Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple Frisco TX

Prakasarao Velagapudi PhD.

Jai Guru Datta and Jai Guru Hanuman. Please let us welcome Sri Swamiji to Friso with a big round of applause.

On behalf of Datta Yoga Center USA, it is my distinct honor and rare opportunity to introduce His Holiness Sri Ganapathi Sachchidananda Swamiji, Peethadhipati of Avadhuta Datta Peetham of Mysore to all of you who are assembled here. No matter how much we say, what we say and how we say about Sri Swamiji it is going to be inadequate, incomplete and insufficient. How can we describe brightness, illumination, brilliance, aura, sun and that radiant personality of Sri Swamiji? In fact, the more you want to understand, the less you will understand; the longer you know Him, the less you know Him. His doings, His deeds, His wonders, His miracles, and His Lilas are varied, numerous and beyond comprehension.

Sri Swamiji is a Sadguru par excellence, beyond our comprehension, beyond our description and beyond our intellect. Whatever we wrote over the years, they only represent our outward description of Sri Swamiji based on our experiences. We cannot fathom the depth of an ocean, describe the luster of a sun, see the invisible treasure hidden in your own heart, and grasp the power and energy of Sri Swamiji. No matter how much we may write and how many miracles we may describe, they would not match the powers of Sri Swamiji.

Sri Swamiji is the one who established himself in Brahma Nishta, that means he is absolved in the contemplation of Brahma. Shankara Charya explains it as “one who has no other pursuit other than non-dual Brahman.” He is also Sthitapragna as described in Bhagavad Gita “‘when one fully renounces all the desires that have entered the mind and remains contented in the Self (knowledge of the Self, seeing everything as Brahman) alone, by the self (in his mind, understanding), he is called a wise person.”

               Sri Swamiji is a realized soul. He is simple, serene, silent, tranquil, peaceful, egoless and compassionate and loving. He is a spiritual giant, a musical giant, a shining example of wisdom, outstanding example of compassion, splendid representative of Vedic knowledge, superb narrator of Ramayana, Mahabharata and variety of Puranas, and an expert in conveying in simple language the way to live in modern world. Nevertheless, our compulsive desire to be always in the guru's presence, gladly receive his smallest glance, hang on to his every word, mimic his values and ideas, the extreme dependency and devotion, the relinquishing of so much of our identity, and so forth, all show that the disciple is in the grips of a compelling power.

The Guru has been extolled, glorified, deified and honored beyond our comprehension by all our sages and in all our scriptures. A Guru is the one who removes the ignorance and spread the light of knowledge. Guru is the source of self-realization, happiness, joy, bliss, compassion, Viveka (discrimination), intelligence, contemplation and intuition. In fact, we believe that Guru is God and God is Guru. They are one and the same. Sant Jnaneswar was lost in describing the greatness of guru. “Is it possible to add luster to the sun? Is it possible to crown the Kalpataru with flowers? Is it possible to add a scent to camphor? How can the sandal tree be made more fragrant? How can nectar be redressed for meals? ... How can one add a hue to the pearl? Or what is the propriety of giving a silver polish to gold? It is better that one should remain silent and silently bow to the feet of his master.”

Kularnava Tantra says that guru is proficient in all Shashtras and he possess every virtue that reflects a guru. He knows what is correct and incorrect. He knows the right time to act, knows the correct way of speaking, comprehends how to handle the most difficult situations, and knows the workings of within and without. That is the reason, Kularnava Tantra states: “Although his eyes appear to look outside, his gaze is constantly fixed on the inner Self. He is omnipresent and has supernatural powers. Therefore, follow him. He knows space and time, past, present and future.

We must understand what a Guru is, what he can do for you and where he can help you. Even though we follow our Guru, we listen to his lectures, listen to his music, meet at an individual level and receive all kinds of advice, we really do not understand. To appreciate Sri Swamiji, who he is, what he can do for us and how he can help us and the meaning of Guru, we must understand the essence of Guru and the qualities and uniqueness of Guru Tattva.

As Sant Keshavdas says. “Lust, rage, greed, infatuation, arrogance and jealousy, the six enemies of man, are totally converted into love, compassion, benevolences, auspiciousness, selfless action and forgiveness in him. He is the embodiment of all the great virtues. Dualities trouble him not; trial weaken him not. He is formidable in the midst of buffeting waves of happiness and misery the ocean of rebirth. He is the light that shows the way.”

Richard Alpert aka Rama Das, devotee of Neem Karoli Baba, says, “A guru is not a teacher. The relationship between the guru and chela is not interpersonal, it’s intrapersonal. That is, the element of my guru which is a little old man in a blanket over in India is a little old man in a blanket over in India. He knows everything in my head. He is everything in my head, he is as much here as he is there. If he is nit as much here as he is there, he is hype, and I should not be thinking of him as a guru anyway.  So therefore, the whole idea that I would go anywhere to see the Guru must obviously a fallacy. Right? That is the first part of it. So then I realize that each person finds his guru as soon as he is ready to find his guru.  That is, as soon as your head open enough, he is available to you, because there’s only one of them, in the purest sense, since it is not connected with ego in that sense, right??

Sri Ganapathi Sachchidananda Swamiji himself said in 1976 about the need for a Guru: “The guru enters the life of a person at an appropriate moment. This is something predestined. It could happen in the case of a person who has done many good deeds and accumulated merit. It could also happen in the case of a person who has committed sins and needs to be redeemed. In the former case, the guru liberates the individual from the shackles and constraints binding him by making him realize his higher Self. In the latter case, the guru starts as a healer. He first ensures that there is no further moral deterioration. He then brings about a subtle but sure change in the person concerned. The process may be slow, and the results not obvious in the beginning. The guru may not even take a physical form. Spirit may manifest itself in the form of stirrings of conscience or in the form of a revelation or experience as happened to Gautama the Budha.”

All of us must be thankful for all the guidance, advice, counselling, solace, compassion, love and kindness Sri Swamiji showers on his devotees whether he is here or there, either in person or absence, either in dreams or in imagination. Let us all believe that his perpetual presence showers continuous blessings.

Sri Swamiji is like a sun out in the sky radiating pure energy, emanating waves of vibrations, and spreading the light on all things on the earth. The amount of light emitted depends on the proportion and location of the object. Similarly, the vibrations, energy and aura are emitted to all depending on our intensity of faith, strength of desire to associate, our respect for the Guru tattva and acknowledgment of the power embedded in Swamiji.

Just like Sun who does not discriminate in emitting its rays, Sri Swamiji does not discriminate in showering an inexhaustible ocean of compassion on His devotees. If you open all the doors to your heart, if you shut all the doors to your preconceived notions, if you approach Him with open mind, if you come to Him with faith and fear, if you reach Him with feelings of sincerity and surrender,  if you want to cross the ocean of Samsara, He can  crack open the hard shell of the coconut of your Atma and peel open the thorny Jackfruit of your mind to experience the sweetness of your life. He can light the lamp in your heart, ignite the spark in the concept of renunciation, drive away the ignorance, pour ambrosia into your heart, sharpen your receptive mind, enlighten your Budhi (intellect) only if you clean the vessel of your heart thoroughly leaving no residues of impurities.

As Paul Brunton indicated that “Just as the sun does not need to be aware of every individual plant upon which it sheds its beneficent life-giving growth-stimulating rays, so the master does not need to be aware of every individual disciple who uses him as a focus for his meditations or as a symbol for his worship. Yet each disciple will soon realize that he is receiving from such activities a vital inward stimulus, real guidance and definite assistance. This result will develop the power unconsciously drawn from the disciple's own higher self, which in turn will utilize the mental image of the master as a channel through which to shed its grace.

               When you are sitting here in front of Sri Swamiji, please be sure that you will look at his eyes, his movements, his demeanor, his dress, his padukas and his smile. He may look at you or he may not look at you. He may not even turn in the direction you are sitting. You may feel that he is neglecting you or ignoring you. But you are in his orbit. You are soaking in his vibrations, energy and aura. But he knows who you are more than you yourself. He knows your feelings, desires, problems and tribulations.

               The feeling of Sri Swamiji neglecting you or ignoring is like the experience of Dr. Larry Brilliant when he went to meet Neem Karoli Baba. (He is closely associated with Steve Jobs, Dan Kottke, Mark Benioff, Jeff Skoll, etc).  His wife got connected to Maharaj. Larry turned off with all the crazy Westerners wearing white clothes and hanging around this fat old man in a blanket! More than anything else he hated seeing Westerners touch his feet. Maharaj did not look at him for seven days. He felt insulted, ignored and denied. Then he decided to leave and go back to the USA.  On the 8th day he decided to spend the day walking around the lake thinking about many things. He looked at the flowers, the mountains, and the reflections in the lake, but nothing could dispel his depression. And then, he prayed God which he never did before by asking, “What am I doing here? Who is this man? These people are all crazy. I just don’t belong here.” Then, he decided to leave the next day.

Next morning, he went to the Temple waiting for Maharaj to say goodbye.  Maharaji had not yet come out from inside the room. There he saw a fruit basket and one of the apples had fallen on the ground, so he bent over to pick it up. Just then Maharajji appeared and stepped on his hand, pinning him to the ground. He looked down at him and asked, “Where were you yesterday?” Then he asked, “Were you at the lake?” (He said “lake” in English). When he said the word “lake” to me I began to get this strange feeling at the base of my spine, and my whole body tingled. It felt very strange. He asked me, “What were you doing at the lake?”

Then he leaned over and spoke quietly, “Were you talking to God? Did you ask for something?”

“When he asked that I fell apart and started to cry like a baby. He pulled me over and started pulling my beard and repeating, “Did you ask for something?” That really felt like my initiation. By then others had arrived and they were around me, caressing me, and I realized then that almost everyone there had gone through some experience like that. A trivial question such as, “Were you at the lake yesterday?” which had no meaning to anyone else, shattered my perception of reality. It was clear to me that Maharaji saw right through all the illusions; he knew everything. By the way, the next thing he said to me was, “Will you write a book?”

That was my welcome. After that I just wanted to rub his feet.”

               It is through God’s grace; a disciple meets a guru; it is guru that leads his disciple to God. That means, God arranges a meeting of a disciple with guru; and guru shows the path to his disciple to reach God.

               It is appropriate to remember the song of Mira Bai as it can be amply applied to our Sadguru:

               God has given you eyes

                              So that you can behold his beauty

               God has given you hands

                              So that you can serve him

               God has given you ears

                              So that you can hear the divine praise

               God have given you a tongue

                              So that you can utter His divine Name

               God has goven you a mind

                              So thatyou can meditate on Him

               God has given you an intellect

                              So that you inquire into His nature

               God has given you a heart

                              Where you can commune with Him.

If you keep thinking in this manner, or develop this kind of mindset, your living of life becomes more meaningful, more purposeful, more serene, more focused, less stressed, less troublesome and less anguished.

Faith in divinity: Narada with Brahmin and Cobbler

Once, when Narada muni was on his way to the abode of Lord Krishna, he happened to meet a Brahmin . The Brahmin , who was reputedly very spiritually advanced, requested Narada to find out what Krishna did for recreation. Further along the way Narada met a lowly cobbler working under a banyan tree, who made a similar request.

Narada told Krishna of the Brahmin’s and the cobbler’s requests. Krishna instructed Narada to tell them that as a pastime, Krishna sits on his throne and passes big, fat elephants through the eye of a needle. A bewildered Narada was about to express his astonishment when Krishna silenced him and told him to tell them exactly that.

The Brahmin laughed and ridiculed Narada when he heard this answer; how could anyone pass elephants, big or small, through the eye of a needle? Later, Narada told the cobbler exactly what he had told the Brahmin. The cobbler jumped up instantly and started dancing and singing, Hail the Lord! All glories to Him! Only Krishna can have such interesting pastimes. Narada was wonderstruck and asked the cobbler how he could possibly believe that anyone could pass an elephant through the eye of a needle. The cobbler picked up a fruit of the banyan tree and pointing to one of its tiny seeds, reasoned nonchalantly, if the Lord can put such a huge banyan tree in such a tiny seed, why can’t he pass an elephant through the eye of a needle? The Gita tells us that man’s shraddha is in conformity with his svabhava or natural disposition, which has evolved over several past lives. Man is constituted of his Faith. Thus, if a person has faith either in God or in the Devil, it is reflected in his thinking, his behavior, his activities and his goals.

Those who have faith experience God. They don't see Him; they feel His presence, sometimes through a spiritual teacher. Shankaracharya in his Guru Vandana says: "I salute the guru, who by applying the collyrium of wisdom to the eyes of one suffering from the myopia of spiritual blindness, opens his eyes to light and truth".

Before we request Sri Swamiji to address the devotees, please remember whenever Sri Swamiji utters any words, you must listen attentively to every word, practice what He says, digest what you heard, and be prepared to take every hint as a suggestion for our own spiritual growth. If you miss the essence of His speech, fail to practice what is preached, fail to open your heart to be filled with Amruta, the very purpose of your presence here today is lost forever. You will never regain this moment again. Please pay close attention to the master’s words; for they are not repeated again and again. 

Please welcome Sri Swamiji with a round of applause.