An instrument of thy Peace

by Swami Chidananada

The talks in this book are powerful messages to whichever group might receive them, but they are especially powerful for a Western audience. Swami Chidananda must have given the talks with the Western perspective and cultural conditioning in mind. He has been able to distil the wisdom of the East into ideas and examples that relate directly to the life experience of the Westerners who heard the talks or who might be reading them here in this book. One would feel that everything has been explained and nothing has been left out. What is more, Swamiji's great love and compassion are clearly evident in his talks, and the current of spiritual force that flows out of the talks will bring the reader to a greater understanding of the highest truths. Swamiji is an ideal person to teach the dharma in the West; he is a South Indian Brahmin who had his education in English-speaking Christian schools and who has been familiar with Western culture and religion from a very early age.

Table of Contents:

• Preface
• Introduction
• Awaken from the Slumber of Non-Awareness 
• Being Reborn in the Spirit
• How to Be Kind to Yourself
• Being Like God
• You Cannot Get to the Kingdom of Heaven by Hop, Skip and Jump!
• Dyeing the Personality the Colour of Divinity through Meditation
• The Liberating Wisdom at Our Doorsteps
• We better get back home:
• The Practice of Authentic Yoga
• The Ultimate Success
• The Necessity for a Guru
• Swami Sivananda: That Wonderful, Noble-Soul Man
• Glorious Self-sacrifice
• If you want to be a True Lover of God
• Starting the Return Journey
• Mind your own Business!
• The Richest Treasure on Earth
• Yoga and Topsy-Turvy Yoga
• The Ayurvedic System of Health and the Laws of Prosperity
• Literary Interlude: Letters from Swami Chidananda
• The Basis of Success in all Human Endeavors
• As a Man Think, So He Becomes
• The Science of Living Life
• Standing Like a Rock, No Matter What Comes
• A Towering Tree Present within a Small Seed
• Dedicating Yourself Heart and Soul to the Lord
• Cleansing the Temple: The Inner Transformation 
• The Right Relationship with the Mind
• My Beloved Children, You Live in Eternity
• The Incredible Gift of Our Spiritual Heritage
• Love and Adoration: The Yoga of Devotion
• Liberation Even in this Life: The Path of Knowledge
• The Yoga of Meditation
• Let Us Serve Thee in All these Names and Forms: Karma Yoga
• Right Thought, Right Activity
• Light into the Darkness
• The Four Greatest Friends
• How to Find Peace 
• Glossary.

About the Author:

Swami Chidananda was born as Sridhar Rao in Mangalore, South India, on September 24, 1916, the first son of an orthodox Hindu Brahmin family. When he was sixteen, he shifted to Madras where, in 1938, he graduated with a B.A. from the prestigious Loyola College. During these years, devotional songs and stories from the scriptures, as well as the lives and teachings of modern saints such as Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Ramana Maharshi and Swami Ramdas awakened in him a fiery aspiration for the life spiritual.

In 1943 he joined the Himalayan Ashram of the sage and saint Swami Sivananda, the founder of the Divine Life Society, whose dynamic spiritual writings had long attracted him. Soon he was put in charge of the Sivananda Ashram medical dispensary, where his compassionate service to all, including the lepers, earned him the affectionate title of Dr. Raoji. He also headed up the Correspondence Section and was frequently called upon to give lectures as well as attend to the special needs of many of the guests. In 1948 he was appointed General Secretary of the Society and on Guru Purnima, 1949, was initiated into the holy order of Sannyasa.

Ten years later, in 1959, in response to many requests, Swami Sivananda sent him to the West, a trip that lasted for over two years. Succeeding Swami Sivananda as President of the Divine Life Society in 1963, his life since has been one of almost continuous travel throughout India and to all continents of the globe in the holy Master's service and in the cause of the central objective of the Divine Life Society, dissemination of spiritual knowledge.

Although, in his travels, he is frequently received by high dignitaries and he is the head of an institution with many branches both in India and abroad," yet he still remains at heart a simple monk, whose aim in life is to do as much good as possible for as many people as possible and, above all, bring to them the heart-solacing and liberating message of Yoga, Vedanta and the living of a divine life.