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Ramakrishna · Ramana Maharshi
Vivekananda · Narayana Guru
N.C. Yati · Coomaraswamy
Aurobindo ·Sivananda
Nisargadatta Maharaj ·Anandamurti
Satyananda · Chinmayananda
Ayya Vaikundar · Pandurang Shastri Athavale Swami Chidvilasananda
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Swami Sivananda Saraswati (Sep 8, 1887—Jul 14, 1963), was a Hindu spiritual leader and a well known proponent of Yoga and Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Tamil Nadu. He studied medicine and served in Malaya as a physician for several years before taking up monasticism. He lived most of the later part of his life in Rishikesh. He is the founder of The Divine Life Society and author of over 200 books^[1] on yoga, vedanta and a variety of other subjects. He established Sivananda Ashram, the location of the headquarters of The Divine Life Society (DLS), on the bank of the Ganges at Shivanandanagar, at a distance of 3 kilometres from Rishikesh Town, (Distt. Tehri-Garhwal, U.P., India). Image File history File links Sivananda Saraswati (fair use) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Hindu philosophy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Image File history File links Aum. ... Samkhya, also Sankhya, (Sanskrit: सांख्य, IAST: Sāṃkhya - Enumeration) is one of the six schools of classical Indian philosophy. ... Raja Yoga (lit. ... (Sanskrit ni-āyá, literally recursion, used in the sense of syllogism, inference)) is the name given to one of the six orthodox or astika schools of Hindu philosophy—specifically the school of logic. ... Vaisheshika, also Vaisesika, (Sanskrit: वैशॆषिक)is one of the six Hindu schools of philosophy (orthodox Vedic systems) of India. ... The main objective of the Purva (earlier) Mimamsa school was to establish the authority of the Vedas. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Advaita Vedanta (IAST ; Devanagari ; IPA ) is the dominant sub-school of the Vedānta (literally, end or the goal of the Vedas, Sanskrit) school of Hindu philosophy. ... VishishtAdvaita Vedanta (IAST ;Sanskrit: विशिष्टाद्वैत)) is a sub-school of the Vedānta (literally, end or the goal of the Vedas, Sanskrit) school of Hindu philosophy, the other major sub-schools of Vedānta being Advaita and Dvaita. ... Dvaita (Devanagari:द्बैत, Kannada:ದ್ವೈತ) (also known as Tattvavada and Bheda-vada), a school of Vedanta (the most widespread Hindu philosophy) founded by Madhvacharya, stresses a strict distinction between God (Vishnu) and the individual living beings (jivas). ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Patañjali as an incarnation of Adi Sesha Patañjali (DevanāgarÄ« पतञ्जलि) is the compiler of the Yoga Sutra, a major work containing aphorisms on the philosophical aspects of mind and consciousness, and also the author of a major commentary on Paninis Ashtadhyayi, although many scholars do not consider... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with saptarshi. ... Kanada (also transliterated as Kanad and in other ways; Sanskrit कणाद) was a Hindu sage who founded the philosophical school of Vaisheshika. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Veda Vyasa(Contemporary painting) Vyāsa (DevanāgarÄ«: व्यास) is a central and much revered figure in the majority of Hindu traditions. ... Adi Shankara (Malayalam: ആദി ശങ്കരന്‍, DevanāgarÄ«: , , IPA: ); c. ... Ramanuja Tamil: ,  [?] (traditionally 1017–1137) was a theologian, philosopher, and scriptural exegete. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... MadhusÅ«dana SarasvatÄ« (c. ... Sant Tukaram (तुकाराम) (c. ... Namdev, Nam Dev, or Saint Namdev (1270-1350) born to a low-caste tailor named Damasheti and his wife, Gonabi in the village of Naras-Vamani, in the district of Maharashtra, India. ... Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (Bangla: রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস Ramkrishno Pôromôhongsho), born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay (Bangla: গদাধর চট্টোপাধ্যায় Gôdadhor Chôţţopaddhae) [1], (February 18, 1836–August 16, 1886) was a Hindu religious teacher and an influential figure in the Bengal Renaissance of the Nineteenth century. ... Sri Ramana Maharshi (December 30, 1879 – April 14, 1950) was a Hindu[1][2] Sage who lived on the sacred mountain Arunachala in India. ... Swami Vivekananda (Bengali: Shami Bibekanondo) (January 12, 1863 - July 4, 1902), whose pre-monastic name was Narendranath Dutta ( Nôrendrônath Dôt-tô), was one of the most famous and influential spiritual leaders of the philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga and a major figure in the history of Hinduism... Narayana Guru It has been suggested that the section Sri Narayana Guru from the article Ezhava be merged into this article or section. ... Nitya Chaitanya Yati (Nithya Chaithanya Yati) (2 November 1923 - May 14, 1999) was an Indian philosopher. ... Dr. A.K. Coomaraswamy // Life of Dr. A.K. Coomaraswamy Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy (22 August 1877 Colombo - 9 September 1947 Needham, Massachusetts) was the son of the famous Sri Lankan legislator and philosopher Sir Mutu Coomaraswamy and his English wife Elizabeth Beeby. ... Sri Aurobindo (Bangla: শ্রী অরবিন্দ Sri Ôrobindo, Sanskrit: श्री अरविन्द SrÄ« Aravinda) (August 15, 1872–December 5, 1950) was an Indian/Hindu nationalist, scholar, poet, mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru [1]. After a short political career in which he became one of leaders of the early movement for the freedom of India from... Nisargadatta Maharaj near the end of his life. ... Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar was born in Bihar, India on a full moon day in May of 1921 to a family belonging to the intellectual caste of Brahmins. ... Swami Satyananda (born in Almorah, Uttar Pradesh, India in 1923), a disciple of Swami Sivananda, is a modern yoga master and guru. ... Image:Swami Chinmayananda. ... According to Akilattirattu Ammanai, a scripture of the Ayyavazhi, Ayya Vaikundar அய்யா வைகுண்டர், was a Manu (father, sovereign) avatar (the incarnation of a deity) of Narayana. ... Pandurang Shastri Vaijnath Athavale (Gujarati: , Marathi: ) (October 19, 1920 – October 25, 2003), known as dada (Gujarati: , Marathi: ), meaning elder brother in marathi) A philosopher and social reformer who gave discourses upon Srimad Bhagawad Geeta and Upnishads. ... Swami Chidvilasananda (born Malti Shetty - June 24, 1955 in Mumbai, India) is the current guru of the Siddha Yoga lineage (parampara) established by Swami Muktananda. ... September 8 is the 251st day of the year (252nd in leap years). ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... July 14 is the 195th day (196th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 170 days remaining. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A Hindu ( , Devanagari: हिन्दु), as per modern definition, is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, and the religious, philosophical and cultural system that originated in the Indian subcontinent. ... Statue of Shiva performing Yogic meditation Yoga (Devanagari: योग) is a group of ancient spiritual practices originating in India. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Tamil Nadu (தமிழ் நாடு, Land of the Tamils) is a state at the southern tip of India. ... Map of Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia (Malay: Semenanjung Malaysia) is the part of Malaysia which lies on the Malay Peninsula, and shares a land border with Thailand in the north. ... The Doctor by Luke Fildes This article is about the term physician, one type of doctor; for other uses of the word doctor see Doctor. ... River Ganges in Rishikesh Rishikesh (also spelled Hrishikesh) (Hindi: )is a city and a municipal board in Dehradun district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. ... The Divine Life Society was founded by Swami Sivananda Saraswati at Rishikesh, India in 1936. ...

Early life

Sivananda was born Kuppuswamy in Pattamadai near Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu, India as the third son to his parents on 8 September 1887.^[2] Kuppuswami the boy was very active and promising in academics and gymnastics. He attended medical school in Tanjore, where he excelled. He ran a medical journal called Ambrosia during this period. Upon graduation he practiced medicine and worked as a doctor in Malaya for ten years, with a reputation for waiving his fee for poor patients needing treatment.^[2] Over time, a sense that medicine was healing on a superficial level grew in him,^[2] urging him to look elsewhere to fill the void, and in 1923 he left Malaya and retuned to India to pursue a spiritual quest. , Tirunelveli district [8] is the penultimate southern most district of Tamilnadu in India. ... Tamil Nadu (தமிழ் நாடு, Land of the Tamils) is a state at the southern tip of India. ... is the 251st day of the year (252nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... Thanjavur, also known as Tanjore, is a city in Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. ... Map of Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia (Malay: Semenanjung Malaysia) is the part of Malaysia which lies on the Malay Peninsula, and shares a land border with Thailand in the north. ... Year 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Initiation

Upon his return to India he visited Banaras, Nashik, Poona and various other pilgrimage centres. At Banaras, he had the Darshan of Lord Vishvanath.^[2] , VārāasÄ« ( , Hindi: , IPA: ), also known as Benares, Banaras, or Benaras ( , Hindi: , , IPA: ), or Kashi or Kasi ( , Hindi: , ), is a famous Hindu holy city situated on the banks of the river Ganges (Ganga) in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ... , Nashik (Marathi: ) ( ) or Nasik (Marathi: ) is a city in Indias Maharashtra state. ... Pune, formerly called Poona, is the second largest city (after Mumbai) in the state of Maharashtra, India. ... Benares (also known as Banaras, Kashi, Kasi and Varanasi (वाराणसी)) is a Hindu holy city on the banks of the river Ganga or Ganges in the modern north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ... Darshan is a Sanskrit and Hindu (also used to some extent in Urdu) term meaning sight (in the sense of an instance of seeing something or somebody), vision, apparition, or a glimpse. ... Shiva (also spelled Siva; Sanskrit ) is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. ...

Sivananda next went to Rishikesh in 1924 where met his guru, Swami Vishwananda Saraswati. It was Vishwananda who initiated him into the Sannyas order and gave him his monastic name.^[2] However, since Sivananda spent only a few hours with Swami Vishwananda, the full Viraja Homa ceremonies were performed later by Swami Vishnudevananda (not to be confused with his own later disciple, Swami Vishnu-devananda), the Mahant of Sri Kailas Ashram.^[2] After initiation, Sivananda settled in Rishikesh and immersed himself in intense spiritual practices. Sivananda performed austerities for many years but he also continued to help the sick. With some money from his insurance policy that had matured, he started a charitable dispensary at Lakshmanjula in 1927 and served pilgrims, holy men and the poor using his medical expertise. River Ganges in Rishikesh Rishikesh (also spelled Hrishikesh) (Hindi: )is a city and a municipal board in Dehradun district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. ... Viraja Homa refers to the formal ceremonies by which a Hindu monk takes up the vows of renunciation (Sannyas). ... Founder of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers, Swami Vishnu-devananda, was a world authority on Hatha and Raja Yoga. ... Year 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Travels

After a few years, Sivananda went on an extensive pilgrimage and traveled the length and breadth of India to meditate at holy shrines and study with spiritual teachers throughout India. During this Parivrajaka (wandering monk) life, Sivananda visited important places of pilgrimage in the south, including Rameshvaram.^[2] He conducted Sankirtan and delivered lectures during his travels. He visited the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and met Maharishi Suddhananda Bharati. At the Ramana ashram, he had the Darshan of Ramana Maharshi on Maharshi's birthday.^[3] He sang bhajans and danced in ecstasy with Maharshi's bhaktas. He also went on pilgrimages to various places in northern India including Kedarnath and Badrinath. He visited Kailash-Manasarovar in 1931. Rameswaram is a town in the southern part of India in the state of Tamil Nadu. ... ... Sri Aurobindo (Bangla: শ্রী অরবিন্দ Sri Ôrobindo, Sanskrit: श्री अरविन्द SrÄ« Aravinda) (August 15, 1872–December 5, 1950) was an Indian/Hindu nationalist, scholar, poet, mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru [1]. After a short political career in which he became one of leaders of the early movement for the freedom of India from... Darshan is a Sanskrit and Hindu (also used to some extent in Urdu) term meaning sight (in the sense of an instance of seeing something or somebody), vision, apparition, or a glimpse. ... Sri Ramana Maharshi (December 30, 1879 – April 14, 1950) was a Hindu[1][2] Sage who lived on the sacred mountain Arunachala in India. ... A bhajan or kirtan is a Hindu devotional song, often of ancient origin. ... Bhakta is a Hindu term for a person who practices bhakti, that is loving devotion for God. ... The Kedarnath temple Kedarnath is a Hindu holy town located in the the Indian state of Uttarakhand. ... , Badrinath is a Hindu holy town and a nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. ... Mount Kailash (officially: Kangrinboqê; Tibetan: Gang Rinpoche, གངས་རིན་པོཅཧེ་; Wylie: Gangs Rin-po-che; ZWPY: Kangrinboqê; Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Hindi कैलाश पर्वत, Kailāśā Parvata) is a peak in the Gangdisê mountains, the source of some of the longest rivers in Asia—the Indus River, the Sutlej River, a tributary of the Ganges... Lake Manasarovar or Lake Manasa Sarovar (Sanskrit: मानसरोवर; Tibetan: མ་ཕམ་གཡུ་མཚོ།, Mapham Yutso) is a fresh-water lake in Tibet 2000 km from Lhasa. ...

Foundations

During Sivananda's stay in Rishikesh and his travels around India, many came to him for guidance in the spiritual path. He permitted some of them to live near him and instructed them. Sivananda asked his students take copies of his short articles and send them for publication. Slowly, large number of people started coming to him and his circle started growing. Image File history File links Swami Sivananda Saraswati From the Divine Life Society Website; fair use File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Sivananda founded the Divine Life Society in 1936 on the banks of the holy Ganges River. The free distribution of spiritual literature drew a steady flow of disciples to the Swami, including the young U.G. Krishnamurti, who studied with him for seven summers, and Swami Satyananda Saraswati, founder of Satyananda Yoga. The Divine Life Society was founded by Swami Sivananda Saraswati at Rishikesh, India in 1936. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article is about the river. ... Uppaluri Gopala Krishnamurti can be called a guru in that many people come to him looking for spiritual guidance. ... Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati (born 1923), is an important yoga master and guru in both his native India and the West. ... Satyananda Yoga is a school of yoga founded by Swami Satyananda. ...

In 1945, Swami Sivananda created the Sivananda Ayurvedic Pharmacy, and organized the All-world Religions Federation. He established the All-world Sadhus Federation in 1947 and Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy in 1948. He called his yoga the Yoga of Synthesis. Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Ayurveda (आयुर्वेद Sanskrit: ayu—life; veda—knowledge of) or ayurvedic medicine is a more than 2,000 year old comprehensive system of medicine based on a holistic approach rooted in Vedic culture. ...

Swami Sivananda's disciple Swami Chidananda is the current President of the Divine Life Society in India and was appointed by Swami Sivananda. Swami Chidananda Saraswati (b. ...

Other prominent disciples were Swami Vishnu-devananda, Swami Krishnananda, Swami Venkatesananda (South Africa, Mauritius, Madagascar, Australia), Swami Satchidananda (U.S.A.), Swami Pranavananda (Malaysia), Swami Shantananda (Malaysia & Singapore) and Swami Chinmayananda. Founder of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers, Swami Vishnu-devananda, was a world authority on Hatha and Raja Yoga. ... Swami Satchidananda on the cover of his biography Swami Satchidananda (1914–2002) was an Indian religious figure who gained fame and followers in the West, especially in the United States. ... Image:Swami Chinmayananda. ...

Authorship

A prolific author, Swami Sivananda wrote exactly 296 books on a variety of subjects: metaphysics, Yoga, religion, western philosophy, psychology, eschatology, fine arts, ethics, education, health, sayings, poems, epistles, autobiography, biography, stories, dramas, messages, lectures, dialogues, essays and anthology.^[4] Yet his books emphasized the practical application of yoga philosophy over mere theoretical knowledge. He was known to have said "An ounce of practice is better than tons of theory. Practice Yoga, Religion and Philosophy in daily life and attain Self-realization."^[5] Plato (Left) and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome) Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the ultimate nature of reality, being, and the world. ... Statue of Shiva performing Yogic meditation Yoga (Devanagari: योग) is a group of ancient spiritual practices originating in India. ... Western philosophy is a modern claim that there is a line of related philosophical thinking, beginning in ancient Greece (Greek philosophy) and the ancient Near East (the Abrahamic religions), that continues to this day. ... Psychology (from Greek: ψυχή, psukhē, spirit, soul; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is both an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. ... For the book by Pope Benedict XVI, see Eschatology (book). ... Fine art is a term used to refer to fields traditionally considered to be artistic. ... Ethics (via Latin from the Ancient Greek moral philosophy, from the adjective of ēthos custom, habit), a major branch of philosophy, is the study of values and customs of a person or group. ... Look up saying in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Chinese poem Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain by Emperor Gaozong (Song Dynasty) Poetry (from the Greek , poesis, making or creating) is a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its ostensible meaning. ... The word epistle is from the Greek word epistolos which means a written letter addressed to a recipient or recipients, perhaps part of exchanged correspondence. ... Cover of the first English edition of 1793 of Benjamin Franklins autobiography. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Stories may refer to: Stories (album), a greatest hits compilation album by Randy Stonehill Stories (band), a short-lived art rock band of the early 1970s, best known for the song Brother Louie ... This article refers to the art form. ... Message in its most general meaning is the object of communication. ... A lecture is a talk on a particular subject given in order to teach people about that subject, for example by a university or college teacher. ... The term dialogue (or dialog) expresses basically reciprocal conversation between two or more persons. ... Essay, a short work that treats of a topic from an authors personal point of view, often taking into account subjective experiences and personal reflections upon them. ... An anthology, literally a garland or collection of flowers, is a collection of literary works, originally of poems. ...

Death

Swami Sivananda died on 14 July 1963 in his Kutir on the bank of Ganges, in Shivanandanagar.^[3] is the 195th day of the year (196th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Notes and references

1. ^ http://www.sivananda.org/teachings/teachers/sivananda/sivananda.html
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Autobiography of Swami Sivananda
3. ^ ^{a b} http://dlshq.org/saints/siva.htm
4. ^ http://www.dlshq.org/allbooks.htm
5. ^ See 'Sadhana Tattva': http://www.dlshq.org/download/allsiva.htm#_VPID_122

• Breif Biography of Swami Sivananda

External links

• Swami Sivananda's original Ashram
• [1]
• www.sivananda.org
• Site devoted to Swami Sivananda, with online books.
• Swami Sivananda's books.
• More of Swami Sivananda's books.
• The Divine Life Society
• Life sketch of Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh
• Sivananda on indiayogi.com
• The Divine Life Society in Australia