Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – Swagata Sabha – July 23, 2024 – Jayalakshmi Datta Yoga Center, Washington D.C., USA
Jaya Guru Datta
Jai Veera Hanuman
Om Ayim Hreem Shreem Lalita Parameshvaryai Namaha
This is Jayalakshmi Mata Center, so it is Raja Rajeshwari Mata’s Center. I do not know what good fortune this site has, they built it for some animals, but Shiva is Pashupati Natha, He is the Lord of all beings. We are all devotees of Mother Goddess.
This Center is new and just starting out. Your devotion, your support and your faith, your special contribution alone will make your dream come true. This is true for all centers. It will help us, your generations, and our future generations. It will protect our Dharma and fulfill our lives. This is a wonderful Center, slowly, it will miraculously grow. Mother’s blessings are always with this Center. We do not need a massive shrine, we can build a temple in the place we have. In Chicago, the Center is so beautiful. Instead of building big temple towers, we have everything under the roof there. Baton Rouge too was constant for many years, now it is being extended a little bit. So too, this center will slowly develop with your devotion, strength and your collective determination.
We did not even think we would have what we have now. If we had a little more time, we would even have air-conditioning here. We always need the new government’s permission. We are trying to be happy with what we have. I instructed that it is enough if this place is modeled after the Chicago center. Our children need this center. They should not forget our tradition. Children today did kuchipudi dance, they chanted shlokas, Bhagavad Gita etc. Gita classes are going on here. People of all languages are joining the Gita classes. By the grace of Mother Goddess, this center is growing. You must protect our Dharma.
We should come together and protect and strengthen Sanatana Dharma. Everyone cooperate and work together. Do not think this is Telugu people’s place. It is everyone’s place. We Hindus have no differences. We go to Vishnu temple, Shiva temple, Devi temple etc. We go to all the temples and we support each other. Such is our nature. But this is not necessarily true of other faiths. You are all Datta devotees. Many of you are learning about Swamiji and getting closer to Him. We had to do a center here because there are many Datta and Devi devotees here. In the beginning, the devotees here supported the Gita program. The numbers went down a bit, but it must pick up again. Swamiji appreciated you last time and that made you complacent. That is not right. You must accelerate your pace when Swamiji appreciates you. Bring new people and spread the word. It is not enough to just mutually praise each other and be content.
There are many outsiders, they may not know about this organization. Reach out to them. Keep following up with the government. In Chicago, they acquainted themselves very well with the county. Do not sit silently after you apply, you must keep following up, keep presenting updates, keep including them in your programs, wish them on their birthday, share your food, offer some money to them during elections, speak pleasingly to them. We are not asking them to join our faith, we want to show them our friendliness. Then, we will get to know them well, and permissions will come by faster.
Do not wait for others to do the work, you must get out and reach out. Everyone, not just the committee, has responsibility for this. We have a lot of work to be done here. If we do this work, then Swamiji will visit at least two times. If you keep showing improvement, Swamiji will like to come.
Why did Swamiji give you weekdays, instead of weekends? Because there is no improvement. Yet, despite it being a weekday, you are all here, because you love Swamiji. I am happy. Chandi Yajna took place today. The place’s purification happened a while ago. May this place be blessed. What animals were kept here, what intent the place was built with, we may not know, but the fact that we now have a temple here means the place is very fortunate. The stone, the temple and the person all have to come together for such a temple to happen.
We do not know how long we are destined to be in our home, when the time is up, we have to leave that place. Same is true of the home called the body. We will depart from this planet and go back to our own. This planet is a rental. We should establish God here and protect our Dharma. We should allocate half of what we have to Dharma. We take nothing with us, only the noble deeds done per Guru’s directive go with us. No bank balance goes with us.
Our accounting and auditing happens there. The judgment happens there, not here. Our sins and merits are tallied there. Everything is documented and accounted for. How much you can serve the Guru, how far away from Him can you be, how much faith you have in Him, how fake your devotion is – all this is judged there. Then, you will repent. That is why, we are told to chant Rama’s name while we have energy and awareness. As we get older, we can barely sit, see, stand or do anything. We should give training to do good deeds and chanting to young children. If you train them at a young age, 99% of the children will follow. You must be very careful in teaching them. Yelling at them is not enough, you must set an example with your actions. They will not do what you ask them to, but will do what you do.
For their sake, we should learn Shlokas, we should learn Bhagavad Gita, we should practice Dharma. Those who have no children must do all this for my sake. There is no point repenting when it is too late. Not much you can do then. You are all working with great interest. I saw the food stall, it was very good. Do not let food go to waste, they made the food with great enthusiasm. Eat well and take the remaining food home with you.