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Pranams to all.
Know, and then live the divine life, the Upanishadic life of Brahmic consciousness.
- Sri Swami Sivananda
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SIVANANDA YOGA FAQ ~~~ Frequently Asked Questions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q 1: What are the marks of spiritual progress?
A: Peace, cheerfulness, contentment, dispassion, fearlessness and an unperturbed
state of mind under all conditions indicate that you are advancing in the
spiritual path. Spiritual progress is not measured by Siddhis or powers, but
only by the depth of your bliss in meditation.
These are sure tests of your spiritual progress:
--------------------------------------------------
Is your interest in inner spiritual activity and outer Sadhana increasing day
after day?
Does spiritual life mean to your consciousness a matter of great delight, a
delight far transcending the happiness that the world of vital pleasures affords
you or offers you?
Has your personal awareness come to a possession of a sense of peace and
strength which men who are not aspirants do not find in their everyday
lives?
Do you feel certain that your power of discrimination and light of thought have
been steadily growing?
Is your life being gradually led to such experiences which reveal to you the
operation of a will and intelligence other than your own, the will and
intelligence of the Omnipotent Lord?
Has there come into the conscious activities of your everyday life, the active
function of a new delightful angle of vision, a new perspective, a strong sense
of self-possession, a steadily growing conviction of your dependence upon and
intimate relation with the all-pervading Divinity?
If your answers to all these questions or to any one of them are in the
affirmative, be absolutely sure that you are progressing, and progressing
speedily, in the spiritual path.
Q 2: Why do Sadhaks fail to realize God quickly nowadays?
A: After attaining a certain stage of development, they begin to dissipate their
energies in preaching, in making disciples, in publishing books. They become the
slaves of name and fame. That is the reason why they fail to reach the highest
goal of life, viz., Brahma Sakshatkar.
Q 3: Is there harm in not believing in God's existence?
A: If we have no faith in God, we will be born again in this world and will
undergo considerable miseries. The ignorant, faithless doubting self goes to
destruction. He cannot enjoy the least happiness. Neither this world nor that
beyond is there for the doubting self. Those who have no faith in God do not
know what is right and what is wrong. They have lost the power of discrimination.
They are untruthful, proud and egoistic. They are given to excessive greed,
wrath and lust. They hoard up money by unlawful means. They become men of
demoniacal nature. They commit various sorts of atrocious crimes. They have no
ideals for their lives. They are thrown into demoniacal wombs. They sink into
the lowest depths, deluded birth after birth. Some one hundred and fifty years
ago there lived a very famous Yogi-Jnani (a self-realized saint) by name
Sadasiva Brahmendra Sarasvati in Nerur, near Karur, in the district of
Tiruchirapalli in South India. He is the author of Brahma Sutra Vritti and Atma
Vidya Vilasa and various other books. He has done innumerable miracles. Once
when he was absorbed in Samadhi (superconscious state)Ashram on the banks of the
Cauvery, he was carried away by the flood and thrown somewhere else. He was
deeply buried underneath the sand. Labourers went to plough the fields. They hit
against the head of the Yogi and some blood oozed out. They dug out, and to
their astonishment, they found a Yogi seated in Samadhi. On another occasion, as
an Avadhuta, Sadasiva Brahmendra entered the Zenana (tent) of a Mohammedan chief
naked. The chief was quite enraged at the sage. He cut off one of the arms of
the Mahatma (saint). Sadasiva Brahman walked away without uttering a word and
without showing any sign of pain. The chief was greatly astonished at this
strange condition of the sage. He thought that this man must be a Mahatma, a
superhuman being. He repented much and followed the sage to apologize. Sadasiva
never knew that his arm was cut off. When the chief narrated to the sage what
had happened in the camp, Sadasiva excused the chief and simply touched his
maimed arm. Sadasiva Brahman had a fresh arm. It is the life of this sage that
made a very deep impression in my mind. I came to a very definite conclusion
that there is a sublime divine life independent of objects and the play of the
mind and the sense. The sage was quite unconscious of the world. He did not feel
a bit when his arm was cut off. He ought to have been absorbed in the Divine
Consciousness, he ought to have been one with the Divine. Ordinary people yell
out when there is even a pin-prick in their bodies. When I heard of the
marvelous incident in the life of Sage Sadasiva from Apta (realized) persons and
when I read in the book, it gave me a very strong conviction about the Divine
Existence and a divine eternal life where all sorrows melt, where all desires
are satisfied and one gets supreme bliss, supreme peace and supreme knowledge
Know, and then live the divine life, the Upanishadic life of Brahmic consciousness.
- Sri Swami Sivananda
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SIVANANDA YOGA FAQ ~~~ Frequently Asked Questions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q 1: What are the marks of spiritual progress?
A: Peace, cheerfulness, contentment, dispassion, fearlessness and an unperturbed
state of mind under all conditions indicate that you are advancing in the
spiritual path. Spiritual progress is not measured by Siddhis or powers, but
only by the depth of your bliss in meditation.
These are sure tests of your spiritual progress:
--------------------------------------------------
Is your interest in inner spiritual activity and outer Sadhana increasing day
after day?
Does spiritual life mean to your consciousness a matter of great delight, a
delight far transcending the happiness that the world of vital pleasures affords
you or offers you?
Has your personal awareness come to a possession of a sense of peace and
strength which men who are not aspirants do not find in their everyday
lives?
Do you feel certain that your power of discrimination and light of thought have
been steadily growing?
Is your life being gradually led to such experiences which reveal to you the
operation of a will and intelligence other than your own, the will and
intelligence of the Omnipotent Lord?
Has there come into the conscious activities of your everyday life, the active
function of a new delightful angle of vision, a new perspective, a strong sense
of self-possession, a steadily growing conviction of your dependence upon and
intimate relation with the all-pervading Divinity?
If your answers to all these questions or to any one of them are in the
affirmative, be absolutely sure that you are progressing, and progressing
speedily, in the spiritual path.
Q 2: Why do Sadhaks fail to realize God quickly nowadays?
A: After attaining a certain stage of development, they begin to dissipate their
energies in preaching, in making disciples, in publishing books. They become the
slaves of name and fame. That is the reason why they fail to reach the highest
goal of life, viz., Brahma Sakshatkar.
Q 3: Is there harm in not believing in God's existence?
A: If we have no faith in God, we will be born again in this world and will
undergo considerable miseries. The ignorant, faithless doubting self goes to
destruction. He cannot enjoy the least happiness. Neither this world nor that
beyond is there for the doubting self. Those who have no faith in God do not
know what is right and what is wrong. They have lost the power of discrimination.
They are untruthful, proud and egoistic. They are given to excessive greed,
wrath and lust. They hoard up money by unlawful means. They become men of
demoniacal nature. They commit various sorts of atrocious crimes. They have no
ideals for their lives. They are thrown into demoniacal wombs. They sink into
the lowest depths, deluded birth after birth. Some one hundred and fifty years
ago there lived a very famous Yogi-Jnani (a self-realized saint) by name
Sadasiva Brahmendra Sarasvati in Nerur, near Karur, in the district of
Tiruchirapalli in South India. He is the author of Brahma Sutra Vritti and Atma
Vidya Vilasa and various other books. He has done innumerable miracles. Once
when he was absorbed in Samadhi (superconscious state)Ashram on the banks of the
Cauvery, he was carried away by the flood and thrown somewhere else. He was
deeply buried underneath the sand. Labourers went to plough the fields. They hit
against the head of the Yogi and some blood oozed out. They dug out, and to
their astonishment, they found a Yogi seated in Samadhi. On another occasion, as
an Avadhuta, Sadasiva Brahmendra entered the Zenana (tent) of a Mohammedan chief
naked. The chief was quite enraged at the sage. He cut off one of the arms of
the Mahatma (saint). Sadasiva Brahman walked away without uttering a word and
without showing any sign of pain. The chief was greatly astonished at this
strange condition of the sage. He thought that this man must be a Mahatma, a
superhuman being. He repented much and followed the sage to apologize. Sadasiva
never knew that his arm was cut off. When the chief narrated to the sage what
had happened in the camp, Sadasiva excused the chief and simply touched his
maimed arm. Sadasiva Brahman had a fresh arm. It is the life of this sage that
made a very deep impression in my mind. I came to a very definite conclusion
that there is a sublime divine life independent of objects and the play of the
mind and the sense. The sage was quite unconscious of the world. He did not feel
a bit when his arm was cut off. He ought to have been absorbed in the Divine
Consciousness, he ought to have been one with the Divine. Ordinary people yell
out when there is even a pin-prick in their bodies. When I heard of the
marvelous incident in the life of Sage Sadasiva from Apta (realized) persons and
when I read in the book, it gave me a very strong conviction about the Divine
Existence and a divine eternal life where all sorrows melt, where all desires
are satisfied and one gets supreme bliss, supreme peace and supreme knowledge
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