Sept 28 SHOWER THY GRACE, THOU ART MY SUPPORT

 

SHOWER THY GRACE

O Lord, if thou art the sun,

I am thy ray.

If thou art the ocean,

I am the drop.

If thou art the lotus,

I am the petal.

If thou art the tree,

I am the leaf.

There is no other Lord like thee.

Thou art the ocean of compassion.

I have no qualification

And yet Thou hast blessed me.

By singing Thy name I have broken all fetters,

I have cut Yama's noose.

—Sivananda sings to obtain Thy grace.

THOU ART MY SUPPORT

O Lord, Thou alone art my mind and senses.

Thou art my tongue, ears and eyes.

Thou art my prana, (the vital breath).

Thou alone dwellest in my heart.

Thou alone abideth in my breath.

Thou fillest my whole body.

Thou art the life within me.

Thou art the prompter of my thoughts.

Thou art the inner ruler.

Thou movest all the internal organs.

Thou illumineth my intellect.

Thou art my all in all.

Thou art my very soul.

Thou art the soul of my soul.

I have none but Thee.

Thou alone art my real friend.

Thou art my guru, my father and my mother.

—So says Sivananda.

- - -

Thou art my sole refuge,

I long for Thy grace alone.

Thou art the knower and the teacher,

Thou art the knowledge that knows,

Thou art the ultimate truth,

That is known or realized.

—So says Sivananda.

Sept 27 HERE RAINS NECTAR, OCEAN OF SWEETNESS

 

HERE RAINS NECTAR

My heart drinks the nectar now,

I have plunged myself in that ocean of joy,

I have drunk the cup of immortal bliss.

There is neither doubt nor sorrow here.

The terror of death is no more.

There is the sweet fragrance of the soul.

The music of the soul sounds itself.

Supreme freedom reigns here,

Brilliant effulgence streams forth,

There is the unstruck, sweet melody of harmony.

This is the sorrowless land of an old man.

The thirst of the five senses is quenched here.

Here the rain of nectar pours and pours,

The sacred stream of the Jamna­-Ganga

Flows here perennially.

The round of births and deaths ceases here.

Come, come my sweet companions,

Visit this limitless domain but once

And see my supreme Lord's Durbar (court).

—So says Sivananda.

OCEAN OF SWEETNESS

I have found the key of the mystery.

There is wonderful rest in the land of bliss.

Wonderful is the sorrowless land.

It is an infinite ocean of sweetness.

Look within and rest peacefully.

The three forms of misery are no more,

The five kinds of afflictions are not here.

One becomes speechless and silent ­

There is stupendous silence.

The seer, seen and sight have become one.

The knower, known and knowable are one.

There is the divine music of the supreme harmony

Without the play of fingers and strings.

One enjoys freedom and perfection.

Bliss is filled to the very brim.

I have realised oneness.

—So says Sivananda.

Sept 26 MUSIC OF SILENCE, THYSELF KNOWEST THYSELF

 

MUSIC OF SILENCE

Hear the music of the meeting of the soul with soul ­

It is the divine music, thrilling and soul­-stirring.

It is the music that gives rapturous ecstasy.

The light of this music illumines the world.

It is the source of all vocal music,

It is the source of all musical instruments,

It is the music of that supreme silence,

It is the music of the flute of Sri Krishna,

It is the music that delights Radha,

It is the music without stringing and playing,

It is the music of the sahasrara (thousand-petalled) lotus.

Sivananda says: "Listen to me, brother,

There are only a few

Who have heard this music of silence."

THYSELF KNOWEST THYSELF

We cannot know thy nature.

Thou alone knowest what thou art,

Thyself knowest Thyself, by Thyself.

The mind cannot reach Thee ­

What can poor understanding know?

Speech cannot reach so far,

The power of thought fails.

Thou art not a mental concept,

You cannot be confined

Within the walls of the mind ­

Thou art infinite.

Ascetics practise panhcagni tapas ("five-­fire austerity"),

Hatha Yogis stop their breath

And practise tratak (gazing).

By devotion alone

You can be known in essence.

Only a few blessed ones

Have realised Thee,

Only through thy grace.

—So says Sivananda.

Sept 25 SIT IN SILENCE, COME OUT OF YOUR MEDITATION

 

SIT IN SILENCE

I am neither male nor female;

I am neither dvaita (dualism) nor advaita (non-­dualism);

I am neither saguna (with qualities) nor nirguna (without qualities);

I am neither seer nor hearer;

I am neither body nor mind;

I am neither far nor near;

I am neither black nor red;

I am neither thin nor stout;

I live neither by food nor by air;

I neither move nor stop;

I shall neither go to hell nor to heaven;

I neither laugh nor weep;

I work and yet I do not work;

I hear without ears and see without eyes;

I smell without nose and taste without tongue;

Few understand Me.

He who understands Me, sits in silence.

Sivananda says: "Mysterious is that silence.

Drown yourself in that silence

And be happy."

COME OUT OF YOUR MEDITATION

O Fool! What are you doing in the room?

Why have you shut the doors?

Are you meditating or building sand castles?

Are you planning or sleeping?

What do you see with closed eyes?

Darkness? Or some white spots?

Is this your vision of God?

Do not waste this precious human life.

See God everywhere ­ in the sun

In the trees, the child, the cow,

In the breeze, in the old man,

In the running brooks, in the landscapes.

He is not within your trikuti (eyebrow centre) alone.

Can you meditate for twenty-four hours?

Do not become tamasic or lazy.

Do not mistake tamas (inertia) for satva (divinity).

Enough, enough of your meditation.

Thy cells are charged with heavy tamas.

Come out and serve God in all forms.

Here is a dynamic path of cosmic vision.

—So says Sivananda.

Sept 24 IMMORTAL ABODE, HAPPINESS IS WITHIN

 

HAPPINESS IS WITHIN

There, the Brahman dwells by Himself;

There, He sits without support;

There, there is neither day nor night;

There, there is neither virtue nor vice;

There, there is neither light nor dark;

There, the sun and moon do not rise;

There, pain and suffering do not enter;

There, death cannot blow his trumpet;

There, hunger and disease cannot torment;

There, nobody sleeps or wakes.

It is a city of deathlessness.

It is the abode of fearlessness.

It is the seat of eternal bliss.

It is Brahma Nirvana or Paramamgati.

Sivananda says: "Meditate on Brahman, on the spot

Where the Ganges and the Jumna meet;

And rest peacefully, forever".

HAPPINESS IS WITHIN

The musk is in the navel of the deer;

But it runs here and there to smell it.

The chain is on the neck of the damsel;

But she runs hither and thither to search for it.

The tenth man is there in reality;

But he forgets to count himself and cries.

Fresh butter is with you in abundance;

And yet you go here and there in search of ghee.

The precious diamond is within you;

But you run after the broken glass­-pieces in vain.

The key is in your pocket;

But you are searching for it in vain, here and there.

Even so the ocean of bliss is within you,

And yet you run here and there in search for it.

The Sun of suns is ever­-shining in you;

But your blind eyes cannot behold it.

The eternal sound is ringing within you;

But your deaf ears cannot hear it.

Sivananda says: "Look within and meditate,

And enjoy the eternal bliss of Atman."

Sept 23 WORK WORK WORK, TAKE A DOSE OF DIVINE DRUG

 

Do not talk of vedanta and Brahman,

Work, work, work.

There is too much talk and vedantic gossiping,

Enough of tall talk and gossiping.

Give up lecturing and pedantry,

Become a practical vedantin.

Be good to others, even at the point of a bayonet.

Show your strength and courage now.

Develop a soft heart,

That can melt at the sufferings of others,

This will lead you to the realisation of unity.

I want fiery young men ­

Brave, dispassionate and wise,

With iron will and ferro-­concrete body and nerves,

Who can pulverise the Himalayas,

Who can sip the waters of the ocean,

Who can devour death like a pickle,

Who can swim across the Pacific,

Who can uproot Mount Everest,

Who can swallow the ball of fire.

—Thus sayeth Sivananda.

TAKE A DOSE OF DIVINE DRUG

O Man! Take a dose of this mysterious drug.

The wonderful drug that grows within,

The drug that cures the disease of death ­

The drug of life, light and bliss,

The drug that bestows immortality.

The divine drug, the drug of grace,

The drug that makes you dance in joy,

The rarest drug that dispels the darkness,

The loveliest drug that is precious,

The only drug that removes grief,

The drug that kills the six passions,

The drug that makes you fearless,

The drug that puts you into samadhi.

It is the silent drug Bhumi, thy innermost Atman.

That is my strength, joy and cure­-all,

That is the potential immortal elixir.

—Thus sayeth Sivananda.

Sept 22 A TREE WITHOUT ROOTS, MY AUSPICIOUS DAY

 

A TREE WITHOUT ROOTS

There is a mysterious tree,

It has no roots.

It has grown without a seed,

It bears fruits without flowers,

It has no branches, no leaves,

It has no pith, no stem.

Many birds are sitting on this tree.

It is a very ancient tree,

It is beginningless and endless;

It is causeless,

It never dries up,

It cannot be cut by axe.

It gives shelter to millions;

It is vijnana-­vrksa (tree of pure knowledge).

It gives immortality,

It is superior to kalpaka vrksa (wish-­fulfilling tree).

—Thus sayeth Sivananda.

MY AUSPICIOUS DAY

I celebrated this auspicious day with great éclat and pomp,

With illumination and joyful songs.

My wish has been fulfilled.

I have met my Beloved.

How shall I find words

For the beauty of my Beloved?

He is brilliant like millions of suns,

He has enthroned himself in my heart.

The lamp of love burns lustrously.

I bathed Him with the water of love,

I adorned Him with the flowers of prem (love),

I gave him butter and sugar­candy.

I have drunk the cup of love,

Which is filled to the brim;

It is the cup of perfect joy,

My rapture wells forth.

The mercy of my Lord has come upon me.

How blessed am I

Who have seen my Beloved.

—So says Sivananda.