A Divine Life - Swami Vishnu-devananda - Sivananda Yoga

a special tribute to
Swami Vishnu-devananda
A Divine Life
10th Anniversary
Commemorating
Swami Vishnu-devananda’s
Mahasamadhi
Over the next 16 pages YogaLife celebrates the life and works
of Swami Vishnu-devanandaji in words and pictures
Autumn 2003 29

Swami Vishnu-devananda – A Divine Life
Below: Swami
Vishnu-devananda
– the yoga teacher
30
Swami
Vishnu-devananda
A short biography
I
Autumn 2003
n 1957 Swami Vishnu-devananda set out from the
foothills of the Himalayas to carry out the bidding
of his teacher Swami Sivananda. His instructions
were to spread the teachings of yoga in the West.
For 37 years, he worked tirelessly as an active and
dedicated spiritual teacher travelling around the
world establishing city centres and ashrams where
his work could be accomplished.
Swami Vishnu-devananda was born in the south
Indian state of Kerala on December 31, 1927. After
completing school he entered the Engineering Corps
of the Indian Army. It was while he was in the army
that he first met Swami Sivananda, one of the great
saints of modern times. After being discharged from
the army, Swamy Kuttan Nair, as he was then known,
was a schoolteacher in his native Kerala for a short
while, before leaving his life behind and entering the
Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh in 1947. Within a
year, he had embraced the order of sannyas with the
name of Swami Vishnu-devananda.
Remaining at the Ashram for ten years, he was
appointed as the first Professor of Hatha Yoga at the
Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy. He held a number of
other positions at the Ashram, including personal
secretary to Swami Sivananda.
Upon leaving India for the West, Swami Vishnudevananda
spent a year travelling, arriving on the
West Coast of America in 1957.
It soon became apparent that Westerners were
so caught up in the whirlwind of their lives that they
neither knew how to relax nor how to live healthy
lives. Swami Vishnu-devananda devised the concept
of the Yoga Vacation and set about creating places
where people could have a complete rest of body,
‘It soon became apparent that
Westerners were so caught up in
the whirlwind of their lives that
they neither knew how to relax
nor how to live healthy lives’
mind and spirit. Several ashrams and city centres were
founded based on an integrated approach to yoga.
In 1969 the True World Order was established to
create unity and understanding between peoples of
the world. A unique Yoga Teachers’ Training Course
was developed with the aim of bringing harmony in
the world by teaching the basics of yoga discipline.
In 1971 Swami Vishnu-devananda made headlines
by flying around the world in his small two-seater
plane dropping flowers and leaflets of peace over
trouble spots of the world. He sponsored numerous
festivals, conferences, symposiums and world toursall
calling for peace and understanding.
In addition to being a tireless worker for world
peace and inspiring teacher, Swami Vishnudevananda
is well known for his books The Complete
Illustrated Book of Yoga and Meditation and Mantras.
Swami Vishnu-devananda left his body on
November 9, 1993 leaving behind him a worldwide
organisation dedicated to propagating the ancient
and timeless wisdom of yoga.
Swami Vishnu-devananda was sent to the West in 1957
by his Master with the words People are Waiting

How I met Master
"
Swami Vishnu-devananda remembers his
very first contact with Swami Sivananda
Ifirst heard about Swami Sivananda in a
strange way. Looking in the waste paper
basket for a lost paper, I found one small
pamphlet called Sadhana Tattwa. His teachings
were so simple and straightforward, ‘an ounce of
practice is worth a ton of theory.’
I got a couple of days’ leave of absence from
the army and went to see him. There was no kind
of religious hypocrisy, no sitting on a tiger skin
with ashes smeared all over his body. He had an
extraordinary spiritual glow. The second time I
saw him, Swami Sivananda was coming up the
stairs in my direction. I didn’t want to have to
bow my head to him. I was young and arrogant
and never wanted to bow my head to anybody –
Swami, God-realised soul, or whoever – I didn’t
care. But it is the tradition that you should bow
your head to a holy man.
To avoid the situation, I just moved out of his
path. Master saw me and headed in my
Right: ‘I didn’t want
to have to bow my
head to him’
‘He touched my heart not with miracles or shows
of holiness, but with his perfect egoless nature’
Above: Swami
Sivananda (centre)
with his close
disciples. Swami
Vishnu-devananda
with arms folded
direction. He asked me who I was and where I
was coming from. Then he bowed down and
touched my feet!! My whole body began to
shake violently. With all my heart, with all my life
and love, I learned to bow without any type of
reservation.
He touched my heart not with miracles or
shows of holiness, but with his perfect egoless
nature. He didn’t consider that I was just a stupid
boy standing there, although I was just that. He
touched my heart and broke that egoism in me.
I didn’t think anything else in this world would
have broken this ego. That was my first lesson,
and if I could attain one millionth of the state of
egolessness of the Master, it is His Grace."
Autumn 2003 31

Swami Vishnu-devananda – A Divine Life
32
m
THE
PEACE MISSIONS
‘And so, my boundary breaking mission came. It came to symbolically
demonstrate that the world planet is small. The time has come that this
idea of nationalism, of patriotism must disappear, and only one unity
should exist’ – Swami Vishnu-devananda
In 1968 Swami Vishnu-devananda had a
vision of the world being destroyed by fire,
of people fleeing in turmoil breaking down
the barriers between nations in an attempt to
escape. From that moment on, he embarked
on a series of peace missions whose purpose
was to show ‘that the idea of nationalism, or
patriotism must disappear, and only one unity
should exist.’
In 1971 he made dangerous low-flying
trips in his two-seater Piper Apache plane over
areas of serious conflict including Northern
Ireland, the Suez Canal and the India Pakistan
border ‘bombing’ these troubled areas with
flowers and leaflets calling for peace.
In 1983 he gained world-wide recognition
when he made an historic and perilous journey
across the Berlin Wall in a microlight airplane,
Autumn 2003
PLANET EARTH
PASSPORT
Designed by the
artist Peter Max,
Swamiji carried
this passport
only, on all his
peace missions
around the world
the first to be made by a private plane since the
wall was erected twenty years previously. His
courage and fearlessness in these missions and
in his work throughout his life can be summed
up in these words "Many people have died for
war; if necessary I shall die for peace."

Belfast Ireland 1971
A Plea for Tolerance
Taking off with his homemade Planet Earth
passport, Swami Vishnu-devananda flew first
to Northern Ireland, arriving on September 8,
1971. Accompanied by his student, Peter
Sellers, he ‘bombed’ Belfast with rose petals
and leaflets urging peace.
‘The leaflets and flowers
were flying everywhere;
they were all over. It was a
beautiful sight – like white
doves everywhere’
Suez Canal Middle East 1971
Drop Flowers not Bombs
His next stop was Egypt where Arabs and
Israeli armies faced each other from opposite
banks of the Suez Canal. Ignoring danger from
anti-aircraft batteries and military jets, he flew
south with his co-pilot Bren Jacobson from
Port Said on October 8, ‘bombing’ troops
along the canal with flowers and peace leaflets
printed in Arabic and Hebrew. When he
landed in Cairo, he was taken prisoner,
blindfolded, and interrogated for three days
before his release.
Right: Swami Vishnu-devananda
at the controls
Left: Swamiji demonstrating the point
that the world was ‘topsy turvy’ on
the wing of his Piper Apache plane
Top and left: Swami Vishnudevananda
and his two-seater
Piper Apache plane painted by
the artist Peter Max
‘All my years of flying had only one
purpose – to break the boundaries
without passport and visa’
Above: Handing out peace
leaflets to heavily armed
British troops in Belfast
‘A Swami ‘Bombs’ Suez
with Leaflets for Peace’
– The New York Times Oct 6th 1971
Above: An ever-courageous
Swami Vishnu-devananda sits
in Padmasana on the wing of
his plane before one of his
missions
Autumn 2003 33

Swami Vishnu-devananda – A Divine Life
Berlin Germany 1983
Over the Berlin Wall
On September 15th, 1983, at the height of the
Cold War, Swami Vishnu-devananda flew his
one-seater ultra-light aircraft over the Berlin
Wall. His purpose was to demonstrate his
conviction that the barriers between people
must be broken down –"to fly as a bird flies,
without regard for borders or boundaries."
A Telegram to the World’s Leaders
Soon after take-off, the following telegram
was sent to all the major world leaders
‘Swami Vishnu-devananda has today
successfully flown over the wall from West to
East Berlin in a symbolic bid for world peace.
By this mission he has shown that it is only
man-made boundaries that separate East from
West, nation from nation, man from man. Only
when we recognise the unity of mankind will
there be any hope of universal peace’
34
Message of Thanks
The following message was
printed on hundreds of
celebratory balloons
‘Thank you Mr Gorbachev
for bringing world peace
and breaking not only
the Berlin Wall, but the
man made East-West
boundaries’
Autumn 2003
Right: Heading East –
Flying over the wall
Bottom Right: Swamiji
loads up with chrysanthemum
petals to scatter
over the divided city
Below: Swami Vishnudevananda
leads peace
procession through streets
of West Berlin
‘Symbolically we want to show that
love and flowers can overcome
barriers better than bombs’
Berlin Germany 1989
The Wall Comes Down
It was November 1989. The Berlin wall was about to fall. Swami Vishnudevananda
held a peace demonstration at ‘Checkpoint Charlie’ and the
Brandenburg Gate where pigeons and hundreds of brightly coloured
balloons were released to celebrate this momentous occasion.
‘Swamiji thanked the East German
President in the name of all the
peace-loving people of the world’
Left: clockwise – Releasing doves,
thanking East German President
Egon Krenz for opening the Wall,
peace balloons in front of the
Brandenburg Gate
Right: Reunited with the East
German farmer in whose field
Swamiji’s plane landed in 1983

The West Bank Israel 1989
The Intifada
With his love of humanity, Swamiji had no fear of
visiting these territories on one of his incomparable
"flower and peace leaflet" peace bombings.
Three cars full of enthusiastic but nervous yoga
students travelled with Swamiji to the military guard
post outside Kalkaliya, a small town on the West Bank
of the River Jordan. The contingent of sixteen, mainly
Israeli nationals, were not sure how the inhabitants of
the town would react to them. The media had been
telling the public to avoid such areas. But Swamiji was
with us and his presence was like a rock; what harm
could there be?
It took about half an hour for the soldiers to
complete formalities; then we were led into the village
by two military jeeps. Despite the quietness of kafiyacrowned
Arabs slowly milling around, we felt a rather
eerie vibration. We parked the vehicles and emerged
into the unknown environment. The streets were
lined at short intervals with Israeli soldiers, heavy rifles
menacingly hung from their shoulders. We were told
not to depend on the soldiers to protect us. Just the
day before they themselves had been victims of
vicious stone-throwing.
The first thing Swamiji did was to enter a
pharmacy. His exuberance took the proprietors by
storm and soon the flowers and pamphlets were
delivered. Fortunately they knew English; Swamiji
explained his purpose; it was happily accepted. A
spirit of friendship and love was created. Returning to
the street, Swamiji left his band of disciples to
personally offer flowers and pamphlets to each
person he met. Each individual was taken by surprise.
At one point Swamiji handed flowers and pamphlets
to an older Palestinian man. Holding the man’s hand
firmly in his own, Swamiji spoke, his voice full of
urgency, of the need to love in peace. The man spoke
no English, Swamiji no Arabic. As Swamiji looked
deeply into the man’s eyes, a very deep level of
communication took place. One of the staff watching
the situation remarked that it was like Swamiji
giving initiation.
After ‘conquering’ a few blocks, Swamiji sat down
on a small traffic island in the middle of the street. As
disciples followed suit, he broke into loud chanting for
peace. Soldiers watched smilingly and with
incredulity. Some even approached, asking for flyers.
Looking up the street, one could feel the powerful
vibration set up by Swamiji. One could hardly believe
any longer that this was a battlefield. As the chanting
continued two young Arab women approached.
There were shy to speak to Swamiji directly. However
an introduction was soon made and they began
speaking, as though to an older uncle. One, a
journalist complained about how badly the Israeli
government was treating them. Swamiji listened
sympathetically and spoke in a loving way of the need
to open up dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians.
- Swami Padmapadananda
Above: Accompanied by students
Swamiji visits the village of
Kalkaliya, on the Israeli-occupied
West Bank, during a particularly
explosive period of Israeli-
Palestinian history
Amritsar India 1984
Inside the Golden Temple
In 1984, Swami Vishnu outfitted a London
double-decker bus marked "Yoga for Peace"
and had it driven overland through Europe,
Iran and Pakistan into the Punjab, where
he tried to mediate between Hindu and Sikh
factions in Amritsar. Entering the Golden Temple
accompanied by a small entourage, he spoke
to Sikh leaders who were then fortressed within.
A few days later he held a Yoga for Peace
Festival. Over two thousand people came
to add their support to his peace campaign.
Above: Meeting Sant
Brindiwale (top), the
Golden Temple (left) and
Meeting Sant Longowal
Left: The Yoga Peace Bus
which drove all the way
Autumn overland 2003 from 35London,
England to India

Swami Vishnu-devananda – A Divine Life
1 2 3 4
36
THE HATHA YOGI
Left: Advanced Crow Variation
– The Cock Kukutasan
7
5 6
9 10 11
12
‘Health is Wealth. Peace
of Mind is Happiness.
Yoga shows the Way.’
- Swami Vishnu-devananda
Left: Sivananda Ashram,
Rishikesh, India
– Swami Vishnudevananda
demonstrating
the twelve basic postures
Autumn 2003
Autumn 2003 37
8
BENEFITS OF THE ASANAS
1 Headstand – Sirshasan
Stimulates the pineal and pituitary glands,
revitalising the entire mind and body
2 Shoulderstand – Sarvangasan
Balances the thyroid gland which regulates
metabolism; relieves depression and insomnia
3 Plough – Halasan
Rejuvenates the entire spine; relieves
indigestion and constipation
4 Fish – Matsyasan
Strengthens and cleans the respiratory system;
calms the emotions
5 Forward Bend – Paschimottanasan
Increases digestive power; invigorates the
entire nervous system
6 Cobra – Bhujangasan
Tones the deep and superficial muscles of the
back; tones the adrenal glands
7 Locust – Salabhasan
Massages the pancreas, liver and kidneys;
relieves lower back pain and sciatica
8 Bow – Dhanurasan (pose shown is the Full Bow)
Removes abdominal fat; improves blood
circulation; regulates the pancreas
9 Half Spinal Twist – Ardha Matsyendrasan
(pose shown is the Full Spinal Twist)
Tones and stimulates the sympathetic nervous
system; stimulates the liver and large intestine
10 Crow – Kakasan
Strengthens arms, wrists and shoulders;
promotes mental and physical balance
11 Standing Forward Bend – Pada Hastasan
Increases blood supply to the brain; makes
the spine elastic
12 Triangle – Trikonasan
Relieves nervous depression; strengthens the
pelvic area; tones the abdominal organs

Swami Vishnu-devananda – A Divine Life
Never
Say Karma
Swami Vishnu-devananda
38
Autumn 2003
There is no such thing as sin.
Sin is another word for a mistake.
Your body and mind might make
mistakes; but your Soul remains pure, it
is the witness to the action. There is
nothing wrong with making mistakes, we all do
it. The baby soul – we are all baby souls
otherwise we would not be on earth – must
commit some mistakes during the process of
evolution. The purpose of coming to earth is
to make mistakes and learn by them. Mistakes
are our best teachers.
Without mistakes we do not grow. Every
time we make a mistake, some kind of pain
comes as a consequence. Then we turn away
from the painful experience, just like a child.
The other day I saw a little girl sitting by an oil
lamp looking at it longingly. She wanted to
pour oil into it, but her father had told her no.
She kept quiet for a while, but the moment her
father looked away, she tried to pour oil in and
was burned. She now knows to keep clear of
the lamp. We all learn like this, through
suffering. Without suffering we do not grow.
Through suffering we learn the difference
between right and wrong and we start to
‘Without mistakes we do not grow. Every time we make a mistake,
some kind of pain comes as a consequence. Then we turn away
from the painful experience, just like a child’

question what it is that we are doing wrong.
And we try fruitlessly to find a way we can
escape suffering the consequences of our
actions!
But because there is no sin this does not
mean you can do anything you want; that no
one has seen what you are doing, that there is
no witness. There is one witness who watches
your action all the time, even when you sleep.
That witness is God or Soul – the name does
not matter. You think no one has seen the
action, but still your Soul has seen. You can
never escape from this witness however hard
you try. However much you try to camouflage
your action, there will be a witness and there
will always be a karmic reaction. That is the
law. You can't escape your karma, your action.
Whatever action you do, it comes back to you.
Today Bharata gave me some sweets; at some
point in the future when he is in pain or in
difficulty, someone will give to him. But if he
came and stole sweets from my house, then at
a later date there would be a negative reaction
and he would suffer.
There are ways you can escape from this
suffering. One of these is to follow the path of
jnana yoga; you identify with the Self, the pure
Self, the Soul who witnesses.
If you write a beautiful poem, it is not the
pen that moves or the hand that writes that are
praised, it is the intellect and the mind behind
the pen and hand that receive the credit. You
are considered creative, intelligent and
sensitive to have written such a poem. The
jnani goes one step further and says behind
even the intellect there is the witness, the Soul
and that the mind and the intellect are just a
reflection of the Soul. The jnani does not
identify with the mind, the body or the action.
He sees them as separate from his true Self.
The jnani separates the actor from the acting.
Once you realise that you are the Self the
concept of ‘sin’ rolls away like water off a lotus
leaf. The Soul, like the lotus leaf, is not
affected by any wrong action or good action.
The problems come only when we do not
identify with the Soul. We identify with our
body and our actions. We see ourselves as
doing good actions or bad actions, or we
blame ‘karma’ for our situation. This is a
mistake. Gurudev used to exhort us to exert.
Do purushartha. Do tapas. Concentrate.
Purify. Meditate, he would tell us.
When we look at karma there are two
aspects to consider: firstly karma which is the
action you perform and its result, as in "my
karma has brought all these problems to me,"
and secondly, purushartha which is action you
perform through your will, or will power. We
know that once an action is performed, we
cannot change the result. We will reap the
fruits. But we have full control over the action
we are going to perform, now or in the future.
The mistake you made in the past has put you
Above: Swami
Vishnu-devananda
practises anuloma
viloma pranayama
‘Do intense
pranayama,
japa, asanas,
service,
karma yoga,
and things
will come to
you. It is not
money that
brings you
what you
want. It is
the power
of thought’
Autumn 2003 39

Swami Vishnu-devananda – A Divine Life
‘You must always understand that
you are the master of your destiny’
in the painful condition you are now in. So remember
that if you do a negative action, you
will have pain. The trick is to avoid the action.
You have full control over the actions you are
going to perform, as the man who has arrows
in the quiver has full control over these
arrows. He can shoot anywhere he wants;
right, left, above. Or he can just not shoot and
put the arrow away. But once the arrow has
gone from the bow he then has no control, it is
too late. Similarly as long as an action is not
performed, as long as it only exists in the mind
then you still can control that action by
stopping it. But once that action is performed
you have no control over it and it will
inevitably generate a reaction.
So you need to use purushartha, free will,
use effort to exert. You can promise yourself
that you will get up in the morning and
meditate. But then you wake up and roll over
blaming bad karma and go back to sleep!!!
This is wrong. You have full control over your
present and future actions. So purushartha –
exert. Exert! Never say karma. Otherwise,
you will have to suffer. No one else can do the
suffering for you. You can go to a party, get
drunk and eat all the turkey you want, and
then get sick. That's up to you. But once you
have learned from where the suffering comes,
then you can avoid the actions that cause it.
This is the purpose of the suffering.
You are all free. We are here to work out
our karma. If a thing has to happen, it will. If
not, it won't. It depends on our past actions,
on what we have done in the past. You cannot
change that. You cannot run away.
40
Autumn 2003
Above: Arriving
in the West
‘If I had
left India
thinking
that
someone
would
help me,
then I
would
never
have left’
Do not be a fatalist. Do not yield to inertia.
Do not bleat like a lamb. Swami Sivananda
used to say, roar OM OM OM like a lion of
Vedanta. Look how Markandeya who was
destined to die in his sixteenth year became a
chiranjivi - an immortal boy of sixteen. He
prayed to Lord Siva. He concentrated on Lord
Siva's statue and held it. Lord Yama – the Lord
of Death – put out his jaws to take his soul and
astral body out from the physical body, but the
boy was so strong in his will power and so
devoted to Lord Siva that Yama's jaws could
not reach him. He escaped. And he has
become permanently living, an immortal. So
you can change your karma through your
action, through your will. You can perform an
action with knowledge of the consequence or
you can act blindly, with no heed to the future.
No one is given special status by God.
There is no doubt that whatever others have
done you can also do. You create your own
standing, and you can change it because you
created it yourself. Similarly you can change
your nature. You must always understand that
you are the master of your destiny. If things
go wrong, you can always change direction.
You can work miracles if you apply yourself to
spiritual sadhana such as tapas and
meditation, Om Namo Narayanaya mantra and
pranayama. When you practise these you
automatically increase your thought power.
Develop a programme for your life. I'm not
talking egoistically now, but if I had left India
thinking that someone would help me, then I
would never have left. There was no money.
But I knew that by hard work – not only hard
physical work, but also mental work – by
intense pranayama and intense japa, I would
be able to go. All these things strengthen the
mind and body and then everything comes to
you. Nothing happens by accident. For
example once I was in London and we badly
needed some money for the Centre.
Suddenly, at midnight, a call comes telling us
that we had received a donation of $80,000. I
did not know the donor nor did I know why he
was giving. All I knew was that we needed
money. It was and is all God's Grace.
Do intense pranayama, japa, asanas,
service, karma yoga, etc. and things will come
to you. It is not money that brings you what
you want. It is the power of thought. When
you do something negative, instead of having
the next meal, do ten japa mala. Your will
power will increase and your mind will
strengthen. And the power is stored; it is
never lost. Because his motive was pure, the
student who gave $80,000, will receive

dividends in this life; as well as in the next life,
and the next. If he had put the money in the
bank, or bought stocks and shares with that
money what would have happened to the
stock ……... Crash!
I have just created a bank in Gangotri, on
the top of Vishnu peak, called the Om Namo
Narayanaya Bank!! I have put all the Om
Namo Narayanaya mantras written by students
into the bank, and buried them in a cave there.
And I am quite sure that dividends will come
out of them from which you also will benefit.
Everyone's thought in the form of the
written mantra is buried there. And because
we know that mantra has power, all those Om
Namo Narayanaya mantras are continually
radiating power. Most people do not
understand this power. They understand only
paper money, diamonds, or gold which hold
no permanency. Today the diamond is
valuable; the next day worthless. Today you
own lots of dollars, and, the next day they have
gone. Is it not better to meditate, repeat Om
Namo Narayanaya, have no money and worry
about nothing?
Even if everything collapses tomorrow you
will still have your clothes. If you can say that,
you are richer than billionaires. With all the
money they have they cannot buy the peace
you have, the freedom you have, the inner
strength you have. You don't have to run for
the tranquillisers -- sleeping pills and wake-up
pills – or fight alcoholism. How free you are.
Understand this freedom you have that you
cannot buy. I have nothing. Even so, with only
this pair of clothes, I can go anywhere in the
world. Remember that all that you give comes
back to you. As you start giving, everything
starts coming to you in a different way. You
may not be able to see things physically, but
your mind becomes stronger and more
powerful. Your thought becomes powerful.
Things will just materialise for you, by mere
thought alone. Have renunciation. Do
everything in the service of the humanity.
Then you will have everything.
Finally, become desireless. If you have no
desire, you are the king of kings. Even Indra,
the king of the heaven, is like a beggar. He
wants all the comforts and conveniences. He
achieved his position through good action and
charity, but that will also disappear. He worries
about who will take his post, like a worldly
man. But I can sleep comfortably in my house
with no worries. I always pray to Gurudev not
to give too much money. Money is the worst
thing; all you need is just enough to keep your
head above water – that is enough. Then you
will have to work and through work you will
learn the right path. You will learn that the
future is dependent upon God, and not on a
bank balance or the stock market. The stock
market collapsed yesterday, and yet no one
here despaired. Instead we have peace and
love and compassion. Help others and do not
worry about money. If you have money, use it
for the good of humanity. Here life is taken
care of through Gurudev and God. Have full
faith in God and Gurudev. There is nothing to
worry about. When you give, everyone starts
giving. Then the world becomes heaven.
That's Gurudev's message today. May Lord
bless you all.
Above: Radiating
‘Thought power’
– The Om Namo
Narayanaya Bank
on the top of
Vishnu Peak,
Himalayas
Below: The Early
Days – Hard work,
self effort and
God’s grace
‘You are all free. We are here to
work out our karma. If a thing has
to happen, it will. If not, it won't.
It depends on our past actions, on
what we have done in the past.
You cannot change that. You
cannot run away’
Autumn 2003 41

"
Swami Vishnu-devananda – A Divine Life
Sivakami Ashley remembers
her favourite ‘grandfather’
Swamiji
scream, you scream, we all scream for ice
cream!" Swamiji absolutely loved ice cream.
IAnd
what he loved even more than eating it
himself, was making sure that everyone else was
eating it too. At every special occasion, ranging
from a staff-only Karma Yoga night to a birthday
party, to the TTC talent show, radiating pure joy
Swamiji would call out, " Ice cream for everyone!!!"
followed of course, by the jingle above.
I am, as my Kids’ Camp peers appropriately
labelled me, an Ashram baby. My parents,
Swami Srinivasananda and Laksmi Ashley, met
each other in the Sivananda Centre in Paris, were
married in the Yoga Camp in Canada, and as their
child I have lived in the ashrams founded by
Swami Vishnu-devananda all my life. There
would be no Sivakami Ashley without Swamiji.
Swami Vishnu-devananda has influenced nearly
every aspect of my identity. He joined my
parents, created my home, and taught me the
yogic philosophy which so often colours my
thoughts. However, rather than using these few
pages to dwell on myself, I much prefer to share
my fond memories of this saintly man.
When I was only eight years old, Swamiji left
his physical body. Therefore, my memories of
him are that of a little girl: very blurred, more
coloured with feelings than with facts. I
remember loving Swamiji very much. Perhaps
you could compare my relationship with him to
the relationship one has with a loving
grandparent. It was a combination of adoration
and respect. Similar to a grandparent Swamiji
loved to spoil me, ignoring completely the
disapproval of my parents. I adored ice cream as
much as Swamiji enjoyed giving it and this made
us a wonderful pair. My mother, however, was
of the opinion that ice cream gave me a stuffy
nose and therefore did her best to keep me from
having it. Swamiji’s demands that she give me
ice cream did not please her in the least. One
day, I remember this very clearly, a karma yoga
42
Autumn 2003
‘I adored
ice cream
as much as
Swamiji
enjoyed
giving it and
this made us
a wonderful
pair’
night was scheduled and every one knew what
would follow: ICE CREAM! My mother decided
that she would sneak me a sherbet substitute
and no one would ever know. Well I certainly
knew, and when Swamiji found out, to make a
long story short, I got my beloved ice cream.
I was very fond of Swamiji. As a child I loved
"lap hopping", that is, sitting on one person’s lap
for a few moments and then moving on to
another. Satsang of course was the perfect
opportunity for this, and as I made my rounds,
Swamiji´s lap was never forgotten. His, after that
of my mother’s, was my favourite. My moving
about surely disrupted the satsang he was giving,
but Swamiji never seemed to mind. I only
remember him smiling.
When I was five years old Swamiji initiated
me into my mantra for a second time. Before I
was born, Swamiji had already decided that my
mantra would be OM NAMAH SIVAYA and that
if I were a boy my name would be Sivaram, girl,
Sivakami. When, after nine months, I entered
the world as a girl, Swamiji blessed me with my
spiritual name and mantra. At the age of five,
however, I realised that I could not remember my
initiation and therefore decided to accompany
my Kids’ Camp friends who were to receive
initiation. All the children who wanted a name
and/or mantra put on their cleanest Kids’ Camp
uniform, prepared a gift of flowers and fruit, and
walked down to Swamiji’s house singing OM
NAMO NARAYANAYA in unison. When we
arrived, Swamiji separated us into sections,
depending on what mantra we had chosen. He
then went to each group, placed the three sacred
powders on each member’s forehead, and then
repeated the group’s mantra until the group
joined him chanting their mantra correctly and
with full prana. I can remember having to pull my
bangs back, (it was still the 80s) while Swamiji
placed, first the sandalwood paste, this felt very
cool, then the red kumkum, neutralising the

coldness, and finally the three lines of ash on my
forehead. As he sang my mantra with me I
realised how incredibly beautiful those three
words sounded. After the initiation there were
sweets and ice cream for everyone!
When Swamji was not too busy, I would run
down the long dirt path which led to his house
carrying a bouquet of wild flowers as a gift.
Swami Kartikeyananda would always greet me at
the door ready to offer me some sweets and
plastacine. Then, accompanied by my treasures, I
would make my way up the dingy, carpeted stairs
and into Swamiji´s room. I remember the staircase
being very dark, a sharp contrast to the bright
room in which I would meet Swamiji. I remember
a whole wall of this room was a window and in the
summer I loved to gaze at the rather large pond
below, ornamented here and there by a lily flower.
When I was very young, four perhaps, I
would find Swamiji sitting up in his hammock
smiling at the world outside. I would offer my
flowers, and sit cross-legged on the floor. It was
then that he would tell me stories. His stories
were very simple, but they stuck in my young
mind, carrying seeds of vedanta. Swamiji´s
favourite story to tell me was about a family of
mice and a "meditating" cat.
‘Even though he no longer
spoke, sitting beside him in
silence I remember feeling his
love. Swamiji loved everyone’
The story ran like this: Once upon a time ten
mice lived in a field. One day a fat cat moved in
as their neighbour. However, because this clever
cat was clothed in orange robes, sported ash
streaks in the appropriate places, and sat crossedlegged
on a tiger cloth with his eyes closed, the
mice assumed that he was harmless. They
thought to themselves, look, this cat is dressed
like a Yogi. Yogis are vegetarian and practise nonviolence
so we have nothing to fear. Naively
these mice went on their way, living their lives as
they had before. That night, however, one
mouse was missing. At this moment Swamiji
would ask me, "And now Sivakami, how many
mice are there?" Every night another mouse
went missing until there were no mice left at all.
In addition to teaching me how to count, and
count backwards at that, Swamiji´s story taught
me that a person’s appearance does not dictate
their inner nature. The unfortunate mice of this
story mistakenly placed their faith in the yogi-like
attire and ignored that it was a cat that wore it.
Thus, Swamiji explained to me that I must look
beyond the physical appearance of a person and
instead consider the nature of their inner being. I
believe that this story has many layers of
meaning. As I mature I may understand its
deeper truths.
Swamiji’s second favourite story for my
afternoon visits was a humorous explanation of
karma. The story depicted the relationship
between a man and a tomato. Imitating the man,
Swamiji would say, "Look at this juicy tomato. It
looks sooooooo good!" He would then pretend to
be biting into a big, plump tomato that filled his
entire right hand. Next, taking a narrator’s
position, Swamiji would tell me that several years
had gone by and that the man had passed away.
His family, being aware of his love for tomatoes,
had kindly planted a tomato bush over his grave.
Now, the tomato plant is flourishing and has
come to fruit. Thinking to itself, the tomato plant
says, "How delicious, this body tastes sooooo
good!" Through this little story Swamiji
explained to a little girl the basic nature of karma.
He told me that I was no more important than the
tomato. All actions will have a balanced reaction.
Therefore, the idea of power is completely
illusory. My food today, which I pretend to have
complete control over, will one day, eat me. The
man and the tomato in Swamiji´s story are equally
significant and powerful. The only difference
between the two is that one has had control over
the other at a different time.
When I was six years old, Swamiji had his
second stroke. This removed his ability to walk as
well as to speak. His story-telling days had come
to an end. I continued to visit him, however, still
carrying my flowers and still being warmly
welcomed by Swami Kartikeyananda. I would find
him in a bed rather than a hammock, but I
continued to sit beside him, cross-legged on the
floor. Swamiji´s room was filled with books, and
so, instead of listening to his stories I now spent
my visits flipping through the pages of a book with
interesting pictures. Even though he no longer
spoke, sitting beside him in silence I remember
feeling his love. Swamiji loved everyone.
Swami Vishnu-devananda passed away when
I was nine years old. I remember being surprised
that I was not sad that he had died. His energy in
the organisation was so strong I felt that he hadn´t
left. Today I continue to feel his presence in my
daily life, that he is watching over me and making
sure that I am as spoiled as possible. He is my
grandfather, my teacher, my inspiration.
Right: Sivakami
with Swami
Vishnu-devananda
and friend
Above: Swamiji
loved everyone –
Snap-shots during
Yoga Kids’ Camp in
Val Morin Canada.
Sivakami is in
bottom row centre
Autumn 2003 43

Memories of Master
Swami Vishnu-devananda remembers his time at Sivananda
Ashram, Rishikesh, India with Swami Sivananda
THE THREE BAGS
Master always carried three ordinary cloth bags.
One contained the important correspondence
which he would give to the various swamis in
charge of various departments. Another
contained his personal things: fountain pens,
glasses, and so forth. The third contained fruits,
nuts and snacks. You may wonder why. They
weren’t for him. The basic philosophy of Swami
Sivananda is "Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate,
Realise". Serve and love and give. Without giving
you can’t serve and love. If you keep everything
for yourself and say, "O yes, I love you all," and if
you eat without giving something to others,
that’s not loving. You have to show your love in
action. So Master served and loved. He shared
everything, everything, he never kept anything.
If there were two fruits, he would immediately
give one to others and then he’d eat part of the
other one.
‘He shared everything,
everything, he never
kept anything’
44
FOR FURTHER DETAILS CONTACT
any Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre, Ashram or
‘Each of the
devotees
thought
that Master
took special
care of him,
loved him
more than
anyone else’
www.sivananda.org
Autumn 2003
Above: With the Master – (top
picture) Swami Vishnu on left.
(Bottom picture) Swami Vishnu
immediately behind Master
Left: Swami Vishnu-devananda
with Swami Sivananda
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
I would carry Master’s things as we walked from
his kutir to the office and the other devotees
would be following. Master would walk in the
front and on the way he would deliver tidbits.
It was only about a fifteen minute walk and he
didn’t talk much, but sometimes he would make
the trip a little longer by stopping to tell a few
anecdotes or ask a few questions about
someone’s welfare or health. Maybe a new guest
had come and he would say, "How are you?
Where do you come from? Do you keep a
spiritual diary?" Then he would ask after their
spiritual welfare and their family affairs. He was
happy to encourage and help in any way people
wanted him to. Each of the devotees thought
that Master took special care of him, loved him
more than anyone else. I also felt Sivananda loved
me more than anyone else. All of the devotees
thought the same thing. "Sivananda loves me
more than anyone else." That’s the beauty of a
great master. I actually think that only one other
person had this quality: Lord Krishna. When He
was in the physical world every gopi thought that
Krishna loved her better than any other gopi
because they reached oneness with Him. In this
way we were all happy to be near Master and to
get this feeling, more and more each day.