Sri Swamiji in USA, Datta Retreat Center, West Sunbury, 26 - 27 Jul 2008
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Discourse of Pujya Sri Swamiji at Datta Retreat Center, West Sunbury, PA on 26th July 2008
After visiting the trinity rocks at DRC, Pujya Swamiji blessed the devotees with the rare chance of sharing their experiences in public. There was absolute silence and it was heart warming to see the devotees reliving their experiences. After they spoke their hearts out, Sri Swamiji blessed everyone with His divine discourse. Following are the excerpts.
Bhagatavam is a sacred text of the Hindus and is very important in one’s life. The stories of Lord Vishnu, how He protected the good and destroyed the bad are described in detail in this book.
As the result of a curse, when King Parikshita was left with only seven days to live, Suka Brahma came and initiated him. Before learning the Vishnu Purana, Parikshita was eager to know the experiences of the devotees of Lord Vishnu. So, Suka Muni narrated the stories of great devotees of Lord Vishnu, including those of Narada, Anjaneya, Prahalada and Ambarisha. After learning the experiences of all these devotees, Suka Muni began the narration of the sacred text of Bhagavata.
It is the same here. After learning the experiences of all these devotees, Suka Muni began the narration of the sacred text of Bhagavata.
It is the same here today. If you want to know Guru Charitra then you must first experience the Sadguru. All these experiences are the first few steps. These are important. They are necessary. But they are not everything. All these miracles, these experiences are only the first few steps. What is above all this is Gnana. These miracles are only to bring one close to Sadguru. They establish the friendship between the Sadguru and the devotee. They purify one’s atma. These experiences qualify you for receiving Gnana; the bigger miracle. Again, experiences with Swamiji are necessary. But they are not permanent. When we get Gnana, all these miracles disappear. If miracles are all what you want, then you will get no Gnana. We can compare experiences to appetizers. Like how we consume some juice or some sweet before we begin a sumptuous meal, similarly, we must gain such experiences before proceeding to the big meal that is, Gnana.
Apart from the friendship with Sadguru, association with the devotees here is also what we need. We must mingle with all; not simply coming, eating and going away. Lik,e as if it is their duty to serve you food. Nurture your friendship with them. Don’t quarrel. Don’t try to break the rules by saying that you are close to Swamiji. Like how Parikshita wanted to learn about the devotees of Sri Vishnu, you must also share with your co-devotees.
All these experiences are very nice. Some have not come here to the microphone saying that they need hours to talks about their experience. Some want to tell more and they write books. But are you saying that you can describe the miracle of Swamiji’s in your life in 10 minutes? It is a lifelong experience. Nothing can describe it. In fact, you need not talk about these. With the Sadguru, everything is heart to heart. You must believe that he knows everything, that each and everything need not be discussed with him. Just learn silently. Be happy and thankful that you have such a beautiful friend, such a powerful savior!
Jaya Guru Datta
Discourse of Pujya Sri Swamiji at Datta Retreat Center, West Sunbury, PA on 27th July 2008
Many people are confused about terms like Body, Mind, Soul, Jeevatma, Paramatama. Clarifications to such terms can be obtained in Vedanta classes. The Sun is self-illuminant, where as the planets shine by virtue of the Sun. The Paramatman is self illuminant and with His energy everything shines. Sun is not Paramatman. Sun is an example of the His energy. In this physical body shines the self illuminant energy called Jeevatma, a reflection of the Paramatman. The physical body is like a rented house which has to be vacated when the contract period is over. It is like a hotel room and you have to check out when the time comes. A medical student in the initial classes of anatomy feels a strange experience while dissecting the human body, gradually it becomes casual and indifferent for him and later even death or serious illness of any patient does not perturb him. If a human being can achieve that state of indifference to life and death in a matter of few years, how much indifferent would the almighty Parabrahman, the creator be.
Whenever there is an accident, the doctor first enquires for any head injury. Because the mind of any human is like a well programmed computer chip. Damage to this chip will result in irreversible loss to the individual. This combination of the mind and the soul principle is called the Jeevatma. Depending on the merits, demerits and desires, the soul attains another body. This struggle goes on till one attains knowledge of the self. In this process, ones heart is His real guru. You need a Sadguru to guide you in this process but ultimately your heart is you real guru. All devotees must treat this DRC as your body part and support its activities.
Jaya Guru Datta
