Divine Life Society
The Divine Life Society is the spiritual organization founded by Swami Sivananda Saraswati in 1936 at Rishikesh, publishing practical spiritual literature in unprecedented volume and training a generation of teachers who carried yoga and Vedanta worldwide.
Overview
Born from Sivananda’s solitary sadhana on the Ganga (the Sivanandashram at Muni-ki-Reti), the Society’s engine was the Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy (1948) and its press — hundreds of booklets on every practice, distributed free or cheaply across the world.
Core teachings
“Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realize” — the integral synthesis of karma, bhakti, raja, and jnana yoga; health-of-body as spirituality’s servant (Sivananda the former physician wrote extensively on health); universal religion.
Practice and work
Daily satsang (universal prayer, japa, study, meditation) as the core routine; yoga teacher training (the Sivananda lineage’s 1969 predecessor? — the Academy’s courses are the direct ancestor of the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres founded by Vishnudevananda); free clinics and charitable dispensaries.
Modern status
The Rishikesh ashram remains a pilgrimage-teaching center; the Society’s literature is among the most widely circulated spiritual publications in English; its alumni founded institutions across every continent.
Verification notes
- Founding dates and institutional history are documented.
- Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).