Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Dallas, TX USA – November 22, 2012
Jaya Guru Datta
On Facebook, have as friends only dattapeetham, puttugam, and those related to those. Don’t ask why. Just follow. That is all.
Today the American people are observing Thanksgiving Day, giving thanks to those who have helped. Even for small, small things we give thanks. Someone says, “I don’t know,” also we say thanks. We don’t know the value of thanks. For love and affection we give thanks. Sometimes it is not good to make it such a common word as it has become nowadays. Communicating happiness, agreement and contract begins with thanks, and great relationships begin with the word “Thanks.”
White people and American Indians celebrated Thanksgiving according to American history. Whites had guns but no knowledge of cultivation of grains and fruits. The American Indians ate grains and fruits and lastly they ate animals. It was easier to eat meat than to cultivate grains. They gave thanks. People don’t like to struggle.
Dhideer dosa, idly, Instant food, people want. There is a difference in gradual cooking and instant food. The taste is different. Food kept in the fridge for four days, even after heating, does not taste like freshly prepared food. The normal process is good. For journey it is okay to eat food that is not freshly prepared. Eating daily at a hotel, and eating 4, 5 days old refrigerated food or instant food is not good.
Please learn to cook my dear people. Don’t eat (canned) tinned food all the time.
Fresh hot food with fresh seasoning is so great. Tinned food heated has smell from the tin.
You should eat to live, not live to eat. Think about it. Only then you will realize the value of food. Quality food, even a little bit is enough. Do not give importance to quantity. Like a cement mixer, do not take a huge quantity all mixed up. Don’t do it. You finish eating the pickle even before the rice is served. Always your plate is empty because whatever is served, you at once gobble up while reading the paper, not even paying attention to what is being consumed. Because of such habits, mother has to place all the items before you and then serve.
Big eating festival today, not only in America but in other places also. Our Jnana Bodha Sabha here is giving special satvic food. Indian food has very nutritious ingredients. Nature therapy is followed in India. Visiting India is like visiting a Nature Hospital.
80 per cent of Indian people are innocent people. Friendship with others influences them and is changing them. India has so many festivals. Daily it is a festival. Monday is special for Shiva. Tuesday is special for Hanuman. Wednesday is auspicious for Vishnu. Thursday is for Guru, Friday is for Mother Goddess, Saturday is for Lord Venkateshwara and Sunday of course, is Ganapati Homa day. Daily it is a festival with good friendship and good food.
Practicing Kriya yoga is very nice while breathing in the aroma with the kitchen very nearby. The mind will be guessing whether this fragrant seasoning is for pulihara (spicy mixed rice) or for eggplant chutney. Om Namassivaya mantra chanting goes on, on one hand and relishing the aromas on the other hand, wondering whether it is payasam (sweet rice pudding) or masala dosa, always guessing. Not about Swamiji’s aroma.
The 5 elements are connected with the five sense organs, and the five types of perception with the five sense organs. Pancha means five (in Telugu it is a dhoti, the white wrapping fabric for men), don’t think of why Swamiji is talking about dhoti and shirt now. I am asking you about the five sense organs, the five organs of action, the five elements and what their mutual connection and relationship is. Think about it and tell me. Explain to me how they are all connected and related.
This evening the specially printed US Postage stamps with photographs of Swamiji’s birds will be available to all, because always Swamiji is a postman.
Sri Guru Datta