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We are pleased to welcome Darshanie Sukhu, daughter of Leela Mataji and Yogi Hari, to Yoga Vidya Bad Meinberg. She is here to lead seminars on a variety of subjects. The first programme 'How to Read the Tarot' began on October 4th. Upcoming workshops will deal with: Different methods of prayer, Healing yourself through your connection to Mother Earth, Opening yourself up to God's Grace, and Exploring your Past Lives.

Darshanie grew up in the Sivananda ashrams of Swami Vishnu-devananda. Because o

UPANISHADIC INSTRUCTIONS

You will never find these instructions in the books that you study in the University.
Let us all adopt the Bhava mentioned in the Upanishads.
Let us all follow the instructions contained in the Upanishads.
Then your hearts will be purified; all the evil Vritis(a wave in the mind lake) of the mind will be eradicated and the knowledge of the Self will descend in to that purified heart.
We shall realise the Atma or Brahman.

Gitamrutam


Fearlessness, purity of heart, steadfastness in Yoga and knowledge, alms-giving, control of the senses, sacrifice, study of scriptures, austerity and straightforwardness, (16:1)


Harmlessness, truth, absence of anger, renunciation, peacefulness, absence of crookedness, compassion towards beings, uncovetousness, gentleness, modesty, absence of fickleness, (16:2)


Vigour, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, absence of hatred, absence of pride—these belong to one born in a divine state,

PRANAVA-OM

Sivananda’s address to Students at the Calcutta Univercity. Om.
In the beginning there was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God.
That Word is OM.
It is the word of power.
It is your real name.
Your real name is not Chatterjee, Banerjee, or Roy.
It is OM.
Let us, therefore, chant OM with feeling, with Bhava(feeling).
Om is infinity, eternity, Satchidananda, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute.

IMAGINATION

Maya works her havoc through the imagination.
Woman is not beautiful, but the imagination is beautiful.
Sugar is not sweet, but the imagination is sweet.
Food is not palatable, but the imagination is palatable.
Man is not weak, but the imagination is weak.
Understand the nature of Maya and the mind and become wise.
Curb this imagination of the mind by Vichar or right thinking and rest in Brahman, wherein there is neither imagination nor Sankalpa not thought.

PRAYER

Pray to Him daily with system and regularity.
Take His sweet DIVINE NAME without fail.
Worship His picture with a few flowers or an agarbatti.
Then you will see that He gives you the strength necessary for quick progress.
He will teach you intelligent methods of improving yourselves and getting success all your works.
He will give you courage and cheerfulness too.
This is a secret which all great men and saints knew and thus they become good, great and famous.

PATH OF RENUNCIATION

That which follows you to the end is your actions and sadhana only.

Even the silken thread that is tied around your waist will be removed for the use of your grandson.
You will be gauged not by what you have spoken, but by how religiously you have earned name and fame and the purity of your thoughts and motive.
Take refuge in renunciation.
Work for the good of humanity. Meditate vigorously.
This is the secret way to attain the state of eternal bliss and immortality.

GOD IS TRUTH

Satyena labhyah tapasA hi esah AtmA Samyak jnAnena brahmacaryena nityam (Mudaka III,1-5).
The Rishis have prescribed this method to attain God, the abode of Eternal Peace and Bliss.
God is Truth.
Brahman is Truth.
He is stained by speaking truth.
There is no harmony between your thought, word and speech.
You think one thing, you talk another thing; and you act in a third way.
Man has become corrupted.

DESERT EVERYTHING FOR GOD-REALISATION

Mira Bai deserted her husband;
King Bhartrihari his wife;
Vibhishana his brother, Ravana;
Bali, his Guru Shukracharya;
Prahlada, his father Hiranyakashipu.

You can desert anyone who stands in the way of your God-realisation.
If you have intense spiritual thirst after God, and if you have a passionate wife, wealth, power, position to pull you down, what is the earthly use of having such disastrous things.

Shun tem ruthlessly without any fear if these hinder yo

MAYAIC CREATION

The illusory sensual objects invade the mind and cloud the understanding.
But a man of dispassion and discrimination is always vigilant.
Maya is afraid to approach him.
Abandon these selfish struggles for amassing wealth.
March direct to that wire-puller who is moving these toys flesh -human bodies-who is keeping up this big show, who is behind this show.
In Him only will you find lasting happiness and perennial joy.
Merge in Him by practicing daily meditation.

MAYAIC CREATION

Tell me now friend: what do you really want in this illusory world?

Happiness, or pain?
Joy, or sorrow?
Have you understood the illusory nature of the Mayaic creation?
This world is a mere appearance.
The mind and the senses are deceiving you at every moment.
You have mistaken pain for pleasure on account of clouded understanding.
There is not an iota of happiness in this sense universe.
Maya is very powerful.

SUPREME GOODNESS

God works through your hands and eats through your mouth.

On account of ignorance and Abhiman(Egoism) you have forgotten Him.

This mortal Physical Sheath is an illusory Mayaic Production, smile, whistle, laugh jump, dance, in joy and ecstasy.

Sing Om, Om, Om! Rama, Rama, Rama, Shyama, Shyama, Shyama! Sivohm, Sivohm, Sivohm!

Come out of this cage of flesh.

Thou art not this perishable body.

SEEK GOD

The unseen power.
Know that God is unseen power that dwells within us.
He is the living Truth.
With no shore, no limit, like an ocean with all beings as its bubbles, God is neither in heaven above, nor down below, but in everyone, everywhere.
Beyond all and yet embracing all with infinite power, unfathomable knowledge, inexpressible bliss and ineffable splendor, God alone exist.

SWAMIJI WRITES

Life is very precious.
Time is very precious.
This world is your body.
This world is a great school.
This world is your silent teacher.
Live in the present; forget the past.
Give up mundane hopes of the future.
Think rightly.
Act rightly.
Learn to discriminate.
Acquire spiritual wealth.
It is most precious and inexhaustible.
You create your own world of worries and troubles.
No one forces it on you.

MY PRAYER

May I be of some use to the suffering humanity,
a refuge of the helpless,
a guide to the seekers,
a doctor to the sick,
a solace to the distressed,
a friend to the afflicted,
a lamp to those who need light,
a prop to those who walk with faltering steps
and boat to those who wish to cross this ocean of Samsara.

BHAKTI YOGA
Without renunciation, Bhakti or devotion can never be cultivated in the heart.
God demands complete self-surrender from His devotees.
Love is a tremendous force in the world.
It draws men together.
It is quite as real as electricity or magnetism or gravity.
All life is divine.
All love is basically divine love.
A devotee who has made total self-surrender to God feels that he has no independent existence of his own.
He lives in the Lord.
The way to attain Krishna is to become a Gopi.
M

BHAKTI YOGA

Without renunciation, Bhakti or devotion can never be cultivated in the heart.
God demands complete self-surrender from His devotees.
Love is a tremendous force in the world.
It draws men together.
It is quite as real as electricity or magnetism or gravity.
All life is divine.
All love is basically divine love.
A devotee who has made total self-surrender to God feels that he has no independent existence of his own.
He lives in the Lord.
The way to attain Krishna is to become a Gopi.
M

BHAKTI YOGA

Loving remembrance is the method of reaching Him.
I have drunk the elixir of God by which all other elixirs have become bitter and worthless.
Many saints came from the so-called lower classes. They were illiterate.
They did manual labour to make both ends meet.
They were persecuted by persons in power.
Sadhana was a dealer in meat.
Dharma was a poor jat cultivator.
Sena was a court barber at Rewa.
Kabir was a weaver.
Raidas was a cobbler.
Tukaram and Namdev were Sudras.
Namdev was a t