The Atma Jyoti Blog

Swami Sivananda was one of the most renowned spiritual figures of 20th century India. Founder of Sivanandashram in Rishikesh in the Himalayas, and of the Divine Life Society, he was a prolific author of a wide range of spiritual topics. This excerpt is taken from his book, Light, Power, and Wisdom. This and other ebooks can be downloaded from the Sivanandashram website.

• Search Him Inside Your Heart

God is your heart. He is in you and you are in Him. Search Him inside your heart. If you do not find Him there, you will not find Him anywhere else.

This search after God is a question of supply and demand. If you really want God, if there is a demand for God, then the supply will come at once.

Give up clinging to illusory life. Be fearless. Take refuge in vairagya. All fears will die away. Cling to the lotus feet of the Lord. Cling to the invisible, unseen Brahman. May the Almighty Lord guide you in all your activities.

• Remove The Veil

Remove the veil of ignorance which is hiding your real svarupa. Destroy egoism, the sense of duality, sense of separateness. Your real nature is Satchidananda. You are identical with Brahman. Never, never forget this.

Always protect yourself from evil influences. Do not allow the spiritual samskaras to be obliterated. It is difficult to regain what is lost in spirituality. Exercise vichara, viveka, always. Utilise your will to resist evil influences.

Develop your will-power by driving desires, by titiksha and great patience. Acquire peace by contentment, santosha, vichara, satsanga and great patience. You will shine in your own glory.

• Look Within

Within you is the hidden God. Within you is the immortal soul. Within you is the inexhaustible spiritual treasure. Within you is the ocean of bliss.

Look within for the happiness which you have sought in vain in perishable sensual objects. Rest peacefully in your own Atman.

Surrender everything unto Him. Place your ego at His feet and be at ease. He will take complete charge of you. He will do everything for you. Practice. Feel. Assert. Enjoy the Supreme.

• Knowledge Gives Freedom

The practice of selfless service destroys sins and impurities and causes purity of antahkarana. Knowledge of Self dawns in a pure mind. Knowledge of Self is the only direct means to freedom. Cooking is not possible without fire, so is emancipation without knowledge of the Self. Knowledge certainly destroys ignorance as light destroys thickest darkness.

Be absorbed in your work. Give your full heart, mind and soul. Do not care for the results. Do not think of success or failure. Do not think of the past. Have complete confidence. Practice self-reliance. Be cheerful always. Keep a cool balanced mind. Work for work’s sake. Be bold and courageous. You are bound to succeed in any undertaking. This is the secret of success.

• Sit Motionless

Do not grumble about bad environments. Create your own mental world and environments. Build up your character properly. Establish virtuous healthy habits.

Understand the glow, splendor and power of the Self which is at the back of your mind, thoughts, will and memory. Keep your body strong and healthy by regular exercise. Become a spiritual hero.

Shut out the doors of the senses. Still the thoughts, emotions and feelings. Sit motionless and calm in the early morning hours. Have a receptive attitude. Go along with God. Commune with Him. Enjoy abiding peace in the silence.

• Hear, Reflect, Meditate

Discipline the mind and the senses. Cultivate noble virtues. Develop the four means. Hear the scriptures. Reflect and meditate on the Atman. This will result in Self-realization.

Have no blind faith. Reason out carefully and then accept anything. Annihilate lust, anger and greed. Share what you have–mental, physical and moral–with others. Take delight in serving others. All your egoism and arrogance will disappear.

In the lamp of the heart put the oil of vairagya. Insert the wick of devotion. Now kindle the light of knowledge by constant meditation and see. The darkness of ignorance will be dispelled. You will be fully illumined.

• Meditate In Brahmamuhurta

Purify your heart and meditate. Dive deep into the innermost recess of the heart. You will find the Atmic pearl. If you search in deep water, you will find the pearl. If you keep only to the shore, you will find broken shells only.

O friend! Wake up. Sleep no more. Meditate. It is Brahmamuhurta now! Open the gate of the temple of the Lord in your heart with the key of love. Hear the music of the soul. Sing the song of love for your Beloved. Play the melody of the infinite. Melt your mind in His contemplation. Unite with Him. Immerse yourself in the ocean of love and bliss.

• Practice Regular Meditation

Do not give a loose rein to the mind. Curb it ruthlessly. Annihilate it. You will soon cognise the Truth and attain the final emancipation. All pains, sorrows and delusions will terminate.

Renounce all your sorrows, fears and anxieties, and walk in the path laid down by the scriptures. Abandon the impure vasanas, cultivate the pure vasanas and practice regular meditation on the pure, all-pervading Atman.

Meditate on the Lord who is an embodiment of light, peace, bliss and Knowledge. Do not waste the time in idle-gossiping, eating, drinking and sleeping. Life is meant for higher purposes. Come, come attain Immortality.

More from Swami Sivananda:

• Sivananda in His Own Words
• 51 Points on Meditation
• Swami Sivananda on Psychic Powers