Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – morning – November 10, 2015 – Giri Nagara Dattatreya Ashram, Bangalore
Sri Maha Ganapataye Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripadavallabha Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Pavanasuta Veera Hanuman Ki Jai
In this Giri (Guru) Nagara Dattatreya ashram, Datta, the birthless Adi Guru Dattatreya is residing. That is the first attraction. Karyasiddhi Hanuman, has powerfully attracted all his devotees here to bless them. That is the second attraction. The third attraction is the Vagdevi School. It is a reason to be proud of. You should all do Yogadaan, which means give service in all the three ways possible, either financially as donation of funds or equipment for the school as computers, furniture, blackboards, and so on, or as charity of giving clothing for the poor students, as intellectual service, or as physical service. Tri-Yogadaan includes all of these.
This Datta ashram in Guru Nagara has given you an opportunity to serve. Jnana is given by Guru Datta. Wishes are fulfilled by Hanuman. Nada has also joined by providing a wonderful hall where Bhajan, Keertan, Yoga sessions, and many other worthy programs are held. This wonderful combination I do not see elsewhere. The citizens of Bengaluru are indeed very fortunate. It is their duty to utilize this great opportunity to offer their services in every possible way.
Vishnu is easily pleased. For a small service, he gives huge rewards. Siva is pleased with just a potful of water (as abhishekam). Hanuman is pleased if you just chant his name.
Let us talk about this Vagdevi School. Regardless of how wealthy they may be, parents feel very distressed if their children are born malformed. Their wealth and power cannot set the children right. The teachers and staff at this school are giving service with a sense of sacrifice to help these speech and hearing impaired children to stand on their own two feet and be able to take care of their own needs. They leave their own children at home and give their attention to these children out of love for Swamiji. The teacher told me, I see Swamiji in each child. By this attention and training the children receive, the children gain an iota of Swamiji’s energy and they are able to mingle with children of other schools also. Some schools are ready to accept our children. Some are a little hesitant. Sometimes we also admit normal children at this school, so that the children will learn to have a proper interaction with them. This tiny school has become famous nationwide. It has only 100-200 students. The fame is because of the positive transformation that has occurred in the children with the training received here.
Jan. 1-3, during the School Anniversary, there will be seminars, conferences, and other good programs. You should support the programs and participate in them.
We all wish that our children and grandchildren should be born with all organs properly functioning. If you support children like this, it will be a blessing for your future generations. Also you yourself, when you are reborn, should be born without any disabilities. You must keep that point in mind. Tomorrow you will enter another womb and you will be born as a child. If you can afford, but do not help the disadvantaged children, you will certainly be affected by that bad karma. I am not cursing. I am making a prediction of what will happen. How to prevent or avoid such an unfortunate future? Help to the best of your ability. Give, 10, 100, 1000, ten thousand rupees, or more. The school has to run.
I know this child Shanta since she was a youngster, who is now running this school. She was very adamant and did not wish to get trained for this job. She wanted to just come stay with Swamiji in the ashrama. I told her what is the use of simply learning a few bhajans to sing? You should get trained so that your service will be of help to many people. I will show you what I can do, she said, and today we are fortunate that she has brought such a fine name for this school. She must be so happy today to see the children perform this dance. With mere sign language they had to be taught and trained. Sachu’s wife has worked hard to train them. They have done just two items now. Hereafter, for the 20th anniversary of the school, you must plan a more elaborate program. More Datta devotees should join this effort and support this school and build it a strong future. Please preserve its history. The children have performed very well academically.
Now the topic of Deepavali. Please give away all old clothes. Give them here at the ashram. Near Mekedatu there are many very poor villages. They will be given there. You cannot imagine the level of their poverty. With just one saree, they wash one half, dry it, and then they wash the other end and dry it. That is how pathetic their situation is. Does it not rip our hearts to hear of this? Are we alive to witness such dire straits of our own people? I have seen it with my own eyes.
There are people dying of hunger in this world. That is why I have launched the program Share your Food. Now it is followed worldwide. Let us have the feeling that they are our companions as we dine. Daily photos are sent. From Bengaluru not enough photos are coming. Do not question the history of the recipients. Simply satisfy someone’s hunger. Don’t wonder whether they will eat the food, how much they earn, and how they spend their earnings. Is it charity if you give food and then question whether the food gets digested in their stomach or not, and how much of it turns into the person’s blood, and how many CC’s it will measure. That is wretched type of charity. If you do not want to give, simply remain quiet. If you curse or scold a beggar, all his sins will accrue to you. Do you know that? God has set up these situations to test you. You just give without comment.
You encourage, after you gain their confidence, to start a small business to support themselves. Many times Swamiji stops the car and helps street vendors. We do not keep a record of how many such instances have occurred since Swamiji’s childhood. We do not publicize these things. Even if I had no need for them I would purchase all the dolls or toys the vendor was selling, and kept them in the car. I would then distribute the dolls or toys to small children. Even on the day of the Healing Music Concert in Hyderabad, I have stopped the car and purchased toys from a street vendor. Ask my driver, ask Prasad. I purchased hundreds of toys.
A very poor vendor was once selling flutes on the street, each for twenty rupees. I was shocked. Can you purchase a flute for twenty rupees anywhere in the world? The man was so poor. Murali said, Swamiji, it may not produce any sound. I said, who cares? Okay, blow and test it. It gave sound. All the musical notes it played. I asked Murali, what do you say now? He said, O, I just wondered, that is all. I asked the man how many flutes he had. He said, 150. I told Prasadi take them all and give him whatever we owe for those.
We were on our way to the concert. Traffic is stopped. Police escort was there. They thought I was buying peanuts. No. I said I was buying flutes. The vendor was dancing with happiness with tears of joy streaming. Murali said, see that happy dance, Swamiji, as he was seeing through the rearview mirror. See, can you ever buy such happiness? Murali was worried. He also said, Swamiji, do not touch the flutes to your lips. First we must wash them all thoroughly, so that no infection occurs. I told Murali I will not touch them to my lips. They are for other people’s lips to touch and play. I am going to pass them out to flute students.
Countless times I purchase toys and odds and ends like this. I do not care about brand names. Just help the poor. Give an opportunity to others to live. At a red light, if you buy from a vendor, do not be concerned about receiving change, which is a pittance. Do not make judgments about the lifestyle of those street vendors. If you cannot help, be quiet. Do not criticize. If you lose one rupee or half a rupee change, what do you lose? I did these things with a good heart. I know that sometimes it disrupts traffic and it is dangerous. You do not have to purchase the whole cartload as I did. Just lend a helping hand to those who are suffering from poverty. What is it you know of the inner truths?
You worship a stone, calling it God. Have you seen God inside it? Did you come to the temple just because so many others are coming and offering prostrations? What is your own feeling? When all the decorations are removed, what do you see? Only a beautifully sculpted rock. What is our Dharma? It is to believe that God is everywhere. He is in the rock. He is in you. He is in me. He is in everything and everyone. With that firm faith, God is invoked into the rock. This sculpture was consecrated with fire as witness and infused with divinity. Therefore, we offer it worship. But logically if you look, it is only a stone. You have offered it the five nectars/Panchamrita. Has it ever consumed any of them? It has not. But that is not the point.
It is our ancient tradition to believe that God is everywhere. I make a determination that this statue is Vishnu. So I worship it as Vishnu. I have determined that this rock is Siva. So I offer the appropriate services and puja. If you stand in front of a deity and demand from the priest to tell you whether the image is God or a stone, he will run away or he will tell you to step aside. He will say that he cannot answer such questions and tells you to address your doubts to Swamiji.
Whatever we do, we must do for satisfying our own hearts. Our own conscience is God. Mind is God. If one conducts oneself like that, with a good heart, even a bad fellow will receive good results. If one resolves not to tell lies or not to steal, from then onwards, one will get transformed. Do not criticize the recipient while giving charity. If you do not feel like giving, just walk ahead. The Vagdevi School is rendering good service with a spirit of sacrifice. You all join together and give it support.
Swamiji had been to Haridwar, Rishikesh, and Delhi recently.
First of all, as a part of his Dharma Prachara/Mission of Spreading Dharma, Swamiji has started posting the photos of deities on facebook on the Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji page. In India, no one else is posting God’s pictures on facebook. Everyone posts only dance poses and dirty female pictures. Since one year, Swamiji has been putting great efforts to change the impression people have about facebook that it is only a dirty medium. Anyway everyone these days has a smartphone. They might as well put it to good use.
The past few days Swamiji has posted photos from Kochi ashrama, the five incarnations of Hanuman as depicted in the decorations of Lord Hanuman there, the photos of the two deities at the two Delhi ashramas, Hanuman and Mother Kali, the Sahasra Siva Linga at Haridwar, and Mother Ganga. I am telling you out of frustration that you all have completely missed the opportunity of seeing these beautiful photographs.
You and your children have WhatsApp. Everybody uses the Internet to exchange news.
You should subscribe to Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji page on facebook. There are over eight lakhs members to this page. I only post pictures of deities from places visited by Swamiji. Descriptions are also given. Every photo receives lakhs of views worldwide and thousands of comments. But what about Bengaluru devotees? You say you do not know. You do not need other friends. You simply have to subscribe, that is all. Bengaluru has a strong Internet connection. It is so easy for you to view these photos daily.
Datta Jayanti celebrations are coming up. Do not miss.
Lakhs of devotees have responded to Swamiji’s appeal not to burst loud firecrackers for Deepavali. You also join them. Eardrums break, especially for the old, weak, and the very young infants. Birds are also fatally affected, not by natural thunder sounds but by these artificial man-made sounds. Studies have shown that birds perish. We lost about forty birds for firecracker sounds. We ourselves hide in corners to escape the loud sounds. Just as we cannot see the bright lightning, the bright flashes from some firecrackers affect the eyes. The sound frightens many creatures. Just use the flower pots and other sparklers. Light a lot of lamps but use guards. Do not purchase fabrics which are flammable. Protect your children. Raise your hands, whoever supports this request. May Hanuman bless all of you. Save the money you were going to spend of firecrackers and give it to Swamiji. Whatever excess money you were going to burn on fire crackers, give that to Swamiji.
One last bhajan. The children sang very well. At Datta Jayanti, we will have several groups of devotees from different states sing bhajans. Out of 16 selected bhajans you will be asked to sing at random. Choose only good singers. Otherwise those who sing off key will distract and spoil your singing. Just because I have complimented you now, do not become conceited that you have become experts, and have got your certificate, and stop practicing.
Shuka Vana sponsors who help protect endangered birds with their donations can pose for a photograph with their families this afternoon, along with the top-ranked parrot Varam, and Swamiji. Use this good opportunity.
Sri Guru Datta
Compiled by Smt Hira Duvvuri