Preface

by S. Bhagyalakshmi

Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj may be considered as one of the major contributing forces in the building up of the edifice of India's spiritual renaissance in the modern era. Gurudev pulled out the soul of man that lay buried under the debris of religiosity, "isms" and clichés about a Sannyasi, a Sadhu and a Risi. He was the meeting point or the well-proven ancient Vedic traditions and those of the modern world. Addressing Sri Sivananda, a foreign visitor once said, "Swamiji, why do you wear so well-cut an overcoat? You are a Sannyasi, aren't you?" "Would I be a greater soul by draping round a blanket shoddily and with my hair unkempt and in disarray? Does a clean-shaven head and face shed off the worth of man, the Divine in him?" was the repartee from him. He founded the Divine Life Society to bring home to modern man the Divinity he enshrines and the value he possesses as the temple of the soul within.

Dissemination of knowledge was his heart's desire. His ashram on the banks of the Himalayan Ganga distributes free books, handouts, pamphlets and spiritual literature of all varieties worth thousands of rupees. Gurudev alone has written over three hundred hooks, culling knowledge and wisdom from the ancient lore and also rendering into unforgettable words his own practical philosophy and personal experiences, without any inhibition or reserve as a guide, for everyone to follow. All knowledge, he held, was spiritual, for there is no distinction between the spiritual and the not-spiritual. And, in the ultimate analysis, nothing was "only" spiritual—of 'the other world'. The media through which Gurudev disseminated his wide-ranging knowledge included in his time such weeklies as Health and Hygiene, Wit and Wisdom, and numerous stories, quizzes and puzzles of all sorts for children. Since man has the Divine within him how can any knowledge be exclusive and profane? When knowledge is used to serve the Divine, does it not become spiritual?

Swami Krishnanandaji, one of Gurudev's most beloved disciples, has imbibed every 'amsa' (intimate part) of his Guru-in-God. The Absolute, the Supreme Being, is Sri Krishnanandaji's 'Ultimate Being'; and Sri Sivananda Maharaj is the incarnation of that same Supreme Being. Like his master he also disseminates knowledge either in the enclosed verandah or on the open terrace in front of his Kutir "Guru-Kripa" (ground floor). Once he emphatically said that people did not go to the ashram to see the buildings and the scenery; someone must be available to them to impart spiritual knowledge. And this spread of spiritual knowledge is carried out informally in the morning between 9 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. Anyone can put a question and get an answer to his particular problem, mundane or spiritual. His pen flows over just as his Guru's did. His writings and talks, discourses, lectures, etc. have caught the imagination of thinking men in all the different parts of the world.

This fact inspired in this humble self an urge to compile excerpts of all that Swamiji talked about, lectured or wrote. I decided that such outpourings of his knowledge of the ancient texts, particularly of the Vedas and Upanishads, as also the discussions on spirituality, science, philosophy and metaphysics should be brought to all those who had not had the opportunity of directly getting the benefit of such valuable and rare knowledge.

Yet another reason for my undertaking this compilation is Gurudev's exhortation: share knowledge with others as you should share your bread. In Gurudev's autobiography, there is a point worth repeating any number of times and on any occasion. Swami Sivananda says that when he replied to letters from people seeking his wisdom (on any matter whatsoever), he always exhorts the writer of the letter to share with his friends the knowledge that he has now acquired and to ask that friend to share it again with other friends, when the latter writes to them. It is this instruction that I have humbly tried to follow in this book. Nothing here is mine. In the course of editing, or while transcribing the tapes and compiling them, errors may have crept in. I beg the kind reader and the elders to bear with me for the errors, if any, found in these pages. Such shortcomings are obviously mine.

S. BHAGYALAKSHMI