Once one Murugadas sang a devotional song. Swamiji said, ‘‘The song was like a sweet Laddoo (a sweetmeat). Murugadas wanted you to eat the sweet Laddoo but Om is the sweetest Laddoo. It is this Laddoo alone that will make you immortal.’’
A visitor asked Swamiji, “Please advise me what Sadhana will suit me.”
(Sadhana means guided regular practices to express and intensify your love of God)
Swamiji replied, “To recite the Lord’s name, to serve all, to love all, not to hurt others’ feelings and to speak the truth always is the Sadhana which will suit you and everybody.”
September 8, 1948. That was the occasion for the formal opening of the Silver Jubilee Kutirs (rooms).
Swamiji remarked, “Lord Jesus says that man cannot live by bread alone. But man can live eternally on the Divine Name of the Lord alone. The Divine Name is the source of all strength and all joy. The Divine Name is a divine healer. I have got a Divine Name Injection which cures all diseases and infuses new energy in you.”
In the year 1949 the Maharani of Mysore visited the Sivananda Ashram. The residents of the Ashram had brought her a chair to sit on but she said she would prefer to sit on the bare ground in the presence of Swamiji. When Swamijj heard this he unhesitatingly stooped down and removed the stones and pebbles on the ground to make room for her to sit.
When the Maharani protested that Swamiji should not do that, he said, “No formalities. I am your own son.”
* The word ‘Swamiji’ refers to Swami Sivananda.
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