Who was Swami Nisreyasananda

I have been hot on the trail of finding out more about the gurus that have inspired this beautiful ISHTA lineage. So far I have found books by Venkatesananda, books by Bharati and writings by Mani Finger, but the latest treasure has come to me in a most magical and inspiring way and for me the circle of welcoming these teachers into my own heart is complete.

After repreated internet searches without much result I happened upon a Vedanta site in Atlanta which had one book inspired by Swami Nisreyasananda. I decided to write to the head Swami there and ask if he knew of a way for me to find out more about Swami Nisreyasananda. He wrote back straight away with an address of a woman in South Africa who had been a long time student of the Swami and had many of his writings. I sent off a handwritten letter about 6 weeks ago and until last week had decided that my letter must have been lost.

Then just a few days ago I received a booklet in the mail entitled " Arise- Awake, The Clarion Call" It was a written tribute to the Swami on the 100th anniversary of his birth. In it there were many many tributes written by his students and collegues plus letters written by the Swami himself.

The next day I went to teach in the ISHTA system teachers training and the entire room was covered with flowers and paintings of flowers. ( The students practice bhakti yoga in the form of bringing beauty to our practice space each day) It was incredible because the night before I had read a prayer written by the Swami entitled "Showers of flowers". It was an honour to share with the students a direct quote from the booklet in our morning yoga class.

" Swamiji used to talk about making a handkerchief and painting or embroidering in the four corners peace, truth, free, full. The way one can use these words is to take them one at a time. For example 'peace'- and in the profoundest depth of our being understand that we are peace and feel it intensely and vividly. We then move on to 'love' and know ourselves as love; to 'free' and know ourselves as utterly unfettered and the principle of freedom; and then 'Full' we are the principle of abundance and fullness. Used in this way these words are a powerful source of comfort and release. "Courtesy of Shirley Roeloffze ( Germiston)

And the story continues because that night I received a letter from Mara Sapere who had sent me the booklet.

"Dear Rachel,
A lady phoned me about 3 weeks ago, saying that someone put a letter in her PO Box by mistake. This was your letter. I discontinued that box number six years ago. She was so kind as to look up my address and telephone number in the telephone directory and phoned me. Not only that, she actually brought the letter to me, she had to drive quite some distance in her car.

How wonderful God is! She could as well have replaced it in the right box number. All of which reinforces my belief in the infinite intelligence, the unknown knower, who knows what to do and does it at the right time as the right people."

You can imagine I was moved deeply by her letter and the rightness of the events that day. I would like to share now Swami Nisreyasnandas biography as written by the late Wendy Taylor, a devoted student and the Swami himself.

"Swami Nisreyasananda was born on the 14th of september 1899 in a house next to the Kali temple in Tichur, Kerala. He became very ill at an early age and it was expected that he would not live long.He was put on a diet of buttermilk and rocksalt. This and a very high mental attitude saw him outlive every member of his family. He passed gracefully on the 23rd of November 1991 at the ripe age of 92 years.

He matriculated at the age of of 15 and was held back for a year before being allowed to enter college. During this time he was the head of debating class and head of the football team where he learnt to kick the ball towards the least competitive position. This became part of his lifes philosophy- take the line of least resistance. Having completed a degree in economics he became a school teacher, teaching History of all subjects! He and two of his collegues pooled their money to buy a piece of land which is now the site of the famous Trichur Ramakrishna Ashram.

Swami Tapasyananda who held a high position in the Ramakrishna mission said to Swamiji when they met in India in 1990 " You have the ability to plant a seed and see it flourish" This is evident in India and Mauritus. At each of these places Swamiji spent fruitful energy and time establishing branches of the mission.

In 1954 he took a tour of Europe and Africa delivering no less then 120 lectures in 130 days- a feat of nearly a lecture a day.

From October 1959, after he established a centre in Salisbury, Rodesia he established a library and acquired properties living always as a guest with friends. When he was granted visas he would visit: Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and the Republic of South Africa ( this must have been the time he used to hang out with Mani and Alan)

The Swami's discourses were based on the Upanishads, Gita, Yoga sutras and books by western authors related to these texts. As a person he loved art, painting and drama in partcular. He practiced systematic yoga exercises throughout his life with this and his simple food habits he tried to keep himself physically fit to discharge his daily obligations."

And finally just one quote from many to come by the Swami

" The human personality is the multiple adaptor for the general current or life force called Prana."