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preach according to the time, place, conditions and requirements. Lord Buddha preached, “Don’t
kill”. Guru Govind Singh preached, “Kill”. When Buddha was born, people were sacrificing
many animals. He had to preach Ahimsa to stop killing. Guru Govind Singh had to infuse
chivalry in man. One prophet preached, “Renounce and go to the forest”. Sri Ramanuja
preached, “Enjoy at home. Have no attachment. Worship Vishnu”.
you candidly, for I have chosen you to be my noble guide. Please forgive me and help me.
You are certainly responsible for the action. God never forgives. Action brings on its
own fruits. Through Prayaschitta or expiatory rites you can destroy the evil effects of a bad
action. You actually suffer in Prayaschitta. Hence the evil effects are washed off. The evil
Karma will not follow you to the next birth. Sincere repentance, Japa, fasting and charity can
destroy the evil effects of bad Karma
own nature, your own evil Samskaras, force you to do actions. “Svabhavastu Pravartate” says
the Gita (Ch. V-14). You lack in Viveka or discrimination. That is the reason why you become
a slave of passion. God has given you Buddhi to check passion. Why don’t you use it then?
From "May I answer that" by Swami Sivananda (1987-1963). More Informations on Swami Sivananda: on the Website of Divine Life Society, Photographs
and respectability will vanish. Don’t expect fruits for your actions (Nishkamya). How can you
expect fruits when another, viz., God, is working through you? Further, when you are aware that
the world is full of miseries, what is the use of coming back again into the world ? You are a toy
in the hands of God. He holds the string. He is the Sutradhar. Do all actions from a sense of
duty. Reduce your wants. Lead a very
practice Yoga like Janaka”. How can I know, Swamiji, whether this particular Vritti
comes from the Atma or the mind or the Buddhi? I am perplexed.
An ordinary worldly-minded man can hardly hear the inner voice of Atma. He cannot get
pure thoughts of Vichara also. Any Sattvic thought emanates from the Sattvic Buddhi. In the
case of worldlings, all thoughts emanate from the mind only. He who does Nishkama Karma
Yoga and has purity of mind begins to entertain thoughts of
to pass through the Matriculation, Intermediate and B.A. courses and then take up the M.A.
course. Even so, you will have to plod on and persevere for many years to remove the Mala and
the Vikshepa. How patiently does the fisherman wait with concentrated gaze to catch a single
fish! When such is the case for a trifling thing, what to speak of attaining Brahma-Jnana? It is
Kshurasya Dhara, walking along the blade o
months in Ranjit Singh’s court. He came back with life when the box was opened. Hatha Yogis
block the Talu Chakra, the posterior nasal openings, with their elongated tongue that is obtained
through Bahir Kechari Mudra Kriya of Chalan (moving the tongue frequently), Doshan (dragging
the tongue with butter) and Chedan (cutting the frenulum lingua that is underneath the tongue).
They drink slowly the nectar that dribbles
body and drive off flies. If anybody asks you, “Do you remember the scratching, the driving off
of flies, when you were asleep?”, you will say, “No”. Similarly, even though a Jnani sees, he
does not see. He is always conscious of his Svarupa. If he likes, he can have a double
consciousness and turn his vision that side and this side also. His activities are like those of
children. Owing to the mental retentum - th
need Satsang for one year more. You should repeat 200 Malas of any Mantra daily (200 x 108 =
21,600 times). You should take Sattvic food only, such as rice, Dhal, bread, fruits and milk.
Give up meat at once. Observe Mouna for two hours daily. Live alone for two hours in a room.
Introspect. Meditate. Watch your thoughts carefully.
From "May I answer that" by Swami Sivananda (1987-1963). More Informations on Swami Sivan
one should fast at least three or four times in a month. Moreover, they point out that
fasting helps self-control. How is it that you do not allow frequent fasting?
Fasting does help in self-control. But, too much fasting weakens the body and the mind
and retards spiritual Sadhana. I am also a strong votary of fasting. Fasting is a great
Prayaschitta. It expiates any kind of sin quickly. It has got a tremendous purifying influence on
the heart. Read Manu Smriti. As the vast majority are
Lokasangraha like the Buddhistic Arhats may, out of their own free will, take a birth¾like Sri
Sankara, Sri Dattatreya or Jnana Dev. They need not do any Sadhana as they are born Siddhas.
At once they appear as spiritual luminaries, do some spiritual preaching, write out some precious
philosophical books, set aright some catastrophe, pass off quickly and merge in Brahman
(Videha Kaivalvam). They are all Amsa-Avataras with sp
presume! But, is it a fact that only men need the Yoga practice? Can women not become
great Yoginis in the same way as men become great Yogis? Or, does it depend on the sex
also? Why has sex stood between women and spiritual greatness?
Queen Chudalai was a great Yogini. She had many higher Siddhis. She even converted
her husband Sikhidhvaja and helped him in his salvation. Read the story of Chudalai in Yoga
Vasishtha. Ladies lack in Vairagya and in the power of endura
Mohammedans eat beef. Why should we accept any eatable thing from their hands?
If you think that a man is full of vicious deeds, do not take food from his hands.
If you think that Lord Siva or Hari dwells even in an evil-minded man, if you entertain this strong idea,
you can eat from anybody’s hands. Your Drishti or angle of vision is very limited now. You are
a beginner in the spiritual line. Your heart is not ex
When wells and ponds are full during the rainy season, the water is muddy and not fit for drinking. But when the water gets decreased it is clean and sweet. So also, when the mind is fille
eternal rogue. A rogue is the saint of the future. Roguery is a negative virtue. It is not a separate
entity. Honesty will have no existence in the absence of roguery. The raison d’etre of roguery is
to glorify honesty. Roguery and honesty are the obverse and the reverse of the same coin. They
are mental creations only. Even a rogue has some virtues. There is neither absolute roguery nor
absolute honesty. God Himself
knowing subject, is God. When a strong desire is satisfied or gratified, that blissful state wherein
the mind finds rest is God. That which sparkles or glitters in your eyes is God. That which
prompts you to think is God, the Lord of the mind. The source (Yoni) or support (Adhishthan)
for your mind, Prana, senses and body is God.
The tree exists. It shines. It gives delight. These three aspects, existence, shining,
mind imitates. Bad, luxurious habits are developed. Bad environments and bad associations
play a tremendous part and produce a bad influence on the mind of Sadhaks. Old Samskaras are
revived. I will ask you to run at once to Uttarkashi, back again. Don’t delay even a single
minute. As the mind is formed out of the subtlest part of the food, i.e., gets attached to that man
from whom it receives its food. Don’t be under
life going. Distribute a portion in charity. Build a Kutir in Rishikesh and live there. Don’t write
letters to your sons. Don’t enter into the plains. Then start meditation. Your mind will rest in
peace now. Do this at once. You must hurry up.
From "May I answer that" by Swami Sivananda (1987-1963). More Informations on Swami Sivananda: on the Website of Divine Life Society, Photographs of Swami Sivananda, German P
Licentiousness and autocracy must not be mistaken for spiritual freedom. By becoming a tool
(Nimitta) in the hands of God, the Bhakta destroys the egoism or the little false ‘I’, but gains all
the Divine Aisvarya or the Siddhis of the Lord. He becomes perfectly free. He has become one
with God now.
From "May I answer that" by Swami Sivananda (1987-1963). More Informations on Swami Sivananda: on the Website of Divine Lif
