Pydimarri V Vivekananda, Andhra Pradesh

Sri Swamiji spoke about this event to all the devotees and He described everything and said that He had planned it all that way. He said that I have been with Him for seven births now so He will not leave

I offer my salutations to my Sadguru Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji. I am from Andhra Pradesh; I was born in a remote village, Chirivada, about twenty-five miles from Vijayawada. I did my studies and graduated as mechanical engineer. During my studies, in the second form, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba had come to my village for a stay of seven days, hosted by Sri Veluri Nageswara Sarma and Sri Veluri Sivaramasastry. I met Him through one of His close devotee, Kasturi, whom I had to pick up at the railway station. Subsequently, I was asked to be a helping boy to Sri Sai Baba.

One day I went to Baba with my brother who was crippled because of polio. I asked Baba to help him. He said that he will not get his legs.  I questioned Him that people think that He is god; they sing songs about Him, He makes the blind see etc; and why can’t He help my brother.  He told me to please understand that this is karma. I could not understand. From that day on whenever I saw holy people I would offer my namaskarams and keep on my way. I thought that they come for their own devotees and lucky are those devotees indeed. This incident also made me to take no heed of Sri Ganapati Sachchidananada Swamiji when I heard about him around 1968, the year I got married.

On September 18^th, 1983 while I was retutning from dropping my aunt at my relative place, a known person asked me if I can take her to a place where Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji was camping, so I took her along with my wife and daughter. As I was dropping her off I also decided to have His darshan.  In that place I saw Him sitting and fiddling with a harmonium. I thought that He was not the Swami but maybe the assistant. So I waited and watched for the real Swami to enter. Then I saw people going up to Him and prostrating. I realized then that He was Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda. I went up to offer my pranams as I usually did. I did that and then invited Sri Swamiji to come to my house for pada pooja. I don’t know why I did that. I have no idea of how to do pada pooja. It was Swamiji’s wish only.

He said that he will come to my house around 2pm for the pada pooja, and I should and see His assistant and give him my name. I went but the assistant told me that Sri Swamiji is very busy and it will not be this time. I got a little angry and said to him that Sri Swamiji had told me he will come to my house, please go ask him if He is coming or not. The assistant went and spoke to Swamiji and came back and said that Sri Swamiji will come to my house the next day. I then asked him, what preparations I have to make for the pada pooja.

Next day I made all the preparations for the pada pooja and I had even invited some relatives and friends. At around 2pm there was no sign of Sri Swamiji so I waited and waited till it was 6pm. Then 2 men came from His office and said that He was very busy and He cannot make it today. I got angry and said I will walk to His place and bring Him myself. I started walking although it was about six kilometers from my house. After walking for a little while the men came and told me not to be so hasty but advised me that I should go with them and see Sri Swamiji at His place. I returned home and decided that I must go. However, I could not find any auto rickshaw, which was not normal, so I took my scooter and two of my family members and went to His place. When I got there they kept telling me to wait. All kinds of negative feelings were coming to my mind.

Then a man came in and enquired who Mr. Vivekananda was.  I showed myself and he said that he came to know that I wanted to do pada pooja so he brought a pair of padukas (Datta’s) so I can do the pooja there itself. I felt very angry. I wanted to do Pada Pooja, not Paduka Pooja. I didn’t know anything about this man or his padukas so I refused. There was a lot of turmoil in my mind and I was thinking negatively about gurus, but somewhere in the back of my mind I felt that this Swamiji was different. I was doing puja without my knowledge. Sri Swamiji finally came and placed both feet before me and two teardrops fell on them. Then I knew and was convinced that He is my guru.

Later on, Sri Swamiji spoke about this event to all the devotees; He described everything and said that He had planned it all that way. He also said that I have been with Him for seven births now so He will not leave me now.

Once when my son was in the ninth standard of school he got into a cycle accident. It was a new cycle I had just got for him. He crashed into a lorry and fell to the side of the road. Somehow he managed to get home but he never told me about this being scared about what I might say. Later on we went to Mysore and Swamiji spoke of the whole incident, only then I came to know. He said he was there at the accident and saved my son for he would have been killed. Now that son, Dr Phanishree, is here in the ashram serving Sri Swamiji.

Another incident that happened was when I got discovered I had many blocked arteries and this could affect my life. I asked Sri Swamiji what to do and he said that I should have an operation to fix it. On my way to the operation theatre he came and told me not to worry that I will feel no pain and that he will be with me all the time. He stayed for the entire operation which lasted about one and a half hours. He then told me to take rest and take care of myself. Now I am fine and serving Him at the ashram.

Meeting Swamiji has put my mind on the spiritual path for that is His purpose for me. He is taking me out of this cycle of birth and death. I attached myself more to Swamiji when I lost my physical mother and father and now he is like mother and father to me. Whenever I find myself in any difficulty I sing or listen to his bhajans and I get peace of mind. His bhajans are mantras for me. Since I have come under his umbrella of grace I got my anger under control. I also read a lot more now. I read his teachings and other spiritual books and try to implement the teachings. He is everything to me, and my life is in his hands.                                                                                                             Jaya Guru Datta

T Venkataram (Mysore Patrike Swamy) Mysore

“I bless all those who come to me irrespective of their caste or religion. If a Christian comes to me I tell him to believe in Jesus and continue to have faith in his own religion. Likewise, if a Muslim comes to me I stress upon the importance of being a good Muslim and follow his own faith.’’

I am T Venkataram, the son of Thirumakudalu Narayana, a veteran journalist from Mysore city, who was the founder of the Newspaper – Mysore Patrike. In 1976, at age fifty, my father passed away and I became the Editor of the Newspaper. I am a father of one son and seven daughters. My wife was a staunch devotee of Sri Swamiji who used to call her Amma. She was a god’s gift to me. She left me for her heavenly abode on November 2^nd, 2002.

Sometime during 1964-65 I came to know of Sri Swamiji through my father who was also my Guru. One day I accompanied him to a press conference with Sri Swamiji in Kesare, the place where Sri Swamiji was staying and performing poojas, rituals etc. My father asked Sri Swamiji “what do you say to all these different people who come to you and how do you bless them?’’ Sri Swamiji replied, “I bless all those who come to me irrespective of their caste or religion. If a Christian comes to me I tell him to believe in Jesus and continue to have faith in his own religion. Likewise, if a Muslim comes to me I stress upon the importance of being a good Muslim and follow his own faith.’’ When I heard Sri Swamiji speaking like this I was instantly drawn to Him and so from then onwards every Sunday my father and I would attend Sri Swamiji’s pujas, homas and bhajans.

In 1965 my father and five other devotees purchased some lands on Ooty Road and on June 6^th, 1966 Sri Swamiji started the present day Ashrama there. He would ask my father for his suggestions for improvements of the Ashram and He used to tell everyone that Mr. Narayana is the Architect of the ashrama. However, my father used to submit that he was only a humble devotee.

In November 1966, as it was the silver jubilee of our Newspaper the ‘Mysore Patrike’, my father and I went to the ashram to meet Sri Swamiji. On reaching there, we saw Him sitting under a mango tree; we approached Him and requested Him to inaugurate the silver jubilee function of the newspaper which we had started in 1941. He replied that since He did not like any publicity He doesn’t want to make a big show before the public. My father pleaded and requested Him to bless us by accepting our invitation to come to our office so that we would overcome the difficulties we are facing in running the press. Sri Swamiji consented and agreed to our request; He also asked us if by Him visit the press whether it would be helpful to us. My father told Sri Swamiji that by his visit to our press we would be blessed with miraculous changes.

Sri Swamiji finally agreed to visit the Mysore Patrike newspaper office the following day and He advised us that only workers of the office should be present and we should not invite any of our family members. We carried out His instructions and the next day Sri Swamiji came and stayed for over three hours. My father, with utmost reverence, performed Sri Swamiji’s Pada puja and offered the contribution, by the people attending the inaugural function, at His Lotus Feet. Sri Swamiji then asked my father, “Yes! You have called me and you did pooja. Now what do you want?’’ My father replied “My newspaper is small. I want to increase the size of the paper, but I have no money and no printing machine”. Sri Swamiji replied “I see. You want money and machine, but I have no money and machine to give you.” My father then said, “No, no we only want your blessings by which things will go on in its proper way to bring us prosperity”.

Then Sri Swamiji said, “Alright Narayana, by next year you will increase the size of your paper and also you will have a machine.” My father asked, “How can I increase the size of my paper, when I have no money and machine for printing’’, “Sri Swamiji said do you think my words will fail?”

My father began to weep and then Sri Swamiji took fourteen coins and threw them over the newspaper equipment we had and he asked us to collect the coins, place them in a box and do pooja daily. We did this and kept the box in the cash drawer. Within seven months the size of the paper increased and also we received about fourteen thousand rupees by way of advertisements from private business undertakings.

Subsequently we purchased a crown cylinder printing machine. When it arrived in Mysore we telephoned Sri Swamiji who was in Madras for the Deepavali celebrations. We told Him that we had received the machine and He asked us to print the next issue on the Deepavali festival. Then He said that He would see us when He returns to the ashram. We printed the next issue accordingly and surprisingly we received over ten thousand rupees by means of advertisements only. In this way the Mysore Patrike newspaper grew not only in Mysore, but in other cities as well by wide circulation. Even the Government of Karnataka expressed its appreciation for our editorials especially contributed by my father. Today by Sri Swamiji’s grace, the Mysore Patrike has a very good circulation. All this improvements have taken place with the blessings of Sri Swamiji.

The city of Mysore had arranged a function on January 18^th, 1976 to honor my father for his distinguished service in journalism. Shortly before this date my father fell ill and became unconscious. The reception committee members of the function went to Sri Swamiji and requested Him to bless Narayana for a speedy recovery to become well enough so that they can honor him as planned. Sri Swamiji told them “you cannot honor him since he has already honored him on the Shivaratri day and there is no further need for others to honor him now and that too he is ill and is in his last days.” Later on Sri Swamiji came to my house and told me to pray for his wellbeing as those are his last days.

Next day His Holiness came to my father’s house and astonishingly my father who was unconscious for the past eight days suddenly got up and pay reverence to Sri Swamiji. Sri Swamiji asked him “what do you want?” My father replied and requested Sri Swamiji to give him Moksha/liberation on that day itself since it was Makara Sankranthi and the next day being the Uttarayana. He again emphasized that he should get Moksha/liberation on that day itself. Sri Swamiji said that he had already blessed him ten years ago that he would live up to this day. My father acknowledged Sri Swamiji’s blessings with a smile on his face and he requested again for immediate liberation. Just then my mother came to prostrate before Swamiji and in her haste she forgot to put the kumkum on her forehead. Sri Swamiji looked at her and pointed and said “see this sign?” The next day, on January 16^th 1976, at around 9.30 in the morning, my father passed away as predicted by Sri Swamiji.

In January 1966, the Late His Holiness Sri Sri Paramacharya was in Kanchi, a temple town in Tamil Nadu. He was on embodiment of Advaitha Philosophy. He was 74 years old then. Sri Swamiji followed by some of the devotees including my father went to Kanchi to have darshan of Sri Paramacharya and accordingly we had his darshan. Sri Paramacharya used to walk eight to ten miles every day as he had no other mode of transport to move around. During his walk Sri Swamiji wanted to join him in a place near Kalahasti. All the devotees also followed Sri Swamiji.

After a while my father suddenly became ill and fell down unconscious. Since it was very hot on that day immediately some devotees took him to the nearby Mrityunjaya temple as it was suspected that my father had sunstroke. On learning this Sri Swamiji went there and within half an hour my father regained consciousness. Sri Swamiji then told him not to be worried about his health and blessed him that he would live for another ten years. On that particular day I was in Mysore working in the press. There was a photo of my father on the wall. The photo suddenly fell own on the floor and the glass broke into pieces. Sri Swamiji had returned to ashram. The next day I went to the ashram and I asked Sri Swamiji about my father, He told me that I should not worry as He has already extended his life by another ten years. As Swamiji’s blessings came true, my father lived happily for another ten years.

Since 1940 I had breathing difficulties and it grew worse as the years went by. In 1967 when my breathing was at its worst I told Sri Swamiji about it and also mentioned to Him that I might stop breathing at any moment. He told me to go home and sleep well and then come back in the morning and tell Him what experience I would have had during my sleep. I did as He told me and around 3.00am Sri Swamiji appeared in my dream in His spiritual form and asked me to open my mouth. He then put His mouth to my mouth and breathed several times and told me that from then onwards I would be alright and will have no breathing problems at all.

I got up and told my wife about the vision which I had in my dream. After bathing I went straight to the ashram to see His Holiness, upon seeing Him I narrated the whole experience I had during the dream. Sri Swamiji asked me that I should come in the evening to collect a Talisman. In the evening I collected to Talisman from Him then He asked me that I should always wear it around my neck. One side of the Talisman has an engraving of Hanumanta and the other side has a Sanskrit Mantra. I am wearing this Talisman even today. I am very grateful to Sri Swamiji that since 1967 I have no breathing problems at all.

Sometime in 2010 when I was sitting in the verandah in my house I fell down and lost consciousness. After ten days I regained consciousness. I had a fracture in my thigh and had to undergo surgery. Everyday Sri Swamiji used to call the doctor and enquire as to how I was doing. He would refer to me by my nick name ‘Swamy’. When the doctor told Him that he did surgery on my thigh, Sri Swamiji corrected the doctor and said that it was not he (doctor) who performed the surgery, but He Himself (Swamiji). Shortly after that on May 16^th, 2010 I could walk by myself and went to the ashram to have Sri Swamiji’s darshan and He blessed me and gave me a Raksha. He also told me that I will be able to walk to the ashram without anybody’s help. Now I have been feeling better and gained confidence also. When I left the Hospital, I had slurred speech and now I am talking fluently by Sri Swamiji’s grace.

After I accepted Sri Swamiji as my Sadguru people around me extend their privilege and invite me to go to other temples and functions. I have been telling them that Sri Swamiji is my Sadguru and I have dedicated my life to Him. For me He is everything. He takes care of my health, my family and business. I always pray to Him to give me strength to serve the public. He is the incarnation of all Gods, Dattatreya, Jesus, Allah, Buddha etc. This is my belief. All day long I keep His words and prayers in my mind and leave no room for other thoughts. Guru is God and well-wisher of all. A blade of grass cannot move without the blessings of Guru. Friends and family may forsake you but if you believe in your Guru, He will never forsake His disciple. Every man wants peace of mind in his life. That is what I got from Sri Swamiji and despite the obstacles and challenges in life I maintain a peaceful mind because I fill my mind with thoughts of Him only and so nothing can disrupt that. This is only His blessings                                    Jaya Guru Datta.

Randolph Forbes Chandrakate, Trinidad

That month was very hot and we had not had any rain in Trinidad. However, while the consecration was taking place there was a drizzle and a beautiful halo was seen around the sun at both places; miracles.

I am in the process of finding out who am I, but in this world I am called Randolph Chandrakate. I was born in Trinidad in 1946. I have been fortunate to be with Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji who I met when I was invited to the first Kriya Yoga course in Trinidad in 1984 where I sat at His Feet for a week. At that time I knew nothing about yoga, religion or anything like that. That evening was a landmark in my life in that I was introduced to a new way of life.

In order to make this story meaningful, I must give you some of my background information so you know where I was in life. I was a Marxist-Leninist; a communist. As a young man growing up I was looking for ideals. The ideals of Marxism and Leninism looked good to me at that point in time. I was fired by the imagination of the simple doctrine of the abolition of the exploitation of man by man. I got involved with organizations and people who lived that life. At one point in my life I believed that true justice could only come from the barrel of a gun, and I lived it.

If there was exploitation of the poor I was in the middle of that fight; political battles etc. I was involved in the trade unions of the sugar industry. As there werea tremendous amount of suffering in the sugar industry I tried my best to alleviate those situations. We have all come for a colonial background and one has to understand colonialism at is most basic. Living here, in this part of the world, I did not believe that I just came here to go to school, work, get married and die. I did not think that was my purpose in life. I thought that I had to be more than that.

Anyway, I went to this Kriya Yoga course not knowing exactly what it was. I remember my first meeting with Sri Swamiji. I was standing against a wall and He was coming down the stairs. I did not know who He was. I had my hands clasped and He came down and stood right in front of me. He said something, but I did not understand what He said. His assistant translated and said “Sri Swamiji says that you must come closer to Him.” I literally went up to Him and bowed. He smiled, walked away and I went back on the wall. The next day the yoga class started.

The first thing we did was Ashtanga Yoga and the meaning of it. That had a telling effect on me. I understood the basis of communism and socialism, and here I was doing the concept of Yuma and Ayuma which was telling me the same thing; those were ancient philosophies that were written; how man should live in society with his fellow human beings, and how we should live our own individual personal lives. These ideologies got me fired up again. I took those concepts so seriously that I live them up until today.

Somewhere in the middle of the course Sri Swamiji asked all the students that we should come to Him individually. My turn came about the third day of the course, I went to Him and Sri Swamiji looked at me and I looked into His eyes; after that I knew what He meant about coming closer to Him. I felt as though His eyes were piercing the inner me, telling me something and drawing me closer to Him at the same time. I can’t explain what it was, but all I knew that henceforth I was attracted to Him.

I went home after the course and continued to have discussions with Dr Dianan Chandool who introduced me to the course. I explained that what I learned there was exactly what I was looking for; that that ideology was so correct. I believe that man should live by some kind of ideology. We should direct our lives about an ideology and have our lives move along that line. Here it was written for us in our books. I started then to work on a program to spread the word of this philosophy and the work of Sri Swamiji. Dr Chandool had given me some literature about who Dattatreya was and others.

For the first time I found myself on a different road rather than one that was political and about activism into a more peaceful philosophy. I went to people that I knew that were in this kind of work, like the Seva Sangha. They put me in touch with people like Boloji and Mukunda. My cousin Siewnarine Singh had a radio program about Hindu philosophy and I asked him to use his program to propagate Lord Dattatreya. He agreed so we used to go to the radio station and have discussions about Lord Dattatreya from the little pamphlets, and the word began to spread.

In 1986, Sri Swamiji came again and we organized programs in various temples around Trinidad and His mission began to spread. In that year, He went to the California Temple and Princess Town and He had another Kriya Yoga class. His magic began to spread throughout Trinidad. In His previous visit He stayed in Arima, but this time we took Him to visit different parts of the country. In 1988, He came back to visit and stayed at Dr Sieupersad’s and had another Kriya Yoga course. At the last program at the California Temple, in one of His discourses He said that he was tired of going to homes of different people and it was time that He had His own home. I took this seriously.

In July, 1988, He did the foundation for the Datta Temple in Carapichima and fourteen days later, before He left, that temple was completed and inaugurated. This was the catalyst for the start of another building. When I look back at that rice fields that we had to fill in, I am often surprised as we are ordinary human beings with limited resources. We knew what we wanted and knew what Sri Swamiji wanted, and we went ahead and did it. People from all walks of life came and donated time and money.

In March, 1990, we had the consecration of Sri Swamiji’s residence on the same compound. This was the same time that the Aripo Temple was being consecrated. That month was very hot and we had not had any rain in Trinidad. However, while the consecration was taking place there was a drizzle and a beautiful halo was seen around the sun at both places; miracles. Those were some of the beginning experiences that I had with Sri Swamiji.

I have been the secretary of the organization for about ten years and through this position I have seen some of His direct teachings. When I look back at my life I see that my ideology has not changed, but just gone in a more positive direction. I still frown upon the exploitation of man by man. Swamiji has taught me to understand my development, who am I? I know that he has sent me here to serve my purpose.

One has to be very intuitive and vigilant with Sri Swamiji. One thing I follow very closely is the Bhakti Mala and here you can see what Sri Swamiji has done especially in India. You can see the transformation of villages and it is because of Him; it is not just about civilization though. He is not like Ravan who gave his people a civilization but no culture. Sri Swamiji gives His people culture and He is doing this, but also letting us know how to live. For some of us it is slow, but it will come.

His music has transformed Trinidad. I remember there was an incident where there was a controversy about steel pan music being introduced in schools. People were saying that they wanted more traditional Indian instruments as steel pan was not good for our culture. Sri Swamiji introduced steel pan in the Dattatreya Yoga Center and that was the end of the controversy in Trinidad. It’s a subtle gradual transformation of including culture with our civilization. He continues to train us by teaching us. Students of Kriya yoga should be a bit more developed. Yoga is not just pranayam, but it is a total experience. By cleansing ourselves only then can we accommodate the knowledge of the soul; if we cannot purify ourselves then we cannot accept the knowledge.

In 1995, when we had the Yagna, I had received a letter that I had to do jury service, but it was during the time of Sri Swamiji’s visit. I wrote a letter to the judge to explain that my spiritual master will be in Trinidad to do an important ‘Yagna for World Peace’ and I would like to be exempted for that period. On the day of the hearing I went to the judge’s chambers to make my petition to be excused. There were other people there and as I waited my turn I started to focus on Swamiji.

While I was there I saw a vision of Sri Swamiji and started to talk with Him, but I did not take it very seriously. Suddenly the vision gave me a wink of the eye as it was my turn. The judge read my letter and said okay, you are exempt for life, and then I realized that the vision was real. However, this was not my only vision of Him. There have been times that He would appear and smile. When you get that kind of darshan from Sri Swamiji, you begin to understand that the physical Swamiji, the flesh and body, is not the real Swamiji. While I am speaking here, I know that He is here. There isn’t a moment that goes by that I do not feel Sri Swamiji’s presence around. Anybody, by developing their yoga can communicate with Sri Swamiji on a one to one basis.

In 1995 there were lines of people to see Him. He called me and asked who all these people were. I had to explain to Him that they had come to see Him. He said, “That is a lesson for you. One day Sri Swamiji will not be present in the body, you have to learn the power of the dristi; speak to me, meditate on me and I will come.” In the early years He spoke of His five pillars; faith, discipline, devotion, viragya and gyana; these have guided my life. If I did not have the faith in Sri Swamiji’s teachings I would have left.

What I saw in the Bhakti Mala and in the various village levels in India, I knew thatI was right with Sri Swamiji. The cornerstone of the teaching of Sri Swamiji is faith. We talk about devotion and surrender; these are not events, they are a process. He did not stop there with me. All the institutions that I thought I had created, companies that had been formed and buildings that were built, He broke them up. It shows that all these things are not permanent and the only thing permanent is the principles. He is the principles; the only permanence that there is, is Him; that is the only thing that remains.

In 1987, one exercise that was given to us in Switzerland was Sri Swamiji telling us to listen carefully for a sound and to record that sound. I heard a gunshot that no one else heard. Other people heard other things, but I heard this because of my inner psyche at that time. There are these different events that have affected me. Another time I was traveling throughout Trinidad with Him and at this time there were conflicts in South Africa and Palestine. I asked Sri Swamiji when He thought these conflicts would be over.

He said South Africa will be over soon, but Palestine would take a little while. As it happened, a few years afterwards South Africa ended their conflict, but Palestine is still struggling. Also in that year, Sri Swamiji said that in the far distant past a saint “Agastya” used to go to Aripo. In subsequent conversations He said that He used to go to Aripo. I deduced that Agastya and Sri Swamiji were one and the same. In those conversations with Him, if you reflect on them you could see their meaning.

In the history of Trinidad there was a great Yagna that used to take place; no one knows the exact location, but we know that it was up in the northern hills. I suspect that it was at Aripo. Also when you look at the history you see that this is a strange island. In the northernmost part of the Caribbean there is a Havana (Havan) and in the southernmost part there is Moruga (Lord Moruga). There were Amerindians that lived here and maybe they knew about Moruga and named the place as such in honor of Lord Moruga. The names that they have, where did they come from?

The similarities in culture are astounding for places that are so far apart. They too even worshipped the sun. Trinidad itself is a blessed place, which is why He keeps coming back. Aripo has a unique history with the Amerindians, but I have not figured out what it is exactly. The Amerindians used to move from the mainland to the islands and Moruga was one of their main landing points. There are ancient artifacts that were found there. Also when the East Indians came to settle, a lot of them were Sadhus and where they settled it was called Sadhua. Now there is a temple there, even thought the name has changed. Things have a mysterious way, of energy working and coming back to fulfill its purpose.

Sri Swamiji first came to Trinidad in 1976. This was an important year for Trinidad as we became a Republic that year. He came back in 1981 and this was a pivotal year for Trinidad with its politics. In 1986, He came again there was another political change and we had a different political party in charge. In 1988, there were dynamic events with the politics again. In 1990, there was an insurrection where the country was overthrown. Sri Swamiji was in Switzerland when this took place and He sent messages to us. One of them was this analogy which was appropriate as we had just celebrated Ram Navami with great festivities. “There was joy and happiness when Ram was married, there werefestivities and everyone was happy. All the great sages were there and a few days laterr there was crying and sadness as Lord Rama had to go into the forest for exile.” He said that we should not worry as He would pray for us. In three days Yaseen Abu Bakar, head of the Muslim insurgence, gave up his guns.

Later that year He came to Trinidad and went into the Parliament. In 1995, we had the yagna and there was change when we got a new political party forming the government. In 2000, Sri Swamiji came and we had a shift in politics again. In 2006, all the opposition forces came to the Dattatreya Yoga Center and He told them that they all had to have unity or there would be chaos. Whenever Sri Swamiji comes to Trinidad, all the politicians will come. They know His influence.

There are unforeseen things, but if you are vigilant and look you can see the importance. In 1995, at the Yagna for world peace, He said that there are things that are happening outside of this universe that we would not have any answers for them. Then we heard that an asteroid had hit Jupiter and dented the planet, but we did not know what the effect of this was. However, we see that as He says, so it happens.

I have learnt a lot from Sri Swamiji and in the process have tried to analyze them, to understand them; from the aspect of birth, death, living and all those things. While we are here we have to live by the principles established by the masters, because we are not permanent, He is permanent. Development is a process that takes time, but He can guide us in this spiritual path. Jaya Guru Datta

H R Krishna Ayangar, Mysore

One thing that is very clear to me is that we do not need to approach our Sadguru physically, with our anguishes. We must pray silently and with patience. Only then we can get an answer.       

In 1958 I graduated from the college of Engineering in Mysore city. After graduating, I spent seven years working in the northern regions of India then I returned to Madras, where I spent twenty years. In 1993, after about thirty-five years of service, I retired and wanted to live the rest of my life in peace and tranquility. I thought that I will move to Haridwar, Rishikesh, or Guruvayu in Kerala. I just wanted to relax and enjoy my retirement.

I went to Rishikesh, but the way of life there was not what I was looking for. Then I went to Guruvayu and found that with the exception of the Temple, there was no other activity I was interested in. So I came back to Mysore, where I had a little place. I thought that I would just relax; no consultation, no work, just plain relax.

Being back in Mysore, I was starting to acclimatize myself with the area. However, my sister, wanted to introduce my family to her Guru, Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji, whose ashrama was in Mysore. I accepted her invitation and we accompanied her to the Mysore Ashrama. When we got there my sister introduced my wife and I to Sri Swamiji. The moment I saw Him, I got the inspiration that I should serve Him in some way. I thought I shouldn’t stay idle.

I met a young priest, Sitarama, and told him of my decision. He took me to Sri Swamiji and told Him that this gentleman was interested in serving in the ashrama. Sri Swamiji says, “Maybe he can do some work outside and some seva here”. I instantly responded, “No Swamiji, I want to serve you here, fully”. Immediately Sri Swamiji appointed my wife as proof-reader for the Bhakti Mala, and looking at me, He said, “I will let you know”.

Sri Swamiji was about to leave for a seven month global Nada Prasara tour. He told me that He got back; He will let me know further.   I became very upset, thinking that I was offering my services to Him and He did not accept. I felt like crying. I met Prema Rajasingham, a devotee from Malaysia, to whom I was trying to justify myself. Casually, she told me that I should pray silently and I will definitely get an answer. I started praying, not knowing what I was praying for. Then one day I went to a bookstore and I saw a picture of Sri Swamiji displayed on a calendar. What was so amazing was that the calendar was opened to the date of my birthday, although my birthday was not for some time.

I took this as a sign from Him and felt better. For the next ten months, I accompanied my wife to the printing press where Mr. Kailash Talwar worked. He said, “you are coming here every day and sitting without doing anything, while your wife works. Why don’t you read the life story of Sri Swamiji? However, the only copy available was written in Telugu; my mother tongue is Kanada. We purchased a Kanada-Telugu dictionary and started reading the book. We took about three months to complete the first reading and this gave us a vivid insight to Sri Swamiji.

This exercise bounded me to the ashrama. When Sri Swamiji returned, He called me and said, “The time will come when you will get in”. I did not understand what it meant, but I didn’t question it either. Then a few weeks later, He called me again and said, “There is no one to look after the civil works in the ashrama and I am very disturbed”. I immediately said to Him, “Swamiji I have offered to serve you, please allow me to do this service”. He accepted and from that day I have been serving in that capacity building the major buildings on the compound.

He is an inspiring administrator; he is involved in every facet of the project. Although, I know that He knows the concept and implementation, He will talk to me to get my opinion on all matters I am working on. Sometimes He would point out minute details, some of which I missed; this shows His nature for perfection. Prasadanna has also been a great help for my relative successes. It is relative in the sense that His work is being done only through His grace.

My wife and I became very attach to Sri Swamiji. This can be an experience in itself. Once, Sri Swamiji invited us to join Him on trip to Vijayawada for a bath in the ‘Durga Teertha’. After Sri Chakra Pooja that day, we joined the queue to receive the Holy Teertham from the pooja. An announcement came that the trip was cancel so I became upset. I was thinking that, firstly He invited us and then He cancelled. We stayed in the queue and when reached up to where Sri Swamiji was sitting, then turning to Vhamsy Ganapati  He said’ “Please make arrangements for these two to take bath at the ‘Durga Teertha’ tomorrow, I will also come there.

He looked at me and asked if I wanted to say something, to which I replied that I already received the answer. Arrangement was made and we had a bath in the sacred Durga Teertha the next day. Sri Swamiji and a few devotees also came. It was a wondrous time and we all enjoyed it immensely. After this incident, I did some introspection and realize that each devotee is given tests. Once He has fully accepted us, the desire package that we came with should be dropped.

He can create and change things at His will, our interference in His Leelas can disturb the cosmic realization of things. Recently, Sri Swamiji did a nine day discourse, in Kanada, on Guru Gita. I listened with rapt attention, and on the final day I told Him, I have listened to the discourse, and what I have learnt now I did not learn in the past fifteen or more years. I have read ‘Guru Gita’ many times before without understanding it. If I had gotten that knowledge then I could have improved myself. I am at peace now. One thing that is very clear to me is that we do not need to approach our Sadguru physically, with our anguishes. We must pray silently and with patience. Only then we can get an answer.    Jaya Guru Datta

Sri Swamiji Says:

One must never abuse one’s mother under any circumstance. If one considers one’s mother’s words as divine, as the gospel of the Lord, one will achieve everything good and benevolent. Shall we also be kind and loving towards the mother? Yes! Let us be like that.