The Divine Life Society (DLS) is a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

spiritual organization and an

ashram An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< Swami Sivananda Swami Sivananda Saraswati (; 8 September 1887 – 14 July 1963), also called Swami Sivananda, was a Modern yoga gurus, yoga guru, a Hinduism, Hindu spiritual teacher, and a proponent of ''Vedanta''. Sivananda was born in Pattamadai, in the Ti ...

Saraswati in 1936, at

Muni Ki Reti Muni Ki Reti is a town and a municipal council in Tehri Garhwal district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It lies close to the pilgrimage town of Rishikesh and is known for its ashrams, including the Divine Life Society of Sivananda Saraswat ...

Rishikesh Rishikesh, also spelt as Hrishikesh, is a city near Dehradun in the Indian state Uttarakhand. The northern part of Rishikesh is in the Dehradun district while the southern part is in the Tehri Garhwal district. It is situated on the right bank ...

, India. The Society has branches around the world, with its headquarters in Rishikesh.

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.Introduction
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. Sivananda's disciples have started independent organizations in Mauritius, the United States, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, South Africa, South America, and Europe.Divine Life Society
Britannica.comDivine Life Society
''Divine enterprise: Gurus and the Hindu Nationalist Movement'', by Lise McKean.

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the university press of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It pu ...

, 1996. . Pages 164-165.Swami Shivananda
''Religion and anthropology: a critical introduction'', by Brian Morris.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 2006. . Page 144.

Vegetarianism

Sivananda insisted on a strict

lacto-vegetarian A lacto-vegetarian (sometimes referred to as a lactarian; from the Latin root lact-, ''milk'') diet abstains from the consumption of meat as well as Egg as food, eggs, while still consuming dairy products such as milk, cheese (without animal renn ...

diet for moral and spiritual reasons, arguing that "meat-eating is highly deleterious to health".McGonigle, Andrew; Huy, Matthew. (2022). ''The Physiology of Yoga''. Human Kinetics. p. 169. "Meat-Eating"
sivanandaonline.org. Retrieved 22 January 2023."Vegetarianism"
dlshq.org. Retrieved 22 January 2023. Divine Life Society thus advocates a vegetarian diet.

Teachings

Sivananda outlined 20 spiritual instructions for people of any religion: #

Brahmamuhurtha ''Brahmamuhurta'' () is a 48-minute period ('' muhurta'') that begins one hour and 36 minutes before sunrise, and ends 48 minutes before sunrise. It is traditionally the penultimate phase or ''muhurta'' of the night, and is considered an auspicio ...

: Waking up early in the morning during #

Asana An āsana (Sanskrit: आसन) is a body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose,Verse 46, chapter II, "Patanjali Yoga sutras" by Swami Prabhavananda, published by the Sri Ramakrishna Math p. 111 and late ...

: Sitting in an appropriate asana for half an hour to three hours #

Japa ''Japa'' () is the meditative repetition of a mantra or a divine name. It is a practice found in Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, with parallels found in other religions. ''Japa'' may be performed while sitting in a meditation posture ...

: recitation of a mantra # Dietetic Discipline: Eat sattvic food # Meditation: Have a separate meditation room or area in the home #

Svādhyāya (Devanagari: ) is a Sanskrit term which means self-study and especially the recitation of the Vedas and other sacred texts. It is also a broader concept with several meanings. In various schools of Hinduism, ''Svadhyaya'' is a Niyama (vir ...

: Study religious books from half an hour to an hour daily # Elevate the Mind: Recite shlokas before performing japa #

Brahmacharya ''Brahmacharya'' (; Sanskrit: Devanagari: ब्रह्मचर्य) is the concept within Indian religions that literally means "conduct consistent with Brahman" or "on the path of Brahman". Brahmacharya, a discipline of controlling ...

: preservation of the vital force # Charity # Have Satsang: "association with holy people" # Fast: Fast on

Ekadashi Ekadashi () is the eleventh lunar day (''tithi'') of the waxing (''Shukla Paksha, Shukla Pakṣa)'' and waning (''Kṛṣṇa Pakṣa)'' lunar cycles in a Hindu calendar, Vedic calendar month. Ekadashi is popularly observed within Vaishnavism one ...

or the appropriate days for one's religion #

Mala: Keep a rosary and chant at every opportunity # Observe Mouna: Be silent for a couple of hours daily # Discipline of Speech: Speak a little, what is true, and what is sweet # Be content: have mental detachment and share with others # Practice Love: control anger and serve the sick and poor # Be self-reliant # Have self-analysis: understand one's mistakes and try to correct them # Do your duty # Remember God: remember God at all times The teachings of

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

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."

Departments

* The headquarters for Divine Life Society is Sivananda Ashram in

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

. * Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy trains aspirants in yoga and provides knowledge of Indian culture to develop integrity * 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.

References

Primary

This section lists citations to the Divine Life Society for basic facts about itself.

Secondary

External 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
{{Authority control 1936 establishments in India Ashrams Hindu organisations based in India Hindu new religious movements International Hindu organizations Organisations based in Dehradun Organisations based in Uttarakhand Neo-Vedanta Religious organizations established in 1936 Rishikesh Sects that require vegetarianism