Divine Life Society

Religious organization founded in 1936
by Swami Shivananda. It is headquartered at the Divine Life Ashram, just
outside the holy city of Rishikesh on the
river Ganges in the state of Uttar
Pradesh. Although Shivananda himself
died in 1963, the society is still quite
active in spreading the ways of Hindu
life: through yoga (self-discipline) training programs at the Divine Life Ashram;
through publishing religious texts, both
traditional scriptures and the teachings
of Swami Shivananda; through establishing religious centers throughout the
world; and through various social service projects in India itself. Swami
Shivananda was a Dashanami Sanyasi
(ascetic) in the Saraswati division,
which is one of the divisions that admits
only brahmins (priests). The Swami’s
brahmin background comes through in
the organization’s teachings, which
stress vegetarianism, rigorous spiritual
development, an emphasis on learning,
and a strict moral code. For all these reasons the organization is widely respected in
Indian society, despite having a significant
number of foreign practitioners.