Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji during the inaugural function – February 9, 2011 – Ganagapura
Jaya Guru Datta
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Many people ask why build more temples? Why spend more money on more rituals and ceremonies and worship of idols?
Our minds are weak. They cannot comprehend the unmanifest supreme reality without the support of manifested objects. We need an image to concentrate on. We need a form to steady our minds and to develop focus.
Vigraha teaches us nigraha. Vigraha is an idol. It listens to our prayers and pleas. Yet physically no reaction is seen. We have to develop such a self control, not to hastily respond and react to situations and events. Our minds are constantly wandering. We eat, perform rituals, and engage in many daily activities without paying proper attention to the work at hand.
Someone invites us to their newly constructed home. We go in and instead of looking around with an open mind, immediately begin to calculate the amounts spent. We keep looking at the ceiling and trip and fall on the smooth floor. These days they build huge living rooms and dining rooms, but the bathrooms are cramped. There is not even enough room to turn around. They use smooth surfaces that are slippery. Just for show. People slip, fall, get injured and end up in the hospital. They keep the doctors busy.
We have all the resources at our disposal. We have the ghee as good thoughts. We have the lamp, our mind. We have the wick, as information. Yet we do not light the lamp of spiritual knowledge. We waste all our opportunities. Without a proper understanding, man makes mistakes and falls.
People are very curious. Why this 18 foot Dattatreya idol? What is digambara? What is viswaroopa? Swamiji will explain after consecration. There is a great hidden significance.
Since we are in the state of Karnataka, it is proper for me to speak in the Kannada language first. Swamiji speaks many languages, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, and English also. Try to understand the different languages. Datta lives and wanders near Mahur. He loves Telugu and Kannada languages.
Please do not encourage rumors. Swamiji went toSouth Africafor voice rest. People are so worried, so curious, so much of anxiety, so many rumors and wrong information in circulation. How can Swamiji leave you and go anywhere? How can you leave him? Both are impossible. When I try to avoid publicity, somehow people find out. By the fourth day, there were lots of devotees there also. Swamiji visited many animals. They also talk to Swamiji. They are also devotees. Swamiji understands their communication. It is good that you do not understand. If you did, you would remember many past life relationships with them. It will create a lot of confusion. Do not encourage recollection of past life memories. Concentrate only on your relationship with Sri Swamiji. If you get involved in too many relationships and especially past life connections, you will go crazy. With Swamiji, let us maintain a good relationship. We may fight, we may argue, but we are still always friends. This is our business. Others will not understand.
This is a very significant pratishtha. It is Swamiji’s determination to light the lamp of jnana, spiritual knowledge in the minds of his devotees, the way a lamp is lit with a match stick. He is experimenting with different methods to achieve his result. There is a past life connection regarding this temple consecration. Swamiji will explain later.
Please be careful about your lodging, your belongings, your food, and yourselves. Help each other. This is a pilgrimage. Please adjust to the conditions. There are minimal facilities here. Datta pilgrims forget luxuries. They learn to find comfort wherever they are.
This poster is released. There is something very special about this poster. It contains a hidden message. Please get a poster from the bookstall, study it and explain to Swamiji its specialty. Whoever gives the right answer will get a prize from Swamiji on the day of consecration.
Jaya Guru Datta