Today’s A Journey
through Aesthetic Realms
will be presented
in Hindi and English,
with subtitles in Arabic,
Aulacese (Vietnamese), Aulacese (Vietnamese),
Chinese, English,
French, German,
Hindi, Hungarian, Hindi, Hungarian,
Indonesian, Italian, Indonesian, Italian,
Japanese, Korean,
Mongolian, Persian,
Portuguese, Russian
and Spanish.
Welcome,
esteemed viewers,
to A Journey through
Aesthetic Realms.
Today, we will travel
to Rishikesh in India.
This city at the foothills of
the Himalayan mountains
in northern India
brings thousands
of pilgrims each year.
Supreme Master Ching Hai
has spoken about
some of her own
pilgrimage experiences
in this holy region,
as during a discussion
with
our Association members
in the US in July 1997.
Another time
when I stay also
near the Himalayas,
another place
called Rishikesh,
they also rent these
kinds of mud houses.
And because
the house inside is stuffy,
they don't
make a very big deal,
like a big window with
screen door and all that.
So most of the time,
I climb up the roof
and sleep.
And after a while, many
other people, neighbors,
the pilgrims like me,
or sometimes Westerners,
they go there and meditate.
Because there are
a lot, a lot of ashrams
around there.
One of the masters,
very famous, this master
from the Beatles,
Transcendental Meditation?
Yogis!
He is one, originated
from there, too.
The place
is called Rishikesh.
A lot of masters went there.
Now, let’s visit
one of the ashrams
at Rishikesh, India.
It’s the world-famous
Sivananda Ashram,
the headquarters of
the Divine Life Society.
The Divine Life Society
was founded in 1936
by Swami Sivananda,
and has branches in
many parts of the world,
including Europe,
the United States,
Canada, South America,
South Africa,
and Australia.
Swami Sivananda
was born in 1887 in
Tamil Nadu, South India.
His birth name
was Kuppuswami.
He studied
to become a physician
and practiced medicine
in Malaysia.
In 1924,
he returned to India
and met his guru, Swami
Vishwananda Saraswati,
with whom he spent
only a few hours.
Swami Vishwananda
initiated him into
sannyas (monkhood).
Thereafter,
Swami Sivananda
went to Rishikesh, which
was at that time still
in the midst of a jungle,
and immersed himself
in intense tapas
(spiritual austerities).
At the same time,
he continued
to help the sick,
and in 1927, he started
a charitable dispensary
near Lakshman Jhula.
At the Sivananda Ashram,
we were kindly greeted
by His Holiness Sri
Vimalananda Saraswati,
the current president of
the Divine Life Society.
In 1953,
when he was 23 years old,
Swami Vimalananda
came to Rishikesh.
He served his guru
Swami Sivananda
for 10 years until his
mahasamadhi (passing)
in 1963.
After that, he served
Swami Sivananda’s
successor, Swami
Chidananda Saraswati,
who became
the second president of
the Divine Life Society.
Swami Vimalananda Ji
shared with us more
about Swami Sivananda
and his teachings.
In the year 1924,
a lone doctor, his name
was Dr. Kuppuswami,
he came to these parts,
and then
for nearly 12 years,
he plunged himself
in a series of austerities,
and attained God-vision.
Afterwards, he broadcast
to the whole world
the Divine Life message.
In the year 1936,
he established
the Divine Life Society,
and then he formulated,
organized this ashram.
The ashram runs
on the basis
of volunteer donations.
We never charge
anything here.
We have two
monthly magazines,
one is “The Divine Life,”
and another one,
“Yoga Vedanta.”
Swami Sivananda,
the founder of
this esteemed institution,
wrote more than 250 books,
covering all fields.
He wrote books on yoga,
bhakti (devotion),
gyana (wisdom),
and also on health.
And also, he has written
“Practice of Nature Cure,”
how one can improve
one’s health by adhering
to simple principles
of nature.
And this he did
for 40 years,
and in the year of 1963,
he attained the Lord.
Afterwards,
the wonderful work
that he has left behind us,
his disciples are
getting on today,
and even today,
the ashram is propagating
the ideals from that.
Swami Sivananda
advocated a combination
of selfless service,
devotion to God,
meditation, and deep
philosophical enquiry.
Unless you are good,
you cannot do good
to others.
He used to sing,
“Serve, love, give, purify,
meditate, realize.
Be good, do good,
be kind,
be compassionate.
Inquire, “Who am I?”
Know thyself,
and be free.
You’re not this body,
not this mind,
immortal Self you are.
Sri Ram, Jaya Ram,
Jaya Jaya Ram Om,
Sri Ram, Jaya Ram,
Jaya Jaya Ram.”
Every day, we used to
have evening get-together,
so holy master
Swami Sivananda
used to conclude his
everyday get-togethers
with these
wonderful prayers.
He admonished man,
“Oh, man you are not
this cage of flesh and body,
immortal spirit you are.
That is your
essential nature.
Divinity is your
essential nature.”
That you have to discover
how by practicing
the synthesis of yoga.
He drew the essence,
some from Bhakti yoga,
from Raja yoga,
Jnana yoga
and Karma yoga.
Even it is not necessarily
for the each and every one
to come to
the Himalayan caves
to meditate.
Wherever God has
placed you, and
whatever environment
you are in,
from that environment
you must take the progress.
Everyday actions
that you do…
See, you got so many duties
every morning.
You have to get up,
you have to
wash your clothes,
you have to
vacuum your home,
wash your cutleries,
right from the morning
until you go to bed.
All the actions
that you perform through
various acts, limbs, organs,
offer to God
as His worship.
When you perform
all of your duties
in this spirit, then
it will become worship
of the Divine,
and you will be in yoga,
you’re a yogi.
So, awareness.
So, that is how one has to
function in the world.
Regarding meditation,
Swami Sivananda spoke
at great length, saying,
“Meditation is
the only royal road
to the attainment
of salvation or Moksha.
Meditation kills all pains,
sufferings and three kinds
of Taapas (fevers) and
five Kleshas or sorrows.
Meditation gives
the vision of unity.
Meditation produces
sense of oneness.
Meditation is an aeroplane
that helps the aspirant
to soar high in the realms
of eternal bliss
and everlasting peace.
It is a mysterious ladder
that connects
Earth and Heaven
and takes the aspirant
to the immortal abode
of Brahman.”
Swami Sivananda also
encouraged
doing good deeds.
The Sivananda
Charitable Hospital
provides free medical
service to the public, and
in the Brahmapuri Colony,
patients with leprosy
are provided a home.
Swami Sivananda Ji
himself was a doctor,
and when we came here,
all the lepers,
they were sitting
right from Rishikesh until
Lakshman Jhula, begging.
Holy Master told them,
“You stop begging,
I shall try to find a home.”
You’ll find
three leper colonies,
one is Brahmapuri.
And it is a well-equipped
leprosy hospital.
Now, they got
a weaving factory.
From the solar light and
a solar heating system
they have got everything.
They’re self-sufficient,
like that, three colonies.
And also, we have
Sivananda Home, where
destitutes from the street,
they’re picked up
and they’re looked after.
And also
we got a hospital here.
So all these treatments
and medicines
and everything
is free of charge
So we don’t charge
anything, it is running
all these 60 years upon
voluntary donations.
We never demand anything.
If it comes, it’s all right,
if it doesn’t come,
we’re the monks,
we sit under the tree
and meditate.
At the ashram, the food
is always vegetarian.
In fact,
the city of Rishikesh
is officially vegetarian
and alcohol-free,
as well as having banned
plastic bags from shops.
Because vegetarian diet
is a condition to yoga,
condition to health.
So, our ancients
who practiced
severe austerity here,
they had wonderful
stamina and strength to
practice severe austerities,
standing up on one leg,
living on the air –
they knew the technique
of absorbing energy
from the cosmos.
That we have forgotten.
So they lived always
on fruits and herbs.
They know the value of it,
because if you live such
a life, totally vegetarian,
and conducive
with the nature, then
it’s not necessary for us
to go to any doctor,
it cuts down
the doctor bill,
you will be always healthy.
Many devotees
from India as well as
all parts of the world
come to
the Sivananda Ashram
to immerse themselves in
the peaceful atmosphere,
visit the master’s
mahasamadhi
(resting place)
and study his teachings.
He [Swami Sivananda]
was an educated physician,
and he knew how an old
and ill patient feels.
So it’s better
to serve the patient
in such a manner
that as if you’re
serving to God, because
serving to humanity
is serving to God.
So we have come here
to learn something
for that also.
Swamiji spent his whole life
behind serving the poor
and the ills and all that,
so this is
the goal of my life,
to serve whomever I can.
Now about 15 years
I’m here, and
I come here for prayer,
for remembering my God.
That is my guru,
and his guru also,
Swami Sivanandaji.
And I am fully satisfied.
I got peace of mind,
and fulfilled my search.
Now, as we conclude
the program,
let’s listen to an excerpt
of Swami Sivananda’s
lecture, “Practical Ways
to Self-Realization.”
Om, greetings to
Divine master Sivananda
Practical ways
to self-realization.
Thou art the immortal Self.
Thou art Divine.
Live up to it.
Feel and realize
thy Divine nature.
Thou art the master
of your destiny.
Do not be discouraged
when sorrows, difficulties
and tribulations manifest
in the daily battle of life.
Draw up courage
and spiritual strength
from within.
There is a vast
inexhaustible magazine
of power and knowledge
within you.
Learn the ways
to tap the source.
Dive deep within.
Sink down.
Plunge in the sacred
waters of immortality –
the holy Triveni within.
You will be quite refreshed,
renovated and vivified
when you go to
the Divine Source
and realize: I AM
THE IMMORTAL SELF,
OR ATMAN.
Om, greetings to
Divine master Sivananda
Our respectful gratitude
to His Holiness
Swami Vimalananda and
the Divine Life Society,
for welcoming us
at the Sivananda Ashram
in Rishikesh, India.
May your noble service
to truth seekers
and those in need
continue to be blessed.
For more information
and books about
the Divine Life Society,
please visit
www.dlshq.org
Thank you,
blessed viewers,
for joining us today
on A Journey through
Aesthetic Realms.
Coming up next is
Our Noble Lineage,
here on
Supreme Master Television.
May your life be filled
with remembrance
of the Divine.