God and His Name are One
The name of God, chanted correctly or incorrectly, knowingly or unknowingly, carefully or carelessly, is sure to give the desired result, says Swami Sivandana.
The Lord’s Name
The Lord’s name is all bliss and when it is chanted, the mind merges in its bliss, says Swami Sivananda.
Human Nature into Divine Nature
God is a mystery. Mind is a mystery. The world is a mystery. How sanklrtan transmutes human nature into divine nature, how it overhauls the old vicious habits, how it changes the mental substance, how it transforms or metamorphoses the impure nature into pure nature, and how it brings the devotee face to face with…
The Saving Grace
Japa is the best of all spiritual practices in this modern age. It is the easiest too. The divine name alone will give you all success and bestow on you the highest spiritual attainments. The seeker after truth reaches the highest goal by japa or recitation of the Lord’s name (or mantra) alone. This is…
Aids to Bhakti
People put the question: “How can we love God whom we have not seen?” Live in the company of saints and hear of the divine sport of God, study the sacred scriptures. Worship Him first in His several forms as manifested in the world. Worship any image or picture of the Lord or the guru.…
I Believe in Medicine Also
Question: Is it interfering with one’s karma to take medicine? Answer: I believe in prayer, but I believe in medicine also. Medicine is also a gift from God. Prayer, medicine and certain dietetic disciplines all could be used at the same time. Even food could be considered a medicine for the pain of hunger. If…
The Flower of Flowers
Divine love (or prema) is the flower of flowers. It is the rarest of all flowers and it is cultivated in the hearts of all devotees. Prema or bhakti is intense love, or the highest form of devotion to God. It is supreme attachment to the lotus-feet of the Lord. It springs from the bottom…
Get Nearer to God
Maya is the Lord’s illusory power. God creates through maya. It is maya that makes the one universal spirit appear as many, as embodied in multiple forms, and delights in the same objects, the false ideas of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. Total, unreserved self-surrender to the Lord alone will enable you to cross this maya and…
The Quickest Way
Question: What is the surest, safest and quickest way to God-realization? Answer: The surest, safest and quickest way is to realize that God is working through you. The moment you realize that, you have realized already. Know that you are just an instrument in the hands of God. It’s a fact. I wouldn’t even say…
Nature of Bhakti
Bhakti is resting in God. Bhakti is the flow of devotion like the flow of a river. Bhakti is continuity of devotion. Just as there is continuity in the flow of oil from one vessel to another vessel. Bhakti is the attraction of the needle to the magnet. Bhakti is love for the sake of…
Intense Devotion
“Bhakti is the slender silken thread of pure love that binds the heart of the devotee to the lotus-feet of the Lord. Bhakti is the intense devotion and supreme attachment we feel for God. It is a spontaneous out- pouring of love towards God. It is pure and unselfish. Bhakti is sacred love. It is…