Atma Bodha

by Swami Chinmayananda

No text book can be prescribed to the students without an initial chapter giving the definition of the terms and terminology that are used in the body of the book. The Scientist visualizes the world from his view point. He sees truths that are not visible to others. And since he sees visions which are not the common property of all, in his language he will have to use unconventional words which have for him some special imports and secret suggestions. If these extraordinary words are not rightly understood by the teacher and the taught, transference of knowledge would be impossible. Therefore, in every text book of science, the first few chapters describe the categories.

Suffering and sorrows form a part of life's game. There is none who has not undergone pressing agonies in his own day to day life, either physically or mentally or emotionally. Yet, nobody seems to invite them. All that we do is to avoid as far as possible this aspect of life coming in contact with us. The more we want to escape its cruel jaws, the more it takes an endless variety of subtler and sharper ways of attacking.

Physical ailments form but one tribe of hordes that barbarously attack us; even more relentless and cruel are our mental sufferings. As we progress in our knowledge of the curative processes for ameliorating the physical sufferings, we observe that the mind's ill health affects the body much more than what one could imagine; and this king of suffering proves all the more difficult to deal with. Mental disintegration is more dangerous, for it brings about not only misery to the sufferer but a kind of dangerous disharmony in and excruciating intolerance with the surroundings of such an individual.

About the Author:

H.H. Swami Chinmayananda is a world renowned authority of the scriptures of India, especially Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. He was born in 1916 and attained mahasamadhi in 1993. He worked relentlessly for about 40 years to bring about spiritual revival in India and abroad. His unique style and logical approach is appealing to all young and old.

His was the life of selfless service to others. He is the author of more than thirty books - each one is a masterpiece, dealing with the philosophical principles behind the religion. He made mysterious and elusive vedantic principles easily understandable for common people. He is the founder of Chinmaya Mission, through which the work that he initiated and was so dear to him, is carried out in the form of spreading the message of vedanta, overseeing numerous cultural, educational and social service activities. A biography of this great spiritual master, entitled Journey of a Master: Swami Chinmayananda, is available through Chinmaya Publications.

Swami Chinmayananda was selected by the Hindu Host Committee to be the President of Hindu Religion, representing Hinduism worldwide at the Meeting of the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago (during August 28 - September 4, 1993), an honor bestowed on the great Swami Vivekananda a century ago. The Parliament had selected fourteen eminent religious leaders around the world to form a council to guide the world into the next century. At "World Vision 2000," a conference of religious leaders sponsored by Hindu Vishwa Parishad during August 6-8, 1993, H.H. Swami Chinmayanandji was to be honored for his lifetime of selfless service to humanity and his extraordinary achievements in creating a renaissance of spiritual and cultural values in India and abroad. However, on August 3, 1993, Swami Chinmayanandji attained Mahasamadhi in SanDiego, California, after suffering a massive heart attack as the equipment became too worn out due to the ceaseless Seva of the Master to humanity for over 42 years.