4th Sivananda Memorial Lecture to Mark 13Qth Birth Anniversary of Swami Sivananda

SIVANANDA WORLD PEACE FOUNDATION PAYSTRIBUTE TO SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA 130TH BIRTHANNIVERSAY CELEBRATIONS

I am delighted to be able to attend this fourth memoriallecture in honour of His Holiness Sri Swami Sivananda. Itis fitting that this lecture be delivered by the Honourable Consul General Dr Shashank Vikram, as we celebrate the130th birth anniversary of His Holiness. I thank the Consulate General of India as well as the Sivananda World PeaceFoundation for bringing us together this evening.

In July 2013, as we marked the 50th Maha Samadhi anniversary of the Founder of the Divine Life Society, I hadthe privilege of delivering the first Sivananda MemorialLecture. I will therefore limit my remarks this evening, forI look forward to listening to a new perspective on the legacyand teachin~s of His Holiness.

I wish simply to express my gratitude, in particular toMr lshwar Ramlutchman, the disciple of my late friendSwami Sahajananda Saraswati. Mr Ramlutchman continuallyensures that the legacy of the Divine Life Society is honoured.Through the chapter that was started in South Africa bySwami Sahajananda, Sri Swami Sivananda's philosophyof selfless service has benefited our people for decades.

We have seen thousands of classrooms built in ourpoorest communities, as well as clinics, care centres, andhomes for children and the elderly. Through the Divine LifeSociety, this Province has also benefited from skills trainingcentres, so that the most vulnerable of our people are notmerely cared for, but taught to become self-sufficient.

That philosophy of service, coupled with self-help andsew-reliance, is at the core of my Party, the IFP. It is thereforenot surprising that I developed a deep friendship with Swami Sahajananda, or that my administration worked so closelywith the Divine Life Society, or that I got to know theteachings of His Holiness Sri Swami Sivananda.

I am always grateful when this legacy is honoured. Iam therefore pleased to support this evening's lecture.

I thank you.

Chief guest of honour delivering the 4th Sivananda Memorial Lecture, Consul General of India, Dr. Shashank VikramIncredible India has been a 'land of spirituality andphilosophy' since time immemorial. It is a land of culture,lan~uages, religion and celebrations. This bouquet of heritage has been nurtured by ever flowing nectar ofspirituality across the length and breadth of India. Itsancient wisdom has blossomed and developed throughdifferent schools of thought and practice in Indiatransforming it into an unbelievable sketch.

India, the land of spiritualism has evolved sincecenturies and is considered a great religious hub in Asia,even today followers of almost every major religion inthe world live peacefully, side by side, in India. The vastmajority of people in India still know that "spiritus" whichis the invisible, formless essence that animates this world is more important than matter. Countless spiritual leaders of India are worshipped and acknowledged by religiously inclined people from all parts of the world.Their devotees hail from all over the globe. Most of these spiritual leaders have taken Indian religious beliefs and culture to a golden summit which barely other could ever reach.

Swami Sivananda is one of the brightest stars among the spiritual masters and gurus from India. Thank you Mr. lshwar Ramlutchman for associating Consulate General of India, Durban to host today's 4th Sivananda Memorial Lecture on Swamiji's 130th Birth anniversary. We at the Consulate have been closely working with Sivananda World Peace Foundation in promoting Indian culture and Yoga in South Africa and, in particular,among school children. In association with Sivananda World Peace Foundation, the Consulate had celebrated last three International Day of Yoga on a grand scale.

Swami Sivananda was born in Tamil Nadu, India,on 8 September 1887. As a child Swamiji was very active and well in academics and gymnastics. Swamiji attended medical school in India. Upon graduation Swamiji practised medicine and worked as a doctor in Malaysia for ten years and gave free treatment to poorpatients. Over time, a sense that medicine was healingon a superficial level grew in him, and in 1923 Swamijireturned to India to pursue a spiritual quest.

Upon his return to India Swamiji visited many placesand met his Guru Vishwananda Saraswati in Rishikeshin 1924. It was Vishwananda who initiated him into the Sannyasa order, and gave him his monastic name. Afterinitiation, Swamiji settled in Rishikesh, and immersed himself in intense spiritual practices. Sivananda performed austerities for many years and at the same time continued to nurse the sick. Swamiji started acharitable dispensary at Lakshman Jhula in 1927, serving pilgrims, holy men and the poor using his medicalexpertise.

In 1945, Swamiji created the Sivananda Ayurvedic Pharmacy, and organised the All-world Religions Federation. He established the All-world Sadhus Federation in 1947 and Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academyin 1948. Swamiji called his yoga the Yoga of Synthesis.

Swami Sivananda entered Mahasamadhi i.e.departure of a Self-realized saint from his mortal coil -on 14 July 1963 in his hut on the bank of the Ganges,in Sivanandanagar.

Swami Sivananda was a personality entirely freefrom blemish and devoid of the least trace of selfishnessor egoism. His life was touched and illuminated by the light of inner realisation, purity, power and wisdom. The feeling of having a 'higher calling' in life was always atthe back of the young doctor's mind. Amidst all the fleeting and shadowy pleasures of life, he constantly sought a higher form of lasting happiness and peace.The physical and mental distress he observed in the people he met was a source of profound sadness forhim. Through the teachings of Vedanta he gradually understood the real goal of life. It became his inner most desire to follow the path of the sages and to help people, not just their physical bodies as before, but their mindsas well. In order to completely dedicate his life to yoga,he renounced the world and spent many months as apenniless, it inerant monk, finding his way to the solitude of the Himalayas. There Swamiji practised yoga andmeditation intensely and attained self-realisation.

Swami Sivananda wrote all of his books in Englishbecause it enabled him to reach the largest audiencearound the world. He also maintained regular correspondence with hundreds of his yoga students worldwide, who turned to him seeking answers and advice. In this way, from his simple house on the banks of the Ganges in the Himalayas, Swami Sivananda spread the light of divine knowledge to all four corners of the earth.

Swamiji rose to the supreme height of a universal being which saw God glowing in every face, in every object. His life is an epitome of all that is best for the rejuvenation of the failing body, sinking mind and slumbering soul of men and women who are encircledin an abyss of disease, vice and ignorance. Emanatingfrom the holiest part of Uttarakhand i.e. Rishikesh, hisliterature over a period of several decades covered the entire globe which was instrumental in converting countless souls from darkness into Light, from materialism to the life of spirituality and the glory of God-realisation.

Swamiji's Birth Anniversary on 8th of September is regarded by thousands of souls as a supremely blessed and auspicious day. To walk along the holy path of truth, purity and universal love is the real way to celebrate his Birthday. To practice selfless service, devotion to God, daily meditation, and enquiry into the nature of Reality is verily a perennial Sivananda Jayanti.

In Swami Sivananda's preaching we find a powerful exponent of the grand philosophy of Vedanta. SwamiJi' sphilosophy is the one of the divinity of the universe, the immortality of the soul of man which is identical with the Absolute Self of the universe. The most unique and impelling feature which SwamiJi always exemplified through his daily life is that no part of life's experiencesis neglected or turned a deaf ear to his philosophy. Swami Sivananda exhorts the aspirants after the highest end of life not to fight shy of the objective reallties which stare at the face of even the majestic idealist. Everydegree of truth has to be paid its due; else they all will rebel against the proud aspirant who has trodden overthem with his eyes turned upwards.

To put it in his own words, "To adjust, adapt andaccommodate," "To see good in everything," and to bringto effective use all princilles of Nature in the progress of the individual towards Self-realisation along the pathof an integrated adjustment of the human powers, aresome of the main factors which go to build his philosophy of life. To love all and to see God in all, to serve all, because God is all, to realise God as the identity of all in one fullness of perfection, are his main canons. He prescribed methods for overcoming and mastering the physical, the vital, the mental and the intellectual planes of consciousness in order to enable the aspirant to proceed with his Sadhana without impediments towardsthis great spiritual destination, the realisation of the Absolute.

The Divine Life Society carries out its object of a world-wide revival of spirituality through publication of books, pamphlets and magazines dealing scientifically with all the aspects of Yoga and Vedanta, universal religion andphilosophy, and ancient medicine; holding and arranging cultural and spiritual conferences and discourses; establishing training centre.

Swami Sivananda was one of the great yoga masters of 20th century in India. SwamiJi pursued two careers,one as a successful physician and other as a yogi and sage. SwamiJi's work always centred on serving others: For SwamiJi, service was "love in expression". It is heartening to note that Sivananda World Peace Foundation, in the spirit of its founder, Swami Sivananda,has dedicated it self to promoting the Yoga and help less privileged in the community through various philanthropic activities and also by sponsoring visits from India of renowned devotional music singers for the spiritual upliftment of the community.

A mountain is composed of tiny grains of earth. Theocean is made up of tiny drops of water. Even so, life is but an endless series of little details, actions, speeches, and thoughts. And the consequences whether good or bad of even the least of them are far-reaching. Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smalles tacts. This is the secret of success.

Do not brood over your past mistakes and failuresas this will only fill your mind with grief, regret and depression. Do not repeat them in the future. There is something good in all seeming failures. You are not to see that now. Time will reveal it. Be patient. Your duty is to treat everybody with love as amanifestation of the Lord.

Thank You. Ngiyabonga

His Holiness Sri SW&ml Abehedananda, Spiritual head of the ChlnmayaMission of South Africa with event organiser Mr lshwar RamlutchmanGreat Moments: Mr Haji Mahomed Essack Naordeen, ShristiHarlnaraln, Mr lshwar Ramlutchman and Mr. Fakeer Naordeen 4th Slvananda Memorial Lecture enjoyed by all