Today is the 5th December 2010 and we are meeting here at Rikhiapeeth to pay our respects to Sri Swami Satyananda, who is our guru and the light of our life. At midnight on this night, one year ago, he attained maha samadhi. This was not a sudden decision, rather it was predestined. Sri Swamiji was waiting for an opportunity. He said many times, “I am waiting to leave this body, but I am not going to leave it until I get my return ticket. I do not want emancipation, moksha, or any personal satisfaction which comes with spiritual enlightenment. My aim and aspiration in this life and in all future lives is to help others, to wipe the tears of suffering and pain from the eyes of every person who is seeking solace, peace, plenty and prosperity. That is the only purpose of my life.”
Sri Swamiji lived this sankalpa all his life. Even before he came to his guru, Swami Sivananda, it was this thought which guided him. Swami Sivananda was also searching for the right person who could carry forward his vision to serve others. Our guru, Sri Swami Satyananda, identified completely and totally with the vision of his guru and the fulfillment of that vision became his sole aspiration.
Sri Swamiji created Rikhiapeeth, where serve, love and give, the three cardinal teachings of Sri Swami Sivananda, could be lived. Through service, love and giving it becomes possible to realize the oneness of spirit. We all seek divine intervention and desire divine grace in our life. We all look for the inner strength, encouragement and inspiration to succeed and become fulfilled in life. Sri Swamiji showed us the way through service, love and giving.
Over and over again, Sri Swamiji has told us that he is a heart surgeon, and his surgery is done on the heart to remove the blocks which make one selfish and self-orientated. By removing the blocks, the heart opens up and connects with all the people who are searching for solace and grace. The way to remove blockages and open the heart is not through asana or pranayama, hatha yoga, raja yoga or any other yoga, but through a transformative process of overcoming personal limitations and expressing one’s positive nature through service, love and giving.
This is the way to explode one’s inner spirit. We all talk of spirit, but we have never seen, realized or known it. Yet we know it is within us. We exist because of spirit, but we are not connected to it. We are connected with our mind and we experience the responses and reactions of the mind in the form of need, craving, desire, aspirations in thoughts and emotions. However, these are not the qualities of spirit.
Our paramguru, Swami Sivananda, has said that the qualities of spirit overpower the nature of the mind. The mind has no meaning when compared to the power of the spirit. This spirit is not realized through meditation, but by connecting with each and everyone. Siya Ramamaya Saba Jaga Jani.
To our guru and master, who has given us everything and shown us how to live life properly, today we express our heartfelt sentiments with a sankalpa: We shall walk the path you have shown, we shall not falter, nor shall we lag behind. Sri Swamiji is not present with us in the body, but he lives within us in the form of inspiration, and that is his greatest gift. He lives inside each one, in the form of a fiery inspiration to become creative and to excel in life, to connect with our environment, to bring happiness and peace and to share our joys with everyone. Sri Swamiji has given us this trust and we shall fulfil it.
We bow our heads in thankfulness to this great personality. We are truly fortunate, to have lived in an age when there was a person like Sri Swamiji. We have not seen Christ, Rama, Krishna, or Buddha, we have only heard about them. But we have had the good fortune to see Sri Swamiji, to laugh with him, to sit with him, to listen to him, and to receive his grace. In Sri Swamiji is the greatness that was in Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Christ. In Sri Swamiji is the peace of Buddha, the compassion of Christ, the clarity of Krishna, and the balance of Rama.
His grace, inspiration, love and compassion is what we seek. The prayer of our hearts is, “O guru, guide us to fulfil your mandate, inspire us to walk the path that you have shown us, give us the strength to complete the journey which we have undertaken and always be with us in our heart, mind and thoughts, so that we can never go astray. Gururbrahmaa, gururvishnu, gururdevo maheshwarah, Guru saakshaat parambrahma, tasmai shri gurave namah.
Rikhiapeeth, 5 December 2010