Message for 60 years Diamond Jubilee Celebration of
The Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy, The Divine Life Society
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION OF THE YOGA-VEDANTA FOREST ACADEMY >>
In our Hindu religion there are four periods of time. Each period of time is measured in thousands and thousands of years. When you read the events and occurrences during these periods of time, we see that the first period of time (Krita Yuga) things were ideal. So much so, if great people like ascetics and sages uttered some word it was immediately fulfilled. The four periods of time are Krita Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. When these periods occurred in succession, things became gradually worse and worse both ethically and spiritually and also in terms of human behaviour.
We are now in Kali Yuga. Human behaviour all over the world has now become corrupt. Things like kidnapping, holding to ransom, theft, dacoity, daylight robbery, murder have become common in every country. The prisons are over-filled with criminals who have done all sorts of crimes. Ethical and spiritual values have vanished.
In the above state of affairs in human society, like a blessing from heaven Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj came to be sent by God to restore ethical and spiritual values and make human behaviour ideal and conducive to the welfare of the world. He started the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy on the 3rd July, 1948. Here, students are taught all the ethical and spiritual values that are particular to India and to Indian culture. Also, they have brought it right up till recent times where the Mahabharata war was fought in which God Himself (the incarnation of Lord Vishnu in Vaikuntha) in the person of Lord Krishna, who still had His Sudarshana Chakra with Him (referred to the death of Shishupala in a hall filled with people) gave us the invaluable and priceless gift of the Gitopadesha, i.e., Srimad Bhagavat Gita. In Srimad Bhagavat Gita Lord Krishna gives its pregnant message upon the battlefield of Kurukshetra to His friend and relative in only 700 verses and that also is being taught in the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy.
Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj brought the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy into being to stem the waves of corruption and evil and bring to the students the awareness of uplifting ethical and moral culture that Bharatavarsha has given to our citizens from Kanyakumari to the Himalayas and from the Bay of Bengal to Arabian Sea.
These values and their acquirements and their practice in daily life is what the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy teaches. There is no such set-up anywhere in India. It is a God-given gem where the students have two months' course of study. And when the students are to take leave after the course, they are given a bundle of books of ethical and spiritual kind as a parting gift. They can study these books even when they return to their homes. That is the great value of the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy.
This is my message for the Diamond Jubilee Souvenir which they intend to bring out upon this occasion when the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy reaches its 60th year.
May God bless you all, the teachers as well as the students of the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy!
(Swami Chidananda)
President, The Divine Life Society
Om Sri Paramatmane Namah!
Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya!
It is a matter of great happiness that the Diamond Jubilee of the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy is going to be celebrated from 29th June to 3rd July 2008, at the Divine Life Society Headquarters, in Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh (Shivanandanagar). The Academy was started in 1948 and it has completed sixty glorious years of its existence in 2008, which is a creditable achievement.
Worshipful Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj established the Divine Life Society with the principal objective of dissemination of spiritual knowledge and all along the Society has been carrying on activities with this primary aim. Similarly the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy was launched as an effective means in this direction, by imparting training to deserving persons in spiritual education through Yoga and Vedanta, and also inspiring these trainees to spread the message of Yoga and Vedanta among humanity which is dissemination of spiritual knowledge. The Academy has been splendidly successful in this work and in fulfilling the noble wish of Sri Gurudev. Different types of courses have been conducted over the years since its establishment and thousands of sincere aspirants have greatly benefited. Most important among them has been the Basic Yoga-Vedanta Course which has been very popular and very effective in this sphere. It is a happy coincidence and a matter of rejoicing that the Diamond Jubilee Course (60th Course) will be held during this Diamond Jubilee Year of the Academy (2008) which is a brilliant testimony to the successful performance of the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy, to the complete usefulness of the Course, and to the abundant Grace and Blessings of the Lord Almighty and Sri Gurudev upon all concerned, including the Academy, its Management and Faculty, and the students.
It is the basic wish of every human being to be free from sorrows and to attain unalloyed permanent happiness. The objects in the world being temporary and perishable, cannot give us the happiness we seek and their value is also only temporary and cannot be lasting or permanent. On the other hand, their utility is only for a little sense-pleasure and sustenance of life and there is no question of getting permanent satisfaction or everlasting bliss from them. Pleasures of the world bring about desire and attachment for them which leads to bondage and rebirth. Real happiness can be had only from God or the Ultimate Reality when there will be end to all sorrow. For realizing God one has to practice Yoga and also have a correct understanding of life and the world. This will be possible only through the knowledge of Yoga and Vedanta. Hence the importance of teaching Yoga and Vedanta to everybody.
By the practice of Yoga and Vedanta the mind is purified of all dross and becomes a fit instrument for spiritual enlightenment and God-realisation. Karma Yoga or Yoga of Action brings about the purification of heart through selfless service by removing the impurities or Mala and Bhakti Yoga or Yoga of Devotion makes the mind steady and one-pointed through Love or Devtion to God thereby eradicating its Vikshepa or tossing nature. Through meditation or Raja Yoga the mind is rendered subtle and is able to penetrate into the mysteries of God and to have eventual Realisation of God. The Jnana Yoga or Vedantic Self-enquiry gives the correct understanding of Man, the Universe, the World, and the Ultimate Reality and thus tears the veil of ignorance or Avarana and secures Self-realisation and ultimate Liberation or Moksha. While Yoga in its generic sense means all the four paths, including Jnana Yoga or Vedanta, in the context of the Academy and in view of separate status and importance as a separate school of Philosophy there is separate use of the word Vedanta as a separate Branch of study for giving fullest attention to it for serious study and practice.
Thus Yoga and Vedanta are of incalculable value for all humanity as they enable us to be free from all sorrow and to attain Supreme happiness and Liberation. They also ensure peace for the individual, instill all virtues and noble traits in him which is the way to secure peace and harmonious living in the society and the world at large. They are to be practised by every individual in day-to-day life. Hence it is necessary and essential that the lofty message of Yoga and Vedanta should reach every nook and corner of the world as therein lies the solution to all the problems of the present-day human society. Their knowledge and practice are the key to the ultimate welfare of the individual and humanity. It would be in the interest of mankind to work out means for the effective and widespread of Yoga and Vedanta all over the globe. In this regard the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy can play a significant role for benefit of the whole world.
My hearty congratulations to the Academy on its successful completion of sixty eventful and glorious years of its existence, upon the joyous and happy occasion of its Diamond Jubilee! I express my very Best Wishes for a Brighter and More Glorious career for the Academy in all the years to come and may it render still greater service in future! My sincere and deep appreciation for all the saints and Faculty Members of the Academy who have done yeoman?s service to the Academy by their sincere and wholehearted contribution in its noble work! My hearty congratulations also to all the Faculty Members and Students of the Academy whose active and valuable participation has brought it to such glorious heights! May all the students carry forward the lofty message and ideals of the Academy by being living embodiments of the great sublime teachings of Yoga and Vedanta and spreading them all around! May the Blessings and Grace of the Almighty Lord and Sri Gurudev be ever upon the Academy, its Faculty Members and Students and confer the highest benefit upon them!
May God and Gurudev bless one and all!
Swami Nirliptananda
Vice-President
Worshipful Gurudev started The Divine Life Society in the year 1936 and began to propagate his noble teachings under the auspices of The Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy, a department of The DLS Hqrs; Sivanandashram, Muni-ki-reti, P.O. Shivanandanagar, Rishikesh, sixty years ago, for which we are celebrating the Diamond Jubilee, on 3rd July, 2008 and publishing the Souvenir, on this holy occasion! Worshipful Gurudev named this section of propagation of his teachings as Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy for the benefit of humanity! It is said in the great Epic Mahabharata: ?Naasti Samkhyam samam jnanam, naasti yoga samam balam??there is no wisdom equal to Self-knowledge, there is no power equal to Yoga. Hence Gurudev called this Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy with the noble aim that all seekers of Truth have the knowledge of the Self and realise the Self and have supreme power of Yoga to serve all beings! Gurudev propagated the ?Yoga of Synthesis? to have integral development of hand, head and heart! I am fortunate to be one of the faculty members of this esteemed Academy for the past four decades! May the Grace of the Almighty and worshipful Gurudev be ever upon all readers of this Souvenir, may they derive maximum benefit from Gurudev?s teachings and lead the Divine Life of Truth, Love and Purity, and lead others too through their personal example, is my heartfelt prayer!!!
With respects and regards,
Yours, in the service of Gurudev
Swami Yogaswarupananda
Vice-President
In the name of beloved Satgurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, I greet you, one and all, upon the happy occasion of the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of the Y.V.F. Academy. Our revered Swami Yogavedantanandaji Maharaj, Registrar of the YVFA, has very kindly asked me to write a brief message for the special Souvenir that he is bringing out to commemorate this memorable event. I would like to share some early memories of the Y.V.F. Academy with you.
I arrived in Rishikesh in 1953, a total stranger. I had set foot in the Himalayas for the first time in my life. Everything was new to me. I did not speak a word of Hindi. I had come to the Himalayas with the one intention to practise austerities and live in a cave as our ancients had. That was my concept.
For a couple of weeks I wandered in the Himalayan jungles looking for a cave to live in, but I did not find one. One day, by chance, I went to a hill near Sivananda Ashram and found an abandoned Dattatreya temple. To my great joy I found underneath the temple an artificial cave. This was God?s gift. I was protected from the cold and had a place to sleep and meditate.
In front of the temple there was a raised platform where I used to sit, read some spiritual tracts and gaze at the Ganga. The place provided me with total seclusion and solitude. After some time sitting I would go down to the Ganga to take my bath and wash my clothes as there was no running water in the entire Ashram. The Ganga was the only source of water. Thus I spent several weeks.
Revered and worshipful Sri Swami Chidanandaji, who at that time was General Secretary of the Ashram, used to come down to the same spot at the Ganga. I saw him many times, but never spoke to him. Swamiji used to see me daily, and one day he approached me and enquired about me?where I had come from and what I would like to do in the Himalayas. Swamiji spoke to me in a loving way! When I asked him his name, he pointed to his body and told me that they call this body Swami Chidananda. Swamiji then took me to the office and introduced me to Satgurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj. Worshipful Gurudev told me, ?Stick to the Ashram, serve Swami Chidananda, and you shall attain everything.?
After joining the Ashram, I had an intense desire to plunge myself into serious study of the scriptures. I heard about the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy that had been inaugurated by Satgurudev back in July 1948, and so I was very keen to join it. For several weeks I was looking for the building, and I asked many about the location. Everyone gave a sort of an evasive reply.
At that time all important functions took place in the Bhajan Hall including morning meditation classes. Senior Swamis including revered Sri Swami Krishnanandaji, revered Swami Chidanandaji and Professor Sri Swami Sadanandaji used to give talks there. When I told some senior Swamis that I would like to enroll myself as a student of the Academy, they told me that the building was not yet built and that whatever spiritual activities were taking place in the Bhajan Hall were held under the auspices of the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy.
The Y.V.F. Academy functioned for years like that without any building of its own. The name of the Academy was on letterheads, but not on a building. Only in 1979 was a building completed on Dattatreya Hill from where it is functioning so very successfully today. This is a brief history of the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy from my perspective.
Swami Vimalananda
General Secretary
I am glad to know the Y.V.F. Academy is celebrating the Diamond Jubilee from 29th June, 2008 to 3rd July, 2008. Hearty Congratulations. I wish the function a grand success.
The Academy is one of the most important Departments for dissemination of spiritual knowledge for which Sri Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj established The Divine Life Society. The Academy has trained a large number of students since its inception. When the students go back after the course, they share their knowledge and experience with their relatives and friends by which a large number of people stand to benefit and Sri Gurudev?s teachings continue to spread throughout the country. In a small way, the courses in the Academy are indirectly helping the Nation in National Integration as participants of the courses come from all states of the country; they live together, eat together and exchange their views.
I wish to convey my hearty congratulations to you and through you to all faculty members for the excellent job they are doing.
Best wishes, regards and Pranams.
In the Service of Sri Gurudev
L.N. Sabherwal
