A message from Krishna Das ~
The last time I saw Swami Vimalananda, my beloved Elder, was at Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh, in Jan 2019. I came into his room, and after the sweet, loving greetings, he looked at me and in an offhand, but serious manner, said “Well, Krishna Das-ji, this will be the last time we meet in this life.”
And so it has happened: Swami-ji left the body on June 9, 2019.
He was the most humble being I have ever met. He showered so much undeserved love and affection on me, that the fact that my heart has not exploded in a thousand pieces only proves how hard and unfeeling it has become.
I met him over 15 years ago at Sivananda Ashram and right from the first time he showed so much kindness to me. He asked me to sing in the main shrine at the ashram, and every year that I went to Rishikesh, I tried to do that.
He loved that Hanuman Chalisa and sang it every day and always asked me, with great anticipation and joy, to sing it.
One time I was at my guru’s Temple at Kainchi and Swami arrived with a small group of people. It turned out that it was his birthday and we sang Hanuman Chalisa together in front of Maharaj-ji’s temple for a long time. He had met Maharaj-ji at Sivananda Ashram when He had come to visit Swami Chitananda, Swami Sivananda’s successor.
There are many more stories I could tell about Swami-ji, but I’ll let them rest quietly in my heart for now.
The Great Ones are disappearing from our sight, leaving us to find our way home in the dark, led on by the Grace of the love they have shined on us.
Ram Ram
This is a brief summary of his life ~
Sri Swami Vimalananda is one of the direct and most senior disciples of Sri Gurudev Swami Shivananda Saraswati, the founder of Shivananda Ashram (Rishikesh) and renowned master of Yoga and Vedanta. He served the Holy Master for almost ten years. After Sri Swami Shivananda attained mahasamadhi in 1963, he served his successor, Worshipful Sri Swami Chidananda, as his Secretary during more than three decades. Being the Personal Assistant to Swami Chidananda, he travelled widely and visited all the branches of the Divine Life Society (D.L.S.), both in India and abroad. He is an embodiment of patience, selfless service and self-sacrifice. Swamiji was appointed as General Secretary of the D.L.S. in 2004 and served the Society in that capacity till he was elected President in September 2008.
Swami Vimalananda ji entered Mahasamadhi on 09th June 2019 in his Kutir on the bank of the Ganges, in (Sivanada Asharam Rrishikesh ) Sivanandanagar.
Krishna Das has known Swami Vimalananda for over 15 years.
