Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – October 8, 2014 – Mekedatu
Jaya Guru Datta
OM Namo Hanumate Namaha
Hanuman Chaleesa is there now in Telugu and Kannada. The Hindi original is there by Sri Tulsidas Goswami. God is one. The language does not matter. For those who do not understand Hindi, these versions in their own languages help.
If you consider anything of any form, be it tree, sky, air, you, or I, all have both consciousness and inertness (Chaitanya and Jada, same as Mother Goddess). Fire, water, air are all in you as knowledge. As you and I, we remain as witnesses. Nothing touched Hanuman.
You think that you are your senses and your intellect. The body is there to perform duty. It requires maintenance. God enlightens those who perform their duty with humility. Those who forget to do their duty, and arrogantly claim that they are God, will suffer a downfall. If you only trust your mind and senses, you will degenerate.
Penance is sadhana. It purifies the mind and the senses. God when worshiped as an image or a picture, then that form glows within us. Your form becomes pure, whole, and radiant. For this to happen, you must do bodily penance. Remain within limits. Excess in anything gives disease. Senses have limits. Follow the system and follow rules. The vehicle should be good. The driver should be good. If the road also is good, then your journey will be very good. This is Vedanta.
A group of about 100 Andhra Pradesh devotees are doing 24/7 Hanuman Chaleesa Parayana in Telugu for 40 days continuously here in the Mekedatu ashrama. 30 days are over; 10 more days to go.
Do not become arrogant. This is only the beginning. This is not the end. This is only verbal penance. You might have performed annadanam so far for 20 Lakhs people. But you must do such service till you die. This calculation has just started.
In this forest, on the river bank near the confluence of three holy rivers, you are doing this Parayana/continuous chanting. In this lifetime you have commenced this penance. Mind and body need purification.
To make a dessert you need a clean vessel and a clean location. You need the implements and all the ingredients. Acquire all of these. To make it tasty is another sadhana. You need to cultivate the expertise. To eat it also is sadhana.
To lie, to cheat, to steal. What is the use?
The location, the mind, the body, the implements, all must be pure. If you get sleepy, lazy, distracted, and drowsy, the penance is spoiled. Are excuses, they spoil the penance. You fall, you get tired. Paramatma has no tiredness. You have started. Good. The road is good. The vehicle is good. The driver also must be good to reach the destination.
If you have all the things but do not know how to cook, what is the use? You cannot just eat one cup of raw rice, drink two cups of water and sit on the stove. You will go to the hospital. The cook has to be qualified.
This is a great location but many of you have no time to visit. Seeing the holy river is itself enough. Do not bathe here now. There are crocodiles. You will get eaten up. No need for sprinkling water/Prokshana on yourself also. Ashrama water is sacred. Do not waste time going to the river. Do not take risk. Tap/faucet water is good and holy. This is ground water from the bore-well. Guptagamini/underground current water is also included here. It is a Jnana Nadi/Spiritual River. Nadi/river sannidhi/proximity bore well. Same sanctity as Mysore ashram water.
You are doing for 40 days. Do this once every two years for at least 7 days. 40 days in Kali Yuga is very tough, especially in this forest. Only by Datta grace you are able to do this. Without it you cannot do it. No telephone also here. It is a very happy penance, but very tough. There is no telephone signal also. If there is telephone facility, you would keep calling home. That is karma. This hankering after the affairs of the family members left at home. You will keep asking them questions about their daily routine. You will want to go to them. Make up your mind. Stay and complete your penance. Facilities, the timing, maintaining health, in so many ways it is very tough. You cannot go anywhere.
Mother Goddess comes into the body when you are engaged in severe penance. The body becomes heavy. The mind would be preoccupied and in a different world. You will not feel like interacting with others. You put on an artificial smile and keep talking. Mind is elsewhere.
People come and talk to me about their problems and ask questions. I cannot hear when there is much noise and children are crying, and trumpets are playing. If you ask questions and I give wrong answers, it is your loss. That is not the proper time. In a quiet place you speak with Swamiji where he can hear you and respond properly, and not as he is getting into the car. His mind is then on the journey. At the airport suddenly people pop questions appearing out of nowhere, like a ghost. I see the face but I cannot hear what they are saying. Even the assistants near me cannot hear what you said. If I nod, you think Swamiji gave permission. You act upon it to your loss. It is your fate. I have told you this so many times. You keep repeating this mistake. Speak internally, in your heart, and then Swamiji will hear. Do it with total devotion; this is effective wireless communication. Swamiji is always is hearing some universal messages coming from different directions.
Your communication is now through Hanuman Chaleesa. So I came here running. We are Hanuman’s children. Nothing is ours. Our elders have gone, giving us either desirable things or undesirable things. We give to our children in turn. We should bequeath good things to our children and not karma and troubles. Don’t be vengeful towards your children because you only inherited problems from your elders. God will not sympathize with you. All are separate accounts.
Do not question God. I did puja and offered coconuts and bananas. Why are you giving me troubles? Do not blame God for your troubles. Did God ask you to give coconuts and bananas? You did it for your pleasure. With your rituals, yoga, and penance, why should God be pleased? He gave life to you. You do cheap stuff with your life serving your senses. You go for pleasure. You deceive yourself. You show to God the food, coconut, and fruits and you eat. Does God eat them?
Why come here, and bathe in cold water and make these offerings like a business, without devotion? Do it at home. Offer them in your heart. When there is no faith, it is all of no use. You must do your duty without shirking, and without expectation. Some are there who are like that. Such great souls are invisible, those who have transcended.
Do not waste time. Feed others. Visitors from Guntur, Bangalore, and all other visitors all are blessed. Hanuman needs to be praised for you to receive His blessings.
We keep making many mistakes. Surrender all your actions to God, surrender everything that you have performed with all the eight limbs (heart, head, mind, tongue, feet, hands, eyes, ears) to him. Do Sashtanga Namaskaram with faith and sincere devotion. Pray for forgiveness.
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta
Om Namo Hanumate Namaha