Summary of speech during HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji’s welcome function after His trip to the Antarctica with video of trip – January 12, 2014 – Mysore
Jaya Guru Datta
Similarly, we have to follow rules. We must keep surroundings clean. We must not throw litter here and there. There are reasons for everything, for us to take a bath there is a reason. If we have to wait in the queue we must wait patiently. If it is required that we wear certain winter wear and safety apparel, we have to obey and wear them. At airports also, sometimes they offer me VIP treatment, take me to a special lounge and so forth. But my journey is smoother and easier if I go along with everyone else. Accepting the VIP treatment also puts me under an obligation. The people invariably ask for favors in return for providing the special room, and special route and passwords. Occasionally it may be required but most of the time, I prefer to be with my group. There are also devotees waiting for darshan. They will be standing in the cold climate. I prefer to spend time with them. Sometimes you may gain a few minutes with special treatment, but it is not worth it because you get stuck with obligations. You must open the bag and give them prasadam. That is the bribe.
You should not refuse to wear the outfit or the specified shoes. These shoes are very heavy. You won’t even know where your foot is. You feel like you have no control. Unless you are very strong, you cannot carry their weight.
There was a large room given to me for my stay, with hot water facility for bath. But with the ship constantly moving and swaying, you have to hold on with one hand constantly, and keep switching hands and pour water with the other over the body.
I told Kusumakka, you should make a mental resolve as to where you want to go. I don’t like to see you falling so many times. She said, I want to go to the kitchen. Mentally make a strong determination and begin walking. Automatically your legs will take you to the kitchen. The mind’s decision must be strongly fixed. Similarly, if you wish to go to the lobby, you must make a firm resolve in the mind that you want to go to the lobby. Then you will go only to the lobby. Otherwise the danger is there that you will end up somewhere else. This was my continuous job there to train everyone to fix their minds on their destination. Someone wanted to return to their room. I said, make a strong resolve that you have to go to your room. Then your legs will take you there. You will not be lost. It is not maya, illusion. Don’t’ think like that. When the ship is wildly rocking, unless the mental strength is there to help you, you will have no control of your movement or direction.
We are under the false impression that drunken people cannot follow a path. But they reach their homes perfectly well. They have to reach home for food and money. Otherwise the police will lock them up somewhere. They reach home quite fine. All the 200 people on the boat were like drunkards, staggering and falling. One moment they are here and the next moment they are tossed in some other direction. It was amusing to watch them. Ten people cannot stand together. The boat will disperse them all. In the kitchen if you hold a ladle, the next moment it will be somewhere far away. You will be looking for the Charu (rasam stew dish) and suddenly it will be somewhere else. One person has to hold the pan and another has to firmly hold the ladle and then the two together have to manage to stir the contents. Unless they are careful, the pot with the stew will be in the ocean and the ladle will go in the opposite direction. While they are rolling the flat bread chapati, it will fly and fall onto someone’s face. Have you seen Charlie Chaplin movies? This was exactly the same scene. I wanted to laugh heartily. But, those who tried to laugh would end up vomiting instead. People had to keep their mouths shut tight. If they tried to laugh, they would certainly throw up. Who will throw up when was totally unpredictable. It was the rule that people had to always carry the bag with them for vomiting into. At first I did not know and asked Prasad why they had these bags all over the place. Is it for money? I was not experienced. Unknowingly if anyone placed money or valuables in them, they would be safe, no one would touch them.
They served excellent food on the ship with great aroma. I don’t know what they put in the food. They did not prepare any meat. I asked why they did not prepare meat dishes. They said, throwing up this simple food itself is so difficult, with meat, it would be impossible to manage the vomiting. They fed us well. All we had to do was to eat and throw up, eat and throw up. There was nothing else to do. I said, instead of doing this inside the ship if you go on the boat deck and from the railing dispose of the food into the ocean, at least the whales will have a feast. They will be excited to eat Indian sambar and dishes that in all their lives they never would have tasted. The whales would then eagerly wait for someone to throw up. You don’t know how many prostrations the whales had offered to our ship. They kept chanting Swamiji ki jai. Please keep bringing people like this often. We got so tired of eating fish all the time. We are now totally relishing these spicy items. What experience teaches is that either you stuff yourself with food, or you do not eat at all. One of these two one must do to control the nausea. If you are stuffed, there is no room for the food to jostle; it is like a full pot. It will not spill. Whereas a half full pot will spill. They asked me why I was so comfortable and free from nausea. I said, I ate a full meal. They were surprised.
The sea voyage was beautiful. So many ice bergs. In the end they said they were going to bathe in the sea. Kusumakka wore some different kind of clothing and came. I was watching from afar. Why is this old woman getting these crazy ideas? I thought. I was waiting to see what would happen. They tied a rope around her. I was worried for her safety. If something should happen to her, who would cook for me then? Each one has his own concerns. What if she just stiffens up with the freezing cold? Then what to do? She went down. In an instant they dunked her in and pulled her out. In a blink, her bath was finished. So many did this type of bathing. (Prasad), did you also bathe? (He nodded no.)
When we went to Manasarovar, Prasad got all ready to get into the lake, wearing his shorts and all that. Suddenly I heard this loud chant, “Hara hara Mahadev”. I was surprised at the sudden burst of devotion. I realized that he stepped into the water that was icy cold and that is why he screamed, “Hara hara Mahadev”. He dove in and in an instant finished the bath.
You must divert your mind before getting into cold water. Even when you bathe in cold water in the morning, if you anticipate the cold water touch even before it touches your skin, then you will begin to shiver even beforehand. What you need to do then is, instead of thinking about the cold water, you must remember the time when Swamiji scolded you and that will make you all hot and warm. Or, remember the wild quarrel at home and that will make you burn inside and will balance the coldness of the water. Remember your angry moments.
Heat and cold are matters of the mind. It is the same with balance. It is the same principle that will control nausea. The mind should be balanced. Then your body will not lose balance. That is what is practiced by the circus performers.
minutes 44:52 – When the mind is not in balance, when many people try for a long time to deliberately hold in the food, they lose control and with that much more force the food will get expelled. Their photographs must be taken. They look terrible and contorted.
With control of mind, anything can be achieved. You can walk on thorns; jump into fire or onto ice. Mind is crucial. The mind must be properly controlled. When it is out of control, it can make you do the worst crimes. Mind is Mahadeva (God). The more you keep it under control, the more yoga and joy you experience. There is nothing beyond that. The mind should always be calm. There should never be any disturbance, fear, or cowardice. People behave like animals, birds, beasts, and ghosts, pigs, donkeys, and buffaloes. People also call one another these names also, son of a donkey (bitch) and so on.
(Showing the penguin figurine) It has a thick coat, no doubt, to help it withstand the cold. It can sense the approach of a whale and saves itself from being chewed up. God has granted them that sense. I saw a documentary about these and it made me very sad to see their plight. I went into the bathroom, wept and came back. Prasad asked me where I went. I told him. I became very sad to see the story about the penguins. You can watch it, there is nothing wrong. It is very sad. Small penguins, babies, when they first enter the icy water, they shiver and cannot withstand the temperature. In groups they dive. They want to climb back on to the land and they struggle so hard. It is a horrible scene. They fail to climb and end up swimming. Then their bodies warm up. God’s creation is a wonder. It is strange.
What happens when we exert? We perspire. What do we do? We fan ourselves. What happens then? The body cools down. Did we get some ice? Our own perspiration, with the breeze gets cool. We can pause for a moment and remain comfortable. The breeze from a fan is not putting out cold air. It is the same air from around us. But it feels cool because of the perspiration on us. We appreciate the fan and say this Usha brand fan is good. Leelamma fan also perhaps. No such brand. It is not the talent of the fan. He gets credit, the manufacturer. Our own air, released from up or down. Why do you laugh, if I say air? The air above is visible. What comes from below is not visible. I am not responsible for that. It is each person’s responsibility.
I made all of you laugh. That is enough for me. The Penguin figurines will be kept in the museum. You expected that I would tell you more things. What is there to say? Many experiences are there. I will tell them during my discourses. Otherwise you will not properly listen to them. These are the rubber shoes, not leather. They are very heavy. Sometimes the boot remains in the ice and the foot alone comes out. Where to place the foot? Only then the value of the boot is recognized, because it is all ice everywhere.
Sri Guru Datta