BhagwanShri Swaminarayan manifested in this

Bhagwan Shri Swaminarayan manifested in this
universe. He came to Gujarat at the age of 19 years, and
renounced his physical existence at the age of 49 years.
During that time, he created six temples, initiated three
thousand Santo; there were hundreds of thousands of
devotees, and to crown this all, he gave the gift of the
lineage of Gunatit Sadhus.
Shri Ram, Shri Krushna and other manifest forms of God
also came into this universe and carried out such
exceptional work! However, besides a handful of
devotees, no one was able to recognize God while he was
physically manifest because they did not have the
1
association of a Gunatit Sant. God himself stayed amongst
1
Gunatit means above the gunas. One who has risen above the
three bodies : physical, subtle and causal; above the three
gunas : rajas, tamas and sattva and above the three states of
being: waking, dream and deep sleep. One who has risen above
his body in all of these ways, is referred to one who has Gunatitbhav, and God resides eternally within him. It refers to the
highest state of being.
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us in human form, yet we were unable to recognize him,
and because we were unable to recognize Him, we failed to
attain Him.
The distinctive thing that Bhagwan Swaminarayan did
when He came to this world was that he brought his
Akshardham, his mukto and manifested with his complete
spiritual force. While Shri Swaminarayan Bhagwan was
physically manifest, these Santo enabled thousands of
people to have darshan2 of God in Him. Swaminarayan
Bhagwan carried out so many great works, but the greatest
of these was his gift of Gunatit, through which human lives
were transformed.
Man, was man but his life was like an animal’s. Bhagwan
Swaminarayan made man human. What does it mean to
live like an animal? To live like an animal means that in the
smallest of things, with something that does not concern
him, man would get so angry; he will fight, quarrel, not be
able to live in harmony, or work in harmony. Taking man
2
The act of perceiving with love and reverence.
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from this state, God cleansed people from within and got
them to live as human beings. It was precisely by seeing
this change that Sir John Malcolm went for Bhagwan
Swaminarayan’s darshan. Sir Malcolm thought that, ‘there
are many Santo who will show you spiritual powers and
greatness, but the one who makes man human; makes him
egoless, and gets people to live in harmony, can be no
other than God himself, and it is the goal of my life to have
his darshan’. For this reason John Malcolm travelled to
Rajkot for Maharaj’s darshan. Shri Swaminarayan
Bhagwan gifted Sir Malcolm the ‘Shikshapatri,’ which
today is in Oxford University’s Bodlean Library.
Without God or a sadhu who is at one with God,
transformation of human life is impossible. Bhagwan
Swaminarayan made Gunatitanand Swami the ideal sadhu
and by gifting him to us, kept the Gunatit lineage alive.
Yogiji Maharaj was a sadhu from that lineage and he was a
sadhu of the Gunatit state!
In Bhagwan Swaminarayan’s time there were five
hundred Paramhanso3. Each one displayed powers that
were akin to God. Gopalanand Swami was once at a large
mandir in Baroda.To protect a devotee, Gopalanand Swami
stopped an eclipse from happening. These paramhanso
had power over the forces of nature, such was their
strength, and such were the God-like powers they held.
However, out of all of them, it was Gunatit that Maharaj
would praise. The reason was, that in spite of the countless
powers, limitless capacities, supernatural strength that
Gunatit held, he also held the greatest quality of all, and
that was dasatva4! Only the one who is completely free of
ego, who lives in a state of zero-ness, can offer devotion
with dasatva. Gunatitanand Swami was the ideal; he was
the embodiment of dasatva-bhav. That is why Bhagwan
Shri Swaminarayan would say, ‘Gunatit is my abode; I
reside within him,’ and in saying that, He gave everyone
3
Literally means ‘great soul’ and refers to a spiritually realised
being. Paramhansa refers to the sadhu of the highest calibre.
4
Complete humble surrender and devotional servitude. The
one with dasatva remains bowed before all, perceiving and
serving his Lord in all.
the recognition of who Gunatit was. Thereafter, Bhagatji
Maharaj, Jaga Swami, Krushnaji Ada, Shastriji Maharaj,
Yogiji Maharaj, were all Santo of that Gunatit lineage. They
were the physical embodiments of dasatva-bhav.
Every single person that came in touch with Yogiji
Maharaj experienced his spiritual power and greatness. In
spite of that, Yogi Bapa remained eternally bowed to his
5
Ishta-dev Shri Swaminarayan Bhagwan and to his Guru,
Shastriji Maharaj. If someone said, ‘Bapa! It is with your
blessings that our work was done,’ then Bapa would say,
‘No, it is with Shri Swaminarayan Bhagwan and Shastriji
Maharaj’s grace that it got done’. It is with such extreme
humility and dasatva-bhav that Bapa lived. All of the
Swaminarayan sansthas, B.A.P.S and all of our sansthas are
the fruits of his divine will and his blessings.
Yogi Bapa used to keep such a low profile. Gratitude
goes to Dadukaka, to whom Yogi Bapa gave Samadhi6 on 3
February 1952, and who then awoke to proclaim to
everyone that ‘the one who you want to attain after death,
the God that you want to attain through your countless
penance, countless yagnas, countless rituals and
countless offerings and acts of charity, that very God is
standing right before you through the form of Yogiji
Maharaj’. Dadukaka spread the glory of Yogiji Maharaj,
while Yogiji Maharaj was still amongst us, and it was after
this, that such liveliness was ignited in devotees and such
excellence was ignited in the satsang. It is the results of this
that we are witnessing today. It was this same distinctive
dasatva-bhakti that was in Hanumanji.
Manojbhai will be speaking on ‘Shri Hanuman Chalisa’
and the ‘Shri Yogi Chalisa’. On England’s soils, we are going
to have this truly exceptional opportunity. ‘Shri Yogi
Chalisa’ is an exceptional darshan of Yogi Bapa’s countless
virtues in verse; whereas the ‘Shri Hanuman Chalisa’ is an
exceptional darshan of Shri Hanumanji’s countless virtues
in verse. In both Yogiji Maharaj and Hanumanji, there is
one common quality, and that is dasatva-bhav.
5
One’s chosen deity or form of the Lord.
The soul’s realisation and recognition of God presently
manifest in human form.
6
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Hanumanji was so remarkable! Within all of us, there
are many remarkable qualities, but we do not know how to
use them to the fullest. Hanumanji was a monkey. The
basic quality of a monkey is to destroy. When you have an
army of monkeys, they will break and destroy things in
their path, and Hanumanji was the leader of such an army.
Shri Ramchandraji was in the jungles, in search of Sitaji and
when Hanumanji had darshan of Shri Ramchandra
Bhagwan, he lost all consciousness of his own self; he
became completely awestruck! He thought, the Lord
whom we wished to attain, I have got right in front of me,
face to face! Hanumanji accepted Shri Ramchandra
Bhagwan as the Lord, and not only that, he took the Lord’s
refuge and surrendered himself to him. With folded hands,
7
he said, ‘Lord, what is your aagna ?’ That is when
Ramchandraji said, ‘Go and find out where Sitaji is’ and so
off went Hanumanji. But in between he came to the ocean,
so taking his Lord’s name – ‘Jai Shri Ram!’ he took a massive
leap and landed directly in Lanka!
Seeing a monkey in Lanka, Ravana and everyone
laughed and ridiculed him. They tied a rag to his tail, and
using that Hanumanji set the whole of Lanka on fire. No
one was able to catch him; that is how much force arose
within him! When he had to bring the life-saving
Sanjeevani herb for Lakshmanji, he lifted and brought the
entire mountain! He was so strong; so intelligent! And yet
he was the humble servant, the sevak of Bhagwan Shri
Ram! Hanumanji is always seated kneeling with hands
folded before Shri Ram. That is dasatva-bhakti!
There are so many Hanumanji temples across the
world. The world worships him as a God. So many works
happen through him. Even in Swaminarayan temples, the
images of Shri Hanumanji and Shri Ganeshji are always
there. Hanumanji had countless powers, countless good
qualities, but his crowning quality was dasatva-bhav – He
knew that whatever he had was because of his Lord,
Bhagwan Shri Ram! This type of dasatva-bhav is a defining
7
Any instruction given by God or Guru, which is always for one’s
spiritual benefit.
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characteristic of sadhuta8. Hanumanji’s dasatva-bhav was
the same dasatva-bhav that Yogiji Maharaj had; and we
will get a unique joy from listening to this in Manojbhai’s
words.
Scientists invented air conditioning because of the
heat. Therefore no matter how hot it gets, but with airconditioned rooms and air-conditioned cars, the person
that does not want to go out in the heat would have no
problem. In the same way that science came up with these
inventions, spiritual science too made great
advancements and showed the way forward.
In life, whether as a householder, in business or work,
or even as a renunciant, unusual and unexpected
circumstances will spring up, or perplexing things will be
said; at such a time, to retain your calm, your joy and your
equanimity, you need dasatva-bhav, the refuge of God,
the remembrance of God, and contemplation on the glory
of God. If you have this much in your life, then you will
accept that God is the all-doer in your life, and because of
your association with Santo, you will understand that you
will become completely fulfilled. When such a Guru, or
such Santo enter our lives, our lives truly become blessed.
Such Santo are overflowing with dasatva-bhav; and we will
have the unparalleled opportunity to listen to a portrayal
of such dasatva-bhav, through the ‘Shri Hanuman Chalisa’
and ‘Shri Yogi Chalisa’.
In this year of the ‘Sarva Suhrad Sopan,’ we will also get
to hear discourse through Santo and bhakto, of what Yogiji
9
Maharaj used to say that, ‘If one has suhrad-bhav , one will
8
Sadhuta refers to the qualities of a true sadhu such as
humility, complete selflessness and surrender, with the
recognition of God as the Supreme All-Doer. Because of his
sadhuta, the true sadhu will never act for his own benefit. He is
natural, simple and joyfully immersed in God.
9
Suhrad-bhav is a complex concept. It originates from hriday –
meaning heart. Suhrad or Suhraday therefore literally means
‘one heart’. Suhrad-bhav therefore means to feel such an
unparalleled harmony with everyone, regardless of however
they act towards you, and regardless of circumstance or
situation.
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attain every other virtue’. On England’s soils, we will have
the opportunity to attain the exceptional treasure of how
to live a spiritual life from within.
*
one-sided love for us continues, and through this they
raise us above our shortcomings and get us to live in God.
Such is the exceptional suhrad-bhav that they have for us!
Now we too want to keep suhrad-bhav towards them,
by accepting that ‘O Lord! Whatever you do, is always only
8 August 2014, First Sabha Session
for our good’. The Shri Akshar Purushottam Upasana
If a sadhak resolutely pursues his spiritual journey
shows us the fives steps. Firstly, that God is eternally
with awareness, then no matter what age the sadhak is,
manifest and has a form. He is the all-doer. Whatever has
God will make him realised. R.D. Kaka began his spiritual
happened in my life, whatever is happening and whatever
journey after retiring from work. To change one’s innate
is going to happen is all my Lord’s doing and nobody else’s.
nature and characteristics in one’s old age is the hardest
To believe this, is our suhrad-bhav towards our Lord. If we
thing to do. R.D. Kaka was extremely intelligent. He could
believe Him to be the all-doer, then all complaints and
pick up on a person’s weak point immediately, and then he
demands vanish. There will be a joyful acceptance of
would blast them. No matter who it was, he would knock
everything. Even if one becomes ill, or one remains
the wind out of them, and everyone feared him. When we
healthy, there is a joyful acceptance of the situation. To
were celebrating Pappaji’s Diamond Jubilee, an exhibition
believe that however we are, wherever we are, happens
of photographs had been set up and V.S. brought R.D. Kaka
solely as per our Lord’s will, is our suhrad-bhav towards our
there to see it. Shantibhai spent three hours explaining the
Lord.
meaning behind the exhibition. Where the exhibition
To believe God to be the all-doer, and to always lend
concluded, there was a guest-book for visitors to write
your help to all, is suhrad-bhav. Ashvinbhai, Shantibhai,
their comments. R.D. Kaka wrote, ‘To this day, the R.D. who
Ratibhai, Sanandbhai, Pramukh Swami, Mahant Swami,
has only noted the faults of others, is taking an oath that
Hariprasad Swami, Dinkarbhai – have done just this in their
from this day onwards, I will attempt only to see the good
lives. They all lived their lives according to their Guru’s
in others’. This is so difficult, but he was an extremely bold
divine will, according to his aagna, and made his will their
and courageous personality! R.D. Kaka began his spiritual
lives. With this attitude, they put their inclinations aside
practice of attempting to see the good qualities in others.
and forged ahead, and so they were showered with grace
He went to America, offered his seva as a poojari and put
and they became at one with God.
aside all intellectual deduction and analysis. He was firm;
Our Himat Swami has no self-centered attitude
he wanted to see only the good in others, and not dwell on
whatsoever! Whether someone insults him or praises him,
anybody’s shortcomings whatsoever. Clutching onto his
he is laughing! Whether you seat him at the front or right at
Guru’s word, he kept chanting… Swaminarayan….
the back, whether you acknowledge him or ignore him,
Swaminarayan, and so he attained the joy and fulfillment
nothing concerns him. To please God, he simply continues
of God.
to perform his devotion and seva for everyone. When he is
Bhagwan Swaminarayan and Yogiji Maharaj held such
doing the mahapooja and someone calls asking to be
exceptional suhrad-bhav for us! From the worldly state
picked up from Hillingdon, he will say to Thakorji, ‘Please
that we live in, they want to take us into the state of
forgive me. Your devotee has arrived so I will go and pick
Gunatit-bhav. They have accepted us wholly, with all of our
him up’. If it were us, we would say, ‘Bhai! Wait for half an
shortcomings and flaws. They exert themselves to dissolve
hour, I will come after I finish the mahapooja’. Swami will
those flaws, and even when we do not co-operate, their
have just returned from picking up the devotee, when the
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phone will ring again, and it will be another devotee who
If it is swelteringly hot and is 45°C outside, but you do
has just arrived at Uxbridge. Swami will never say, ‘if you all
not feel the heat when you walk into this hall, would you
came together, it would save the trouble and I could pick
need to advertise that there is an air conditioning machine
you all up in one go’. He would never say that, but simply
that has been fitted here? Of course not! Once you step in
carries on performing his seva for those devotees. What
you can immediately feel that the hall is air-conditioned.
suhrad-bhav he has for us! He takes care of everyone! If
Similarly, where you experience inner joy you should know
someone does not perform their allocated seva, then
that God’s manifest presence is there, and that God is
Swami will do it, but he will never say, ‘why did you not do
pleased in this. What is He pleased with? The fact that
your seva?’ That is suhrad-bhav.
devotees are performing devotion with suhrad-bhav; this
Our Ramesh Jha and Ranchhodbhai have come here
means God’s presence is there, and the hallmark of God’s
from India. From the moment they arrived they have dived
presence is joy! And it is this kind of suhrad-bhav that must
straight into the decoration seva. After coming here they
increase within all of us day by day…!
have not said, ‘Look here! This is the kind of decoration
The very first step of suhrad-bhav is to believe that
that needs to be done, so we will need this much
God’s devotees are faultless and divine; that they are so
manpower and this many tools. We will need a car if
great. If we can understand their glory and have the
something needs to be bought or transported, and once
sentiment in our hearts to perform their seva with
you give us all of these things we can start the work’. No!!
devotion, then such devotion, which is filled with suhrad-
They have not said anything like this. Instead, once they
bhav, will automatically grant you God’s prasannata .
got here they saw who was free and called on them, sat
With prasannata, all of one’s self-centered inclinations
them down and taught them. Young or old – they taught
loosen and you will feel an inner comfort, and joy. The
everyone and began the decoration work. Once they
internal attachments will start to dissolve, and you will feel
started, whoever came along saw that this was an
relaxed and happier. There is such a weight that we carry,
opportunity for seva, and so they too joined in; and all the
of all the things that we cling to internally, that when that
work was completed before time. No-one was an expert,
starts to release we feel joy. This is what Maharaj wants us
but there was devotion, and there was the desire to please
to do, to let go of things from within.
10
God. Whoever came to help, they accepted their seva as if
Do your business, do your trade, look after your daily
it had been sent by God, and guided them with the same
obligations – there is nothing wrong with this, but you have
sentiment. To please God, one has to use the seva of
to detach yourself from it internally. Then you will feel a
devotees to the fullest capacity, but without noting who
lightness within. With God’s grace, we have been given the
has come, who has not come, or who is doing the work and
opportunity to live our lives with such a lightness of spirit,
who is not doing the work. Without falling into any of that,
and for that we have been given the exceptional gift of
the fact that they are there and are doing some form of
these Santo! Let us understand the glory of such Santo and
seva, God is pleased! To keep this attitude is suhrad-bhav.
devotees, and offer our devotion to God. For this, may God
And it is with this kind of suhrad-bhav that the seva in all
grant everyone, strength, intellect, inspiration and
the departments, from kitchen to accommodation is being
awareness; that is our prayer at our Guru and our Lord’s
done. Bhagwan Swaminarayan and Yogi Bapa said, ‘Where
lotus feet! Jai Shri Swaminarayan!
there is such suhrad-bhav, God is always present’. What is
the confirmative test of God’s presence? It is the
experience of joy!!
20
10
When God or Guru is so pleased with you that it culminates in
an outpouring of grace, this is called prasannata.
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