Sewa Ashram, community of the Poor, Delhi India

The Sewa-Ashram has been caring and loving the poor and destitute of Delhi for over 10 years. Founder Ton Baba.

Swami Swaroopananda talks about Love.m4v

Swami Swaroopananda, Director of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in a Question & Answers session during a Teacher’s Training Course. In this Talk, Swami Swaroopananda is asked about Love. Music by: GS Sachdev, from his latest album “whisper”.

Swami Vivekananda Universal Teachings

UNIVERSAL TEACHINGS OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA SEE GOD IN ALL This is the gist of all worship – to be pure and to do good to others. He who sees Siva in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worships Siva, and if he sees Siva only in the image, his worship is but preliminary. He who has served and helped one poor man seeing Siva in him, without thinking of his cast, creed, or race, or anything, with him Siva is more pleased than with the man who sees Him only in temples. GOD IS WITHIN YOU It is impossible to find God outside of ourselves. Our own souls contribute all of the divinity that is outside of us. We are the greatest temple. The objectification is only a faint imitation of what we see within ourselves. PERSEVERE IN YOUR SEARCH FOR GOD To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. “I will drink the ocean,” says the persevering soul, “at my will mountains will crumble up.” Have that sort of energy, that sort of will, work hard, and you will reach the goal. TRUST COMPLETELY IN GOD Stand up for God; let the world go. LOVE OF GOD IS ESSENTIAL Giving up all other thoughts, with the whole mind day and night worship God. Thus being worshipped day and night, He reveals himself and makes His worshippers feel His presence. SWAMI VIVEKANANDA’s QUOTES When I Asked God for Strength He Gave Me Difficult Situations to Face When I Asked God for Brain & Brown He Gave Me Puzzles in Life to Solve When I Asked God for Happiness He Showed Me Some Unhappy People When I Asked God for Wealth He Showed Me How to Work Hard When I Asked God for Favors He Showed Me Opportunities to Work Hard When I Asked God for Peace He Showed Me How to Help Others God Gave Me Nothing I Wanted He Gave Me Everything I Needed Swami Vivekananda THE 15 Laws of Life By Swami Vivekananda 1. Love is the Law of Life All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore, love for love”s sake, because it is law of life, just as you breathe to live. 2. It is Your Outlook That Matters It is our own mental attitude, which makes the world what it is for us. Our thoughts make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light. 3. Life is Beautiful First, believe in this world – that there is meaning behind everything. Everything in the world is good, is holy and beautiful. If you see something evil, think that you do not understand it in the right light. Throw the burden on yourselves! 4. It is The Way You Feel Feel like Christ and you will be a Christ; feel like Buddha and you will be a Buddha. It is feeling that is the life, the strength, the vitality, without which no amount of intellectual activity can reach God. 5. Set Yourself Free The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him – that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free. 6. Don”t Play the Blame Game Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way. 7. Help Others If money helps a man to do good to others, it is of some value; but if not, it is simply a mass of evil, and the sooner it is got rid of, the better. 8. Uphold Your Ideals Our duty is to encourage every one in his struggle to live up to his own highest idea, and strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the Truth. 9. Listen to Your Soul You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul. 10. Be Yourself The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves! 11. Nothing Is Impossible Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin – to say that you are weak, or others are weak. 12. You Have The Power All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark. 13. Learn Everyday The goal of mankind is knowledge… now this knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside. What we say a man “knows”, should, in strict psychological language, be what he “discovers” or “unveils”; what man “learns” is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge. 14. Be Truthful Everything can be sacrificed for truth, but truth cannot be sacrificed for anything. 15. Think Differently All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything. So! just go through them and live with it. May God Bless All with Good Health and Happiness & Ignite Divine Love in you.

Shri Jalaram Bapa

Shree Jalaram Bapa Shree Jalaram Bapa was born in Samvant 1856 (A.D. 1800). His mother’s name was Rajbai and father’s name was Pradhan Thakkar. Pradhan Thakkar and Valji Thakkar were two brothers actively and honestly engaged in business earning their livelihood. It is said that Rajbai, wife of Pradhan Thakkar was religous lady who was very inclined to serve sadhus’ and sants’. A mother of three sons and three daughter’s, she was content in her family life and used to find free time to do her religous duties to sadhus’ and sants’. She was once a host to Sant Raghuveerdasji who was very impressed with her selfless services and had blessed her – his blessings were that her second son would be instrumental in enhancing the services that she was doing – he would be famous all over in advocating pious life, duty full of devotion and act of good deeds. This second son was none other than our Shree Jalaram Bapa. There was a remarkable incident in early life of this saint person : when he was a child, a saint came to the house and requested to see Jalram; when they came face to face with each other – Jalaram at once greeted the saint with respectful “Namaskar” and it appeared that Jalaram had recollected his previous life, he realised who he was, he was reminded of his goal in life – it is argued that this visiting saint was probably a heavenly messenger – from that day onwards the young Jalaram never stopped chanting “Sita Ram” and he began to live life in a different way. At a young age of 14 Jalaram’s marraige was arranged with Virbai, a daughter of Thakkar Pragji Somaija. Jalaram was not in favour of marraige, but his duties towards his parents forced him to accept this arranged marraige. He got married when he was 16 years of age. Jalaram’s love towards sadhus’ and sants’ grew day by day and he would go to any extent to entertain sadhus and sants. This was not acceptable to his father. Jalaram’s deep involvement with sadhus’ and sants’ led to his seperation from his father’s business. He had decided to go his way. He worked for his uncle for some time. Uncle Valjibhai was very fond of Jalaram, but even that love and fondness would not deter Jalaram’s desire to serve sadhus’ and sants’. If at all anything it made more determined to devote himself fully to the service of sadhus’ and sants’ and the needy. He was fully aware that such devotion would mean complete withdrawal from marital life, a life free from family ties and circles. His inclination was to go on that path faster and with approval of his parents and uncle Valjibhai, he set out on a holy pilgrimage of holy places. He was fortunate that Virbaima was keen to follow her husband Jalaram. To her, Jalaram’s work was her work, Jalaram’s wishes were her wishes and all that Jalaram decided to do she was but prepared to do that. She was following Jalaram in every respect. At the age of 18 he accepted Bhojalram as his Guru and with Gurus’ blessings, he started “Sadavrat” a feeding centre, a place where all sadhus’ and sants’ and the needy can go and expect to be fed 24 hours a day. Both Jalaram Bapa and Virbaima started working for this holy place. Jalaram’s strong belief was that “This was the Lord’s order – This was Lord’s work – I am not doing anything for anybody – Lord has asked me to do this work – since it is Lord’s work HE looks after it and ensures that it functions”. Actually that did happen – indeed the place functioned well. Nobody ever returned from that place without being fed. One can question whether this can possibly be done by a single person – Yes. We argue and debate and yet probably would not come to a sensible answer – but then to do what Jalaram did one has to be a person of Jalaram’s determination, his patience, his love towards others. He was 20 years when his saintliness acquired a great fame. There are stories of how he was put to tests for his qualities of patience, endurence, love towards others, his steadfastness of thinking – he did not change under any pressure – he came out of all those tests successfully. His fame spread and he was regarded and accepted as a saint. People started worshipping him. They came to him for guidance in difficulties, for blessings in real distress and discomfort. It is said that once he was called out to see an ailing child struct with serious disease. Parents of this child believed that the cure was solely due to Jalaram Bapa’s blessings – Jala was since called Allah. In another instance a person who was threatened to be imprisoned went to Jalaram for his blessings. This man was not only saved from such imprisonment but he decided to lead a normal honest life then onwards. Jalaram was then onwards addressed as Bapa – Father of all. There are numerous such instances that can be quoted from his books but fact is that his feeding place was open and is still open today in Virpur where people go and are fed. People go to Jalaram Bapa’s places for prayers to him and seek his blessings for their personal griefs, shortcomings and failures and many acquire relief and satisfaction. Human beings during their span of life always aspire to be rich and acquire wealth – they pray for complete family life – it is such saint as Jalaram Bapa who remain away from such desire and wants. In their lives they always give – even when they are gone they still give to those who ask from them with purity of heart and sincerity of purpose. In 1934 during terrible famine Jalaram Bapa worked very hard to feed those who were suffering. In 1935 Virbaima died and 1937 Jalaram Bapa died while in prayers. Such is the story of the life of this Great Saint of Virpur. Soon his fame spread as an incarnation of the divine. Whoever come to Virpur, whether Hindu or Muslim was fed by Bapa. Once three Arabs in the service of Thakore of Rajkot demanded an increase in wages by four rupees in a month. Being refused, the Arabs resigned and set out to Junagadh. On their way, they hunted few birds and kept them in their shoulder bag. When they reached Virpur, Bapa asked them to have their meals and then go. When they protested that they were Muslims, Bapa said that in the court of God there was no distinction in caste and creed and they were welcome. The three Arabs had their meals in the temple but they were embarrassed that they were carrying dead birds in their bag. The Bapa touched the bag and said that the birds were feeling suffocated. The Arabs opened the bag and found that the birds were alive. They flew away to a nearby tree. The Arabs were amazed and understood that they were in the presence of divine person. They fell at his feet and asked whether they would get a job in Junagadh. Bapa said “What was the need to have a job in Junagadh? The Arabs serve only one master.” Just at that time, a camel man sent by Thakore of Rajkot arrived there. He took back the Arabs with him saying that Thakore has sanctioned an increment of seven rupees in their wages. There are many stories about the greatness of the saint of Virpur. Remembering the stories, we can fill the heart with devotion and gratitude. Soon his fame spread as an incarnation of the divine. Whoever come to Virpur, whether Hindu or Muslim was fed by Bapa. Once three Arabs in the service of Thakore of Rajkot demanded an increase in wages by four rupees in a month. Being refused, the Arabs resigned and set out to Junagadh. On their way, they hunted few birds and kept them in their shoulder bag. When they reached Virpur, Bapa asked them to have their meals and then go. When they protested that they were Muslims, Bapa said that in the court of God there was no distinction in caste and creed and they were welcome. The three Arabs had their meals in the temple but they were embarrassed that they were carrying dead birds in their bag. The Bapa touched the bag and said that the birds were feeling suffocated. The Arabs opened the bag and found that the birds were alive. They flew away to a nearby tree. The Arabs were amazed and understood that they were in the presence of divine person. They fell at his feet and asked whether they would get a job in Junagadh. Bapa said “What was the need to have a job in Junagadh? The Arabs serve only one master.” Just at that time, a camel man sent by Thakore of Rajkot arrived there. He took back the Arabs with him saying that Thakore has sanctioned an increment of seven rupees in their wages. There are many stories about the greatness of the saint of Virpur. Remembering the stories, we can fill the heart with devotion and gratitude.

Snatam Kaur at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat

Snatam Kaur performing “We are the People of Love”, dedicated to Yogi Bhajan at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat (Feb. 22, 2008).