Waves of Bliss

WAVES OF BLISS": Every page, every line of it is vibrant with such an electric current. Keep a copy in your portfolio. Read a page-any page-when you have a few minutes' leisure. You will be electrified. There is plenty of humour; serene statements; the truth about falsehood revealed in all its nakedness; and there is simple advice to one and all. The publishers would be amply rewarded for placing this Electric Illuminator in your hands if you would make the best use of it!

How true is this of Sri Swami Sivananda, the immortal and unaging child of the Eternal God, who has by the very simplicity of his thoughts, manners and behaviour, endeared himself to the heart of all, made children of philosophers and politicians, and playfully awakened millions to the spiritual life, in all parts of the world!

And, through the most simple-looking copper wires, speeds the most powerful electric current which illumines a whole city in the twinkling of an eye and can burn up anything that approaches it within a range. Even so, through Swamiji's simple words runs a spirit which at once illumines the heart of all, and burns up Avidya in all its forms.

About the Author:

Born on the 8th September, 1887, in the illustrious family of Sage Appayya Dikshitar and several other renowned saints and savants, Sri Swami Sivananda had a natural flair for a life devoted to the study and practice of Vedanta. Added to this was an inborn eagerness to serve all and an innate feeling of unity with all mankind.

His passion for service drew him to the medical career; and soon he gravitated to where he thought that his service was most needed. Malaya claimed him. He had earlier been editing a health journal and wrote extensively on health problems. He discovered that people needed right knowledge most of all; dissemination of that knowledge he espoused as his own mission.

It was divine dispensation and the blessing of God upon mankind that the doctor of body and mind renounced his career and took to a life of renunciation to qualify for ministering to the soul of man. He settled down at Rishikesh in 1924, practised intense austerities and shone as a great Yogi, saint, sage and Jivanmukta.

In 1932 Swami Sivananda started the Sivanandashram. In 1936 was born The Divine Life Society. In 1948 the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy was organized. Dissemination of spiritual knowledge and training of people in Yoga and Vedanta were their aim and object. In 1950 Swamiji undertook a lightning tour of India and Ceylon. In 1953 Swamiji convened a 'World Parliament of Religious'. Swamiji is the author of over 300 volumes and has disciples all over the world, belonging to all nationalities, religions and creeds. To read Swamiji's works is to drink at the Fountain of Wisdom Supreme. On 14th July, 1963 Swamiji entered Mahasamadhi.

Preface:

Spiritual knowledge is imparted with the best result not through the precision of logic and reason, but through image, literature, art and beauty. It is the change of the feelings heart and not the understandings of the brain that touches the being of the inner man. Adhyatma-Vidya is the science of the innermost essence of the universe and it cannot therefore, come under the intellectual categories of objective discernment. The teachings of the sages have all had the conspicuous characteristic of appealing to the whole nature of the human being,-not merely an aspect of him. The highest teachings are executed in the homely language, the language of the heart of man. The simple great declarations of the Upanishads serve as examples.

We have here the Waves of Bliss, the materialization of the spontaneous flow out of the depth of Swami Sivananda. It is a book meant for children and adults, the young and the old, men and women alike. The human touch in him coupled with his deep sagacity and impervious knowledge have proved to be such a beautiful combination of the relative and the superphysical characters that his writings are a joy to the sorrowful, a strength to the weak, an illumination to the ignorant. The blending of intelligence and feeling, a melting of the head and the heart, is a common feature found in these outflows of his blissful expressions. Human troubles are not alleviated through flowery speeches and subtle hairsplitting, for the source of sorrow is rooted in the very make-up of the individual and not in his superficial coatings. The inner disease is not cured by washing the outer shirt. The root has to be dug out.

A study of these highly spiritual lines from the holy pen of the saint is meant to cheer up the weary aspirant in his journey towards the City of the Immortal. These Waves shall bathe all with the Peace of Bliss, and everyone shall return elevated to the height of the joy of the Real is our fervent hope.