A DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY PUBLICATION
Third Edition: 1992
(2,000 Copies)
World Wide Web (WWW) Edition : 2000
Website: http://www.divinelifesociety.org/
This WWW reprint is for free distribution
© The Divine Life Trust Society
Published By
THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY
P.O. Shivanandanagar—249 192
Distt. Tehri-Garhwal, Uttaranchal,
Himalayas, India.
Contents
Miracles are not miracles for the Yogi. They are natural and almost
inevitable in the plane of consciousness in which he lives. Therefore,
he is not even aware of his own psychic and spiritual powers, any more
than we feel that being able to walk, talk or see is a wonderful power.
Yet, the layman who experiences the miraculous powers of a sage or
Yogi is so highly inspired by them that his faith in the Yogi grows,
with it his devotion to the Lord and love of divine life. Spontaneously
he expresses his amazement and wonderment-mixed with thankfulness for
the benefits derived-at the great powers of the Yogi.
In the miracles of Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj recorded in this volume,
the reader will not fail to notice that they have invariably brought
about an inner spiritual transformation in the devotees concerned. This
is the greatest miracle of Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj. The devotee's
disease is cured or life saved; the devotee's faith is at once increased;
and at the very same moment, there is an inner transformation, a purification
of the heart, an intensification of aspiration to realise God. Sri Swami
Sivanandaji's is a miracle that does not help the devotee merely to
tide over a difficulty, but also to make rapid spiritual progress, enjoy
deeper meditation and live in tune with the Infinite. Sri Swami Sivanandaji
Maharaj does not encourage jugglery; but his miracles have always taken
the form of an inner spiritual transformation in those who are the beneficiaries.
The present publication is intended to bring home to the public this
vital factor in the life of a saint.
-THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY.
Do all the good you can
In all the ways you can
In all the places you can
At all the times you can
To all the people you can
As long as ever you can.
-Swami Sivananda.
(H.H. Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj)
Miracles are based on the principle of the concentration of the mind.
The mind has immense powers. It derives its power from the Atman or
the Supreme Soul.
The mind is a collection of thoughts. The mind's energy is dissipated
by worry, evil thoughts, cares, anxieties and lack of Brahmacharya.
If you can control the immense amount of power which the mind possesses,
through concentration and sublime thoughts, you will acquire Siddhis
or the power to do supernatural actions.
The eight major Siddhis are greatest miracles performed by the Raja
Yogins. There are various minor Siddhis also.
Siddhis come during the practice of concentration. They are by-products
of concentration. You will have to shun them ruthlessly. If you fall
a victim to these Siddhis, you cannot reach the goal.
The Siddhis performed by Raja Yogins are true. They cannot change the
molecules of an object. They can draw their supply from the cosmic source,
ether and create any kind of object through their Yogic power.
A Jnani performs miracles through the power of Satsankalpa (pure willing).
A Raja Yogi does miracles through Samyama (Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi
combined).
By doing Samyama on the sun, the Yogi gets the knowledge of the fourteen
worlds.
By doing Samyama on the moon, he gets the knowledge of the regions
of stars.
By doing Samyama on the Pole Star, comes the knowledge of the movements
of the stars.
By doing Samyama on the strength of elephants and others, he gets strength
equal to those beings.
By doing Samyama on the form of the body and checking the power of
comprehension, he is able to make the body disappear or dematerialise.
By doing Samyama on the appearance, etc., of others, the Yogi gets
a knowledge of their mind.
By doing Samyama on the Moment, he gets discrimination.
By doing Samyama on the relation of the ear and ether, the Yogi gets
the powers of clairaudience.
By practising Samyama on the relation between ether and the body, the
Yogi attains extreme lightness of the body and the ability to travel
through space.
By Samyama on the three modifications of the mind, comes the knowledge
of the past and future.
Samyama on Samskaras gives him knowledge of births.
Samyama on the senses gives mastery over them.
By practising Samyama on the distinctive relation between Sattva and
Purusha, he gets the powers of omnipotence and omniscience.
Samyama on the inner light gives him the knowledge of the subtle, the
obscured and the remote. Samyama on one's own Self gives the Yogi clairaudience,
higher touch, clairvoyance, higher taste and higher smell through intuition.
By intuition he gets all knowledge.
Real Yogins perform miracles to convince their disciples of the existence
of transcendental things and God. They will not perform miracles on
the platform.
Queen Chudalai performed miracles to open the eyes of her husband Sikhidhvaja.
She stood above the ground. She moved in the sky. Sri Sankara performed
many astounding miracles. He drank molten lead and passed into the body
of a king (Parakaya Pravesa). Sri Sadasiva Brahman was a great Yogi.
He performed many real miracles. He was seen in different places at
the same time. He was buried underneath the ground on the bank of Kaveri
river for some months. His hands were cut and he brought again the full
hands.
Akalkot Swami turned bone into gold. Another Swami passed urine over
a stone and it turned into gold. Ramalinga Swami turned water into oil.
Jnanadev made a wall move. Changdev rode on a tiger, using a cobra for
a whip. Such miracles are performed through the power of the Yogi's
Satsankalpa. He is one with the Cosmic Will which creates, sustains
and dissolves this universe, just as the single Sankalpa of the Supreme
Being..."I am One, may I become many"...at once materialised into this
vast universe.
Some are born Siddhas. Sri Dattatreya was a born Siddha. He created
a woman and a bottle of wine by his Yogic power to get away from the
disturbing crowd.
Some exhibit small miracles with the help of some disembodied spirit.
These are nothing. These have nothing to do with spirituality. Drinking
nitric acid, swallowing nails, chewing snakes and glass pieces, walking
over fire are not the real Siddhis of spiritual Yogins. They have nothing
to do with Yoga. They are performed by charlatans to collect money.
Even educated people are deceived by looking at these performances.
Beware of cheap miracle-mongers. Do not be duped.
Miracles have been caused by prayer. God has always granted the fervent
prayers of faithful devotees. The greatest miracle is faith.
Mantras have great power. Sound can be converted into light and form.
Certain mystic formulae have tremendous power. When a man has been stung
by a scorpion, the Mantravadi recites a Mantra, and the man is relieved
of the pain! Is this not a miracle? This is the power of the Mantra.
That power has been further augmented by the spiritual power of the
great Yogis who have chanted the Mantra and attained Siddhi in it. The
faith of the Sadhaka who takes to that Mantra now acts as a key to release
its divine force.
To convert water into wine is not difficult. But it is difficult to
transform worldly-minded people into divine beings and put them in the
path of Yoga. This is the greatest miracle.
Miracles there have been for ages and will continue to be till the
end of the world.
Miracles are astounding only for the layman. For Yogins, these are
simple things. They are not extraordinary. For those who know the principles
and the laws of Yoga, who have controlled nature, they are common occurrences.
Miracles are God's answers to the devotee's sincere prayer. Miracles
are a saint's timely reassurance to help the sincere Sadhaka, escape
a pitfall and circumvent an obstacle. They are the subtle emanations
of the saint's soul-force which are borne on the wings of the saint's
love of all beings and love of service, that reach the destination in
time to save, uplift and to guide.
The helping hand is hidden from our view but nothing is beyond the
saint's comprehensive vision. To his all-seeing eye there is no secret;
in the realm of his infinite power there is no miracle. He performs
miracles in precisely the same manner as we lift our limbs.
Countless have been the instances when disciples and devotees of H.H.
Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj far and near have received great help
from him in mysterious ways to ward off physical ills, mental disturbances,
intellectual confusions and spiritual setbacks. Many have already been
published and a few more and representative selection from the devout
letters of spiritual aspirants from various places are given here, and
they are surely an inspiring reading if only they convince us of powers
higher than human and rekindle in our hearts an aspiration and a hope
that would spur us on to greater and ever-increasing endeavour to reach
the goal of human life.
The divine touch of sages healing incurable diseases and at times even
bestowing back dead are actually facts in the spiritual realm. These
miracles baffle reason, no doubt; but, more often than not the miracle
implies not merely the nullifying of known law but rather the evoking
and bringing into play of a higher law of which the uninformed observer
is quite unaware. Hence the latter's wonder and astonishment at the
occurrence. When the cause is hidden from your ken and in the absence
of the connecting sequence the effect alone is beheld, you feel it as
something supernatural.
Clergymen, Doctors and Some Scientists Agree that
HAS NOT PASSED
1. Dr. John Brobeck, Professor of Physiology at the University
of Pennsylvania's Medical School:
Scientists who are Christians do not consider the miracles described
in the Bible as impossible, and such scientists now accept that the
blind were made to see and the lame to walk.
2. Dr. W.J. McNally, President of the Montreal Medico-Chirurgical
Society, and a Roman Catholic:
Miracles are very real things. A miracle is something done by God and
can be brought about at any time. Jesus performed miracles while on
earth, and Catholics believe that miracles can happen again whenever
God wants to intervene.
3. Dr. J. Cyril Flanagan, Montreal Dentist and Prominent Church
of England lay reader:
Miracles are caused by a power scientists know nothing about.
4. A Psychiatrist:
There is no final answer to Plato's dictum that mind comes first and
matter latter, which is the idea behind miracles.
5. Prof. T.G. Henderson, Chairman of the Department of Philosophy
at McGill:
The sceptic tradition established by English-speaking philosophers,
such as Hume, had almost worn itself out. The human seems to be more
receptive today of these events which do not conform to the general
law. It is possible to interpret individual events even if seemingly
outside the general law of nature.
6. Dean James S. Thomson, of the Faculty of Divinity at McGill:
All experienced ministers, most doctors, would agree that miracles
have never ceased. Scientists have abandoned the view of the universe
as a closed mechanical system operated by what are called the laws of
nature, but we must still believe in an orderly world, although not
to the exclusion of spiritual agencies which are the direct action of
God.
7. Rev. Norman Lawson, Minister of St. James Union Church:
I believe in a world of law and order, in which the effect always followed
the cause. But, miracles usually happen in times of great faith, and
faith releases powers that cannot operate unless it (faith) is present.
In time when scepticism is rife faith does not operate on the same scale.
8. Rev. Roland Bodger, Rector of St. Cuthbert's Anglican Church:
Miracles in themselves are not very significant spiritually.
(Sri Swami Sadananda)
It is usual for Swami Sivananda to tell us and also write in his books
that a real spiritual aspirant ought not to hanker after Siddhis or
supernatural powers, because when they are desired, further spiritual
progress will be arrested. He has seen some instances in which people
who were making good progress were caught by the temptation to acquire
these powers and from then they had a serious fall. Nobody can dispute
the correctness of Swamiji's opinion in this matter. But a doubt comes
to me from time to time. Numerous are the letters received at the Ashram
from people in different places mentioning many miracles performed by
Swamiji. It cannot be that all who write such letters are uttering falsehoods
or are under any hallucination. It is likely that there is a small percentage
of self-deceiving persons. But judging from the nature of the events
reported to have happened-reported with many details and meticulous
care in the narration-I have to come to the conclusion that Swamiji
is exercising supernatural powers or Siddhis. If so, will he have a
fall? I can safely assert that he cannot fall-because he has risen above
the states of rising and falling. Since he has reached the stage in
which he can identify himself with the Supreme-call it Atman or Satchidananda
or Isvara, as you like-where is the question of rising and falling?
When the ego is negated, how can there be any kind of danger?
Of one thing we can be certain. The real Siddha who does not want or
care for Siddhis, but who manifests Siddhis for unselfish reasons and
as a result of communion with the Lord or the Brahman, is an entirely
different person from the little man who has psychic powers to do things
which are extraordinary or who has control of spirits. The power over
spirits (good or bad) is entirely different from spiritual power. And
no real Siddha goes about calling himself a Bhagavan or parading his
powers. It cannot be said that the Siddha does not know that he performs
miracles but they are not miracles to him-they are just ordinary things
for him because he lives in the plane beyond the reach of the common
man. I have to conclude that Swami Sivananda is one such. But he does
not reveal himself as such to all and sundry.
(Sri Swami Shivapremananda)
Is Sivananda a miracle-maker? Yes and no! Time and again he has declared
that a true Yogi or Sannyasi should never openly display his spiritual
powers. For all his spiritual achievements go in vain if they are exhibited
in the market of inquisitive onlookers. But Truth can seldom remain
hidden for long. Numerous episodes of amazing faith and devotion pour
forth from all parts of the world, testifying the unique, hidden spiritual
spark of Swami Sivananda. And he becomes mute when curious visitors
and correspondents press and badger him to tell them the secret of what
is called his "Miracles". On rare occasions he would smile charmingly
and say politely: "It is all God's Grace!" Yes! disciples of Swami Sivananda
are intensely aware of his miracles though he has never openly displayed
them.
(Sri Swami Omkarananda)
"A most miraculous work ....
I have seen him do.
-Macbeth, IV, 3
The magical operations of the realised powers of the liberated consciousness
of Swami Sivananda have been creating miraculous phenomena in the 'everyday
life of psychically-susceptible', or probably 'believing' or 'desiring'
or 'deserving' disciples in every town and city of the world. Whether
it is a solitary building in a locality on fire that remained miraculously
unburnt in the land of Pakistan, during the 'partition' holocaust or
a fast-running car on a hill-track that was, though two of its wheels
going far over the precipice through its centre of gravity fight in
the abyss, mysteriously pushed back on to the road by a powerful invisible
hand, or a German or a Latvian devotee, who escaped death during the
air-raids of the world-war, while everyone around him faced it-it is
undeniably and unmistakably, as the written personal letters of the
parties referred to testify, the work of Swami Sivananda.
Who is this Sivananda, on the banks of the Ganga, in the heart of the
foothills of the Himalayas, whose 'voice' is heard by a few continental
European devotees in Germany and Denmark day after day? This Sage, in
whom the divine nature is so fully manifest and active, this Sivananda
who has been granting sights of his physical form, at the same time
to two persons-one in the isle of Ceylon and the other in Santiago,
South America-who is he? Shakespeare asks us to "consider him well"
(King Lear).
Who is this Sivananda, who, while not moving a furlong away from amidst
us is reported to have literally stood by the sick patients in a Durban
hospital? This Sivananda, whose packets of ashes sent by post all over
the world, as Prasad of Lord Visvanath in the temple of the Ashram,
have not only been curing the headaches of the housewives in the city
of Bombay, acting as laxative to chronic constipation patients in Singapore,
but proved to have breathed a new vigorous life into the dying bones
of men in South India-who is he? This Godhead redeemer, this Sivananda,
who makes his presence palpably felt by a devotee in Geneva and chats
with another in Kuala Lumpur-who is he? Shakespeare answers: "The Thing
Itself" (King Lear), and by this he means the higher liberated
consciousness in all its bareness. Yes: Sivananda has contacted the
Godhead within us: he has experienced the inmost principle in us, the
Thing-in-Itself, and is in possession of Its powers. The supreme poet
Shakespeare has caught in the magic web of his ethereal thought, the
very soul of the fact: Sivananda is the Thing Itself. The Consciousness
of this sage does not function, as ours does in us, through the sensuous
media of the physical body, through the limitation of the mental apparatus.
His is the Consciousness that is unimpeded in its action, pervading
everywhere, spreading its tentacles around the world into the hearts
and minds of everyone who looks to him. Though present everywhere and
by the side of everyone on earth, he is specially felt, or seen or known
by only those who have consciously or unconsciously tuned themselves
with him. The most refined soul of an eminent American Poet, tumbled
upon this experience:
The tidal wave of deeper souls
into our inmost being rolls.
And lifts us unawares,
Out of all meaner cares.
It has been an ecstatic experience with hundreds of Sivananda's devotees
though they have not come anywhere near the physical appearance of the
sage to feel and know him. As we learn from some of his epistles, laden
with admiration of the invisible and pervasive greatness of Swami Sivananda
that they have been standing either by his picture or by his photograph
or in airy nothing, saying of him in the words of Tennyson:
"Thou seemest human and divine,
the highest, holiest manhood, Thou."
No universally acknowledged world-teacher of a few centuries past,
we have reasons to maintain, was so powerful, so popular, so full of
divine boldness and energy, so bubbling with joy, so triumphant in his
ways, so infinitely confident, so spiritually magnetic, so clever in
exploiting normal, supernormal, scientific means of communications to
distribute physical well-being, mental peace and spiritual salvation,
to countless individuals inhabiting this globe of ours. There is something
within and around the circuit of the self-luminous spiritual form of
Sivananda. Of the Sage, Shakespeare said:
Within whose circuit is Elyssium,
and all that poets feign of bliss and joy:
-Henry VI 3rd Pt. 1, 2.
Swami Sivananda's life amidst us has been giving us innumerable intimations
of the nature of the Eternal Being; a little sympathetic attunement
with his presence would engender in us a concrete sense of the divine
power; he has been delivering to us the Messages of God, distributing
a little of his knowledge and peace. Swami Sivananda is the standing
truth of the many possibilities of the powers of Consciousness.
Did the postman deliver you a registered packet containing a book-yes,
just the book that you would have desired to possess this morning? Then
look up for the autograph in the book. It is from Swami Sivananda. A
spiritual mind reads your thoughts, for Swami Sivananda; and a spiritual
force operating on mental thoughts and physical things materialises
your thoughts. Did that barren woman in Madras conceive? She would tell
you that it was a little magic wrought by the repetition of a sacred
formula, Mantra, which she received from Swami Sivananda, and that the
sage himself had conducted prayers to that effect. A Persian devotee
of Swami Sivananda, an in-patient for some time in a hospital in the
Russian zone of Germany, was declared by the head physicians of that
hospital, to be a hopeless and incurable case. However, the doctors
operated upon the patient, with a strong conviction that the patient
would not survive. The patient who is now hale and hearty, discharged
by the hospital during the month of May, 1954, writes that while he
was being led to the operation theatre and in the operation theatre
itself, he did nothing but with all the faith his heart is capable of,
thought of Swami Sivananda and repeated his name; and Lo! a miracle
was performed. The patient began walking on the third day, while others
who have been operated upon for the milder forms of the same disease,
are lying in the hospital for months and showing no signs of survival.
The second para of the writer's letter speaks of the utter amazement
of the doctors. Reading this letter, Shakespeare says of Swami Sivananda:
"The mere despair of surgery he cures" (Macbeth, IV, 3).
But this is only one among the countless cases of miraculous healing
that Swami Sivananda has worked. The Sage has been doing deeds that
are: more divine "Than breath or pen can give expression to" (Troilus
and Cressida, 3, 3). He is "Of greatest works finisher" (All's
Well That Ends Well 2, 1).
And the story of the life of this light of the world is spiritually
exciting and enlightening. Conceiving a curiosity, cynics come to criticise
him, but go converted. The miraculous power of the story of the Sage
is known to Shakespeare. His "tale, sir, would cure deafness" (Tempest,
1, 2).
Shakespeare has seen Sivananda minister "to a mind diseased"; pluck
"from the memory a rooted sorrow"; raze "out the written troubles of
the brain" (Macbeth, 5, 3).
The concomitant powers of Swami Sivananda's God-communion, have brought
into existence innumerable instances of miraculous happenings. But,
whether it is the divine powers of Providence or the forces of the liberated
Consciousness, that are working through him, these miracles, or that
it is he that has been consciously exercising the highest spiritual
forces in bringing them into being, or whether he knows as to what is
being done through him, must, for our uninitiated intellects, remain
a riddle of the Spiritual Sphinx; for the sage has not so far given
a public acknowledgement of his authorship of the many miracles that
are being rationally referred to as being performed by him. However,
The Divine Life Society has been preserving the recorded oral narrations
and the epistles embodying documentary evidences of the extraordinary
happenings and supernormal 'occurrences' wrought by Swami Sivananda.
As we estimate the records of the miracles that Swami Sivananda has
worked in the lives of countless souls around the world run into five
fat volumes. They are remaining unpublished for want of a competent
editor who could wield this enormous material, give it a logical correctness
and present them for the reading public. Or, would it not be better
for us to cease to entertain the idea of pouring this 'wealth of evidence'
into print and sing with Longfellow:
His signal deed and prowess high
Demand no pompous eulogy
Ye saw his deeds!
Why should their praise in verse be sung?
The name that dwells in every tongue
Nil minstrel needs;
-Coplas De Manrique.
and again
Upon the pages of the scaled volume that I bear
The deed divine is written in characters of gold,
That shall never grow old,
But through all ages burn and shine
With soft effulgence!
O God, it is Thy indulgence
That fills the world with the bliss
Of a good deed like this!
-Epilogue to The Golden Legend
Or shall we not be moved by an aspiration to provoke and enlighten
the mind of the sceptical sections of contemporary humanity shut as
it is in the brilliant shell of the limited experience, enquiry and
enlightenment, proclaim the miraculous deeds of the modern Messiah,
the Swamiji, whose marvellous modes of transmitting messages to devotees
all over the world, have completely overshadowed the modern wonder of
wireless that depends for sending its signals on the existence of electrical
waves and cannot afford to dispense with the transmitting and receiving
points? Yes, Robert Browning's experience is shared by everyone of us:
do I not
Pant when I read of thy consummate deeds,
And burn to see thy calm pure truths outflash
The brightest egoism of earth's philosophy?
-Pauline.
We have our full share of Shakespeare's wonder at the divine deeds
of Swami Sivananda; so, the resolve of the supreme poet rendered into
the following two lines, would be ours individually:
I would applaud thee to the very echo
That should applaud again.
-Macbeth, 5, 3.
(Prof N.K. Srivastava)
The scientific method of observation is limited to the objects of the
senses and intellect. It is yet too imperfect to be applicable to transcendental
facts. Still the miracles of a saint must be reported objectively. Hence
in themselves the miracles have a pragmatic value.
Honesty and fairness to the scientific world demands that the miracles
should be reported in the lifetime of the saint so that if there is
any doubting Thomas among the authorities on the scientific research,
he may have the opportunity of contacting the saint and verifying for
himself the saint's power of performing miracles.
What is a miracle? It is not an illusion of magic. It is the saint's
mysterious ability to approach God and persuade Him to include in the
programme of nature something which the saint or His devotees and lovers
consider unselfishly desirable for the good of humanity. This includes
individual or collective or even cosmic problems.
When I first met Swami Sivanandaji in 1943 the problem of marriage
was agitating my mind. He guessed it. He kept mum over it for two years.
A year before my marriage, he sent me his Ashirvad that I was going
to be married. It was a surprise to me for I had nearly given up the
idea of marriage and there was no proposal of marriage.
At that time my youngest sister, Miss. Mira Srivastava (now Mrs. Sinha)
had a peculiar type of facial eczema. The more it was treated the worse
it became. The doctors were outwitted. We brought her to Swamiji. First
he tried to put us off by suggesting the names of some big doctors in
Delhi. But my mother and all my sisters who became great devotees of
Swamiji afterwards fell at his feet as their last refuge. He chanted
Ram Nam and gave an ointment to apply. In a few days she was radically
cured. For her beauty of face and happy marriage she owes to Swamiji
a debt of gratitude which neither she nor her husband nor her brothers
and sisters can ever pay.
My father fell seriously ill in 1941, while we were all staying at
Gopal Kutir, Rishikesh. He despaired of his own life. I rushed to Swamiji
for medicine. Without even hearing my account of my father's ailment,
Sri Swamiji gave four powders. He told me to enjoy the Lord's Prasad
without worrying about the illness of my father. The powders would cure
him. The third powder brought him round.
My sister, a blessed disciple of Swamiji, went to Patna and started
preaching the gospel of Swamiji. A woman came to her and begged that
a son might be born to her. In her ecstatic mood Shyama gave her a Mantra
and blessed her in Swamiji's name. Shyama, immediately afterwards, wrote
to Swamiji to support her in her presumptuous act. Swamiji wrote her
back saying that her blessings had already been substantiated. In due
course, the woman had a beautiful son.
In 1944, I paid a casual visit to Rishikesh. I went to Swamiji to pay
my respects. Of his own accord he told me that I was going to fall seriously
ill in a few months' time. I was taken aback at his words. But instantly
he assured me that I would be well. The prophecy was fulfilled. He also
predicted that I was not to stay long at Surajpura. This prophecy also
was fulfilled.
Sir Rajira Ranjan Prasad Sinha, the President of the Legislative Council
of Bihar, fell seriously ill. I had talked many times to him of the
glories of Swamiji. In a moment of despair he sent for me. He asked
me to make a personal request to Swamiji to save him. I did so and his
life was saved for a few years, for which he was ever afterwards thankful
to Sri Swamiji.
The Raja of Atgarh had fallen from the eyes of the British on account
of his burning patriotism. He sought a very noble refuge in Swamiji.
Both he and his Rani led an admirable saintly life when I met them at
Banaras. To my surprise Swamiji's blessings saved him from the persecution
of British imperialism!
When I met Swamiji for the first time in 1940, I did not believe in
the reality of meditation. I thought it was all either a dream or wishful
thinking, illusion or hallucination. But he asked me to meditate for
some hours that day. It was the first day of the first Sadhana Week.
The very first day I saw Swamiji laughing in my meditation. I then tallied
this experience with similar experience of my sisters in their meditation,
the very same day and hour. The time of meditation was 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
In September 1948, I stayed with Swamiji and plunged into Sadhana under
his direction. I was practising Sirshasana-meditation without Swamiji's
knowledge. When my practice went up to 45 minutes, one day I saw Swamiji
in my meditation in a gown which he had never put on before. After my
Sirshasana-meditation, I was proceeding to the Bhajan Hall. On my way
I met Swamiji coming up the stairs of his Kutir. I was dumbfounded to
see him dressed in the same gown which I had seen in my meditation.
He smiled and remarked that I was doing Sirshasana very well.
On September 13, 1952, the clothes of my wife caught fire. Her burns
were of the third degree. On the 14th, I received a letter from Swamiji
asking me her condition! I had not written to Swamiji since I left him
in 1951! Nor had he! The doctors despaired of her life because the wounds
had become terribly septic. But she got a letter of invitation from
Swamiji to join the Sadhana Week in December 1952. We were fully reassured
that she would not die. She is alive and kicking.
Once I approached Siva and prostrated as usual. With his usual smile
Swamiji asked me to go behind the temple with my family and meditate
there. Puzzled was I, and I thought, "Let us have a trial, in any case
Swamiji is a saint, I will obey his commands". Thinking like this I
went with my family and lodged ourselves in different nooks and sat
there doing our Japa. Oh what a wonder! Everyone of us beheld the luminous
form of Siva in front of us with his radiant smile on his lips. All
the members of the family were wonder-struck. After a pause we went
silently to the Master and bowed to him. He said, "You had a nice meditation?
It is a good experience". Now the little bit of doubt I was having on
Swamiji's greatness had gone completely and automatically I surrendered
to him.
At least Vedantins hardly believe in anything but the highest impersonal
universal experience of Samadhi. Yet Sri Swami Krishnanandaji, a Vedantin
of vast learning and practical wisdom was once sick-rather his body
was! Biliousness and fever had a firm grip on his poor constitution;
and they showed no sign of relaxing their hold for days on end. No medicine,
fasting or other therapeutics could be of any avail. Very near despair
he resigned himself and thought the best thing was to take rest. Hardly
a few minutes had elapsed the dull head suddenly cleared up. A gush
of energy filled him. He rubbed his eyes and sat up. "What am I dreaming?
Oh! am I drunk?" He looked around Siva-Siva-Siva-all around Siva. Siva
on the walls, Siva on the chair, Siva himself as the water-pot. Siva
the door, Siva the door-mat, Siva the stick, Siva the bed, Siva the
cloth. Siva alone exists. Biliousness vanished. Fever disappeared. Krishnanandaji
was a few minutes later taking his bath.
(Sri A.K. Sinha)
It is meet that life-history of our revered Gurudev, His Holiness Sri
Swami Sivananda, should have been published by a large number of his
devotees. I make no attempt at describing him just as I would not try
to describe the sun. That my family and I look to His Holiness for divine
help when in difficulties either spiritual or material, would show what
he is to us.
What he is to us, he is to innumerable fellow-men of ours. His letters
invariably soothe his devoted correspondents however miserable they
might be. Those of us who have had the good fortune of experiencing
his personal magnetism would forget their worries and feel uplifted.
How I wish the statesmen of the modern world met His Holiness. They
would then realise how terribly misguided they are and how swiftly their
materialistic plane could lead them and their countries to destruction.
I have still hopes that the mad race of armaments will end by teaching
the runners the lessons that they need-the lessons that are contained
in masterpieces in spiritual literature that flow from His Holiness's
pen to prove that love and not hatred can bring peace to mankind. There
are two incidents that have recently occurred which I am tempted to
mention for the benefit of my fellow devotees. My youngest son while
appearing on the last day of his university examinations found to his
great disappointment that he could not answer a single question and
became so desperate that he stood up with the object of handing over
a blank answer paper. He suddenly saw His Holiness putting his hand
on his (boy's) head and sternly asking him to sit down, since the youngster
knew all the answers. He obeyed and did answer all questions. His success
has been gazetted.
My wife got a severe attack of paralysis while serving me during my
illness. Famous doctors who said that it was impossible for them to
forecast before 72 hours have passed what turn the disease would take,
were amazed to see her getting life in the paralysed parts long before
the period of 72 hours ended. My wife felt that His Holiness was making
passes over the paralysed parts and what the passes had done the doctors
later came to know.
Let us pray that our beloved Sivanandaji lives in his present body
for many years to help the world out of the cruel materialism which
disgraces mankind. What our foreign brethren have been able to achieve
through His Holiness's grace thrills me and I have no doubt that each
of them is popularising Swamiji's gospel of love in his or her own country.
Glory to Swami Sivananda!
(Sri Swami Venkatesananda)
Devotees of Siva, all over the world, have recounted the astounding
experiences they have had of the divine powers of Bhagavan Sivananda;
how he appeared in their dreams and gave them wholesome advice, how
they saw him in a vision and got his blessings, how he saved them from
calamity and healed them of their illness.
To a great Yogi, space and time are no great impediments. If the X-ray
can see through flesh and the meteorological instruments can probe into
the weather of tomorrow, what cannot the spiritually enlightened mind
of a Yogi do? Clairvoyance, thought-transference, distant-healing, etc.,
are so commonplace with Siva that he might not even be aware of them.
The conduct of The Divine Life Society's affairs is a great miracle.
Without a budget, without a reserve fund, without a bank-balance and
without a regular source of income to run a big institution on such
a lavish scale is a miracle.
To recruit everyone with the least inclination and lesser qualification
into his fold and to transform everyone into a saintly personality without
the rigours of austerity or regimented life of Sadhana-that is a miracle
of the highest order.
To sit in his simple Kutir on the banks of the Ganga in a corner of
the Himalayas and to spread the light of divine knowledge to the four
corners of the world, to let his life-transforming message resound in
every nation of the world, this is the greatest miracle of this all-pervading
Divinity who appears before us as Swami Sivananda.
Here are some few incidents where Siva's Prasad has worked wonders:
"I started for Hyderabad (Sind) to bring my moveables from there with
your blessing and your Prasad as my protection. By the miraculous effect
of your Prasad and blessings several other passengers in the train coming
to Bombay were saved and all of us returned to our home safely with
our lives and moveables unharmed. Whenever I was in need of help or
in any trouble I concentrated, meditating upon you and also used the
Prasad sent to me by Your Holiness. My words cannot describe your invincible
divine power in the matter of how I have been saved and how I have been
brought out from entanglement. I pray that Your Holiness's miraculous
blessings may be showered on me and I request Your Holiness to shower
your blessings on my mother and wife as they are sometimes ailing from
sickness.
-Sri Dwarakadas, Madras.
When I was a student I was suffering from a pain in the stomach. Your
Holiness was pleased to send me Prasad and give me Upadesh of 'Om Namah
Sivaya' Mantra for Japa. I have been doing Japa regularly for the last
three or four years. I have gained good improvement in my health. I
have no pain now.
-Sri Gopal Rao Bapat.
The Divine programme was such that the Prasad reached me the very day
when the previously sent Prasad was finished and nothing was left for
the next morning. That is my medicine.
-Sri Vidyananda (Raja of Atgarh).
It is strange, indeed! Complaints of mine are cured. As soon as I receive
thy letter and apply the Bhasma I am cured of my disease. All the members
of the family are amazed at thy power.
-Sri Triolkooswar Barua, Jorhat.
(Sri Ram)
We all know what a miracle is. Any extremely remarkable happening or
extraordinary occurrence is a miracle. The great French philosopher,
Voltaire, once said that "anything admirable is a miracle". If the sun
shines at midnight, if the moon sheds her lustre simultaneously with
the sun at midday, if a dead man walks with his head in his arms, if
a piece of dry straw or paper flung into a blazing fire remains unconsumed,
if a lamp burns without oil, it is undoubtedly a miracle; and God willing
all these things are not outside the range of possibility.
Some foolish philosophers hold that there is no such thing as a miracle
since it implies the violation of certain immutable, eternal mathematical
and divine laws by God Himself, the Author of those laws. It is true
that God is the Author of these laws and the Architect of all creation,
but will they not concede God the power and the freedom to modify a
law here or alter a law there for reasons best known to Him and Him
alone and incomprehensible to their puny, pigmy intellects?
Oh! When will man learn to respect God without questioning His Omniscience,
Omnipotence, Wisdom and Independence? Oh, when will he learn to bow
down before Him in humble submission born of complete faith in Him and
His countless attributes! Does man want God to be tied down to reason
and reason alone? Cannot God do anything without assigning any reason?
Cannot God be above reason or transcend reason? Is it not the height
of sheer foolishness to probe into the whys and hows of God's actions?
O ignorance! Thy powers are inscrutable and impenetrable indeed!
This world has in all ages and climes seen miracles by the hundreds.
Savitri rescued her husband Satyavan from the clutches of Yama, the
God of Death. Markandeya, destined to die at the age of sixteen, successfully
defied Death and is supposed to live even now as young as when he conquered
Death. Jesus fed five thousand people with just five loaves of bread;
the daughters of the high-priest Anius changed whatever they liked to
corn, wine or oil. Karna was the son of Kunti and Sun-God in the same
manner as Romulus and Remus were the offspring of a god and a vesta;
the Palladium descended from heaven on the city of Troy. The hair of
Berenice was transfigured into a constellation. Is there a nation in
which the most extraordinary and amazing miracles have not been performed
which the people of those nations do not cherish with faith and reverence?
When there is faith, there is miracle; where there is reason, miracle
is wisely silent. It certainly stands to reason that miracles can be
performed by the saints even today, if they were possible with the saints
of yesterday; if they are possible with Christianity they are equally
possible with Hinduism or any other religion.
The possibility of working miracles depends upon an intimate knowledge
of nature which fortunately or unfortunately is not yet the common property
of all. The impossibility of performing miracles can arise when such
miracles do not coincide with the laws of nature so far known to the
present-day generation. But all thinking and intelligent people will
decline to assign a finality to the inexhaustible and endless wealth
and resources of Nature.
Of course, it should be admitted that the possibility or otherwise
of believing in miracles depends upon several factors such as the temper
of the individual, environments, association and development. If he
is a believer in an all-knowing and all-powerful God, and if he is endowed
with the eye of faith, he sees one thing; but if on the contrary he
is a member of the godless and diabolical society, the material eye
is still blinded and disabled to see anything at all.
We often forget the wealth of knowledge and discoveries that stood
to the credit of our forbears in ages long gone by. We discredit past
facts on the ground that they are very often so very different from
the present known facts. As kingdoms have appeared and disappeared,
as nations have grown and decayed, as tides have ebbed and flowed, as
seasons have appeared and vanished, as day and night have alternated,
as men were born and have died, as gases expanded and contracted even
so the sciences have flourished and degenerated.
Has not scientific genius a hundred and one miracles to its credit
today? Will it not be arrant foolishness to deny it the capacity to
do so thousands of years ago? What strikes us today and what does not
strike us today, has struck people before and the famous Vedic precept
"What you have today is but an imitation of what you had millions of
years ago" sounds perfectly logical. It is the conceit of man that makes
him revel in the idea that he is the specially gifted person by the
God to alter the destinies of the world or revolutionise it and that
the ancients could not have known that he now sees through the fire
of his genius and that the ancients could not have known that he cannot
now see through the fire of his genius.
Why do not miracles happen now before our eyes just as they did in
days of yore? There is no reason why they should. Are miracles to occur
for everyone for the mere asking or wishing whenever and wherever desired?
Were such a happening the sole ground for carrying conviction then miracles
should go on endlessly and everywhere and there would be nothing in
the world save miracles! But then they would no more be miracles!
How can one's complaint that he has not been personally a witness to
miracles be evidence that others have not witnessed them and that if
miracles have failed to come to the notice of a few men they have no
existence whatever in the present times?
If miracles must take place for every man, then Krishnas, Christs and
Buddhas must be born every day, nay every minute "ad nauseam"!
We must therefore in addition to the evidence of our own senses add
the evidence of seers, sages and saints, expand beyond our tiny intellectual
cell and wait in patience.
As to the question why miracles are confined to certain ages and not
continued through all time our simple answer is that we cannot lay down
conditions on God's operations. He knows, in His supreme wisdom when
it shall be a day and when it shall be a night. Unbroken continuity
of miracles or God's direct manifestations would lose all meaning and
fail in the purpose for which they are intended. Manifestation at particular
times is the general Law of Periodicity which prevails all over the
world in God's government of His Universe. As evolutions and involutions
alternate, periods of special manifestations and non-manifestations
of God also alternate. And this is the moral effect of training ourselves
in faith, charity, love and expectancy and appetising ourselves for
the sublime beauty and bliss in store for the truly yearning souls.
Unless and until the individual soul is prepared beforehand by a course
of spiritual culture (Sadhana) beginning with inclination or proneness
and terminating with a burning craving for the Divine, it cannot appreciate
the Divine. The fruit must, therefore, be withheld for a long time before
its lusciousness and sweetness is longingly experienced or felt.
Even when Incarnations like Christ, Krishna, Buddha or Rama traversed
this earth, people disbelieved their divinity. Lord Krishna advised
the Gopis who believed in Him unswervingly "Go home, ye Gopis for ye
will keep your minds better fixed on Me when so distanced than when
near Me" (Bhagavata: X-23-24).
God remains hidden from our sight that we may constantly remember Him
the better for a thing loved is more doted on in its absence than when
present before our eyes. Like the poor man whose mind continuously dwells
upon his lost gold, God becomes lost to us in order that our minds may
dwell upon Him at all times not that He is unwilling or apathetic to
answer our prayers or longings. Break in the continuity of God's miracles
is only apparent but to the spiritually illuminated or perfected soul
a Wonder of wonders, a Miracle of miracles always sustains!
Various miracles are attributed to Jesus Christ. When he was preaching
and teaching in a synagogue the Pharisees brought a man with a withered
hand. Jesus pronounced his word of healing upon him and immediately
he became whole. On other occasion a palsied man was brought to Jesus'
presence. Jesus saw through his divine eye the cause of the malady and
the profound faith the sufferer had in him. Therefore, Jesus took pity
on him and assured him of God's forgiveness. Similarly, to the sinful
woman who washed his feet with her tears in deep penitence and to the
dying thief who turned to him on the cross, Jesus prayed for God's forgiveness.
Repentance, contrition and change of heart are the conditions laid
down by Jesus in his teachings for securing God's forgiveness of human
sins.
The miracles attributed to Jesus are essentially records of healing
and the majority of them were healings of deranged or disordered minds.
Many diseases like epilepsy or insanity that would now be termed physical
or mental were in the days of Jesus attributed to devil possession.
There is a remarkable instance recorded in the Bible wherein Jesus wanted
the devils on coming out of a man's body to enter into a herd of swine.
The devils actually entered into the swine as Jesus willed, rushed down
a precipice and were drowned in the sea.
Power over devils and the testimony of demoniacs whom he healed were
the chief evidence that induced belief in his divinity in the minds
of the apostles. Undoubtedly Jesus did possess tremendous powers to
calm disordered minds. The working of those powers was psychological.
The miracles of healing leprosy, paralysis and blindness also belong
to the category of mental or spiritual healings which are now well-known
to medical science.
But one thing stands out patent to all intelligent and thinking people
about the miracles of Jesus. His miracles failed to compel belief in
his authority in the critically minded Pharisees who often challenged
him to show them a sign from heaven that they might believe in him.
But Jesus sternly refused to give them any sign. "An evil and adulterous
generation seeketh after a sign and there shall no sign be given to
it", he declared. He was unwilling to compel belief that way.
His miracles of healing were all acts of mercy compelled out of him
by human suffering. He strictly advised all concerned not to advertise
his miraculous powers. The miracles were his responses to acts of faith
on the part of the ailing and the diseased whom he healed. It is very
noteworthy that he failed to perform such miracles when such faith was
lacking.
Where there is faith, healings like those of Jesus still take place.
When Jesus was once preaching in his home-town of Nazareth he met with
the proverbial disdain of "the prophet in his own home." The people
taunted him with his low birth and challenged him to perform any of
his miracles. The Messiah failed to do even his works of healings because
of the unbelief.
"Mystery" is an open secret to those who have willing hearts to receive
the truth but concealed to the unreceptive and the ununderstanding.
Capacity to perform miracles or otherwise is not the sole criterion
by which the spiritual splendour and magnificence of a saint is to be
assessed. God manifests Himself through certain chosen saints by working
certain miracles through them for the supreme good of the world while
certain other saints may be left out for such purposes for reasons best
known to God Himself and absolutely beyond the ken of man.
There are several thrilling miracles attributed to my spiritual Lord
and Master Maharshi Sivananda who is himself not aware of any of his
spiritual powers (Siddhis).
Establishment in right conduct, practice of all branches of Yoga, practice
of truth assiduously for a number of years, intense feeling of universal
love, practice of the presence of God, conquest of body and mind, practice
of good thoughts, good words and good deeds, complete self-effacement
and surrender to the Will of the divine are some of the important exercises
which make the Maharshi a fit and adequate instrument for the working
of miracles by God, who is the sole Author of every miracle, big or
small.
Maharshi Sivananda is no miracle-monger who claims any extraordinary
spiritual powers or believes he is performing any miracle. There are
saints who are aware of their psychic powers and saints who are unaware
of them. The Maharshi belongs to the later category.
A big business-magnate from Calcutta, Sri Kashiram Babu recently wrote
to an inmate of the Sivanandashram: "Miracle-maker is he who is the
presiding deity of Ananda Kutir. You, I and various others involved
in the miracle are all the dolls in his hands. He is the wirepuller
and to his tunes the dolls dance. The moment he ceases the wirepulling
there ends the power of the dolls to dance. That is the truth and that
truth he is teaching us every day and through the medium of you, his
disciples, we people of the world get to it regularly. Glory to the
Miracle-Man and his choicest instruments who adorn his Kutir".
There are many miracles attributed to the Maharshi that shall ever
remain unknown to us. Here are extracts from original letters from the
devotees and admirers of the Sage testifying to the authenticity and
perfect reliability of some of the miracles worked by the Maharshi in
which they themselves were participants:
"Fortunately now I am not suffering from the malady I informed your
Holiness in my letter dated 11-8-49. It was a miracle that soon after
posting the letter that complaint vanished. It is the greatness of Guruji
and God".
-Sri K.A. Tawker, Madras.
"At Dronachalam in Feb. 1948 I had typhoid and you treated me and cured
me by post. In Sept. 1948 early in the morning I had a dream in which
I was praying to you with Naivedya (offerings). A black dog came and
caught hold of it. I was about to beat it. You appeared smiling and
said you were with me. I feel you are with me".
-Sri P., Dronachalam.
"I feel and am having your Holiness's grace always with me at all times.
This has been proved on 2nd Feb. 1949 when your Holiness's grace had
spared my life from the bite of a cobra".
-Sri M. Sundaram, Bangalore.
"I am glad to inform you that my son K. Srinivasan, your humble devotee
who is in correspondence with your Holiness and who is having your Holiness's
blessings now and then along with your Divine Life Society pamphlets,
was through your grace and blessing saved from a serious motor-accident,
met with on his way home from college yesterday".
-Sri C.S. Krishnamurti, Hyderabad.
"Your Holiness's blessings have every time turned the anxious and trying
problems into a hopeful and pleasant phenomenon. Miracles indeed!"
-Sri Hansraj Chadda, Dehra Dun.
"I should certainly say that whenever I get any trouble I at once write
to Swamiji Maharaj and by the blessings and divinity of Swamiji I become
free from troubles".
-Sri Shanti Mahajan, Broach.
"On the 14th of this month I had to deliver an address to the members
of the Indian Institute of Culture, Bangalore, on Kalidam's 'Parvati'.
I am always diffident about my speaking capacity. That day in the morning
I prayed to Thee and said that the lecture should be a great success;
then I applied the Vibhutis (Holy Ashes) of Lord Visvanatha sent by
Thee sometime back. It was a wonder to me during the lecture words flowed
like the waters of the Ganga for an hour and fifteen minutes. All were
supremely pleased and inspired".
-Prof. Ramakrishna Bhatt, Bangalore.
"I was able to give relief to some one suffering with scorpion-bite
by praying to you and the Lord. You are a Doctor and you saved me several
times. I saw you by my bedside in Feb. 1948 when I was laid up with
typhoid. I can forget anything but your love for the aspirants".
-Sri G. Srinivasa Rao, Banganapalli.
"A month ago one morning while waking up, I saw your face just as if
you had been really in front of me".
-Sri Mahasita, Paris.
"Yesterday during the Sankirtan and before expressing a few words about
Divine Life I just thought of you and lo, I saw you seated in my heart
and sometimes in front of me".
-Sri Damodaran, Mysore.
"I beg to state that by thy blessings my wife has almost completely
recovered and that both my wife and myself have been doing Japa and
Bhajan of our Mantra and been acting according to your kind directions.
I look upon the recovery of my wife from a long-standing disease as
nothing short of a miracle wrought by the divine Grace of your Holiness".
-Sri Pandurangappa, Mysore.
"Everybody in the South Indian colony of South Calcutta Branch says
that your Holiness has come to Calcutta and is staying in Ezra Street
and that some one had the good fortune of giving you Bhiksha too, while
you are actually at Ananda Kutir (Rishikesh)".
-Sri Narayana Swami, Calcutta.
"In 1947 a Malayali gentleman named Govinda Menon suffering from leucoderma
arrived at Ananda Kutir in the full hope and faith that he could rid
himself of the fell malady by the grace of the Maharshi. The Maharshi
was impressed by his faith and devotion. He asked the young visitor
to remain with him for some time. Govinda Menon did regular Japa, Kirtan,
etc., took several baths daily in the Ganga, prostrated at the feet
of the Maharshi and lived on a restricted diet. Strange to tell in about
two months' time he became completely cured. He left the Ashram full
of joy and praise for the Maharshi.
"When I was breathing the hallowed atmosphere of Ananda Kutir you addressed
me as Professor and I very humbly told you that I was only an assistant
lecturer. Now through your grace your very words have come true! I have
been promoted to the gazetted rank in Madras Educational Service. I
consider this to be the first mundane fruit of my visit to the sacred
Ashram, a stepping stone to better things on the earthly plane, more
lasting things on the spiritual plane".
-Prof T.K. Srinivasan, Madras State.
These are by no means a catalogue of miracles standing to the credit
of the Maharshi but just extracts from genuine letters that give a glimpse
into the psychology and mental make-up of the individuals who are well-fitted
to derive the benefits of the blessings of the saints and sages that
have miraculous results to transform pain into joy, failure into thundering
successes, disappointments into achievements, sickness into blooming
health, calamity into deep peace and darkness into light, health into
dynamic life, and adversity into roaring prosperity. Those who give
testimony to the Maharshi's divine powers are not just simpletons, but
men and women imbued with tremendous faith in the Maharshi and God,
men and women of learning and intelligence and people from not only
India but all parts of the world.
(Prof. O.P. Sharma, Delhi)
As Lord Krishna has said in the sacred Gita, the Lord Himself is presenting
Himself as so many Avataras even in this Kali-Yuga and we can definitely
say that Sage Sivananda of Ananda Kutir really represents such an Avatara
in this materialistic age.
He is just now sitting amidst us an embodiment of the Lord Himself.
No argument is necessary and no logic to argue about his unquestionable
greatness. We must only have a direct approach to reality which is existing
before us all. Like a child we see him smiling and cutting jokes. Sometimes
he dances in ecstasy forgetting his entire personality. His generosity
and enthusiasm in the distribution of divine knowledge with his eloquent
smile is like that of a child. He never cares or worries himself with
any kind of worldly Maya. He ever watches with a smiling mood every
one of our selfish activities but he never utters a word about anything.
Every day he is acting as doctor for our very souls. Every observation
by his eyes is a kind of injection to our souls. His Darshan itself
will certainly relieve us from the bondage of birth and death. Let us,
therefore, approach him with real fortitude and have eternal Bliss,
Moksha. It is foolish for man to attempt to try to fly to other worlds.
Why should we at all attempt to fly to Chandraloka! Every attempt of
such a kind will lead us only to frustration and nothing more. There
is a Helicopter, namely Lord Sivananda resting in your heart, you can
depend upon him, sit in it and fly to the land of immortality. Faith
only is needed and faith is the very first step of realisation. Faith
takes firm ground through a sudden chance and gets into that chance
by taking a trip to Ananda Kutir and having Darshan of Gurudev. He is
verily the Lord incarnate. The embodiment of God in the form of Lord
Sivananda is waiting to receive you with wide open arms.
I can dare say it is only a chance followed by some miracles which
made my conviction, my faith strong and deep-rooted. That is why I never
look at this body sitting before me as an aggregate of five elements
but as God Himself manifesting His own Roopa through this glorious form-the
form of my revered Guru Sri Swami Sivananda. Here I am narrating a few
miracles which changed my entire angle of vision. Certainly I should
have been an atheist but for this accident which entirely changed my
view of life. I can say they changed my entire life. Everything about
my life was a blessing of the Lord Siva. This is my staunch belief.
During the year 1942 when the Quit India movement was in its rage my
parents visited the Swarga Ashram. They were on their way back to Rishikesh.
The Tongawala suggested to them that they can have Darshan of Swamiji
also. So they got down at 2 p.m. at Ananda Kutir. They were informed
that they can have darshan of Swamiji at 5 p.m. as it was the usual
time for him to come out of his Kutir. At the first sight of Swamiji
my father was simply hypnotised and my mother was simply fascinated.
There was a very grand spiritual aura over his entire face which had
a command of its own. There was a very grand cheer and smile in his
entire personality.
My mother was worried for the entire period of her later life. My eldest
brother Sri R.C. Kumar was at the fighting front in Egypt and for a
very long time we never heard anything about his whereabouts. We were
all forced to believe that he should have been dead in action in Egypt.
My mother's condition was most pitiable. The majestic personality in
the Lord Siva simply smiled and uttered a few graceful sentences. They
were this: "Never despair. Your son is all right. He will return soon".
This was all. To our great astonishment my brother reached Sialkot on
21st September 1942 all of a sudden and his first letter from Bombay
was received as soon as he stepped on the Indian soil. This was certainly
a grand miracle.
So many incidents happened in my brother's life during his war services
that every escape we were feeling was surely a blessing from the majestic
Siva of Ananda Kutir. He came back at the appointed time. He was brought
to Ananda Kutir by my mother. Surely, he was baptised by the living
Lord whom we can all see. He is now working as O/C of a big E.M.E. workshop
in India.
Another wonderful incident also happened. It was in August 1947. All
of us made up our minds to stay at Sialkot city during the days of disturbances.
We had a notion that even in spite of change of governments, people
might not change. During the midnight of August 8th my mother was startled
by a sudden dream and she suddenly rose up. She dreamt that Swami Sivanandaji
ordered: "Leave this place immediately and go to Haridwar". We simply
obeyed reluctantly. We only got into the Indian Border and to our great
amazement we heard also that the next train which followed ours was
smashed by the Muslims near Wazirabad. Inscrutable are the ways of divinity.
But the same God also comes to save us through such sudden dreams and
he really guides us every moment of our life. On reaching Haridwar we
immediately proceeded to Ananda Kutir and took solace in the Darshan
of Gurudev. Rather we took shelter under his ardent protection and settled
ourselves. My mother was a staunch devotee of Swamiji and I was also
given Guru-Mantra by him. Sometimes I pray for Jinnah Saheb for his
indirect blessings on me and family for his creation of Pakistan that
gave me a cause for contacting the revered Swamiji. Though we lost everything
that belonged to us in Pakistan, we were most blessed in settling at
Delhi. My confidence says all this is due to the blessings of my revered
Gurudev.
During the Kumbha Mela at Haridwar my parents accompanied by an old
lady friend went to take the holy bath in the Ganga. It was not an ordinary
day. The crowd was incalculable. Men and women in their enthusiasm were
crowded like anything and they were trampling everything. The old lady
who followed my parents missed the way and she was thrown down. She
was absolutely helpless and cried, "O Siva! come to my rescue". What
happened was this mysterious accident. She actually saw the Lord before
her human eyes and without the loss of even a second there was a long
rope by her side. Just nearby where the helpless lady was lying from
the second storey of a huge building two small boys that were playing
witnessed the fate of that lady and suddenly lowered the long rope from
above. The lady caught hold of it and was pulled up safely to the amazement
of one and all.
The fourth miracle was this. This was a personal experience of myself
and my parents. I was living in Sahji Mandir at Delhi. My centre for
the B.A. Examination was Daryaganj, i.e., five miles from home. On the
18th of November, the day of the examination, I caught severe pneumonia
and later on influenza, too. My suffering was immense and acute. I was
absolutely helpless. My condition was only worsening every moment. I
was surely in the jaws of death. I was able to observe four pitch coloured
dark bodies having deformed organs with long teeth and with wide jaws.
They carried thick and strong ropes in their hands. They simply frowned
at me. I attempted to cry in despair and I could not. The members of
the family began to mourn that I was dying and at the last moment my
mother took up chanting the Gita. I could not understand or hear anything.
This was only a later narration by my parents. Just at this moment of
despair the postman knocked at the door and delivered to us a book-post
from Ananda Kutir. That contained a few Tulasi leaves and two packets
of Prasad, Vibhuti and Kumkum. Some hope slowly came into my mother's
mind. She opened the packet and diluted the Vibhuti with water and slowly
administered two spoonfuls of the Lord's Prasad into my mouth. I opened
my eyes and there was a hope of recovery. By the Lord's grace and the
grace of Gurudev what a great wonder it was that I was saved and I appeared
in the B.A. Examination in April 1950 when I was twenty years of age
and I got through. This surely was not by my efforts but by the grace
of Lord Sivananda.
These are some of the great miracles that actually happened in my life.
They bear a very deep effect on my soul. I have my deep faith in my
Sivananda of Ananda Kutir. My suggestion to my friends and well-wishers
will only be to keep immense faith in Siva of Ananda Kutir. Read his
literature over and over again. It is immensely simple. Even a child
can read and follow his grand truths. You must find the reality even
now. His books are his precious gifts. He gives them with immense love
and sincerity. Read his books over and over again and pass them on to
your immediate friends and relations who can benefit by them. Do never
hoard them. I have my personal experience that by passing them on to
others many people have mended themselves and changed their mode of
life itself. My advice to all my friends is, "spread the gospel of Siva,
do not be selfish and narrow-minded. He is the Guru of the entire world.
Everyone has to share his teachings. All these we can do only if we
create more and more opportunities for others to come into his fold
and his service". I conclude with the wish that many more miracles of
such kind will ever happen; they will exist and give real solace to
our stricken hearts at all times.
(Col. A.N.S. Murthy)
Many have known the life of Swami Sivananda, of his birth, of his early
education, of his services as doctor in Malaya, his return to India
and of his subsequent Tapasya for Self-realisation at Rishikesh. Many
also know how after realising the Self, he has been propagating and
reviving the religion and philosophy of this ancient land through his
many books, letters, speeches and through his all-India tour but, few
know of the many miracles he has been working.
Yes, miracles such as the healing of the sick and feeding of the poor,
if one would have them that way. True, these are not the magic variety
such as one generally associates with the word miracle. His hospitals
and assistants to attend the sick, his 'Langar' and 'Sadhus' to cook
and feed about two hundred pilgrims a day, his large establishment for
printing and distributing his many books are, perhaps, like other similar
institutions.
In a previous article published in the Birthday Number of 'The Divine
Life' in 1951, while attempting an analytical study of this anchorite
of Ananda Kutir, I had expressed my wonder how the Swamiji could manage
to keep going his many enterprises enumerated in that article, everyone
of which require money, and yet more money. That wonder still persists.
However, it is not this side of his miracle-working I have now in mind.
Miracles such as making five thousand loaves out of five, or making
a fig-tree either have long ceased to surprise me. We in India have
often associated such acts with magic. The former is of a low category
attributed to magicians who can invoke evil spirits, while the latter
is attributed to spiritual aspirants who enamoured of a few powers that
come their way in their upward climb to Godhead stop at that particular
rung of the ladder, and remain content with the cheap popularity that
the display of their Yogic powers brings. Nevertheless India regards
these as but magicians although of the "white variety".
Him alone who, regardless of such way-side powers marches on to the
ultimate goal of God-realisation does India and Eternity adore as the
Sage of sages. All others are regarded as aspirants fallen on the way
and therefore not full-fledged. Swami Sivananda is of the former order
and belongs to a long line of Self-realised, selfless souls such as
Sri Sankaracharya, Swami Dayananda, Swami Vivekananda and others. These
souls having realised themselves have thought fit not to work miracles
of the cheap variety but the miracle of the highest order-miracle of
changing man himself. How Sri Sankaracharya, Swami Dayananda, Swami
Vivekananda, by the example of their lives, through their writings and
speeches had changed the life of many millions is recorded history.
Likewise, Swami Sivananda's life, his books, his letters and his speeches
have brought miracles in the life of many. Many who had wandered from
the right path, after hearing his clarion call, have chosen to follow
him.
He has been able to attract to his humble abode at Ananda Kutir men
of all classes. The rich and the poor, the princes and the peasants,
the sinners and the saints, from the South and the North, from our nearest
neighbour Ceylon and from far off Finland have all gone to him and have
come back inspired, changed, resolute to follow his teachings and lead
a moral, spiritual life, the life that shall lead to Self-realisation.
Men who have never been associated with religion have succumbed to
his call. Military officers of the rank of Generals and Brigadiers have
gone to him and come back as confirmed religionists. Many have resolved
to touch never more meat or alcohol in any form.
So have many in far-off lands taken enthusiastically to his teachings.
His extraordinary influence is not restricted to his personal contact.
His writings and letters have had the same influence as his personal
contact and those that have read them have not only taken to a better
life but have also helped others to do likewise. Thus have sprung in
many parts of the world his Yoga centres of classes, although he has
not left the shores of India, so far, on any preaching mission.
Let the witnesses themselves speak. Here they are: Mr. Harry Dickman
of New York: "The most merciful Sivanandaji has offered free his
deep knowledge. He has sent advices to many European Sadhakas. He has
given instructions to various students in Europe as how to remove the
diseases of the body, mind and soul. It is a Wonder of wonders how Siva
can accomplish this especially if one remembers that he has great many
followers in India, that he writes in many Indian monthly and weekly
papers. We here simply wonder how it is humanly possible to write so
many books, to train students in all directions, to conduct Kirtans
and public lectures and to serve the sick and the poor. Yes, the world
needs Siddha Jnanis and Siva is such a one".
Mr. Hussain Kazimedeh Iranshahr, Professor, Zurich University: "Swami
Sivananda is not only the soul of The Divine Life Society but also a
guiding light of the whole of humanity. This great world-reformer, dynamic,
social and scientific worker, religious and modern thinker, philosopher,
author, orator and poet is doing to the whole world an infinite service".
Mrs. Liliane Samash of California: "His good thoughts and goodwill
protect me and take away all evil thoughts of the mind and destroy all
Karmas and strengthen my will".
Mr. C.E. Diem of Australia: "Swamiji's teachings warm up the
hearts of countless lonely people and give them new hope. I have presented
his books and conveyed his teachings here, in Australia, to many friends
and have no doubt that finally this dissemination of spiritual knowledge
will bring the people closer and land them towards the final realisation
that we are really one and therefore should treat each other as we would
like to treat ourselves including even our dumb brethren, the animals".
These are but four representative letters from many thousands of similar
ones that Swamiji continues to receive from all over the world. In addition,
this writer happens to know quite a few who were bad characters till
they came to Swamiji and as a result of his contact have chosen the
path of the spiritual aspirant.
Is not changing man's life to godly ways the highest of miracles? Is
it not, therefore, that sages throughout the ages have sought to bring
man to the righteous path?
Was it the aim of Jesus to make men walk on the waters? Was it the
aim of Zoroaster to make his followers to walk through fire? Their one
great desire was to turn men towards God, to make them live as their
Creator intended. The great sages know that changes here and changes
there, change of governments or change of position, the giving of little
wealth here or a little happiness there was but a very superficial way
of treating the evils of the world and, therefore, they sought to change
the root of all evils-the heart of man. They know that unless man is
changed no amount of other changes can bring peace and goodwill on earth.
Swami Sivananda has been flooding the land with his 'Jnana' and beckoning
all to take to divine life. That many have answered and are answering
his call is what I consider a Miracle of miracles, particularly in these
days when the world is almost mad with ideas of war and hatred and various
kinds of materialistic crazes.
(Sri Satchidananda Prasad Sinha)
You may believe it or not, to me Gurudev is really a living God. He
is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. Only a year has passed since
I have come to his divine lotus-feet and I cannot check my temptations
of putting here in black and white a few of my experiences of this short
period.
I cannot forget the memorable day when the Lord's grace bloomed over
me for the first time. It was the 8th September, 1957. A friend of mine
instigated me to accompany him to the place where Gurudev's 71st birthday
was being celebrated. I had never seen Gurudev before, nor had heard
anything about The Divine Life Society, but felt that, as though through
an unknown spirit, I was compelled to participate in the programme.
I performed Pada-Puja to his image and participated in the illuminating
speeches given by his devotees. There I learnt that our Gurudev was
a living God.
I was very much inspired by the speeches delivered on that occasion.
I constantly meditated upon the whole event. My heart ached to have
a Darshan of the God. I had no sound sleep. I always thought about the
plan as to how I shall be able to go to Rishikesh and have Darshan of
Him. At last the favour of Gurudev descended upon me and I had an opportunity
to visit Rishikesh during the Pooja holidays. I was overwhelmed with
joy when I put my head over the lotus-feet of Bhagavan, I forgot all
about my existence and felt I was in heaven. I received his divine blessings
and came back to Patna felt staying in the Ashram for 24 hours only.
Once in a cold winter morning in February 1958 a friend of mine who
lives adjacent to my quarters came to me in a perturbed state of mind
and told me that his only grandson was having high temperature. The
child was only two and half months old. I at once went with him and
found that the temperature was 105 degrees. The condition of the boy
was precarious. I was visibly moved and sent for a doctor. I took out
my Mala, closed the eyes and began to chant the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra.
I meditated upon Sri Guru-Bhagavan who is the Doctor of doctors. I prayed
for his mercy and blessings.
To my utter surprise I saw Guru-Bhagavan wearing a long warm coat and
a walking stick in one hand. He took the child in his lap and intimated
me that the child would be all right in a short time and then left the
place. When I opened my eyes, I knew I had sat there for half an hour.
I took the temperature again; it was 103 degrees and the child was returning
to normal. In the evening the child was completely all right. This is
Gurukripa. He does not like to see his devotees in trouble. He is always
by his side, who totally surrenders to him.
On another occasion again I troubled my Bhagavan. Whenever I feel hopeless
I seek his favour and cling to his feet and receive his divine mercy
without loss of time. It was in the month of May, 1958. I had to go
to my father-in-law's house with my wife to attend a marriage ceremony.
I had to reach an interior village of Muzaffarpur district in North
Bihar. The road was motorable but on reaching Muzaffarpur town I came
to learn that due to heavy rains about ten miles of the road had been
badly damaged and motor buses could not pass. As I had to reach my destination
that very night I engaged a bullock cart; but people warned me not to
proceed as there was likelihood of dacoits attacking us en route.
I had firm faith in Guru-Bhagavan and I had no fear at all. I asked
the cartman to proceed further. It was a moonlit night and the sky was
very clear. I began to chant the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra with faith and
devotion. When we reached the danger zone I saw two white bulls coming
from either direction. I saw Guru-Bhagavan with Trisul in his hands
riding on the two bulls. Tears of devotion rolled down my cheeks and
my throat and voice choked. The bulls followed us for about three miles.
When we reached a safe place they vanished all of a sudden.
People may believe the above statements or not but I have felt them
myself. For me they are nothing but his kindness. I have received several
letters from him containing instructions and guidance and I feel his
presence always by my side. I always pray for his divine mercy and pray
that he may live long.
(Sri Chellaramani)
Since the days of yore, the general masses in all countries have associated
religion with miracles. Even today there are persons everywhere who
would seek the help of priests, Sannyasins and Yogis for the cure of
their various ills. This practice is common not only among the unsophisticated
but is prevalent in the educated classes also. Even those who are proud
of their rational bent of mind are occasionally forced to beseech aid
from the supernatural sources, as a last resort, when all other efforts
prove abortive. Some persons even go to the Himalayas in search of Yogis
and Mahatmas who could effect miracles and return disappointed when
they do not find any who is in a position to answer their expectations.
But many in this country have little knowledge of our Shivanandanagar,
a place of miracles, where the miracle-master Swami Sivananda lives.
If one has got the requisite faith in him and purity of heart and one
is able to effect absolute self-dedication to the grace of Swamiji,
he never fails to cure all the ills of life.
From my personal experiences I would quote some instances, when I have
felt the power of his miracles just by remembering him and beseeching
his help.
In 1948, we migrated from Sindh to the Indian Union. When I was travelling
by train with my family, a magistrate of Pakistan appeared suddenly
at Mirpurkhas station and ordered his men to take down my luggage for
search. It was nothing but only an implied harassment and giving trouble
with an evil intention, because we were allowed to entrain only after
a thorough search at Hyderabad (Sindh). Observing the magistrate's rude
manners, I closed my eyes and prayed earnestly to my Sadguru Sri Swami
Sivananda for help. Thereupon, unexpectedly a gentleman known to me
appeared at the platform and managed to relieve me of the trouble of
detention and I was allowed to travel by the same train.
Again, in the same year, while I was on my pilgrimage to the shrines
of Kedarnath and Badrinath (which necessitates a trek of about 200 miles
in the interior of the Himalayas) my right leg became acutely painful
and swollen after I had covered only half the distance on foot. Therefore,
I entered as an indoor patient in the civil hospital at Okhimath for
treatment. I remained there for a full week, but there was no improvement.
On the contrary, the doctor suggested an operation. I became very disappointed.
Then I remembered my Sadguru Swami Sivananda and dropped him a postcard,
seeking his blessings. It was to my surprise that the day he received
my letter (at Ananda Kutir) improvement started and I could walk towards
Badrinath very shortly, without having to undergo the operation. Thus
I completed my sacred Yatra by the miracle of my Master.
In 1950, I attended the great Kumbha Festival along with my wife and
daughter. On the Kumbha day when we were returning to our place of residence
after the sacred bath at Har-ki-Pedi we were caught up in the tragedy
of stampede due to uncontrollable surge of the moving pilgrims. Before
our eyes we saw about thirty persons crushed to death. We all desperately
remembered Sadguru Swami Sivananda at the moment of acute anxiety. Immediately
stout ropes descended on us from above and we were hauled up in no time
to the upper storey of a building by some merciful people as if by magic
and were thus able to save our lives by the grace of Swamiji.
I was promoted as an Assistant Engineer in 1951. But I was reverted
back in 1953 without any fault of my own, though my juniors were continuing
as Assistant Engineers. I appealed but it brought no satisfactory result.
My friends advised me to approach Delhi and somehow try for reinstatement
by hook or crook if necessary. But I did not like to employ unfair means
and instead of wasting my money I was impelled as though by an inner
urge, to donate Rs. 500/- towards the Moola Dhana Fund of the Visvanatha
Mandir at Shivanandanagar and have a special prayer offered to the Lord.
To my great wonder, I was soon reinstated as an Assistant Engineer and
am still continuing in that post with the blessings of Swamiji Maharaj.
May the miracle-master of ours live for a very long time in our midst,
so that he may alleviate our difficulties and guide us in the spiritual
path.
(Sri Anwarul Hasan, Azamgarh)
It is obvious that a modern Guru must be an adept in the line of deep
concentration and meditation so that he may be able to exert telepathic
influence from a distance. Apart from being a specialist in the art
of meditation he should possess the genius of adapting the literary
medium for a full and total expression of his spiritual experiences.
Both these qualities are found in Swami Sivananda to a remarkable degree.
Swamiji has revealed the nature of the Sadhana which he himself did
before he undertook the sacred mission of dissemination of spiritual
knowledge.
It is because of his extraordinary power of concentration that the
disciples of Swamiji get spiritual experiences like the one noted below.
"Whenever I do Pranayama, Swamiji's picture appears before me and I
feel as if I were drawing spiritual strength from him...Very often now
in my meditation I see Swamiji and a wave of joy and peace comes over
me. I feel irresistibly drawn to concentrate on him."
-Mrs. Gaby Gritsch, Berlin.
Swamiji is the only modern sage who combines in himself the two essentials
of a modern Guru. Some other famous Yogis had Bhakti or Atma-Vichara
as their personal Sadhana. Swamiji is the only Yogi who adopted deep
meditation as his inner Sadhana although he is a master of all Yogas,
and preaches the path of synthesis.
Following are a few of the instances of Swamiji's powers of spiritual
telepathy from a distance which have been testified by devotees from
various places. Sivananda has got the power to inspire his disciples
through dreams.
Sri M.R. Sibal of Hyderabad writes: "I am getting regular lessons
on Yoga and philosophy from your august self in my dreams.
"I am myself quite ignorant of Yoga but you have given me some power
by giving me your Darshan in my dreams."
Sri Marie Milkova, Vancouver: "I came to know Swami Sivananda
through a dream. It was a strange dream. I saw his name and learnt how
to get in touch with him. Swami Sivananda has got the power to cause
his disciples and devotees to have vision of himself while one is awake
though living at a great distance from him."
Sri Venkatasubbiah, Hussur: "During the Sadhana Week programme
in 1940, there was Akhanda Kirtan in our Branch of The Divine Life Society.
My daughter aged 22 years saw Sri Swami Sivanandaji standing on the
dais robed in ochre cloth and with Kamandalu in hand next to his own
photo. This vision lasted for nearly five minutes."
Sri Valiram Hardasmal, Hyderabad: "I actually saw His Holiness
coming to me relieving me of my distress."
Sri Rangaswamy Iyengar, Madurai: "When I sat for meditation
in the morning, I saw Swamiji standing in front of me. He blessed me
and vanished."
Sri Howard William, England: "I visited Dr. Hari Prasad Shastri
in London. He served me a simple meal of Prasad. In that Prasad you
were present. I actually saw you in it."
Sri Gita Margarita, Geneva: "At the midnight mass in the Theosophical
Church, it was not an illusion, I really saw you sitting before the
cross on the altar in all your loveliness and splendour and childlike
purity. Sometimes there is a peculiarly intense feeling of your presence
in my mind without any definite vision."
A remarkable instance of Sri Sivanandaji's powers in this connection
is that of Frau Charlotte Walinski Heller of Germany, who for the past
one year has heard a mysterious voice urging her to come to India and
learn Yoga under Swami Sivananda. Eventually she visited India and stayed
at the Sivananda Ashram for some months.
In conclusion I want to suggest how to have close communion with the
Guru. Have perfect intellectual harmony with the Master, by a deep study
of his books. Follow his teachings with faith and devotion. Be persistent
with your efforts. Have absolute trust in your Guru. Treat him as you
would treat God Himself.
It is needless to say that a Sadhaka by meditating on the form of his
Guru with a pure mind and intense concentration can make himself receptive
to the flow of the latter's divine grace.
I am sure if any aspirant sincerely approaches Swamiji for spiritual
guidance and blessings and follows his teachings with faith and perseverance
he is certain to notice significant progress within a short time. May
Swami Sivananda live long.
(Sri H.N. Ramakrishnaiah, Bangalore)
On 12th February 1956, at night, while I was sleeping on a cot I heard
some sound, as though someone was tapping my cot. I took it to be the
