Love expects no reward; love knows no fear; love Divine gives, does not demand!
Love thinks no evil, imputes no motive; love beautifies giver & elevates the receiver!
To love is to share and serve. ( Swami Sivananda)
Swami Sivananda ( Sept 1887- July 1963), Philosopher, Writer, Vedantist, Reformer and Yoga learner & Trainer, was a genuine apostle of Peace and Love. His teachings crystallized the basic tenets of all religions---- combining all four Yoga paths ( Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga & Raja Yoga) into one called,"The Yoga Of Synthesis", with its motto as,"Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate & Realize". To him, all work was sacred. He was a shining example of the ideal of selfless service of Karma-yoga. He worked tirelessly for serving and helping others. Some of the saintly values visible in his personality include " आत्मभाव , समदृष्टि, अहिंसा , सत्यवाद, आतंरिक एवं बाहरी पवित्रता, संयम , संतोष , परमात्मा की भक्ति". He wrote and disseminated scores of books covering Yoga, Metaphysics, Vedanta, religion, Ethics, Education & Health as well as Western philosophy.
" Neither want, nor give up---, that must be the attitude of a Vedantin. He should be supremely indifferent. He should see God (ब्रह्म ) in everything and everywhere"( Sivananda on Vedantic Ethics, 6th June 1948). He advocated three" R"s of His Yoga as Righteousness, Renunciation and Realization.
On Religion, he forthrightly conveyed that all religions of the world have come out of Hinduism, which is मानव धर्म as well as more of a philosophy than a religion. The teachings of ancient Hindu Saints and Scholars( ऋषिः) are of an all embracing universal nature, meant for the whole world. As per him, Religion is eternal life in the immortal soul, is oneness or unity, is above mind and senses, is above ceremonials and ritualism, is union with God.
He emphasized that Religion is the attainment of Divine Consciousness and freedom from illusion, doubt, fear, grief & delusion. It is a faith for knowing God and realization of True Self. As per him, Real Religion is feeling God. Seeing God and Talking to God.
He respected all Religions of the world. Jesus Christ was as much honored at Sivananda Ashram as Lord Krishna. In his book," Life and Teachings of Lord Jesus", Sivananda wrote that Jesus welcomed and embraced the sinners, the despised, the fallen & broken hearted AND comforted & purified them. His central teaching was," Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself AND the love of God manifests in the love of man." As per Sivananda, Jesus's," Sermon on the Mount" was nothing but practice of right conduct or सदाचार and it corresponds to the practice of यम -नियम of राजयोग. . Jesus was an apostle of non violence and peace, besides an embodiment of mercy, love and humility
In another context, while reviewing " Gospel of Islam", Sivananda wrote," The Prophet taught love, tolerance, understanding and unity. He further wrote that the Prophet's teachings were as sublime as the teachings of any other seer or saint in any other religion. He conveyed that he wished all the followers of Prophet all over the globe to re-read the holy Quran and understand its true message for humanity.
Some of the Ethical Traits and Spiritual Values preached and practiced by him can be visualized from his following prominent messages to the world;
- Cultivate peace in the garden of your heart by removing the weeds of lust, hatred, greed, selfishness & jealousy. Then only, you can manifest it externally with those who come in contact with you.
- Rely on your inner self, the divinity within you. Tap the source through looking within. Improve yourself.Build your character.Purify the heart.Develop the divine virtues. Eradicate evil traits. Make the lower nature the servant of the higher through discipline, tapas, self- restraint and meditation.
- Every temptation that is resisted, every evil thought that is curbed, every desire that is subdued, every bitter word that is withheld,every noble aspiration that is encouraged, every sublime thought that is cultivated, adds to the development of will force, good character and attainment of eternal bliss and immortality.
- Faith is a belief in the unknown.Faith is the search- light for finding God. Adhere to faith, unity and sacrifice; avoid back- biting, falsehood and crookedness; admire frankness & honesty; control tongue, temper and tossing of mind AND cultivate cosmic love, forgiveness and patience.
- See good in everything. Rise above evil and good. Go on introspecting and eradicating impurities in your personality one by one.
- Truth is complete in itself. It is bold. It has no fears. It has a strong foundation in itself. It has no limits of space or time. It is wealth in itself. Dwell on the glory of truth. Take lessons from the lives of great men who adhered to truth; overcome the pitfalls and obstacles in its path.
- Learn to give, give in plenty, give with love, give without any expectations. Giving is the secret of abundance.
- Make others truly happy as you strive to make yourself happy. Speak a helpful word. Give a cheering smile. Do a kind act since kindness is like a healing balm. Wipe the tears of those in distress. Such little actions can make an ocean of goodwill.
- Look within. Within you is the hidden God. Within you is the immortal soul. Within you is the inexhaustible spiritual treasure. Within you is the ocean of bliss. Look within for the happiness you have sought in vain.
- Individual peace paves the way for universal peace. The attainment of inner calm is the greatest work you can do for humanity.
- If you do not find peace within, you will not find it anywhere else. The goal of life is the attainment of peace and not the achievement of power, name, fame and wealth.
- Having true desires(सत्यकाम) as well as having true will or volition (सत्य संकल्प),one must search out & try to understand" the Self or आत्मन ", which is free from sin, from old age, from death & grief, from hunger & thirst. He is the Self, the immortal, fearless ब्रह्म .
- This great unborn Self is the same which abides as the intelligent soul in all living creatures. This undecaying, immortal, fearless Self is ब्रह्म and he, who has subdued his senses, is calm, free from all desires, enduring & composed in mind, beholds the Self in Self, sees all as Self becomes a true ब्रह्म .
- He, who has no आत्मज्ञान , is only a confirmed fool, even though he may be a learned पंडित with all the best of degrees and intellect. He may know by heart all the major spiritual scriptures as well as philosophies of the world, yet there is no salvation for such a learned man without the realization of one's identity with ब्रह्म through constant intense meditation.
- In an answer to a question on " Developing Cosmic Consciousness", he replied," Meditate on themes like' I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am absolute ब्रह्म , omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient---', that is the nature of Satchidananda. As this idea gets deeper and deeper into you, you will enjoy universal consciousness.
- मुक्ति ( Salvation) is attained through the knowledge of Self. To attain आत्मज्ञान, you must have one pointedness of mind (एकाग्रता). It comes from उपासना (Worship),which comes from purity of heart (चित्तशुद्धिः) and is achieved through निष्काम कर्म। To do निष्काम कर्म, one must control senses (इन्द्रियाँ) and that can be controlled by विवेक (Discrimination) and वैराग्य ( Renunciation)।
- God is beyond cause and effect, beyond time and space & beyond the reach of mind and speech. But yet, He is the nearest, the innermost dweller of the heart, the very life of all that lives and moves. God is hidden love and hidden power.
- God is truth. God is peace. God is an embodiment of bliss. God is Satchidananda, existence absolute, knowledge absolute, bliss absolute. God is eternity, infinity and undecaying (अविनाशी). God is all pervading essence or substance. God is close to those who are free from lust, anger, greed & egoism. God is free from any limitations. He is omnipotent (सर्वशक्तिमान).
- भक्ति destroys lust( वासना) and egoism (अहंकार). It elevates the mind to magnanimous heights. If you want to develop भक्ति , you will have to weed out thorns both internal as well as external. Internal thorns include lust, anger, jealousy, greed, pride, hypocrisy & cunningness while external thorns include bad company, bad readings and many more.
- Selfishness is leading us to become narrow minded. Destroy it thru selfless service, charity, sat-sang and other noble deeds.
- Work is worship (पूजा ) of Narayana. Work is meditation.Surrender everything to Him.Place your ego at His feet. He will take complete charge of you.Let Him mould you in any way He likes. Let Him do as He wills. Hear the marvelous music of His flute, the mysterious music of the soul and rejoice.
- Merge in the soul. Live within. Know the self. Move about happily.Realize " one in all" and " all in one".
- Selfless work ( service of Humanity) with आत्मभाव is the seed. A feeling that all creatures are manifestations of the lord (नारायणभाव) is the root. उत्साह ( cheerfulness, zeal) is the shower. Expansion of the heart is the flower. Purity of the heart is the fruit. This is the path of कर्मयोग.
- There is no light like that of knowledge of the self. There is no treasure like that of contentment. There is no virtue like that of truthfulness (सत्य). There is no bliss like that of the soul. There is no friend like आत्मन.
- Develop contentment. Speak the truth. Drink the bliss of the soul. Think yourself as body-less. Identify yourself with supreme self and enjoy the supreme peace and eternal bliss.
Let me end the blog by another quote from Swami Sivananda.
" There is no virtue higher than love.There is no religion higher than love because love is God and God is love. Therefore kindle the light of love in your heart."
