Swami Chidananda centenary celebrations are being held at Sri Jagannath Dham Puri from September 24 to 27. Around 5,000 resident delegates are attending the meeting along with another 5,000, nonresident from the local area.
Spiritual stalwarts belonging to the sect (Parampara) of Swami Sivanandji Maharaj are presiding over the function with different slots for everyone. Some of them are Swami Tejomayananda Saraswati of the Chinmayananda Mission and Swami Nirliptananda Saraswati from the Divine life Society.
Yoga guru Swami Ramdev is holding yoga classes for everyone in the morning. Indeed, it is an exposure to a unique mix of the three routes to ‘god realisation’, i.e., Jnana (knowledge), Bhakti (devotion) and yoga (union of body and mind).
On this divine occasion in Odisha, I would like to share a few values of Swami Sivanand Maharaj, the guru of Swami Chidanand and Swami Chinmayanand.
It is superfluous to introduce Swami Sivanand Maharaj; yet I will attempt to do so for the people who are yet to know him.
Swamiji was a doctor-turned universal godman, who went beyond the ties of religion to establish the Divine life Society and was considered as an apostle of light for humanity all over the world. He laid great emphasis on the power of silent prayer and service to humanity and animals. He said service should be done in a selfless manner, i.e., without any expectations.
The third value which I hold close to my heart is ‘willing good to all’ and practice of universal love. Not everyone is able to undertake sustained service or charity, but a prayer costs nothing. We can pray silently and keep repeating God’s name as we carry out other activities. Swamiji has said we should not underestimate the power of prayer as it is the easiest method to reach God and can bring about change in any perspective. But one has to be sincere.
In light Fountain, Swami Chidanand writes about what his guru says, “Yes. Prayer has tremendous influence. It can work anything provided you are sincere. It is at once heard and responded to. Do it in the daily struggle of life and realise for yourself its high efficacy. Pray in any way you like. Become as simple as a child. Have no cunningness or crookedness. Then, you will get everything.”