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100000127660821http://dspace.wbpublibnet.gov.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/10689/12945/3/Chapter1_1-80p.pdfBlessed
Children of the Lord and devotees of Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji
Maharaj!
Salutations and prostrations unto the Most High, the one Reality
that dwells inthe hearts of all beings. Greetings in Divine
Life!
With great pleasure I send you this message for the holy
Birthday Anniversary ofSri Gurudev.
Sages and saints of yore have emphatically declared that it is
very difficult toget a human birth. Our Gurudev also sang thus: "It
is difficult to get a humanbirth; therefore try your best to
realise in this birth." Human birth is put down as the very rare
gift of God, and having got a human birth, if you do not havea
hankering to attain that state which will bestow on you eternal
bliss and immortality, it means that you do not utilise this human
birth to any purpose at all. Therefore, live in such a way that it
will bring you perennial bliss. The attainment of this bliss is
your birthright.
To live is to fight for this birthright. Life is conquest. Life
is a series of awakenings. Become free from the bonds of birth and
death by realising your Self.Never forget your Immortal Nature.
Thou art Divine!
On this holy occasion I wish to remind you of a few spiritual
teachings of Sri Gurudev. These teachings will greatly help you in
treading the spiritual path.
O Man! Follow your own religion, but stick to its fundamental
spiritual ideals.Draw up a programme for your life, and that shall
constitute the preparation forthe journey towards Divine Life. You
do not live on earth for the sake of talking about the Why, What
and How of God and religion, but to lead a virtuous spiritual life
with a broad feeling, careful understanding, devotion to Truth and
tolerance towards all beings.
Religion must educate and develop the whole man, his heart, head
(intellect) andhand. Only then will he have perfection (Siddhi).
There must be integral development. One-sided development is not
commendable. You must have the head of Sanka
ra, the heart of Buddha and the hands of Janaka. Vedanta without
devotion is quite dry. Bhakti without Jnana is feeble. How can one
who has realised his onenesswith the Atman remain without serving
the world, which is only the Atman. Devotion is not divorced from
Jnana, but rather Jnana is exceedingly helpful to its perfect
attainment.
There is no hope of Immortality by means of riches. Such indeed
is the emphaticdeclaration of the Srutis, Na karmana na prajaya
dhanena tyagenaike amritatvamanashuh(Neither by rituals, nor by
progeny, nor by riches, but by renunciation alone does one attain
Immortality). Mere giving up of objects will not constitute real
renunciation. Dear friends! Remember, remember this point well.
True Tyaga consists in renouncing egoism, mine-ness, selfishness,
Moha, Deha-Abhimana, desires and cravings.
Even the greatest of persons will in course of time become the
lowest of the low. Countless kings, earls, barons and emperors have
come and gone. Where are those distinguished poets, intellectual
geniuses, reputed scientists with boasted intellects; where are
Shakespeare, Kalidasa, Byron, Newton, Kant, Faraday,
Gandhi,Kennedy, Nehru?
In youth you are enveloped in complete ignorance, in adult age
you are entangledin the meshes of sex, in old age you groan under
the burden of Samsara and debility. You eventually die and pass off
from the scene. Being thus always occupied
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, when will you, my dear friends, find time to devote yourselves
to the performance of virtuous deeds, Nishkama Karma, Bhajan,
Satsanga, Vichara, Kirtan and meditation?
Why should you try to realise the Atman? Because
Self-Realisation gives you freedom from the Samsaric wheel of
births and deaths, with its concomitant evils. Hear the emphatic
declaration of the Sruti: This Atman (Self) which is free from
sorrow, hunger and thirst, with true desires and true
resolves--that is what is tobe sought after, what one must wish to
understand; one who has sought after this Self and understood it,
obtains all worlds and all desires, said Prajapati to Indra.
Hear the forcible utterances of the Chhandogya Upanishad: Yo vai
bhuma tat sukham, na alpe sukham asti, Bhumaiva sukham, Bhumat eva
vijijnasitavyah(The Infinite(the Great) is Bliss. There is no bliss
in what is small (finite). The Infinitealone is Bliss. One should
therefore wish to understand the Infinite). Kalau
Kesava-Kirtanat--in days of yore, people had Self-Realisation by
Tapas, Jnana, Yajna,etc. But in Kali-Yuga, when people lack in bold
understanding, when people havenot got strong, irresistible will
and pure intellect, and when the vast majority of persons do not
possess a strong physique to practise various Hatha Yogic Kriyas to
awaken the Kundalini, Hari-Kirtan alone will help them in getting
salvation easily.
Suka Deva, though a Brahma Jnani, did Sankirtan. Lord Gauranga,
a master of logi
c, an intellectual giant, dedicated his life to preaching Kirtan
throughout Bengal. Mira, Tukaram, Pavhari Baba of Punjab, Ram
Prasad of Bengal, Rup Kala Bhagavan of Ayodhya, all had Darshan of
God through Kirtan and Kirtan alone.
Sankirtan purifies and elevates the mind. Sankirtan destroys
Vasanas, old vicious Samskaras, cravings, three kinds of Tapa,--the
Adhyatmika, Adhidaivika and Adhibhautika,--three kinds of diseases,
and brings the devotee face to face with God. Tukaram, the reputed
Maharashtra saint of Deo, was an illiterate Bhakta. He could not
even sign his name. His inspiring Abhangas are texts for the M.A.
students in the Bombay University. What a great miracle it is!
Wherefrom did the unlettered, untutored Tuka derive his knowledge?
Tukaram had communion with Lord Krishna through Bhava Samadhi
induced by Sankirtan. His inner eye of intuition, Divya Chakshuh,
was opened. He tapped the fountain of Knowledge. He penetrated
deep
into the very source of Knowledge.
Where is God? God is in your heart. He is in you. You are in
Him. If you do notfind Him there, you will not find Him anywhere
else. God is Truth. God is Love.Speak the Truth--Satyam Vada. Love
everyone. See God everywhere, in every face,in everything. You will
realise Him quickly.
Dear brothers! Plod on. Push on. Live in Truth. Live in the
Spirit. Fix the mindon God and give the hands to worldly activities
without expectation of fruits and without the idea I am the doer.
Forget not the Source. Forget not the centre. Forget the body.
Forget the world. Forget friends, relatives and property. Forgetthe
past. Do not look backwards. March straight to the Goal. A glorious
futureis awaiting you all. March courageously with Sraddha,
Vairagya and taking the sa
cred Name of the Lord. Merge in Him. Dive deep in Him. Plunge
deep into the self-shining Lord, in the chambers of your heart. He
is quite close to you.
Lead a life of self-restraint, service, devotion, spirituality
and meditation. Speak the truth. Do not injure any living being.
Help your neighbour. This is Divine Life. Live this Divine Life!
Realise the indwelling Divine Being. God grantyou Peace, Bliss and
Immortality.
May the Light of lights guide you in the path to the Eternal
every moment of your life. May success be yours. May you attain
God-realisation in this very birth
