Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji during the meeting with members of Mysore Ashrama Monthly Maintenance Fund – May 29, 2017 – Mysore
Compiled by Bala Aati
Sri Maha Ganapathaye Namaha
Sri Saraswathyai Namaha
Sri Pada Vallabha Narasimha Saraswathi
Sri Guru, Dattatreyaya Namaha
Whenever Swamiji wants to give a discourse or upadesha, I always remember about the strength of collective prayers. Even stones will melt with collective prayers. Gems also will melt. Collectiveness has such power. Five fingers put together becomes a fist which has a great strength. A single finger does not have that. All Datta devotees together becomes strong. That is true service.
I always remember this story. Initially, only few devatas prayed for the incarnation of Maha Vishnu. He didn’t appear. Then a few more devatas added. He still didn’t appear. Then 333 crores of devatas came together and prayed. Then the lord showed His Vishwaroopa in the sky and took the incarnation of Sri Rama.
Collective prayer is very powerful, like yesterday’s Guru Gita chanting. That energy is very powerful. The lord is present in that energy itself. He need not descend from somewhere. That energy itself is divinity. Both the radiate and the radiance present in that is Paramatma. Since when is He radiant ? Timeless.
We do not know. We only mention the Creator and His creation separately. We all are Karma jeevis. We merge in Him. How can we club Him with us ? He exists even after dissolution. So, the Lord appeared for collective prayers.
If all Datta devotees join together, Dattatreya will show His Vishwaroopa. We have been seeing this Vishwaroopa for the past 4-5 days. The pratyaksha Pada Puja on 26th May itself was Vishwaroopa. You don’t get a greater boon than that. Swamiji coming for so many festivities is not possible. Secondly, you all had a chance to chant Guru Gita yesterday in the physical presence of Swamiji. Those chanting were happy to do that and those listening also were very happy that they could listen watching Swamiji. It is impossible to chant for such a long time sitting in front of Swamiji. You may only do that in front of a photo. Isn’t it ?
This was the first time doing so in front of Swamiji. Everyone must learn Guru Gita by-heart. Just keep reading. You can learn. It gives so many results. I’ve seen the photos of pratyaksha Pada puja. I myself was amazed. That was Vishwaroopa. What more do we need ? We all are mortals. A fruit falls down when ripe. We all are fruits that fall down when ripe. Some of us are bananas, some are guava, some are apples, mangoes and so on. Some of you are costly fruits and some are those that cannot be eaten. You are an useful fruit if you are useful for the society. You are the best fruit if you can be of some use for the service of Sadguru. If you are not useful for the society, to serve Sadguru or at least to your family, a male or a female, they are considered as fruits that cannot be eaten. You find so many fruits in the forest. They look colourful and attractive. Even monkeys do not touch those fruits because they are not to be eaten. So you must plead God to make you as a fruit that can be eaten. You can become a useful fruit at any point of time. Change can happen at any moment. Many people change.
So, all of you together are sending money orders since very long. Some from 9-10 years, some from about 5 years and some others just started. I’m happy. All of you join as a group. These days, we have the facility of online transactions and many other facilities. But I prefer money order system even if you have to spend 5 rupees more as transaction fees. That itself is a receipt and acknowledgement. For 100 rupees, you may have to pay 5 rupees as fee. Doesn’t matter. Appaji worked in post office earlier. That is also ours. Moreover, postal department gave rebate in charges for our Bhakti Mala magazine. So, we are not losing anything by paying these MO charges.
The staff will be waiting for your monthly money orders. This amount comes very handy for so many activities. It is used for school for poor students, Annadanam in Datta Venkateshwara temple and many more. It supports electricity charges, water charges and many more. But not for birds in Shuka Vana. That is a different section. Many donate during functions for Annadanam. But, Annadanam happens everyday in the ashram. That has to be taken care of. There are 500 staff members residing in the ashram. They have to be taken care of. Repairs will be there. They are extra cost for Swamiji. Water leakage will be there. Taps have to be replaced. Electrical wiring has to be replaced. I can’t ask anyone. I’m using the amount that you send. A portion of it goes to annadanam, another portion to vidya danam and another portion towards ashram maintenance. I don’t need to worry about maintenance when I go on tour if I’m assured of money orders. You are the ones who gave that assurance to me.
May all your problems vanish. May all your troubles and sadness vanish. May all your diseases vanish. In case if a portion of your troubles or diseases still exist, may you gain the energy to face them. May your devotion on Swamiji increase. Make this contribution hereditary. Tell your children also to continue towards this
seva. Even in case if they are not devotees, doesn’t matter. Let them continue. Many devotees wrote a will that this contribution has to be continued after them. Their children are continuing this. Train your children in that way.
In case if you are unable to continue making monthly contribution, you can also make a fixed deposit for whatever amount you may want to contribute. That will come as a monthly fund. We are going to introduce this system from this year. Someone asked me about this. But I prefer monthly contribution. I want to see you every month. I ask for the list of names before I do sankalpa for puja. So, they have put that list in my computer. I keep reading so much. If I do not know a particular place, I ask them about that and learn. I ask them the name, family name and so much. So, sending on a monthly basis is first preference. If that doesn’t work for you, the second chance is fixed deposit. You are sending this to Dattatreya. Towards Datta ashrama. Many of you are here who have got the
mantra upadesham from Swamiji. Many of you have got some kind of help from Swamiji. Many of you are also looking for help from Swamiji in future. Many are here who wants to send out of affection towards Swamiji. My blessings to all of you. I’m seeing all of you from here. You all are relatives of Dattatreya. You all are relatives to ashrama.
Harihi Om Tatsat.