Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji at KSHT – July 19, 2011 – Dallas TX USA
Jaya Guru Datta
“Today I’m thinking working day, may be 50 people coming only. But, I am very happy, such a good occasion you attended, all programs, in this one week, on Guru Poornima day. Before 2-3 days back also, you attended all 7 days, especially Guru Purnima day wonderful program. And also this sankalpam (determination), this vibration, Hanuman order, so Hanumanta is doing himself. He knows everything. He (Hanumanta) says You (Swamiji) know everything. I am saying You (Hanumanta) know everything. But anyway, finally, both we concluded, Hanumanta and Swamiji, You know my feelings and I know your feelings, but our both feelings, devotees don’t know. That is the only big problem. We are very happy, which level we are going, which level we are traveling, what is sankalpam, what miracle is going on here, why we are gathered here, who I am, who you are, how we can do good service to Hanumanta. Doesn’t matter. Don’t worry about that. One devotee crying, who I am, I don’t know. Swamiji said you are now a small child because you are crying. ‘Who I am’ means, there is no answer. Who I am? I am! Aham Brahma. I am! I took sankalpam, determination. I took some wish, that’s why I came here. Your sankalpa, don’t blame your parents, don’t blame creation, don’t blame Brahma, don’t blame Guru. You blame your karma. Because you took such a form. You need, you want, that’s why you came here. This is your result, no one else’s responsibility, it is your karma.
Yesterday, I sent a message. The message was sent last night. This was on YouTube. It was also shared with other groups. The message says “No one other than yourself is responsible for your own karma”. Don’t complain. It’s easy to complain. People are happy to complain, blaming someone else. Sadists! Cry babies! They don’t let others be happy. They are jealous that someone else is happy. They want to cry, they want that fellow also to cry, this fellow also to cry, then they are happy. Couple of minutes, you be happy, your are parents happy, your friends are happy, then you understand ‘who I am’. Only thinking, thinking, blaming, thinking, blaming – it’s not good. Blaming others and crying, that’s a disease. ‘You brought me here. I suffer because of you!’ Crying about our karma, blaming someone else for our karma. You asked for it, that’s why you are here. What have you done? To fulfill your desires you asked God; that is why you are here. He brought you here. So, don’t ask anything in your prayers. Those are true prayers; without desires. Without desires, serve Hanumanta. Then, he’ll fulfill your desires. If you keep asking, Hanumanta fulfills, next day another desire, next day another and so on. Then you are wasting your communication all the time with the guru. Then one day, you become old, then you are asking who I am, who I am, who I am…? Nobody gives answer. Your Guru is also far away completely. Because already so many wishes you asked for, and got fulfilled. Yes, Guru is always close by. But, Guru is not a market to keep fulfilling your wishes and desires. Keep asking for more, more desires, more desires; the seriousness of the Guru is gone. Then, you don’t have time for the really serious prayers. It’s hard to get a Guru. Your account is completely empty then. Your devotion energy is empty. No balance in your bank. Your devotion account is empty. Automatically your check will bounce. Then you blame the bank. “You bloody bank!’ How can they give? Because your account is closed. No money. Nil. So your energy account is nil. You ask, ‘Why Swamiji is not looking, why not doing this, why not doing that?’ You are not doing anything, no early morning prayers, no devotion. You are always crying, asking for wishes. You are wasting all the time. You are demanding only. “ I am doing namaskaram” Namaskram is not enough. “I am doing Dhwaja seva”. Dhwaja Seva is not enough. “I am doing vada-mala seva”. Vadamala seva is not enough. Somebody puts ghee in the fire and then searching, ‘Where is my ghee? Where is my ghee? Where is my ghee?’
You go put some sugar in the ocean, and then you are searching, where is my sugar? You do small things nd expect the Guru to you big boons. People climb the steps of the Tirumala (seven hills) with a lot of difficulty. Some even feel that they are going to die. You should put the same effort into achieving your devotion. You must struggle hard. Only then you will reach your goal. ‘Oh how far this ashrama!’ ‘Oh, today I have no time!’ ‘Oh, I need to drive that far!’ Don’t say that. ‘Oh Swamiji is not seeing me.’ Is he bound by your schedule? Should he keep up his appointment with Ramayya?
You want it to work as per your convenience. God should always be available, whenever you call. ‘Oh Swamiji, protect me. You have no time for me? Please protect me’. You want to sleep early morning, eat, fashion, go to cinema, pleasure completely, then no time. ‘Today, no time, today I am going to party. I have to go to party’. Swamiji is coming to your city. ‘What can I do, I have to go to this party’. If you phone your friends and excuse yourself from the party, may be they are upset with you then, but they are happy when you go next time. But, if Sadguru is upset, Govinda! You can attend another event with the Guru, but your account will be less if you skip an event for such excuses. Swamiji notices what you give importance to. Swamiji is seeing everything. He looks inside you. He won’t say, but he’s indirectly looking at everything; what is your action, what is your bhava, how you treat, how you looking, what is your devotion, what is in your account, how is shraddha (sincerity) in your life. That is Guru. Guru is not giving any details. He’s not an accountant. He is a different accountant. An invisible accountant. He is watching everything silently. We should do whatever service we can do. We should keep serving. Do Sravanam (listening), Mananam (thinking about what you listened to), and Mathanam (analyzing what was heard). Our books are also good friends. If you have good books, at least for half an hour, read. Being on the computer all the time is not good. Especially going to different websites, wasting time, it is not good. If it is necessary work, go ahead. But, don’t waste time on random websites. If you have friends in your house, drinking coffee, gossiping, you are wasting time. One cup of tea, but two hours wasted. Finally you quarrel, finally end with misunderstanding. Ending is miserable. Satsang party is always happy. Always new. The beginning is happy, the ending is also happy.
Concentration, concentration, concentration. Fickle-minded like a monkey. No firm concentration. How can you have health? No power to take a decision. You want Dhideer idli, Dhideer dosa (instant idli and instant dosa). You want everything at once. You have no time. Mangalam also should finish instantly. How is it possible? You want birth and death both within one hour. Already God has made it short. You want it even shorter. You have no time for God. You always want God to take care of you all the time. But, you have no time to go to the temple. Why didn’t you come to see Swamiji? ‘Oh that day, my friend’s daughters’ marriage’. You went to the marriage? ‘The marriage was in India’. You are sitting here and celebrating; partying at home. You missed this program. Anything happens, at danger time, then you want Swamiji to come instantly. Then Swamiji also says I am also at tea party. ‘No Swamiji, come now, I am dying, stomach hurting’. No, Swamiji is also at party. You want Swamiji to be in attention all the time, like a security person. You call, ‘Hanuman! Narayana!’ At once, God has to stand up in attention and salute.
You come to Hanuma when you have a problem. ‘Hanuman, I have stomach pain’. Okay, Hanuman comes, helps. Then he goes back to Anjanadri. Then you come back again saying ‘I am hungry. I want to eat something’. Who is serving whom? Are you serving the Guru or is the Guru serving you? You are not doing Guru seva. The Guru is himself serving you. That is the situation now. Guru is doing service to you. Your statement is, ‘I am doing sadguru seva. I gave $1.00. I did namaskaram.’ Oh ho! What kind of seva? You are washing 2 clothes, giving 2 rotis. Is that seva? Swamiji can take care of himself. We need to understand who is doing seva to whom. He protects you all the time, 24 hours. You think just the opposite. It is going in reverse. He is doing seva to the disciples, not the disciples doing seva to the guru. We think namaskaram is seva, washing clothes is seva, kneading dough for roti is seva, giving a dollar is seva. Fools! Idiots! You don’t understand Guru Seva. Invisibly he protects you. You should do seva physically and mentally, invisibly, all the time. Whoever does this, that is real seva, not what you do according to your convenience.
When you have time, you throw flowers. You are in a good mood, that’s why you give vada mala. Other times you blame and criticize. Neeku choopu, maaku mepu (we show you the food, but we eat it). Hanuman never eats the vadas. If he eats any bananas, or vadas, no one will offer any more food to Him. I will guarantee it. He is not eating, that is why you are giving. If he eats some banana, some vada, you will see tomorrow, nobody will offer. You will say, ‘O boy! He is eating it up!’ Every day, if he eats one vada-mala, no one will bring. Because he doesn’t eat, we have the guarantee that he doesn’t eat anything. We believe. We only eat it afterwards.
We just placed the Prana (life energy) as a Vigraha (in a form) as Hanuman here. This is not a stone. It is not metal. He is our family member. He’s doing everything invisibly, eating also. That is Naivedya. Prana, apaana, vyaana, udaana, and samaana (the mantra for offering naivedyam). He accepts. So, it has got a different energy. If you taste before and after, the Naivedya you understand. It has a different taste. In Tirupati, one British collector insisted and tested. It is a big secret. It is a sin to offer Venkata Ramana Swamiji after tasting. Annamacharya is a disciple of Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati, he’s crying, what do we do? Laddu, Vada, and sweet Pongal are very famous in Tirupati. Tasty Telugu foods. Vada is a very strong cake. If you eat two cakes, then you run to bathroom. Yes, prasadam, that’s why it’s cleaning everything.
So, before naivedyam, he (the British collector) tasted. The acharya (the priest) at the temple was crying and asking the Lord for forgiveness before giving to collector who was insisting on tasting the naivedyam before the offering. After the Naivedya, he tasted again. Taste was entirely different. That is naivedyam. The Lord ate nothing. But invisibily, drishti bhojanam, looking-only bhojanam, smelling-only bhojana, (consuming through His glance, through smell). The five elements are used for eating. We don’t have that capacity. We have to eat gross matter. If you really can eat subtly, then I will prostrate to you. If we eat subtly like the Gods, we’ll faint and die. We have a physical body. Because we have form, with blood and flesh, we’ll need to feed it food. I am going into this subject too deep. There is not time now. English I don’t know. Anyway, I manage. I don’t know. This is not a lecture. My broken English, my child English. I am calling this railway station, bus stand English. In my childhood, I hated English. That’s a big problem. My Datta, Hanumanta said, you hate English? You go talk only in English! Now, I talk only English. I’ve started reading English books. My children said, Appaji you are almost 70 years old; you are now downloading books on Kindle. When will you be able to read? I just need to see the book, that’s all. I just scan it. No need to read the story. No need to see each letter. If I see the paper, it is scanned in my mind. You ask me any question from that book, I’ll give you the answer. Swamiji just scans. Since many years, I just touch each page with my hand, and I just glance at it. I will know it all. Any chapter, any word, I can tell you. Many people don’t believe. Only those with crazy devotion on Swamiji will believe. If Swamiji knows just one word in a language, he will then understand everything.
I want to tell you a very nice joke. I cannot say it in English. Then my thoughts, my bhaavana gets fragmented. I will say it in Telugu. Somebody please translate it into English.
I was 7 or 8 years old. In Chamundeswari temple, my Peddananna (uncle: Swamiji’s mother’s elder sister’s husband) was the chief priest. He was a scholar and a vedantin. He did priestly work to protect dharma. I learned priesthood from him; how to do service to God, how to clean the murtis, with what mantras, I learnt. There are mantras to chant while cleaning the murtis (idols of God from the shrine). Not scrubbing and cleaning while talking on the cell phone, wearing blue tooth. That’s devotion? Peddananna wasn’t like that. One mantra for washing with tamarind, without hurting God, one mantra for applying vibhuti. Washing should be done delicately without hurting the Lord. But now, people dunk the idol in detergent, wash quickly and put God back on the altar and offer prayers pretending sincerity. Only if the priest believes, we believe. Priesthood is not a profession. It is a huge responsibility. The priest fills the idol with life. That’s how I learnt.
Do you know what happened? One day my uncle was doing the death anniversary rites at the temple pond. Those days they were very strict. Children were never allowed to listen to those mantras. That used to be the tradition. Not anymore. He was doing the procedure of ‘Pinda Pradaana’ (offering balls of food to the departed souls) with strict thoroughness. Swamiji was standing above, and unseen, was listening to all the mantras. My uncle was invoking the ancestral spirits. Swamiji listened to the mantras with concentration. Swamiji could see the spirits coming to receive the food. He prayed for them. That must’ve done good to the spirits. The spirits were rushing for the pindams (the balls of food) that were being placed at the pond. When some of the names of the ancestors were called out incorrectly, or mispronounced, the spirits were arguing and fighting as to who had the right to the pindams. Then, the spirits gathered into the pindam. The ceremony concluded. I heard all the mantras. Then everybody left. Swamiji went inside.
The next day, at the same temple, there were 5 or 6 marriages taking place. My uncle was the priest. He had to officiate. My uncle was late. The marriage party people saw me and thought that I was my uncle’s son and insisted that I officiate at the ceremony. I quickly removed my underwear, wore a loin cloth like a priest, wore a fake sacred thread (since my thread ceremony had not taken place yet), and walked in like a big priest, applying thick stripes of vibhuti on my body, looking like a maharshi. I went in and chanted the mantras over the microphone. It was a collective (multiple/community) marriage. At the time when they were tying the ‘Taali’ (the sacred necklace, the most important part of the ritual), uncle walked in and was startled to hear me chanting the ‘taddinam’ (death anniversary) mantras. Ayyo! (O my God! They will kill us!), he thought. This boy must’ve heard the mantras yesterday and grasped them at once! He doesn’t need to hear anything a second time! My uncle rushed in and stopped me. I said, ‘Pindam bhootam vachchindi’ (the ancestral spirit has come!). Uncle said “Why are you chanting these mantras now? I said, ‘You have not taught me the marriage mantras’. He asked, ‘Where did you learn these mantras?’ ‘Yesterday, when you were reciting them’. My peddananna did not know whether to hit me or to kiss me. The marriage folks were wondering why the priests were talking about ‘pindams’ at a marriage ceremony.
This is an episode from my childhood.
We should be careful about what we learn. We should know what we are doing. We should know where we are going in life. We should have a goal, an aim, a destination. We need a navigator, a compass, a Guru. Jaya Guru Datta!
Dollar Seva must continue. It is a good support for the Temple. More and more people must join. You will receive messages, good advice, and energy from Swamiji. Don’t forget www.ragasagara.com. Complete music work is there. You can download one, two, or three items. We need to keep it alive. Even if you have the items, do it. Then others will follow.
English Puttu Gam will close in 20 days. Some technical problems. Puttu Gam 9 is new. Become friends with that facebook page very quickly before it closes. Many are addicted now to Puttu Gam.
Now I love this new one that I inaugurated yesterday. Photography website where you can download high quality photos of Swamiji. You can print them and decorate your house. Many photographers click very fast, half a person, no nose, no arm, very dark, like that. We appoint one official photographer. He will upload on the website. If you go, you will know. 365 birthday cards Swamiji himself has prepared, and uploaded, with pictures of the birthday pillars, greetings, and special messages. You may download these. All the funds will go to this guy here who is wearing a Vada-mala (Hanuman). www.sgsmedia.com. Photos from South Africa will be uploaded soon, with an elephant standing one foot away from Swamiji, and a lion standing two feet away, a wild lion. They gave lion cubs to Swamiji to hold. He said Jaya Guru Datta. They did nothing. They were wanting to bite, like kittens. Wait a couple of days. More rare pictures of Swamiji bathing in Ganga, and at the Falls will be uploaded.”
Sri Guru Datta
Courtesy: Smt. Hira Duvvuri