Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – February 15, 2014 – Rajahmundry
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Maha Ganapataye namaha
Sri Saraswatyai namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya namaha
I don’t know why you are all sitting so still, so quiet, and so disciplined. I am not accustomed to this. Normally you are very noisy and unruly, pushing each other or arguing.
To see the sky you do not need to crowd around. Wherever you may be if you close your eyes, you may see God. If you doubt how this person who has hunger, thirst, walks, eats, sits under a fan can be God, then you do not need to listen to me. God is in every creature. Rama and Krishna assumed human bodies for the sake of protecting dharma; they mingled with people, suffering insults and troubles. It is unavoidable. I belong to their category. Human birth is like that. A thorn can only be taken out with another thorn. A Sadguru has to come in a human form. Otherwise we cannot bear that radiance if God appears in His blinding radiant before us. Only when that light comes down as a human we can see Him. Pancheekarana is like homeopathy, where titration of one particle turns it into the most subtle form. Swamiji sang in a bhajan, from ashes a plant arose. Creation revived after being burnt to ashes by Lord Siva. Mother Goddess was responsible for it.
The celestials performed great sacrifices. We have stories that we are familiar with. The great sages have all said that in our hearts, on the right side is the spiritual heart. Chidambara Rahasyam always remains a secret. Those who go to Chidambaram alone know what it is. The priests at the temple take you inside when no one is there, and in the dark, they light a small lamp, and remove the curtain. There is nothing there, except a wall. What does it mean? God is everywhere. He is all-pervading, and can assume any form, can dissolve any form, can choose to last for any duration of time. Out of nothing, creation comes and again dissolves into nothing. We were non-existent. Now we exist. Then again we are no more. So many gotras (family lineages), professions, males, females, we get preoccupied with all these differences. No other faith explains this concept well. All other religions are like mixtures. They do not reflect the pure consciousness the way Hindu dharma does. I have been to all different countries. I have visited all countries of all faiths, bathed in all the oceans, and walked on all the continents. North Pole and South Pole I have visited. I went there safely and have returned safely. I have met the leaders of all faiths and religions. I have discussed and debated with all of them with great courtesy. All of them agreed that ours is the most ancient faith. They wanted to convert to our religion. I told them that Vedanta is exclusive to Hindu dharma and that it gives the answer to the question, “Who am I?” Here we do not bribe others to convert to our religion. If one offers a devout salutation to God that is enough to be a Hindu. When we hear mantras, we do not understand them. But they take us near God. They are all very powerful code words. We feel like listening to them all the time. Draam, the powerful seed syllable sounds like Rama, Draam, and Amma. All the birds in our ashram chant Rama, Jaya Guru Datta Appaji, Datta, Good morning Swamiji, Goodnight Swamiji, Oota ayattha Swamiji?
Even if taught, you do not say these things. You have to learn to chant God’s names constantly.
Our Hindu dharma is eternal and inexhaustible. We wake up in the morning; we drink coffee, tea, or at least hot water. We eat upma or other items for breakfast. If there is time, we bathe or we postpone till the night. In the night if we feel too tired, we postpone bath till the next day. You go to bed stinking. You must at least take a sponge bath with hot water. In this sacred body made of the five elements, there are many contaminants, and diseases caused by the imbalance of kapha and other principles. We cough and sneeze. The internal organs are all covered by skin as designed by God. Over that we add more covers. In addition we go to beauty parlors and add more make up. We lose the natural beauty given by God. Take a clean bath. Wear a dot on the forehead. That is enough. Most men do not wear the forehead mark. I ask them if they have a dog as a pet and it has licked it off. They give a long name as theirs which includes all the letters of the alphabet and lists the names of several deities. Their family deity is Venkateswara Swami. But they do not wear a mark on the forehead. The powerful Lambika Nadi is there at the center of the eyebrows. It requires protection and needs to be covered. In Nepal, you should see. Even officers wear the dot. To avoid evil eye you must wear at least a small dot. Even widows can wear a vibhooti dot.
For Puttugam website there are hundreds of thousands of viewers. There are thousands who receive personal emails from puttugam. There are many Facebook viewers of the Puttugam page. Many of you do not know. You are not aware. You do not care to know. You are only interested in other things. Swamiji sends messages in so many different languages. You say you do not know of this.
Your soul has no hunger. You do not know about your Guru, about your Guru’s principle, or His teaching.
When it called out ‘Rama’, Rama Himself pierced His arrow into a frog. The frog kept quiet but was bleeding. Rama asked, why have you not made a sound? If my protector Rama Himself pierces me, who else is there for me to call?
A pilgrim went to Kasi and found only 2 inches of water in Ganga River. How to take a dip? Our situation is like this. Swamiji has made a rare visit. There is no electricity here now and the generator also has failed. Even in small actions we have to follow and practice our dharma. Our Mother India is like that. Our hospitality goes to an excess. Please accept our room, our home, our country. We will take a begging bowl and live on the streets. That is not dharma. We have to first protect ourselves. That is Swadharma. Let us protect that. Guru is hard to find. Once you find Him, do not lose Him. Like mercury, if He slips out of your grip, if He disappears, you cannot find Him again.
I am not suffering any inconvenience being in the dark. Are you having a problem? How beautifully the nose, ear, and eye are situated on our bodies, see what a wondrous creation it is by God! Can we remove the skin and survive? Can we remove the skeleton inside and survive? God alone has designed this, and only He is capable. We must make use, not abuse. How long do we live? We have to be cautious and careful with our sense organs. We must not lose our opportunities. We must not misuse the opportunity given to us by God. An old lady fell asleep. God appeared in her dream and said, ‘I grant you 140 years lifespan’. The 99 year old woman felt very happy. The moment she woke up, she went to the beauty parlor. She changed her skin and appeared youthful. Her walk was the same. She stepped out and got run over by a bus. She fought with the God of Death. You deceived me with your promise. He asked Chitragupta to inquire into the matter. When I went, I could not recognize her because her looks were completely changed. That is why she got run over, he replied.
Do not spoil what God has given you. Wear a dot, wear a proper saree. You will look like Goddess Mahalakshmi, Saraswati, like Maha Vishnu. The sparkle in the eye is important. Peace grants that. If you are worried and anxious about things, the eyes lose their sparkle. That sparkle keeps the body radiant. This Datta Mukti Kshetram is world famous. Many foreigners come and visit here, but the local residents have no time to visit. Have darshan of Datta Murti. How glorious He looks. You are bothered about the people in the queue and you miss viewing the deity. Ignore the volunteers and other people. When you get angry at them, your penance gets disturbed. Your anger against other devotees is misplaced. You should exercise self-restraint.
I saw the newspaper headlines, The Angry Avadhoota, when I paid a quick visit recently. Because of your past relationship with me, you have come to me. There is a mutual attraction between us that cannot be explained. Now even without electricity, you are still sitting here. I am also sitting here. By our luck, the microphone is working. Thanks to Micasura. Swamiji leaves tomorrow morning. There is a Kumbhabhishekam at Gokavaram. They have done penance for so many years. I have exhausted all the tests. I am finally going there now to the Temple of Mother Goddess Durga.
Sri Guru Datta