PHILOSOPHY OF SWAMI SIVANANDA:
SERVE, LOVE, GIVE, PURIFY, MEDITATE, RELIZE YOURSELF.
BE GOOD, DO GOOD, BE NICE (GENTLE) BE COMPASSIONATE (MERCIFUL)
,,Deeply ponder these wonderful words, which reveal harmony, freedom, joy, success and blessing mystery. Remember that life‘s salt is a devoted service, life‘s bread is a universal love; life‘s water - innocence, purity. Hence serve, love, be fair. Life‘s flavor is dignity; life‘s sweetness is devotion; the axis of life is meditation. Life‘s purpose is self-realization. Therefore be pure and noble. Be good and do good. Be nice and sympathetic. Meditate and relize yourself“.
SERVE
The first step in the spiritual path is unselfish serving to mankind. Unselfish serving is a password in the road to liberation. Serving always sublimes and deifies. Serving cleans, liberates and energizes. Ti live one‘s life serving is to approximate to the deepest secret of life. To serve humanity equals to be in unity with the Cosmic Consciousness. Therefore, unselfishly, sincerely and with awareness (bhav) serve humanity.
LOVE
Love is truth and love is God. This is the highest expression of soul force. Love is the world's hope. Wherever there is love there is peace and where there is peace, there is joy. Therefore spread the truth of this cosmic love throughout the world. Let love reach the hearts of everyone and awaken love and brotherhood in human heart. Encircle world with heart, full of love.
GIVE
Give to the poor, the sick, the helpless and the lonely. Give to orphans, the elderly, the blind ones, give the helpless widows. If you give than all the world‘s wealth will be yours. This is the reason of wealth and divine life. Therefore, give, give, give. Be content with what you have, but create your life through giving. When richly giving, you will experience peace and prosperity. You will purify your heart. You can experience the unspeakable divine ecstasy and spiritual blessing. This will give you great inner strength.
Radiate sympathetic thoughts and share with others what you have. Distribute spiritual knowledge to everyone and anyone. Use the available material wealth, knowledge and spiritual wisdom as a divine faith for the sake of your children. Prayer is a halfway towards God, fasting - the doors to its highest office, and charity - a permit to enter there.
PURIFY
Mind purity provides peace, exhilaration, sharpness of thought, the victory against the senses, and helps to achieve God‘s realization. Mind can be pure in practicing virtue, self-control and dedication to God. When the mind is pure, it becomes your friend, because it throws down the shell that covers the Truth and allows to realize (experience) IT.
MEDITATE
Meditation is the only way to achieve immortality and eternal blessing. Meditation destroys all the reasons of sorrow and suffering. Regular meditation makes the mind calm and stable (solid) and opens intuitive ways of knowing. Then, when you enter the silence, in deep meditation, the outer world and all your worries and problems disappear. You will experience the pleasure of the Final Freedom. There‘s a Light of lights in this silence. There‘s a real power, strength and joy in this silence. The door to the senses will close. Thoughts and feelings, emotions will calm down. Sit motionless and silent early morning hours. Defeat your attitudes. Be alone with the Supreme, interact with it. Experience the pleasure in constant freedom and Silence. Meditate in a regular basis and you will achieve a self-realization.
REALIZE YOURSELF
Life is not about satisfying your palate and senses, life is realization of internal self. There is no vision of truth nor vision of God until the ego is eliminated. The goal of life is God Realization. Achieve this through Japa, Kirtan singing and satsanga meditation. Realize yourself. Be free.
BE GOOD
Dignity is the highest virtue. Dignity is good will, good works, charity, generosity, morality. Develop good habits. Foster kindness, dignity, divine thoughts. Totality of ethics and conduct is being in it. Being good is divine. If you want to be good, see what is good, hear what is good, think what is good, do what is good, say what is good, read what is good, write what is good, eat what is good, drink what is good. BE GOOD.
DO GOOD
A good action is never and nowhere lost. Every good work is a seed of immortality and eternity. Do good everything you can do, do all good things you can, to all people you can, anywhere, any time you can, with full dedication, power, love, all your heart and with all interest. Do it always, as much as you can. Your nature is to do good. To do good and to make others happy, to bring success and happiness for yourself.
BE NICE (gentle)
Develop gentleness. Gentleness is a healing balm. It eases the suffering. A gentle kiss, a soft word, a good nice gesture - all of which cost nothing, but bring happiness and joy, which cannot be bought for any money. Tenderness is the language that can be heard by deaf and understood by mute. Softness is a direct path to the kingdom of eternal blessing.
BE MERCIFUL (sympathetic, compassionate)
Open your heart to mercy. Understand the suffering of others, and be always ready to help them. The whole world is one family. Everyone is God's child. The whole world is your dwelling which you have to share with others. Heart mercy is God's dwelling.
Swami Sivananda
