Beloved Immortal Atman!
Blessed Seeker after Truth!

Om Namo Narayanaya! Great indeed is my good fortune to communicate with you through this letter, month by month, during this present year that is now drawing to its close. Through my monthly letter to you I have endeavoured to talk to you and express myself and share my thoughts on matters pertaining to your life, to our culture, to Sanatana Dharma and to Sri Gurudev’s great spiritual message and precious spiritual teachings. This to me is sacred service to Sri Gurudev and is also to me a means of keeping personal contact with you and thus coming closer to you as a member of Divine Life fraternity, brought into being by our holy Gurudev Sri Sivanandaji Maharaj. It is a joy to me therefore to keep in touch with you, through this Sivanandashram Letter in this way.

Blessed Atman! Through these lines I seek to arouse within you a constant awareness of the spiritual purpose of your life. I seek to remind you of the great importance of upholding Dharma in your daily life. I strive earnestly to hold up before your vision the lofty goal of God-realisation and to place before you our worshipful Sri Gurudev’s central teachings of selfless service, devotion to God, daily spiritual meditation and Supreme Divine Illumination. To bring the light of spiritual and moral ideals in every walk of life and into every activity of yours is the aim of this monthly letter of mine that comes to your goodself from this most holy and beautiful Ashram of Sri Gurudev Sivananda, where it is my sacred privilege to serve at his feet as his earnest servant and slave. It brings to you the voice of the Himalayas and message of the mother Ganges and it comes you with a call to Divine Life of truthfulness, purity, compassion, kindness, love and practical goodness. The Sivanandashram Letter tries to further this spiritual service of seekers and Sadhakas, which was Gurudev’s central mission in life. It carries the essence of Yoga and Vedanta and Gurudev’s gospel of religion in daily life and worship through service. If by doing this, I am enabled to repay even the tiniest fraction of the immeasurable deep debt of gratitude, which I owe to the sacred feet of Gurudev, I would deem myself most blessed. Thus this monthly Sivanandashram letter is to the writer the means, whereby the great Guru is served and by which you too who are Gurudev’s spiritual heirs receive my service. It constitutes one of the avenues through which I render service to sacred Bharatavarsha and Bharatiya Samskriti (our mother-culture) by constantly reminding her children about their noble heritage, their serious duty and the sublime ideal which they must fulfil in their lives, individual as well as corporate. In this letter I come into your home. I sit by your side and I speak to you in person of tasks to be done, of things to be remembered, of the importance of living life spiritually and of great blessedness of human birth. I speak of the path to peace and the way to bliss and above all of the pervading presence of God and His ever-nearness to you. Beloved Self, in God and God alone can you ultimately find true happiness and real fulfilment. Apart from Him, life is a meaningless burden to those ignorant of the glorious spiritual goal. God is the greatest value, Grand Glorious REAL. All this I say to you and the Sivanandashram Letter brings you my words, as prompted by Sri Gurudev, whose servant I am. It is an expression of my love, symbol of my Seva, fulfilment of spiritual duty and means of offering homage to God.

Look back and briefly review the eleven months that have gone by. How has been the year with you? Or rather shall I ask you how have you been during this period of the year that is now drawing to close? Have you made it a year of progressive self-culture and self-conquest? How much have you gained physically, ethically and spiritually? Have you earnestly worked towards certain set goals and significant attainment? Have you striven to make life a Divine Life? Have these past eleven months seen a substantial advance in truthfulness, purity and self-control, kindness and goodness and the overcoming of anger? These are the questions before you, which you must answer at this moment. It is in the light of these true and honest answers that you can move towards the coming India, with the right understanding of yourself and right determination to utilise the days ahead properly and well, to your highest benefit and for your greatest good. This right understanding, right resolve and right action verily constitute the essence of real life.

The most valuable and the most important thing in a country and its people is the culture that they evolved. Their culture contains their distinctive sense of value, their view of life and their ideals of conduct and what they consider to be the ultimate goal to be attained by them through this life. Life in India had ever been based upon the great culture, derived from the Vedas that were the repositories of deep wisdom. The highest wisdom of this richest treasure is to be found in the later parts that are known as the Upanishads. The very essence of this Upanishadic wisdom is contained in the sublime little scripture, The Bhagavad-Gita, the Universal Gospel of all mankind. It is the direct personal teachings of God Himself in His incarnation as Lord Krishna. The supremely auspicious day, upon which this Divine Wisdom was given to man, is marked by the Gita Jayanti, which is the sacred Anniversary to all people throughout India. On the 12th of this month this auspicious Anniversary will be observed everywhere in this land by all patriotic sons and daughters of India. The Srimad Bhagavad Gita is an immortal treasure inherited by you. Peace, joy and freedom from fear will be yours if you received the teachings of Gita and imbibe its wisdom. To live in the spirit of Gita is to be master of all situations and to possess the secret of successful living. Will you be victim of life or come victorious through life? You can choose and decide what you will. The wonderful Bhagavad Gita will enable you to do this and will help you to go through life as a master and as a changeless witness of the changing scene. All things are possible to man if he will manfully exert and persevere in his efforts. Thus declares the Gita.

Absorb into your very self the wondrous message of Gita. Live, breathe and act in the spirit of its sublime gospels. Follow its practical teachings; you will obtain strength, joy and peace. It will grant you complete freedom from tension, worry and fear. It will reveal to you the secret of mental equipoise amidst all circumstances. Herein I give you a gist of Gita teachings. Listen carefully. Remember and act. Thou art immortal Soul. Thou art neither body nor mind. Thou art indestructible, imperishable Atman. Nothing can harm you. The physical body has birth and death. But it is only a covering or mere cage in which you reside while on earth. You are deathless. In your real nature thou art Immortal. Remember this. Realise this. Now become free from all weakness, fear and superstition.

Live with this radiant awareness and perform all actions in a spirit of inner detachment and desirelessness. Have neither love nor hatred. Be balanced in pleasure or pain, loss or gain, and success or failure. Be alike to good and evil persons. Neither become unduly elated nor depressed by any events, or occurrences. Such equanimity brings peace. This peace grants happiness.

Control the senses. Control the mind. Subdue desires. Persevere in this practice. Have self-reliance; be confident. Uplift thyself through determined effort. Slay all cravings. Sit alone in silence every day. Sit in a steady posture. Do not shake the body. Be relaxed. Breathe evenly. Withdraw the mind and the senses. Turn thy gaze and fix it within. Now gently concentrate and meditate. Gradually the mind will become steady like the flame of the lamp in a windless place. Meditate, Meditate, Meditate. You will come face to face with the inner Reality and attain wisdom.

Do not indulge in mere talk and philosophical gossip. Be a practical man. Do something noble in this life. Develop virtue. Live to serve others. Regard life as a sublime Yajna or self-offering meant to be glorified by dedication to the noble cause of working for the happiness of others. Such work verily becomes worship of the Supreme. Inwardly be ever united with the Divine through constant remembrance of Him. This Universe is the manifestation of the Lord. Behold Him in the glories of the Nature. See Him in all names and forms. Feel His Presence at all times. This enables you to enter into communion with Him. You will have the descent of His Grace.

Prepare thyself for this Divine descent through right conduct, right faith and purity of life. Overcome Rajas and Tamas. Fill your life with Sattva Guna. Make your life pure and Sattvic in all its details. Have knowledge of the three gunas. Learn to discriminate between the divine and the undivine, between the spiritual and unspiritual, between the holy and the unholy. Manifest in your life and conduct the divine qualities and totally renounce and cast out the undivine from thy nature. Give up totally lust, anger and greed. Surrender yourself at the feet of the Lord. Follow the sacred teachings of the Gita. Fulfil the Divine Will. You will never come to grief. Health, prosperity and victory will be thine. Cling firmly to the Lord and go thy way doing all thy duties in a spirit of detachment and joy. Blessed Self, this is indeed the call of the Gita to you. Respond to it. Crown your life with success.

I am glad to tell you that we are having three Divine Life Conferences next month (January, 1968) in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa consecutively. The First Gujarat State Divine Life Conference is to take place on the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th January, 1968 in Baroda. The Twelfth Andhra Pradesh Divine Life Conference is fixed for 11th, 12th and 13th January, 1968 at Kovvur (West Godavary Dist.). The Twenty-first All India Divine Life Conference and the Third All-Orissa Divine Life Conference are to take place at Berhampur, (Dist. Ganjam) on 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th January, 1968. Divine Life Society Members and devotees in the different States mentioned above should make the best use of this opportunity and try and attend their respective Conferences.

The Cuttack D. L. S. Branch has rendered noble service in the cause of the relief of people affected by the terrible typhoon that has caused untold havoc in Orissa. Report has been received of their group of volunteers that went to the affected area and served the distressed there. This is a noble activity that is pleasing to the Lord and will confer blessings upon the selfless Sevaks.

I bow in Homage to Bhagavan Sri Dattatreya and to Lord Viswanath whom we remember and specially worship during this month. May God shower His Divine grace upon you all and grant you health, long life, prosperity and Divine Blessedness.

With regards, Prem and Om,

Yours in Sri Gurudev
Swami Chidananda
1st December, 1967