Swami Sivananda on Idol Worship

Hari Om, 

“A reputed baron of New York came to me one evening for an interview. During the course of conversation the baron said, ‘Swamiji, I have no faith in image-worship. It is all foolishness. The private secretary of the baron who was also with him had a photo of the baron in his pocket-diary. I took the photo and asked the private secretary to spit on it. The secretary was struck aghast. He hesitated and looked at the baron. I again commanded him, ‘Go on, spit at the picture. Quick’. The secretary said, ‘Swamiji, the baron is my master. I serve him. How can I spit at the picture? This is his image. I cannot do this ignoble act. I respect him in this picture’. I said to him, ‘This is only a paper. This is not the real baron. It cannot talk, move or eat’. Then the secretary said, ‘Anyhow I see my baron in this picture. This mean act would affect my feelings as well as wound the feelings of my master. I cannot spit’. I said to the baron, ‘Look here, my friend! Your secretary loves and respects your photo. He associates your presence with the picture although it is just a bit of paper. Is this not image-worship? Even so the devotee associates the attributes of God with the image and feels His presence or immanence there. He finds it easy to concentrate his mind on the image. The mind wants a concrete prop to lean upon in the beginning stage of practice. Do you see the point now, my dear baron? The baron replied, ‘Revered Swamiji! You are quite right. My eyes are opened now. I am quite convinced. Pray, pardon me’”.

 

Source : Yvonne Lebeau's This Monk from India

Om  Namoh Bhagavathe Sivanandaya !

Om Namoh Bhagavathe Chidanandaya !

 

The Human Quest

Hari Om,

Swami Sivananda does not preach from a podium. He comes down to the level of the common man and asks him what he wants. Bang comes the reply: “Happiness!”. Happiness is what everyone is after. From cradle to grave, it is the one ceaseless human quest. The new-born baby seeks comfort in its mother’s bosom. The dying man seeks solace in a last look at his close relatives crowding round his cot. During their earthly sojourn, different people look for happiness in different places, but their goal is common.

Some call it happiness. Others call it peace. Sivananda sees everyone striving for it, each in his own way, but not getting it. Happiness, the most sought-after goal of all human endeavours, is also the most elusive. Worldly happiness is like the will-o’-the wisp. Just as one seems to secure it, it eludes one’s grasp. Even when secured, it does not last. It is fleeting. It is momentary. Not only that, it is invariably mixed with pain. Lasting happiness thus becomes a never-ending chase.

Why is this so? Sivananda says that it is because man searches for happiness in the wrong place. To illustrate his point, the Master tells a story:

“A simpleton was passing through a dark tunnel. A coin he was holding in his hand slipped down on the ground. He came out of the tunnel and started vigorously searching for it all over the place just outside the tunnel. People got curious. They questioned him. He said, ‘I have lost my money. I am not able to find it, though I have been searching for it all day’. ‘Where did you lose it?’ asked a bystander. ‘Inside that tunnel’ came a reply. ‘And why are you searching for it here?’ asked the amazed friend.‘Because it is dark inside the tunnel and bright here!’”

“Who will not laugh at such foolishness?” asks Sivananda, “And yet, such truly is the case with numberless men and women today. They all want peace. They realise that they have lost it. They are frantically searching for it. But where? Where they are able to see. Not where it is, where they lost it!”.

Peace lies in God. Happiness lies in God, from whom man has descended. When man separated from God, he lost his happiness. He can regain that happiness only when he returns to God. “Happiness comes when the individual merges in God,” says holy Master Sivananda in his last sentence, dictated just three weeks before his Mahasamadhi. Once man is merged in God, there is no coming back to this world of woes.

Source : Sri N.Ananthanarayanan's book 'What does Swami Sivananda Teach'

Om Namoh Bhagavathe Sivanandaya !

Om Namoh Bhagavathe Chidanandaya !