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Report: Sri Swami Sivananda's Mahasamadhi Anniversary

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Fifty three years ago, the Being that was Swami Sivananda laid aside its mortal vesture and merged with the Divine. The time the Master chose to merge with the Supreme proved to be a holy Muhurta of extreme auspiciousness. Today, hundreds of Divine Life Society branches throughout the world still flourish because Master’s Shakti permeates the entire world and they observe this sacred Samadhi Day on 14 July, commemorating the Master’s Mahasamadhi.
 
Devotees of Divine Life Society of S.A. braved the cold morning weather at 6am on 14 July 2016, to assemble at Sivanandashram, Reservoir Hills to pay homage to Swami Sivananda. A large gathering also turned up in the evening to be a part of the Satsang which commenced at 5.30pm. In the welcome, we quoted the words of Pujya Swamiji Sahajananda, written on 7 August, 2007(Mahasamadhi Day according to the Sanskrit Calendar): “On this day, we pay rich tribute to our Divine Master, who was an ocean of love, compassion and mercy. Throughout his life he demonstrated these qualities. He took upon himself some of the Karmas of us disciples. All saints do so but our Master was exceptional in this respect.”
 
A reading on the last days of Swami Sivananda was taken from the book, From Man to God-man by N. Ananthanarayanan. We quote a paragraph from this reading:  “On a subsequent day, despite his illness, the Master began dictating as usual. After a few sentences he said, ‘Happiness comes when the individual merges in God.’ There was a pause—a minute, two minutes, three minutes but the Master said nothing. The waiting disciple asked if he would proceed with the dictation. ‘Porum,’ the Master uttered in cryptic Tamil. It meant ‘enough’. ‘Happiness comes when the individual merges in God.’ This was the last dictated sentence of Swami Sivananda, author of hundreds of inspiring books on man and his destiny. The peerless teacher had summed up his great teachings in that one sentence, and he was soon to practise what he preached. He was to totally merge in God, within weeks of the above sentence.”
 
Following the above reading, Pujya Swamiji said an audio recording of 1983, “So a tremendous faith in the Divine Name and an unshakeable faith in one Guru and following one method will take us to the goal. You’ll find that whenever any difficulty arises, you’ll automatically start repeating the Mantra. It will also come in your dreams. The last thing you should do before you go to bed is to repeat the Name and go off to sleep with it. The first thing when you wake up, you should wake up with the Name. You will find at the time of death, will be chanting the Divine Name. You’ve got to sit up straight. That will give you will-power. It requires a lot of practise and if your body is still then the mind also will become still. If the mind is disturbed, the body is disturbed and if the body is disturbed the mind is also disturbed. I have very, very severe backache because of an injury that took place many years ago. The chiropractor said there was a fracture but I have found now that it is a blessing in disguise because the severe pain is making me try to forget the body and helping me and I don’t want to ask Gurudev to cure it. Let it stay there. So we’ve all got to face it and I found that if you keep the body very, very still and quiet you can bear the pain and you can at least look at the pain. But if you shake the body then the pain starts magnifying itself. If the mind is restless then the pain magnifies itself to a great extent.”
 
Devotees were treated to a DVD, showing the Master walking around the Campus of the Ashram in Rishikesh and were gladdened to see disciples garlanding and worshipping the Master. They were also saddened as they witnessed the last days of the Master and the last ceremonial rites being conducted. To the recitation of the holy Mantras, the Master’s body was taken into the pit and tenderly lowered into its final resting place. The commentator on the DVD concluded with the significant words of Swami Venketesananda as follows: “The end is perhaps shocking; but that is not the end. It is the beginning. The builder worked outside; he was on view. He created an inside and has entered it. Now he works inside, but out of external view, but more truly, and therefore purposefully active.”
 

 
Report: Sri Swami Sivananda's Mahasamadhi Anniversary (According to the Sanskrit Calendar)
 
Our Divine Master, Sri Swami Sivananda attained Mahasamadhi on 14 July 1963. This sacred day, according to the Sanskrit Calendar, was observed on 28 July 2016. At the time when the Master shed his mortal coil in 1963, Swami Venketesananda expressed the following profound thought, "The end is perhaps shocking; but that is not the end. It is the beginning. The builder worked outside; he was on view. He created an inside and has entered it. Now he works inside, but out of external view, but more truly, and therefore purposefully active." In the welcome address on 28 July at Sivanandashram, Reservoir Hills, devotees heard the following appeal "We make a special appeal to all to pray to our Divine Master to unblock all the channels within us so that our Master, the divine builder can work unseen within us. We pray to the Master also to make us receptive, to see his Divine hand manifesting in our day to day activities".

 

Three poems written by our Master were read out at the Satsang. We reproduce one of them entitled, "I am not Afraid", which revealed the Master's exalted state:

Let the whole world oppose me,
Let all turn out as my enemies,
Let all my friends and disciples leave,
Let me be put into prison,
Let me be sent on lifelong exile,
Let me be burnt alive,
Let me die of hunger,
Let me be poisoned or crucified,
Let my body be cut to pieces,
Let people come to stab or cut my throat,
Let me remain without anyone for help,
Let a thunderbolt fall upon my head,
Let me be thrown into the sea,
Let me be trampled upon by an elephant,
Let me be rolled down from a mountain summit
There is no fear in my heart, no more,
I have powdered death, Maya and its effects;
I am the immortal Soul, Sivoham, Sivoham.

Continuing on the same theme of fear, Pujya Swamiji said in an audio message, "It's only because we feel a sense of separation, that we have fear. In our younger days, our parents built up a sense of fear in us and even when I was quite grown up, I would never go into the next room at night. We were so sacred of ghosts. Later on when I took up Yoga, one of the first things I said was I am practising Yoga now and I can't be having this fear. So if I am the Atma why should I fear. So one night in Estcourt, I took a blanket and went about 5 miles into the bush. But I didn't sleep the whole night, half was through fear and the other was through cold. But yet, I did conquer it." In the same message Pujya Swamiji exhorted us not to be discouraged if we are not making spiritual progress. "We have to go on struggling and light will come" We must be patient, said Pujya Swamiji as "certain parts of our nature change quickly and certain parts change slowly, depending upon the Samskaras that are deep within."

 
Last modified on Monday, 01 August 2016 07:39
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