Speeches of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – April 25, 2023 – Bhadra Kali Peetham in Haridwar
Speech on the occasion of Pujya Sri Jayalakshmi Mata’s 101st Aradhana
We are celebrating Jayalakshmi Mata’s 101st Aradhanotsava. I did not tell anyone of you to come here, but you all came anyway. Instead of going to JayalakshmiPuram- the point of origin, you all came here. We only printed an invite saying ‘All are welcome’ and you all came.
At least for 10 mins, light a lamp and offer prayers in the altar at home. You have time to eat and drink cups of tea, but no time for worship. Be careful while lighting lamps. After lighting a lamp, enclose it in a panjaram (cage) HH cautions about how a lady despite HH’s telling her not to, would light many oil lamps and one day her Nylon saree caught fire and she passed away.
If you place your hand in fire and then say ‘Swamiji you must protect me’ what can I do? Should you not be cautious and take care of your own safety? A young fellow, instead of taking a dip in our ghat, decided to go to the next ghat and almost drowned and asked to be saved by the Guru. Why should you go elsewhere to take a dip when we have a ghat here? Putting your life at risk so callously is a great sin!
When Swamiji is speaking here now, for you, why do you step away to take phone calls only in those 10 minutes? Should you not be here and pay attention? You should develop more Bhakti and offer tan (physical seva), man (your mind) and dhan (wealth).
There are many people who have the capability to get PhDs or Padma Bhushan awards. You must hone the necessary skills and make yourself capable. Many people just dress up in fancy clothes and opine that they are not receiving Guru Deeksha. Will Guru Deeksha be given just like that without you putting in any effort? Why should Swamiji protect you? If you exercise caution, follow all the rules and do your sadhana, then you get an exemption and have the right to ask to be protected.
Just because there are oil reserves below the house you have built, you are not entitled to that oil. It belongs to the government. If there are gold reserves in your field, it is not for you to enjoy. Only when you work hard and strive for something, will you be rewarded. If you plant a mango sapling, you have to wait for the sapling to develop strong roots which are equal in number to the branches above ground. Only when it grows well, will the tree bear fruit. You cannot pull up the sapling everyday to see if the roots have grown. Just because you are close to Swamiji does not mean you will get moksha. You will reap rewards commensurate to the efforts you put in.
From a young age, you must make it a habit to follow spiritual pursuits. You should never talk as you please about the Lord or the government without doing any work. Jayalakshmi Mata would give selflessly! She would not only offer food in charity, but the vessel too! Whatever we offer wholeheartedly – whether it is studying, making a donation, offering a puja, we must do so mindfully and with complete involvement. If we take something up, we should do full justice to it.
The one who is teaching and the one who is receiving the learning, must do complete justice. Otherwise, it is a waste of time for both parties. You should never become such a student who wastes the Teacher’s time. Otherwise, it would be akin to the blind leading the blind; like two fools talking about gnyana or two misers discussing Dharma. If you sow a good seed, the harvest you reap will be good. Similarly, if you sow the spiritual seed with great Bhakti and Shraddha, then every word of Swamiji’s will become a grain to reap in the spiritual field. Only when you give the cow good straw, will it yield good quality milk. Similarly, only when you live a life of Bhakti, will Paramatma bless you.
I am very happy that all of you are here for the Ganga Pushkaras. We are celebrating Jayalakshmi Mata’s 101st Aradhana. Right now, an eye camp is underway at JayalakshmiPuram. I did not want to disturb the treatment being offered by Dr. Badrinath and his team of doctors from Shankara Netralaya in treating and performing surgeries on one thousand patients hailing from poor families. We thought a few people would turn up for treatment, but thousands have come. Since you are all devotees who lack discipline, and will not follow My instructions, I did not want to go there and disturb the camp.
Right now, 90 out of 100 devotees lack discipline. Most of you do not listen to the volunteers and speak egoistically of how senior you are! This breaks My heart! If you are all disciplined, I will live longer. Should you all not be careful of your belongings? Isn’t it wrong if you come complaining to me that you have lost your phone, wallet or keys?
Sri Rama prayed to Bhu Mata and said, “these people won’t listen, and they won’t change!” He said these words as He proceeded to ascend to the heavens.
When I tell you to sit silently, you protest and get upset. Our relationship has become like that of a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. But now the roles are reversed like in modern times, where the daughter-in-law turns around and revolts if the Mother-in-law says anything. If I wear a mask or headphones, I get asked a million questions. There is no freedom! You have all created so much difficulty even when you are in Mounam and when you donate money. I am unable to take all this. You should come to the West Indies and see what devotion is! I feel like going and living there.
Here, I don’t even have the freedom to come out! If I so much as step out, you all come swarming and say darshanam darshanam! You all are My Gurus and are teaching Me lessons. I am thinking of taking away AppJi. You are all wrapping a big heavy weapon in a silk cloth, and hitting me with it, and innocently saying, “but it is a silk cloth.” I do not want to hear anything else, nor do I want to be cajoled.
Remember 2 things:
1. Without effort, you cannot reap any harvest. You must continue your sadhana with total Bhakti and Love. Only then Swamiji will be with you. I have faith that you all will change today, if not tomorrow.
2. Money is not everything. Those of you who think there is nothing in this world which can be done without money, are very wrong. You can accomplish so much with your hard work. Only when you are filled with Bhakti and love, shall I be with you. I pretend and smile as you talk, because I know your entire history.
HH further cautions about what He saw en route from Delhi to Haridwar.
Do not eat Pani Puri from a vendor who’s wiping his nose with his hand and dipping the same hand in the water to dish out puris. If the vendor wears gloves and serves hygienically, then even I shall join you in eating Pani Puri.
Speech in the evening
Always carry a Japamala in your bag so that when you visit a kshetra or the ashrama, you can offer at least one Mala of mantra japa. The 5 fingers not only represent the panchabhutas, but also have connections to the limbs in the body. From the Vagus nerve, the energy travels through the nadis and goes to the Bhramarandhra and traverses back, thus removing whatever pain ails that part of the body. Therefore, one can use each of the ten fingers to turn the beads of the Japamala while chanting a mantra.
The little finger represents the water element. To prevent any afflictions related to the urinary system and the kidneys, massaging the hand from the base of the palm to the top of the little finger, will cause even kidney stones stuck in the body to be expelled.
By massaging from the base of the palm to the top of the ring finger, will give relief to parts of the body below the muladhara. Ring finger represents earth element. If you have pain in the lower extremities like the legs, do this massage.
Middle finger represents Akasha or space element. When the mind is troubled, massage from the base of the palm to the top of the middle finger.
Index finger represents Vayu or air element. By massaging from the base of the palm to the top of the index finger, relieves one of gastric and respiratory problems. Sometimes people struggle with insufficient oxygen flow at night, this massage will improve oxygen flow.
Massaging from the base of the palm to the top of the thumb relieves one of neck pain. Fire element associated with thumb is related to neck and head regions.
As you do japam, never curse or think ill of anyone. Think of Sadguru and offer japam even with all 10 fingers. You could also take a little bit of coconut oil and massage into the hand.
Then, you could also hit the back of one palm against the back of the other palm. It will pain a little, but it results in a full body massage. You could do this even while singing bhajans.
In addition to these massage techniques, one must also walk. For those who cannot walk outside, place a photo of Appaji and offer 108 Pradakshinas around the photo.
With age, the muscles and bones around the shoulders become weakened. Join the fingertips of each hand and place on the respective shoulders. Now with the elbows facing forward make large circles to exercise the shoulder muscles. 5 clockwise rotations and 5 anti clockwise rotations will give immense relief. This exercise should be also be done by those who work a lot with their hands.
Those who suffer from neck pain should subscribe to Datta Kriya Yoga and perform the prescribed exercises to be relieved of pain.