Speeches of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – July 17, 2016 – KSHT Dallas, USA
Compiled by Archana Penukonda
Speech in the morning
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Maha Ganapataye Namah
Sri Saraswatyai Namah
Sri Padavallabha Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namah
Sri Krishna parabrahmane namah.
Bhagavad Gita is our mother. Bhagavad Gita is our spiritual and moral foundation. Bhagavad Gita is in our breath. We must practice Bhagavad Gita. We must learn the meaning. It’s a great gift in our lifetime. It’s good penance.
Some children may hold big positions in the future, they may be business people, directors, we don’t know where their destiny will lead them. Some children may be householders, some of you may work in different fields. But, Bhagavad Gita will always be your good friend. Your good guru in your lifetime is Bhagavad Gita. So, don’t forget. Everyday as much as possible, study and learn the Bhagavad Gita by heart. Study as many chapters as possible and learn all 18 chapters. Your entire lifestyle will change. Your life and your habits will change. Your parents will be happy. Sanatana Dharma will be happy. You have love and devotion towards Sadguru and Sadguru Swamiji will also be very happy. I will be happy, not only in this birth, but in all future births.
I will always remember this. You have given a great gift to Swamiji. That’s why, when I visit schools in India and they ask me for advice, the first advice I give them is that they study the Bhagavad Gita. I tell them to learn the Bhagavad Gita by heart and study the meaning. Your life will change. That’s our order to all the schools. I am very happy with the Bala Datta children. We already finished reciting 6 chapters. We are going to start with 7th chapter.
The chapter itself goes to our roots and talks about how we should lead our lives. It’s the conversation between Arjuna and Krishna. It’s a small conversation, but it gives the world a big gift. It’s very easy for the world to learn this. Those who learn Bhagavad Gita will easily pick up Sanskrit as well as other languages, even English. Every word in Bhagavad Gita will help improve memory and retention. You may hold big positions. But never forget Bhagavad Gita and your Swamiji, don’t forget this organization. This is your organization. This is your family. Swamiji is our family. Your master Srikanth (teacher who taught the kids the Bhagavad Gita) is our family member. Always remember.
Since Srikanth was a child, he always followed Swamiji’s guidance. He gave his little knowledge to you. Please retain this complete knowledge.
Jaya Guru Datta.
Many organizations and their leaders are here today. Everybody has Sri Krishna’s blessings. I am very happy. Sri Krishna is very happy. Today, my Hanuman is very happy.
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta
Speech in the evening
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Maha Ganapataye Namah
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sri Padavallabha Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namah
On the occasion of these programs in the US, we had children chant all 700 slokas of the Bhagavad Gita from memory in unison. Swamiji has been traveling starting with the program in Australia, to the Mauna Seminar in Switzerland to Datta Kriya Yoga in San Jose and now Bhagavad Gita chanting here. That’s not a Guinness World Record, it’s like God’s record. In this Karya Siddhi Hanuman temple, very renowned for its powerful vibrations and spiritual radiation, you all saw the Kumbhabhishekam last year. Now, I am here for the important first anniversary and Guru Purnima celebrations. While these seemed far out last year, it’s the children who drew me here this time. They deserve the credit. The children growing up in the US, who couldn’t sit still for a moment, who barely had holidays and were burdened with lots of homework took this on out of love for their “Tataji”. They were so committed to this that they didn’t want to go out even on holidays. Neither can they let go of me nor can I let go of them. We developed a deep connection. Wherever Swamiji goes, even if he goes to Vaikuntha, He will be with His children. I may be with the little saints that just entered Vaikuntha.
Whichever Loka I go to, I first interact with the children. I look at the children first and then look at the parents. That’s why devotees carry their little children and come to me from within the crowds in hope that Swamiji will look at them. They may come to me for a blessing or for naming the child or for Annaprasana (first solid food feeding ceremony). If the children are attracted to Swamiji, the parents will automatically be drawn too. The principle of Datta first draws children and then the adults.
If the parents show interest, the kids will follow. But, if the kids learn, they will teach the parents too. I initially told the parents several times to learn to do Namaskaram, to discuss Sanatana Dharma, to learn Swamiji’s bhajans and watch Swamiji’s videos. Some did and some did not. Some only came to talk to me about their troubles. Sanatana Dharma teaches us to follow our tradition and Dharma with discipline, but for some reason this is dwindling in the Indians. People of other faiths follow their tradition, but our people are not taking much interest. But those who are in the US are learning the Sanatana Dharma and our traditions and also teaching the children. I feel like those who came to America are fortunate beings. I feel like such devotion is lacking in India. People in India are always absorbed in their own anxieties and worries, their fears, their food, their work, etc. Where is the time to worry about children? Here, there is nothing else, but to worry about children after work, every single day.
I am seeing the Tattva of learning our Dharma well in America. I am traveling a lot within America. A couple of devotees sent Swamij messages on Appji lamenting that Swamiji is having to travel so much. They feel like they are unfortunate because Swamiji is living out of suitcases. They feel like they are very unfortunate because they are happy and comfortable while Swamiji is always traveling. “You are always traveling. We calculated how many times you set out on trips, how many times you were on a flight, how much time you spend traveling. Half your life is spent traveling. You are doing all this for us. You have given us all your years. You gave us your entire life and your happiness and sorrows. You are not at all taking care of yourself”.
Devotees from Mexico and Spain and a couple of devotees from India wrote this. “We are ashamed to see you. We are always talking about our problems with you. We are even embarrassed to ask about your difficulties”. You have so much devotion towards Guru. That is the meaning of Guru Purnima. We worship our Guru Parampara (Guru’s lineage). It is the hallmark of Guru Purnima that we worship even the Guru who teaches us the alphabet, or even shows us a small path in life. We remember and worship them and our spiritual Guru on Guru Purnima. May all good things come to people on Guru Purnima.
Gemini TV (in India) always holds on to me and keeps following me. They’ve been showing my programs last 14 years. If I don’t give them any programs, they’ll at least show a bhajan of Swamiji. To all viewers and employees of Gemini TV – everyone working on the scenes and behind the scenes, I send Guru Purnima blessings. I bless you with knowledge, prosperity and health. We pray to Deva Deva Guru – the Guru to the Gods, Guru to Sri Rama and Sri Krishna – Lord Datta on Guru Purnima. Shall we worship Lord Datta and celebrate Guru Purnima!
The Dallas Karya Siddhi Hanuman temple is very fortunate. Sometimes, you see this temple on Gemini TV. Everyone here participates in the programs in this temple. People drive for 2-3 hours to participate in these programs. May all of them be blessed with good work, good health, strength, devotion to Guru and good children. May all their problems, difficulties and ailments vanish. May auspiciousness and happiness come to them. Let’s get ready for Guru Purnima.
Jaya Guru Datta.
Sri Guru Datta.
Om Gurubhyo Namah.
Next year, I am telling all the children that they must memorize the Bhagavad Gita. Along with Bhagavad Gita, you must memorize Shatashloki Ramayana, Guru Gita. You know these are our trademark hymns. So memorize those and Lalitha Sahasra Nama, Vishnu Sahasra Nama, Hanuma Gita (Vanara Gita). How many of you know Vanara Gita? You must learn them by heart and present them whenever I’m here. How many of you know Shatashloki Ramayana? Adults can participate too. We can have separate batches for children, adults, and senior citizens. Set up time tables and learn each of these hymns by heart.
Reduce watching TV and TV serials. That’s the trick. If you do that, you can learn these prayers by heart. Occasionally, you can watch some news, but don’t watch TV. If you don’t watch TV, you’ll be able to learn these by heart. Those who are learning music can sing much better if they reduce the amount of time they watch TV. I’m not saying you should never watch TV, but limit the time you do. You watch TV, laugh and cry with it and get so involved, “Did those two finally get married?”, “Was the culprit apprehended?” If there’s power outage, you frantically enquire about what you missed.
The TV serials these days are also made to run for a very long time. A single dialogue takes half an episode. One person in the series asks, “What’s your name?” Before the other person answers, there’s music. After the music, she starts sobbing. “Why are you crying?” My grandmother who had given me the name is dead. “Okay, but what is your name?”. More music.
And then the episode breaks for ads. There’s an ad for a soap (Swamiji jokes about the message in the commercial – those who have some itch get itchier and those who have no itch will start feeling itchy) and then an ad for a scooter. By the time the ads are done, we forget whose name is being asked on the show. I have never seen anything that progresses so slowly. It’s as if people on the series can barely talk. Someone talks only once in a half hour. When that person whose name was asked finally speaks, she says, “I told you my name three days ago”. So, her name is never revealed. We are watching such TV series.
Why even bother watching these series? You can watch Ramayana and other such good devotional programs. They are making really good mythological series these days. The people that make these shows seem to be transformed.
Some people perhaps they never believed in the mythological stuff and left it behind to make the mindless commercial stuff. Now, they are done with all the commercial, mindless stuff, so they are taking on the mythological stuff. They need something to make the series.
There used to be interviews and talk shows where the host would barely let the guest speak. The host recites the history of the guest and asks questions that the guest would only need to affirm, such as:
“Everyone’s saying that you’ve gained great reputation for your community service. Is that true?”
The guest affirms it’s true.
“It’s being said that your wealth has been shared with the poor. Is that true?”
“Yes, it is”.
“You’ve acted in over 15 movies. Is that true?”
“Yes it is”.
“I heard you received an award?”
“Yes, I did”.
“Please come back to our station sometime”.
“Okay”.
After several questions and answers like this, the host thanks the guest profusely for coming to the station and letting his voice be heard. The guest barely spoke. It was the host doing all the talking. This is what interviews were like.
I tell the press that after asking a question, they have to wait till I finish answering before they can ask the next question. Only if you hear the response, will I let you ask questions. My children know this and they request that I not be obstinate. Sometimes, all they care about is asking a question. “We asked Swamiji such a great question”. Listen to the answer first. If you ask a question, listen to the answer. I have as much right to answer as much as you do to question. So now, no one asks me a question.
That’s what I made them do. There is no use just asking a question because Swamiji will make sure you listen to the answer. They are now trained well before they come to Swamiji. “No use asking Swamiji questions. He will take you to task. You might have one agenda, but Swamiji will give you different agenda”. So now, they just ask Swamiji to talk, instead of asking a question. They will propose a few topics of questions before hand and I talk about those. That is better. Otherwise, I will not let go until they listen to a full response. Or, I won’t let them ask a second question. I tell them I don’t know the answer. Therefore, don’t think it’s important just to ask the question. It’s just as important to listen to the answer. Ask only if you are prepared to listen to the answer. You are happy with the question and you think your question was funny or entertaining because people are laughing when you ask the question. My answer is just as entertaining. You must listen to my answer first. You can laugh if I don’t answer.
I used to do a few interviews with TV channels a couple of decades ago. I don’t anymore. They used to say everything and didn’t even give a chance to the guest to talk. “It seems you are called Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji?” I must just answer that with a simple yes. “You come from so and so family?” If you say everything, why do you need me? Shouldn’t I say anything? I would say on live TV that I would stay only if I could say something, otherwise, I’d just leave. So now, they don’t even call me. You must let me talk, only then I’ll come and talk well.
So, today’s event (Bhagavad Gita chanting) is very nice. It’s really like a Guinness World Record. Next year, I will ask you different slokas. You must answer me. How many of you will learn the Bhagavad Gita by heart next year? Raise your hands. Okay, there are many kids. Jaya Guru Datta. I’m very happy. You will miss the boat ride with Swamiji this year, but you have a chance next year. (Swamiji promised a boat ride with children who chanted the Bhagavad Gita).
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta