Sivananda: Biography of a Modern SageHis life, by Swami Venkatesananda
FORMAL TRAINING
The first Annual Report of the Divine Life Trust Society gives an interesting account of the ways in which the resident-seekers were trained by Swamiji himself:
Seven full-time aspirants who have renounced the world and who are treading the path of nivritti marga (the path of renunciation) were admitted in the year 1936. A beginner is trained in all branches of yoga under the direct guidance of Swami Sivananda. Here there is a great field for aspirants for purifying the heart through service to many sadhus and sannyasins, sick people and others. This is a wonderful field for developing mercy, cosmic love, tolerance, adaptability, Atma-bhava and various other virtues. Young people should combine service and meditation. A practical knowledge of selfless public service in all branches is an essential qualification for every aspirant. Sometimes one may have to do cooking, washing and other work also when he lives alone in seclusion. Aspirants who come to Swamiji for practising kundalini yoga and awakening the kundalini are stunned when they are posted to serve the sick and other aged people. They show wry faces in the beginning. Later on they realise the importance of service.
When the heart is purified, then by the prescribed methods the kundalini is awakened. The aspirants learn lessons and practise asanas, pranayamas, mudras and bandhas, concentration and meditation. Sri Swamiji clears their doubts and explains the knotty points in yoga and vedanta philosophy. He never talks much. He gives the essence in a few sentences. Aspirants are trained in the beginning to copy works also. Anyone who copies Sri Swamiji’s articles for about six months will have a clear understanding of the fundamental points of yoga, bhakti and vedanta. This will enable him to enter into the depths of philosophical books. Sri Swamiji trains the aspirants according to their temperament, capacity and taste. He does not administer the same medicine to all, as some do. A vedantic student gets lessons in vedanta; a student of raja yoga is given lessons in raja yoga; a bhakta is trained in the path of devotion. Those who are advanced in meditation are not given any kind of work at all. They plunge themselves in deep meditation only. Every aspirant is trained in first aid, nursing of sick persons, dispensing, compounding of mixtures, etc.
Common meditation is held in the Ram Ashram premises at 4 a.m. Short lectures on Gita and Upanishads and practical sadhana and meditation are given by Sri Swamiji at the end. Outsiders also join this function.
Students are asked to write essays on different spiritual subjects. They are also trained in conducting spiritual classes and delivering lectures, to enable them to do propaganda work at out-stations.
Besides these, the Second Annual Report mentions ‘tongue-discipline’ measures too:
Sri Swamiji prescribes saltless diet on every Sunday and fruit diet on ekadashi days to the members of Ananda Kutir. Such a discipline in diet will enable one to have control over the tongue.
Swamiji gives us a glimpse of the way in which he trains disciples: “The early morning (4 a.m. to 6 a.m.) is highly favourable for deep meditation. The atmosphere also is charged with sattvic (pure) vibrations. Without much effort one can have wonderful concentration at this period.
“From my kutir, I used to chant aloud several times the mantras: Om Om Om, Shyam Shyam Shyam, Radheshyam Radheshyam Radheshyam, and thus made my students get up early for prayers and meditation. This had no effect on the dull type of aspirants. I arranged their night meals before sunset. That enabled some to get up in the early morning. It is only those who load the stomach heavily at night who find it difficult to get up early in the morning. “In the beginning stages of sadhana, if people meditate alone in a room, they get up in the morning only to find that they are again overpowered by sleep, and spend the whole meditation period sleeping in a sitting posture. This gave me the idea of a common prayer and meditation class during brahmamuhurta. One student would ring the bell in front of every kutir and collect the aspirants in a common place for the collective sadhana. I joined the group daily for some years.
“The function started with prayers to Lord Ganesha, guru stotra and mahamantra kirtan. One student read a chapter of the Gita and explained the meaning of one verse. Another student gave some short hints on concentration and meditation. At the end I spoke for half an hour on attaining quick spiritual progress and suggested various methods of destroying the evil tendencies of the mind and controlling the turbulent senses. I laid great emphasis on ethical perfection. The function came to an end with the chanting of the shanti mantras (peace chants) in chorus. The students kept up the divine consciousness even during their work in the day.
Some students lived in Brahmananda Ashram, a furlong away from my kutir. On many occasions I paid surprise visits to the kutirs at 4 a.m. and chanted OM several times and made them get up for prayers.”
(Swami Paramananda relates:
I was put up in a room at Brahmananda Ashram in 1934. It was mid-winter. One day at 4 a.m. Swamiji came to my kutir all the way from Ananda Kutir on that biting wintry morning to wake me up. It was a distance of nearly half a mile. Peeping through the window he called, “Maharaj! Om! Maharaj! Om!” Twice I got annoyed and replied, “What do you want?” I could not make out who was standing at the door as Swamiji, it seems, had his voice purposely changed. Again, “Maharaj! Om...!” Now it was definitely his voice. I got up as though in a shock and Swamiji mildly said, “Maharaj, you are sleeping. It is brahma-muhurta.” I replied how the previous night I kept late hours busying myself with urgent work of the ashram. Swamiji joyously remarked that when a sleeping man is disturbed he would lose his temper, but that I was very mild and sweet in my reply!)
Swamiji continues:
I did not compel all the students to join the common meditation. I permitted them to have their own sadhana in their kutirs. Thus I paid all my attention to the spiritual upliftment of my students. Even now, many students who attended the common prayer and meditation in those days say how they were inspired by my short speeches on sadhana. In the evening also I organised a ‘Study Class’ between 3 and 4. I asked one student to read a chapter from any of my books. On the next day I used to put questions on the important points. I trained the aspirants in a variety of ways. They could all chant the mantras of the scriptures, conduct kirtan and deliver short lectures. I asked one student to put questions and others to answer them. In the evening class I introduced likhit japa and in the early morning tratak and other yoga exercises. During the day they would all prepare essays on yoga and philosophy and write about their own experiences.
Swamiji attended all the classes that were conducted, from 4 o’clock in the morning. He used to go to the temple and then to the Bhajan Hall for meditation classes. Even though he was much older than the students and could not do many asanas, still he would tie his dhoti up and join the class. He did not conduct the classes nor did he have to be there, but still he went. In winter if it started raining in Rishikesh the cold was terrible and we did not have heaters. His room was right on the bank of the Ganges and from four till about nine in the morning a vicious wind blows down from the Himalayas. Swamiji would put on his big overcoat and turban and come out of his room with a hurricane lantern in one hand and some bags in the other and go to the Bhajan Hall. Sometimes if it was raining hard there was nobody there — because everybody anticipated that since it was raining and cold, Swamiji would not come! He would wake up the few people who used to sleep in the Bhajan Hall. (That was the only time when he did not mind waking people up; otherwise before 4.30 a.m. he never disturbed anybody’s sleep). He would then ask one of them to go and wake up everybody else and bring them to the Bhajan Hall. That was how strict he was in the beginning. Afterwards he did not bother.
Definition of a Disciple
The Divine Life magazine of June 1939 contains an interesting notification which gives a significant definition of his own disciple by Swamiji:
CAUTION: Some sannyasins went to a shop in Rishikesh and took Van Houten’s cocoa, a knife, and an umbrella in my name, and said to the shopkeeper that they were my disciples. Kindly do not give any money to any sannyasin who comes to you and says that he is my disciple. My disciple will not ask for money. That is the sign. You can give any sannyasin one meal only. — Swami Sivananda.
In an article published in The Divine Life of March, 1947, Swamiji gave this vivid picture of his ideal disciple:
Siva’s disciple has divine qualities. He is noble, gentle and soft. He has abundant mercy. He never begs. He always gives and gives. He has a very large heart. He mixes with all, serves all and loves all. He sings the Lord’s names. He does kirtan. He is very efficient in doing service. He is an adept in karma yoga. He does puja (service) in the temple. He chants Rudram and he takes part in akhanda kirtan, starting akhanda kirtan wherever he goes. He does japa and meditation. He practises asanas and pranayama, bandhas and mudras. He practises the yoga of synthesis. He knows thought control. He is efficient in yoga and vedanta. He is always a practical vedantin.
He does cooking, proof-reading, typing, nursing, doctoring and lecturing. He is a writer. He is a journalist. He conducts classes in yoga and vedanta. He is simple and humble. He always addresses everybody ‘Maharaj’ and greets with ‘Om namo Narayanaya’. He salutes first. He serves the poor with bhav. He respects every being and commands respect. He never uses vulgar or harsh words.
He has perfect tolerance for all faiths and religions. He talks a little. He is very silent, but dynamic. Work is worship for him. Karma, bhakti, yoga and jnana are inseparable for him. He is a bhakta, yogi and jnani. He is very busy in doing good to others. The spirit of service is ingrained in him. You can know him now easily. You can understand him now clearly.
Swamiji was always emphatic in his insistence that the sadhak workers of the ashram should diligently cultivate what he called ‘the sadhu element’ as opposed to ‘the babu element’. Two inmates had left the ashram on false pretences and excuses. Referring to them (or what they lacked) Swamiji said (on the 27th October, 1949):
You may be a very good worker. You may be a brilliant scholar. You may be able to recite the Gita, Upanishads and Brahma Sutras from beginning to end. You may be an expert in hatha yoga kriyas. All these are no good if you do not possess the sadhu element. What is the use of study, meditation and bead rolling? What is the use of standing upside down for three hours? Remember this point well: if you do not have the sadhu element, you are a failure as a sannyasin.
The sadhu element is a peculiar mixture of various noble qualities. It is an indescribable something which you would identify at once when you see the man who has it. It is comprised of humility, fortitude, forbearance, forgiveness, tranquillity, spirit of service, adaptability, cheerful surrender to the Lord, freedom from anger, lust and greed, and a complete absence of the complaining spirit. One who has the sadhu element in him will be ever joyful and he will take everything calmly. Everything is God’s grace. He will have no occasion to complain.
The babu element, on the other hand, will have nothing but complaints. If there is a little less sugar in the tea one day, if tea is given late one day, he will fly into a rage. He will be a cut-throat. His heart will be full of hatred, jealousy, greed and lust. He always hankers after power and prestige. He is fond of back-biting, scandal-mongering, plotting and diplomacy. He has a vigorous scheming brain. He is selfish to the very core of his being. When you move with him for a couple of days, you will at once know his nature: beware of such people.
All your sadhana should be directed towards the development of the sadhu element in you and the eradication of the babu element. You may be an illiterate man, unable even to talk a few words; but if you have the sadhu element predominant in you, you are a sage.
Swamiji amply illustrated the sadhu element in his own life. He revealed that when he used to go on propaganda tours, people used to garland him as soon as he got down from the train at various places, but he used to carry his luggage in his own hand.
Maker of Saints
Swamiji was like the legendary philosopher’s stone which turned all metal into pure gold. He had the knack of transforming men into jewels. He did this by superimposing saintliness on all. He ignored a thousand vices and emphatically exalted a single virtue that may just by mere accident adhere to a corner of the personality of the individual. He condemned none, he disregarded none. To him there was no wicked man on earth who did not have his own good points. None was incorrigible. In his vision the eternal sinner did not exist. He saw God and godliness everywhere; and the supreme dynamism in him transmitted his own soul-force which instantly awakened the dormant goodness in all and strengthened virtue where it existed. Even the beneficiary was unaware of this.
The following letters (written to Swami X in 1934) show that Swamiji expected his disciples to devote their whole-hearted attention to the cultivation of this most wonderful quality of ‘See no evil’ and of ignoring destructive criticism:
Forget everything entirely. Don’t bother. Our work will suffer. When people speak about... turn a deaf ear. Don’t write any letter to... by way of reply. Let the past be buried. Don’t brood. Take away the mind and apply it to the work, japa and singing. Even if a thousand people poison my ears and mind by speaking ill of you, I will not believe. Do not waste all your energy in worrying unnecessarily. Our work is increasing by leaps and bounds. Shall we attend to public scandal and criticism or proceed to march on with our yogic activities? Forget. Forget. Forgive. Forgive. Be cheerful always. Be bold. Stand up. Gird up the loins and preach vedanta, yoga and bhakti everywhere. Don’t worry even a bit. No one in the world can hurt you. You are invincible. Roar like a lion on any platform, resting on Truth. The slight defects in you will vanish soon. Don’t bother. Atman is all purity. It is spotless. Thou art spotless — stick to this idea. The impurities will vanish. This is the positive method of eliminating or eradicating all defects. Strength, joy, peace, bliss, immortality is your very nature. Assert. Realise.
One should not criticise others. Nor should the spiritual aspirant bother himself about the unhealthy, destructive criticism of others. He should be ever intent on positive, constructive work. That is the ideal that Swamiji placed before all.
His extreme solicitude for the disciple’s welfare and his great eagerness to avoid a misunderstanding growing into a clash are evident from the next letter written two days later:
Let everything subside. Rest in peace. Are you the Atman or the mind and body? Even if you have read 1001 times all my writings, still you identify yourself with mind and body. People can criticise your mind and body. You yourself dislike your body and mind. Those who criticise your body are your friends. Then why do you get agitated? You are weak. Ignore criticism. Why do you brood over past things? This is a bad habit. You can’t have peace of mind. Rise above criticism and remarks. Do good to that man who wants to poison and kill you. Put it into practice.
The next letter on the same subject states the instruction in the clearest of terms:
Bear insult and injury. That is the nature of a sannyasin. That is spiritual strength. That is the balance. To be moved by trifles, to worry for months and to waste energy uselessly is not wisdom.
A noteworthy point in this crisp note is the declaration that ‘to bear insult and injury’ is the innate nature of a sannyasin, and not a matter of policy or expediency, nor even a sadhana. This is the supreme ideal; though we ought to practise it as a sadhana in order to reach the stage of perfection. In a few words Swamiji has given us the essence of the Bhagavad Gita and the yoga taught in it by Sri Krishna.
The last of these letters gives us a glimpse of the stern master who would use all his methods of persuasion and loving approach, but would not hesitate to rub the lesson in, in case of need:
Don’t publish any personal matters regarding C. Be careful. When the party feels a lot, how can you poke or rake up the matters again and again? It is not the duty of a sannyasin. Keep the mind cool and direct attention to our publication, meditation and other works. This affair is serious. I want you to keep absolute quietude in future. This needs your immediate attention. I don’t want to hear your arguments and justification, etc. The matter must be absolutely stopped. You need not send me a reply. But, kindly see that you act up to my repeated requests immediately, without fail. Sannyasa is for peace and constructive work. What more shall I write to you?
Swamiji would tolerate any defect or shortcoming in the growing aspirant except when it came to actions or behaviour which undermined these two fundamental factors in the mission — peace and constructive work. In 1937 someone had written a forged letter to Paramanandaji, purported to have been written by Swamiji himself, that Paramanandaji need not come back to the ashram as his services were no longer required by Swamiji. This naturally upset the devout disciple. He wrote back to Swamiji. Here are Swamiji’s touching, moving and spiritually illuminating replies which not only reveal the master psychologist in Swamiji, but also the principles of divine life, the fundamental doctrines of sannyasa, and the great ideals that he embodied in himself and wanted his disciples to emulate. The letter is dated 7th August, 1937:
I have not written any such letter to you. It is a forged letter prepared by possibly Swami B. or Swami A. Kindly compare this signature very carefully with others. You will find out the thief. Kindly send the letter per registered post for my perusal. I presume it must be a typed letter. Can you make out whether it is typed on our machine or any other machine and by whom in our group?
Some days ago, there was trouble here. B. created some mischief. So, I have asked him to leave Ananda Kutir. A. also had to leave. They are living outside. They have planned this to create ill-feeling between you and me and to drive out Y from A.K.
You ought to have understood immediately: “Swamiji will never write such a letter. Possibly it is some mischief.”
Everything will be alright. Be not troubled. As soon as the work is over, come here immediately. You need not wait even for a single moment. Do not worry a bit even for a second on this score. It is the mischief of scandal-mongers. He who does wrong action will reap the fruit. The Law of Karma is inexorable.
I wanted to send you a wire: “Don’t worry. It is forgery. I have not written any such letter. It is mischief done by somebody. Letter follows.” Then I thought a detailed letter will explain matters clearly.
Do not feel anything now. Be cheerful. Everything is a false show. Some mischief has been done out of jealousy. It is very difficult to find out the man. You need not come here soon if there is work there, on account of this perturbed condition of mind caused by this affair. Be cool. Do sufficient work, because this is the last and final year of your going to Madras. Collect all the rays of the mind and be calm. Forget the past. Do as much work as you can. If it is really mere reproduction, if the work is delayed on account of financial difficulty there, you can come here on 4th September. Do not be agitated. These little difficulties and disturbances come in the way to strengthen you, to strengthen me. We should not be disturbed. All these matters happen to make us strong. One thing I have found out, you become agitated soon. As soon as I received your letter, I was extremely surprised. I could not make out to whom you were writing, because I never wrote to you anything of this kind. Even if you were to find that to be my signature and the envelope bears my own handwriting, you should have thought that someone had done some mischief. Even supposing I had written such a harsh letter, I would have done it for your own good or for the good of somebody. You should not feel like this. I cannot hurt the feelings of anyone, even in my dreams, even that man who wants to poison me, who is injuring me to the extreme. I am developing this one virtue. Be sure of this always, even if such things happen in the future.
This is a strange world. We have to learn many lessons. One of the disciples of Lord Jesus betrayed him. Many obstacles will come to the growing aspirant at every step. We will have to show our strength. Do not be agitated for little things. Be cheerful. Smile. Walk boldly. Think and feel nothing has happened. Don’t worry about little things. You have to do many great actions yet. Prakriti is preparing you in a variety of ways. Feel this. Be grateful to the Mother.
These things have happened; yet, I cannot leave either A. or Y. or anybody. All should grow by committing mistakes or blunders. You must forget the past entirely. You can’t eliminate evil persons from any part of the world. Wherever you go, you will have to live amidst them. But, have the feeling that ‘all are my own Self.’ This will change the situation. You should try to love all, even the worst man who wants to destroy you. That is sannyasa. A sannyasin is one who feels he has no body. We should live amidst people who want to destroy us, amidst unfavourable surroundings, and then work and meditate. Then only we can grow. Then only we can have the unruffled mind of a sage.
Never change your opinion. I am thy servant, well-wisher, friend, brother. Even if you leave me, I cannot leave you. I won’t leave you. You always reside in my heart. Thou art dear to me always. I cannot utter harsh words to anybody. If a harsh word is there, I feel for that man. I want to correct him. That harsh word cannot injure him. It will only correct him. You may experience this. You might have experienced this. I am grateful to the Lord who has endowed me with at least a ray of this virtue. I do not mind for higher attainments. Lord has given me this quality. It is His mercy. With greetings of love, joy and peace.
Sivananda
Addendum: It is very difficult to understand the mind of a man even though you move with him very closely for years together, and to understand one’s own mind even. God alone knows the real culprit. It is very difficult to find out. You know me fully well by close contact. It would have been a wiser thing to drop this correspondence even after the receipt of the bogus letter, and you ought to have talked to me privately when you came here, even though you have reasons to suspect from the signature and the envelope. This is all unnecessary bother to you, me and all. There is no time for you or me to look into these matters. We should utilise every second in His service and thinking.
You ought to have had this strong belief that I would never write such a letter to you. You have failed here. It does not matter. Man grows and learns by mistakes.
Sivananda
Touchstone of Discipleship
In early 1953, shortly after he had sent away Sri ..., who had been disrupting the activities and harmony of the ashram, Swami Sivananda assumed what he himself referred to as the ‘Rudra aspect’ (fierce aspect) of his personality. To the assembled ashramites he said:
Moral turpitude is unworthy of a sadhaka and disgraceful in a sannyasin. But, I would let off with a warning the man who succumbs to lust, for instance, and give the person a chance to improve. However, I take even more serious notice of any attempt to disrupt the harmony of the ashram, to foil the mission of the Lord, and to drive a wedge between workers here. You should be on the look-out for such mischief-mongers who are a deadly canker to the institution and remove them then and there. In their case, I adopt the thundering method; and without even so much as a previous warning I suddenly remove them.
I feel very much for him. I do not like to see anyone who has taken to the path of renunciation denied the safe refuge, that the ashram affords, from the onslaughts of maya. I feel grateful, too, to Sri...for the services he has rendered to the ashram during his stay here. But nothing, no personal feelings that may well up in my heart, can stand in the way of my all-consuming desire to see that the Lord’s work is carried on unhampered by discordant elements here. When the weeds have to be pulled out, we should not be afraid of doing so; for it is our duty.
What is lacking in these people is the spirit of dedication. If you sincerely and whole-heartedly dedicate yourself to the divine cause, such situations as this one will never arise. It is this half-hearted seva that gives ample room for the old vicious samskaras to assume great proportions and lead you astray. You may work day and night; but, unless this spirit of dedication is fully aroused in your heart, you will still be wavering in your faith, in your adherence to divine life, and pitfalls will crowd your path. It is dedication and dedication alone that will enable you to crush and destroy your self-assertive ego and to progress rapidly on the path of sadhana.
When this spirit has been fully developed in you, then you will understand the meaning of true humility.
Obedience, dedication and spiritual contact are all interlinked. Only if you dedicate yourself wholeheartedly to the cause will you be able to establish the inner contact with me. Otherwise you may remain here for a number of years and work like a bull; but you will not derive much spiritual benefit.
Petty personal desires and ambitions, feelings of like and dislike and your own notions about the spiritual life stand in your way of establishing this contact. You must daily introspect and find out your own defects. You must every morning pray to Mother Ganges: “It is through Your supreme grace that I am here on Your banks, while millions all over the world long to have a glimpse of You and to have a sip of Your holy waters. Mother! Bless me that I may be pure at heart, that I may stick to this nivritti marga, that I may be free from all faults and dedicate myself whole-heartedly to the divine cause.”
Think: what have you all come here for? Is it for quarrelling over an extra cup of milk or a couple of fruits? Is it to fight for position and power in the Society? You have come here to attain Self-realisation. Fix your mind on this great lakshya. Let nothing distract your attention.
Even if you do not aim at Self-realisation, even if you have come here merely for enjoying peace of mind, it is your foremost duty to develop some sattvic virtues while you are here. Virtues only will give peace of mind. Instead, if you spend all your time in idle gossiping and scandal-mongering, how can you enjoy peace of mind? And you will disturb the peace of others, too!
Dissolve all these ‘Vedantic Clubs’ here, immediately this moment. When three idlers, whether they are sannyasins or householders, meet in a tea-shop, what do they talk about? About God or sadhana? About service to humanity or Self-realisation? No. It is always about someone or other. It may be about Stalin or Churchill or about their guru-bhais and the secretary of the Society. They will criticise everyone in the world, except themselves. And when this group breaks up and the members join other clubs, then the new group will criticise the old group! Disgraceful.
You must be ever busy in service. Work, work and work. There is nothing so potent as work to keep the devil (mind) ever engaged and to prevent it from doing its mischief. You must surround yourself on all sides with work. You must always have a month’s work pending with you! You should never have a chance to feel ‘I have finished all work’; for at that very instant you give the mind a licence to run riot. There is no dearth of work here. I can give you this very moment enough work that can keep you busily engaged twenty-four hours of the day for two years to come.
But you do not want to come closer to me! You hide yourself from me. It is difficult for me to see many of the ashramites here. Like an Englishman you lock yourself inside your room and I have to wait at your door to give you some work. You do not want to undertake two or three types of work at the same time. You feel that you will then be overworked and you will have a breakdown. Work will never weaken you. Work will infuse new energy into you. It is when your hands are idle that your evil mind gets busy. When you think you have finished the work on hand, you run to the Ram Ashram to read newspapers, or join the ‘Vedantic Club’ to talk ill of others.
You think I do not know anything. I know everything. I know every bit of every ashramite here, even the new-comers. You cannot hide anything from me. But, it is my nature to give a long rope. I do not make much of silly mistakes committed by anybody; I know it is human to err. I keep a close watch to see if the person reforms himself or goes his own way. Silently I give him every opportunity to reform himself. I give him the right kind of work and the best opportunities of studying the scriptures and of engaging himself in meditation. I excuse a man’s faults almost indefinitely! The knowledge of the man’s evil-doings goes on accumulating in me; and when the limit has been reached I just send him away.
You think I am all-kindness and love; you think that I am fond of work and making others work. Yes, so I am. But you do not know my Rudra-aspect. When by cramming a few phrases, you get puffed up with the pride of knowledge, when you feel that you are indispensable for the mission, then I show you a little bit of my Rudra-aspect. Just one Gandhi, not any institution, brought independence to India; one saint can bring spiritual uplift to the whole world. The institution is only an instrument in his hands; and the institution provides scope for others to evolve. I can carry on my work without any kind of institution. Even today I can dissolve this society, go and live in a cave taking bhiksha, and work wonders. I am not enamoured of B.A.’s or M.A.’s. If B.A.’s leave the Society, some M.A.’s will be waiting to join it. If second-class writers leave the ashram, first class writers will join it tomorrow. It is only one spiritual personality that counts in the world, not thousands of half-baked aspirants.
Even now I can set you an example in renunciation. I can live on two dry-breads and Ganges-water. Overwork, financial worries and above all diabetes, compel me to allow the body a few comforts. You have no idea how much energy I spend daily in so many channels. I must give that back to the body and keep it in a fit condition to serve. With all this, I fast completely on ekadasi, and take saltless diet on several days of the week. Does any one here do this?
On the contrary, you are quarrelling over an extra cup of milk! You are fighting for fruits. If at this young age, when you are full of radiant energy, you do not practise renunciation, titiksha and self-denial, when will you do so? You have no contentment at all. That is why there is no Brahma-tejas on your face. If you have contentment, there will be lustre on your face, sparkle in your eyes; and you will radiate peace and bliss. But when your heart is torn into shreds by cravings and desires, when you are ceaselessly craving for petty things of the world, what spiritual progress can you achieve?
It is better, then, for such people to go out into the world, marry and lead a proper household life. Otherwise, you will miss both! You would have denied yourself the pleasures of worldly life, and would have achieved nothing in the spiritual life, either. There is no use of vegetating here. You must be dynamic. You must be full of spirit, vigour and enthusiasm.
Supposing you were leading a household life, would you be daily taking milk and fruits? Ask yourself. If you are earning Rs. 150 a month and if you are the head of a family of five members, would you enjoy the luxury of a banana even once a month? Never. You would, on the other hand, think that it is a waste of money. Your mind would not even think of such things. Why? Because you feel you are responsible for the family maintenance, that you should save money in order that your children may have their education. But here you do not feel any such responsibility. You have no feeling at all for the institution! If you have, there will be no problems at all. All your efforts should be to further the cause, to find out ways and means of utilising the income of the ashram in the best possible manner so that the maximum good can be done to the world. You should completely identify yourself with the cause: then and then alone will you understand what karma yoga means.
But you are not interested in the ashram. You think that you can deceive the authorities here and further your own selfish ends! You are fond of keeping a private purse! You have your own bank accounts! A private purse and a cheque book are the greatest curse to a real sadhaka. They throw you into the abysmal depths of samsara. When you are in an institution that nourishes you and looks after you, providing you with all that you need, where is the necessity for you to keep a private purse? When you are serving the institution selflessly, and when you have no private outside contact, from where do you get money for your private purse? The desire for private money intoxicates you. It drives you to adopt all kinds of vicious methods to earn money for your private account. You serve the visitors as an inmate of the ashram, show all your teeth in front of them, complain about the ashram and then trade on their sympathy by getting a few rupees from them.
What can you do with that money? All your necessities are provided by the ashram. You cultivate some evil habits. Your suppressed old vicious samskaras get the upper hand now. You get a downfall. You try to drag others, too, with you. You form a party of your own. You do not care for your guru and even criticise him. The little money creates in you a craving for more. You try to drive a wedge between the important workers in the ashram, disturb the atmosphere in an attempt to get power and money. You become a dangerous destructive element. Lust for power and wealth turns your head. You create disharmony. You even go to the extent of turning against your guru and ruining his mission.
Such people do not realise the grave consequences of their action. Guru-droha (antagonism to the guru) is the vilest crime, the greatest sin. He who has guru-droha will suffer terribly in old age. Afflictions with some fell disease like leprosy, mouth full of ulcers, without food, without clothes, uncared-for, suffering intolerably the pangs of hunger and thirst, harrassed by the ravages of bitter weather, they will die a slow death in agony and pain.
What to speak of service of guru? You should whole-heartedly serve an ashram or institution that has given you food and shelter for some time! Gratitude is a golden virtue. If you do not possess even this fundamental virtue — which even animals possess —how do you hope to attain God-realisation?
From the very beginning you have adopted the wrong attitude to life. Only if you had served your parents would you know what obedience is, what seva bhava is. When an opportunity for service is offered to you here, you think: “I didn’t serve even my parents; why should I serve these people?” That is the granite state of your ego. It can only melt by repeated knocks and blows and by the Lord’s grace.
Continuously remember the Lord. Constantly repeat His name. Serve, serve, serve. Work, work and work. When you are not working you should be engaged in fruitful study. When you are doing neither, you should do japa and meditation. I have provided all facilities for these within the ashram itself. Plenty of scope for work and service, books and journals for study, and the Bhajan Hall, mandir and kutirs for meditation. And by God’s grace you have food and clothing without any difficulty at all. Is there any need for you to go beyond the ashram area? It is only the upsurge of your own wrong samskaras that takes you beyond the bounds, that prompts you to make parties and indulge in loose talks and scandal-mongering. Get rid of these samskaras by service, study and meditation, by looking into the good of others and never even thinking of the faults of other people. Mind your own business. Mend your own mind. Evolve, evolve, evolve.
What I have said today is enough to keep you vigilant for three years to come. I have great love for you all. I pray to God day and night to bless you with wisdom, dispassion and discrimination. That is why I am telling you all this. I do not impose any hard discipline on you, because I know there are people here who are in different stages of evolution and I wish to allow each aspirant to grow of his own accord without let or hindrance; to awaken his latent faculties, to get ample scope for the development of his talents and to grow in spirituality. It does not mean that I am too lenient. I am carefully watching every one of your actions. I can judge your heart from the way you look, from the way you talk, from the smallest details of your behaviour. I can point out your faults then and there and shape your future. But I do not want you to be afraid of me. I do not want you to obey me out of fear. Obedience should spring from love and dedication, from a genuine desire to evolve and grow spiritually. Obedience compelled by fear and dread will not last; it will not be sincere and whole-hearted. You will only be waiting for an opportunity to run away from discipline. Therefore, I adopt this loving method of guiding you on the path.
Live here and work in harmony. Do not criticise anybody. Do not try to disrupt the atmosphere. If you free the secretaries from criticism and worry, how much good work can they not do? Now all their time is taken up in settling disputes and attending to the petty desires of ashramites. If all of you work harmoniously you can work wonders. May God bless you with wisdom and inner spiritual strength!