Hindu Press International

Source: http://www.sivanandaonline.org/html/misc/mahasamadhi-2008/lifesketch.shtm

RISHIKESH, INDIA, August 30, 2008: One of the prominent saints of contemporary times, and the President of the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh, established by Swami Sivananda, Swami Chidananda Saraswati, passed away on August 28th, 2008 at the age of 92. He was initiated into Sannyasa in 1949 by the great Master, Swami Sivananda himself.

Swami Chidananda stands out for his exemplary selfless service in the cause of the leper colonies in Rishikesh, and nearby places besides being an ideal preceptor to thousands across the world in his capacity as President of the Divine Life Society for forty years from August 1963 onwards .

“Service before Self” epitomized the entire life of this austere saint, who kept alive the spirit of the ancient Vedantic tradition in these confused and turbulent times much like his own Master Sivananda.

As Swami Chidananda would exhort and inspire his listeners, “To enter into the spiritual life is a rare blessedness, it is a great good: to take it seriously and engage in active spiritual Sadhana is a second blessedness and a still greater good: but to persevere in the spiritual life, to be ever progressive and ceaseless in one’s spiritual life, is the greatest good, the crowning blessedness.”

In his death, for which he had left strict instructions for his body to be immersed in the Ganges quickly (Jal Samadhi), and no spectacle be made of in terms of mourning, as in life, Swami Chidananda remained a simple monk, despite being the President of an international organization with centers across the globe, upholding the highest values of India’s monastic traditions

Source: http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1999/12/1999-12-15.shtml

KAUAI, HAWAII, USA, December, 1999: [HPI note: this is the article Hinduism Today published on the occasion of Swami receiving the Hindu of the Year Award.]

At 83, Swami Chidananda, president of the Divine Life Society, is one of India’s spiritual treasures, a sage, a beacon of light and a living example of the simplicity that lies at the heart of Indian spiritual practice. He is the able protege of the legendary Swami Sivananda, and has guided the DLS since Swami Sivananda’s passing in 1963. For his unadorned lifestyle, ripened humility and eloquent preaching of virtue’s way, Hinduism Today has selected Swami to receive the 1999 Hindu Renaissance Award as “Hindu of the Year.” Starting in 1990, Hinduism Today has honored one saint each year who has most impacted the faith and spread its values, compassion and profundity across the globe.

Born Sridhar Rao, September 24, 1916, Swami Chidananda was the eldest son of a wealthy landlord in South India. At an early age a friend of his grandfather impressed upon him the ideals of austerity, sageliness and pursuing a vision of God. He attended college in Chennai, graduating in 1938. While there, he studied the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda and Swami Sivananda, and attended the local Ramakrishna Mission meetings. He was a precocious preacher, guiding friends, relatives and neighbors alike.

In June of 1936 the youth disappeared from home and after some time was found at an ashram near the famed temple town of Tirupati, 70 miles away. With great effort, his family persuaded him to return home–it would not do for the eldest son of a landed man to renounce the world. But it had already happened, and for the next seven years Sridhar rejected worldly comforts and embarked upon a life of austerity. In 1943, he left home for good to join Swami Sivananda in Rishikesh. From his first days at the ashram, Chidananda was known for his healing ability and compassion for the ill, be they human or animal. Many stories are told of his caring for injured birds, squirrels and insects which came to his attention.

On Guru Purnima Day, July 10, 1949, he was initiated into sannyas by Swami Sivananda and given the name Swami Chidananda, “One who is in the highest consciousness and bliss.” By 1948 he was made DLS General Secretary, the highest administrative post. After the Mahasamadhi of Swami Sivananda in 1963, he was elected president. Swami has often repeated that he is not a guru, and when he has to give an initiation, he demures, “I do it in the name of my Master. Now Sivananda is your Master.” Practically speaking, those initiated by him consider him their guru. He is an eloquent and eager orator who prefaces talks with the jocose admission that some consider him a “chatterbox.”

Swami has been an unusually peripatetic DLS leader, on the move most of his life. Sri Anandamayi Ma nicknamed him “Airplane Baba.” In 1993, Swami attended the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago as one of three principal representatives — “presidents” — of Hinduism. Just this year he has traveled to Malaysia and Europe. It is for his purity and unflagging efforts to spread far and wide the deepest wisdom of Sanatana Dharma that Swami Chidanandaji is proudly declared Hindu of the Year for 1999.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/354813.html

JELASPOTA, ORISSA, INDIA, August 28, 2008: While violence rages across Kandhamal district, in the ashram, where its spark was lit when Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati and four others were killed on August 24, the adults are angry, the children traumatized. Many of the 130 girls in the Kanya Ashram, a residential school on the campus, were eyewitnesses to the killing of the VHP leader and that incident has burnt memories they will never forget.

“First, we thought someone is bursting crackers and so we ran towards the main gate. Then we saw and heard people screaming and running. There was blood all over the place. Swamiji and Mataji and others were lying in blood. I shouted and ran away, we all started running here and there,” said 15-year old Anita Pradhan. She is from Raikia and has been in the ashram for three years. According to Anita, it was around 7 in the evening, prayer time in the students’ quarters. Swamiji and Mataji Bhaktimoyee, head of the girls hostel, were inside Swamiji’s room adjacent to the main entrance.

According to eyewitnesses, 10 to 15 men climbed the wall and started firing indiscriminately. They first shot dead Amritanandji, a disciple of Swamiji. The attackers then entered a small room, home to Prabhati Ganta, the guardian of one of the students who was living there. They shot him, too. Later, Kishore Baba, a resident of Boudh, was shot just outside this room.

It was then that they broke open Saraswati’s room. “Swamiji ran into the bathroom to save himself and shut the door. Mataji, who hid behind the door, was shot first. The miscreants then broke open the toilet door and sprayed bullets,” said an eyewitness.

Kusum Pradhan, a Class 6 student, could not venture out of her hostel room after dark following the incident. “I too rushed out after hearing the noise. I saw bodies lying in blood. I touched Swamiji’s feet, who was lying in the bathroom. It was still warm but he did not move. Nor did Mataji, who lay inside the room,” was all Kusum could say.

Brahmachari Shankar Chaitanya, who is now in charge of the ashram and is always escorted by police constables and CRPF personnel, seethes with anger against both Christians and the state government. “We had written 30 times to the state government that Swamiji’s and our lives were at stake, that we were being threatened by Christian leaders. Before the incident, we got a letter threatening to kill Swamiji. We formally complained to the police and district authorities. They sent only four baton-wielding constables,” said Shankar Chaitanya.

Source: http://www.hinduismtoday.com/hpi/2008/8/31.shtml

Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.
   Albert Einstein (1879-1955)