Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – May 30, 2012 – Mysore
Jaya Guru Datta
The Datta Venkateshwara Brahmotsavam is taking place. For Swamiji it is always an Utsavam, a celebration. We do not know when Creation began. We do not know when Life Energy came into existence. We cannot say that it ever begins or ends or that it is here or there. God is all-pervading and eternal. Incarnations come and go. We think that the Sun rises and sets. In truth, he does neither. He is eternal. (Earth’s spinning causes us to witness sunrise and sunset).
Do not say that you have written God’s name ten million (crore) times and that it is enough. For human beings, who are time-bound such an attitude occurs. But life is eternal. It does not end with this lifetime. Our service and worship to God never ends.
God has no name. We call Him the Supreme Soul. All names are His. He is limitless; He is everywhere; His form is the Universe itself. Whatever you see, is He. He is not bound by Time. His celebration is endless.
Our happy birthday is when we meet our Sadguru. Human relationships and duties are never ending. Just because you get your daughter married, the relationship with her does not end. Just because the Purnahuti (the final offering in the Homa) has been offered, it is not the end. Our spiritual pursuit has no end. This is the secret of Nature.
You must know your Sadguru; simply meeting him or having his darshan is not enough. You may meet him but not understand the Guru Principle. You may listen to Vedanta, but you forget. You must keep pondering over it and must understand the Guru Principle. The day you understand your Guru is your real birthday.
You hear the discourses of Swamiji and Bala Swamiji but you do not remember the messages because you fail to churn them over and over again in your minds. You are feeding and nourishing your bodies but not your minds. You are not grasping the nature and purpose of the Sadguru.
Lord Krishna is called Navaneetha Chora, the one who steals butter. Human beings hide their sins. Krishna deliberately takes away the sins, that surface like butter. Only when churning occurs, the butter comes up. Only when mental churning occurs upon the teachings of the Guru, that one’s sins surface in the mind and are acknowledged).
In some parts of the country the Bhagavatam is studied regularly. Discourses are held every few months. In every home the scriptures are studied on a daily or a weekly basis with discussion on the topics. But now people are lazy. These days, people are not even familiar with the message of the Bhagavad Gita. The book is kept in a museum. Our children are not familiar with it. We teach western songs and culture. They grow up in hostels, go abroad for further studies, go for a love marriage and lose their culture.
Now, several who have gone overseas have started Vedanta classes. They sing bhajans.
I am busy with recordings and am not available for interviews. There are many devotees who come only for interviews and once the interview with Swamiji is finished, leave the ashram without attending any of the important functions. Now you are forced to wait to see me.
In Tirupati it is so difficult to have the darshan of the Lord. Here it is so easy, but it may become like Tirupati in course of time. During Vaikuntha Ekadasi, the devotees begin lining up here at 3 am and the darshan continues until 10 pm. I came from overseas just for a day to be here for that special occasion.
Sri Guru Datta