July 2, 2016
Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji - July 2, 2016 - Canada
Compiled by Archana Penukonda
Sri Maha Ganapataye Namah
Sri Saraswatyai Namah
Sri Padavallabha Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namah.
You heard Guru Charitra. Whatever Prasad just talked about is Guru Charitra (Guru’s life history). You must learn about Guru’s projects and participate in them. That’s good service. You must support Guru’s ideas and plans. Become a part of the projects. It is very difficult to announce and publicize a Mahatma’s secret. It is very difficult to understand the origin of a saint, or of Guru or of ***. You cannot understand that, just as you cannot understand the source of rivers and oceans. Similarly, we can’t understand the source of the five elements of Nature. If anyone claims to understand the source of these, he’s semi-***. You can’t understand ***’s determination. Still you must practice, practice, practice in every birth. Not just in one birth, but in all thousands of births.
We first took birth as water animals (Jalachara) 8 million times. After that, we took birth 8 million times as terrestrial animals, either 4 or 2 legged animal or climbing animals or other animals. There are so many different animals. After that, “GA” for Gagana Chara or creatures that fly. We took 8 million births as those kind of creatures. Then, “MA” or manushya – human being. We took birth as a human being 8 million times in different places, different villages. We were born to different parents. We had different qualities. We are born into different castes. What is the Dharma of a human being? One is Dharma and one is Daana. There are two kinds of human beings. One is male and one is female.
There are two types of Dharma too, one is Dharma/virtue, one is Daana/charity or sacrifice. That is a human being’s duty. You must learn about Dharma (righteous conduct), about Svadharma (your own Dharma) and you must learn about Daana –sacrifice, kindness, charity, service. All this is a human being’s duty.
After that “NI”, you must learn about Nivrutti. That means, sacrifice, like sanyasa, no ambition, no desire. You must practice.
There are three stages of human life. One is Baalya – small child, one is Yauvana – youth and the third is Grihasta Ashrama – householder’s life. The fourth type is Vanaprastha Ashrama, the practice of spirituality. Follow the Guru, read the Bhagavad Gita, read Srimad Bhagavatam and the Ramayan. That’s Atman. Find out “Who am I?” That is Vanaprastha Ashrama. That’s the resting place. That’s the resting place to develop vairagya/dispassion. First practice Vanaprastha, then you can definitely understand the mind and the sense organs. After that comes Sanyasa. Sanyasa means complete renunciation, sacrificing everything. No attachment. Detachment at all times. If you have a samsara, you may live in the city and maintain human relations, but you can still practice detachment. After that, you can demand Moksha/liberation. Otherwise, no moksha.
We want moksha after 2-3 days. “I did Hanuman japa 2 lakh times”, “I did Hanuman japa 5 lakh times”, “I’m going to temple daily, still there is no moksha, what is this?” This is not a market. Don’t search Kmart or Walmart for liberation. Search within yourself and find out. That’s Atma Jnana (self-realization). Our practice is all for Atma Jnana. That’s why we had the Mauna course. Europeans like the Mauna course very much. More and more people are asking for it. Next year, there are two courses, one in Berlin and the other in Denmark. The French devotees are also asking for one.
It is wonderful to sit for 3 hours in each session, 6 hours each day in Mauna. But Indian people find it very difficult to observe mauna/vow of silence. They are always chatter boxes. You must practice. Prepare now for Vanaprastha. You must practice. If you want real Atma Jnana, you must practice mauna. Practice silence for 1 or 2 or 3 hours daily. Or practice once a week on a set day, like Saturday, or once a month. Then, you will understand what Atma Jnana is. Then, you can take the course. It’s good for your health. It’s necessary for all of us. Everyone needs it. Otherwise, as householders, we are always thinking about our 2 or 3 children, house, loans, visa problem etc. Everything is a problem. Problem, problem, problem, problem and then death. Death is always lurking around. What have you done so far? In this short period of 100 years, practice as much as possible. Worshiping an idol is okay, it helps with concentration. It’s not just an idol, it’s our Atman. Our Atman is everywhere. It’s capable of taking on any form. Your heartbeat is Atman, your body is Atman. The point of death in our body is not just in one place. The doctors say it’s only in one place. But I feel the death point is all over the body. Atman is all over the body, invisible like air, like inhalation and exhalation. You must practice Pranayama. Then, you can fight anything. Fight any devil. You can fight any health problem. Some are not practicing Pranayama. There’s no oxygen. If you go to some beaches near San Francisco, they sell oxygen bottles. That is not good. Prana/life energy is everywhere. We are in Prana always. It’s ***’s leela. Pranayama is very precious. Practice Pranayama carefully. It’s very valuable in your life. Daily, you can practice for 30 minutes or an hour. Through Kriya Yoga, I’ve given you so many tricks for Pranayama. Some practice and some don’t. Only the Europeans practice Datta Kriya Yoga. I know the Indian and American people don’t. So many Canadian devotees don’t either. They are only taking the course with Swamiji. They sit with Swamiji for 2 hours during the course and that’s it. Whatever Swamiji says, you must take seriously and practice. You will understand later. Pranayama is very valuable. It’s the most important activity. *** gave us this human body. We are taking birth in a human body 8 million times. You have Sadguru’s grace. But many people don’t know about this. We are wasting our time. How many days do we live? What is your spiritual bank balance? You are wasting so much time. You are wasting Prana in some unnecessary talk, you are wasting Prana watching unnecessary movies. You are wasting Prana in unnecessary quarrels, unnecessary weeping, unnecessary thinking. Husband and wife engage in unnecessary quarrel and misunderstanding and waste Prana/Life Energy. All that is unnecessary. It’s not at all necessary. So, we are all wasting Prana. No use. You are losing. Then what?
In our last days, it’ll be very difficult to find a Guru, to find Prana or to find ***. People only say they want moksha or that they want Guru. They consider it fashionable to say so. You must practice and experience for yourself. Then, you will understand. You must experience for yourself. Keep that experience in your heart. Don’t express. Practice more and more. Bhagavad Gita says to practice, practice, practice until you die. Don’t think about moksha. Practice what the Guru says. That is moksha. Your practice itself is moksha. Your service itself is moksha.
Anyway, this is not advice. This is a very serious order to you because you are all my followers. You all believe in Swamiji. You are my family. I feel for my family. Sometimes, you are wasting your time, that’s why I’m laughing inside. I’m laughing as well as weeping on the inside. I feel a lot of sorrow and pity about you and your actions and habits. I feel a lot of pity. You can avoid the unnecessary things. Think about only what’s necessary. The Bhagavad Gita teaches very easy methods. But nobody wants to touch the Bhagavad Gita. Bhagavatam is also very easy in our philosophy. But, you don’t want to learn the Bhagavatam. Devotion or Bhakti is very important in our philosophy in Hindu philosophy. Nobody wants Bhakti. Sometimes, you pretend to have Bhakti. You are doing namaskaram, but your mind is different.
Concentrate on *** or Guru for 5 minutes and you can achieve good energy in your body. You are also losing your Shakti/energy. Don’t lose it. Increase your (spiritual) bank balance. You are capable. Human beings are like angels. *** has given you a good chance to you 80 million times. At least this time, find out about Sadguru. Some don’t know about Sadguru. Some don’t know about ***. They only know money and happiness and more happiness. They get some disease and then finish. Always waiting for Yama (*** of death). Yama means our diseases. Yama is always waiting. He always wants to eat. They (Yama and related deities) are our enemies. They are always chasing after us. We should be afraid of Yama. He has no compassion. We should be afraid. He is very tough. We should definitely be afraid of Yama. One day, we’ll be gone, we don’t know when. The person that was there last time is not there this time. He’s no more. He vanished, went to his Loka/world and again took birth 8 million times. May be they took many more births than that. We don’t want that. 8 million times is not good. At least bring it down to 4 million or 2 million. Use your life for good cause as much as possible.
Make ever moment in life useful. You are thinking if Guru is happy, you’ll follow. Guru is neither happy nor sad. It’s only drama. You are happy or sad. You are weeping, Guru is not. Guru is like a stone. Vajraadapi Kathorani. He’s like a diamond or even harder than a diamond. Be careful. Kusumodapi mrudunicha. He’s very soft like a flower or like butter. One side the Guru is very soft, and the other side He is like a diamond. Be careful. *** is everywhere. Prana and body are also ***. All actions – talking, sleeping, everything is ***. Invisible ***. Don’t waste time. Prahlada was only 8 years old, Dhruva was only 8 years old. So many saints were young like that, 8 or 9 or 12 years old. They get moksha. They have a vision of ***. They merge with Shiva, they merge with Vishnu.
Age is not important. Caste or gender is not important. Atman has no gender – neither male nor female. Atman is neither old nor young. Atman is neither an animal nor human. You are like Atman. Atman is everywhere. It’s all over our body. Anyway, you are doing some karma as householders. You are engaged in your karma, your duties. Not ***-given duties, but your duties. You created your own karma, your children, your problems, your disease. Don’t blame ***. Happiness is yours, but you blame *** for unhappiness. Not good. You are not an escapee. Yama is right behind us. He will never let you go even if you try to talk or argue your way out. No arguments.
In front of Sadguru also, no arguments, no sorrow, no happiness. Only practice. If you practice, Guru is happy. Daily you must practice. I’m asking so many people about their daily practice. They say, “Early morning, I chant 2-3 slokas, fold my hands and pray and then go to work. I come back home tired and go to sleep”. Okay, what about holidays? “During holidays, we go to picnic with children”. You are always wasting your time. It’s a complete waste of time. Show me your time and show me where it has been useful. Please show me some good use of your time. Give me your time table. You have a very wrong time table. You are wasting your time table. Husband and wife sit on the soft and talk and talk and talk. And then they quarrel and quarrel and quarrel and then it ends up in divorce. Finish. Even 80 year old couple want a divorce. Then, they look for an old-age home. The homes take your money knowing you will only survive may be 6 more months. You say you have four children, one of whom is a doctor, one engineer and the other a movie star. But what happened? You gave away all your money to them? Now, you are a beggar. That’s not good. You need good planning and good budget planning. And as part of that bank balance, make room for something spiritual. So many people don’t know Guru. At least you know Guru. You have a Guru, but you are still wasting the opportunity. You think it’s great that you have a Guru, 2 cars including a Mercedes-Benz, your little child also has a car and so on. No, that is not great. All that will vanish one day. Nothing will go with you. Only the good and bad you do will go with you, not the cars and buildings. May be what you have is enough. Don’t give importance to these material possessions. That is okay. In your heart and mind, give importance to your Atman. How to achieve the goal of life? How do I get vision of ***? How can I understand my Guru? What do I need to do? Think about that always. Definitely you will get a good answer.
Anyway, today is a good day. I am very happy in the presence of Lord Datta here. He is sitting here. This place has good vibrations. It’s also Shani Trayodashi today. In India, this is a very precious and powerful day. I want to chant Shani Shloka. Chant with me. Prasad already told you about the new Ashrama. You can contribute more and more to the new Ashrama. Try to get new members to join your project to help pay the bank balance. We need more members. There are fewer people now to pay off the balance. We need to have more members. Telugu people must come and help. USA and Australia are proof that Telugu people can help. Wherever Telugu people land, it works out. That’s because I speak in Telugu. Telugu people usually have no faith, but once they develop faith, they never let go. Even if I try, they won’t let go. My Telugu devotees will not let go now, whatever I do.
Hanuman temple is coming up. Very good Ashrama here. I saw it this morning. It’s a solid building with big rooms. The Guru Nilayam is also ready-made. It’s easy to come here and stay and then go straight to puja. Some of the rooms are constructed small, but the building itself is solid. There won’t be any need for repairs for another 50 years. After 50 years, there may be some need for repairs. As for the distance, just imagine you are going to the airport, that’s how far this center will be. You will get used to it. Only about 45 minutes drive. We believe in Shani/Saturn according to our astrology. Planets influence our mind.
Now come one by one, and receive prasadam for the special Sani Puja.
Sri Guru Datta