SIVANANDABOTHAM

WHO IS GOD?

God is the source of all light. God is the source of everything. He 
upholds the earth and the heavens. 

God is spirit. God is love. God is the source of all. God is the 
destroyer of ignorance. God is beyond all understanding.

God is the remover of all calamities. God is the granter of all 
prosperity. To the unenlightened man who depends on his senses for 
all final judgements, God remains unknown and therefore non-existent.

God is the one source of every action and every movement. God is the 
sustainer of all, the giver of all good and the bestower of all 
blessings. God is the eternal amongst fleeting things. He is the one 
in the midst of many. He is absolute consciousness.

God is the fulfiller of the desires of every man. The Lord is all- 
effulgence, divine, the fulfiller of desires and the granter of 
insight and intuition.

Who is God? God is God. He who is universal consciousness, who is 
eternal, who himself witnesses all that passes in every heart, who 
exists immutably throughout the universe and who is ever free, 
independent and immortal is God.

Where is God? In his own glory. Seek him there. God has form and he 
is formless too. The Lord reveals himself even in a single leaf, in a 
blade of grass, in a drop of water.

God reveals himself only to the pure, the humble and the simple. He 
is the first and the last, the manifest, and the hidden. God cannot 
be defined. He has to be felt, seen, realised and lived in.

Religion is the link between God and man. Every religion establishes 
a relation between man and God. Religion should give shelter even to 
the worst type of sinner. It must be perfectly tolerant, broad-minded 
and catholic.

The essence of religion is love. There is only one religion and that 
is the religion of love divine, which transcends all creeds and all 
scriptures. Behold the one essence in all. Love all. - by Swami Sivananda

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Please consider this as  the continuation of our thread ‘Sivanandam’ as it has increased in size my friend Eli suggested to start a part two of same. I also accepted that advise  in this manner.

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Meditation
 

When you sit for meditation, all sorts of worldly thoughts will crop up in your mind; this will disturb the meditation. You will be astonished. Old thoughts, old memories of past enjoyments will bubble up and force the mind to wander in all directions. The trap-door of the vast magazine of thoughts and memories, within the subconscious mind, is opened up and these thoughts gush out in a continuous stream. The more you attempt to still them, the more they will bubble up.

Do not be discouraged. Never despair. Through regular and constant meditation you will purify the subconscious mind and thus control the thoughts and memories. The fire of meditation will burn all thoughts.

Meditation on the immortal self will act like dynamite. It will blow up all thoughts and memories in the subconscious mind. If the thoughts trouble you much, do not suppress them by force. Be a silent witness, as in a bioscope. They will subside gradually. Then you must root them out by regular silent meditation.

The practice of meditation must be constant. Then only will one attain self-realisation, quickly and surely. He who practises meditation, by fits and starts, for a few minutes daily, will not be able to achieve any tangible success in yoga.

In the beginning, beginners fall down from meditation into their old grooves. They must lift up their minds again and again. They will have to fix the mind on the laksya (target). When the meditation becomes deep and steady, they eventually get established in God. Then meditation becomes sahaja - it becomes habitual.

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Compare this:

The State of Contemplation

The force field of actinic consciousness is one which a guru has worked perhaps for many years to enter. His awareness of it is his control of it. This mechanism works in the same way a corporate executive guides the forces of his business, through knowledge of the field and experience. A guru learns control of actinic force fields just as a businessman learns to control his odic force fields. 

The odic force and the actinic force make up this planet. The action and interaction of these two forces working together cause the life that we see on Earth. Quite often in meditation I see the planet as completely transparent, just like a tremendous, transparent, translucent sphere. It looks light, and it is floating in a clear space, a blue space. This space is called akasha. I am seeing the planet in the akasha, vibrantly seeing the collective odic and actinic forces working within and through it. 

Coming out of this state, one can see easily the way in which human beings are created. The woman holds the power of the odic force field. The man holds the power of the actinic force field. Between them they cause a chemicalization that brings through the soul and the physical and emotional body of a newborn child. 

Depending upon this chemical balance, they give birth to an old soul or a young soul. That is why it is so important for families to have a deeply religious life. What is a religious life? It is the balance of these two forces, the odic force and the actinic force. It is so important that there is an absolute harmony between the man and the woman. This guides and governs the inner currents of the children until the age of twenty-one. At that time, the inner forces dissolve from the family and are governed by their own superconscious mind. 

I have seen this all happen from the inside. It is a vast and beautiful picture. Of course, with vast populations now covering the planet, it is happening more than ever–more births, more deaths, more forces to contend with. At this time in the evolution of this planet, the actinic forces are breaking through the odic force fields due to the planetary configurations, making this an actinic age, an age of light and great illumination, an age of contemplation.

The state of contemplation is not just peacefully sitting and getting all jazzed up on the inside. It is as refined an activity as penetrating subtle thoughts and feelings on the superconscious plane until all intellectual structure dissolves in the atom’s essence within superconsciousness. If you have ever had the experience of tracing a vibration of consciousness to the point where consciousness is no more, you will know how subtle is the fiber of an actinic ray. The explosion of light so commonly associated with the contemplative state is only the first breakthrough. After this, an aspirant is ready to begin the study which will give him the mastery of these subtle forces. 

Striving in meditation for a continuing contemplative awareness, a strong actinic vehicle is built. The aura of a person who has created access to this inner world gives evidence of a higher energy source. This is what is behind the ancient myths wherein the Gods rode through the skies in golden chariots. The golden chariot is the actinic vehicle of the superconscious. A satguru must be able to control his travel on more than one actinic ray. In doing so, he is able to establish a continuity of contact in the deeper consciousness within his various disciples. It is on an actinic ray that intuitive knowledge is gained and passed along. 

At first the odic forces seem warm and friendly, and the actinic force registers more as an emptiness or nothingness existing inside of you. But if you can find out what and where this nothingness is, you will not have to think anymore about purging the subconscious, because the actinic flow will take over the outer mind and you will find yourself lifted in love, light and perception. - From Satguru Sivaya Subramuniya swami

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GUIDE TO SADHAKAS

Be prepared to suffer any amount of pain. Have a set of maxims with 
you always to induce vairagya (dispassion) . Treat sensual enjoyment 
as poison, as vomited food, as dung or urine. They cannot give you 
satisfaction. Preserve your virya (vital energy) carefully. Sleep 
always separately. Revere ladies as the Mother divine. Root out the 
sex idea. Prostrate before all. See God in every face, in every thing.

Take to sankirtan (chanting), satsang (holy company), prayer when the 
mind is overpowered by lower instincts. Face obstacles coolly and 
boldly. Care not about criticism when you are in the right path. 
Yield not to flattery. Respect even rogues and scoundrels - serve 
them. Admit your faults plainly. Take care of your health - do not 
neglect daily asana and other yoga exercises. Be active and nimble 
always.

Develop your heart by giving. Be extra-ordinarily charitable - give 
more than one’s expectations. Desires multiply miseries. Develop 
contentment. Control the senses one by one. Develop brahmakara vrtti 
(“I am Brahman” idea) by repeated thinking. Have a check over all 
your thoughts keep them pure and sublime. Do not lose your temper 
when anyone insults you or taunts or rebukes you. It is a mere 
variety of sounds; a mere play of words. Rest your mind in God. Live 
in the truth. Be up and doing in the path of perfection.

Have a definite aim in your life and proceed towards it cautiously. 
The benefits of mauna (silence) are incalculable. Never give up this 
practice. There are four important means for passion to enter the 
mind - sound, touch, sight and thought. Be vigilant! Have intimate 
connection with none but God. Mix little with others. Be moderate in 
all things - extremes are always dangerous.

Every day have self-analysis and introspection. Know the extent of 
your growth. Give up curiosities in the spiritual path. Conserve your 
energy and concentrate. Think little of the food, body, relatives. 
Think more of the atman. You must realise God in this very birth 
itself. by Swami sivananda

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Ignorant people identify themselves with the body, mind and the vrttis of the mind. The mind and the body are instruments only. The real man is behind the mind. If you become one with the mind, body and vrtti, you get various sorts of miseries and sufferings. The whole universe is created by the vrttis of the mind only. If these mental waves or thought-waves subside, you can attain the absolute state. Just as you can clearly see the bottom of a lake when the ripples and waves subside, so also you can cognise your real self when the vrttis that agitate your mind subside.  - Swami Sivananda

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It should be distinctly borne in mind that the thinking principle -
mind - is not the atman (self) who is the fountain-source of all
consciousness or knowledge. Just as a piece of iron moves in the
presence of a mighty magnet, so also the little mind moves in the
presence of the majestic atman. Just as a minister works with fear in
the presence of a king, so also the mind works in the same way in the
presence of the king of kings, the atman. Just as a mirror borrows its
light from the sun, so also the mind borrows its light from the atman,
the Supreme Being. - Swami Sivananda

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Just as pure gold which has been treated in the crucible with borax
etc., and rendered pure, shines brilliantly, so also the yogi, whose
mind is rendered pure by the agents of vairagya and abhyasa, becomes a
lustrous person. - Swami Sivananda

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THE SUPREME GIFT

Yoga is the supreme gift of India to the world at large. Yoga does not quarrel with science; it supplements it. Yoga is a methodical way to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature - both physical and psychical.

Yoga is the supreme science of contacting reality. It is perfection in action. It is equanimity of attitude. It is perfect peace. Yoga is union with God.

Yoga is not a thing merely to be heard. Yoga is a thing that has to be assimilated and put into practice in daily life. The practice of yoga enables one to realise unity with the whole world. It is living in tune with God.

Yoga is abiding by the principles of truth and avoiding the path of untruth. Yoga is a science which is meant for the study of the reflective. It is for those who are convinced that the world of the senses has nothing substantial to offer.

Yoga is a process of continuous transformation. The inner perfection of self-realisation can only come to be revealed by experience. This happens only progressively. The transformation of one's personality is achieved through stages.

As you advance in yoga, the ego is progressively replaced by the spirit. It is through this that the will of God works. By the practice of yoga, the sadhaka (seeker) is freed from the tyranny of the lower mind and he becomes divine. At a later stage the transformation takes the shape of a progressive unfoldment of the spirit.

A preceptor or guru is indispensable for the practice of yoga. The aspirant should be humble, simple, gentle, refined, tolerant, merciful and kind. You will not have success in yoga if you have desire to get psychic powers. Yoga does not consist of sitting cross-legged for six hours, nor in stopping the heart-beat, nor in getting buried in the ground for a week or a month.

-by Swami Sivananda

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ADAPT AND ADJUST

A karma yogi should adapt, adjust, accommodate, in relation to all and under all circumstances. He should share what he has with others. He should be absolutely unselfish. He should keep his senses under control. He should always be truthful and cheerful. He should be social and amiable. He should be simple, noble, humble and gentle.

A karma yogi should bear insult and injury. He should observe brahmacarya. Offer all actions and their fruits - body, mind, senses and soul - as flowers at the lotus feet of the Lord.

A karma yogi should feel that the world is a manifestation of God and that he is serving God in all beings. He should discipline the mind and the senses and body. He should develop alertness, decision, discrimination, discernment, forgiveness, patience, mercy, cosmic love, tolerance and equal-vision.

A karma yogi should have a balanced mind. He should be calm, cool and serene always. He should combine bhakti or jnana yoga with karma yoga. He should be good and do good. He should keep the body strong and healthy - practicing asanas, pranayama, running and physical culture. He should keep a spiritual diary and stick to all his resolves.

Put your heart and soul in all that you do. Remember always that you are serving the Lord himself; through all your actions you are expressing his will. You should act like a dutiful manager of the absentee landlord's estate. Have the same attitude towards your worldly concerns that a loving and conscientious nurse has towards the children entrusted in her care.

Do your duty well, inwardly feel that you are only an instrument in the hands of the Lord. Feel that your true self, the Godhead within you, is the eternal sakshi (witness). Live in the Lord. Repeat his name always. Feel that God does everything. Share all you have - your heart will be purified quickly. Knowledge of the self will descend on you quickly. You will see God in all.
by Swami Sivanandfa

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ACTION IN ACTION
All actions are done by the gunas (qualities of nature)
only. He whose mind is deluded by egoism thinks: “I am the doer”.
This is the cause of bondage. The ignorant man identifies the self through the
force of avidya (ignorance) with his body, mind and senses which are the
products or effects of the three gunas - satva (purity), rajas (activity) and
tamas (inertia). Now comes the trouble. If he thinks: “I am the
doer”, he has to enjoy the good and bad fruits of his actions. He is
brought again and again to this mortal plane.
He who sees that prakrti (nature) performs all actions and
that the self is actionless, really sees. The wise man who knows the essence of
the divisions of the qualities and functions, holding that “the qualities
move amidst the qualities” is not attached. He separates himself from the
body, mind and organs. He stands as their witness and as a witness of their
functions by identifying himself with the pure inner self. He says:
“Seeing, hearing, touching, speaking, giving, grasping, opening and
closing the eyes, are functions of the senses. I have nothing to do. They are
the dharmas (proper functions) of the senses. I am distinct from the senses.
The senses move among the senses. I am nirlipta (untainted). I am asanga
(unattached) .” This is the drsti (vision) or niscaya (determination) of a
jnani. He escapes from the bondage of karma. He is freed from the wheel of
birth and death.
If you identify yourself with Brahman and stand as a witness
of the activities of prakrti and its effects, mind, senses and body, you will
realise “inaction in action”. Brahman is niskriya, akarta, niravayava
(actionless) , (non-doer), (without limbs). But he is the primum mobile. He
gives a push and prakrti moves and acts. He gazes and prakrti moves and acts.
Without his presence prakrti cannot do anything. Therefore it is Brahman only
who really does all actions. This is “action in inaction” as taught
in the Gita.
: by Swami Sivananda

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ALL WORK IS YOGA

Every bit of work is yoga for you when you are sincere. Think that the Lord is working through your hands, eating through your mouth. In the beginning some of your actions may be unselfish. But in the long run you can do all actions in an unselfish manner.

Always scrutinise your motives. Every act can be spiritualised when the motive is pure. Work is meditation. Serve everyone with intense love, without the idea of agency, without expectation of reward or fruits.

It is selfishness that has deplorably contracted your heart. Selfishness is the bane of society. Selfishness clouds understanding. Selfishness is petty-mindedness. Pursuit of pleasure increases selfishness. Selfishness is the root cause for human sufferings. Real spiritual progress starts from selfless service. Serve the sadhus and sanyasins (holy ones), the bhaktas (devotees) and the poor and sick. Serve them with bhava, prem and bhakti (inner feeling, love and devotion).

The spirit of service must enter deeply into your very nerves and tissues. The reward is invaluable. Practise and feel the cosmic expansion and infinite ananda (bliss). Tall talk and idle gossip will not do, dear friends. Evince intense zeal and enthusiasm in work. Be fiery in the spirit of service!

Have nista (firm devotion) with God and cesta (activity) with hands. You will be able to do both these simultaneously - by practice. The manual work will become automatic, or intuitive. You will have two minds. One portion will be at work and three quarters of the mind will be in the service of the Lord - in kirtan, in meditation, in japa.

A raw, untrained aspirant feels, “My preceptor is treating me like a servant. He is using me for petty jobs.” He who has understood the right significance of karma yoga will take every work as yogic activity or worship of the Lord. In his vision there is no menial work. In the light of karma yoga all work is sacred.

Is there a greater karma yogi than Lord Buddha? He still lives in our hearts because of the spirit of service ingrained in him. He spent his whole life serving others.
 - by Swami Sivananda

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ANASAKTI YOGA

Asakti is attachment. Man gets attached to the objects of the world and is bound thereby. He takes birth after birth and is caught in the wheel of birth and death. Attachment is death. Non-attachment is eternal life.

Anasakti is non-attachment. Asakti is destroyed by vairagya (dispassion) and viveka (discrimination between the real and the unreal). Look at these - birth, death, old age, disease, impermanence, pain, sorrow, misery, worries, anxieties, fears, etc. Thus you will develop non-attachment.

If you abandon attachment to the fruits of your actions, if you are ever content, if you consecrate the fruits of your actions and the actions themselves to the Lord, you will attain emancipation. Actions will not bind you because you are not doing anything, although you go through the motions of doing something. This is anasakti yoga.

Do not hope for anything. Control the mind and the senses. Give up greed and desire. Free yourself from the pairs of opposites. Be balanced in success and failure. Destroy envy. Though you perform actions you are not bound. Destroy attachment. Be harmonious.

Fix the mind on the innermost atman - now you will not be bound. You will attain salvation. Practise this yoga. You will purify your heart and attain the goal of life.

Selfless work is yoga. Work is atma-puja (worship of the self). There is no loss in service. Work is transmuted into jnana (wisdom). See the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter IV, Verse 33. “Sarva karmakhalam partha jnane pari samapyate - all actions, in their entirety, O Partha, culminate in wisdom”.

Service of the sick is service of the Lord. There is no yoga greater than relieving human suffering. If you serve a sick man for half an hour, it is tantamount to meditating for three hours, or doing japa of Om 21,600 times. Do not think that in service there is loss.

Karma yoga is only a means to an end. It removes the impurities of the mind. As soon as purification is effected, you will have to take refuge in vedanta, the path of jnana (self-knowledge) .

By; Swami Sivananda

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DON'T FRET & FUME

Here is a method of developing the will. Listen patiently to the words of others even though they may not be interesting. Do not fret and fume quickly. Do not interrupt unnecessarily. Patient listening develops the will and wins the hearts of others. This practise aslo develops the power of attention.

—Sri Swami Sivananda

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BASIC KIRTANS OF SIVANANDA

Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Eat a little, Drink a little, Speak a little, Sleep a little,
Mix a little, Move a little, Serve a little, Think a little,
Give a little, Work a little, Rest a little, Worship a little.

Do Asan a little, Pranayam a little, Meditate a little, Do Vicara a little.

Do Japa a little, Do Kirtan a little, Write Mantra a little, Reflect a little.

Purification, Concentration, Reflection, Meditation.

Selflessness, Self-surrender, Self-purification, Self-realisation.

Do self-sacrifice, Effect self-surrender, Have self-restraint. You will have self-realisation.

Speak sweetly, Speak truthfully, Think correctly, Believe faithfully.
Serve selflessly, Pray devotedly, Meditate ceaselessly, Realise perfectly.

Think no evil, See no evil, Hear no evil, Talk no evil.

Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realise.

Be good, Do good, Be kind, Be compassionate.

Practise Ahimsa, Satyam Brahmacarya
This is the foundation of Yoga-Vedanta.

Practise Sravan Manan Nididhyasan
You will attain Brahma Saksatkara.

Find the knower, Find the hearer,
Find the seer, Find the smeller,
Find the taster, Find the feeler.
You will attain self-realisation.

Sarva Dharman Parityajya Mamekam Saranam Vraja
Aham Tva Sarva Papebhyo Moksayasyami Ma Suca.

Om Tat Sat Om Om Santi Om
Om Tat Sat Om Om Santi Om
Hari Om Tat Sat Om Sri Om Tat Sat Om
Siva Om Tat Sat Om Om Tat Sat Om

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BE FREE IN ACTION

Work for the commonweal; do not work for selfish gains. Give up all profit motives. Work with detachment and you will attain eternal peace and immortality. The wise man does actions but believes himself to be free from actions since he expects no returns there from and has no selfish motive thereto.

Serve without being conspicuous. Serve silently without any advertisement. Without belief in God, without belief in an ordered world you cannot live amicably; you cannot work for the community.

Do what is right and leave the results to look after themselves. Do your duty with more and more confidence in the Lord. Become a lover of humanity. Foster kinship with all humanity.

Feel that the one Lord dwells in all. Feel that it is he who gives you an opportunity to serve him through all suffering mankind. The world is more and more in need of karma yogis.

Humanity is your God and service to humanity is your worship. Self-control is a natural corollary to the spirit of love and service. He who works with his mind detached and free from selfish longings is a real sanyasin.

The spirit of selflessness is the key to success in the yoga of action. Service becomes karma yoga to the extent one practises self-control and self-denial. With all actions done without expectation of reward, you will gradually become satvic (pure). For one who has faith in God, karma yoga becomes easy and purification of the heart is quickly achieved.

Knowledge of atman (self) dawns in that pure mind which is purified by selfless service and devotion to the Lord. When the yogi feels he gets all his power from the Lord - then the `doership' ego will go.

Selfless service must be based on sadhana (spiritual practice). You must be regular in your prayers, your meditation, in the repetition of the Lord's name, in enquiry and self-analysis. All these are the inner springs of the right spiritual bhava (attitude), which is essential to karma yoga. - by: Swami Sivananda

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BENEFITS OF JAPA

Japa (repetition of the mantra checks the force of the thought current moving towards objects. It forces the mind to move towards God, towards the attainment of eternal bliss. Eventually it helps us to have the darsana (vision) of God. The mantra-power is hidden in every mantra. Whenever the spiritual aspirant shows lack of vigour in his sadhana (practice), the mantra sakti (power of the mantra) reinforces the sadhana sakti (energy) of the aspirant. Constant and prolonged repetition of the mantra (name of God) for some months cuts new grooves in the mind and the brain.

During japa all the divine qualities steadily flow into your mind from the Lord, just as oil flows from one vessel to another vessel. Japa transforms the nature of the mind. It fills the mind with satva (purity).

Japa changes the mental substance from passion to purity, from rajas to satva. It calms and strengthens the mind. It makes the mind introspective - it checks the outgoing tendencies. Japa eradicates all kinds of evil thoughts and inclinations. It induces determination, and austerity and eventually it leads to the direct darsana (vision) of God (the ishta devati or tutelary deity) or to God-realisation.

The mind is purified by constant japa and worship and it is filled with good and pure thoughts. Repetition of mantra and worship strengthen the good samskaras. “As a man thinks so he becomes” - this is the psychological law. The mind of the man who trains himself to think good, holy thoughts develops a tendency to think good thoughts. His character is moulded and transformed by the continuous flow of good thoughts.

When the mind thinks of the image of the Lord during japa and worship, the mental substance actually assumes the form of the image. The impression of the object is left on the mind and this is called samskara. When the act is repeated very often, the samskara gains strength and a tendency or habit is formed in the mind.

He who entertains thoughts of divinity becomes transformed actually into divinity itself. This is the power of constant thinking and meditation. His disposition itself is divinised and purified.

The meditator and the meditated, the worshipper and the worshipped, the thinker and the thought, become one and the same thing. This is Samadhi. This is the fruit of worship (upasana) or of doing japa. - Swami Sivananda.

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BENEFITS OF KARMA YOGA

Karma yoga prepares the mind for the reception of the light of knowledge. It expands the heart and breaks all barriers that stand in the way of unity or oneness. Karma yoga is the effective method or sadhana for citta suddhi (purification of the mind).

When the thought of doing good to others becomes a part and parcel of man's life, of his very being, then he will not entertain the least selfish motive. He will take immense delight in serving others and in doing good to others.

There is a peculiar joy and bliss in vigorous selfless service. You get inner spiritual strength and power by performing motiveless and selfless service.

You will develop humility, pure love, sympathy, tolerance and mercy. The sense of separateness will be annihilated. Selfishness will be eradicated. You will get a broad and liberal outlook on life. You will begin to feel oneness and unity. Eventually you will attain knowledge of the self.

If you really want to grow in the spiritual path, you must do all sorts of service daily, till the end of your life. Then only you are safe. Do not stop serving when you become a famous yogi. The spirit of service must enter every nerve, cell, tissue and bone of your body. Then you will become a real, full-blown practical vedantin.

This is a prayer for karma yogis by Sri Sankaracarya: “Thou art atman, buddhi is thy consort Parvati; the prana is thy attendant; this body is thy house; the act of sensual enjoyment is thy worship; deep sleep is samadhi; walking by my feet is the prambulation around thee; all my speeches are thy praise; whatever actions I perform, are all thy worship, O Lord Siva”.

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AHIMSA IS SUPREME VIRTUE

That work which gives elevation, joy and peace to the mind, is right. That which brings depression, pain and restlessness to the mind is wrong. This is an easy way to find out what is right and what is wrong.

Selfishness clouds understanding. Therefore if a man has got even a tinge of selfishness, he cannot detect what is right and what is wrong. A very pure, subtle, sharp intellect is needed for this purpose.

The Gita describes the nature of satva (purity), rajas (dynamism) and tamas (inertia in relation to reason) in chapter eighteen. It says: “That which knoweth energy and abstinence, what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, fear and fearlessness, bondage and liberation - that reason is pure, O Partha. That by which one understandeth right from wrong and also what ought to be done, and what ought not to be done - that reason, O Partha, is passionate. 
That which, enwrapped in darkness, thinketh wrong to be right, and which seeth all things subverted - that reason, O Partha, is of darkness.” 

Various other definitions are given by wise men to help the students in the path of righteousness. In the Bible it is said: “Do unto others as you would be done by”. 

This is a very good maxim. The whole gist of right conduct is here. If one practises this very carefully, he will not commit any wrong action.

“Ahimsa paramo dharmah”. Ahimsa is non-injuring in thought and word and deed. “This is the highest of all virtues”. If one is well established in ahimsa of thought and word and deed, one can never do any wrong action.

Ahimsa comes first in the practice of yama or self-restraint. To give pleasure to others is right. To spread misery and pain, is wrong. One can follow this in one's daily conduct towards others and can evolve in one's spiritual path.

Do not perform any act that brings you shame or fear. You will be quite safe if you follow this rule. Stick to any rule that appeals to your reason and conscience and follow it with faith and attention. You will soon evolve and reach the abode of eternal happiness.

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SIGNS OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS

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A TREE WITHOUT ROOTS

There is a mysterious tree,
It has no roots.
It has grown without a seed,
It bears fruits without flowers,
It has no branches, no leaves,
It has no pith, no stem.
Many birds are sitting on this tree.
It is a very ancient tree,
It is beginningless and endless;
It is causeless,
It never dries up,
It cannot be cut by axe.
It gives shelter to millions;
It is vijnana­vrksa (tree of pure knowledge).
It gives immortality,
It is superior to kalpaka vrksa (wish­fulfilling tree).
—Thus sayeth Sivananda