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If a person has been forced into wedlock with a girl not at all beautiful, but abounding in qualities of head and heart, ...

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 24, 2012 at 6:00pm
what should characterize the attitude of that man
towards his wife, constantly worried as he is on the count that his wife is not beautiful?
How can he manage to conceal his pent-up feelings of frustration caused by the lack of
beauty in his wife - aesthetically speaking - and yet manage to lead a healthy, happy,
harmonious married life?

It is not in the power of man to choose this beautiful girl or that, nor in the power of a girl
to select this handsome or rich man or that. Everything is predestined
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Which is more powerful in human beings - hunger or the sex-urge?

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 23, 2012 at 6:00pm
The world of living beings has three things in common - Ahara (food), Nidra (sleep) and
Sangama (copulation). Food (Ahara) does not play so important a part as the sex-urge in man,
however much that sexual instinct develops in adolescence at the age of 16 in a male and 14 in a
female. This age-limit is merely nominal and it differs in different climes and depends upon the
ways and habits of the individuals. Whether a male or a female attains puberty or not, the sex
instinct will ever be there by natu
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What are the marks of a wise man and a fool respectively from the ultimate point of view?

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 22, 2012 at 6:00pm
The fool reacts outwardly and emotionally under all circumstances, while there is no
reaction in the sage. If at all the latter acts, such actions are not reactions to any immediate
action, but are born out of the sage’s Satsankalpa to serve humanity. Secondly, in all situations,
the fool places himself first but finds himself last, while the wise man places himself last but
finds himself first. Thirdly, the wise man retires silently as soon as he has done his work, but the
fool remains to ear others
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Swamiji, why do you allow your feet to be worshipped, allow regular Puja to be offered to your feet?

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 21, 2012 at 6:00pm
The materialistic modern mind needs a good flushing before it can understand this. To
the spiritual aspirant, the Guru’s feet are not feet merely, but are the channels of divine grace.
From time immemorial, the Indian seeker after truth has known that his receptive centre, viz., the
head, should come into contact with the preceptor’s transmitting centre, the feet, in order to get
infused with spiritual power, wisdom and light. This is one of the axioms of electricity, that the
positive and the negati
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What, according to you, should be the maximum number of children a spiritual-minded Grihastha should have?

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 20, 2012 at 6:00pm
Every Grithastha, be he worldly-minded or spiritually-inclined, wishes to have a son to
keep up the lineage or the family line and a daughter to give an ineffable cosmic enlightenment
expressive of the Divine Mother (Prakriti) who is the creatrix and origin of the universe, for it is
from the womb of the Mother (Prakriti) that the entire creation is ushered into this world. No
household couple is satisfied either with male issues or with female issues. They want both, to
reveal themselves as the two
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Why is it that the life-span of the modern man is so short as compared to that of his ancestors?

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 19, 2012 at 6:00pm
Our ancestors used to have a well-regulated, disciplined life. They were not slaves of
their senses as the modern people are. They used to do Japa, Pranayam, Sandhyavandana
(Trikala) and Svadhyaya (study of religious books like the Gita, the Bhagavata and the
Ramayana). They used to do charity and selfless service, and observe Vratas like Ekadasi, Sri
Rama Navami, Sri Krishna Ashtami and Dattatreya Jayanti. They used to conduct spiritual
conferences and pray for world peace and not for their own indi
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When death is predestined and also is nothing but a pause to change the clothes, why is it, then, a sin to commit suicide and also to kill living beings for a certain cause?

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 18, 2012 at 6:00pm
Suicide as well as killing of other beings are both considered to be great sins, as they
block the course of evolution of the Jiva. Moreover, putting an end to the present gross body by
force does not help one to put an end to his sufferings. Sufferings and pleasures due to him by
virtue of his past actions won’t leave him until and unless they are enjoyed by him completely.
On the contrary, by suicide one is inviting more miseries, for it may take some time for
him to get another gross body in which
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Should the means to achieve good ends be always good? Medicine tastes bitter, but cures diseases. Arjuna fought against the Kauravas to achieve good ends.

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 17, 2012 at 6:00pm
Indian thought has no hesitation in answering this question in the affirmative. Except the
rank materialists, the Charvakas, the founders of all other systems of Indian thought boldly
declare that “one should not adopt a foul means to achieve a desired end, however covetable that
end may be”. There should not be any doubt regarding this point.
I don’t think that your two examples are strong enough to prove that the end justifies the
means. For, the medicine, whether it be sweet or bitter, in so far a
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May I know if you mean by ‘Sastras’ the age-old, written or unwritten, set and rigid principles of ancient Hindu religious scriptures? ...

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 16, 2012 at 6:00pm
Have these principles not become
time-barred due to the fast-changing conditions? I don’t think any rigid principle can
stand the test of time.

Yes, the age-old, written or unwritten set principles of the ancient Hindu religious
scriptures are termed ‘Sastras’. But because of this, it need not follow that they should become
time-barred. The fundamental tenets of right living are unchanging. There cannot be any sort of
difference in the fundamentals.
Modifications, alterations and adjustments are necess
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Is conscience not the mode by which we can listen to the inner Atman?

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 15, 2012 at 6:00pm
The pure conscience itself is the “Inner Voice”. But the difficulty in the ordinary man is
that the voice of the lower mind, the voice of the brutal instincts, is often misunderstood as the
voice of conscience. As a result of such misunderstanding, guided by his animal tendencies, he
commits colossal blunders, involving danger to others. It requires a great degree of purity and
calmness of mind to hearken the true Inner Voice.

From "May I answer that" by Swami Sivananda (1987-1963). More Informations
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How can a married man practice Brahmacharya? Is it possible especially when the couple are young?

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 14, 2012 at 6:00pm
To live and enjoy Grihastha life, with one’s own wife during the Ritu period subject to
the imposed restrictions of the Sastras is itself Brahmacharya. Sastras say that the married man
should not indulge in sense-satisfaction as and when his senses prompt him to do so. He should
subject himself to the various restrictions imposed even on the enjoyment of sense life. For
details in this respect, study my book, “Advice to Women”. One who observes these Sastraic
injunctions and leads a happy, well-regul
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Is procreation a sin?

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 13, 2012 at 6:00pm
Neither manhood nor womanhood nor procreation is a sin. A seeker after Truth can beget
children and later take to the path of renunciation either in and through the world or entirely out
of the clutches of the world. The moment one begets a male child for the upkeep of the progeny,
one can devote oneself wholeheartedly to Sannyasa if he so wishes, though it is not a hard and
fast rule to have a male child before taking Sannyas. The need for a male child, though not
imperative, is in consonance with t
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Perseverance

Posted by Christopher Stewart on February 13, 2012 at 3:00am


(« Goldfish Pulling a Snail Cart » by James Pollock)


« Perseverance » is the fourth of the series of segues composed to join the tracks of an album together into one continuous piece of music.

Each of the junctions highlights a specific quality or knowledge that turned out to be crucial to the completion of a project that demanded many years of sustained striving. As the title indicates, « Perseverance » evokes the capacity to keep going at those times when efforts seem insufficient, and success

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What is meant by “killing of conscience”?

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 12, 2012 at 6:00pm
He who is pure in thought, speech and action, who fears sin and Adharma, who is pious,
God-fearing and equanimous, who is balanced and capable of maintaining equilibrium, will have
his conscience in an unblemished state. He who has abundant Sattva (quality of purity) will
always have an unmarred conscience. Expansion of heart gives rise to the hearing of the voice of
conscience. Inner guidance will always be to that individual who has Sattva in abundant measure
by way of Japa, Svadhyaya, Pranayam, se
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Which Yogic Asans can a married lady having children profitably practice without any harm accruing therefrom?

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 11, 2012 at 6:00pm
A Grihini with children can practice all the Asans subject to certain restrictions just as in
the case of a man. She should not practice during the period of monthly courses and three or four
days thereafter, during any of the ailments peculiar to her sex, and during pregnancy. Sirshasan,
Sarvangasan, Matsyasan, Halasan, Padahastasan, Bhujangasan, Salabhasan and
Paschimottanasan are a few of the important Asans she can practice. To these can be added
Yoga Mudra and Viparitakarani Mudra. Kriyas and Ba
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Some people have alarmed me that Pranayam and Sirshasan are dangerous sometimes and it might turn a person mad even....

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 10, 2012 at 6:00pm
Though I discount such alarms, yet my
conviction is not firm. Kindly write of any possible harm accruing from the practice of
Pranayam and Sirshasan.

Be within your limits while performing Asans and Pranayam. Do not strain yourself to
the point of exhaustion. None turns mad by performing Sirshasan and Pranayam. There is a rule
for everything. Start from the initial stages and gradually increase the period as you find
improvement.

From "May I answer that" by Swami Sivananda (1987-1963). More Information
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On what grounds do you prohibit meat-eating?

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 9, 2012 at 6:00pm
On medical, psychological, moral and spiritual grounds. The mind is made up of the
essence of the food that a man takes. Tamasic food results in a Tamasic mind. Meat is Tamasic
and hence should be avoided.
When an animal is killed or butchered, a contraction of its nervous system takes place on
account of fear. (And you might have felt certain disturbances in your own stomach when you
have experienced fear.) This leads to the secretion of certain poisons in the liver, etc., of the
animal. These poison
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Don’t you believe that Naga Sadhus, when moving in public, are a standing menace to our holy culture?...

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 8, 2012 at 6:00pm
Have they really risen to that level as to regard this nakedness
as nothing indecent and bad? Is there any spiritual significance to this nakedness of body
in its totality? Kindly illumine.

Our holy culture is essentially spiritual in every respect. Only when the Spirit is
forgotten, dualities like decency and indecency arise. All these dualities exist for the worldly
man and not for him who tries to go beyond them and establish himself in that non-dual,
differenceless state. From the spiritual viewpo
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Why is Ganges water regarded so sacred? ...

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 7, 2012 at 6:00pm
What are the scientific or religious reasons for its water being eternally free from any sort of contamination? Is it a fact that all sins are washed away by a dip in the Ganges?

From time immemorial, Mother Ganges has been associated with sages and saints who
had found immense spiritual benefit by bathing in her waters as well as by drinking it.
Fire can burn all other things, but cannot act upon its own self. Flowing down the
Himalayan ranges which contain many a rare herb that possess disinfectan
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What are the methods to develop unruffled serenity and mental composure under all conditions of life ? Is absolute serenity possible of attainment?

Posted by Teachings of Swami Sivananda on February 6, 2012 at 6:00pm
Yes. By all means. Consider yourself as dead to the world or the world as dead to you.
Develop Atma Vichar Sakti. Identify not with the mind, senses and intellect or with any of the
other modifications of the mind. Always be engaging yourself in the thought of the Divine.
Have no thought of yourself or the surrounding world. Be absolutely indifferent to yourself, as
you ought to be towards the surroundings, the various daily happenings and the worldly
repercussions. Knowledge of the Self, when once a
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