OM Namo Bhagawate Sivanandaya!
OM Namo Bhagawate Chidanandaya!
OM Namo Narayanaya!
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What Gurudev is for US! - by Swami Chidananda

"At this moment, in the calm hours of this silent morning, in the spiritual presence of our beloved and worshipful Holy Master Guru Bhagavan Swami Sivanandaji, we offer adorations and homage to Your Feet. From the bottom of our hearts, human hearts, we pray that this separation, this alienation, this wandering away from Thee, may end. May this forgetfulness, this slumber of non-awareness of our own svarupa, our eternal relationship with You, which is the root cause of all pain, suffering, sorrow, misery, delusion and infatuation, come to an end by Thy grace." .....

"Worshipful spiritual presence, Gurudev, thou who art our light and guide in life, keep sounding that call again and again in our hearts. This is the supplication at thy feet of all the seeking souls who are gathered in your presence, drawn by your guru kripa, grace, morning after morning to this sacred Samadhi Hall of your Ashram."...

"Gurudev’s life after Self-realisation, after becoming an enlightened sage and shining as a great light of the Himalayas, was a saga of selfless service—service of the poor, service of the suffering, service of the sick, service of the distressed, service of spiritual aspirants and seekers, service of all humanity, service of the whole world. In diverse, numerous ways, his entire life was one great, continuous stream of selfless service. He had even forgotten how to think of himself; he could only think of others. He lived thinking of others: "In what way can I be of benefit, in what way can I serve?" That was Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj till the very last days."

"Gurudev declared in one of his eighteen handwritten autobiographical epistles: "I live to serve, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to raise the fallen, to console the distressed. This is my mission in life." And anyone who has known him, anyone who has lived with him, anyone who has seen him instantly recognised: "Here is a totally selfless, dedicated human being." He fulfilled to the very letter the scriptural description of this type of realised soul, who having attained illumination, having done everything that has to be done, having no desires because all their desires have been fulfilled through God-realisation, are seen to be, in the words of the Gita, "intent on the welfare of all creatures." << More>>.


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  "Chidananda Darshan" -  "Swami Chidananda on HIMSELF"  -  How HIS spiritual journey commenced ?  The first darshan of Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj & meeting with HIS Master ! 
How inspiring ! how thrilling to read the vivid description in HIS own words!     

  ".........On this occasion, as I felt with my hand on the top of the chest of drawers, my hand fell upon Papa Ramdas' In Quest of God and I took it with me. Somehow, the photograph of Papa Ramdas taken in front of the Kadri caves (appearing as frontispiece in In Quest of God) fascinated me and drew my gaze like a magnet. The more I looked at it, the more I wanted to go on looking at it. I did not want to put the book down. Afternoon after afternoon, lying down on a sofa in the upstairs hall, within a week, I finished reading the book cover to cover.............."

"At that time I was a youngster of nine years of age. I had just lost my mother and was studying in the 4th class in the primary school. Reading the book In Quest of God opened up before me a
whole new vista of what India was as I had never before known or imagined. For the first time, I came to know of the various religious places Papa had visited in his wanderings. I heard the
name 'Himalayas' and the sacred river 'Bhagirathi Ganga'. I came to know the name of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and also the Kali Temple of Bhavatarini at Dakshineshwar near
Calcutta. The names 'Kedarnath' and 'Badrinath' became part of the thought forms of my mind where they had not existed before. The words 'Annakshetra', 'Bhiksha', 'Ram Bhajan' etc
became part of my vocabulary. The terms 'samadhi' and 'ecstasy' were first encountered in my life."............

 "It was early March 1942. During the past ten years, from 1932 to 1942, since I left Mangalore and arrived in Madras, an inward transformation was slowly taking place within me, a veritable holy Sangam of three spiritual streams was created within my life. At Madras, I came into possession of the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna some time in 1933 and the Life of Sri Ramakrishna in 1936, his birth centenary year. Secondly, I read about Sri Ramana Maharshi in M S Kamath's Sunday Times in a special issue with the narration of the young Ramana's renunciation at the age of 17 when he was a schoolboy. The article carried Sri Ramana Maharshi's picture also. This article evoked within me a state of renunciation and an idea of seeking Self-realization. Thirdly, I began to read Swami Sivananda's spiritual literature from Sri P K Vinayarangam's My Magazine of India and a book of Gurudev's quotations published by him. All these three saints hammered one single central line again and again into my mind viz:   "Life is meant for God-realization. Goal of life is God-realization. If you die without attaining Godrealization, your life is in vain. You have wasted away this precious gift of human birth given to you by God " ...........

 "Some time after sunset, in the twilight, Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda followed by a Brahmachari carrying a hurricane lantern, came down from the upper part of the Ashram with a big long staff in his hand. As he came near, I fell flat upon the ground in dandawat namaskar. He enquired from someone nearby 'Who is this person?' They told him I was Sridhar Rao of Madras who had been corresponding with Gurudev. He kindly asked me to get up. I did so and felt that I had reached my destination. I felt blessed by God. This is how my entire life was offered at the feet of Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda Maharaj. It was the culmination of my physical journey upon the outer plane of this world. My spiritual journey now commenced......" <<More>>

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 Quotations of GuruMaharaj Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj

"Worshipful homage to the supreme, eternal, primal Being, the universal Spirit Divine, who is auspicious, beautiful, good, elevating, illuminating and liberating! To that Being, worshipful homage!"
 

 

 "God is an unknown entity. God is an unseen entity. We have not seen god. We’ve only heard about Him. We can only imagine Him. But, if we are able to see in a human individual, manifestations of holiness, of sanctity, something extraordinary, something special, we begin to realize: “Yes, God I have not seen, but godliness I have seen”. Such a being becomes for us visible God. God reveals Himself through the Guru."

"When you wake up in the morning, you wake up into something very special. This emergence should constitute for you a rebirth into sadhana. In this new birth there should be no more slackness, no more pretence, and no more half-heartedness. Therefore, may we be reborn not once, not twice, but again and again until there is no longer any necessity or need for any such rebirth or re-emergence."

"But for awareness, nothing can be cognised. But for awareness, no knowledge is possible. Knowledge itself has as its basis the knower. The knower can be the knower only if It is a centre of luminous awareness, knowing all things."

 

"You should act your part in the scheme of things as dictated by the situations in which the Lord places you. You are where you are, and what you are, due to the Will of the Lord."

"Success in all undertakings is attained as a result of effort; effort put forth in the firm conviction that sincere and earnest human endeavor never goes unfulfilled. Success is not achieved by never encountering failure. Failure is often a part of success."

"Try to make an evaluation of what you have been throughout the year that has gone by. Have you grasped each day and made a gainful step upward and Godward towards your Destiny?"

"You should thank the one who draws attention to something in you, rather than being offended. Actually that person is doing you a great favor and service by giving you some knowledge about yourself which you by yourself have been unable to obtain."

"Love more than you desire to be loved. Serve more than you desire to be served. Give of yourself more than you demand of others."

"Human birth, higher aspirations and the inspiration to contact great ones and to imbibe their stirring spiritual messages all these constitute your wealth. All these constitute your good fortune. All these constitute your special unique blessings when compared to those who do not have these Things."

 

"The right way to understand this sharing is - that it is the Universal speaking to the universal. Not an individual speaking to an individual. As individual, you merely react. As universal, you respond." << More>>
 

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Grand Culmination ( Sept 17, 2016 - Sept 25, 2016) of Birth Centenary Celebration of Guru Bhagawan Sri Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj.....

In the words of Holy Master Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj .............. "Celebration of Swami Chidanandaji's Birthday is really worship of God."

"During the celebrations of the Birthdays of great men you hear of their actions, their thoughts and their instructions, and the way in which they led their life. You imbibe several good qualities from their glorious example. You try to emulate them. You put those qualities into practice in your daily life. Frequent Birthday celebrations are necessary.".....

"Practise compassion, service, humility and other virtues. Then shine like our Chidanandaji. This is my fervent prayer ! Chidananda is a Jeevanmukta, a great saint, an ideal Yogi, a Para Bhakta and a great sage. Swami Chidananda is all this and much more".

"Chidananda Darshan" - By Pujya Swami Adhyatmanandaji Maharaj (a  special Television coverage by Door Dashan,Govt of Gujarat, Ahmedabad).

 Pujya Sri Swami Adhyatmanandji on His Master,  " How fortunate we are! How blessed are we to be born in the same era! Glories to Gurumaharaj! In Bhagawad Gita Lord Sri Krishna has described the characteristics of "Sthitha Prajna", but it is rare to see & meet the one! but we have lived with the ONE.  Hail Hail Chidananda! 

Let us imbibe virtues and teachings from the Life Divine of GuruMaharaj and that is the Celebration of Chidananda Birth Centenary, in a True Sense".

And, listen to GuruMaharaj on HIS Adhyatm ...............(Video Clip). How Wonderful! How true are those words!  What could be a better time than now to cherish those blessed moments that got caught in the recording tool! 

The grand culmination of celebration has began, as you read these lines from 17,  2016  in holy satsang of Sant- Mahatma & honorable governor of Gujarat Sri Om Prakash Kohili............. inauguration of "Chidananda Yoga Bhawan" with release of  "Chidanandam", a souvenir on this occasion and more till Sept 25, 2016....... !

Blessed and fortunate are us all, who have been a tiny part of the celebration with HIS Grace, only. Satabdi  Mahotsav commenced from Sept 24, 2015 with three days satsang and a ground breaking ceremony to commence construction of Swami Chidananda Centenary Memorial Yoga Bhawan by Pujya Sri Swami Adhyatmanandaji in holy company of Mahatmas at Sivananda Ashram, Ahmedabad.

Since then, under the the guidance of  H. H. Sri Swami Adhyatmanandajij one after the other the planned programs, Satsangs, Jnan Yajana, distribution of Sivananda & Chidananda literature - new book release "Prakash Punj", Yoga & Meditation camps,  "Chidananda Smruti Pravachan" series in India and abroad by Pujya Swamiji Maharaj, Chidananda Yoga DVD release, Youth programs, Seva projects, Construction of Chidananda Yoga Bhawan, Medical camp, food & grain distribution, feeding to under privileged, Srimad Bhagawat Katha, Shiva-Puran Katha, Gita Jnan Yajna (All 18 chapters of Bhagawd Gita) by Pujya Swamiji Maharaj on Vyasa Asan and more...... went on in great enthusiasm through out the year here at the Ashram. 
 
Organizers and Devotees in the West joined in the celebrations and organized Centenary Celebration Tour 2016 ( to USA, Cananda & UK from June 22, 2016 - July 31, 2016) of  Pujya Swami Adhyatmanandaji Maharaj and expressed the sentiments of love, devotion and gratitude in their own ways. 

Here are the Glimpses of Chidananda Birth Centenary Celebrations (through video presentation) and more to add (the concluding) into this historic and memorable event................ 

Divya Jivan / "Chidanandam" ......... a souvenir to be Released

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