Swami Shivananda

Direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, second president of the Ramakrishna Order after Vivekananda. Known within the order as Mahapurush Maharaj (“the Great Soul”).

Overview

Swami Shivananda was one of the original circle of direct disciples. After Vivekananda, he served as president of the order. Swami Sarvapriyananda cites him in Ep 8 for a brief exchange that demonstrates what lived non-identification with the body looks like.

Partially paralyzed by a stroke in old age, he was visited at Belur Math by devotees asking “Swami, how are you feeling now?” He answered, “Oh, I’m fine.” When they pressed — “but Swami, we heard…” — he replied: “Oh, you mean the body? Oh, it’s not at all good. It’s very bad.” The distinction is reported by Swami Sarvapriyananda as neither a joke nor a pose: “when you make the shift, you can clearly see there is something not at all affected, and there is something which is affected; the two are not equally real.”

Related

• Direct disciple of ramakrishna
• Second president of the Ramakrishna Order, after vivekananda
• Along with ramakrishnananda, one of the direct-disciple generation

Lecture evidence

• Ep. 8 [71:59]: The “how are you feeling?” / “you mean the body?” exchange — lived 2.21.