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Thought for the Day:

 


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Paramahamsa Omkarananda Saraswati

 
 

 

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Speech by Shri Swami Vishveshwarananda Saraswati,
President Omkarananda Ashram,
on the Occasion of Guru-Purnima Celebrations,
in Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas, on 12th July 2014

Today we are celebrating Guru-Purnima.

You see, dear Friends – for Soma – every day she is celebrating Guru-Purnima. For her, Guru is not a matter of a just one day success. For her, Guru means every day. For Somashekhari Guru means Realisation. When Gurudev told her: "Through dance you will experience the Divine," she has completely dedicated her life to Gurudev.

Today we can see very often, that a Guru is being changed. They say, "this is my Guru, that is my Guru." Actually, many times, I think, people misunderstand what a real Guru is.

Friends, your father, your mother, they can give you everything, they can give you very good education, they can help you in difficulties, in sickness, in many problems. As far as matters in daily life are concerned, your parents are extraordinary. But can they give Realisation? Can they show the infinite Light? Can they show the way to your true Self? Impossible!

So, the most important thing in our life, my dear Friends, is to have a Guru. Without Guru absolutely nothing is possible; you simply swim into the darkness, into the ignorance, into a life, which is full of sorrow, problems and difficulties. It is very very difficult to understand the reality of a Guru. The Guru is of utmost importance. He is the Manifestation of the Divine present here on this earth.

Though we all know that each and everything is God, but can you touch Him? We know this pillar is God, but can you speak with the pillar? A Saint can speak with this pillar. And God will speak out of this pillar.

So, when we do not have this chance, then how important it is, that you have a link to the Divine, when the Divinity is incarnating into a human body, so that we have a chance to speak with Him. Nothing in life is more valuable than a Guru. A Guru is your protection. In the time of need, in the time of the greatest difficulty, He can save you. The Guru can bring you that Light, which brings you further to the Divine. Guru only wants for you one thing, that you are realising the Truth.

My dear Friends, our life is full of ignorance. We are living in a day to day basis, what we think, is real. And we do not know that we are getting older and older, and one day, when the time is very late, then we start crying for the Absolute. Why not we are taking the chance and the opportunity now! Why not we are looking now to find a Guru, who is bringing us nearer to the Truth! Gurudev means Realisation in Action. A Guru can show you everything. True people, who are Seekers, they always were in need of a Guru.

Some people are of the opinion, that "I can do it without a Guru." Dear Friends, without a Guru absolutely nothing is possible. You may sit for hours in meditation.

Undoubtedly it will help you. But if you want to realise the Absolute, it needs an Absolute, realised in a body, Who can show you, what is the real way to achieve That.

So, we are celebrating today Guru-Purnima. But in fact every day we should realise Guru-Purnima. Every day we should realise the wonder that Gurudev is. We should think of Him. We should follow Him. We should pray to Him. Praying to the Guru means directly praying to the God. Why in that great Indian Philosophy, in that Vedic Philosophy, it is considered that Guru is greater than God?! For a human individual undoubtedly Guru is greater than God. Because God you can't see, you can't touch, except if you are a realised Soul. But the Guru you can see, the Guru you can even touch. So, He can guide you.

And dear Friends, a real Guru will test you. Why? He wants to purify you. My dear Friends, without a purified heart the way to realise the Truth is next to impossible. Purity in life is very much essential. So, a Guru is slowly slowly gradually teaching you, teaching you a real life. He teaches you what kind of food you should take. He teaches you what you should basically think. He makes you aware of all the danger, which life is bringing here, so that you are protected.

But there are moments coming, when you are going to the biggest height, when Gurudev has given you everything – at that juncture sometimes people may even divert. And this diversion from a realised Soul may bring a lot of difficulty and problems and it may enter into a next life. And in the next life you don't know, where you are, you don't know what kind of miseries will be following you. So, it is always wise, exactly, word by word, to follow the advice and the footsteps of Gurudev.

This wonderful Temple here would not be, if not word by word we would have followed the instructions of our Gurudev Paramahamsa Shri Swami Omkarananda.

From the very beginning we could see how great Swami Omkarananda was. When we, like ignorant people, were sitting there, we realised what kind of wonder Gurudev Swami Omkarananda was. What kind of humbleness Gurudev Swami Omkarananda has shown to us! He was teaching each and every one, how to live a life, a life of perfection, a life of purity. He made us understand that a life without the experience of the Divinity is as good as a useless life. And to take birth again and again makes it difficult. Today you have your wife, you have your children. But in the next life your wife is maybe your child or next life your wife is born somewhere else. We don't know. So, this time, when you have a chance to be with the Guru, follow His steps, do whatever He says. And Guru-Purnima is a very good day to remember the marvellous effect a real Guru can have.

You have seen, when Gurudev told to Somaji: "you come to the Ashram," she left mother, she left father, she left everything. It was clear for her: "It is the Guru, who can bring me to the Light, not my father, not my sister, not my parents, nothing is there." And today Soma makes wonders, wonders with the help of a real Guru. And she will go on and make more and more wonders, and Guru will enter more and more into her heart and one day you will see a shining Light, which is presented by Somashekhari. It is very very essential. You can see even the effect for all those people, who are attached to Guru, who are attached to our Paramahamsa Shri Swami Omkarananda, how their life has changed.

Gurus can make wonders. Very often, my dear Friends, people are thinking, once Gurudev left the body: "He has gone."  The Guru, whether in body or not in body, He is absolutely there! He sees you more real than even you, when you saw Him in reality. Guru is always there. Because, Guru is God, God personified in a human individual, to save you, to take you out of that misery. Otherwise, my dear Friends, tell me what the life can bring you? A little bit happiness, in the evening to see TV, a little bit happiness, to see that political success is there, tomorrow another political success is there; to see a little bit football in Brazil. Tomorrow Brazil has gone out, Argentina or Germany will win. Everything changes, nothing remains. The only thing which will remain is the absolute Divinity, the Truth, the Guru.

So, why not we hold ourselves on Him? If we hold ourselves on Him, everything changes. The misery in today's life, which we are having, is the misery, that we lost completely the touch of the Divine. There are Gurus, there are greatest Saints, but are we following their steps? There are wonderful people, who are doing marvellous work, and India is definitely one of the finest places, which we have. India brought us the greatest personalities, personalities like Adishankaracharya. You can endlessly name there. Greatest Gurus have come over here.

But when the human individual is starting diverting himself, then misery straightaway takes place here. Then people are entering into darkness, and when people are entering into darkness, they forget the Divine, they no more think of It, they not even think of the Guru, or they may just take It as an external matter. But that can never help.

Dear Friends, is not India a wonderful place, where in every nook and corner there is a Temple! Everything is here. India is a place of Saints and Sages. But we must hold on to them and we should not divert ourselves.

Today this multimedia and all these things have completely spoilt our mind. We are living full of problems, desires, attachment and all these things. And desires, attachment, greediness, are exactly the way, which are resulting in troublesome things. We want more, we are never satisfied. So, then in the end what we will do, what we will do in the end, when Yama stands in front of the door here, where we are leaving all the property, each and everything? Not an inch we can take with us! So, why not in this life we are trying a little bit not to be so greedy, a little bit avoid desire, a little bit avoid attachment, to be detached. The biggest problem is, that we are attached to everything. We are attached to father, mother, to our mobile phone, to our car, to everything we are attached, except to the Divine. So, why not we are a little bit attached to the Divine? Why not we are attached to the Guru? Then, if that is the case, our life will change and you will realise that true Happiness will enter into your heart, you feel yourself to be a changed man. Try it! I assure you it will come! And you may even have the chance, that Guru, the Divinity, may at any moment speak to you directly.

Dear Friends, we must make spiritual progress. If we can't do it in this life, we may progress in another life. Has not the Vedic Science, has not the Bhagavad Gita, has not Ramayana, have not all these great teachings shown us so many things here. But what is the use of all these teachings, when we are not moving along with it?! We have to do it. Life is very very precious. Life is not made to entertain the pleasures of the day to day things here. That entertainment of the pleasures simply brings us, sooner or later, misery. Life is only made to realise the Divinity and nothing else. For that is life here. All other things are a manifestation of illusion. Maya is the most terrific hurdle. If anyone can break Maya, he will realise the Absolute and he will no more appear on this planet and no Maya ever can challenge him. Dear Friends, and who can open the door to Liberation, who can take the veil of Maya aside from us? The Guru.

So, Guru Purnima is a very wonderful day, where we should take the opportunity, starting to think a little bit, how important the spiritual life is.

See, realise yourself, you may have now everything. Today your mobile phone is A1, after two years – today the technology is in such a way – it has become old. So, everything is "rusted". The moment it is born, it is already "rusted". We are holding ourselves on rusted items, on things which are perishing. Even your body is a perishing item, it cannot remain. But what is unperishing in you, is your true Self. You are the Absolute, that's what you are in reality. Nobody can harm the true Self, that you are, and if you experience that true Self, and you have to experience It in this body, then you are a changed personality, then you are that shining Light, then people are running to touch your feet, people want to be with you; then, where you put your hand, life starts; where you put your hand, a sick person gets healed; when you look at him, he changes. You have to realise this. Try! And you will see.

Everybody of us wants to have true happiness. How can we find true happiness in something which is perishing? So that means, an item which makes you happy now, is practically dead tomorrow. Our happiness is short-lived. Should we not search for something which is eternal and not short-lived? And that life, which we are trying, that is only a spiritual life. And India, a place with such a marvellous Vedic system, has given each and every one true knowledge. But if you are diverting away, then only unfortunate difficulties and trouble will enter into your heart.

But all of you, who are here, are definitely absolutely different. You wouldn't sit here, if not in your heart is your wish to achieve That (true knowledge); and you all will definitely achieve. You have all the Blessings of our Paramahamsa Swami Omkarananda, Who is right now here, Who right now hears me, Who right now sees each and every one of you, Who right now is in each and every one of you.

Try! Try, tomorrow, if you enter into any sort of difficulty, think of Him and realise the Wonder, that is Swami Omkarananda!

Thank you very much.

 

* Note:
The original Video of this speech can be seen on the Website of Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas under the subject "Videos".

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