1

Prostrations and humble salutations to Lord Subrahmanya, the Supreme being, who is the ruler of this universe, who is the indweller of our hearts, who is the second son of Lord Shiva, who is the beloved of Valli and Deivayanai, who bestows boons easily on His devotees, who is an embodiment of power, wisdom, love and bliss.

This mighty demon, Tarakasura, had been oppressing the celestials very much. He drove them out from heaven. All the gods then went to Brahma to appeal for help.

Brahma said to the gods: “O Devas! I cannot destroy Taraka, as he has obtained My grace through severe penances. But let Me give you a suggestion. Get the help of Cupid, the god of love. Induce him to tempt Lord Shiva who remains absorbed in His Yoga Samadhi. Let Lord Shiva unite with Parvati. A powerful son, Lord Subrahmanya, will be born to them. This son will destroy the demon that harasses you.”

Indra, the chief of the gods, thereupon asked Cupid to go with his wife, Rati, and his companion Vasanta (the spring season) to Mount Kailas, the abode of Shiva. Cupid carried out the instruction at once, for it was already springtime. Standing behind a tree, Cupid shot his arrow of passion towards Shiva whilst

Parvati was placing some flowers in His hands. The moment their hands met, Shiva experienced a distracting feeling. He wondered what it was that disturbed His Yoga. He looked around and saw Cupid crouching behind the tree.The Lord opened His “third eye”, the inner eye of intuition, and Cupid was burnt to ashes by the fire that emanated from it. This is why the god of love is also called Ananga, which means “bodiless”.

After burning Cupid, the Lord ascertained by His Yogic vision that the birth of Lord Subrahmanya was absolutely necessary to destroy the powerful Taraka. Shiva’s seed was thrown into fire which, unable to retain it, threw it into the Ganges which in turn threw it into a reed forest. This is where Lord Subrahmanya was born; and hence he is called Saravanabhava – “born in a reed – forest”. He became the leader of the celestial hosts and the destroyer of Taraka as Brahma had ordained.

Lord Subrahmanya is an incarnation of Lord Shiva. All incarnations are manifestations of the one Supreme Lord. Lord Subrahmanya and Lord Krishna are one.

Lord Krishna says in the Gita: “… of army generals, I am Skanda”.The Lord manifests Himself from time

SKANDA SHASHTHI( H.H. SRI SWAMI SIVANANDAJI MAHARAJ )

2

to time in various names and forms, for the sake of establishing righteousness and subduing the wicked.

Lord Subrahmanya is a ray born of the Consciousness of Lord Shiva. Valli and Deivayanai are His two wives. They represent the power of action and the power of knowledge respectively. He is the easily accessible Godhead in this dark age of ignorance and godlessness. In this respect He is no different from Hanuman. He bestows material and spiritual prosperity and success in every undertaking of His devotees, even if they show a little devotion to Him. He is worshipped much in South India. Some of His other names are Guha, Muruga, Kumaresa, Kartikeya, Shanmukha, Subrahmanya and Velayudhan.

In the picture, Lord Subrahmanya holds a spear in His hand, just as Lord Shiva holds the trident. This is an emblem of power. It indicates that He is the Ruler of the universe. His vehicle is the peacock. He rides on it. This signifies that He has conquered pride, egoism and vanity. There is a cobra under His feet which indicates that He is absolutely fearless, immortal and wise. Valli is on His one side, Deivayanai on the other. Sometimes He stands alone with His spear. In this pose He is known as Velayudhan; this is His Nirguna aspect which is free from the illusory power of Nature.

The six heads represent the six rays or attributes, namely, wisdom, dispassion, strength, fame, wealth and divine powers. They indicate that He is the source of the four Vedas, the Vedangas and the six schools of philosophy. They also indicate his control over the five organs of knowledge as well as the mind. They denote that He is the

Supreme Being with thousands of heads and hands. That His head is turned in all directions signifies He is all-pervading. They indicate that He can multiply and assume forms at His will.

There are big temples of Lord Subrahmanya at Tiruchendur, in Udipi, Palani Hills, Ceylon and Tiruparankundram. The Lord spent His childhood days in Tiruchendur and took Mahasamadhi at Kathirgamam. If anyone goes to Kathirgamam with faith, devotion and piety, and stays in the temple for two or three days, the Lord Himself grants His vision to the devotee. The devotee is filled with rich spiritual experiences. A big festival is held in the temple each year on Skanda Sashti. Thousands of people visit this place. Mountains of camphor are burnt on this occasion.

Skanda Shashti falls in November. It is the day on which Lord Subrahmanya defeated the demon, Taraka. Great festivals are held on this day with great pomp and grandeur. Devotees also do Bhajan and Kirtan on a grand scale. Thousands are fed sumptuously. Many incurable diseases are cured if one visits Palani and worships the Lord there. In South India, Lord Subrahmanya’s Lilas are dramatized on stage.

In addition to the Skanda Shashthi, devotees of Lord Subrahmanya observe weekly and monthly days in His honour. Every Friday, or the Kartigai Nakshatram day every month, or the 6th day of the bright fortnight, - all these are considered holy days by devotees. The 6th day of the month of Tulam (October – November) is the most auspicious of them all. This is the Skanda Shashthi day.

3

PHILOSOPHER – REALIST(SRI SWAMI CHIDANANDA)

Philosophy, a writer once defined as the conversation carried on by the great minds across the continents over and above the head of the teeming multitudes. This, in fact, it is. The multitudes, therefore, almost entirely miss philosophy altogether. Thus one finds that serious metaphysics and deep research into questions of eternal reality shines as ornaments to the cultural structure of the race but fail to reach down and redeem the ‘common man’. They are only treasured as precious heritage. Historically we see how the mastermind of the great Vyasa was led ultimately to feel the inadequacy of the classic Vedas and abstruse Brahmasutras for the task of universal enlightenment. The Brahmasutras left the masses untouched. The thousand and one defects, deficiencies and incapacities of the ordinary individual had to be considered if philosophy had to become a tangible force for transformation and redemption. A vision of frank realism could alone evaluate the true need of average humanity and labour to fulfill it. Vyasa had it, and did his work through the vast Puranic literature. It was a tremendous labour of love, and out of it, the Gita stands a monument of extreme realism and human understanding. This explains why the Gita has continued down to this day as a tremendous force and influence throughout India.

It is precisely this intensely realistic attitude of Swami Sivananda that has rendered him peculiarly the inspirer and spiritual awakener of thousands of people literally throughout the

world. When the first inklings of his Mission stirred in his bosom one third of a century ago, the subtle lure of the hoary Himalayas and the holy Ganga drew him irresistibly to the northern reaches of Bharatavarsha. Shedding off with impatience the irksome folds of the mantle of secular life, the spiritual seeker, Kuppu Swami, repaired forthwith to that holy region sanctified by the sages and the seers of yore, to plunge himself into rigorous austerity and Sadhana. That was to prepare the ground for the dynamic work which was to be turned out in the later years.

PHILOSPHY AND REALISM

More than two decades ago Swamiji commenced the task of systematically awakening up the entire nation and within recent years, has stirred up the people of the land from end to end to bestir themselves in the spiritual path.

Through his powerful writings, filled with the force of his spiritual personality, he has created in everyone a keen thirst for divine life. He has made them realise the supreme importance of human birth and its real, lofty purpose. He has thrilled the people by presenting vividly to their vision the glorious goal and realisation that is their very birthright. He has sacrificed his whole life for the work of inspiring mankind and making people do practical spiritual Sadhana. He is the man for the multitude and the multitude constitutes the ninety-nine percent of mankind.

4

VALUE TO THE SEEKER

Swami Sivananda is a Kevala Advaitin and his philosophy is one that asserts the absolute falsity of all changing phenomena whilst regarding the Supreme alone as the only real entity. But the unique combination of the philosophy and the intense realism that exemplifies in himself has given him a wonderful insight into the practical difficulties of the struggling man. This has been the factor to decide his position in and his value to mankind today. For, he is not a mere inspirer alone. He awakens and inspires and in addition, works unceasingly in guiding the aspirants throughout their Sadhana, keeping a close watch over their progress, pointing out and removing the numerous obstacles that beset them on the path. He suggests to them methods to combat and overcome difficulties that are personal and peculiar to each individual temperament, constantly heartening them up during their failures, acting as a hope in their despair, and consolation, encouragement and strength in the inevitable setbacks and disappointments during their upward march.

The exuberant genius of many a saint of the past had been a fount of inspiration to many. They inspired many but stopped with that. They lit up a flame in the hearts they touched. In Swami Sivananda the world has one who is not content with lighting the flame alone. He has lit up the flame of spirituality and aspiration in countless hearts, and having done this, he feeds the lamp to keep the flame alive, guards and protects the flame from adverse winds and trims carefully the wick, when the need does arise. He has an unerring eye for inescapable facts; too well does he

know the limitations, weaknesses and the handicaps of an average aspirant struggling for the attainment of Truth.

COMPREHENSIVE VIEW

In seeking to make everyone strive for the attainment of the life’s goal, Swami Sivanandaji leaves aside no aspect of their life as constituted today. He takes into consideration all the above factors, and this it is that has resulted in his carrying on his awakening message so very effectively and successfully. He takes the typical man of today as he is. He does not segregate the individual from his domestic, social, professional and economic setting. He does not address his precepts to him as an isolated entity. No, for this would mean preaching to a special class because such whole timed isolated ones, form only a small and distinct group. For this group he sets aside always a separate set of instructions that invariably finds a place in his voluminous writings. They appear under the titles such as, ‘Special Instructions’, ‘Advice to Aspirants’, or ‘To Whole timed Sadhaks’, etc. The purpose of this modern awakener – guide is to reach one and all.

To this end he sets about emphasising the fundamental unity of mankind, shifting the non essential values of life and religion and bringing to light the essential, underlying unity of approach, diverse creeds and beliefs of the world. The spot by the side of the holy Ganga near Rishikesh, the fascination of the sacred atmosphere of which charmed and held him firm from the day he set foot thereon, there budded and blossomed forth the flower of his spiritual austerity in the shape of The Divine Life Society, synthesising all creeds and Sadhanas

5

for a united onward march towards the fulfillment of life’s supreme purpose. Through, The Divine Life, the voice of this all embracing institution, Swamiji is consistently spreading the message of tolerance, truth, purity and loving service, throughout the land.

The triple – vows of Ahimsa, Satya and Brahmacharya he has placed before us as the key to the attainment of Divine Life in and through the world. How comprehensive and all inclusive he has sought to make his message will be apparent the moment one considers the range of his teaching. He directly addresses the aspirants making no distinction of race and religion. European or Indian, Hindu or Christian, Muslim or Parsi, are all equal as aspirants in the spiritual path, and as such is his approach towards them. He is in the midst of them all through his writings. He freely mingles with them all through his books. He says: “Man cannot ignore any aspect of his being. He has in himself all the aspects – intellectual, emotional, occult and active. It is the Yoga of synthesis, the integral development of all the above aspects that is best suited to the modern age. Keep one Sadhana as the axis and combine all the others as harmonious auxiliaries to it”. It is through synthetic practice of religion that he would have us attain the goal of life.

RATIONAL ADJUSTMENT

The ultimate findings of philosophy, the fundamental truths of religion and spiritual life are constant and invariable. They are the same today as they were centuries ago. But external conditions have altered a great deal. Man, his outlook on life and the quality of his

receptivity to higher ideas and ideals, have vastly changed with the passage of time. The ancient ideal was for the seekers to devoutly approach the sage. But today the characteristic of life is commercial and the economy of society is money – economy. In the day-long struggle for bread, man does not find time even to care for the health and culture of his own physical body. Much less has he time to approach men of God, sit at their feet and imbibe spiritual truths by years of close association and service. Therefore, today the man of spirit approaches the struggling seeker, adopting methods and media current in his social structure and pattern of life. Hence we see this monk and philosopher rise from his austere meditation, descend from the heights of abstruse philosophy down into the plains of facts and realities.

Here he finds himself faced with a task more difficult and is compelled to contend with forces more formidable than his predecessors of yore. The encroachment of purely materialistic ideas and ideals from outside has vitiated and clouded the culture of the land. The sons and daughters of the soil have broken away from the spiritual moorings and in many cases turned actively antagonistic to spiritual values. They are sceptic towards religion. Thus the dual task of combating the anti – spiritual forces that are deep-rooted in the present-day humanity and then leading them on the spiritual path, of converting and redeeming them, has come to his share. Fully conscious of the state of affairs and unshakably convinced of the psychological law that the positive must and does overcome the negative, Swami Sivanandaji untiringly strives to keep up a constant battery of spiritual ideas, to break down

6

the citadel of irreligion and skepticism. He has flooded the land with a powerful flow of spiritual ideas whose force has been slowly, yet surely, uprooting the evils of the modern age from the minds of the masses and bringing back to them a realisation of the paramount duty of life and urgent necessity for practical spiritual Sadhana.

His message has reached man in every walk of his life. His call has gone home to the student, housewife, householder, retired man and even the

brother-monk. He has his admonition for the teacher, the doctor, the lawyer, the businessman and for ladies. Thus into forests and cities, into homes and offices, into hospitals and court – rooms, his voice enters and awakens a note of ready response. The nation today has come to look upon him as a guide, philosopher and friend, who, for all his depths of metaphysics, has, for humanity’s sake, the practical end ever in view in all that he says, does and teaches. He is a gem in the forehead of the Himalayas, of Mother India.

We have Lost the shell but Gained the PearlWe have Lost the shell but gained the Pearl

Gurudev is closer to us than ever before, let us feel

His presence in our hearts more than ever before.

Let us remember Him and His loving ways

more than ever before.

Let us adore him from our hearts deepest core,

Let us serve, love, give, purify, meditate and realise

Him here and now, for in the ocean of Existence

we have lost the shell and gained the core.

7

Human nature, in its present state of achievement, is in a struggle through which it is passing. It is being pulled at the lower end by the instincts of the brute nature from where it has arisen through ages of evolutionary process; and simultaneously with the anguish and uncertainty characterising its involvement in lower nature, it is being pulled up by its great destiny through certain indications of that possibility planted in itself.

Every stage of earlier levels is present in the human being. There is appetite, like the vegetable and plant kingdom. There is lethargy and inertia, like a stone or a mineral; there is rapacity, cruelty and violence characterizing animal nature and selfishness which is the hallmark of undeveloped human consciousness. Even when the lower levels are surpassed by transcendence, in the earlier stages human nature remains semi–animal, semi–vegetable and semi–stonelike, and these historical evidences are available in the lives of prehistoric cavemen. It is half-conscious of its own self and semi-conscious of the outer world. Then, there is self-consciousness of an intensely assertive, selfish nature – each for oneself and the rest takes care of itself. Then there is a further development by the rise of ages in the process of time, when

community life becomes a necessity and it is felt that even individual existence is not comfortably possible if social life is absent.

The rejection of the presence of others will so interfere with one’s own self that every need that is felt by a person can be jeopardized by the similar reactive rejecting process exercised by other people. So, the consciousness of community life arises. This also is a kind of selfish life only. Society is not an unselfish existence, because each one has to survive, but this survival is not possible without the cooperation of others. Higher up still is the consciousness of doing good for good, and bad for bad – tit for tat. Whatever you do to me, I shall do to you. That consciousness rises further, and it realises that this is not true human nature. To be human is to be humane at the same time. Goodness arises, which is a semblance of the reflection of a higher realm of existence; or rather, a beam of light arises from the soul within

(Sri Swami Krishnananda)

THE RISING STARS OF THE 20th CENTURY

8

itself, until which time it was sleeping. It is waking up gradually in the good person who aspires to become a holy person, whom we call a saintly person.

It is not enough if we are good. That is also inadequate in the spiritual evolutionary process. We have to be sanctified in our spirit. The presence of God has to be adequately reflected in human nature, in order that it may be saintly or holy. Holiness is the name we give to a quality of behaviour and existence which can be seen only in the most holy – the holy of holies.

God does not make Himself felt in individual life until a very advanced stage of human evolution. Men and women always consider themselves as men and women only. The human being considers himself or herself only as a human being. In this stage, the presence of divinity is not felt. People who are engrossed in social work and erroneously consider a rule that they take upon themselves as the goal of life, get into the mess of involvement in sufferings from which they wish to redeem people and enter into it themselves. Often many die when they cross the feelings of people in their eagerness to reform them. Those social workers who went beyond the limit of understanding of people outside suffered themselves while they worked for the relief of the suffering of others.

It is not enough if we have enthusiasm. We have also to develop understanding. It is only at the level of the manifestation of understanding and superior reason that we can say that God has descended into us. Social life is not necessarily spiritual life. God is not a social being. He is not a leader of a house or a parliament. He is not a

community leader. He is not one among the many; He is One Alone. The need for another does not arise here.

I mentioned that in the earlier stages there is great confusion in the development of consciousness. Warfare, rather, takes place within itself because of not knowing where it is moving, with several progressions and retrogressions, ups and downs almost simultaneously. After aeons and aeons and ages of development through the evolutionary process, the presence of God is felt by a pull upward against the gravitational downward pull of lower animal instincts. Here, such a presence is felt in our purified reason. The reason can also go wrong by justifying the acts of the sense organs and emotional upheavals.

Often, it so happens that the reason acts only as a justifying medium of emotional deeds and sensory inclinations.But we have two kinds of reason: the lower reason and the higher reason. The lower reason, which we generally call the mind, is just a logician confirming the validity and system adopted by the working of the sense organs and the emotions; but the higher mind is an ambassador to God. It reflects the light from above. The sun shines in this level of consciousness.

Spiritual seekers will find themselves in great difficulty when the earth pulls them down on the one hand and heaven pulls them up from another side. Who wins victory is for anyone to say. This is the battle, the war of the gods and the asuras – heaven and earth pulling an individual in different directions. It is at this juncture of human history that great Masters are born, saints and sages who practically inundated the

9

Twentieth Century in meteoric birth and life. Such a great master is our Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj. The process of time is so long that the life of a human individual, though it appears long, is really short. That is why I use the word ‘meteoric’ – it just flashes forth and afterwards disappears, but during the period of this short time of the flash, it sheds light. It brightens the whole atmosphere, the whole firmament and leaves and it is for anyone to know what it was.

Thus, Swami Sivananda came to this world. He came, not as a seeking human individual struggling against heavy odds, but as a potential God-man himself. His sadhana must have been over in his previous incarnation; otherwise, suddenly a person cannot reach such heights of spiritual power in one incarnation. Any amount of Sadhana, japa and worship cannot make people so great, powerful, majestic and divine like Master Swami Sivananda.

This greatness and glory should be attributed to their spiritual practices in earlier incarnations, as we may say in the case of Buddha. The individual which was to become Buddha had already passed through hundreds of lives, until he became the matured great being called Gautama Buddha.

Saints mature from within, and their maturity is seen only when they manifest it outside. The work that Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj had done in this world of human history may be a perpetual record, a great chapter in the story of civilisation and human development. He realised the deepest truths of life, and broadcast that knowledge through every means possible. He is one of the spiritual

Masters who adopted every available means of spreading knowledge. His main purpose was not to prepare an incarnation or a great disciple. That was not his mission. His mission was to wake up slumbering humanity, to shake it up from its lethargy and to leave it at that, so that when we wake up, we will know what is to be done by ourselves.

Such a great Master some of us have seen with our eyes, to our own blessedness that God has bestowed upon us through our own past karmas of whatever nature and today we remember him again. It is no use merely remembering him once in a year. He has to be remembered perpetually. He has created an atmosphere of a powerful resuscitation of values. Today there is no country in the world which has not heard the name of Swami Sivananda. Though he never travelled abroad, his power of thought was such that it reverberates in the hearts of people everywhere. He never moved anywhere. He had no house. He had no bungalow. He had no physical comforts. He had the Ashram, of course, but he was contented living in a cave-like, hovel-like residence on the bank of the Ganga. He wanted the Ganga and nothing more.

This is the great Master whom we are remembering now – a god man, a saint and a sage, a mastermind, and a great exemplar for everyone who has eyes to see and ears to hear. May you all remember him, not as a person who has written books, who has given you prasadam when you saw him. This is not the way in which you have to remember him. You have to remember him as your leading light, who has shown you the path along which you have to move – the path of ascent, and

10

not digressive descent.

Like him, there were many other great masters born in the Twentieth Century. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Deva, Sri Aurobindo, Ramana Maharishi, Baba Ram Das, Mahatma Gandhi and many others who we can recount came like sudden rising stars in the heaven and they vanished almost at the same time. They came together, almost and went together, really. It appeared as if the Twentieth Century was intended to have the blessing of these great veritable giants of the spirit, who came all together, shook the Earth, and then left us. Verily, they shook the Earth and left this Earth. Our hearts were shaken, remoulded, refurbished, and made to rise to a capability to receive the call of the higher nature.

As I mentioned, we are living in a state of struggle. We do not know who is pulling us. Are the lion and the tiger pulling us or is God pulling us? There is a dubious feeling, often times. Sometimes we are tigers and lions. Sometimes we feel, “No, it is not like that. God is calling me”. At this crucial juncture of cross purposes, as it were, in human life, one has to be very cautious. One cannot be one’s own leader; otherwise, the lion will come instead of God coming and we will not know who is coming. One thing will look like another thing. Guidance of a great Master is necessary. Have the company of sages and saints. Live with good people – or at least not with obstructing people. If nobody is available, be alone to yourself. Thus, build up your personality for the great coming.

Physical life is very short. We should not imagine that we can live in this body for ages together : “What does it matter? Slowly, I will do it”. There is no question

of doing it slowly. By that time, kala will come and catch our throat.

A bee was engaged with great avidity in drinking the nectar from the filaments of a lotus flower. It drank nectar and got intoxicated. It went on sucking from morning to evening. When evening came, the lotus closed and the bee could not come out. “What does it matter?” it said. “Let me drink the nectar throughout the night and in the morning the sun will rise and I will fly with my joy. “During the night it was drinking the nectar with these feelings, but the sun did not rise. Wild elephants trampled the pond where the lotuses were growing and crushed everything, together with the bee and its salvation was over in one minute.

So, we should not imagine that life is a comfortable dinner party of honey, milk and everything pleasant: “I will do sadhana tomorrow; let me eat today”. Tomorrow will not come, because the wild elephant may come before we wake up the next morning. A caution should be exercised by everyone of us. “Heedlessness is veritable death,” says Sanatkumara in a great admonition to Dhritarashtra in a wonderful scripture called Sanatsujatiya. There is no such thing called death. Heedlessness is death; foolishness is death; carelessness is death, especially regarding one’s own self.

To rouse people from this predicament of unfortunate sluggishness and carelessness, Swami Sivananda, the great Master, came and made us what we are, and pulled us to this Ashram and made us all sit here the whole day from morning to evening. It is a blessing that has come from him. May it come to you for ever and ever.

11

¸ó¾ „‰Ê ±ýÀÐ ¸ó¾ô ¦ÀÕÁ¡ý «øÄÐ ¸¡÷ò¾¢§¸Âô ¦ÀÕÁ¡¨Éì ÌÈ¢òÐ «Û‰ÊìÌõ ¬Ú ¿¡û Ţþõ ¬Ìõ. «Å÷ º¢Å¦ÀÕÁ¡É¢ý þÃñ¼¡ÅÐ Ò¾øÅáš÷. ¦¾ýÉ¢ó¾¢Â¡Å¢Öõ, þÄí¨¸Â¢Öõ ¯ûÇ ¦ÀÕÅ¡Ã¢Â¡É Áì¸û ÓÕ¸ô¦ÀÕÁ¡¨É Á¢¸ò ¾£Å¢ÃÁ¡¸ Àì¾¢Ô¼ý ÅÆ¢Àθ¢È¡÷¸û.

¸ó¾É¢ý «Å¾¡Ãõ, «Å¾¡Ãò¾¢ý §¿¡ì¸õ «¾ý º¢ÈôÀ¡É ¯ð¸ÕòÐ ¬¸¢Â¨Å ºò¾¢Âò¨¾ ¿¡Êô À¡ÎÀÎõ º¡¾¸÷¸ÙìÌ Ó츢ÂÁ¡É¨Å. «ÍÃ÷¸ÙìÌõ §¾Å÷¸ÙìÌõ ¿¼ó¾ §À¡Ã¢ø, §¾Å÷¸û ÀÄÓ¨È §¾¡øÅ¢ «¨¼ó¾¡÷¸û. «ÍÃ÷¸Ç¢ý ¾¡ì̾Ö즸¾¢Ã¡¸ §¾Å÷¸Ç¡ø §À¡Ã¡¼ ÓÊÂÅ¢ø¨Ä. ¿õÀ¢ì¨¸ þÆó¾Å÷¸Ç¡ö º¢¦ÀÕÁ¡¨É «Ï¸¢ µ÷ ¬üÈøÁ¢ì¸ ¾¨ÄŨà «Ç¢òÐ «Å÷ ¾¨Ä¨Á¢ý ¸£ú §À¡Ã¢ðÎ «ÍèÃô §À¡Ã¢ø ¦ÅøžüÌ ¾í¸Ùì̾Š§ÅñΦÁýÚ «Å¨Ã §ÅñÊì ¦¸¡ñ¼¡÷¸û. «Å¨Ã§Â ÓØÐõ ºÃ½¡¸ «¨¼óÐ Á¢¸×Á À½¢×¼ý §ÅñÊì ¦¸¡ñ¼É÷ º¢Å¦ÀÕÁ¡Ûõ «Å÷¸û Á£Ð þÃì¸õ ¦¸¡ñÎ, «ÅÕ¨¼Â ¦¾öÅ£¸ ºì¾¢Â¢ý Ш½Â¡ø ‘¸ó¾ý’ ±ýÈ Á¢¸×õ ÅøĨÁ ¦À¡Õó¾¢Â ¦¾öÅ£¸ Å£Ã÷ ´ÕŨÃò ¾ó¾¡÷. º¢Å¦ÀÕÁ¡Û¨¼Â Á¸É¡É «ó¾ Á¸¡ Å£ÃÕõ §¾Å÷¸Ç¢ý §º¨É¢ý ¾¨Ä¨Áô À¾Å¢¨Â ²üÚ, «Å÷¸¨Ç ´ýÚ ¾¢ÃðÊ, «Å÷¸ÙìÌ

°ì¸Óõ, ¯üº¡¸Óõ °ðÊ, «Íà §º¨É¨Âò ¾¡ì¸¢É¡÷. «ÍÃ÷ º¢¾ÈÊì¸ôÀðÎ, §¾Å÷¸ÙìÌô ¦ÀÕò¾ ¦ÅüÈ¢ ²üÀð¼Ð. ±É§Å þ¨ÈÅý ¸ó¾Û¨¼Â ¾¢È¨ÁÂ¡É ¯¾Å¢Â¡Öõ, ¾¨Ä¨Á¢ý ¸£Øõ¾¡ý §¾Å÷¸û «ÍÃ÷¸Ù즸¾¢Ã¡¸ ¦ÅüÈ¢ ¦ÀüÈ¡÷¸û.

¬ýÁ£¸ º¡¾¸Û¨¼Â ¬ýÁ£¸ Å¡ú쨸¨ÂÔõ «õÁ¡¾¢Ã¢§Â ´Õ §¾Å¡ÍÃô §À¡Ã¡ð¼òÐìÌ ´ôÀ¡ÉÐ. «ÅÛ¨¼Â §¿¡ì¸ò¾¢Ä¢ÕóÐ «Å¨É þØòÐò ¾ûÇ ÓÂÖõ «Íà ºì¾¢¸ÙìÌ ±¾¢Ã¡¸ «Åý ¯Ú¾¢Ô¼ý ¾£Å¢ÃÁ¡¸ ¿¼òÐõ §À¡Ã¡ð¼õ¾¡ý «Åý º¡¾¨É¡Ìõ. º¢Ä ºÁÂí¸Ç¢ø «ÅÛ¨¼Â ¸£úò¾ÃÁ¡É þÂøҸǡø «ÅÉ §¾¡øÅ¢ «¨¼ÅÐ ¯Ú¾¢ ±ýÈ ¿õÀ¢ì¨¸ þÆó¾ ¿¢¨Ä ¸¡½ôÀθ¢ÈÐ. Á£ñÎõ §Á¦ÄØóÐ Á£ÇÓÊ¡¾ÀÊ, Å£ú «¨¼óÐŢ𼾡¸ «Åý ±ñ½¢ì ¦¸¡û¸¢È¡ý. þ¨ÈÅÛ¨¼Â Àâ×õ «ÕÙõ ¸¢¨¼ôÀÐ ¯Ú¾¢ ±ýÚ ±øÄ¡ º¡¾¸÷¸Ùõ Áɾ¢ø ¯Ú¾¢¦¸¡ûÇ §ÅñÎõ. «Ð ́ Õ§À¡Ðõ ¯ý¨Éì ¨¸Å¢¼¡Ð. ÁÉõ ¾ÇÕ¾ø ܼ¡Ð ±ýÀÐ ¾¡ý ¯ý ÌȢ째¡Ç¡¸ þÕì¸ §ÅñÎõ. ²¦ÉýÈ¡ø ´Ç¢ìÌ ÓýÉ¡ø þÕû ¿¢ü¸ ÓÊ¡Ð. þ¨ÈÅÉ¢ý Óý ÁÉôâ÷ÅÁ¡É ºÃ½¡¸¾¢ «¨¼óÐÅ¢Î. §¾Å÷¸û º¢Å¦ÀÕÁ¡É¢ý Óý «ùÅ¡Ú¾¡ý ºÃ½¨¼óÐÅ¢ð¼¡÷¸û. «Å÷¸¨Çô

¸ó¾ „‰Ê

12

§À¡Ä§Å ¯½÷Լý ¯ñ¨Á¡¸ô À¢Ã¡÷ò¾¨É ¦ºö. ¦¾öÅòШ½ ¯Ú¾¢Â¡¸ì ¸¢¨¼òÐ ¯ý ¯ûÇò¾¢ø ¦¾öÅ£¸ ¬üÈÄ¡¸¢Â °üÚ À£Ã¢ðÎì ¦¸¡ñÎ ¦ÅÇ¢ôÀÎõ. «Ð ̄ ÉìÌû§Ç ¬ýÁ£¸ ¬üÈø ÅÊÅ¢ø Ìʦ¸¡ÇûÙõ. þ¨ÈÅý ¸ó¾ý ¯ÉìÌû§Ç ÅóÐ ¯ÉìÌû§Ç þÕìÌõ ¸¡Áõ, §¸¡Àõ, §Àᨺ, ¦À¡È¡¨Á, ¦À¡ö¨Á, Åﺸõ, ¦¸¡Î¨Á ¬¸¢Â ¸£úò¾ÃÁ¡É ºì¾¢¸ÙìÌ ±¾¢Ã¡¸ ¿£ ¦ºöÔõ §À¡Ã¢ø ¯ÉìÌ ¯¾×ÅÐ þó¾ ӨȢø¾¡ý. ¿£ þÉ¢ ¾¢ì¸üÈÅý «øÄ! ¬ýÁ£¸ ÅÄ¢¨ÁÔ¼ý þó¾ ¦¾öÅ£¸ «Õ¨Çô ¦ÀüÈ ̧ ó¾ ºì¾¢Â¢ý ̄ ¾Å¢Â¡ø ¬ýÁ£¸ô À¡¨¾Â¢ÖûÇ ¾£Â ºì¾¢¸¨Ç ±¾¢÷òÐ ¦ÅýÚ, §À¡üÈò¾ì¸ ӨȢø ¦ÅüÈ¢ ¦ÀÚÅ£÷¸û. ¯í¸û Å¡ú쨸¢ý þÄðº¢ÂÓõ ¿¢¨È§ÅÚõ.

±É§Å ¸¡÷ò¾¢§¸Âô ¦ÀÕÁ¡ý ¯ñ¨Á¢ø ¦¾öÅ£¸ «Õ§Ç ÅÊÅ¡ÉÅ÷. «Å÷ þ¨ÈÅÉ¢ý “¾Â¡ ºì¾¢ «øÄÐ ¸¢ÕÀ¡ ºì¾¢” (¸Õ¨½ ¬üÈø)¢ý ¯ÕÅõ. þÃì¸ÓûÇ «ó¾ þ¨ÈŨÉ, Žì¸Á¡¸×õ ¯ñ¨Á¡¸×õ ÅÆ¢Àð¼¡ø, «ó¾ ±¾¢÷ì¸ ÓÊ¡¾ ¦¾öÅ£¸ ¬üÈø ´ýÚ ¯ÕÅ¡¸¢, ¯ÉìÌû§ÇÔûÇ «Íà ºì¾¢¸û ¦¾öÅ£¸ ºì¾¢ìÌô ÀÂóÐ «Ð ¾õ «Õ¸¢ø Åó¾×¼§É§Â, ÀÈ󧾡ÊÅ¢Îõ. ´ù¦Å¡ÕÅÕ¨¼Â ¬ýÁ£¸ Å¡úÅ¢Öõ ¯û§Ç ¿¼ìÌõ ±øÄ¡ Ũ¸Â¡É ¬ýÁ£¸ô §À¡Ã¡ð¼í¸ÙìÌõ ¾ÅÈ¡Áø ¯¾×ÅÐõ, þÚ¾¢Â¡É Ш½Ôõ þ¨ÈÅý «Õ¨Çò ¾Å¢Ã §ÅÈ¢ø¨Ä. ¸ó¾É¢ý «Å¾¡Ã§Á ºÃ½¡¸¾¢, ¯ñ¨ÁÂ¡É À¢Ã¡÷ò¾¨É¢ý §ÁÄ¡É ¬üÈø, þ¨ÈÅÉ¢ý ¾ÅÈ¡¾ ÀÃ¢× ¬¸¢Â¨Å¸¨Ç§Â ÅÄ¢ÔÚòи¢ÈÐ. ¿£ ¯ñ¨Á¡¸ ¾ì¸ Á§É¡À¡Åòмý þ¨ÈŨÉî ºÃñ «¨¼ó¾¡ø, «Å÷ ¯¼§É ¾ý «Õ¨Ç ¯ý Á£Ð

¦À¡Æ¢ÅÐ ¾¢ñ½õ. ¯ý ¯ûÇò¾¢ý ¬Æò¾¢Ä¢ÕóÐ ¦ÅÇ¢ôÀÎõ ±ó¾ô À¢Ã¡÷ò¾¨ÉìÌõ ¿øÄ ÀÄý ¯ÉìÌì ¸¢¨¼ì¸¡Áø §À¡¸¡Ð. þ¨ÈÅÉ¢ý «Õ¨Çô ¦ÀüÈ¡ø, ¯É즸¾¢Ã¡¸ ¿¢üÌõ ±øÄ¡Å¢¾Á¡É þ¨¼äÚ¸¨ÇÔõ ¾£Â ºì¾¢¸¨ÇÔõ ¦ÅüÈ¢ ¦¸¡ûÅÐ ¯Ú¾¢. ¦¾öÅ£¸ «ÕÇ¡¸¢Â Á¢¸×Â÷ó¾ ¬ü鬀 ±ó¾ ºì¾¢Â¡Öõ ±¾¢÷òÐ ¿¢ü¸ ÓÊ¡Ð.

þ¨ÈÅý ¾¢ÕÅʸ¨Ç§Â ºÃ½¨¼óРŢÎ. «ÅÉ¢¼õ ¯Õì¸Á¡¸ô À¢Ã¡÷ò ¾¨É ¦ºö. «ÅÉРШ½¨Â ¿¡Î. «Åý «Õ¨ÇÔõ þÃì¸ò¨¾Ôõ ¦ÀÚ. ¦ÅüÈ¢ì¸Ç¢ôÒ¼ý ¦ÅÇ¢ôÀÎ. Á¢¸×Â÷ó¾, §À¡üÈò¾ì¸ ¬ýÁ£¸ ¿¢¨Ä¡¸¢Â, Ţξ¨Ä, âý ¿¢¨Ä, §ÀâýÀ ¿¢¨Ä ¬¸¢Â¨Å¸¨Çô ¦ÀÚ.

¸ó¾ „‰Ê ¿¡Ç¡É þýÚ ÅÄ¢¨Á Á¢ì¸ «ÍÃ÷ ¾¨ÄÅÉ¡É ¾¡Ã¸¡ÍÃ¨É ¦ÅýÚ þ¨ÈÅý ¦ÀüÈ ¦ÅüÈ¢¨Â ¿£í¸û ¦¸¡ñ¼¡Êì ¦¸¡ñÊÕìÌõ ºÁÂõ, “ÁÉ ¯Ú¾¢Ô¼ý þÕóÐ þ¨ÈÅÛ¨¼Â ¾¢ÕÅʸǢø Á£ñÎõ ºÃ½¨¼§Å¡õ” ±ýÈ ¾£÷Á¡Éò¨¾ ¿¢¨ÉçðÊì ¦¸¡ûÙí¸û.

§À¡üÈüÌâ ¸ó¾À¢Ã¡ý ¯í¸ÙìÌ ¯½÷çðÊ ¯í¸ÙìÌ ¬ýÁ£¸ ÅÄ¢¨Á¨Â «Ç¢ôÀ¡É¡¸! «È¢Â¡¨Á, ¯Ä¸¢Âø ÁÉôÀ¡ý¨Á ¬¸¢Â «Íà ºì¾¢¸ÙìÌ ±¾¢Ã¡É §À¡Ã¢ø «Åý ¾¨Ä¨Á Ÿ¢òÐ ¯í¸¨Ç ¦ÅüÈ¢¦ÀÈî ¦ºöÅ¡É¡¸!

±ø§Ä¡ÕìÌõ «Åý ¬º¢¸û ̧ ¢ð¼ðÎõ!

- ÍÅ¡Á¢ º¢Å¡Éó¾¡

13

ÁüÈ ¯Ä¸ ¬¨º¸û þÕìÌõ§À¡Ð §¸¡Â¢ÖìÌô §À¡É¡Öõ, «¨Å§Â À¢ý¦¾¡¼Õ¸¢ýÈÉ. þ¨ÈÅÉ¢¼õ ÀüÚ ¨Åì¸ ÓÊž¢ø¨Ä. þ¾üÌ ±ýÉ ÅÆ¢? ±ø§Ä¡Õõ ÐÈÅ¢¸Ç¡É¡ø¾¡ý ¸¼×Ç¢¼õ ®ÎÀ¡Î ¦¸¡ûÇ ÓÊÔÁ¡?

±õ.§¸¡Á¾¢- ¸øÄ¢¨¼ì ÌȢ

ÁÉ¢¾Û¨¼Â ÁÉõ ¸¡Ä¢Â¡¸ þÕì¸ ÓÊ¡Ð. ²¾¡ÅÐ ¯½÷׸û «¾¢ø ¿¢ÃõÀ¢ì ¦¸¡ñÎ ¾¡ý þÕìÌõ. ÁÉ¢¾É¡¸ô À¢Èó¾ÅÛìÌ ¬¨º¸û þøÄ¡Áø þÕì¸ ÓÊ¡Ð. «Åü¨È «Êì¸Ê Å¢ÄìÌÅÐõ º¡ò¾¢Âõ þø¨Ä. ¬É¡ø þó¾ ¬¨º¸û þÃñΠŢ¾õ. ´ýÚ º¡ò¾¢ÂÁ¡¸¢, ¾£÷óÐ ¦ºÄÅÆ¢óÐ §À¡¸ìÜÊ ¬¨º¸û. þÅü¨È ´ÕÅ¡È¡¸ ¿¡õ «ÛÀÅ¢òÐì ¸Æ¢òÐÅ¢¼Ä¡õ. «ô§À¡Ð þ¨ÈÅÉ¢¼õ ®ÎÀ¼ìÜÊ ÀìÌÅõ ÅóÐÅ¢Îõ. Õº¢Â¡É ¯½¨Åî º¡ôÀ¢ÎÅÐ, ¿øÄ ¯¨¼¨Â «½¢óЦ¸¡ûÅÐ ¬¸¢Â¨Å þÐ §À¡ýÈ ¬¨º¸û. §ÅÚ º¢Ä ¬¨º¸û «¾£¾Á¡É¨Å. «Åü¨È «¨¼Â ÓÊ¡Ð;«øÄÐ «¨¼ÅÐ À¡ÀÁ¡¸ þÕìÌõ. ƒÉ¡¾¢À¾¢Â¡¸¢Å¢¼ §ÅñÎõ ±ýÚ ±ø§Ä¡Õõ ¿¢¨Éì¸ ÓÊÔÁ¡? À¢Èý Á¨ÉÅ¢ «Æ¸¡¸ þÕ츢ȡû ±ýÀ¾É¡ø «Å¨Ç «¨¼Â ¬¨ºôÀ¼Ä¡Á¡? þôÀÊôÀð¼ ¬¨º¸¨Ç ¦ÅðÊ ´ÐìÌÅо¡ý ¿øÄÐ. ¿£÷ôÀ¡ºÉòÐìÌ ¬Ú þÕìÌõ§À¡Ð, Ţź¡Â¢ ´Õ º¢Ú ¸¢½ü¨È ¿¡Êô §À¡Å¾¢ø¨Ä. ¿ÁìÌ Óì¾¢¨Â «ÕÇ þ¨ÈÅý þÕìÌõ§À¡Ð, º¢Ú ¦ÄǸ£¸Á¡É

¦À¡Õð¸¨Ç ¿¡õ ¿¡Îž¢ø ÀÂÉ¢ø¨Ä. «ó¾ ´ù¦Å¡Õ º¢Ú ¦À¡ÕÇ¢Öõ, «ÛÀÅí¸Ç¢Öõ þ¨ÈŨɧ À¡÷ì¸ì ¸üÚ즸¡ûÙõ§À¡Ð ÁÉõ ÀìÌÅôÀðÎŢθ¢ÈÐ. º¡¾Óõ À¢Ãº¡¾Á¡¸¢Å¢Î¸¢ÈÐ.

- ÍÅ¡Á¢ ¸¢Õ‰½¡Éó¾¡(‘UNIVERSAL ACTION’ ±ýÈ ̧ ðΨâĢÕóÐ)

* þÈóÐ §À¡ÉÅ÷¸Ù측¸ ²Æ¡õ ¿¡ÇýÚ ¸Õ¼ô Òá½õ Å¡º¢ôÀÐ ²ý? «¾É¡ø «Å÷¸ÙìÌ ±ýÉ ÀÄý? ÁüÈ ºÁÂí¸Ç¢ø ²ý ¸Õ¼ôÒá½õ Å¡º¢ôÀ¾¢ø¨Ä?

±Š.ºó¾¡ÉÄðÍÁ¢ - ¾¢ÕÅ¡¼¨É

¸Õ¼Òá½õ ±ýÀÐ þÈóЧÀ¡É À¢ÈÌ ±ýÉ §¿Ã¢Î¸¢ÈÐ ±ýÀ¨¾ Å¢Çì̸¢ÈÐ. ¾£¨Á¸¨Çî ¦ºöÀÅ÷¸û «¾üÌ⠸ΨÁÂ¡É ÀÄý¸¨Ç «ÛÀÅ¢ôÀ¡÷¸û ±ýÚ «Ð ¯Ú¾¢Â¡¸î ¦º¡ø¸¢ÈÐ. À¡Áà Áì¸ÙìÌô ÒâÔõ Å¢¾Á¡¸ «Ð ÜÚž¡ø, «¨¾ì §¸ðÀÅ÷¸û À¡Åõ ¦ºöÂò ¾ÂíÌÅ¡÷¸û. þÈóÐ §À¡ÉÅ÷¸û þÕó¾ Å£ðÊø ¯ûÇ ¦¿Õí¸¢Â ¯ÈÅ¢É÷¸û, þÈó¾À¢ý ²Æ¡õ ¿¡ÇýÚ Å¢Ãì¾¢ ̄ ûÇ ÁÉ¿¢¨Ä¢ø þÕôÀ¡÷¸û. «ô§À¡Ð þó¾ áø ÀÊì¸ôÀð¼¡ø, ÁÉò¾¢ø ¿¢îºÂÁ¡¸. ¬ÆôÀ¾¢Ôõ ±ýÀ§¾ þ¾ý §¿¡ì¸õ. þ¾É¡ø þÈóÐ

þ§¾¡, ¯í¸û §¸ûÅ¢ìÌô À¾¢ø

14

§À¡ÉÅ÷¸ÙìÌ ±ó¾Å¢¾Á¡É ÀÄÛõ þø¨Ä. þ¨¾ì §¸ðÌõ ¿ÁìÌò¾¡ý ÀÄý ²üÀθ¢ÈÐ. ¾ÅÈ¡É ÅƢ¢ø §À¡öì ¦¸¡ñÊÕôÀÅ÷¸Ùõ þ¨¾ì §¸ðÎ µÃÇ× ÁÉõ ¾¢ÕóÐÅ¡÷¸û ±ýÀÐ þ¾ý ¸ÕòÐ.

- ÍÅ¡Á¢ ¸¢Õ‰½¡Éó¾÷‘Facets of Spirituality’ ±ýÈ áĢĢÕóÐ

* ¾Ã¢ºÉõ ±ýÀÐ ±ýÉ? §¸¡ÒÃò¨¾§Â¡, ÐŃŠ ¾õÀò¨¾§Â¡, ¬ÄÂõ ¯ûÇ Á¨Ä¨Â§Â¡ ¸¡ñÀÐõ ܼ ±ôÀÊò ¾Ã¢ºÉÁ¡Ìõ?

±Š.«ñ½¡Á¨Ä - ¬Ã½¢

¾Ã¢ºÉõ ±ýÀÐ ¿õÓ¨¼Â ÁÉò¾¢ø ¬Éó¾ÁÂÁ¡É ¯½÷¨Åò àñÎÅÐ; ¦ÁöÂ¡É ¯½÷¨Åô Òâ ¨ÅòÐ, ¿õÓ¨¼Â ̧ Ũĸ¨Ç ÁÈì¸î ¦ºöÅÐ; þ¨ÈŨÉô ÀüȢ º¢ó¾¨É¨Âò àñÊ ¿õÓ¨¼Â º¢øĨÈÂ¡É À¢È º¢ó¾¨É¸¨Ç ÁÈì¸î ¦ºöÅÐ. þÐ À¡÷ôÀ¾¡ø ¿õÁ¢¼õ ²üÀÎõ ÀĨÉô ¦À¡Úò§¾Â¡Ìõ. À¡÷ìÌõ ¦À¡Õû Ó츢Âõ «øÄ; ÀÄ§É Ó츢Âõ.¸÷ôÀ츢ոò¾¢ø ÍÅ¡Á¢¨Âò ¾Ã¢º¢ì¸Ä¡õ; ¦ÅǢ¢ø ¯Ä¡ ÅÕõ§À¡Ð ¯üºÅá¸ò ¾Ã¢º¢ì¸Ä¡õ. þ¨ÈÅÉ¢ý þÕôÀ¢¼Á¡É §¸¡Â¢§Ä

¿ÁìÌ «ó¾ ¯½÷¨Å ²üÀÎò¾¢Å¢¼ ÓÊÔõ. «¾É¡ø¾¡ý °Ã¢ø ±í¸¢ÕóÐ À¡÷ò¾¡Öõ, ±ø§Ä¡ÕìÌõ ¦¾Ã¢ÔõÀÊ¡¸ì §¸¡ÒÃò¨¾ì ¸ðÊ ¨Åò¾¢Õ츢ȡ÷¸û. §¸¡Å¢ø Ũâø ¿¼óÐ §À¡¸ ÓÊ¡¾Å÷¸û ܼ «ó¾ì §¸¡ÒÃò¨¾ ÁðΧÁ À¡÷òÐò ¾Ã¢ºÉõ ¦ÀüÈ ¯½÷¨Åô ¦ÀÈÄ¡õ.¸¡¨Ä¢ø ¸¼ü¸¨ÃìÌô §À¡öô À¡Õí¸û. «í§¸ «¨Ä¸Ç¢ý µÃÁ¡¸ ¿¢ýÚ, Ýâ¨Éô À¡÷òÐ º¢Ä÷ ¨¸¨ÂÔõ ¸¡¨ÄÔõ ¬ðθ¢È¡÷¸û; «Å÷¸û ¦ºöÅÐ §¾¸ô À¢üº¢. ¸¼ø µÃÁ¡¸î Ýâ¨Éô À¡÷ò¾Àʧ º¢Ä÷ ¿Ê츢ȡ÷¸û; «Å÷¸û ¿¡ÎÅÐ ¸ñÏìÌô À¢üº¢. Áñ½¢ø ¯¼øÀ¼ ¿ÁŠ¸¡Ãõ ¦ºöÐÅ¢ðÎ ±ØóÐ, Ýâ¨Éô À¡÷òÐì ¸ñ¸¨Ç ãÊî º¢Ä÷ о¢ì¸¢È¡÷¸û; «Å÷¸û ¦ÀÚÅÐ Ý⠾âºÉõ. ±ø§Ä¡ÕìÌõ ¦¾Ã¢ÅÐ ´§Ã ÝâÂý¾¡ý. ¬É¡ø ´ù¦Å¡ÕÅâ¼Óõ ²üÀÎõ Å¢¨Ç×¾¡ý Å¢ò¾¢Â¡ºÁ¡ÉÐ. ¾Ã¢ºÉõ ±ýÀÐ «Ð ¿õÓû ±ØôÒõ ¯½÷Å¢ý àö¨Á¨ÂÔõ §Áý¨Á¨ÂÔõ ¦À¡Úò¾Ð. «¨¾ô ¦À¡Úò§¾ «¾ý Ó츢ÂòÐÅò¨¾Ôõ ¿õÁ¡ø ¯½Ã ÓÊÔõ.

- ÍÅ¡Á¢ ¸¢Õ‰½¡É󾡑Facets of Spirituality’ ±ýÈ áĢĢÕóÐ

¸ñÏìÌ þɢ ¸ñÎ ÁÉò¨¾ì ¸¡ðÊø «¨ÄÂÅ¢ðÎ Àñ½¢Õõ ⨺¡§Ä - §¾¡Æ¢ ÀÂý ´ýÈ¢¨Ä «Ê!¯ûÇò¾¢ø ¯ûÇ¡ý «Ê! «Ð ¿£ ¯½Ã §ÅñÎõ «Ê!¯ûÇò¾¢ø ¸¡ñÀ¡ö ±É¢ø - §¸¡Å¢ø ¯û§ÇÔõ ¸¡ñÀ¡ö «Ê!

(§¾º¢Â Å¢¿¡Â¸õ À¢û¨Ç)

15

Á¢Õ¸ ¾òÐÅõ §¸¡Àõ, ¦À¡È¡¨Á, À¨¸, ÌÚõÒò¾Éõ, À¢ÊÅ¡¾õ, ºñ¨¼ þ¨Å¦ÂøÄ¡õ Á¢Õ¸ ÍÀ¡ÅÁ¡Ìõ. ÁÉ¢¾÷¸ÙìÌ ã¨Ç¢Õ츢ÈÐ. Å¢º¡Ã¨½ ¦ºö¾ø ºò̽í¸Ç¡¸¢Â «ýÒ, «†¢õ¨º, ºò¾¢Âõ §À;ø Á¡É¢¼ ¾òÐÅÁ¡Ìõ. ¿¡õ À¸Å¡É¢¼Á¢ÕóÐ ÅóÐû§Ç¡õ. »¡Éõ, º¡ó¾¢, ¬Éó¾õ, ºîº¢¾¡Éó¾ ¦º¡åÀõ, ¿¡õ À¸Å¡Û¨¼Â, ¾¢ù Òò¾¢Ã÷¸û ±ýÀÐ ¾¢ù ¾òÐÅÁ¡Ìõ.¾¢ù ¾òÐÅò¨¾ ¿õÓ¨¼Â Å¡ú쨸¢ø ÁÄÃî ¦ºöÅÐ §Â¡¸Á¡Ìõ. “±ýÉ¢¼õ ¯ûÇ

¾¢ù ¾òÐÅõ ¾¡ý ±ø§Ä¡Ã¢¼òÐõ ¯ûÇÐ. ±ÉìÌ ±Ð Ðì¸ò¨¾ ¦¸¡Î츢ȧ¾¡ «Ð À¢ÈÕìÌõ Ðì¸ò¨¾ì ¦¸¡ÎìÌõ. ´§Ã §ƒ¡¾¢ ±ø§Ä¡Ã¢¼òÐõ ¯ûÇД ±ýÀ¨¾ «È¢Å§¾ §Å¾¡ó¾õ. ´§Ã ¾¢ù ¾òÐÅõ ±ø§Ä¡Ã¢¼Óõ þÕ츢ÈÐ. ¡ÕìÌõ ¿õÁ¡ø ¾£¨Á ²üÀ¼ì ÜÊÂÐ. ¬òÁ¡ ±ø§Ä¡Ã¢¼òÐõ ¯ûÇÐ. þЧŠŢŸ¡Ã §Å¾¡ó¾õ (Vedanta in daily life) ¬Ìõ.

ºò¾¢Âõ §À;ø, ¿øÄ Å¡÷¨¾¸¨Ç§Â §À;ø, ¸ñ¸Ç¢É¡ø ¿øÄÅü¨È§Â À¡÷ò¾ø, ¸¡¾¢É¡ø ¿øÄÅü¨È§Â §¸ðÀÐ, þó¾¢Ã¢Âí¸¨Ç ¾õ źò¾¢ø «¼ì¸¢ ¨Åò¾¢ÕôÀ¦¾øÄ¡õ §Â¡¸Á¡Ìõ.

¿õÁ¢¼õ ãýÚ ¾òÐÅõ ¯ûÇÐ

º£¨¾, «ÛÝ¡, ¬ñ¼¡û, Á£Ã¡À¡ö, þÅ÷¸¨Ç þô¦À¡ØÐõ »¡À¸ò¾¢ø ¨ÅòÐ즸¡ñÎ þÕì¸ì ¸¡Ã½õ «Å÷¸û Å¡ú쨸¢ø «Û‰Êò¾ ºòŠ̽§Á¡Ìõ. ¿õÓ¨¼Â ´Øì¸ò¾¢É¡ø ¯Â÷ó¾ ¿¢¨Ä¨Â «¨¼ÂÄ¡õ.

¨Áò§Ã¢, ̧ ¡÷츢, «ÛÝ¡, º¡Ã¾¡Á½¢ §À¡ýÈ ¯ò¾Á ¦ÀñÁ½¢¸Ç¢ý Å¡ú쨸¨Âô ÀÊì¸ §ÅñÎõ. ¾¢ù §ƒ¡¾¢ ̄ í¸Ùû þÕôÀÐ ¾¡ý ¿¢ƒÁ¡É ¦º¡åÀõ. ºÃ£Ãõ Å£Î. À¸Å¡Û¨¼Â §ƒ¡¾¢¨Â ¦ÅÇ¢ôÀÎò¾ §ÅñÎÁ¡É¡ø ºì¾¢, ¨¾Ã¢Âõ §ÅñÎõ. ¯í¸Ùû ºì¾¢ ¦º¡åÀÁ¡¸ ¯ûÇÐ. ¦Àñ¸û ±øÄ¡õ ‘Àáºì¾¢ ¦º¡åÀõ’ ±ýÚ ÌÕ §¾Å÷ ÜÚÅ¡÷. ¿¡ý ‘¾¢ù Àáºì¾¢ «õºõ’ ±ýÚ ¦¾Ã¢óÐ ¦¸¡ñ¼¡ø ¿¡õ º¢È¢Â ¸¡Ã¢Âí¸¨Çî ¦ºö Á¡ð§¼¡õ. ¿£í¸¦ÇøÄ¡õ Àáºì¾¢ ¾¢ù ¦º¡åÀÁ¡¸ þÕóÐ þôÀ¢ÈŢ¢§Ä§Â ¾¢ù «ÛÀÅò¨¾ «¨¼Å£÷¸Ç¡¸. þЧŠº¢Å¡Éó¾ ¦¾¡ñ¼ý ¯í¸û ¾¢ÕÅÊ¢ø ºÁ÷ôÀ¢ìÌõ º¢È¢Â ¦ºö¾¢Â¡Ìõ.

(ŠÃ£ ÍÅ¡Á¢ º¢¾¡Éó¾¡ «Å÷¸û 15-06-1967ø þẢÒÃõ ¦Àñ¸û §¾º¢Â ¯Â÷¿¢¨Äô ÀûÇ¢ Á¡½Å¢¸ÙìÌ ÅÆí¸¢Â «Õ٨âý ÍÕì¸õ)

ÍÅ¡Á¢ º¢¾¡Éó¾¡.

1. Á¢Õ¸ ¾òÐÅõ

2. Á¡É¢¼ ¾òÐÅõ

3. ¾¢ùÂ ¾òÐÅõ

16

BE HONEST

Beloved Divine Children!

Even in small affairs be honest. Honesty is not only the best policy, it is a fundamental virtue. An honest man is trusted by all. He is respected by all. He attains success in life. He soon gets promotion. He can have quick expansion in his business. He will become famous.

God will bless an honest man. Officers like an honest man. You will have a clear conscience if you are honest. If you are honest, you will have good sleep and good health. The gates of heaven will be opened for you hereafter.

Do not take bribes. It is a dishonest practice. It is a great sin. You will have to suffer for the wicked action. Live within your means. Cut the coat according to the cloth. Make both ends meet. Lead a simple life. Then you do not want much money. Then you need not borrow money. Then nothing will tempt you to take bribes.

BE PUNCTUAL

Time is most precious. You will miss your lesson if you go to your school every day late by an hour. You miss the train if you do not go to the station at the right time.

Form the habit of doing things at the right time. Get up early and start your work at the right hour. If you have to go to school at 10 a.m., try to reach there always a few minutes earlier. Be punctual in attending any meeting.

See, nature is also punctual. The sun rises at the right hour. Seasons come in the right time. If you are not punctual, your life will be a failure. If you are punctual, it will be a great success. If you form the habit of being punctual, it will always help you to do all your work at the right time.

SWAMI SIVANANDA

PARABLE OF THE TAILOR’S NEEDLE

A Tailor was at work. He took a piece of cloth and with a pair of shining, costly scissors he cut the cloth into various bits. Then he put the pair of scissors at his feet .Then he took a small needle and thread and started to sew the bits of cloth into a fine shirt. When the spell of sewing was over, he stuck the needle onto his turban. The tailor’s son who was watching it asked him:“Father, the scissors are costly and look so beautiful. But you throw them down at your feet. This needle is worth almost nothing; you can get a dozen for an anna. Yet, you place it carefully on

CHILDREN’S WORLD

17

your head itself. Is there any reason for this illogical behaviour?”

“Yes, my son. The scissors have their function, no doubt; but they only cut the cloth into bits. The needle, on the contrary, unites the bits and enhances the value of the cloth. Therefore, the needle to me is more precious and valuable. The value of a thing depends on its utility, son, not on its cost price or appearance”.

Similarly, there are two classes of people in the world – those who create dissensions and disharmony, who separate man from man; and those who bring about peace and harmony, who unite people. The former are generally the rich people, powerful politicians and kings; the latter are generally the poor devotees of God, the penniless wandering monks and mendicants. The Lord makes use of both to carry on his function of providing the field for the evolution of individual souls. He throws down on the dust the mighty kinds and millionaires who create wars and disharmony; and He keeps the poor, pious devotee over His own head. In his eyes, the scale of values is entirely different!

SWAMI SIVANANDA

PARABLE OF THE HUNTER’S DREAM

A hunter went to bed at night and dreamt. In the dream he saw that a fierce lion was chasing him and was about to jump at him. He was frightened. He gave out a terrible cry.

He dreamt that he was stooping to pick up his bow and arrow, shouting at his comrade “Get me the bow and arrow.” Actually he slipped out of his bed in an effort to get the bow and arrow. At once he woke up. His son who was sleeping in the adjacent room, had heard his cry and his words: “Get me the bow and arrow.” He did not know what it was all about and so rushed in with bow and arrow. The father smiled and shook his head: no I do not want them now. It was a dream only. Now that I know it was a dream, I have no more use for the bow and arrow. What a wonderful dream it was; though now I am awake and realise it was all a dream, I do still remember the dream vividly and rejoice.”

Similarly, the Jiva lies down on the bed of the body. He dreams or imagines that he is roaming in the forest of this world. Great misery in the shape of disease, poverty, old age, etc., attacks him. He cries and shouts. He is wont on such occasions to take the weapon of sensual indulgence in a vain attempt to kill the misery. But Grace of God takes him away from the body-consciousness. He attains Jnana. His friends and relatives treat him as they used to treat him before. But he smiles and declines to indulge the senses. He now knows that his past life was but a long dream. In his awakened soul there is no misery at all; and therefore sense-indulgence has no meaning for him. Though he recalls the memory of his past life of ignorance, he now realises that it was all a long dream, fit only to be laughed over.

SWAMI SIVANANDA

18

You must be a psychologist, if you want to lead a happy and healthy life and if you want to progress in the spiritual path. Most of the physical ailments spring from a diseased state of the mind. Kindly bear this fact in mind. Emotional imbalance leads to all sorts of nervous troubles and physical illnesses also. That is the reason why a real Sannyasin, even though he is starved, homeless and friendless, is happy and full of vigour. He has inner strength.

You should all lead a well-regulated life. Proper hours of work and rest are necessary. Then alone can you be healthy and peaceful, and have ample time for Sadhana. Then alone can you achieve success in all your undertakings. Go to bed at 10 p.m. and get up at 4 a.m. You will have strong nerves.

Another reason why most people suffer from nervous breakdown is that they do not know how to utilise the holidays. They are more busy on holidays than they are on working days! They waste more energy on holidays, in the name of recreation. There is in fact no re-creation but a redoubled destruction. Observe Mouna on all holidays. Devote all your time to Sadhana. Do this for six months from now; you will yourself experience the truth of what I say.

Secret of Conserving Energy: If you

want to enjoy sound health and peace of mind, then give up indulging in useless wasteful activities. You should discriminate and analyse each action: ‘Is this necessary for me to achieve the goal of life’? Restrain the mind. The mind will revolt. You have given it too long a rope. You should find out intelligent methods of weaning it away from the wanton ways. You can conserve a lot of energy by avoiding gup-shup, idle gossip and aimless wandering. Once you cultivate a healthy habit of engaging your body and mind in useful activities, you will find you are more peaceful, more healthy and have more time for Sadhana.

The worrying habit is the biggest drain on your nerve-power. A Bhakta or a real Sadhaka can never worry himself. He has perfect faith in God and His Goodness. He has self-confidence. He is serene. He is bold. He is cheerful. He takes things as they come, as the Lord gives him. He achieves a lot, while a man who worries drops off his hand golden opportunities that are put into it

HEALTHand

PSYCHOLOGY(Sri Swami Sivananda)

19

by the Lord.

Real Dangers to Health: Very few people realise that evil qualities like hatred, jealousy, anger, touchiness and impatience, are harmful to themselves rather than to those towards whom they are directed. A fit of anger that lasts for ten minutes takes away more energy than would working at the plough for two days without food. The slow gnawing jealousy eats away your nerve power more rapidly than white ants eat through dry wood. Over sensitiveness, impatience and worry bring on grey hairs scores of years earlier than they are due. Be serene. Look within. Strive. Exert. Give all your thoughts to the eradication of your own evil qualities within; you will never get angry. Look into the good qualities of others; you will hate none. Learn to admire other’s achievements. Jealousy will disappear. You will try to emulate; you will try to grow and to achieve; and you will not be impelled by jealousy to hold back those that are marching forward. Jealousy will create an inferiority complex; disable your mind and ruin your health. Jealousy is at the root of the nervous breakdown of millions of people all over the world.

Another important rule if you are to lead a healthy life is – live in the eternal present. Concentrate all your attention on the work in hand. Live this day well. Yesterday had joined the hoary past, a finished product on which you need bestow no more attention. Tomorrow is yet a long way off; and it will bring with it time enough for its work. Forget the past; ignore the future. Live in the present. Future will take care of itself.

If you adopt this wise method, you will never work in tension. You will be calm, serene, concentrated and efficient. You will achieve more than your fretting brother who, when he has work to do now, thinks more of the past or the future than the present. Time passes by this inattentive man. And he has less time to do the work in hand. He is always in a hurry. He lives on the edge of his nerves. His mind rules him; its whims and fancies are his hard taskmasters. How can he achieve anything?

However difficult a work if you have to do now, take it up, apply all your energy to it and finish it. Let it not act a dead weight to bear your nerves down. Application and completion make the impossible possible. Do not vacillate. Take things easy. Let no task frighten you. Make up your mind quickly. Take quick decisions. You can do so only if you have a calm mind. Men of vacillation have never done anything.

Solve Your Problems Yourself: Learn to master your mind. Solve your own problems. Jump over the hurdles in your path. Do not carry your miseries to others. Give up the complaining habit. One who complains of this and that spends all his life in complaining; he has no energy nor the will-power to achieve. His mind is eager to find out a cause for complaining; his life is a series of failures; and every time he blames his failure on somebody or something. He becomes an easy prey to nervous breakdown.

Wisdom lies in accepting those things over which you have no control. Do not grumble. Accept them cheerfully and willingly. And, you should also equip

20

yourself with the courage to change the things that are under your control. Apply yourself. You should bring your mind under your perfect control. You should change your angle of vision, alter your mode of thinking, stop all waste of mental energy, turn the rays of the mind within and realise the Self.

Faith in God : Faith in God must be restored. It is lack of this faith and man’s unconditional surrender to science and so-called rationalism that is the cause of almost all the human ills. Minus faith in the Higher Power, God, man easily slips into the bestial kingdom. Selfishness, lust, greed, violence and consequently, nervous breakdown, blood pressure, heart diseases and a host of other ailments never leave him.Too much trust in the intellect results in insanity and broken will. The example of the German philosopher Nitzsche is too well known. Intellect is finite and frail. It is impotent when man is allured by temptations. It is put out of action

when he is intoxicated. Therefore, to lead a righteous, healthy living, besides observing the essential hygienic and dietic rules, one has to aim at intuition, which can be developed through faith, devotion and purity of heart.

Purity of heart is to be achieved through meditation, prayer, repetition of the Lord’s Name, study of sacred scriptures, and, most important of all, selfless service to humanity. By serving the sick, the poor and the needy and by bringing comfort and happiness to them, one adds to one’s own happiness. Through sacrifice of one’s extra comforts and above all, one’s own ego, one develops contentment and infinite joy. No disease can assail him; for, his mind is ever pure, peaceful and strong. If the individual lives a happy, healthy and righteous life, the society also will become happy, prosperous and free from ills.

WHAT IS YOGA ?Yoga is not magic or a feat of any kind, physical or mental. * * *Yoga is based on a sound philosophy and deep psychology. * * *It is an educational process by which the human mind is trained to become more and more natural and weaned from the unnatural conditions of life. * * *Yoga is that Integral Method whereby the individual is attuned to the Supreme Be-ing, in all its levels of manifestation. It is neither a creed nor a tradition, but the law governing the universe and made manifest in the conscious activity of the individual. - Swami Krishnananda

21

WHAT GURUDEV IS FOR US ?Sri Swami Chidananda

Adorable Presence Divine, worship-ful homage onto Thee! We who are inseparable parts of Thy eternal, infi-nite existence, one with You in essen-tial nature, have forgotten our eternal relationship with Thee who art our adi, madhya and anta (beginning, mid-dle and end), who art our all in all. Through this forgetfulness we have alienated ourselves from Thee and thus find ourselves to be in a state deprived of the bliss, peace and light that is our birthright, that is what we are. We have deprived ourselves of this Self-experience, and we are living a spurious, false, counterfeit experi-ence filled with love and hate, laughing and weeping, anxiety and tension, fear and bondage, fighting and quarrelling, self-centredness, selfishness, anger and jealousy. It is a kritrimavastha, a vishamavastha- an unnatural state, an abnormal state. It is not sahaja (nat-ural) to us, but kritrima (unnatural). At this moment, in the calm hours of this silent morning, in the spiritual presence of our beloved and worshipful Holy Master Guru Bhagavan Swami Sivanandaji, we offer adorations and homage to Your Feet. From the bottom of our hearts, human hearts, we pray that this separation, this alien-ation, this wandering away from Thee, may end. May this forgetfulness, this slumber of non-awareness of our own svarupa, of our eternal relationship with You-which is the root-cause of all pain, suffering, sorrow, misery, delusion and infatuation-come to end by Thy grace. May we be restored to our eternal, inner, divine oneness with Thee who art the only reality in the midst of countless billions of half-realities and appearances. Then alone will sorrow give place to joy, restlessness and agi-tation give place to peace, delusion give

place to knowledge and wisdom, and an insufficient, partial existence give place to purnatva that is Brahmanhood. In this morning hour we pray: “asatoma sadgamaya, tamaso ma jy-otirgamaya, mrityorma amritam gama-ya.” Put an end to this separation for Thou hast clearly stated: “tam vidyad-duhkha-samyoga-viyogam yo-ga-samjnitam- It is the cessation of un-ion with pain that is yoga.” With yoga, all pain ceases, all sufferings ceases, all taapatraya ceases. No longer is there weeping and wailing: there is bliss, there is joy. Grant us the gift of that yoga. That is the call in the immortal wisdom teachings of the Srimad Bhaga-vad Gita, where among many messag-es, many teachings, many command-ments, Thou who art Narayana hast also uttered the call to Nara, to Arjuna, the representative man: “tasmatyogi bhava’rjuna”. And as Swami Sivananda Thou hast repeated this call again: “ Come , come, become a yogi. Why do you weep and wail? Why do you unnec-essarily prolong this bondage? Come, come, become a yogi.” Thus in his call to modern mankind of this twentieth century, Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda-ji has resounded that ancient call. Worshipful spiritual presence, Gurudev, thou who art our light and guide in life, keep sounding that call again and again in our hearts. This is the supplication at thy feet of all the seeking souls who are gathered in your presence, drawn by your guru kripa, grace, morning after morning to this sacred Samadhi Hall of your Ashram. Radiant Immortal Atman! We have been considering the heritage that Gurudev has left behind for us. We have mentioned this unique, most pre-cious, invaluable facility of an Ashram on the banks of the Ganga. It is a fact,-

22

a felt, solid, tangible, material fact. No one can deny it. It is a facility for bhakti, jnana, dhyana, karma yoga and paropakara seva. Then there is jnana ganga, a vast body of inspiring, soul arousing, illuminating, instructing spir-itual literature. And he also gave us a certain pattern of life, an ideal, which he called divine life, not merely the gross physical life or subtle psychological life, but the divine life, a life qualified by our svarupa, qualified by our innermost es-sential nature, a life that is not merely an expression of our non-essential upa-dhis, but a life that is the expression of the divinity which is the innermost reality of each and every one of us. He gave us the adesa and the sande-sa: “Live your life divinely, for that is what you are. If you manifest your upa-dhis, you are not manifesting yourself.” Also, the quintessence of all the scriptures, the direction towards Di-vinity, was given a systematic shape. Gurudev said: “Its foundation is truth, purity and compassion, universal love. And the structure is ceaseless self-less service, devotional worship, dis-cipline, concentration and meditation, ceaseless enquiry, aspiration, jijnasa, mumukshutva, vichara, viveka, inves-tigation into the nature of the Reality behind and beyond appearances, sub-lating the nama and rupa which are ever-changing, never real, only ap-pearance, and going beyond them into the satchidananda tattva, that which exists eternally, that which shines with luminous Self-consciousness, knowledge, light, and that which is very dear indeed for it is full of bliss.” So the superstructure he has given us is seva, bhakti, dhyana and atma-jnana, upon the foundation of ahimsa, satyam and brahmacharya. But his unique bestowal to us is that he has given us a new identity. He said: “You are not here merely to wander about like a wayfarer, to get ditched somewhere, waylaid and stripped of

everything by the dacoits of the five senses. Rather, you are here to attain union with the Supreme Being. You are engaged in that. This is the innermost meaning of life. It is a journey to put an end to the separation and once again attain union with the Divine. Then alone sorrow gives place to joy, putting an end to samyoga (contact) with duhkha (pain). Therefore become a yogi.” Thus, he gave us an iden-tity: “You are all yogis; you must live as yogis. Life is yoga. Life is a pro-cess of regaining that oneness, that connection, that inner relationship, that lost link with the divine source of your being. Therefore live as yo-gis. Be aware of yourselves as yogis.” And this new identity was to be based upon a matter-of-fact pragmatic life. Merely imagining ourselves to be yogis is not enough. Be practical yogis. Practice yoga sadhana. More than any-thing else, be a sadhaka. Whether you are a lawyer, engineer, doctor, profes-sor, teacher, taxi-driver, businessman or a shopkeeper, no matter what you are, be a sadhaka. “Do real sadhana my dear children. Do real sadhana.” Do sadhana. Be a real sadhaka. Engage yourself in spiritual sadhana. Let it be-come an inseparable part of your day-to-day life. Let the day start with sad-hana. Let the day end with sadhana. Let the day and all its activities be infilled with the spirit of sadhana-yadyat karma karomi tattadakhilam sambho tavarad-hanam (Whatsoever work I do, O Lord, I offer all that unto Thee as worship). This is the unique bestowal of Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji to the for-tunate global humanity of the twentieth century. And, most fortunate of all are each of you who have come into direct contact with this bestowal, and who have decided to adopt that type of life as a sadhaka. You are a sadhaka and you are a yogi. That is a new birth he gave to you. That is a new identity he

23

imparted to you, taking away the wrong identity: “I am so and so, I am such and such; I am a male, I am a female; I am a Brahmin, Sudra, Kshatriya, Vai-sya; I am a brahmacharin, sannyasin, vanaprastha.” Above all of these, he gave the identity: “ I am a yogi wanting to attain union with the Divine. I am a sadhaka; my life means for me sadha-na. My life should be infilled with sad-hana. If sadhana is taken away, I am a cipher; my life has ceased to be. There is no more life in me; I am a dead be-ing, sava.”Like that he gave us this new identity of a sadhaka and of a yogi, of a bhakta and paropakari, of a dhyani and a Vedantin. “Be a Vedantin! Roar Om, Om, Om! Come out of this cage of flesh and bones!” That is what he wanted. So, he gave us a new conscious-ness, a new awareness of ourselves, a new identity purely in relation to God, connected with God directly, connected with Brahman directly. But above all he

gave us the identity: “Live as a yogi. Live as a sadhaka.”This is what you have inherited. This is what he left be-hind, a priceless treasure, a priceless heritage which cannot be evaluated or estimated in terms of gold and silver and precious gems, and which is atulya (incomparable), amulya (invaluable). With this sharing, let us offer our worshipful adorations at the feet of Guru Bhagavan and offer our loving homage to that Being whom he repre-sented, whose ancient call, which was sounded in the Gita jnana upadesa, he once again revived and gave voice to in this twentieth century: “Come, come, become a yogi, attain Self-realisa-tion, God-realisation, in this very life.” That is Gurudev for us. That is what he shall ever be for those who have sincerely tried to ponder and tried to find out what we are to him, in what way we are related to him and what he has been to us- his life, his teachings.

Spiritual Activities6th June 2015Sri Swami Brahmajnanananda attended the Ipoh Sub-Branch AGM. Later Swamiji conducted a workshop at the youth camp in Arsha Vidya Nilayam.

6th June 2015Sri Swami Brahmajnanananda conducted his monthly Bhagavad Gita classes at the Seremban and Senawang Sub-Branches.

21st June 2015The Kuala Kubu Bharu Youth programme was conducted by DLS Head quarters Youth. It was a get together session with several interesting games. Sri Swami Brahmajnanananda headed this

session.

28th June 2015Swami Brahmajnanananda held his monthly Bhagavad Gita classes at the Port Klang Sub-Branch.

1st July 2015Gurudev’s Murti’s Pratistha Anniversary was held at the Sungai Karangan Sub-Branch. Sri Swami Brahmajnanananda did the Abishegam for Gurudev Murti and later conducted the Paduka Puja. Swamiji gave a speech entitled “Swadhyaya” at the above function.

3rd July 2015Sri Swami Samyamananda attended

24

the 28th anniversary of the installation of Gurudev’s Murthi at the Johore Bharu Sub-Branch. He conducted the Paduka Puja and gave a speech on “Karma Yoga”.

11th July 2015The Seremban and Senawang Sub-Branches had their monthly classes on Bhaja Govindam. The above classes were conducted by Sri Swami Brahmajnanananda.

16th – 19th July 2015A very successful camp for the Kuala Kubu Bharu and Batu Caves Sivananda Homes’ children was held. Apart from simple lectures on Hinduism, there were games and Hatha Yoga classes for them. This camp was organized by the DLS Batu Caves Youth and guided by Sri Swami Brahmajnanananda.

24th July 2015Sri Swami Samyamananda attended the launching of religious classes at the Gali Tamil School in Raub. In the evening Swamiji conducted a Vedanta class at the ashram. At night Swamiji delivered a talk on “Hindu Dharma” at the Murugan Temple, Raub.

26th July 2015Sri Swami Brahmajnanananda held his monthly Bhavagad Gita class at the DLS Port Klang Sub-Branch.

26th July 2015The DLS Lahat Sub-Branch AGM was chaired by the Sri Swami Brahmajnanananda.31st July 2015Sri Swami Brahmajnanananda attended the Guru Purnima Celebrations at the

Kuala Kubu Bharu Sub-Branch. Swamiji conducted the Paduku Puja, had a Bhajan session and gave a talk on the “Significance of Guru Purnima”.

Guru Purnima (31st July 2015)Celebration at Sivanandashram, Batu Caves started with Brahmamuhurta Prayer, Meditation and Message from 5.00am to 6.00am followed by a forenoon programme of Akhanda Nama Bhajan, Paduka Puja, Arati and Prasad. The evening programme from 6.30pm comprised prayer bhajans and kirtan and discourse on “Qualifications of an Aspirant” by President Sri Swami Swayamjayananda. A book entitled “Found My Guru” containing articles by Pujya Swami Chidananda, compiled by President Sri Swamiji was released by Sri. S. Nesadurai, Trustee.

Sadhana Week at Sivanandashram, Batu Caves. 1st August – 7th August 2015

Talks on Spiritual topics were held every evening after prayers and bhajans.

1. Topic: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Speaker:SriSwami Samyamananda 2. Topic: Importance of Guru in Religion Speaker: Dr. K. Thilagavathy

3. Topic:Detach – Attach (Sivananda’s Wisdom Tablet) Speaker:Sri Swamini Skandapriya nanda4. Topic: Importance of Sastras Speaker:Br. Sujit Chaitanya

5. Topic: Vedanta Speaker:Sri Swami Supriyananda