Truth is simple. Simple are the words of God-realised saint. How simply our Gurudev,Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, states the subtlest of spiritual truths, so that evenlaymen can understand! The Sage’s compassion is such that he wants the truths of thescriptures to be made available to all, to whatever intellectual level they may belong.Therefore, he has literally exhausted all the methods of stating the truth. He has writtencommentaries on ancient texts; he has presented learned theses on metaphysical questions;he has narrated them in the form of interesting stories; he has given laconic expressionto them in aphorisms; he has vividly dramatised them in his plays; he has sung them insongs and woven them into sublime poems; and now comes another potent method ofinstruction-the Parable. The story is interesting; the mind readily grasps it. Thespiritual truth which is the other side of the story automatically gets inerasably lodgedin the mind. The truth becomes not only clear, but indelible.
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May I answer that?
This book is a compilation from the various published works of the holy Master Sri Swami Sivananda, including some of his earliest works extending as far back as the late thirties.
The questions and answers in the pages that follow deal with some of the commonest, but most vital, doubts raised by practising spiritual aspirants. What invests these answers and explanations with great value is the authority, not only of the sage’s intuition, but also of his personal experience.
Swami Sivananda was a sage whose first concern, even first love, shall we say, was the spiritual seeker, the Yoga student. Sivananda lived to serve them; and this priceless volume is the outcome of that Seva Bhav of the great Master.
Continue readingLord Shiva and his worship
This is a most valuable and instructive book for the aspirants, particularly for the devotees of Lord Siva. It contains fifteen chapters. It is full of instructions on practical Sadhana for attaining Siva-Tattva or God-realisation. The chapters will speak for themselves. The secrets of Siva-Tandava, Sakti-Yoga, Siva-Tattva, etc., are very nicely presented. The translation of the Saiva Upanishads is a beautiful addition. The lives of Siva Acharyas, the Bhaktas and the Nayanars are inspiring and soul-stirring. A study of their lives will make one’s life sublime and holy.
Continue readingLord Shanmukha and his worship
The Advent of Lord Skanda or Karttikeya, the purpose of His incarnation as an Avatara and its significance should be of great importance and of immense value to seekers after Truth. Lord Skanda, also known as Shanmukha, is adored and worshipped with intense faith and devotion throughout South India and Sri Lanka. And naturally it will be of great interest to all His devotees, in particular, to know more about Him, the significance of His birth and His life and career as a victorious General.
Sri Swami Sivanandaji, the author of this book, graphically describes the above-mentioned subjects in his usual style,–inspiring and direct, instructive and illuminating, soul-elevating and at once impressive. It is needless to introduce him to the readers, who is so very well-known as a versatile genius in all the spiritual subjects and as an author of many an immortal and monumental work that breathes the spirit of ancient wisdom and of direct and intuitive realisation of the Supreme.
Continue readingLord Krishna, His Leelas & Teachings
Lord Krishna was the Purna Avatara with 16 Kalas. Every word of His teachings and every act of His was full of sublime object lessons of momentous import to humanity.
Study His teachings to Uddhava. Drink the nectar of Srimad Bhagavata. Sing His glories. Repeat His grand mantra OM Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Do total self-surrender unto Him. You will soon attain union with Him.
Continue readingKundalini Yoga
Kundalini is the coiled up, dormant, cosmic power that underlies all organic and inorganic matter within us and any thesis that deals with it can avoid becoming too abstract, only with great difficulty. But within the following pages, the theory that underlies this cosmic power has been analysed to its thinnest filaments, and practical methods have been suggested to awaken this great pristine force in individuals. It explains the theory and illustrates the practice of Kundalini Yoga.
Continue readingKarmas & Diseases
It is common nowadays to hear it said that the Puranas are very unreliable scriptures and that they indulge in unlimited exaggeration about very many things. These critics say that the Puranas contain gross overstatements and preposterously puerile attempts to cajole or to cow down the reader with citations like the grandiose descriptions of heavenly regions and their joys as also of the awful pictures of hell fires and its torments. To criticise a subject requires very little wit or wisdom. For simple and direct condemnation without caring to consider the pros and cons of a matter is the inborn nature of the human mind. But even to these biased ones a little thoughtful consideration will forthwith reveal that the sagely writers of the Puranas had a special purpose in writing certain thing in the manner they did. They deliberately emphasised and laid particular stress upon some subjects with a definite end in view. Underneath this graphic and detailed descriptions of the Karmas and their consequences there is a shrewd psychology and insight being put to make a practical purpose.
Continue readingHindu Fasts & Festivals
THE HINDUS are a profoundly religious people. Their goal of life is Self-realisation or the attainment of God-consciousness. A religion of some kind they must have–a religion which will stir the depths of the heart and give room for the exercise of faith, devotion and love.
All Hindu festivals have a deep spiritual import or high religious significance. All great Hindu festivals have religious, social and hygienic elements in them. In every festival there is bathing in the morning before sunrise in the river or tank or well. Every individual will have to do some Japa, prayer, Kirtan, recitation of Sanskrit verses and meditation.
Continue readingAll about Hinduism
Hinduism is veritably the fountain-head of all religions. It contains within itself the seeds of all religions. It includes all religions and excludes none.
It is but natural that people all over the world should show increasing interest in a religion with so universal an appeal.
“ALL ABOUT HINDUISM” is intended to meet the needs of those who want to be introduced to the various facets of the crystal that is Hinduism. The book, which was first published in 1947, has now been rearranged in a more convenient form, with useful additions here and there, and is now released in its fifth edition.
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