April 14, 2013
Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji on the occasion of Tamil New Year & Vishu - Universal Prayer Hall - Mysore - April 14, 2013
Jaya Guru Datta
KEY
Dharma = the principle of cosmic order, virtue, righteousness & duty.
Swadharma = one’s own duty or duty towards self
We have four stages. Later, comes the stage of being creatures of the sky.
Then, we have the stage of Human beings. To have birth as a human is the goal.
First we have to follow & perform dharma. We have to perform Swa – Dharma, i.e. duty towards self. In the dharma that you are born, in the house that you are born, in the lifestyle & thinking in which you have been brought up & are born in, you should very dedicatedly, without forgetting follow & perform dharma.
You must practise Swa – Dharma. What is near Swa Dharmam - truth, dharma, living with esteem, peace, living with morals. This is swa dharma. If we talk about, Swa – Dharma, for many people, it is going to temples or wearing the sacred thread. They think, this is Swa Dharma. “There is no such practise in our house. O! there is this practise in their house,” that is thought to be swa dharma. How is that dharma? That is a discipline. Dharma is for all, for all creed. Everyone has dharma. Everyone has been given a particular dharma, at a particular place, born in a particular religion, everyone has to follow dharma correctly & strictly. This advice is not exclusively for anyone, it is the duty of human beings.
If we speak about how to conduct our duty, not troubling ourselves & not troubling others is the real dharma.
To save your pride, putting others at stake, torturing others, is this Dharma? So remember, the definition is, the headlines is - not troubling other souls, no physical abuse, not giving different types of pain to the soul, is dharma. Let him go, no problem, if you are humiliated, no problem, others should not be humiliated. That is only dharma, very difficult to put in practise.
You know, how conveniently, human beings have taken the easy path! For them, dharma means marriage, children, house, earning money, operation, special operation, all this they think to be dharma. Every time, living to make life more secure is the goal. This life is there, it is enough, if this money is there it is enough, if pride & respect for me is there, it is enough, if name is there in society, it is enough, they are just singing the same song. They think this is dharma. It is very wrong.
Performing duty towards Supreme Souls, gives a fulfilling feeling towards duty, leading to renunciation i.e. nivritti. Then detachment or vairagya itself comes. Being satisfied, if we see something, we won’t start desiring for it. A feeling of not having any desires beyond. “I want that”, that desire too is not there.
Even a slight feeling should not be there, that we want. “He has it,” even that we should not feel or say. Even, we should not have desire for liberation or moksha, that is nivritti dharma, a Spiritual & mental State of non activity or renunciation. Liberation is also something that I don’t desire for. That is chanting the Supreme Spirit’s Primodial sound – Omkara. If I get it, I will take it, otherwise, if it is no, so let it be.
We have to leave the desires we have for the body. What is to happen, let it happen in the hospital, no problem. We must think like this. Thinking like this is also very tough. Later when we achieve renunciation, we must take shelter in the spiritual literature. “That literature, now, without doing anything, would that lead to liberation? How will we get liberation? If we chant Hanuman Chalisa 10 lakh times, will we get liberation?" You have to do it every month. 10 Lakh or 10 crore times also if you do, you have to do it every month. Whatever you do additionally, keeps on adding, the minus keeps on reducing. More & more, more & more, it keeps adding, plus increases & minus reduces. So, when there is insight, concentration & devotion, you must do. When there is no insight, concentration & devotion, you must do. When there is insight, concentration & devotion you must think of God, remember God, chant His name. So when you are in a state of dream (during sleep), that will happen. All that is performed in the morning, what tendencies of your personality are born in the morning, all that will leave an impact & be shown in the dream. The mind keeps thinking about the same.
Purana’s (Vedic texts) that have been read, Bhagavata is listened, listened & listened to, chanting, by hearting the same, reading & following the script wholeheartedly, the Character of Lord Vishnu that you concentrate on, this is like going to Vaikunta, the Supreme Abode. This is like a yagna, a ritual of offerings that is conducted. It is like the decoration & the ornamentation that is done for the Lord, like the way the Lord is accepting & eating the offered food in a closed room, behind the curtain. All this is such a nice dream. If such a life is lead, it would be so wonderful.
In our dreams we visualise, 10 years ago there was a big fight, husband & wife are fighting, you can hear the sound of somebody crying, such will be our dream. Some thief will come & steal, such dreams come, a lion or a tiger came, such would be the dream. Fearful dreams come. Then you go, “Swami, Swami, Lord, Lord”. If you get a bad dream, you remember Lord & take His name. Thank you so much.
If you don’t want bad dreams, do good actions. To get good dreams think good. Don’t always contemplate on grief, grief, grief. Then, when you lie down in your bed, you get grief filled dreams.
Those who get a good dream, the one who gets a good divine sight (darshan) daily, only he will get the result. He himself will understand from the result whether I have the eligibility, am I fit for liberation, am I fit for renunciation. The persons who get unpleasant dreams, those who get dreams of sorrow, they are not fit. He wants to be happy again, happy again, happy again. How much ever you become happy, you keep thinking that you have to remove the unpleasant thoughts from the mind, remove them, remove them. “I have to remove these thoughts”. This also you must not say! Forget about it, don’t speak good or bad about it. Only then will you get good thoughts for reflection. You keep thinking, “O I saw Swami, He saw me, did’nt smile at me, He didn’t speak, He didn’t smile, He didn’t speak,” Tathastu. So be it. It will happen. He will not smile, He will not speak, nothing will happen. In your dream also it will haunt you like a ghost. Why, you know? Because the mind makes the impression of that. We have conflicting thoughts inside us. That is the problem. Then we get wisdom & knowledge required for this birth. To get this wisdom, we have to undergo so many cycles of life, we have taken many time periods, we have taken many births, just roaming. Why so much? Beacause, so many lessons are there to be learned from each cycle, each birth, each time period.
The syllabus is hard. The syllabus is never ending. This syllabus is for many births. This syllabus only has a beginning, but it will never finish. This is a long process, a long journey for renunciation. So, we all have to respect the cycle of time. That is why we need to have good thoughts. One chance, Swamiji is here, in Mysore, in India. Why can’t He come to Madras? Don’t repeatedly question, why didn’t He come? Why didn’t He come? Those who don’t have reason to come here, let them stay there. Let them do Pada Puja or contemplate on Sri Swamiji. Those who have the fortune, should come here running & not leave the chance.
Take advantages of all chances. If you have time or the strength, utilise it immediately. Don’t think, yesterday I had a chance, today should I take it? Do you have the shakti again? Take it. We don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Tomorrow, if we can utilise the chance or not. We don’t know. Tomorrow, how we will be, we don’t know. Tomorrow, we are there or not, we don’t know. This is maya. Enjoy it now, if you do it now, it is right. Next year also if you do, it is right, but, don’t say, “Next year, let us see!”
Swamiji will be coming to your place next year. That is easy & convenient for you. But, don’t ask, “Why Swamiji, cannot do this year?”
We can do next year also because Swamiji is giving you an extension.
Sri Guru Datta
Compiled by: Y.S. Swarnaprabha