Divine Life Society Explained

Divine Life Society
Formation:	1936
Founder:	Swami Sivananda
Istadvaita:	Krishna
Headquarters:	Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India
Location:	300 Branches
Area Served:	Worldwide

The Divine Life Society (DLS) is a Hindu spiritual organization and an ashram, founded by Swami Sivananda Saraswati in 1936, at Muni Ki Reti, Rishikesh, India. Today Divine Life Society has branches around the world, with the headquarters situated in Rishikesh. Many disciples of Swami Sivananda have started independent organizations in Mauritius, the United States, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, South Africa, South America, and Europe.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Aims

History

In 1936, after returning from a pilgrimage, Swami Sivananda stayed in an old hut on the banks of the Ganges in Rishikesh. The King of Tehri Garhwal granted him a plot of land to construct the present day Shivanandashram.^[4] Chidananda Saraswati served as president of the society from August 1963 to 28 August 2008, while Krishnananda Saraswati served as the General-Secretary of the Society in Rishikesh from 1958 until 2001.^[5]

Vegetarianism

Sivananda insisted on a strict lacto-vegetarian diet for moral and spiritual reasons, arguing that "meat-eating is highly deleterious to health".^{[6] [7] [8] [9]} Divine Life Society thus advocates a vegetarian diet.^[9]

Teachings

Sri Swami Sivananda outlined 20 important spiritual instructions for people of various religions in a book by the same name. The instructions were:

1. Brahmamuhuruta: Waking up early in the morning during
2. Asana: Sitting in an appropriate asana for half an hour to three hours
3. Japa: recitation of a mantra
4. Dietetic Discipline: Eat sattvic food
5. Meditation: Have a separate meditation room or area in the home
6. Swadhyay: Study religious books from half an hour to an hour daily
7. Elevate the Mind: Recite shlokas before performing japa
8. Brahmacharya: preservation of the vital force
9. Charity
10. Have Satsang: "association with holy people"
11. Fast: Fast on Ekadashi or the appropriate days for one's religion
12. Japa Mala: Keep a rosary and chant at every opportunity
13. Observe Mouna: Be silent for a couple of hours daily
14. Discipline of Speech: Speak a little, what is true, and what is sweet
15. Be content: have mental detachment and share with others
16. Practice Love: control anger and serve the sick and poor
17. Be self-reliant
18. Have self-analysis: understand one's mistakes and try to correct them
19. Do your duty
20. Remember God: remember God at all times^[10]

The teachings of yoga are explained at length by Swami Sivananda. Yoga is "the process by which the identity of the individual soul and the Supreme Soul is realized by the Yogi."^[11]

Departments

• The headquarters for Divine Life Society is Sivananda Ashram in Uttarakhand.^[12]
• Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy trains aspirants in yoga and provides knowledge of Indian culture to develop integrity^[13]
• Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy Press prints the cultural and spiritual books as well as the journals and other literature of the Divine Life Society.
• Sivananda Publication League is the publishing arm of the Divine Life Society.
• Sivananda Charitable Hospital renders free medical service to the public and conducts periodical medical relief camps freely.^[14]

See also

• Survey of Hindu organisations

Further reading

• Book: Ananthanarayanan, N. . From man to God-man: the inspiring life-story of Swami Sivananda . Indian Publ. Trading Corp . 1970.
• Book: Fornaro, Robert John . Sivananda and the Divine Life Society: A Paradigm of the "secularism," "puritanism" and "cultural Dissimulation" of a Neo-Hindu Religious Society . Syracuse University . 1969.
• Book: Gyan, Satish Chandra . Swami Sivananda and the Divine Life Society: An Illustration of Revitalization Movement . s.n. . 1979.

Related links

• The official website of Divine Life Society
• The other official website of Divine Life Society
• Swami Krishnananda, former General Secretary of the Divine Life Society

Notes and References

1. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/166607/Divine-Life-Society Divine Life Society
2. https://books.google.com/books?id=zBVyeRnJ64oC&pg=RA1-PA164 Divine Life Society
3. https://books.google.com/books?id=PguGB_uEQh4C&pg=PA144 Swami Shivananda
4. http://divinelifesociety.org/graphics/information/divine_life_society/introduction.html Introduction
5. Web site: His Holiness Sri Swami Krishnananda Saraswati Maharaj – The Divine Life Society . www.dlshq.org.
6. Rosen, Steven. (2011). Food for the Soul: Vegetarianism and Yoga Traditions. Praeger. p. 22.
7. McGonigle, Andrew; Huy, Matthew. (2022). The Physiology of Yoga. Human Kinetics. p. 169.
8. https://www.sivanandaonline.org//?cmd=displaysection&section_id=1210 "Meat-Eating"
9. https://www.dlshq.org/messages/vegetarianism/ "Vegetarianism"
10. Web site: 20 Important Spiritual Instructions – The Divine Life Society . 2023-05-28 . en-US.
11. Web site: Yoga – The Divine Life Society . 2023-04-03 . en-US.
12. Web site: The Divine Life Society - Member Institutions of Indian Yoga Association . 2023-05-04 . Indian Yoga Association . en-US.
13. Web site: The Divine Life Society – The Divine Life Society . 2023-03-26 . en-US.
14. Web site: Sivananda Charitable Hospital . 2023-03-26 . www.sivanandaonline.org.