Adhyatma Yoga

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Book Synopsis - Book Review.

 

Adhyatma Yoga By Swami Sivananda

 

The attainment of God-realisation is the goal of human life. Great seers, saints

and sages have been from time immemorial voicing this truth and striving to

spread the gospel of God-realisation in different ways, through books, speeches,

heart-to-heart talks, etc. And exactly it is to remind man of his Goal, and to

show him the path that leads to it that this book 'Adhyatma Yoga' is dedicated.

 

The first chapter of this book deals with the nature of God. The second chapter

throws light on the concept of religion. Various subjects connected with

philosophy are discussed in the next chapter. The fourth chapter raises the

clarion call to Sadhana, pointing out to man the false, perishable nature of the

world, and the glory and sublimity of a life in Spirit. The fifth chapter is

rich in profuse

instructions to aspirants on their path of Sadhana, and will be treasured by all

earnest aspirants. Formulas for Vedantic meditation are given in the sixth

chapter. The seventh chapter, containing a

series of addresses made to the mind and senses will be found highly useful by

all Sadhaks, as it throws much light on how to coax and cajole the riotous mind

and senses. The path of devotion is dealt with in chapter VIII, and the glory of

Divine Name is described in chapter IX. In this age of hatred and dissension,

the message of love alone will be the saving factor, and a full chapter (viz.

chapter X) is

devoted to a discussion of 'Love' and its infinite potencies. Sadhana, to be

successful, has to be done under the guidance of a Guru. The glory and need of

Guru are dealt with in chapter XI. Chapter XII gives

out the experiences of a Sage of Realisation,-the experiences which are the

Sadhak's ideal. A description of the characteristics of a saint is given in

chapter XIII. Chapter XIV is a highly interesting treatise on a wide variety of

subjects, and thinkers and intellectuals will immensely like the thoughts

contained in this chapter. Definitions, from a spiritual angle, of different

things and

phenomena are given in chapter XV. A description of woman, the spiritual

helpmate of man, is given in chapter XVI. Chapters XVII and XVIII respectively

convey valuable lessons through humour and stories.

The concluding chapter deals with the means of acquiring health and long life,

so very essential for attaining God-realisation.

 

It is hoped that all aspirants will make the best use of this book, by studying

it and putting the teachings into actual practice.

 

The teachings imparted in this book are in the form of pithy poems.