In this section of our temple’s website, we have built a collection of 545 early morning meditation talks given daily by Swami Atmaswarupananda at The Divine Life Society (Sivananda Ashram) in Rishikesh, India. The special value of these talks is that they express traditional Vedic teachings in a way that both touches the heart and is easy for the modern mind to understand. Each talk should take no more than a few minutes to read but will provide inspiration for the entire day and longer.
Canadian-born Swami Atmaswarupananda (called Bill Eilers before he entered the monastic life) came to Sivananda Ashram in 1974 at age 49 at the suggestion of his guru, Swami Chidananda, the then president of The Divine Live Society. He has remained there ever since. After he had spent twenty years living a life of study and reflection, he was requested by his guru to give a brief talk each morning at the conclusion of the early morning meditation gatherings at the Ashram. Swami Atmaswarupananda has given these daily talks in the sacred Samadhi Shrine of Swami Sivananda since 1995 and continues to do so to this day. His daughter Swami Amritarupananda, who has been at the Ashram since 1980, records, transcribes, and edits them. We are grateful to both of them for granting us permission to post the talks.
For one year, from July 30, 2007 to July 29, 2008, we posted one talk each day. Starting in August 2008, we switched to a weekly posting, completing the series with talk number 545 on January 1, 2012. In these talks, “Gurudev” refers to Swami Sivananda (1887-1963) and “Pujya Swami” refers to Swami Chidananda (1916-2008).
- 367. Our Fundamental Good Fortune
- 368. Seek Beyond
- 369. A Key Understanding
- 370. Seeing Ourselves Through the Eyes of God and Guru
- 371. Avoiding a Comfort Level
- 372. Returning Home
- 373. Being Positive
- 374. Surrender and Action
- 375. Total Satisfaction
- 376. Total Surrender
- 377. Living Life Intelligently
- 378. Japa
- 379. Knowing the Truth
- 380. The Two Keys to Liberation
- 381. It Is a Moral Choice – I
- 382. It Is a Moral Choice – II
- 383. Acknowledge, Trust, and Express God
- 384. The Razor’s Edge – II
- 385. Living the Truth
- 386. Seeing God
- 387. The Secret of Lasting Happiness
- 388. Faith
- 389. Through the Eye of Faith
- 390. Benefiting From Adverse Circumstances
- 391. From Exclusivity to Inclusivity
- 392. Beyond Materialism and Idealism
- 393. Stop Searching For a New Me
- 394. Defining Integral Yoga
- 395. A Concentrated Mind
- 396. Avoiding a Fall
- 397. Coming to Lord Krishna
- 398. Beyond Heaven and Hell
- 399. A Simple Fact That We Must Not Overlook
- 400. A Simple Sadhana
- 401. Shifting Our Base
- 402. What Is Meditation?
- 403. Make God Real
- 404. Silence Reveals the Here and Now
- 405. Purification, Purification, Purification
- 406. See God in All
- 407. Finding the Unfindable
- 408. Reconciling Our Thinking and Intuition
- 409. Become Like God
- 410. Spirituality Includes Our Entire Life
- 411. Peace, Happiness, and Surrender
- 412. The Unknowable
- 413. Resolving a Paradox
- 414. Willingness and Humility
- 415. No Differences Here
- 416. Knowing No Differences
- 417. Our Eternal Support
- 418. Discrimination
- 419. Growing Older Usefully
- 420. Listening to the Guru Within
- 421. Healing the Mind
- 422. Enquiring, Who Am I?
- 423. Fundamentals Are Not Meant to Become Fundamentalism
- 424. The Connection Between Surrender and Common Sense
- 425. The Real Purpose of Spiritual Experiences and Insights
- 426. The Truth That Is Always There
- 427. The Middle Path
- 428. What God’s Name Can Do for Us
- 429. The Natural State – II
- 430. We Are Always the Same Person
- 431. Renouncing the I
- 432. How Do We Realize God?
- 433. The Ultimate Conquest of Fear
- 434. Knowing God by Inference
- 435. Beyond Feelings
- 436. Our First God
- 437. Avoiding a Comfort Level – II
- 438. The Natural State – III
- 439. Dynamic Be Good, Do Good
- 440. Getting Our Mind Off Ourselves
- 441. Becoming Like God
- 442. Seeing Nothing Except God
- 443. Live Each Day as a New Birth
- 444. Seeing Nothing Except God
- 445. Divinity, Goodness, and Evolution
- 446. What Gurudev Taught
- 447. What Is Our Actual Goal?
- 448. Our Two Fundamental Questions
- 449. Verses Addressed to the Mind
- 450. It is Our Own Self
- 451. The Real Measurement
- 452. Pujya Swami Chidanandaji’s Last Will
- 453. Good Friday
- 454. Easter Sunday
- 455. Yoga and Understanding
- 456. The Genius of the Four Aims and Four Stages of Life
- 457. Letting Go and Remembering
- 458. Seeing It from God’s Point of View
- 459. Loyalty to the Guru
- 460. See Nothing Except God
- 461. Changing Our Angle of Vision
- 462. Is God Personal or Impersonal?
- 463. Swami Sivananda and Divine Life
- 464. Choose That Which Unifies
- 465. Die to Live
- 466. Total Satisfaction
- 467. We Are Part of the Universe
- 468. Be Who You Are
- 469. The Secret of a God-Centered Life
- 470. Making God Real
- 471. In All Things Give Thanks
- 472. Liberation Is From I and Mine
- 473. Not I, Not Mine
- 474. Beyond the Mind
- 475. Kill This Little I
- 476. Empty Thyself
- 477. Be Gunatita
- 478. An Authentic Life
- 479. Our Outer and Inner Worlds
- 480. Freedom and Obedience
- 481. Navaratri and Vijaya Dasami
- 482. Do We Need a Guru?
- 483. God Cannot Be Limited
- 484. The Second of October
- 485. Why We Need Lord Skanda
- 486. Using Our Common Sense
- 487. The Great Challenge
- 488. Never Forget the Higher
- 489. Seeing Nothing Except God
- 490. A Purified Heart
- 491. God Is Purity
- 492. Choice
- 493. Choosing Both Being and Doing
- 494. The Importance of Duty
- 495. You Must Introspect
- 496. True Aspiration
- 497. Inner Spiritual Strength
- 498. Making a Contribution
- 499. Three Renunciations
- 500. The Universal Angle of Vision
- 501. The Divine Name
- 502. Feeling the Need of God
- 503. The Danger of Comfort Levels
- 504. Freedom from the Known
- 505. The Present Moment
- 506. Can We Know the Unknowable?
- 507. Being Good and Doing Good
- 508. The Crucial Need of Aspiration
- 509. Dual Awareness
- 510. Seeing No Differences
- 511. Making Our Mind Our Best Friend
- 512. True Conversion
- 513. What Are We To Be Liberated From?
- 514. The Great Challenge
- 515. Cast Your Burden Upon the Lord
- 516. Just As We Are, We Are That
- 517. Becoming Like God
- 518. Becoming Like The Guru
- 519. The Significance of Obedience
- 520. The Need for Fundamental Change
- 521. Pujya Swami Chidanandaji’s Call
- 522. Know Thyself at All Levels
- 523. Mutual Superimposition
- 524. Upside Down
- 525. The Need for Fundamental Change
- 526. Pujya Swami Chidanandaji’s Call
- 527. Know Thyself at All Levels
- 528. Mutual Superimposition
- 529. Becoming Like the Guru
- 530. Making God Real
- 531. We Are Divine
- 532. The Second of October
- 533. The Real Need for Integral Yoga
- 534. The Real Purpose of Sadhana
- 535. Where True Happiness Lies
- 536. The Path that Never Fades
- 537. The Practice of Wisdom
- 538. The Need for Introspection
- 539. True Security
- 540. You Are Who You Think You Are
- 541. The Essence of the Teachings
- 542. Discrimination is Different Than Judgment
- 543. The Vital Importance of Ahimsa, Satyam, and Brahmacarya
- 544. A Life Undivided
- 545. Using Our Common Sense