Sadhana Chatushtaya

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His holiness Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj did not write text books as such. The books he wrote were outpourings of wisdom from his own direct relation of the Truth.

From his books you will derive not only the benefit of his wisdom and knowledge of both practical and esoteric matters pertaining to Yoga, but also the power of his spiritual force.

Sri Swami Sivanandaji had a unique style – simple, direct and compelling. His books are not dull treatises on yoga and philosophy, rather his enthusiasm and eagerness to help all is evident in every page, lifting the reader to new heights of understanding.

During recent years there has been a great spiritual revival and people in India abroad have taken seriously to the study of Yoga and Vedanta. But, in practice, it has been found that there is – in keeping with the rapid tempo of life itself in the modern world – an unpardonable hurry and neglect of essentials, in the field of the practice of Yoga, too. Seekers after Truth are impatient to enter into the Transcendental Realm of Self-realisation; practitioners of Yoga expect to enter into Samadhi a week after taking up the practice 'concentration and meditation'.

The all-important preparation is woefully neglected. Our ancient scriptures have given the place of greatest prominence to these preparatory steps – Yama-Niyama or the Sadhana Chatushtaya. His Holiness Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, too, has been forewarning students of Yoga not to neglect this; and as a matter of fact he has declared that the greater the attention paid to these preparatory steps – the cultivation of virtues and the eradication of vices – the more rapid would the march of the seeker towards the Goal be.

To the sincere and earnest seeker after Truth therefore, this book is a boon. It gives him the key to success in Yoga.

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 though 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 carrier and took a life of renunciation qualify himself for ministering to the soul of man. He settled down at Rishikesh in 1924, practiced intense austerities and shone as a great Yogi, saint, sage and Jivanmukta. In 1932 he 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 there aim and object. In 1950 he undertook a lightning tour of India and Ceylon. In 1953 he convened a 'World Parliament of Religions'. He is the author of over 300 volumes and has disciples all over the world, belonging to all nationalities, religions and creeds. To read his works is to drink at the Foundation of Wisdom Supreme. On 14th July, 1963 he entered Mahasamadhi.