Gregg Hill's Reflexology and Japanese Massage Institute presents:

DAILY MEDITATIONS
BY SWAMI SIVANANDA

MEDITATIONS FOR

JULY
 Gregg Hill's Reflexology and Japanese Massage Institute presents:
DAILY MEDITATIONS
BY SWAMI SIVANANDA

BHAGAVAT DHARMA – 1
What is Bhagavat Dharma? That which takes you to God, which enables you to kill your desires,
egoism, likes and dislikes, is Dharma. That which trees you from the rounds of births and deaths,
which makes you fearless, desireless and '"I"-less, is Bhagavat Dharma. That which fills your
heart with devotion to Lord Krishna, which enables you to behold the one Supreme Essence –
Lord Krishna – is Bhagavat Dharma. Hold fast to this. Strive ceaselessly to do good to others.

THOUGHT-CULTURE – 2
Your character and future are built entire]y by your thoughts and deeds. As you think, so do
you become. Noble thinking develops a noble character. This is the immutable law of nature.
Character is power as it is fashioned by Karma. It moulds a person's will. It is the real
protection and ornament of a woman.
Change your way of thinking and mental attitude from this very minute. Develop right
thought. Have pure Sattwic desires. Thought transformed transforms your life.

POSSESS M ORAL C OURAGE – 3

Courage is that quality of mind which enables one to encounter dangers, trials and difficulties
with firmness and without fear.
Valor, intrepidity and boldness are synonymous terms. They are positive attributes of the
mind. These qualities are very necessary for material and spiritual progress. A coward dies many
times before he actually leaves his physical body. Honesty and justice are linked with courage.
There are people who can exhibit physical courage but have no moral character. Moral courage
comes from within.

L OVE – THE SUPREME POWER – 4

Ahimsa is supreme love. It is your Soul-force. Hate melts in the presence of love. The practice
of Ahimsa will make you fearless.
He who practices Ahimsa with real faith can move the whole world, can tame wild animals,
can win the hearts of all and subdue his enemies. He can do and undo things. The power of
Ahimsa is ineffable. Its glory is indescribable and its greatness inscrutable. The force of Ahimsa
is infinitely more wonderful and subtle than electricity or magnetism.

MAN – THE TRIUNE – 5

Man is a mixture of three ingredients-human element, the brutal instinct, and a ray of the
Divine. He has a finite intellect, a perishable body, a little knowledge and a little power.
This makes him distinctly human. Lust, anger and hatred belong to his brutal nature. The
 Gregg Hill's Reflexology and Japanese Massage Institute presents:
DAILY MEDITATIONS
BY SWAMI SIVANANDA

reflection of the Cosmic Intelligence is at the back of his intellect. So, he is an image of God.
When the brutal instinct dies, when his ignorance is destroyed, when he is able to bear insult and
injury, he becomes Divine.

C ONQUEST OF THE SELF – 6

The conquest of the lower self is conquest of the world. All animals possess one vicious
quality or the other, but man is a complex animal. He possesses numerous evil traits.
Admit your faults freely. When you are free from all evil traits, Samadhi will come by itself.
Under pressure of Yoga and meditation, various sorts of impurities m the mind come out, just like
the dirt of a room that has been shut for six months. Aspirants should introspect and watch their
mind.

FOLLOW THE RULES – 7

Even God follows certain self-imposed rules. Think of the universal laws, how beautifully
they operate. Think of the correlation of the planets, and with what precision and rhythm they
move. Cannot God also leave the world and remain absorbed in Himself? He has His eye on
every atom of creation. You should acquire that much of self-discipline if you wish to evolve
rapidly towards Godhead.

Bear Insult – 8
If all aspirant is capable of being offended easily over trifling things, he cannot make any
progress in his meditation, tie should cultivate an amiable and loving nature. He should have
adaptability. Then this bad trait will vanish.
Some aspirants get offended easily when their bad qualities and faults are pointed out. They
become indignant and begin to fight with the person who points out tile defects. They think that
the person is concocting the defects out of jealousy or hatred.

KILL LUST – 9
Make your mind understand through repeated hammering and enquiry that all sexual
pleasures are false, utterly worthless and extremely harmful.
Reflect how very illusory and full of pain lust is. Place before the mind the glory and
advantage of a life in God. Lust deals a deadly blow to Sadhana. Kill it by means of prayer,
meditation, Japa, study of scriptures and Satsang.

CULTIVATE SERENITY – 10
Be serene and tranquil under all circumstances. cultivate this virtue-tranquillity again and
 Gregg Hill's Reflexology and Japanese Massage Institute presents:
DAILY MEDITATIONS
BY SWAMI SIVANANDA

again through constant endeavor.

Serenity is like a rock. Waves of irritation may dash on it but cannot affect it. Meditate daily
on the ever-tranquil Atman. The Divine Light will descend on a calm mind only. Only an aspirant
with a calm mind can enter into deep meditation and Samadhi. The upward path to goodness is
very difficult, thorny and precipitous.

D O N OT VILLFY – 11
When your friendship with some other person terminates through some slight rupture, quarrel
or misunderstanding, you should never advertise and circulate the evil qualities or wrong actions
of your friend, whom you loved for a long time. If you engage in this practice, it will bring harm
to yourself as well as to your friend.
Drop the matter at once. Forget all about the unhappy incident. Always speak well of
everybody. Speak well even of the man who has done serious injury to you. You will then help
that man. This is nobility. This is the nature of a Mahatma. Even if you are a worldly man, you
must endeavor to transform yourself into a sincere aspirant and a Mahatma in this very life.

Selfishness – The Great Curse – 12

Selfishness is the source of all vices. It is born of ignorance. A selfish man is greedy and
unrighteous. He is far from God. He will do anything to attain his ends. He injures others, robs
them of their property and does many sinful actions just to satisfy his selfish desires.
Peace of mind is unknown to him as he is always planning and scheming to acquire wealth,
power, name arid fame. He always separates himself from others. Th e se n s e of separateness
and attachment are present in him to tile maximum degree. Selfishness is a great impediment to
Yoga.

BROADEN Y OUR O UTLOOK – 13

If you are attached to your wife and children, you cannot develop universal love. You cannot
look upon all mankind as your own kith and kin. You cannot cultivate universal brotherhood. You
cannot feel oneness with all.
You cannot extend the same love which you have for your own children to the children of
others. You cannot consider other children as your own. You have a constricted or narrow heart.
You cannot freely share your possessions with all. Your love is confined to a few persons only.
Through selfishness you create a boundary or wall around the members of your family.

ANTIDOTE TO JEALOUSY – 14
The stink of jealousy is more abominable than the stink of a gutter or an abscess or boil. A
boil with foul pus can be rendered sweet and clean in a short time by using a potent antiseptic or
disinfectant. But it is very difficult to remove the stink of jealousy.
 Gregg Hill's Reflexology and Japanese Massage Institute presents:
DAILY MEDITATIONS
BY SWAMI SIVANANDA

Constant Japa and prayer, ceaseless meditation and untiring selfless service are necessary to
get rid of this loathsome stink of jealousy from the mind.

BE N OT PETTY-MINDED – 15
A white man dislikes a black man, and vice versa. There is an inherent tendency in man to
praise his own native place, his own country, his own family, his own clan or sect. This is petty-
mindedness born of ignorance.
When the heart of man expands through spiritual culture, when he gets knowledge of the Self,
then these petty thoughts perish. Mark how man is in a degraded and deplorable state on account
of the influence of desires! He clings to them like a leech and thinks that he is always on the right
path on account of delusion created by the desires.

ADAPT AND ADJUST – 16

Man finds it difficult to adjust himself to the ways and habits of others. His mind is filled with
the prejudice of caste, creed and color. He is quite intolerant. He thinks that his views and
opinions alone are right and that those of others are incorrect.
The fault-finding nature is ingrained in him. He jumps at once to find the faults of others. He
has morbid eyes and cannot see the good in others. He is proud of his own abilities and actions.

DISCIPLINE OF S PEECH – 17
Be clean-hearted, sweet-tongued, courteous and truthful. Do not destroy your soul through
anger and revenge. Live in harmony with others.
Observe the vow of silence for some hours daily, at/east once a month. Discipline the tongue.
Think twice before you speak, before you let fail a word. Know the power of each word that you
utter and the effect it will produce on the minds of those who hear it.
Do not allow the tongue to run riot. Speak a few words which are sweet and loving. A word
once spoken cannot be taken back, like an arrow sent at a target. It is speech that wounds more
than action.

THE POWER OF HUMILITY – 18

Humility is the path of immortality; vanity, is the way to repeated births and deaths. Simple
living is the high road to the kingdom of eternal bliss; luxury is the high road to the rounds of
births and deaths.
Humility is a bomb of infinite potency which alone can destroy the invincible citadel of
egoism. Egoism is harder than granite or steel. A thousand bombs can destroy a big city or a
country, but the bomb of humility, which is more powerful than the sum total of all bombs, can
destroy egoism, the most powerful of enemies.
Gregg Hill's Reflexology and Japanese Massage Institute presents:
DAILY MEDITATIONS
BY SWAMI SIVANANDA
 Gregg Hill's Reflexology and Japanese Massage Institute presents:
DAILY MEDITATIONS
BY SWAMI SIVANANDA

HOW TO A C QUIRE SPIRITUAL WEALTH – 19

Learn the science of self-control and cultivate a steady mind through constant meditation. Fix
your mind upon God. Then you will live the divine life. There will be an inflow of all divine
qualities. All negative qualities will then be drowned forever.
Do your duty to your father, mother, wife, son, relatives, friends, religious teachers, and to
society and the country. Do not be troubled by worldly cares and anxieties, by sorrow or
misfortune.

THE KEY TO INTUITION – 20

A pure heart is the beginning of divine life. It is the gateway to God, t he ante-chamber to the
Presence of the Lord. It is the key by which the doors of intuition, that lead to the abode of
supreme peace, are opened. Therefore, attain purity at all cost.
Learn to cleanse your mind with the waters of purity and tile soap of divine love. How can you
expect to become pure internally by merely washing the body externally with soap and water?
internal purity (purity of the heart), is more important than external purity.

THE V OICE OF THE S OUL – 21

Do not mistake the promptings of the lower mind for the voice of the Soul. The higher mind,
which tends towards virtue, is the Sattwic mind. The higher mind elevates man and guides him. It
acts as a tree preceptor.
You should try to listen to the voice of the Sattwic mind. If a wrong action is done, the
Sattwic mind will prick you. This is tile sign of knowing that the action is bad. If there is joy and
elevation of mind, the action is a righteous one. That mind which tends towards luxury and evil is
the lower mind. Annihilate Rajas and Tamas by increasing Sattwa.

THE SUPREME WEALTH – 22

Contentment is real wealth as it gives peace of mind. It is a sentinel at the domain of Moksha.
If you keep company with it, it will introduce you to its friends, the other sentinels. These are
association with the wise, enquiry into the nature of the Atman, and peace.
If you are earning a hundred rupees per month, do not compare yourself with a man who is
earning five hundred rupees. If you compare yourself with others there will be discontent. This
will distract the mind and destroy its peace. Compare yourself with the man who is earning far
less than yourself. Thank God that He has given you the present state.

ENJOY PEACE OF MIND – 23

Cultivate peace of mind in the garden of your heart by removing the weeds of hatred,
jealousy, greed and selfishness. Then only can you manifest peace externally.
 Gregg Hill's Reflexology and Japanese Massage Institute presents:
DAILY MEDITATIONS
BY SWAMI SIVANANDA

Inhibit all surging emotions and impulses. Direct your energies into the appropriate channel
towards your chosen ideal. Develop self-control. Keep the instruments in harmony with one
another. Master all your thoughts and cultivate serenity. Preserve your energy.

WEAPONS A GAINST LUST AND ANGER – 24

In some men lust may be more powerful than anger, while in others anger may be more
powerful than lust. You should attempt to annihilate these two evil traits, the direct enemies of
peace.
Agitation in the mind, burning from lust, anger and hatred, restlessness from greed, fear and
worry-all these disturb peace of mind. Japa, prayer, enquiry, Satsang, development of virtues like
Brahmacharya, forgiveness, mercy, truthfulness, contentment and courage will remove these
enemies of peace.

THE FOUNTAIN-S OURCE OF HAPPINESS – 25

Be always hopeful. Hope is the source of highest happiness, impelling you always in all your
quests. Therefore, be hopeful and make strenuous attempts. You will attain success. You will
eventually realize God and enjoy eternal bliss.
Hope is indeed mighty. To one who has it, there is nothing unattainable. Relying on hope
alone, you will attain success in all undertakings, and in your meditation and God-realization. Nil
desperandum! Never despair.

THE GROWTH OF L OVE – 26

Develop universal love. If you cultivate love for all those close to you, you can have unselfish
love for humanity. Love for humanity begins at home.
First you love your parents, your brothers, sisters and relatives. Then you love your neighbors,
your community and your country. Finally, you love the whole world. Thus, the small seed of
love sown in the young mind of the child gradually develops and grows into pure universal love.
Love is harmony. It prolongs life.

STEPPING - STONES TO M OKSHA – 27

Apart from a knowledge of the sacred scriptures and erudition, one should develop a tender
heart. Austerity devoid of compassion, charity devoid of faith, spiritual Sadhana devoid of purity,
a heart devoid of fellow-feeling, a life without prayer – all these are as fruitless as thc waters of a
sandy desert.
Love, compassion, purity, truth and non-injury are the stepping-stones to success on the path
to God. Satsang, contentment, dispassion and patience are the different steps that lead to the
portals of the kingdom of God.
Gregg Hill's Reflexology and Japanese Massage Institute presents:
DAILY MEDITATIONS
BY SWAMI SIVANANDA
 Gregg Hill's Reflexology and Japanese Massage Institute presents:
DAILY MEDITATIONS
BY SWAMI SIVANANDA

BE ALWAYS KIND – 28
The Immortal can be attained only by performing acts of kindness continuously. Hatred, anger
and jealousy can be removed by continuous service with a loving heart.
Buddha still lives in our hearts. Why? Because he was extremely kind, did immense service
and was an embodiment of compassion.
You will get more strength, more joy, more satisfaction by doing kind acts. Your heart will be
at rest when you are about to face death.

HOW TO ERADICATE EVIL THOUGHTS – 29

Develop pure, divine thoughts. Develop virtuous qualities. Build up good habits. Practice Japa
and meditation regularly. Try to live in God at all times. All defects, all evil thoughts, all
weaknesses will vanish in toto.

THE VEIL OF AVIDYA – 30

Just as a mirror is rendered dim by a layer of dirt, so also knowledge is veiled by Avidya
(ignorance). Therefore, everyone is deluded. They cling to things unreal and mistake the body for
the pure Atman. They think that this illusory world of names and forms is quite real.
Mula Prakriti is the slumbering state of tile universe. When the qualities of Rajas, Tamas and
Sattwa are disturbed, Mula Prakriti is called by different names – Maya, Avidya, etc. Maya
vanishes as soon as one gets knowledge of the Self.

REALIZE INFINITE BLISS – 31

You are born for the attainment of higher things. A glorious, brilliant future is awaiting you.
Do not think of the past. Purify. Pray. Concentrate. Reflect. Meditate. March forward. Find thy
perfect rest in the Supreme Soul.
Do not be troubled by difficulties, adversities and sorrows. They instill mercy in your heart.
They help you to develop your will and power of endurance. They make you wise and help you in
your evolution.
Be courageous. Never despair. Get strength from within. Move forward. Feel the Divine
Presence at all times everywhere. See the divine glory all around. Dive deep into the divine
source. You will realize infinite bliss.