Forest Academy Lectures Om Yoga By Swami Chidananda
THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY SWAMI SIVANANDAJI MAHARAJ
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CONTENTS Chapter One YOGA SADHANA 1. Sadhana for modern Man 2. The Sadhaka’s Lifeboat 3. The Path of a Sadhaka 4. On Concentration 5. The Veil that Hides the Self & its Removal 6. The Bhagavad Gita & Yoga Sadgana 7. Hints on Practical Sadhana 8. The Need for Faith Chapter Two YOGIC IDEAL OF SANYASA 9. The Glory of Sanyasa 10. Sanyasa – A Rebirth into Love & Service 11. The Significance of Sanyasa Diksha 12. The Glory of Renunciation 13. The Great Purpose of Sanyasa Chapter Three SOME ASPECTS OF PRACTICAL YOGA 14. The Maha Mantra Sankirtan Yoga 15. The Power of Power 16. Deepavali –The Festival of Lamps 17. The call of the Gita 18. The Spiritual Significance of Ramzan 19. The Esoteric Meaning of Ten Avataras 20. Mantra Japa Yoga 21. The Massage of the New Year 22. The Esoteri Significance of the Lilas of Skanda 23. The Heart of the Bhagavad Gita 24. Guru Purnima 25. Saints – Guides Of Mankind 26. Hanuman – the Ideal Sveak & Bhakta Chapter Four GREAT YOGA PERSONALITIES 27. Saints 28. The Great Ones 29. Jesus 30. Jesus Christ 31. Thy Kingdom Come 32. Christ’s Divine Life 33. Tulasidas’ Gift to Humanity 34. Mahatma Gandhi as an Embodiment of Eternal Truth 35. Gandgjii: His Mission & Message Chapter Five YOGA IN EVER LIFE 36. Prayer: Its Purpose & Prerquisites 37. Worship of the Divine 38. Religion Alone Can Unite Hunmanity 39. The Significance of the Upanayanam Ceremony 40. The Significance of the Grihastha Ashrama or Married Life 41. The Importance of Satsang & Gurudhakti 42. The Importance of Karna Yoga Chapter Six YOGA 43. Behlod His Cosmic Form 44. Ishwara Drishti 45. Purification & Illumination 46. The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita 47. Yogic Culture of Body & Mind 48. The Essence of Karma Yoga 49. Not Work, but Sadhana Chapter Seven LECTURES ON RAJA YOGA 50. The Vital Factor in Yoga 51. The Bases of Yoga 52. The Fundamental Concept of Yoga 53. Yogic Practices 54. The Path of Yoga 55. Ahimsa 56. Satyam 57. Brahmacharya 58. Asteya 59. Yogic Sadhana 60. The Role of Tapas in Raja Yoga 61. The Importance of Swadhyaya 62. Different Aspects of Yoga 63. The Process of Yoga 64. Benefits of Asanas in Yoga 65. Need of a Guru for Yogic Practices 66. Practice of Concentration in Yoga 67. Various Types of Concentration in Yoga 68. Facta about Mind & its Control 69. Prerequisite for Meditation 70. Imperishable Bliss Chapter Eight SPIRTUAL IDEALISM 71. Path to Self-realisation 72. Nature of Divine Grace 73. The Three Eupreme Blessings 74. The Grace of the Guru & how You Can Receive It 75. The Path to the Realisation of Unity 76. The Terrible Kaali, the Benign Mother 77. The Saint’s Magic 78. The Epicurean’s Charge 79. The Nature of Parabraman 80. Tragedy of Tragedies 81. Karma & Kukarma Chapter Nine LIGHT ON THE YOGA WAY OF LIFE 82. Can I Change My Guru? 83. Are We Responsible for Our Sins? 84. How Gods Communicate with Men 85. Supramental Race 86. What Should Be Our Goal? 87. Memory Culture 88. Are the Puranas Real? 89. Essentials of a Sadhaka’s Daily Routine 90. How To Know Our Previous Birth 91. Light on the Ghost-world 92. Where Ignorance Is Bliss 93. Dharana & Dhyana Defined 94. Hints for Concentration 95. On Memory 96. On the Control of Anger 97. The Benefits of Mantra Writing 98. Are Spiritual Institutions Necessary? 99. The Role of Spiritual Instiutions 100. Brahmacharaya: Western & Eastern Views 101. Rotarians’ Doubts Dispelled
1. SADHANA FOR MODERN MAN:- I wish to give you a few ideas which I think will be of very practical benefit to all those who have seriously made God-realisation the main end and aim of life. Sadhana is the purpose for which we have to this plane. This is called Sadhana-Bhumi & it is this earth-plane alone upon which Sadhana for Self-realisation can be done. Not so in the other planes: the lower ones in hell are for working out one’s bad Karmas, wrong actions, paying the penalty for sins, & the higher planes, the heavens, are for enjoying the happy fruits. But going to either of these, man has to come back once again to where he was before he want there. But on the earth plane he can so live that he may pass on an abode, an abode of eternal existence, from which he need not once again return to this plane of pains suffering, birth & death. AUTO—SUGGESTION :- For this Vedanata has given the right cue, Vedanta lays all the emphasis upon mental culture. It says ‘Begin your Sadhana from the mental plane’ & psychology is the science that has hold upon the mental plane. Vedanta is a complete Divine psychology. We have forgotten our real nature. What is the remedy for this? To remember it & to reassert it. This is one point of Sadhana –auto-suggestion is the mainstay, the pillar of Vedanta. It says ‘Remember your lost heritage, your real nature, & reassert again & again & again’. For this method your hands are not required, your feet are not required: your whole body you can let throughout the day, be engaged in any activity which the economic structure of India has forced on you. At the same time you can unbrokenly carry on the divine current of Atmic assertion going on. This auto-suggestion will become more a latent aptitude, than a Bhav. When it is established into a permanent Bhav then that Bhav will translate itself into practice. As you think, so you become. THE GLORY OF SANYASA:- Swami chidanadaji’s call to the Youth of India to renounce the world Upon this great & auspicious day let us bring before our minds those glorious spiritual lights of Bharatavarsha – Sri Sankarachary (the glorious Avatar of Lord Siva) and his brilliant line of monks who are the light & glory of this great land. Let us remember the Sant-Parampara, the long line of monks & Mahapurushas who have kept up this glorious tradition of Sanyasa upon this land. Let us now with humble reverence to our Sat-Guru who is the veritable embodiment of Sanyasa in the highest sense of the term, is the fountain-head of the stream of the spirit of Sanyasa in this country whose name is a happy combination of the name of the Lord of Uma & of the quality of Para-Braham, viz., Bliss (Ananda), who is the support of the Sanyasa in us, & who is himself the radiant embodiment of Sanyasa from every pore of whose body radiates the blazing brilliance of Sanyasa & from whom emanates the dazzling rays of highest Brahma-Nishtha. Let us today offer our thanks to the Lord for having given us the peerless privilege of sitting at his feet & trying to imbibe to our own humble capacities this great lesson – how to line Sanyasa in actual life – and for the privilege of calling ourselves his disciples & of trying, through a close & humble observation of his personal life, to attain the highest goal of human existence. Let us also strive our best to make ourselves worthy at least in a little part of this great privilege. YOGA IN EVERYDAY LIFE*********************************************** PRAYAR : ITS PURPOSE AND PREREQISITES:- The-Souls Day & the All-Sainta Day are two days specially set apart by the Christion – world as days of devout prayerfulness, the difference being that on the All-Saints Day we are asked to pray to the saints, remember them & offer our adoration to them; upon the All-Souls Day we bring to mind all departed souls & offer prayers for them, on their behalf, for their peace & welfare. PATH TO SELF—REALISATION:- It is given only to the rare blessed few to be given the opportunity of talking about God, of listening to spiritual discourses & to enjoy the Satsang of sages like Gurudev. Blessed is the tongue that utters the Lord’s Name, the ear that hears the Lord’s glory, & the eye that beholds the Lord’s Vibhutis. Life is not an end itself. It is a means to an end – God-realisation. Life is weated if it is not utilized for God-realisation. Man can deserve to be called a Manushya only if he thinks alright, if ne uses his discriminative faculty to the best advantage, & applies himself to Sadhana for the realization of the Eternal Reality. Even though this body is considered a great hindrance in many respects, it is the vehicle with the help of which the Jiva is able to soar into the realms of Infinity. Even the Devas aspire to take a human birth : for they can attain Self-realisation omly through the human birth. (They have attained Devahood by doing meritorious deeds when they were humans, & when those merits are exhausted, they will have to take a birth here & then only proceed further towards the Goal.)