Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Jyeshtha Shuddha Ekadashi Utsava – Birthday Message – June 5, 2017 – Mysore
Notes from Archana Penukonda
Most college students get 2-3 months of holidays before the exams so they can revise the lessons taught in class. But we do not revise the lessons. We do not think we need it. We get immersed in fun and play. We like to watch movies. We want to attend weddings and get-togethers. We are gallivanting around town. When we go to write the exam, we forget what we learned. We can only remember the weddings and get-togethers, but cannot remember the lessons learned.
In the last 50 years, or at least in the last 25 or 20 or 10 years (depending on how long you have been a devotee), there have been a lot of programs. You heard and read the Guru Gita. You read Datta Darsanam, you read Swamiji’s Life History. What did you learn from the Life History? It reads like an engaging novel, but what is its essence? What are the important lessons we need to implement in our own lives? Did anyone think about them? No, you did not. You do not think you need it. Whenever you get near Swamiji, you make two demands. One, you ask Swamiji to sing Bhajans or give a discourse. Two, you ask Swamiji to remove your troubles. These are the only two things we think about. This is a mistake. You are treading the wrong path. Whenever you see Swamiji, you first want to talk about your troubles. You want Swamiji to say something in response to your troubles. Once that is done, you want Swamiji to teach you something spiritual. Most people want to talk to me about their troubles. Where is the time to teach you anything spiritual? That is what you have got used to. We lose all our time talking about and listening to problems. I am not asking you not to tell me about your problems. You must tell me, but there should be a limit to it. You have crossed the limit.
I gave a discourse yesterday, I gave a discourse the day before yesterday and the day before that as well. I gave a discourse the day you arrived too. What happened to all of that? “No, please speak today as well”. You ask for a discourse because you want to be busy. You need to be busy talking about your problems with Swamiji. Or, you need to be busy listening to Swamiji talk. You only care about listening to Swamiji. You do not care about implementing what Swamiji says. Swamiji has printed so many books, and made available so many CDs and DVDs. How many of Swamiji’s messages on the Internet have you seen? How many MMS messages have you read? How many SGS Posts messages have your read? How many stories have you read? There are so many languages all this has been made available in. Does anyone remember even an iota of what is said? No. Because you are not putting your mind to it. May be 1% of the devotees do, that is all. I wanted 80% of devotees to do this. But it is not even 50%. Not even 20%. Even the 10% that do is fickle. But there is 1% of my devotees that really remembers Swamiji’s words and implements in their lives. They are the real devotees. They are my real friends.
What is the use if you forget everything as soon as it is said? How long can a loud speaker relay messages? It’ll relay messages as long as it has power. After some time, when the power runs out, it stops working. You must let go of the insistence that I give a discourse. Learn to remember what has already been said. Swamiji has already said so much. How many hundreds of thousands of books have been printed for you? There are so many discourses that are on the Internet. Translation of these discourses is always going on. It’s on various Facebook pages, on MMS (musical message sayings) messages, SGS Posts etc. Whenever Swamiji travels, he gives discourses. There have been so many Saptahas (week-long discourses on a topic). He sang so many songs for you. He indulged in so much drama for you. He spoke many lies for you. He spoke so much truth for you. He took on so much pain for you. He did all this only for your welfare, only so you can understand. He tried different ways to help you understand the messages and to make you happy.
I worked so hard for you. Those who sincerely worked hard do not talk about their hard work. But I am telling you only so you can understand. I do not need any recognition. This incarnation is here to work hard. I cannot sit idly anyway. Even if you ask me not to talk, I will not stop. I will keep working and I will keep talking. Reason? Because every mother wants her children to be well. That is why the mother will always keep saying, “My dear daughter, you are getting married and going away. You must be careful”. She will again teach her to cook, she will teach her how to conduct herself in her new life, how to sit, how to greet, how to conduct herself with her husband, how to conduct herself with her father-in-law and mother-in-law, how to conduct herself with her neighbors etc. Even if the daughter reminds the mother than she already taught her those things, the mother will not stop. That is because the mother has so much love for her child. She wants to make sure her daughter does not run into any difficulty. Until the bride gains sufficient experience to manage on her own, the parents will continue to watch over her closely. Like that, you are all my new brides and grooms. I have been watching over you closely.
But how long can I watch over you. You have two children of your own now, how long can I watch over you? I have a new daughter who has come of age, I need to get her married and watch over her closely. I am tired of watching over you. You have become a mother. And I am mother to this new girl. Just as a daughter or a son is watched over closely in a household, I have been watching you. I greet you, “How are you? When did you arrive?” I enquire about your wellbeing. This is enough, isn’t it? “He (Swamiji) did not sit me down with him and talk to me. He did not enquire about my family. He didn’t ask about the repairs of my walls and windows”. You want me to ask you about whether you got the house painted. Or whether you bought new chairs. You want me to enquire about your family. “How is your older daughter? How is your younger daughter? Did you get her married? Okay. How are your children? How are your grandchildren?” You want even more. You want me to sit down near you and ask you “How are you? I hope you are well. You cooked Puran Poli (a kind of sweet stuffed flat bread) the day before? You made Vada (savory fried snack)? You made Garelu (another savory fried snack)?” Do you want me to enquire about these things? “You were thinking about breaking down the wall and building a new room. Did you build it? What is in the new room?” Are these the kinds of things I should enquire about? Do I need these things? When I see you I say, “Hello! You have come. I am happy”. Or, I smile at you. What else is needed? What else should I ask? What is the meaning of “recognizing” you? Should I have you sit next to me, hug you, put my hand over your shoulder, kiss you and pet you and ask about the special food you cooked? Do I have to ask you about these things? Will it be appropriate if Swamiji asks about these things? Will it be respectful? Will be respectful to you or to me? No. It is disrespectful and should not be done.
We can build a hundred homes and get a hundred children married if we have his blessings. No need for you to specify each child’s wedding details and the gifts given at the wedding or for me to ask what sarees were worn during the wedding. Do I have nothing better to do? What do you think of Appaji? “Appaji did not enquire about me, he did not enquire about my family”. Why did you come then? I did not enquire about you this time, so do not come next time. You are coming again and again because you are able to see, hear or feel something in your soul. You have the strength to listen to my language in your soul. It is (blessing) enough if I look at you. It means I am talking to you. I make eye contact with you. That is itself talking. It means I am enquiring after you. It is enough for the Sadguru’s glance to fall on you. It is enough for the Sadguru to hear about your problems. It is not necessary for Swamiji to respond to your problems. If Swamiji hears about your problems, half the burden will vanish. That is what Swamiji does when devotees file along in front of him. He listens to each person’s problems for two seconds to reduce their burden. When he hears the problems, the burden automatically gets reduced. The Gods that are around Swamiji at that time will say, “So be it (Tathastu)”. They will take care of it. That is the reason why Swamiji calls for the devotees to file along in a line at a specific time and tell Him about your problems. Some other times, Swamiji will ask you not to talk or ask for anything. We should comply. There are different Gods there at that time and they will not help with your problems. If we still insist on talking at that time, we will incur the wrath of those Gods instead of receiving their blessings. That will turn otherwise successful course of events, unsuccessful. When you go home, recollect and contemplate on whatever spiritual discourse (Upanyasa) you heard so far. Going home is akin to having holidays before the exams. You must (prepare and) implement those (lessons) little by little in your daily conduct, in what you say and in what you do. Make it a habit.
Why do we read the Ramayana? Because it is a pastime? No. We read it to learn the essence of the Ramayana. Why do we listen to the Bhagavatam? To gain devotion. Why do we listen to the Mahabharata? So, we can conduct ourselves appropriately in our daily lives. That is the purpose. These are not just stories or pastimes. They are our stories. Ramayana is our story. Mahabharata is our story. Bhagavatam is our story. They are not stories about others, but about ourselves. The conversation between Sri Krishna and Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita is our story. The Lord is our soul. Arjuna is the intellect (buddhi) that is conflicted with the soul. Kurukshetra is our body. We should reconcile it to ourselves. We should relate the Bhagavad Gita to our body. We should relate the Bhagavatam to our body. We should relate the Ramayana to our body. We should absorb the stories not with our intellect, but with our heart. Doing this would be worshiping God with our heart.
You have given me flowers. Will I eat those flowers? No. When you offer flowers, you are offering your mind little by little. When you offer fruits, you are offering your entire intellect. Remember this. When you offer Bael (Bilva) leaves, you are offering your body. When you pour water on Swamiji’s feet, you are pouring tears of joy. You offer a Namaskaram. This entire ritual makes it a Puja. When you offer tears of joy, two leaves of the holy basil (Tulsi), two leaves of Bael (Bilva), flowers, some fruits, what is the meaning? We are offering our body, our intellect, our Atman and performing ablutions (Abhishekam) with tears of joy.
Remember what the Bhagavad Gita says. Read at least one paragraph of the messages Swamiji has given so far. If you implement and follow that one paragraph, that is enough. Swamiji has done so much, he has gone to so many places.
A mother watches cooking shows on TV, refers to cook books and prepares a wide variety of delicacies for the children. She uses the same basic ingredients, but cooks a wide variety of dishes for the children. She tries to experiment with existing ingredients, garnishes and decorates the food in a variety of ways and serves us the food. She is not serving us new dishes, nor is she serving us food brought from the neighbors. When we see a different decoration on the food, we assume it is a different dish. You appreciate the new dish and she tells you it is the same dish she made before. Like that, Swamiji only talks about one subject. It is not a new subject. Who are you? Why have you come? What is your duty? Why have you taken on this body? What have you come to earth for? Where did you come from? Where will you go? This is all the subject is about. There is nothing else.
In order to explain this subject, the Lord gave Brahma four shlokas as His foundational principles (Tattva) in the Bhagavatam. Lord Brahma gave those to Narada. Narada gave them to Vyasa who in turn wrote 18000 verses in 12 cantos. That evolved into our expansive scriptures for the benefit of the masses. To teach the common man, Sage Vyasa took the massive scriptures and broke them down into smaller cantos as Upa-puranas. They are full of Knowledge of the Self (Atma-Tattva). All Upanishads, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Bhagavatam are one. They all talk about the same knowledge in different ways. They praise the Lord through different subjects. That is what Swamiji has said so far.
Using a variety of forms, a variety of plays, discourses, Bhajans, Pujas and services, Swamiji is only doing one thing. Brahman is one. It looks like a multitude of things, but it is only one. His actions give us the illusion that each is different, that each is its own truth and that there is nothing beyond that. But finally, he brings you to the one same spot. All rivers flow into the ocean. The water then reaches its highest elevation before it eventually comes back to us as the nectar of rain. This is the same thing Swamiji is doing.
You good devotees came in the thousands on the 26th. Those who could not come then are here now. I am very happy to see you. It is not my birthday. Happy birthday to you. Be happy. Learn spirituality. Understand Swamiji’s words. Steer your life towards the goal of liberation. We have converged in such perilous times. I exist in your time period and you exist in my time period. How wonderful is this! The Gopalas and Gopikas (cowherds) born in the time of Krishna were so blessed.
yat sadvrajasthitijuṣāṃ suhṛdāṃ kumārā- dīnāmadhīnamiva gocaratāmupaiti
Then the Lord revealed himself to them in various forms – as brother, as father, as relative etc. They were so blessed. When the Lord mingled with the Gopikas in a physical form, some addressed him as their brother, some as father etc. Arjuna addressed him as brother-in-law. So wonderful.
ānandadhāmani cidekarase’dvitīye
The Lord is one without a second (Adviteeya). He is always in bliss. He will never lower himself from that bliss. He is taking us to such bliss. Bliss is his abode. He is taking us to such an abode. We should all try to reach the Lord. He is always invisible. He has no form and no attributes. He is always invisible. But, he was visible at that time. Now, he has entered into the body. Why reside here and there, why not just live in the body? So, He entered into the human body. We should understand that. Similarly, you now have Swamiji. You call him Appaji, Swamiji, Nanna (father), Anna (brother) etc. Yesterday, a couple of women came and said I look like their father to them. Very good. Right after, another girl came and said “No Swamiji, you look like Krishna to me, you are the one I choose”. I said that was alright. What can I say? You must not make those unique emotions public. You must gain happiness through them. God will not reveal himself like this to you in a physical body.
tasmin pade’stu mama cittamagocare’pi
The Lord cannot be attained through the sense organs (indriyas). However, I have willingly allowed myself to be captured by you. Like a thief, I have been captured. What can I do? You have tied me down with your devotion. When mother Yashoda tied down the young Krishna, the rope she tied him with represented devotion. She tied him to a gigantic rice pounder made of hard stone. The intent was to melt the stone that represented hard-hearted nature. But the Lord worked with that stone too. He dragged it along between two closely located Arjuna trees and granted liberation to the celestials in those trees. Did you see? He turned stone into nectar. Come what may, Swamiji’s intent is only to shine and refine whatever is given to him and turn it into nectar. Even if a wicked person comes to Swamiji, Swamiji desires to turn into him into a good person. Since that is my desire, I am only asking you for one thing today. I hope you will all give me what I am asking for. Will you give me? Tell me. You are afraid to commit. You think I might ask you for diamonds or precious stones. You don’t have any to give. Is that what you thought? Will you give what I ask for?
There will be a line (for Darshan) now. Do not applaud yet. When you come in the line, when you see Swamiji and offer whatever flowers or fruits you plan to, give up your vices and bad habits as you look at me. For example, resolve to give up smoking. Or resolve to give up chewing tobacco. Resolve to give up lying. If you are short tempered and yell at innocent people at home, give that up that bad temper. Instead of wasting money, resolve to spend money on good things. Those who drink in social situations, do not give up the drink and instead offer it to me. I do not want it. Resolve to give up that drinking. Someone once said he gave up cigarettes. The next year I asked him, he affirmed he stayed away from cigarettes. I was glad he gave up cigarettes. Then he said he was smoking beedi instead. What is the use? A devotee came and told me he gave up coffee. I told him it was good to give up coffee since the caffeine is not good for us. He said he had not been drinking coffee for a year. I asked him what else he was drinking and he said he was drinking tea instead. What is the use? So, whatever it is you are resolving on, abide by it sincerely. “Swamiji, you are asking us to give up everything, what should eat or drink?” There are plenty of good things.
So, today, without feeling ashamed, open your mouth and declare all the bad habits and vices you are giving up. It is not just about praying mentally. You should not be ashamed to declare to Swamiji. I will be happy (to hear what you are giving up). I was given diamond and gold rings earlier. What did I do? After the Abhisheka, I gave them all away. I even gave away my inner garments. I do not want anything. Whatever you give, I gave away in charity. But your bad habits and vices, I will not give. I take them away to the higher worlds. I will tell them that so and so people gave up their vices. I will give them a report of all the vices you gave up.
Now, those who were not here on the 26th and who really want to offer flowers to Swamiji, please come in a line. Those who want to give up bad habits and vices, come in a line. Please do not try to have prolonged conversations with Swamiji. Offer your respects to the Datta Padukas here as you walk by. Happy birthday to you. May God bless you. Be happy. As you leave this place, please go to the dining hall. Today, the SGS Volunteers are doing Annadanam. They pooled their funds to donate food today. So, everybody go and eat the Prasadam. Please let the ones who were not here on the 26th come in a line first. The rest can come later.