceless; it settles in every part ofhis or her body the Divinity, the Infinite and the Eter-nal. The consciousness of the differences betweensexes or boys and girls, which is so characteristic ofeven very noble human nature, falls away. All life isdivine; moral norms, principles and character arefully fulfilled and transcended. In spite of suchpurity, the girls in their periods segregate them-selves from the rest of the community and stay awayfrom Temple Pujas. It can happen that here and thereis a weak soul. The omnipresent, omniscient andomnipotent Divinity knows many ways of withdraw-ing such a soul from such environs.

In Omkarananda Ashram boys and girls are full of SatwicNature and dominated by Adhyatmika Buddhi. They arereally Devaganas. They are fully occupied every daywith the practice of Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and JnanaYoga. They are experts in the performance of Pujas,Hawanas, Abhishekas. The boys look upon and inwardlyadore girls as direct incarnations of the all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful Divine Mother. And girls look uponboys as embodiments of the Divine Mother’s all-seeingPresence. Thoughts bound up with body-consciousnessare foreign to them. The strict rules of a life in Srividyagovern their daily life and conduct. We have boy-Sannyasis and girl-Sannyasis. The atmosphere in whichthey live is charged with deep spirituality. The Prana-pratishtha Devatas of our Ashram Temples constantlywatch over them and protect them from all sides. Seealso the answer to the Question 7 b.

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H.T. Question 6:

And then, Swamiji’s view on Tehri Dam.

Answer:

This controversial subject of Tehri Dam is in the hands ofthe Central and State Government bodies, of the publicand of the concerned scientists and engineers.

The Ashram begs the Divine to guide the judgement ofthe public and the Government in the right direction, adirection that is in accord with the Will of the Divine.

H.T. Question 7:

You can ask Swamiji his opinion on (a) abortion andon (b) unmarried men and women living together inthe same Ashram. (c) And you can interviewindividual inmates of the Ashram. Ask them abouttheir experience there.

Answers:

a) Abortion

Abortion in any form and for any reason, is bad andshould be discouraged. However, Hindu Dharma permitsabortion in very exceptional cases, but there is no case

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that can be quickly defended as an exceptional case.One has to study scrupulously any special case beforeone can call it a very rare and exceptional case.

b) Disciplined and divinely protected men and womenin the same Ashram

With reference to your question on unmarried men andwomen living together in the same Ashram, we do notanswer concerning other organisations, institutions,Ashrams, but we refer only to our Ashram. Unmarriedmen and women in our Ashram follow absolutely theprinciple of Brahmacharya and abide by all codes of con-duct dictated and determined by all-absorbing love forthe supreme divine Mother, Parashakti, Parameshwari.All men in our Ashram look upon all women as directManifestations of the all-seeing, all-pervading DivineMother. Moral lapses are not possible and unknown inthe Ashram. Should anyone feel unable to adhere strictlyto the principle of Brahmacharya and not be able to keepup his divine attitude to women as divine Mother’s incar-nations, he is asked to leave the Ashram.

Omkarananda Ashram is a Sri Vidya Ashram, whereevery lady, young or old, is adored as Divine Mother, andnot as a woman. With this well established attitude, thereis no question of sensual thoughts. Should however anyAshramite feel attracted to the idea of marriage, he orshe will leave the Ashram.

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c) Ask inmates of the Ashram about their experiencethere.

See the Fourth Supplement, printed as the last pagesof this Questions and Answers Text.

H.T. Question 8:

In your Switzerland Ashram they have the practiceof keeping the yagna, a sacred fire, burning con-tinuously, and have maintained 24-hours vigil at thefire since 1974. This is very interesting to us, as themonks here also maintain a vigil at our NatarajaTemple 24 hours a day, in 3-hours shifts. Why dothey do this? What is the meaning of it?

Answer:

Yagna is one of the most effective forms of worship ofthe Divine. It has been practised for thousands of yearsby great saints and sages of India. Through the intona-tion of the special Vedic Mantras, we invoke the living,responding, dynamic presence of Fire-God, Agni-Devata, into the sacred Fire of the Yagna-Kunda, andoffer into His hands our prayers, offerings, and so on, tobe delivered to the Divinity of our devotion and medita-tion, and to other Gods and Goddesses. We offer ourMantras, prayers, offerings directly to the Heart of theInfinite and the Eternal in the form of Gods and God-desses whose favours and Grace we desire, not through

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our hands, through the agency of our impure hearts orimpure bodies, but through the agency of the purestthing that there is in all the world, Fire. Agni-Devata car-ries our prayers and offerings directly to the Divinities ofour choosing.

When we recite Mantra, yes, the all-hearing God hearsit. But if we offer the same Mantra-recitation through fire,it directly reaches the heart of God at once. That is asecret. This technique God Himself has revealed insacred scriptures. We apply this technique of placing ourprayers, our Mantra-recitation directly in the lap of theDivine, through the agency of Agni-Devata.

This Fire-Ceremony is a wonderful ceremony. It wields atremendous influence on all mankind, on the whole ofcreation — on plants, on stars, on the whole earth, onvisible and invisible entities — a beneficent effect, ablessing effect. Everything flourishes, everything blos-soms. It is a wonderful ceremony. There are secretswithin secrets in this ceremony.

H.T. Question 9:

a) Is Swami Omkarananda training a successor?

Answer:

Our Ashram is not planned and founded and organisedby any enlightened human will. It is a spontaneous mani-

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festation of the divine Will and divine Grace. No power ofthe world however great can affect or damage its exist-ence. It survives every challenge and executes its func-tions so long as that divine Will and that divine Grace willit. Omkarananda Ashram first came into existence inMarch 1965, with the construction of the Yagna-Shala inthe premises of the Vital Mandir and Ashram adjoiningthe now Omkarananda Ashram’s main Building in theHimalayas. Most powerful Yagnas were conducted, inthe Presence of Swami Omkarananda, two immortalSages, the Divine Mother Herself and other Divinities, bySiddha Purusha Swami Durgananda.

Swami Omkarananda has no personal Will and no pri-vate Life. It is decreed by Mahatripurasundari, ParvatiParameshwari, that no matter where in the world SwamiOmkarananda resides in a Building or a House, thatBuilding or that House is granted by the Gods and God-desses the status of a Temple. Notwithstanding its outerappearance, such a Building or House is indeed in its in-terior a real Temple. Of the future, the past and thepresent of Omkarananda Ashram, you have to addressyour question to that divine Will and that divine Grace ifyour position on the scale of your inner spiritual evolutionaffords an access to them.

Successors are not trained. Successors are born. Saintsare not made. They are born. By the purity of their heart,by their untiring selfless services, by their following in thefootsteps of Swamiji, and above all by the divine Gracesuccessors constitute themselves. If you wish, you caninterview any of the persons living in OmkaranandaAshram, and watch their purity, their selflessness, theirdevotion, their service.

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Speaking from the standpoint of the organisation, wehave two main Registered Trust Societies to guaranteethe survival, growth and expansion of the Services of theOmkarananda Ashram, for decades and perhaps forcenturies to come: one, Omkarananda Charitable Trust,two, Omkarananda Dharma Samsthan. The next electedPresident of the Trust Societies will be the successor oftheir present Founder-President.

b) Who is the successor? Try to interview him.

Answer:

The very person whom the representative and journalistof the HINDUISM TODAY, Mr. Malik contacted and towhom he dictated the questions on OmkaranandaAshram, is the Vice-President of ParamahamsaOmkarananda Saraswati’s Four Trust Societies, whichare functioning for, and through, Omkarananda AshramHimalayas, Sri Swami Vishveshwarananda Saraswati.His Name signifies the Happiness of Lord SivaVishwanatha of Varanasi, of Sivananda Ashram’sVishwanatha Temple and of Omkarananda Ashram’sDipeshwara Temple. He is an Akhanda Brahmachari,one who has embodied in himself from childhood andyouthhood unbroken principle of Brahmacharya. He hasreceived Sannyasa Diksha from ParamahamsaOmkarananda Saraswati. Pancha Tantra says, „He is nota Saint in truth, who is not a Saint in youth.“Vishveshwarananda is a Karma Yogi by temper, charac-ter and choice and bears in his heart uncompromisingand total Devotion to his Gurudev. From 1967 to 1982 hehas rendered distinguishing services to Omkarananda’s

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European Ashrams. In 1982 he was sent to Himalayas,Muni-ki-Reti, Rishikesh. Within a short time he has cre-ated a large new field of activities — the Ashram Tem-ples for the Sadhakas, schools for the students, andbuildings for the resident Swamis, Teachers and Profes-sors. In a hilly region, which is a world of Sadhus,Sannyasis and Mahatmas, he discovered education asthe greatest need, and has been ably fulfilling this needmuch to the joy of over a thousand families. He is self-effacing and has no ambition to be the succeeding Presi-dent from his present Vice-President Position. Yet fromthe standpoint of the institution, he is the successor.Such is his Devotion to the Gurudev that he alwayswants to be Hanuman and not Lord Rama. He is not onlyHanuman but also Bharata. With absolute physical ab-sence of his other-worldly Mystic and Sage SadgurudevaOmkarananda from the Ashram, since the last 30 years,Swami Vishveshwarananda has been since he took upthe Management of the Ashram, ruling the tiny kingdomof the Ashram just with Guru-Padukas on the Throne ofthe Ashram.

A team of Omkarananda Saraswati’s monastic disciples,who are also Members of the Board of OmkaranandaTrust Societies — Swami Satchidananda, SwamiGaurishankarananda, Swami Vishvarupananda andSomashekhari (Somashekhari has also got Sannyasa-Diksha and is a monastic disciple, but has been orderedby Sadgurudeva Omkarananda to be in civil dress solong as she is the Director of Natyakala Academy andSangit Samsthan and has to teach these Arts to studentsand has to give public performances) — are greatly help-ing Swami Vishveshwarananda. In the spirit of the Veda

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Mantra, they are serving Sarva-Devata and the public asone Heart, one Mind, one Will. The Grace of Guru,Gayatri, Ganga, Gita, Tripurasundari is visibly operativein their lives.

H.T. Question 10:

If Swamiji is in Europe, you may be able to ask himquestions by fax. You can ask about his overallvision for the organisation, and what the plans arefor the future. What is his central teaching, whatdoes he think is the most pending problem forHindus today? What can we do about it?

Answers:

a) The Vision of Swamiji in relation to his organisation

Swamiji is an utterly other-worldly Mystic rooted in theTruth-experience. He never considers that he has anydevotees, disciples, followers, and an organisation. Ifyou see there is an organisation around him, then it ispurely a manifestation of the divine Will and divineGrace. The vision of It and the future of It belong entirelyto that divine Will, and is known only to It. He adores andserves all, disciples or no-disciples, as direct manifesta-tions of the Divine.

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b) Swamiji’s plans for the future

Swami Omkarananda is essentially a flame of the spiritof renunciation, with no personal wishes, no desires, noplans, no programs, no aims — totally self-surrenderedto the Truth and literally breathing and moving in It.Therefore, the whole of his life is nothing but the Self-expression of the luminous Nature of the transcendentDivinity. In his case, the future unfolds itself in accord-ance with the rhythms of the divine Will.

c) Central Teachings of Swami Omkarananda

Swamiji’s Central Teaching is: Practise Yoga of Synthe-sis. Be in yourself a Karma Yogi, Bhakti Yogi, Raja Yogi,Mantra Yogi, Jnana Yogi. Love the all-pervading, all-knowing, all-mighty God with all your Heart and Soul.Experience Him here and now, and distribute the fruits ofthat Experience to all mankind.

Everywhere there is nothing other than God. He is withinus, around us, above us, below us, everywhere. Every-thing is God. Know and experience this! Look uponevery-one and everything with an overwhelming convic-tion: this is God in Manifestation!

Look upon the whole world with eyes full of Love, a mindfull of Peace, a heart full of Blessings, with hands full ofStrength and ready for Service, with a life that is full ofGod-consciousness. Bless as you walk, bless as youthink, bless as you feel, bless as you work, bless in allways, each minute of the day. If you do this, the whole

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nature, the whole of creation will reveal to you theboundless Beauty, Harmony, Love, Happiness, Peace,which really is your own innermost nature, your truedivine Self. You will be divine in every cell of your being.You will be a supra-cosmic individual of transcendentalExperience.

d) Answer to the problems facing the Hindus today

The most pressing and pending problems of the Hindustoday, are widely known. The first step in solving them isto publish and distribute all over the world newspaperslike HINDUISM TODAY, and disseminate the works ofGod realised Men of India, and the Wisdom in all theHindu scriptures. Nothing is more inspiring, more power-ful, more light-giving, more joy-making, more paradise-building than the wisdom and immortal words of the eter-nal Hinduism, the Sanatana Dharma.

Every Hindu should try to live by the ideals of theBhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, the Vedas and othersuch timeless Hindu scriptures; then, automatically allproblems will solve themselves. The wisdom of thesescriptures, and a life lived in the light of this Wisdom,afford every Hindu wonderful insights that enable him toface and overcome all the contemporary problems he ischallenged with around the globe.

The greatest problem that dogs the footsteps of man, behe Hindu or non-Hindu, is the ignorance of the all-governing Reality of God in daily life, of the real Natureof oneself as Satchidananda, Existence-Knowledge-

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Bliss. The greatest service that those who are concernedwith the welfare of the Hindus, can render to the Hindusis to spread the literature like that of Sivananda all overthe world. Let the Light of wisdom reach Billions. Illumi-nate their minds and enlighten their hearts. Make themlights unto themselves and they shall solve not only theirown problems, but other people’s problems, not only behappy, but make others happy.

H.T. Question 11:

You can ask Swamiji about the concept that it is OKto use bad money for a good purpose, if it purifiesthe money, something we heard from India a lot andwhich Guruji does not agree with. You can also askhim about bribery, why it seems to be a way of lifein India.

Answer:

When bad money is used for a good purpose, the goodpurpose becomes a bad purpose. A good purpose doesnot purify the money; on the other hand, the good pur-pose is rendered bad by the bad money. What is more,there are karmic consequences for those that so usebad money. But, there are numberless Faces of badmoney. Some Faces are not so bad as they seem to be,and if that money is selflessly, egolessly, offered at thealtar of a Temple Deity, it can help wash away some ofthe sins of that person. This fact does not give a license

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to anyone to obtain bad money and give it to the TempleDeity and imagine it washes away one’s sins.Badrachala Ramadas robbed the State Treasury, tobuild a Temple for Lord Rama. Ramadas was impris-oned. Lord Rama paid back to the State Treasury themisappropriated money. Lord Rama made the Bhakti ofRamadas boundless and granted him God-realisation.However, no one can imitate such an example. Therecan be only one Ramadas of Badrachalam. Valmiki ofRamayana was a robber, he robbed the travellers andfed his family. When wisdom dawned on him, he gave upthis style of life and became one of the greatest of theimmortal Sages of India.

Good and bad are relative. Even in Rama Rajya, there isevil, the bad Kaykeyi and Ravana. You can never sepa-rate good from bad and bad from good, by no means,not by governmental, social, ethical, economic, religiousmeans. These means can increase good, but not elimi-nate evil. Good and bad cannot be severed from oneanother; they can only be transcended in individualexperience of the absolute Truth, God-realisation.Swamiji’s central message is: Experience the Truth, orGod, but first prepare the ground for such an experiencethrough being good and doing good, by adhering toBrahmacharya, Satyam, Ahimsa. Be a Karma Yogi,Bhakti Yogi, Raja Yogi, Mantra Yogi, Jnana Yogi — all inone.

Since the birth of mankind here on our planet, briberyhas existed in one or the other form. It has numberlessFaces. Bribery in India is explainable by some of thesefactors: poverty, low income, high taxes, growing needs

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of the people. Bribery is universal in India because ofthese and several other reasons, but bribery is not ab-sent in Europe and in America. One can see in the news-papers bribery exists in West Germany, Switzerland,Italy and other countries. In Russia now it is as muchrampant as in India. It is present in Japan, Korea, in allof the very rich countries. However, bribery should notbe encouraged, one has to keep one’s hands off from it,under all circumstances. The only real solution to all illsand evils of life lies in the birth and growth of deep spir-ituality in individual life. A real Ashram is the Home ofsuch deep spirituality; it is the main function of theAshram to spread it.

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SUPPLEMENT ONE:

Sivananda and Omkarananda:Divine Flower and Divine Fragrance

SIVANANDA’S whole merit stands revealed in thisvolume.... Today, the burning problem is constituted bythe arguments advanced by materialism, mechanism,positivism, and a narrow-minded evolutionary theory.Recently, I spent a week at the Congress and the Inter-national Institute of Philosophy, and observed how thesetendencies dominate not only the philosophy of Commu-nism, but also the thoughts of many Western thinkers. Tothis, Sivananda’s philosophy, its fundamentals and itsapplication, as shown by Swami Omkarananda, are apowerful counter-balance, and we are in full agreementwith it... In my capacity as the President of the SwissPhilosophical Society, a body of which representatives ofthe philosophical faculties of the Universities of Geneva,Lausanne, Neuchatel, Bern, Basel, Zurich and Fribourg,are members, and in my capacity as President of theInternational Parapsychological Society, and Member ofother scientific unions, I feel competent to pronounce anopinion.... I have read a few of Swami Sivananda’sworks. But I confess that only after I had perused the firsttome of the great synthesising work in three volumes bySwami Omkarananda, my eyes were fully opened to thetrue greatness and significance of the scholar, scientist,sage and teacher Sivananda. The comparisonsOmkarananda draws between Sivananda and Plato,Kant, Leibniz, Schleiermacher and other philosophers,

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are very important for a better understanding betweenEast and West. — Dr. Gebhard Frei, Professor ofComparative Religion, UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH,Switzerland.

OMKARANANDA commands the intellectual energy, lit-erary skill, spiritual brilliance and cultural backgroundneeded to answer most of the modern challenges. —Dr. Edward de Betterncourt, M.A., Ph.D., D.Litt., UNI-VERSITY OF SANTIAGO, South America.

THIS young sage of India, Swami Omkarananda, owns anature characterised by transcendental tenderness,commands a wisdom beyond his years, is too highlyeducated for his age, and astonishes the American eliteas much by his culture of the highest order as by hisgenius for classical literary expression in all its multipleform. Providence has, me thinks, endowed him withevery excellence that entitle him to World’s President-ship. He has a valuable message for our civilization. —Dr. Florence la Fontaine, Ph.D., D. Litt., INDIANA,U.S.A.

SIVANANDA’S works are profound and deeply inspiring.It has often been disputed that inspiring material of thetype composed by Sivananda and his disciples is notamenable to scholastic research. This I have found to beuntrue; for, such works as those of His Holiness are, inthemselves, what scholars in this country call „primarysource material“. — Swami Agehananda Bharati(Professor Dr. Leopold Fischer of Vienna), UNIVER-SITY OF WASHINGTON and SYRACUSE UNIVER-SITY, NEW YORK, U.S.A.

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AN ENORMOUS and wonderful work that overwhelmsus with excellent philosophical knowledge, and keeps usreflecting over the extraordinary zeal, the unusual powerof memory, the able survey, the deep insight and intui-tion, and the analysing and synthesising capacities sucha work demands. Omkarananda’s versatile philosophicgenius, we admire not as his personal attribute, but as amanifestation of God, as an all-penetrating light of theTruth, and as an expression of Cosmic Vision. The workwill be continued to be studied for centuries. .... A mag-nificent service to humanity as a whole. — HannaHerrmann, Winterthur, Switzerland.

Swami Omkarananda is a whole culture in himself, a cul-ture which might be a real alternative to our own West-ern narrow world-view. — His statements <about himselfand on meditation> are genuine utterings of a real Guruwhose God-given Mission (also Sivananda says, Guru isone who is sent by God) is to bring to the people thelight, the truth, the peace and the joy which he himselfIS. .... This Source-Book <Sivananda Literature VolumeOne> is an intellectual and literary achievement, towhich no one can withhold either his admiration or hisrecognition of its value. — Professor Dr. Carl-A.Keller, UNIVERSITY OF LAUSANNE & UNIVERSITYOF NEUCHATEL, Switzerland.

This wonderful treatise is an eternal monument — splen-did and stupendous. What sweetness is to sugar andwhat fragrance is to a flower, Swami Omkarananda is toSwami Sivananda; because, the former is as wonderfulas the latter. — The "Call Divine", Madras, India.

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Four times, I got a Professorship at the Tamagawa Uni-versity in Tokyo, Japan, and taught also in USA and inIndia. I have known the writings of Swami Omkaranandasince a long time. They reach the people of all continentsin many languages. I had the opportunity to meet himand his Ashram inmates personally. My impression wasconfirmed: Here is a man who serves and works from ahigh 'and powerful' spiritual vision and with all-embracinggoodness for the well-being of all peoples and all na-tions, without any personal interest, a truly uplifting ex-ample of selflessness.— Professor Dr. h.c. WernerZimmermann, Zurich, Switzerland.

It is known that Swami Omkarananda possesses thepower of an extraordinary radiation and his activities arerecognized by Swiss and foreign University Professors.His institution is a school of a high spiritual order. — Dr.Nello Celio, late President of the Federal Council,Federal Government of Switzerland.

Swami Omkarananda's mission is to show us new waysin the contemporary world, and to explain to us the an-cient wisdom in modern language. For, on the one handhe knows the traditions of his native country India, andon the other hand, he reveals to us the beauty and thewisdom of Jesus Christ's teachings again and again,which were misunderstood and neglected too often inthe Occident. Moreover, his knowledge of modern sci-ences is surprising. Already these capacities qualifySwami Omkarananda to be counted among the most im-portant of the celebrated Swiss personalities as J.H.Pestalozzi, H. Dunant, C.G. Jung. — Dr. Ing. H. de Witt,Physicist, Switzerland.

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SUPPLEMENT TWO:

Adishankara, Saint Jnaneshwar andOmkarananda

Sri SWAMI VENKATESANANDA, a direct disciple ofHis Holiness Sri Swami Sivananda, who became himselfa renowned spiritual leader and founder of an Ashram inMauritius, published in an introductory note the followingstatement about his younger Guru-Bhai SwamiOmkaranandaji:

„This intuitive genius possesses the wisdom of asage at a very young age. He has been literallyburning with such a fire of thirst for knowledge thatat an astoundingly early age of 25 he shines as amaster of several fields of knowledge; and in his in-satiable eagerness to expand the frontiers of hisknowledge, he often exalts himself to heights ofwisdom, from where he is able to direct the gaze ofthe very authorities on a subject to the truth in itthat they missed. This intuitive capacity has beenmade possible in him, not only by his penetratinginsight into men and things, but by an inborn abilityto realise within himself all that he perceives anddesires to understand.

This ability to realise everything within himself itwas that lit within him the Lamp of Discrimination

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and Dispassion while he was yet in his teens.‘I realised that even the life of a monarch or a mil-lionaire is not worth my aspiring for,’ he said once.This realisation was born of his actually living thelife of a monarch or millionaire within himself.

Endowed with this supreme dispassion,Omkaranandaji shines today as a bala-Jnani, agreat lover of seclusion and solitude, with a fieryspirit of renunciation that knowingly, willingly, gladlyand constantly spurns all the enjoyments of theuniverse as straw. Like Sri Sankara and SriJnaneshwar, Swami Omkarananda has, evenwhile he is so young, been guiding spiritual aspi-rants all over the world with sublime and deep wis-dom born of his enlightened intellect. He hideshimself and you can hardly meet him; but his fameand his life-transforming thoughts have girdled theearth today. Hard working and devoted to theMaster Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, SwamiOmkarananda blends in himself the best amongKarma Yogis, the devout Bhakta, the fiery Yogi andthe resplendent Jnani. He is the best interpreter ofSri Swami Sivananda’s Philosophy.“

Sri Swami Venkatesanandaji closes his introductory notewith a salute to the spiritual Light of his Guru-Bhai:

„May we all be enabled by Gurudev’s Supremegrace to walk in the footsteps of SwamiOmkaranandaji and thereby make our own livesblessed.“

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The present President of Sivananda Ashram, HisHoliness Sri Swami CHIDANANDA Maharaj , intro-duced in his recorded message his Guru-Bhai SwamiOmkarananda with the following words:

„... a holy spiritual brother of mine, young SwamiOmkarananda, whom Swamiji, our beloved masterSwami Sivananda, used to call Bala Yogi, or the‘Boy Yogi’. Swami Omkarananda, a young boyYogi, whom the master loved, and held in highesteem for his great philosophical abilities, is com-ing to you as a true representative of the spirit ofSannyasa, of the holy men of India. He brings toyou the fresh breath of the Ganges and the Hima-layas, and he is an embodiment of the silentSannyasin who teaches by the power of his ideallife — preaches through personal example morethan through so many words.“

Swamini SHIVAPREMANANDA , a disciple of Sri SwamiSivanandaji, a well-known German Yoga Teacher andPresident of the Dorschhausen branch of The Divine LifeSociety, stated in a letter to her students (translation fromGerman):

“Sri Swami Omkarananda reached in very youngyears Self-Realisation, as was stated by his fa-mous teacher <Sri Swami Sivananda> himself. ...A long cherished dream and deep longing to meeta selfless Yogi of Self-Realisation coming from thesolitude of the Himalayas to us here in Europe out

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of love for the struggling humanity has come true.... Swami Omkarananda is the highest and finestwe can meet today on this earthly plane, in thefields of Spiritual Arts and Science, Yoga, Vedanta,Philosophy, and so on.”

We Need the Ideal of Swami Omkarananda as pre-sented by Dr. phil. Erwin R. Jacobi, UNIVERSITY OFZURICH, Switzerland:

”When Swami Omkarananda came to us, he wasof the very same age as Albert Schweitzer was,when he first departed for Lambarene. We as the‘Underdeveloped’ and the ‘Illiterate’ of another typehere in Central Europe than the inhabitants ofEquatorial Africa — yet not less needy in our pov-erty than they — require and demand SwamiOmkarananda’s help and services in a great andsteadily increasing number, and this in spite of theachievements of some of our big and powerful or-ganisations which seem so secure and unfailing. Itis left to the reader to continue this comparison inaccordance with his own experiences and livedevents.

Not only do we need the Ideal of an AlbertSchweitzer in order to adjust our living and thinkingin the sense of his ‘Reverence for Life’, but weneed also the example of Swami Omkarananda,who by his very life and work is called to teachanew Goethe’s ‘Being Pious’ in order this Pietymay unfold and bear fruit in our hearts and lead usto real peace.”

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DR. A. B. MAALAKARADDY, M.D., Minister for Healthand Family Welfare, Government of Karnataka,Bangalore, India , expressed his deep reverence afterhis visit at Omkarananda Ashram and its Temples, whichwas crowned with Swamiji’s Darshan:

„The day of our visit to Sadguru OmkaranandaSwamiji's holy Ashram shall always be remem-bered and cherished in our memory. The profoundknowledge of the disciples at the Ashram, Sanskritprayers and the ways of the practice of spiritualityat the Ashram has astonished us. By visitingParamapoojya Omkaranandaji's Ashram myselfand my wife were enriched beyond measure to saythe least. Discussions with Sadguru SwamiOmkaranandaji has given me and my wife a newdimension for attainment of peace. I have come tothe conclusion that he is one of the greatestliving seers who leads a perfect Vedic life of aRishi. When I saw him, my memories went back tothe ancient Indian Vedic times which have giveneternal and imperishable truth to the world.Sadguruji was extremely kind enough to Bless usand he was kindness personified.“

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SUPPLEMENT THREE:

Flowers of Homage toOmkarananda Ashram

HIS DIVINITY VEDADARSHANACHARYAMAHAMANDALESHWAR SRI SWAMIGANGESHWARANANDA, the most celebrated expo-nent of Vedas and Vedic rituals and the recognizedAll-India Leader and founder of the G. GangeshChaturved Samsthan and G. G. International VedMission, in Bombay, who at the age of over 95 yearsvisited the Omkarananda Ashram in Winterthur for VedPratishtha, was particularly delighted with the unbeliev-able activities of this unique Ashram, with the most holyatmosphere of its Temples and with the high quality ofperformance and purity of the young Sannyasis. Hereare some extracts of his Tribute to Swamiji and his spir-itual community:

„... Ved Mata Gayatri drew us here to breathe theintoxicating Vedic atmosphere and to feel thedivine touch of various mantras. I have visited anumber of Ashrams and Mandirs in India andabroad, but never have experienced such a deepspiritual happiness combined with purity and sim-plicity.

Bhagavan Veda has chosen the most beautifulseat, where, in the constant flow of Vedic mantras,

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Omkar Anand is reflected. Our young teenagersister reciting Shree Suktas, Purush Suktas andRudradhyaya mantras fluently in perfect originalSanskrit accents is indeed remarkable and highlycreditable.“

In his recorded speech at our Temple (which was si-multaneously translated to our Ashramites byS. Krishnamurti), he exclaimed with great joy:

„I never had such an experience as I had here inOmkarananda Ashram, where I heard the childrenreciting the Vedas. In India even the top classBrahmins cannot pronounce it so well, and herethe children did it. I had one worry that I mustspread this Veda Bhagavan, the book everywhere.Now Swami Omkaranandaji has removed thatworry, I am free of worry.“

SRI KRISHNASHANKER SHASTRI, the Founder andTrustee of both Sri Bhagawat Vidyapeeth and SriVallabha Nidhi, and the Editor of Janakalyan fromAhmedabad, India , visited Omkarananda InternationalAshram. Here below we give excerpts of his „DivineFlowers“ laid at the Lotus-feet of Swamiji and his devo-tees:

„I had longed to see the Ashram, having readabout it in books, and having heard from the re-nowned scholar of superhuman intelligence, theeminent and profound Philosopher, Shri BadrinathShastri of Baroda, about its Founder-President, Sri

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Swami Omkaranandaji — Tapasvi, ascetic, highlyintelligent, attached to the Lotus Feet of MotherMaha Tripurasundari — a pure-hearted Yogiwhose fame has spread far and wide....

Moved by the divine Power, I happened to travel toSwitzerland to this holy and unique place, theAshram, during the special Puja celebration of ShriMother Tripurasundari and Nava Durga. A heav-enly grove! I have no word to speak or write — butI cannot help saying that this Tapovana is nothingbut the everflowing Waters of the holy riverGanges, or a hermitage made supremely divine byconstant chanting of the holy Mantras and bypenance — a blissful state of Liberation (Nirvruti-Ananda)!

Instead of making the futile attempt of describing itin words, it would be more proper to have a bath inthis holy water. When I beheld the Swamiji, I feltthat I saw the Incarnation of Muni Bharadwaja,who continuously offered Ahutis at four altars andpractised Mantras, Tantras, the mystic rites andphilosophies. Administering the institution, dis-coursing, and guiding for twenty-four hours a day,with an ever-smiling face for all residents andvisitors, remaining in the state of detachment,blissful, happy, and like the ever-glittering sun, onewho has transcended the ego, Swamiji also ad-vises like a close relative and benefactor, like aDivine Father and Divine Mother to all those whocome in contact with him. He is proficient in what-ever work is being undertaken, and is always wish-

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ing the good and welfare of all humanity. I realisedthe presence of Mahayogi — King Pruthu in humil-ity, Vachaspati in morals, Bhagirath in industry,Jaimini in preaching, innocent like a child, an ora-tor like Vasishta, like Kubera in charity, Dhruva indevotion and Prahlaad in the constant chanting ofthe holy Names of Divine Mother.

The Ashram is as great as the greatness of SwamiOmkarananda. The Ashram is like a huge hermit-age, full of devotees, who are spreading culture,spiritual ideals, faith, and all the highest values ofcharacter; and induces in visitors tranquillity, divin-ity, bliss and joy. What is more, the place bestowshonour upon everyone; and all the aspirants seemto be the living angels of the earth, and the livingsouls of our most revered Swamiji.“

His Holiness SRI SWAMI SHIVAPREMANANDAJI, adirect disciple of the Sage Sri Swami Sivananda, whohas his own Ashram in Argentina, commented in a letterto Swami Omkarananda about his impressions duringhis recent visit in his Guru-Bhai’s Himalayan Ashram:

„This whole day I have experienced the immensejoy of being in the company of the five blessedDevaganas, devoted disciples of Yours, who havemade this Omkarananda Ashram such an inspiringabode of selfless service and abiding peace...They have turned their devotion for their Guruinto marvellous institutions of social and spiritual

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service, of which this ancient land is in so muchneed and which you can really be proud of... To bewith ... <them> is like being enveloped in the high-est form of love and devotion that one should havefor their Guru. Your spiritual presence is, of course,constantly here, in every building and in all thework done...“

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SUPPLEMENT FOUR:

Our Experiences of the Phenomenonthat Omkarananda Saraswati is

in our daily Life with Him

By Two Ashram Inmates: Dr. Strauss and Dr. Eckert

We need a God-man who holds in his heart inexhaust-ible resources in Wisdom, in Love and in the Power ofLight. Be that Europe or Asia, America or Australia, Rus-sia or Africa, be that any continent, any nation, or evenany religion, or any culture, or any social group, or anyeconomic organisation or educational institution, or politi-cal party, or an old peoples’ society, or a youth associa-tion, or all of them in one, the whole world — it needsabove all, above all, and first of all, first of all, a God-man. Here is one: Omkarananda Saraswati.

Philosophical schools founded on theorizing about theTruth we have since before the times of Aristotle. Weneed someone who lives in the Truth, experiences theTruth, is established in the Truth, and therefore, speaksto us in simple words, flames of living fire that arise fromthe fact that he lives in Truth, and Truth has made itshabitation in him. Here is one: Omkarananda Saraswati.

Scientists we have by the several thousands, and amongthem Nobel-Prize bearers, and yet we have not seen theFace of the Truth. For all their labours, we are also no

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nearer to peace and happiness, wisdom and goodness,abundant life and blessedness. We need a scientist whois rooted in the Reality of realities, the Truth of truths, theSubstance of all that is existent, and speaks to us of theTruth that does not change, that can be experienced,known and expressed, a Truth that is universally thesame, eternally the same, and can be proved anywhere,and everywhere, in all circumstances. Here is one:Omkarananda Saraswati.

Priests we have many, brilliant and good, but we need aprophetic soul with the credentials in daily Character andWork from the all-seeing, all-knowing, all-blessing, all-loving, all-pervading Divinity. We need urgently onewhose heart is one with the Heart of the all-transformingdivine Presence, one whose soul is absorbed in the Soulof the Goal of all religions, all cultures, all human aspira-tions. Here is one: Omkarananda Saraswati.

So-called, or self-styled, or self-appointed world-redeem-ers and world-redeeming organisations we have, and yetmankind groans in chains, and the redemption helps noone, except the redeemers. We need a redeemer whosepresence is transforming, whose words are the words ofLife eternal, touching and elevating us into our essentialelement of infinite Peace, Joy, Existence. We need onewho redeems men by his mere presence, merely by hisbreathing. Here is one: Omkarananda Saraswati.

Here he is — a theocentric, Reality-centred man of uni-versal Love and life-transforming and all-uplifting Wis-dom, an all-problem-solving example. He is here, not toreceive our services, but to serve us; not to be attendedto by us, but to attend to us; not to be loved by us, but to

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love us; not to depend on anything we can do for him,but to go on doing everything in his power for us.

In the preamble to the UNESCO constitution, it is written:”... since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in theminds of men that the defences of peace must be con-structed.”

The competence to grant guidance, special services andleadership for so rare and difficult a work can be trustedonly to a man of God-experience, a monk whose life hasbeen from the earliest boyhood a blazing fire of renuncia-tion, selflessness and devotion to the ultimate Reality.Happily, such a personality we discover in OmkaranandaSaraswati, who is, at the same time, a philosopher, awriter of international reputation, a man of vast erudition,a poet, and a person of intellectual and prophetic ener-gies.

Even in words scribbled by him, on an almost forgottenscrap of paper, we discover, and therefore also candescribe, his eminent qualifications for so immense andurgent a task as that of constructing peace in the mindsof men:

”The God or Soul of Love is my heart. The Soul ofknowledge is my mind. The Soul of Power is my will. Mywhole life is full of the Soul of Peace. I live in suchthoughts. I feel so. I experience so. And therefore, si-lently, I am full of strength. Not fearing in myself, I helpothers to conquer fears. Not needing peace, being full ofPeace, I help others attain peace.”

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Omkarananda Saraswati Is a Fascinating LifeEmanating from a Consciousness Permanently

Established in the Rich Beauty of the Divine Truth

Omkarananda Saraswati is an embodiment of highestspirituality, in the all-comprehensive sense of the word.He is a Sage, who has reached the experience of theultimate and all-embracing Truth and is living out of It.Out of It he draws the Wisdom, the Purity and the Radi-ance of his life; in It he finds the Peace of his being, andthe Strength for his untiring service. He is essentially aflame of the spirit of renunciation, with no personalwishes, no desires, no plans, no programmes, no aims— totally depending on the Truth, and literally breathingand moving in It. He is first and last a Lover of the Lord,who lives only for the Divine, who works hard in order theLight of the Lord may spread.

He is a man of multiple and permanent God-experience.His constant experience of God as the absolute Reason-Knowledge-Consciousness is the foundation of hisphilosophy. His idea and experience of God as absoluteBeauty is the basis for his aesthetic theories and his art.His ethics are rooted in his knowledge of God as abso-lute Goodness, absolute Truth, absolute Love. Hisphilanthropy rises from his experience of God as Love,and God as resident in all beings. His services flow fromthe fact of his life that all humanity is his family. All hisworks are flowings of divine Grace for the welfare ofmankind.

His words constitute great literature. His Love rules thehearts of man. His Wisdom guides the footsteps ofmankind towards Peace and Joy, Light and Illumination.

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The Greatness of His Thought Rises from HisAwareness of the Divine

Omkarananda Saraswati combines in himself a strongintellectual response to spiritual things, and an uncom-promising love of the ultimate Truth. Since his eighteenthyear he has been a philosopher, scholar and writer ofinternational appreciation.

The many-sidedness and the adaptability of his thinkingare extraordinary. His thoughts are permanently rootedin the Absolute — though they have an astonishing near-ness to life. Still more, they are life-transforming. Peoplewho read his literature find a new meaning and strengthand peace and happiness in life. They are inspired bythe powerful ideas, uplifted by the broad, universal, all-embracing views, charmed by the sweetness, kindness,humility and self-effacement of this humblest of the serv-ants of mankind — Omkarananda Saraswati.

Doctors, professors, statesmen and other persons ofeminence have paid high tributes to the Purity ofOmkarananda Saraswati’s Truth-centred life, the bril-liance of his mind, and the excellence of his writings andcultural attainments. His philosophical thought is com-pared with, and considered complementary to, and is afulfilment of, the philosophy of Kant and of Hegel. Notunoften was he acclaimed Platonic in the extent anddepth of metaphysical thought. His psychology has beenfavourably set in the context of that of the famous Swisspsychologist, C.G. Jung; and his psychological percep-tions in relation to life have been esteemed as greaterthan anything in the whole of Western psychology since

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the time of Aristotle. His life is compared to the lives ofSt. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine. As a charismaticpersonality, a pioneering spirit, he reveals dimensions ofpersonality that are characteristic of the greatest bene-factors of mankind.

As an educator Omkarananda Saraswati is a supremeexample of moral and spiritual integrity. He is a manworking entirely selflessly and making numberless sacri-fices in order to spread amongst problem-laden human-ity the Light and the Knowledge of the fundamentalvalues of life. His educational thought is so comprehen-sively rich and unique that since as early as his twentiethyear it has won for him in American academic circlesmuch honour and esteem.

Not only for the highly inspiring and life transformingWisdom ever flowing from his all-comprehending Truth-experience, but also for the untiring services springingfrom his universal and compelling love, and for his vastabilities to help everyone become happy, peaceful,luminous, progressive, Omkarananda Saraswati is pro-foundly revered around the world. On European soil, atpresent, one hardly encounters a second example ofsuch a life, led in such an ideal spirit and unifying suchan intellectual height with such an unconditional readi-ness for helping and doing good.

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His Life’s Philosophy of Selfless Action Emergesfrom His Experience of the Divine Reality as

Unconditioned and Infinite Love

Omkarananda Saraswati has been encouraging the con-ducting of research into the causes of human unhappi-ness and suffering. The highest form of philanthropy andhumanitarianism we see in him. In his smallest auto-biography in the world, written within minutes, he says:

”There is no greater poverty or human disabilitythan the human ignorance; and therefore, the best wayto do the best of philanthropic and humanitarian servicesis to illuminate the minds and enlighten the hearts of thepeople. Make them lights unto themselves, and theyshall not only be happy, but make others happy, not onlybe rich, but enrich others, not only give, but give moreand more abundantly.”

Knowledge of the Divine expresses itself in the hundredsof ways of presenting the ultimate Truth to every kind ofman, to everyone, in every stage of evolution, in everyculture, nation, race and religion. OmkaranandaSaraswati is a universal individual, a genius; and his spir-ituality is modern and integral, and therefore transcendsall religions; with the result, he is the Christian of theChristians, the Hindu of the Hindus, and is capable ofleading everyone to tremendous inner spiritual develop-ment, through whatever faith a person belongs to, nomatter what his temperament is. He is capable of leadingeveryone to happiness, knowledge, inner wealth, self-lessness, inner spiritual development, illumination andenlightenment, because his experience of the one God,the one Truth, has made him one with all mankind:

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”When I look at myself, I am not there. There iseverything. Everything is One; and One is everything.There is an experience of the multiplicity in the One; andthe experience of the One in the multiplicity. I am myselfthe Germans, the Italians, the Russians, the Negroes,the Indians, the Tibetans, the Chinese, the Americans.I am the women. I am the children. I am the trees. I amthe stones. When I meditate, everything meditates withme. When I meditate, the Heart of the whole of Nature ismeditating with me. When I meditate, all the Angels ofGod, all the immortal Mystics are meditating with me.When I meditate, the whole inner Being and Soul ofmankind is meditating with me.

The welfare of all humanity is my welfare. The hap-piness of the trees is my happiness. The peace of thebirds is my peace. The prosperity of the world is my pros-perity. Everything belongs to me. I live and labour foreverything. I meditate for everyone. I meditate throughall. All are dear to me. Every minute, thousands ofpackets of Love, thousands of gifts flow from my Con-sciousness to all beings.

Mankind is mine. All Nature is mine. And mine is allthe world. I have won them in indestructible and all-triumphant Love, in pervasive and self-maintainingPeace, in services and sacrifices, and above all, in atotal dissolution of the little self, in the total triumph ofThat in me which is the Image of God. I have inheritedthem in my oneness with That in them which is the sameas That which is in me.”

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Thus, not merely by the prevailing power of his unusualsympathy and boundless love, the sweetness of hisspeech, his deep humility, but more fully by a power thatcan come, by a spiritual quality that can grow active, onlyby an intimate minute-by-minute consciousness of God,does Omkarananda Saraswati bring relief to the suffer-ing, comfort to the most distressed of the distressedamong us, a new hope and strength and life to the de-pressed and the unhappy, and joy to spiritual aspirants.He is a man whose very name inspires in thousands arare joy, whose influence is his love, whose only weaponis silent Truth, whose only goods are wisdom, under-standing, patient hearing, and words that are to anyman, in any situation, most appropriate.

Only a holy man can be convincing in his words. Only hecan really comfort all kinds of people, in all kinds oftroubling and trying circumstances. It is his authority thatwe need, and that we unfailingly obtain:

”I live in them, not in myself.I look how much I can give, not what these people

can give me in return for my pains.I bleed to help make them happy and peaceful and

strong and self-dependent — not dependent on me or onanything external to them.

I constitute them into a tower of strength unto them-selves, and give them much power of will for the goodand for the practice of disciplines of higher evolution.

I never advise them, but beg them.I never instruct them, but merely illuminate some

phenomena; and they see the instructions themselves.

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I do not think I am superior to them. Though I am amonk, a spiritual leader, I have no feeling that I am in anyway superior to the meanest mortals who come to me.

Everyone is my Lord and my Leader. I make themfeel their essential worth and dignity and greatness.

I may have the wisdom of a Plato and the literarygifts of a Goethe, yet I feel inferior to the unlettered,uneducated, uncultured peasant. He is all to me; I amnothing to myself.

I may have the organizing abilities of a director andthe loving kindness of a St. Francis of Assisi, yet I think,I know, I feel, I experience in myself that I am nothing.

They are troubled and come to me. I give them justwhat they need, comfort.

They are wise, and come to me with a problem thatneeds the Light of a greater Wisdom. I give them just thatLight, as if that Light were already in them, and they werein possession of it.”

When we fail, God seems to fail in us. We consultOmkarananda Saraswati, and know another way to en-counter God as Success. When the future before us isblack, we find from him an assurance of our future happi-ness, and a way to work for it. When the astrologersfrighten us by predicting calamities, it is he, the super-astrologer, who grants us the right knowledge. When thespiritualistic mediums and little prophets of the worldterrify us, it is his assurance that comforts us.

Omkarananda Saraswati is an universal genius, lovedeverywhere, esteemed everywhere. He is loved, be-cause he is unconditionally loving. He is served,because he needs no one’s services and serves othersunconditionally and untiringly.

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”God is My Life, and I Have No Existence Apart fromHim”, says Omkarananda Saraswati who is at once aKarma-Yogi, a Jnani-Yogi, a Raja-Yogi and a supremeBhakti-Yogi. This synthesis in himself of the variousYogas, crowned by the supreme Grace of the SupremeMother of the Universe, constitutes him into the greatestin our decades, of the men of God-knowledge, God-experience, a Sadguru of rare abilities — abilities whichare not built up by human training, knowledge, experi-ence, exercise, but are a result of the supreme Grace ofthe Supreme Divinity. There are Gurus who become soas a result of hard disciplines and spiritual realisations,and there are Gurus who are sent as Gurus by theDivine. Omkarananda Saraswati is of the latter kind:

”I am here, not because I wanted to be here, or thatI have chosen you, but because you have been chosenby Him, and I am sent.

Whatever I would talk, it is not I; but He is talking,expressing Himself. I love Him; therefore, I do not askHim: Why have you sent me here, O Lord?

My success with all of you is not mine, but His, andmy love for you all is as much as for Him. My powers arenot limited, because they are not my own, but are of theOne who is in all that you see everywhere and more thanyou see. My Perfection is not bounded, because it is notmy own, but of Him whose Will He alone is executingthrough me.

Whatever be the nature of my unconscious, I am inthe depths formed of the Image of God. I have more

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memories of the encounters, experience and life with theGodhead, both within the field of my inner Conscious-ness, and in the outer world without, than memories ofthe world and life in it. It is these memories of the God-head that is the secret of the vitality of my life and words.

God is my boundless Love: Love is All. When I lookinto the eyes of that Love, it is Love looking into Its owneyes. It is as though two pairs of eyes meet, mingle andmelt away into one vision. Were the two pairs of eyes adream, a hallucination, a fleeting nothing? I think not, forit is one among the million possibilities of the Conscious-ness, which is One and Many, One and not many, Manyand not One, and yet always One.”

Such is his nature in his attunement with the boundlessdivine Reality of infinite Peace, Love, Light, here, there,everywhere that he describes his condition in this way:

”Having done so much good, I have done abso-lutely nothing. Having seen so many people, I have seennone. And every good anywhere in the world is mygood.”

A thousand ships and motor-boats may furrow the sur-face of the sea, and yet the sea always remains instantlythe same, a surface without any furrow, any mark. Sucha sea he is.

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Omkarananda Saraswati and the Future of Mankind

Great men play many roles in human history. Some rulenations, some found organisations, some lead armies,some produce great literature, some contribute to thearts, some fight and achieve freedom for a country, somelabour for human rights and bring about great socialchanges. Omkarananda Saraswati’s realm lies in theSoul of mankind. His greatness emerges from the time-less Reality.

In the transformation of mankind that our age has beenlong awaiting, the vast and profound knowledge of thedivine Reality and of the many techniques for the realisa-tion of that Reality that Omkarananda Saraswati holds inhis hands will certainly contribute its own distinctiveshare. In him we find mirrored the future of humanity, thefulfilment of its aspirations and of God’s promises tomankind. Omkarananda Saraswati is not a theorist build-ing systems of thought, but a prophet setting newpatterns of life that are in accord with the concealedgenius that all life bears.

Dr. Y. StraussOmkarananda Ashram, Switzerland

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"This genius of a mystic, Swami Omkarananda, shouldbe seen as what he is: a unique flame flaring for God,and a living expression of a profound mystical life inGod." So wrote an important paper, Der Bund, from theCapital City of Switzerland, Bern, and indeed, this is howeveryone, — from the Heads of the Governments,Ambassadors, Directors of multi-national companies,Scientists, Professors, Scholars, Saints, Priests of alldenominations, Shankaracharyas of Kanchi andSringeri, Mahapandits, people of all nations, housewivesand taxi-drivers, — sees and experiences OmkaranandaSaraswati.

Dr. H. EckertOmkarananda Ashram, Austria

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Printed and published byOmkarananda Ashram

Switzerland, Austria and Himalayas