Having grown up in the Belgian Congo, Sri Ganga Mira abandoned her university studies in Brussels after reading Socrates’ famous words “Know thyself!” in her philosophy paper. Just twenty-one years old, this inner call took her to India, where she settled on the banks of the River Ganga in Rishikesh. Soon thereafter, she met a sage with whom she had her first awakening experience. He left the next day without Sri Ganga Mira knowing anything about him, except that she had met her Master. Sri Ganga Mira stayed in the same place for the following eight months in the hope that he would return. He did, and was revealed to be Sri H. W. L. Poonja (affectionately known as ‘Papaji’), a direct disciple of Sri Ramana Maharshi. Sri Ganga Mira travelled with Papaji as his disciple and the two later married. Their daughter Mukti was born in 1972.

Since 1998, Sri Ganga Mira has shared satsang all over the world. She now lives with her family near to the ocean in the Algarve region of Portugal.

The Self is neither born, nor will it ever die. He comes from nowhere and nothing emanates from it. Unborn, eternal, ever present, primordial, it doesn’t perish even when the body is destroyed.

— Katha Upanishad I.2.18

The Spiritual Encounter with India

Born in France on 10 May 1944, Marc had always felt an intense attraction to the spiritual life. In January 1969, a common friend introduced him to H.H. Swami Chidananda Saraswati, the President of the Divine Life Society, who was visiting Lyon (France) at the time. Marc wrote in his journal that the darshan [1] of Swami Chidananda was his first living spiritual encounter with India.

That same year, Marc wrote a letter to Swami Abhishiktananda, in what would prove to be the beginning of a correspondence which would lead to their eventual meeting. After having served for two years as a teacher in Niger, Marc came to India in October 1971 and met Swami Abhishiktananda in Delhi. The following month he met Swami Chidananda for the second time. Both swamis were to have a profound effect on Marc’s spiritual journey.

The Meeting with Swami Abhishiktananda

Immediately upon Marc and Swami Abhishiktananda meeting, both recognised the profound nature of their relationship as guru and disciple. Their consequent relationship was to have a tremendous effect upon the lives of both men. For Swami Abhishiktananda, the meeting was to plunge him into the incomparable experience of being a guru to a true and perfect disciple; this in turn would lead him to reflect deeply upon the meaning and mystery of sannyasa, and ultimately lead to his own Awakening. For Marc, the meeting would lead him upon the sacred and “irreversible journey” of sannyasa and a life of intense seclusion.

The Meeting with Swami Chidananda Saraswati

Whilst Swami Abhishiktananda was Marc’s ultimate guru, Swami Chidananda was the other spiritual master to have a crucial impact in Marc’s life and who would come to be his diksha-guru [2]. Swami Chidananda encouraged Marc in his vocation to search for the Absolute through silence and solitude; shortly after his arrival in India, Marc confided in Swami Chidananda his deep desire for solitude:

I… told him (Swami Chidananda) about the compelling urge that I had been feeling to practice sadhana in total silence for an entire month in the heart of the forest. He consented, ‘Indeed, God cannot but be found in silence and in a state of non-doing’…When I confided to him my intention…the Holy Man promptly replied, ‘Why not doing it now? Now is the right time to do it!’ …How mysterious it all seems to me! Is it really a life of total silence what the Lord has in store for me? … – it’s becoming increasingly obvious to me that it is the Lord’s will that, from now on, I shall lead a life of seclusion and in total silence…

— Swami Ajatananda, Spiritual Diary, November 1971

The Eternal Light

For the two last years of Swami Abhishiktananda’s life, Marc spent intensive and extended periods of time with his guru (October 1971 – December 1973). Swamiji dedicated himself to initiating Marc into the essence of the Upanishads and other sacred scriptures. It was during one such period of intense study that Marc had a profound spiritual experience, in the presence of Swami Abhishiktananda. This took place on 10 May 1972 while the guru and disciple were in retreat together in Phul Chatti Ashram, near Rishikesh. Marc described the event in his diary:

…I find myself unable to start describing the ecstatic experience… – this infinite, non-dual Light… At the same time it is the eternal Truth underlying the very existence of my ultimate being, the non-dual ‘I’ that I AM, beyond all ‘I-ness’… I AM PURE LIGHT INFINITE: Paramjyotilina (ever-dwelling in the unutterable Light Supreme).

— Spiritual Diary, May 1972

Swami Magni Ram Shastri, who was present at Phul Chatti in 1972, recalls the presence of the guru and disciple:

…I met Swamis Abhishiktananda and Ajatananda at Phul Chatti Ashram when they stayed with us in 1972…They could be found involved in serious studies by the banks of the Ganges. In a way, this pair reminded us of Adi Shankaracharya and his times. Though they did not communicate much with the ashram members, their lives were an expression of fellowship and love. Their manner of adaptation to our lifestyle was praiseworthy. They looked as though they were born with the qualities of discernment and equanimity. They set us an example of interreligious fellowship by breaking the boundaries of religion and going beyond them. They silently showed us a path which roots out religious fundamentalism that is often found in religions today.

Sannyasa Diksha – The Irreversible Journey

Sannyasa…the call to total renunciation, which is beyond all names, all forms, even all dharma.

— Swami Ajatananda, 1975 [3]

On 30 June 1973, Marc received sannyasa diksha [4] on the bank of Holy Ganges, in Rishikesh, by H.H. Swami Chidananda Ji Maharaj, who represented the tradition of the Upanishads and the monastic lineage of Sri Adi Shankaracharya. Swami Abhishiktananda also attended the diksha and represented the Western monastic tradition of St Benedict and, more widely, the eremitical tradition of the Desert Fathers. After this diksha, in an ecumenical form, Marc came to be known as ‘Swami Ajatananda Saraswati’ (‘Ajatananda’ means the “Bliss of the Unborn”).

Immediately after having been initiated into sannyasa diksha, Marc commenced his wanderings. He wrote in his diary:

I became aware that I had just embarked on some irreversible journey – a way infinitely beyond me, of which I knew nothing. Soon after this moment…I felt ananda, bliss without limitation, within the infinite ocean of the glorious Self…

— Spiritual Diary, id

The life that lay ahead for him now was one of strict seclusion.

Without looking back, I left for the parivrajya [5]…Without saying anything or stopping, I followed my path…without any objective…not knowing anything about my destination… Henceforth, there was no way to follow – except for the footpath laid down before the Self: ‘The path of the origins, imperceptible and unfathomable’…

— Spiritual Diary, id

A Life of Seclusion

The Truth, as I have witnessed, doesn’t have any face (…). So’ham, I am That: There is nothing beyond! Seek sanctuary in Truth, and there alone…

— Spiritual Diary, 1975

After Swami Abhishiktananda left his body on 7 December 1973, Swami Ajatananda was drawn to enter into strict seclusion as per his own deep aspiration and also his wish to fulfil his Guru’s instruction to observe “at least ten years of silence”. In January 1975, after a long search for a suitable place, he settled in a kutiya [6], which was located 35 kilometres upstream from Rishikesh, at Kaudiyala, where he remained absorbed in deep meditation. In 1976, he went on a four months parivrajya, living on daily bhiksha [7], and wandered throughout the holy places and shrines in the Himalayan region of Kedar-Badri.

After having reached a very high spiritual state, Swami Ajatananda mysteriously disappeared from his kutiya in Kaudiyala sometime between February and April 1977. No one has seen him since.

Swami Abhishiktananda wrote of his disciple:

…he will remain buried away for long years, but I am sure that the day will come when the fruit of his silence will be marvelous. But in the meantime no one should disturb him. All he wants…is solitude.

— (Letter, 3.7.73)

Swami Ajatananda Saraswati was a direct and realized disciple of Sri Swami Abhishiktananda. He is the author of a spiritual diary, Years of Grace (1971-1975), and Uttarakhand, Land of the Gods: A Pilgrimage on Foot in the Himalayas (1976) [unpublished].

Everything has become clear. There is only the Awakening. All that is notional – myths and concepts – is only its expression. There is neither heaven nor earth, there is only Purusha [1], which I am…

— Swami Abhishiktananda, Spiritual Diary, 1973 [2]

The Call to India

Swami Abhishiktananda (1910-1973) was born Henri Le Saux, in France, on 30th August, 1910. In 1929 he decided to become a monk and entered the Benedictine Monastery of St. Anne de Kergonan (Plouharnel). His attraction to India and its spirituality started as early as 1934, triggered by a search for a radical form of spiritual life. In 1947, he came in contact with a fellow French contemplative, Jules Monchanin (1895-1957), who had already been living in southern India for eight years and who was dreaming of a contemplative life in the way of Indian asceticism. In summer 1948, after nineteen years as a contemplative of the Western monastic tradition, Le Saux, with the permission of his abbot, left his country and arrived in India to meet with Monchanin. Le Saux hoped to work with him to establish a monastic ashram according to the Indian tradition of sannyasa. He adopted the name ‘Swami Abhishiktananda’ (‘the Bliss of the Anointed One’), and immersed himself totally in the sadhu way of life.

In 1950, together with Monchanin, Le Saux established the Shantivanam Ashram near the river Cavery, at village Tannirpalli, in Tamil Nadu. The two men shared the vision that Shantivanam be a monastic ashram which would see monks of different traditions living together in “silent communion in the quest of the Unique” [3].

The Secret of Arunachala

In January 1949, within six months of arriving in India, Swami Abhishiktananda and Monchanin (Swami Parama Arubi Anandam) visited the ashram of one of the greatest sages of modern India, Sri Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950), at the base of Arunachala Mountain at Tiruvannamalai (Tamil Nadu).

Swamiji Abhishiktananda’s meeting with the sage was to have a profound effect on his own life and spirituality. He made several lengthy visits to Arunachala between 1949 and 1955. The encounters and experiences during his time at Arunachala, including months spent living in silence and solitude in the caves of the mountain, became the basis of his book The Secret of Arunachala (published posthumously in 1975).

Two particularly significant meetings took place for Swami Abhishiktananda at Arunachala. The first meeting was in 1953 with Harilal, a jnani also known as Sri Poonja or Papaji [4] and this was to be the beginning of a long association between the two. The other was in 1955 with Swami Gnanananda Giri, a great contemporary Vedantic sage who was based at nearby Tirukoilur in Tamil Nadu [5].

The relationship between Swamiji and Sri Gnanananda is beautifully expressed by Swamiji in Guru and Disciple (1970). As described in the book, the core teaching of Sri Gnanananda was the essential practice of dhyana [meditation] [6]:

Return within,
To the place where there is nothing.
And take care that nothing comes in.
Penetrate to the depth of yourself,
To the place where thought no longer exists
And take care that no thought raises its head!

There where nothing exists
Is Fullness!
There where nothing is seen
Is the Vision of Being!
There where nothing appears any longer
Is the sudden appearing of the Self!
Dhyana, it is this.

Swami Abhishiktananda’s relationship with the Sage Gnanananda was to be invaluable in later years when Swamiji himself was to take the role of guru and lead another (his disciple Swami Ajatananda) in the way of dhyana.

After his periods of retreat at Arunachala, Swami Abhishiktananda increasingly undertook pilgrimages to the North. Eventually, Swamiji departed Shantivanam permanently in 1968 to live an eremitical life in the Himalayas, near Uttarkashi, 150 kilometres further upstream of Rishikesh. Shantivanam was then taken over by Bede Griffiths (1906-1993), who focused on the complementarities of religions and through whose presence the ashram gained world-wide renown.

Initiation of the True Disciple

Go, my son, in the freedom of the Spirit,
Across the infinite space of the heart:
Go to the Source, go to the Father,
Go to the Unborn, yourself unborn (ajata)
To the Brahma-loka
Which you yourself have found
And from which there is no returning.

— Swami Abhishiktananda, 1975 [7]

The first meeting between Marc Chaduc (later to be Swami Ajatananda) and Swami Abhishiktananda was in October 1971. Marc, then 26 years of age, met with Swamiji in Delhi after a two-year correspondence. Very quickly, the profound nature of the relationship of guru and disciple was evident.

Swami Abhishiktananda’s relationship with his true disciple was to recall to him the ideal of sannyasa. Swamiji’s writings increasingly expressed his conviction that the Truth lies beyond concepts, myths and symbols. As he wrote to Swami Ajatananda:

We have to descend into the ultimate depths to recognise that there is no common denominator at the level of namarupa (name and form). So we should accept namarupa of the most varied kinds…No comparisons, but we should penetrate the depth of each one’s mystery…Take off from each of them, as from a springboard, towards the bottomless ocean.

— Swami Abhishiktananda, 1973 [8]

Much of Swamiji’s vision for monastic life and his insight into sannyasa are shown in his last writings, The Further Shore, which were completed just a few months before his mahasamadhi in December 1973. These writings were largely inspired by the many months he spent in shared study and intense meditation with his disciple in preparation for the latter’s sannyasa diksha, on June 30, 1973. Marc received his new monastic name ‘Ajatananda’, meaning the “Bliss of the Unborn”.

It is partly through such insights, that the foundation of Ajatananda Ashram was inspired over thirty years later:

It is… perfectly natural that monks of every dharma should recognise each other as brothers across the frontiers of their respective dharmas. This follows from that very transcendence of all signs to which all of them bear witness. There is indeed a ‘monastic order’ which is universal and includes them all – not of course any kind of ‘order’ that might seek to ‘organise’ them, for this would simply destroy the essential charisma of the monastic life, which is to be an unquenchable desire for the Absolute…

Despite all differences in observance, language and cultural background, they perceive in each other’s eyes that depth which the One Spirit has opened in their own hearts. They sense the bliss, the light, the ineffable peace which emanates from it ; and when they embrace each other…it is a sign that they have felt and recognised their innate ‘non-duality’, for in truth in the sphere of the ajata, the unborn, there is no ‘otherness’.

— Swami Abhishiktananda, 1975 [9]

As Swami Ajatananda wrote in the Foreword to The Further Shore: “Truly nothing that Swamiji wrote had not been lived by him, realized in himself. This is the beauty of his written work, which was the fruit of his silence.” (Swami Ajatananda, 1975) [10].

The Awakening

The Awakening…is precisely to lose oneself, to forget oneself. The Awakening is the shining out of the splendour – in splendour – of the non-awakening, of the eternal unborn.

— Swami Abhishiktananda, 1973 [11]

On 14 July, just two weeks after Swami Ajatananda’s sannyasa diksha, Swamiji’s body was struck by the heart attack which would lead to the departure from the body on 7 December 1973.

Swamiji described the experience of the heart attack as a great “spiritual adventure”, a “state beyond life and death”, an “Awakening”. In the months following the initial heart attack and preceding the physical death, Swamiji was committed to communicating the great Awakening he had experienced.

…I have found the Grail… The quest for the Grail is basically nothing else than the quest for the Self… It is yourself that you are seeking through everything. And in this quest you run about everywhere, whereas the Grail is here, close at hand, you only have to open your eyes… There is only the Awakening…

— Swami Abhishiktananda, 1973 [12]

Swamiji took mahasamadhi [13] on 7 December 1973 at Indore.

A Place beside the Ganges

In the later stages of his life, Swami Abhishiktananda became increasingly keen to create a place in the North for spiritual seekers who similarly looked for a life of solitude and silence. As early as in 1959, Swami Abhishiktananda was struck by the power of the Ganges as a place of spiritual sadhana and as the ideal place to establish an ashram:

The Himalayas have conquered me! It is beside the Ganges that Shantivanam ought to be. I do not know if that will ever happen, but how splendid it would be!

— Swami Abhishiktananda, 1959 [14]

In late 1973, a few weeks before leaving the body, Swamiji wrote the following words to Swami Ajatananda:

Everything has to spring up anew from the depths…It is for those [who long to realize such depths] that I should like to have a place beside the Ganges to receive them.

— Swami Abhishiktananda, 1973 [15]

Whilst the ashram Swamiji had dreamt of in the North never materialised during his lifetime, the vision remained alive through the inspiration of his life and writings and through the unreserved grace and blessings of his true and enlightened disciple, Swami Ajatananda.

Swami Abhishiktananda wrote of him: “The one who was after me has gone ahead, and I can no longer join him (…). And yet wherever you flee, it is into me that you come! To that depth of myself out of which I have mysteriously called you (…). He is calling me there where he is. There where I have shown him the path…” (Swami Abhishiktananda, 1973) [16]

Swami Abhishiktananda was a pioneer in interreligious dialogue and a prominent spiritual figure of the 20th century. He is the author of many books. Some of them have become spiritual classics: Prayer, Delhi, 1967, 1989², reprint 2001; revised and enlarged edition: Prayer: Exploring Contemplative Prayer through Eastern and Western Spirituality, edit. by Swami Atmananda Udasin, foreword by Rev. Dr. James Stuart, Delhi (ISPCK), 2015; The Further Shore [Essays on sannyasa along with other essays on the Upanishads], Delhi, 1975, 1984, reprint 1997; The Secret of Arunachala, Delhi, 1979, 1997²; Guru and Disciple: an Encounter with Sri Gnanananda, a Contemporary Spiritual Master, London (SPCK), 1974, revised edition, Delhi (ISPCK), 1990, reprinted in 2000, new and enlarged edit. by Swami Atmananda Udasin, pref. by Swami Nityananda Giri, Chennai (Samata Books), 2012; Ascent to the Depth of the Heart: The Spiritual Diary of Swami Abhishiktananda (1948-1973), Delhi, 1998. A new forthcoming title is under preparation: A Journey of Ultimate Understanding: Selected Essays in Hindu-Christian Spirituality (transl. from the original French: Intériorité et Révélation).

His life has been narrated in two remarkable biographies: James Stuart, Swami Abhishiktananda: His Life Told through his Letters, Delhi, 1989, 1995², 2000, and Shirley du Boulay, The Cave of the Heart: The Life of Swami Abhishiktananda, Maryknoll, 2005.

To know more about Swami Abhishiktananda, please visit the website of the Abhishiktananda Centre for Interreligious Dialogue

To know more about Sadguru Sri Gnanananda Giri, please visit the website of Sri Gnanananda Niketan

All is divine. See all as divine. Knowing that all is divine, make your life divine. Live divinely. Lead the Divine Life and be free!

— Swami Chidananda

Swami Chidananda Saraswati was one of the prominent and most revered sages of India and the President of the Divine Life Society whose headquarters are at the Shivananda Ashram, Rishikesh, India.

Born as Sridhar Rao (his pre-monastic name) in the southern State of Karnataka on 24 September 1916, he grew up in an atmosphere of discipline and spiritual devotion. In 1938 he graduated with distinction from the Christian and prestigious Loyola College of Madras. There he imbibed the virtues of Lord Jesus’ love, compassion and humility, and realised that the Bible was “the living word of God, just as living and real as the words of the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita”. He could easily see the similarities and common essence between the Christian ideals and the Hindu faith.

In 1943 he left his home and came to his master Swami Shivananda, the founder of the Shivananda Ashram and the Divine Life Society, at the bank of holy river Ganges in Rishikesh. In 1949, he was initiated by his guru into sannyasa diksha and was appointed General Secretary of the institution. Swami Shivananda soon recognized in him the natural and unusual qualities of “a jivanmukta [1], a great saint, an ideal yogi, a parabhakta [2] and a jnani [3].”

As per the wishes of Swami Shivananda, after his mahasamadhi [4] in 1963, Swami Chidananda was made the President of the Divine Life Society which he helped develop through his selfless service, untiring energy and extensive travels all over the country and abroad. He was the motto of the Society incarnate — “Serve, love, meditate, realize” — and remained all his life a simple monk despite being a world renown spiritual teacher. Swami Chidananda was known for being ever compassionate to the poor, the sick and the oppressed, especially the lepers for whom he established three colonies in Rishikesh. Hence, he was known fondly as the St. Francis of India, after the great saint Francis of Assisi, for whom he had himself immense admiration and whose ‘Simple Prayer’ (“O Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace; Where there is hatred, let me bring love”) became the perfect model of his life.

A Pioneer in Interreligious Dialogue

Religions are apparently different outwardly, but they are essentially one, they all exist for one great spiritual purpose. And that purpose is to re-ligare, to re-connect with the Supreme Cosmic Source of man’s being…

— Swami Chidananda [5]

Merged in the spirit and the universal vision of his master Swami Shivananda, Swami Chidananda had a deep understanding of the essential unity that underlies all religions of the world while being himself deeply rooted in the ancient tradition of Adi Shankaracharya. For him, there was only but one true religion, – the “religion of the heart”. In his “Worshipful homage to the Supreme”, with which Swamiji began each morning talk, he would often refer to the one Absolute which is beyond all names and concepts of God venerated by different religious traditions: “Worshipful homage to that supreme all-transcending, absolute, non-dual, cosmic Divine Reality, which is the primal source of all concepts of God in all religions. Homage to that Being who is beyond all concepts of the Ultimate Reality, beyond all concepts of God as envisioned in the different living religions of the world today…” [6]

Profoundly rooted in this vision of oneness which he derived directly from the depth of his own spiritual experience, Swami Chidananda would meet with saints of all religions and recognize in them the Divine Life itself in all its different facets. His humble pilgrimages to holy sites associated with other religions are also particularly worth mentioning. They always left a deep impression on those who were privileged to travel with him.

Thus, his innate universal vision enabled him to commit himself tirelessly to interreligious dialogue and meetings in India and abroad. In recent years, Swami Chidananda took an active part in several interfaith forums such as the 1993 Centenary of the World Parliament of Religions (Chicago) during which he was elected as one of the three main representatives of Hinduism at the Presidents’ Assembly.

The Dialogue-Meetings with Swami Abhishiktananda

Swami Chidananda had extended talks with many religious personalities coming from non-Hindu traditions and the dialogue-meetings he had with Swami Abhishiktananda were perhaps the most notable ones. These talks which took place in Rishikesh right from the early sixties remind us of the memorable dialogues between the XIVth Dalai-Lama and Fr Thomas Merton in McLeod Ganj (Dharamsala) in 1968. The two monks soon became intimate friends and used to laugh together frequently whenever they met, just because of the sheer joy of being united in the Spirit. It was indeed wonderful to watch the mutual loving relationship of these two holy men. As Swami Chidananda himself recalled: “I always felt very close to Swami Abhishiktananda because he was the embodiment of the true spirit of renunciation. We were like twin brothers.” For Swami Abhishiktananda also, Swami Chidananda was a “truly spiritual man” and a “seer of the Real” whose approach to other religions was one of total openness, recognition and humbleness.

Swami Abhishiktananda was always held in highest respect by Swami Chidananda and all the senior monks of Shivananda Ashram. His last essays on sannyasa were even published in several issues of their monthly Journal [7] at the special request of Swami Krishnananda, the then General Secretary. These essays are highly acclaimed to be among the best and deepest ones on the subject, written by a monk who “lived as a praiseworthy example of the strictest sannyasa way of life and contemplation” [8].

At the time Swami Abhishiktananda suffered from a heart attack in Rishikesh (14 July 1973), Swami Chidananda took most loving care of him and arranged for him to stay in a quiet place where he would be able to recover most quickly.

The Initiation into Sannyasa of Swami Ajatananda

…It is a tradition of centuries, of millennia — someone being prepared to do anything, give anything, pay any price for the attainment of the Highest.

— Swami Chidananda

Earlier in 1973, the dialogue between Swami Abhishiktananda and Swami Chidananda became even more intense as they considered the possibility of giving a “double monastic initiation” to Marc Chaduc, the principal disciple of Swami Abhishiktananda. It was the great desire of Marc to be initiated into sannyasa [9] in the direct tradition of the Upanishads, beyond the religious barriers of doctrines and dogmas. This ecumenical diksha [10] eventually took place in Rishikesh, at the bank of Holy Ganges, on 30 June 1973: Swami Chidananda, as diksha guru, initiated Marc into the Dashanami Sannyasa Order founded by Adi Shankaracharya and gave him the saffron robe along with Swami Abhishiktananda. In his spiritual diary, the newly initiated Swami Ajatananda wrote about his inspiring association with his diksha guru [11]: “Every time I sit at His feet, I am invaded by a peace that surpasses understanding. Light and peace divine emanate from His sole presence. His tall and slender body is all but austerity and beauty – the incomparable beauty of the saints whose bodies, full of poise, are permanently reflecting on the mystery of the Transfiguration. His is a discriminating and a knowledgeable mind, capable of transcending all barriers. His soul is none other than absolute love, love, love infinite! At one and the same time a fervent bhakta and an imperturbable advaitin [12], much beyond the dichotomies of thought, Swami Chidananda is the embodiment of pure simplicity… Besides, I have never seen any guru as humble as him, nor have I ever seen anyone who would serve all with the same degree of selflessness. If at all he speaks about himself, it is always in his capacity as a humble disciple of his Master, Swami Shivananda. Moreover, as far as he is concerned, all beings are his friends, his “brothers”: all beings are murtis [13] of the very same and unique Atman [14] that he perceives in all.” [15]

Swami Chidananda was especially overjoyed with the diksha of Marc. The spiritual association and close friendship between him and Swami Ajatananda would deepen considerably over the years. In January 1975, through the help of his diksha guru, Swami Ajatananda settled in a hermitage located on the bank of Ganges, some 25 miles upstream from Rishikesh, at Kaudiyala. The young sannyasi remained there immersed in deep meditation and absorbed in God until he disappeared mysteriously in 1977. Swami Chidananda was the last one to have met Swami Ajatananda during the same year in his Himalayan solitude. Thereafter, he would always speak of him in very high terms as “a mystic and a God-experienced person whose experiences about himself reflect the Truth of the highest Upanishadic experience of the sages of the bygone times” [16].

Back to the Infinite Source

Beyond space and time, I am forever here.

— Swami Chidananda

Swami Chidananda withdrew his physical darshan [17] from us in Dehradun (North India) on 28 August 2008 with utmost simplicity, in accordance with his entire life of complete selflessness. The funeral ceremony of Jal Samadhi [18] took place in Rishikesh in the early hours of 29 August and was conducted in strict compliance with the instructions given previously by him for his body to be immersed in the Ganges as quickly as possible and with minimal religious rites. Swami Chidananda had specifically instructed that Bhu Samadhi [19] should not be given but, instead, Jal Samadhi as for ordinary sannyasis. The reason behind this instruction is most likely that Swamiji didn’t want to have a Samadhi [20] in the ashram to be venerated after the departure of his body as he had often repeated that he was not a guru and that if he had given initiations, it was only in the name of his master, Swami Shivananda.

A great sage of modern times has thus withdrawn from our view to go back to the infinite Source, but his spiritual presence will now be everywhere and will continue to help, guide and inspire all.

Swami Chidananda Saraswati was the former President of the Divine Life Society, Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh. He has authored dozens of books on yoga and spirituality. His most well-known works are: A Call to Liberation; An Instrument of Thy Peace; Awake, Realise your Divinity; Path Beyond Sorrow; Philosophy, Psychology and Practice of Yoga; Ponder These Truths; Seek the Beyond; Verses Addressed to the Mind. A partial biography has been written by Sarat Chandra Behera: The Holy Stream. The Inspiring Life-Story of Swami Chidananda, Rishikesh, 1981, reprint 2002.

Read Authentic Religion, a Talk delivered to the Delegates of the Parliament of World Religions at Chicago in 1993.

Lire La vraie Religion, discours prononcé devant les délégués du Parlement des Religions du Monde, à Chicago, en 1993.

[1] A liberated and enlightened soul while still in the body.
[2] A great devotee or worshipper of God.
[3] Lit. a “knower” (of Truth); a sage.
[4] Physical death of a yogi or realised soul who is consciously leaving his body.
[5] See Swami Chidananda, The True Authentic Religion We Need Today, Rishikesh, 2006, p. 5. The word ‘religion’ comes from the Latin root ‘re-ligare’: to join or link (up or together).
[6] See Swami Chidananda, Renunciation. A Life of Surrender and Trust, Rishikesh, 2002, p.2.
[7] See The Divine Life (Monthly Journal of the Divine Life Society): Vol. 35, No.9, September 1973; No.10, October 1973; No.11, November 1973; No.12, December 1973; Vol. 36, No.1, January 1974; No.2, February 1974; No.3, March 1974. These essays on sannyasa along with other essays on the Sannyasa Upanishads, were published later on in The Further Shore, Delhi, 1975.
[8] See “In Memoriam: Swami Abhishiktananda”, in The Divine Life (Monthly Journal of the Divine Life Society), vol. 36, No. 1, January 1974.
[9] Lit. “renunciation.” The stage of monk-hood, i.e. of renouncing all worldly possessions and ties. The formal entry into sannyasa is usually confirmed through an initiation ceremony (sannyasa diksha) by the guru. In the case of Marc, it was agreed that the diksha would be simply the solemn recognition of a spiritual realization and a freedom which was already possessed (vidvat-sannyasa).
[10] Initiation ceremony.
[11] The spiritual master who has initiated the disciple.
[12] A believer in non-duality or absolute unicity; a follower of the School of Advaita Vedanta.
[13] Murti: divine form, embodiment.
[14] The real Self; one’s innermost divine Reality, identical with Brahman.
[15] November 2, 1971, Years of Grace (Spiritual Diary), excerpt published in Setu, No.27, May 2007, p. 11.
[16] Preface to Years of Grace, June 28, 2006.
[17] Lit. “vision”; here, the sight of a sage.
[18] Immersion of a dead body in a holy river, or water burial.
[19] Burial of the dead body under the ground.
[20] Here the term ‘samadhi’ is used to denote the grave of an enlightened saint in which he is buried in the cross-legged position.

Note: A slightly modified version of this article appeared in the online Bulletin 81, July 2008 of the MID, Monastic Interreligious Dialogue.

O Lord, Thou art absolute Existence, absolute Awareness,
absolute Bliss, absolute Power, absolute Light,
absolute Life and absolute Love.

People call Thee by different names.
They call Thee Om, Ishwara, Krishna, Christ, Hari, Rama,
Allah, Buddah, Mahavira, Shiva, Adonai,
Waheguru, Indra, Mother Bhagawati, and so on and so forth.

A rose called by any other name still remains a rose.
Though called by different people by different names,
Thou art, O Lord, I am sure, One and the same Supreme Being,
the One without a second.

My thousand thousand salutations unto Thee!

—Sri Chandra Swami Udasin

You are the ground of all existence. The whole world is like waves in an infinite Ocean of Consciousness. You are that infinite Consciousness.

— Sri Chandra Swami

Sri Chandra Swami Udasin was born on 5 March 1930, in the village Bhuman Shah, near Lahore (now in the Punjab Province of Pakistan). Since childhood, Suraj Prakash – as he was named in his pre-monastic days – had a very deep love and attraction for Balyati Baba Bhuman Shah Udasin, a great mystic and sage of the 18th cent., and was blessed in abundance by his direct and unreserved grace. In 1947, he was initiated into the Udasin Panth by Mahant Girdhari Dass and his name was changed to ‘Chandra Prakash’. The urge for God-realization was so strong that he abandoned his post-graduate studies at the age of twenty-one and renounced all worldly ties. While in Haridwar in 1952, Chandra Prakash was initiated into sannyasa by a great contemporary sage of the Udasin Panth, Swami Krishna Das, who changed his name to ‘Chandra Swami’. From there, he set out on foot to travel in the Himalayas and have the darshan of various saints. He then passed eight years in seclusion and deep contemplation in Jammu and Srinagar (Kashmir).

Swamiji was 29 years old when the immutable, eternal Atman was realized as his essential nature and true Being. In 1961, he left Kashmir and went to live in a forested island on the Ganges, in Sapta Sarovar, near Haridwar, where he spent another period of over nine years of solitude. However, during the next four years, his realization of the Self expanded to include the whole manifestation. Finally, he had the ultimate and integral realization of the Divine at the age of 35.

Swamiji would spend half of the year in complete silence and isolation in his forest hermitage, and during the other half, he made himself available for darshan and satsang for one hour in the afternoons. Many seekers came to him for spiritual guidance. In 1970, at the request of his devotees, he moved to Sewak Niwas, a small ashram newly constructed for him in Sapta Sarovar. In the late 1980’s, the area around Sewak Niwas became more and more crowded and commercialised, therefore in 1990 the ashram was shifted to Sadhana Kendra in the remote Himalayan foothills near Dehradun, along the left bank of the Yamuna river.

Though Sri Chandra Swami has been observing an unbroken silence of the lips since 1984, his extraordinary profundity has attracted disciples and devotees in large number in India and all over the world. He is venerated by many as the living embodiment of the born-sage Baba Bhuman Shah Udasin.

Silence like Thunder

The whole universe comes out of silence and goes back into silence.

Silence is that permanent and essential state of one’s Being in which ‘what’, ‘why’, ‘where’ and ‘when’ disappear.

— Sri Chandra Swami

The spiritual seekers who approach Swamiji for the first time or those who have been living with him for many years, cannot but be fascinated by the divine Presence emanating from him along with a humble and unassuming nature. Amazingly they witness a rare and perfect conformity with the characteristic marks of a sage established in the Self as described in the well-known second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Moreover, what deeply moves the souls of all is his silence like thunder, a silence that is not an austerity nor a practice, and that has no personal motivation behind it.

At a time when spiritual teachings have more and more to do with business and fame, the silence of Sri Chandra Swami is a strong reminder that the Divine cannot be talked of but can only be experienced through no-mind. Only the one awakened inwardly and whose mind is stilled can hear the Pure Silence of Truth which is beyond words and concepts.

The Importance of Sadhana

Awake! The time is running out. Remember the Divine. Realize the Truth before life passes into death.

— Sri Chandra Swami

Sri Chandra Swami has neither any teaching nor any mission in the common sense of these words. His guidance and answers to questions are more a sort of sharing, as he says, according to his knowledge and experience. However, the core message he imparts is the essential teaching of his Master Baba Bhuman Shah: “The true aim of human life is the Realization of the infinite, timeless, divine Consciousness. People of different faiths call this absolute Consciousness, ‘God’ and by other different names” [1]. To realize this ultimate goal of human birth, meditation and spiritual sadhana [2] are indispensable practices. Therefore, the main emphasis at Sadhana Kendra Ashram is the four daily sessions of group meditation and total dedication to sincerely follow the path of Truth.

Spirituality is One

A Buddhist sage, a Jain sage, a Jewish sage, a Christian sage, a Muslim sage, a Sikh sage, a Hindu sage, etc., all have the Realization of the one and same Truth. All spiritual lineages come out from timeless and spaceless Consciousness and go back and meet in timeless and spaceless eternal Consciousness.

— Sri Chandra Swami

Sri Chandra Swami unceasingly lays emphasis on the fact that all the different religions are like different paths leading to the Divine. Spirituality is one and is that which is common in all the religious traditions. Therefore, the Realized one does not teach only one path to all. Being established in the Supreme Spirit, he/she crosses the boundaries of all religions and can guide the seekers of every path. In fact, over the years, countless seekers and monastics of all religious backgrounds have been most warmly welcomed at Sadhana Kendra Ashram and have benefited from Swamiji’s spiritual guidance according to their own religious paths.

It has also been a most inspiring experience to accompany Sri Chandra Swami in his pilgrimages to the sacred places of other religions and to watch him become a devoted worshipper of any faith beyond traditional barriers. In those precious and blissful moments, universal Oneness becomes, as it were, absolutely tangible. .

Sri Chandra Swami Udasin is the President of Sadhana Kendra Ashram, Domet, Dehradun (Uttarakhand). He is the author of a small and comprehensive book on sadhana: The Practical Approach to Divinity, 2008³; he is also the author of Mirror of Bliss, op.cit., and Spiritual Gems (a series of spiritual sayings), 1999. Three compilations of questions and answers have been published under the title of Song of Silence: vol.I (1997), II (2003) and III (2010). His life has been narrated in a recent biography: Swami Prem Vivekananda, Chandra Swami Udasin: Footprints to Eternity (2016).

Read the Blessing of H.H. Sri Chandra Swami Udasin on the Inauguration Ceremony of Ajatananda Ashram, on 5 November 2006.

Read the Message of H.H. Sri Chandra Swami Udasin on the auspicious occasion of Swami Abhishiktananda Centenary Birth Anniversary, on 23 November 2010.

Read The True Meaning of Religion, a Message delivered to the Participants of the Interreligious Retreat-Seminar held at Ajatananda Ashram, Rishikesh, on 8 December 2013, by H.H. Sri Chandra Swami Udasin.

O Adorable Lord of Mercy and Love!
Salutations and prostrations unto Thee.
Thou art Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient.
Thou art Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence-Knowledge-Bliss).
Thou art the Indweller of all beings.

Grant us an understanding heart,
Equal vision, balanced mind,
Faith, devotion and wisdom.
Grant us inner spiritual strength
To resist temptations and to control the mind.
Free us from egoism, lust, greed, hatred, anger and jealousy.
Fill our hearts with divine virtues.

Let us behold Thee in all these names and forms.
Let us serve Thee in all these names and forms.
Let us ever remember Thee.
Let us ever sing Thy glories.
Let Thy Name be ever on our lips.
Let us abide in Thee for ever and ever.

—Sri Swami Shivananda

Glorious and Almighty Lord, beloved Father of humanity,
God of love, compassion and grace,
At Thy feet we offer our worshipful homage.

Adorable Presence!
unique Reality behind
the impermanence of names and forms,
Thou who art the all-pervading Divine Spirit,
Thou who art within and without,
above and below and all around;
Thou who art interpenetrating the whole of our being;
Thou who art the radiant Light
beyond the darkness in the depths of ourselves.

Adorable Presence!
Thou who art the Eye of our eyes,
the Ear of our ears, the Heart of our hearts,
the Mind of our mind, the Breath of our breaths,
the Life of our lives, the Soul of our souls,
grant us, dear Lord, to be aware of Thy Presence
here and now!

Grant us, dear Lord, that we may know unceasingly
that at every moment
and in every action in our life,
we dwell in Thee and Thee dwell in us
and in everything around us.

May Thy Presence be felt by all the beings of the Earth,
inspiring everyone to give up
ill-will, hatred and negative feelings,
and to create among all
a link of love, devotion and service.

May all creatures see in Thee
the Unity of Life,
May all creatures see in all things
Thy unifying Presence.

Worshipful homage unto Thee,
in Whom all things come into being,
in Whom all things exist,
and in Whom all things ultimately subside.

Behind the appearances and changes of names and forms
there remains an unchanged Presence.
Grant us to know It
and through this knowledge to make our life Divine.

—Sri Swami Chidananda

An ashram is distinct from a guesthouse, a holiday resort, or a family residence. The purpose of an ashram is neither commercial activity, nor leisure nor domesticity. Indeed, the fundamental objective of ashramites is to be committed to spiritual practice, and naturally so in a sannyasa ashram.

An ashram is also a community and thus a place where every effort needs to be made to cultivate the spirit of mutual love, respect and service. The behaviour of the ashramites should always be an example for the right conduct of human life in the world.

Ashramites (ashramvasis) lead a disciplined life of selfless service, and devote their maximum time in sadhana and svadhyaya (spiritual study).

The activities and atmosphere of the ashram need to be such that they are always conducive to meditation and spiritual upliftment.

Sri Swami Ji hailed from Rajasthan and was the Chela of Sri Swami Ram Kishore. After his studies in Swargashram (Rishikesh) and Haridwar, he obtained his Vedanta Acharya degree from the Sanskrit University of Varanasi.

Sri Swami Ji spent more than twenty years living in Phul Chatti Ashram near Rishikesh, from as far back as 1962. There he came to know personally Sri Swami Abhishiktananda and Sri Swami Ajatananda. This was the starting point of a deep spiritual connection. In 1984, Sri Swami Ji shifted to a newly built ashram, Om Ram Dham, in Rishikesh. He was a long-time member of the Executive Committee of the Abhishiktananda Society where he took part in many interreligious meetings organized in India and abroad. Sri Swami Magni Ram Shastri Ji was also a founding member of Ajatananda Ashram and served two terms as President of the Ajatananda Interreligious Trust.

On 19 November 2016, Pujya Sri Swami Ji was given Bhu Samadhi (burial), close to the Ganga River at his Rishikesh ashram, amid Vedic chants and rituals. His beloved presence is fondly remembered by the monks of Ajatananda Ashram and the broader Rishikesh sadhu community.