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<div align="center">Divya Jivan Newsletter<br>
<div align="center">
<div align="center"> Sivananda Ashram, Ahmedabad<br>
January 2018<br>
</div>
</div>
<div align="left"> OM Namo Bhagawate
Sivanandaya!
====================================<br>
OM Namo Bhagawate Chidanandaya!<br>
OM Namo Narayanaya!<br>
==================================================================</div>
</div>
New Year Message -Swami Sivananda <br>
<br>
<img moz-do-not-send="true"
src="http://divyajivan.org/Monthly_NL/sivananda.jpg"
alt="" align="left" height="148" width="116">On this
glorious New Year’s day make a strong resolve to wipe away
all the old worldly Vasanas or tendencies and bad
impressions and to control the senses and the mind.<br>
<br>
Know the value of time. Time is most precious. Utilise every
second profitably. Live every moment of your life for the
realisation of your ideal and goal. Do not procrastinate.
That "tomorrow" will never come. Now or never. Abandon idle
gossiping. Kill egoism, laziness and inertia. Forget the
past. A glorious and brilliant future is awaiting you.<br>
<br>
Equal vision is the touchstone of knowledge. Unselfishness
is the touchstone of virtue. Brahmacharya is the touchstone
of ethics. Oneness is the touchstone of Self-realisation.
Humility is the touchstone of devotion. Therefore, be
unselfish, humble and pure. Develop equal vision. Be in tune
with the Infinite. -Swami Sivananda <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://divyajivan.org/sivananda/index.htm"><<
Read More>></a><br>
<br>
<br>
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Early Morning Meditation Talk from " Ponder These truths" by
Swami Chidananda <br>
<br>
<img moz-do-not-send="true"
src="http://divyajivan.org/Monthly_NL/chidananda.jpg"
alt="" align="left" height="149" width="127">"This
Moment" <br>
<br>
This moment is God. God comes to you as this moment. He does
not descend in some sort of supramundane shape and size with
lights flashing and sound emanating. He comes silently as
this moment. Now is God. He constantly keeps coming to you
as now, as this moment. We have to help God to help us when
He comes as kaloham—I am time, I am life.<br>
<br>
And what is life and what is time if it is not now, if it is
not this moment? Without any distinction of age or sex or
caste or creed or race it is given to everyone, saint or
sinner. That is the equal vision of the Divine. It is not
withheld from anyone. It is given to everyone. God comes to
everyone as this moment. This is life. This is the I AM
God—here, now. That is the greatest thing. This moment is
the most tremendous thing that can happen to you. It is the
greatest thing that can be given to you. Be wise. Make use
of this moment and bless yourself eternally. - Swami
Chidananda<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://divyajivan.org/ponder_these_truths/index.htm">
<< Read More>></a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://divyajivan.org/ponder_these_truths/index.htm">
</a><br>
<br>
==================================================================<br>
New Year Greetings from Swami Adhyatmananda<br>
<!--StyleSheet Link-->
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font size="5"><img
moz-do-not-send="true"
src="http://divyajivan.org/Monthly_NL/Adhyat-6.jpg"
alt="" align="left" height="126" width="144">R</font>adiant
Immortal Atman ! Beloved and blessed children of the
Divine ! <br>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left">Happy New Year to you.
Prayers and best wishes for the Year 2018. <br>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left">Last year, we welcomed
year 2017 with all glamour, pomp and show. And now again,
we have to welcome year 2018 with all enthusiasm. Time
rolls on. New becomes old and old becomes new again.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"> Today is the most
auspicious New Year’s day. God has given you another
chance this year to enable you to strive for your
salvation. Avail yourself of this golden opportunity,
struggle hard and reach the goal of life. Make the best
use of every moment of this New Year. Unfold all latent
faculties. Here is a chance to begin life anew, to grow
and evolve and become a superhuman or a great dynamic
Yogi. <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://divyajivan.org/adhyatmananda/New%20year%20message%202018%20.htm"><<
Read more>></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://divyajivan.org/adhyatmananda/New%20year%20message%202018%20.htm"><br>
</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://divyajivan.org/adhyatmananda/New%20year%20message%202018%20.htm"><br>
</a></p>
==================================================================<br>
Learning of <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://divyajivan.org/Jeevan%20Yoga/Index.htm">"Jeevan
Yog"</a> from a Yoga Acharya Swami Adhyatmananda<br>
Through TV episodes of "Jeevan Yoga" Series by Doordarshan
Girnar<br>
<br>
Primary Yogasana (Yoga Postures) - The Physical techniques
of Yoga are the stepping stones to meditation. According to
Patanjali, Yoga is the cessation of the modifications of the
mind.<br>
In the beginning the primary prerequisite to peace of mind
is posture. Yogasana practiced to gain steady posture,
health and lightness in the body. All Yoga postures are
intended to directly or indirectly quiet the mind. The
majority of Asana have been devised to build up different
parts of the body and to develop the strength required by
the more advanced Physical disciplines. The purpose of the
yogasana is to recondition the system, both mind and body,
and to develop the nervous and glandular systems. The
different Yoga postures have been devised to bring a rich
supply of blood to the brain and to the various parts of the
spinal column. The yogasana work by stretching, bending and
twisting the spinal column in different directions to
promote the health of the nerves. When the body is purified,
Prana (vital energy) can be conserved and the individual
becomes healthy and conscious
<!--StyleSheet Link--><a
href="http://www.divyajivan.org/Yoga_Book/yoga%20_postures.pdf">
<< Read More>> </a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://divyajivan.org/Jeevan%20Yoga/Index.htm">Jeevan
Yoga Series </a> <br>
<br>
==================================================================<br>
Highlighting the news and upcoming events<br>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://divyajivan.org/News%202017/News_December%202017.htm">News
& Activity report For the Month of December 2017 </a><br>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/W4x6jCDS9hCHWVF13">News
through event photos </a><br>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://divyajivan.org/divya_jivan/index.htm">Divya
Jivan</a> /<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://divyajivan.org/divya_jivan/DJ_Dec2017/DJ_Dec2017.pdf">December
2017</a><br>
<br>
==================================================================<br>
Q & A on Spiritual Life and Sadhana from “May I Answer
That?”- by Holy Master Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj. <br>
<br>
<!--StyleSheet Link-->God is all-pervading formless Being.
How can He be confined to an idol? What is the use of idol
worship?<br>
<br>
The divinity of the all-pervading God is vibrant in every
atom of creation. There is not a speck of space where He is
not. Why do you then say that He is not the idols?<br>
<br>
The idol is a support for the neophyte. It is a prop of his
spiritual childhood. A form or image is necessary for
worship in the beginning. It is not possible for all to fix
the mind on the Absolute or the Infinite. A<br>
concrete form is necessary for the vast majority for
practicing concentration.<br>
<br>
Idols are not the idle fancies of sculptors, but shining
channels through which the heart of the devotee flows
towards God. Though the image is worshipped, the devotee
feels the presence of the Lord in it and pours out his
devotion unto it. The idol remains an idol, but the worship
goes to the Lord.<br>
<br>
To a devotee, the image is a mass of Chaitanya or
consciousness. He draws inspiration from the image. The
image guides him. It talks to him. It assumes human form to
help him in a variety of ways. The image of Lord Siva in the
temple at Madurai in South India helped the fuel-cutter and
the old woman. The image in the temple at Tirupati assumed
human form and gave witness in the court to help His
devotees. There are marvels and mysteries. Only the devotees
understand these.<br>
<br>
Idol worship is not peculiar to Hinduism. The Christians
worship the Cross.They have the image of the Cross in their
mind. The Mohammedans keep the image of the Kaaba stone when
they kneel and do prayers. The mental image also is a form
of idol. The difference is not one in kind, but only one of
degree.<br>
<br>
All worshippers, however intellectual they may be, generate
a form in the mind and make the mind dwell on that image.
Everyone is an idol worshipper.Pictures and drawings are
only a form of Pratima. A gross mind needs a concrete symbol
as a prop or Alambana; a subtle mind requires an abstract
symbol. Even a Vedantin has the symbol OM for fixing the
wandering mind. It is not only pictures or images in stone
and wood that are idols. Dialectics and leaders also become
idols. So, why condemn idolatry?<br>
<br>
<div align="center"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://divyajivan.org/Vivekananda/index.htm">Swami
Vivekananda Jayanti</a> ( January 12, 2018)<br>
<br>
</div>
<div align="center"><img moz-do-not-send="true"
src="http://divyajivan.org/Monthly_NL/vivekananda2.jpg"
alt="" height="190" width="148"><br>
</div>
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