Quotes Shree Swami Chidananda Saraswati

Chidananda Saraswati (24 September 1916 – 28 August 2008) was President of the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh, India. He is well known in India as a yogi, jnani and spiritual leader. He succeeded as President of the Divine Life Society in 1963, after the death of his predecessor, Sivananda Saraswati, who founded the Society.

Chidananda’s birth name was Sridhar Rao. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola College, Chennai. He took to a life of renunciation in 1936, and joined the Sivananda Ashram run by Sivananda Saraswati in Rishikesh in 1943.

He was appointed General Secretary of the Divine Life Society in 1948. He was initiated into the Sannyas order by his guru, Sivananda, on Guru Purnima day, 10 July 1949. It was then that he received his monastic name “Chidananda”, which means “one who is consciousness and bliss”.

Whatever one is engaged in, whatever type of life one is leading, inwardly one should be ever rising upward, God ward, divine ward, up, up to this great attainment.

Divinity, love, compassion, wisdom, spiritual aspiration, sincere sadhana. You can do all these things and more to enrich yourself.

Entire life a total integrated movement towards the supreme consummation! May we progress towards the Goal each hour, minute and second to unfold and express our Divinity

May all the powers at our command be directed towards this one ideal of making our inner truth, our essential nature, our true identity! Live in such a way that you may emerge out as a shining, radiantly divine, perfect and liberated soul.

“If you want to be established in perfect concentration, you must apply yourself persistently, not allowing yourself even a single break.” Only by practicing ceaselessly with keen, unflagging interest over a protracted period of time will you ever become established in deep concentration.