OM Namo Bhagawate Sivanandaya!
OM Namo Bhagawate Chidanandaya!
OM Namo Narayanaya!
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"Light of Yoga " by Swami Sivananda

YOGA is a perfect, practical system of self-culture. You can attain harmonious development of your mind, body and soul by the practice of Yoga. Yoga is an exact science. You can acquire absolute control over the whole nature by its practice. It helps the student to attain ethical perfection, perfect concentration of the mind and to unfold various psychic powers. It teaches applied psychology. It helps the practitioner to enter into conscious communion with the Lord through Samadhi, to separate himself from the three Gunas and to attain Kaivalya or independence eventually.
Yoga is the discipline of the mind, senses and the physical body. Yoga helps in the co-ordination and control of the subtle forces within the body. Yoga brings in perfection, peace and everlasting happiness. Yoga can help you in your business and in your daily life. You can have calmness of mind at all times by the practice of Yoga. You can have restful sleep. You can have increased energy, vigour, vitality, longevity and a high standard of health. You can turn out efficient, work within a short space of time. You can have success in every walk of life. Yoga will infuse in you new strength, confidence and self-reliance. Through Yoga you can have complete mastery over the mind, passions, emotions, impulses, temper and tongue. The body and mind will be ever at your beck and call.

Yoga aims at restraining the mind and its modifications. The practice of Yoga disentangles the Jiva from the phenomenal world of sense objects. The Jivatma becomes identical with Paramatma. This union with Paramatma is the goal of human existence - Swami Sivananda. << More>>

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Glories of Srimad Bhagawad Gita on Gita Jayanti ( Dec 13, 2013)i ( Dec 17,  2010)

"The Gita is the cream of the Vedas. It is the essence of the soul-elevating Upanishads. It is a universal scripture applicable to people of all temperaments and for all times. It is a wonderful book with sublime thoughts and practical instructions on Yoga, devotion, Vedanta and action. It is a marvelous book, profound in thought and sublime in heights of vision. It brings peace and solace to souls that are afflicted by the three fires of mortal existence, namely, afflictions caused by one’s own body, those caused by beings around one, and those caused by the gods."

"The Gita is not merely a book or just a scripture. It is a living voice carrying an eternally indispensable and vital message to mankind. Its verses embody words of wisdom coming from the infinite ocean of knowledge, the Absolute Itself."

"The Gita is a source of power and wisdom. It strengthens you when you are weak, and inspires you when you feel dejected and feeble. It teaches you to embrace righteousness and to resist unrighteousness." - Swami Sivananda << More>>

Quotes on Bhagavad Gita
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"The Teachings of Lord Dattatreya" on auspicious Sri Dattatreya Jayanti ( Dec 16, 2013)

Lord Dattatreya -  He was a supreme yogi. Like Dakshinamurti, He was the adi guru, the primal world teacher. Contemplate His life. Meditate upon Him. Feel His divine presence. Evoke in your mind the sacred memory of Sati Anasuya and Atri Maharshi, the power of chastity, and divine grace in the form of Divinity taking birth at the earnest supplication and prayer of a heart filled with devotion. The earnest prayer of a heart filled with devotion never goes unanswered or unfulfilled. This is what the advent, the avatara of Dattatreya represents or proves."- Sri Swami Chidananda << More>>

 Dattatreya Jayanti -Sri Swami Sivananda
Sri Datta Namsankirtan (audio)- composed by Brahmleen Sri. Sri. Sri. Rang Avadhut Maharaj of Nareshvar in praise of Guru Sri.Dattatreya.
 

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Early Morning Meditation Talk from "Ponder These  Truths" of Swami Chidananada
"Yoga and Vedanta " 
Vedanta is divine wisdom, knowledge of the Divine Reality, the great Reality.The heart of Vedanta is your divinity, that you are unborn, imperishable, all-perfect. You are of the nature of existence, consciousness, bliss absolute—sat-chit-ananda atman.  Yoga is the science of entering into a conscious relationship with that knowledge, experiencing that knowledge, realising that knowledge.

Yoga and Vedanta form the two ingredients that go to make up the divine life of service, devotion, meditation and Self-realisation. Boldly Vedanta proclaims and wants you to know: “ahamatma nirakarah sarvavyapi svabhavatah (I am the Atman that is formless, all-pervading by nature).” “Beyond sense, beyond mind, I am the quintessence of luminous wisdom consciousness”—this is the awareness that Vedanta grants you and wants you to practise. And Yoga is continuous, unbroken, conscious, purposeful contact and relationship, ever progressive relationship with the Divine.  - Swami Chidananda  << More>>

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On Health Topics  from  a book "Yoga and  Health" by Swami Adhyatmananda

Asthma: Asthma is a chronic disease that affects your airways. Your airways are tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs. If you have asthma, the inside walls of your airways become sore and swollen. That makes them very sensitive, and they may react strongly to things that you are allergic to or find irritating. When your airways react, they get narrower and your lungs get less air. This can cause wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and trouble breathing, especially early in the morning or at night.

 Regular practice of Bhujangasana, Dhanurasana, Shavasana, Ujjai, Kapalbhati, Bhastrika, Omkar, Jalneti, Sutraneti and Kunjal processes can be very beneficial in managing the disease of asthma but proper medical consultation should be obtained. Management includes avoiding asthma triggers and tracking your symptoms. You may need to regularly take long-term control medications to prevent flare-ups and short-term "rescue" medications to control symptoms once they start. . << More>>

Satsang with H. H. Swami Adhyatmanandaji ( Video clip) :  Enlightening  on the subject of  "Reflection from Bhagawat"  ( at AMA week)
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Highlighting the News & Upcoming Events

Upcoming 30 th Yoga Teachers Training course ( Dec  11, 2013 - Dec 30, 2013):

Yoga Teacher Training Course at Sivananda Ashram, Ahmedabad isdesigned to offer you the experience of living, Yoga way of Life and to present the necessary techniques that will enable you to pass these great teachings on to others.  

Our comprehensive Yoga Teachers Training Course provide a strong foundation for personal and spiritual development. The course is available to student, who has completed basic and advanced Yoga classes at Sivananda Ashram or from equivalent courses at other institutes. And students, who wish to enhance their knowledge of Yoga Science or become a teacher in the field of Yoga. The course will be 220 hours. You can still enroll. For more details, Contact  Sivananda_ashram@yahoo.com / # 079- 26861234
 

 

 Dattatreya Jayanti - Sri Datta Yajna ( Dec 16, 2013 ) 
Sri Gita Jayanti satsang ( Dec 13, 2013)  
News & Activity Report for the Month of November 2013 
Divya Jivan/ December 2013 
 
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Gitamrutam

Perform action, O Arjuna, being steadfast in Yoga, abandoning attachment and balanced in success and failure! Evenness of mind is called Yoga. (2:48)

 Endowed with wisdom (evenness of mind), one casts off in this life both good and evil deeds; therefore, devote thyself to Yoga; Yoga is skill in action. (2:50)

Let that be known by the name of Yoga, the severance from union with pain. This Yoga should be practised with determination and with an undesponding mind. (6:23)
That place which is reached by the Sankhyas or the Jnanis is reached by the (Karma) Yogis. He sees who sees knowledge and the performance of action (Karma Yoga) as one. (5: 5)

The Yogi is thought to be superior to the ascetics and even superior to men of knowledge (obtained through the study of scriptures); he is also superior to men of action; therefore, be thou a Yogi, O Arjuna! (6:46)
 

Christmas - Its Spiritual Meaning