Inspiring Svadhyaya For Aspirants

By Sri Swami Sivananda Maharaj

Physical Body And Life Divine

This body is a bubble. It is like lightning. This world is a play for two days. It lasts today. It continues tomorrow. No more. No more. Awake. Awake. Seek the Eternal. Rest in thy Satchidananda Atman.
Divine life is perfect life led according to the laws of truth. Divine life is life immortal in which ideal state of perfection and expansion of self in infinity and eternity is attained. It is a means to attain the true ideal of all beings, namely God-realisation. Divine life aims at harmony, peace, concord.

Repetition Of Divine Name

Silent repetition of the Lord’s Name is a tremendous tonic and potent specific for aIl diseases. It should never be stopped even for a single day under any circumstances. It is like food. It is spiritual food for the hungry soul.

Man And His Stepping Stones

Man is more than what he thinks to be. He is eternal and Immortal. He is perfect knowledge and joy without decay. He is in want of nothing, he is Apta Kama. He is Supreme Bliss. This is the highest truth.
Every failure is a stepping-stone to success. Every difficulty or disappointment is a trial of your faith. Every disease is a Karmic purgation. Every unpleasant incident is a test of your trust in God. Every temptation is a test of your spiritual strength.

Peace, Salt Of Life And Sankirtan

The salt of life is selfless service. The bread of life water of life is universal love. The water of life is purity. The sweetness of life is devotion. The fragrance of life is generosity. The pivot of life is meditation. The goal of life is Self-realisation.
There is no softening agent more efficacious than Sankirtan. Sankirtan is melting the sin-hardened stony hearts of sceptical scoffers, non-believers and all sorts of sinners.
Peace is a divine attribute. It is a quality of the soul. It cannot remain with greedy persons. It fills the pure heart. It deserts the lustful. It runs away from the selfish. Look within the chambers of your heart When you are established in the Highest Self within, you will no be shaken even by heavy sorrow, loss or failure. Marvellous is this Peace.

The Sage, Happiness And Power

Just as the Himalaya stands unmoved by storms, so also the Sage stands unmoved by praise and censure, respect and disrespect, gain and loss, victory and defeat.
Happy is the man who is under the care and protection of a Guru. Happy is the man who serves the Guru and meditates by his side. He who serves the Guru knows the way. The way cannot be found without the Grace of a Guru.
The path of communion by love, devotion and self-surrender to God is the easiest of all paths and intense earnestness is the only power that takes you to the Goal of life.
The Power of powers who gives power to the mind, the Light of lights who sheds light on the mind, the Seer of seers who witnesses the motives and movements of the mind, the Support of supports on which the mind rests in sleep is God.

Life, The Melting Heart And Divine Grace

Cultivate a melting heart, the giving hand, kindly speech, life of service, equal vision and impartial attitude. Keep your mind calm and cool at all times and in all conditions of trials.
God is the silent and unseen listener of surgings of your mind. God is your unseen guest at every meal. God is the head of your house. God sees and hears everything that you do. Have utter Trust in God and do the right.
Life is a valuable asset; utilise it for attaining God-realisation. Life without worthy ideals is like a rudderless boat. Life without aspiration is like vegetable existence. Live for God and attain God-realisation.
Divine life teaches control of mind by concentrating all attention on the inner Self. Right conduct, self-conquest, compassion, benevolence, pursuit of truth, service of humanity, meditation, self-inquiry - this good living, this is divine life.

Humanity, Love And Goodness

There is only one caste - the caste of humanity. There is only one religion - the religion of love or religion of Vedanta. There is only one Dharma - the Dharma of truthfulness. There is only one Law - the law of cause and effect. There is only one language - the language of the heart or language of silence.
To be childlike is good; to be childish is not good. To be devotional is good; to be emotional is not good. To have strong will is good; to be self-willed is not good. To stick to one's ideal is good; to be obstinate is not good. To be courageous is good; to expose another’s faults is not good. Love is divine. Love is nectar. Love is the greatest power on this earth. Love alone can transform the world. Love alone can bring peace on this earth. Love alone can conquer the hearts of others.

Purity, Aspiration, Realisation

There is no boat safer than Satsanga to take us to the other shore of Samsara, the shore of absolute fearlessness and immortality.
Realisation is not the monopoly of cave-dwellers and mountaineering nomads. External conditions may at times be helpful; but the essential thing is inner attitude - and even external circumstances are conditioned by this attitude. You create your own world of worries and troubles. No one forces it on you.
The heart lit up with the flame of spiritual aspiration and perfumed with the scent of devotion is the rarest acquisition of man.
Therefore, endeavour hard to purify the lower self and attain supreme success.

Sadhana And Sakti

God is the fountain-source of life, health, strength and power. Meditation on God is the panacea for all ills. To develop your muscular power is not your goal. To be disease free, to be free to carry on your Sadhana is your aim.
Eternal happiness is the only ideal that is worthy of human endeavour. He who is purified through wisdom, who is serene, self-controlled without egoism and mineness is freed from all sins.
Sakti is the path to Siva. The Divine Mother is the promise and the possibility of the attainment by the human being of the highest end of existence, the Supreme Purushartha - Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. Look to Her for grace. Your prosperity here and beatitude hereafter are assured.

Anger, Mind And Self-Conquest

Anger is un-Atmic. Anger wastes energy and clouds the mind. Conquest of anger makes one a spiritual hero, commanding success in life, getting happiness from every moment of existence on earth.
Victory over the mind is certainly victory over death. The inner war with the mind is more terrible than the outer war with machine-guns. Conquest of mind is more difficult than the conquest of the world by force of arms.
To attain ethical purity, concentration and meditation, you must understand the mind, destroy its evil properties, battle with it and gain victory.
Love, truth and purity form the foundation of the edifice of divine life. The Temple of divine life has four pillars - meditation, purity, love and righteousness. Lead the divine life and become divine.