Sarveshwari is present in faith

Speech made on the occasion of Autumn Navaratra, on 26 September 1987, at Shri Sarveshwari Samuh, Ganes Peeth, Parav, Varanasi

Reverend Mothers and dear brothers,

in this Navaratri night in which we hold a seminar, you are completely absorbed in listening words of speeches you can understand; about all the rituals, pujas and meditation we are doing, you are asking questions now about this and then about that; why don’t we merely ask not to be forced to address more prayers and requests in this life?

O Bhagvati, o Mahamaya, o Jagadamba (Mother of the world) see to it that I am not forced to keep addressing prayers to and imploring you, as, if I keep addressing prayers to you, I realize that I waste my time and yours too, and so I cannot see how and what I should know.

Brothers, we had been corpse hunters and so we ate and served them glad of having caught them; but we have never realized that we were just hunting for corpses.

Gurus, Mahapurushas (great men) hunt for living persons and offer them as “prey” and their hunting is so excellent that they get a brilliant existence during which they succeed in understanding, doing and carrying out a lot indeed, with the favour and the blessing of that Great Maya (Mahamaya).

When evening and darkness come, I start to be frightened, what is going to happen? Will I spend all my life in this darkness? I hope not. You saw that in this Ganesh Peeth and in Bhagvati Peeth many lamps are burning, just to eliminate that darkness.

Brothers, it is just so, even if in your life there was still darkness, light is about to come: what will I do now? I will go out with my tent and sink into the darkness of the whole city, but my small lamp or my small light are ready to give me a shining light. The arrival of night on one hand and also the arrival of light on the other and noise remind us that, if we weren’t desperate, we would be very hopeful.

Certainly what is actually true for us will lead us to destination and then to success. We don’t have to be completely hopeless. Whatever we are directly doing or we are going to get it done by other people, arise from generosity, kindness and even for our small part there is no pride.

Today many people live on earth, but they have no connection with each other. There is no connection between place and time in which they should do something. They aim for filling their stomach, going to sleep and relieving themselves: so, on earth, there is no particular difference between these ones and animals; nor it is of use to say: “I’d like to be a good person, I’d like to be an honest man, I’d like to have good relations, good thoughts and intentions.” What with bad company we have got worse, and what with environment we have fallen behind. 

Maybe a Mahatma had wanted that that person would become a good man, a respectable father, a highly-considered clan leader, although we know his behaviour inside the clan, I know that he lives in a small place, in contact with few persons and that he have spent his life like this so far. The Mahatma had certainly hoped that he would become an educated man, able to educate people from different background, such as rajas, maharajas, learned men, Saints and Mahatmas. If we see him, we cannot know that he comes from a small place and live in contact with few persons, and that he was brought up and raised with few rituals and simple ceremonies; after making many initial attempts, he wasn’t ready to go into the world.

The sadhu said: “Be aware that if you want to move in society, with high-ranking people, you must see and meet us, this is my advice.” Some days later, he came; the Mahatma took him in and made him practice; he practiced so much that he became able to stay among rajas, maharajas, emperors, soldiers, rich Seths (businessmen, bankers, etc.) and saint Mahatmas, he made him able to do exactly this; and as long as he practiced Bhagwan, that is  he worshipped God, he tried hard to get his divine qualities.

It was a pure chance that his mother hadn’t prepared any plan to him, so before he had to go and know it: “Come on, come and see this plan. Many noble people will get there and you will be able to meet them, and seeing them will give you a lot of nobility and make you full of light, and it will be a trial for me too.”

From this way of behaving it is obvious that one coming from a small spot, living in a hut or in a humble little house from where kids were sent out and played in mud, today has become a person of the highest order, a learned man, with civil and kind manners, and the Mahatma he practiced with at that time was very happy, of course; so he came back to his master’s hut and took him something to drink and to eat, so he kept showing his great love and this way he continued his practice. Once by chance, because of an invitation, many important people had gathered and when he too got there as a disciple, as a listener, none recognized him, none knew who was that simpleton who usually wandered about and was a meaningless person.

He had learnt to behave well, how, where and when to sit down, when and how to stand up, good manners, kindness, when and who to talk to, when not to do it, how to say his domestic prayers standing erect, how to address his prayers to God for his ancestors, the elders and the young, how to behave with kids, this is all he had learnt.

After he had come back to his hut, the sadhu said: “Brother, I’m tired, I walked for a long time, take my clogs out, go and get some water and wash my feet.” Throwing the clogs on him, he told him: “You have brought me to a high level, have make me very different, have told me to sweep the streets, how to act and how to behave, how to drive very impure thoughts away; you have prevented my complete ruin, when I was wandering about like a stray dog and I’d spent all my life like this, despising and slandering the others, seeing and speaking ill of the others. Spending my life like this would have been very terrible and how terrible! I would have done nothing but blame the others. But you made me do many good exercises and practices and made me live in very ordinary and humble places and communities, so now having learnt a lot I don’t consider myself a disciple anymore, as you have led me to very high places.”

Brothers, we are in the same situation; even if we trust in Bhagavati, Bhavani (Durga), the Devi, sometimes our mind too is led astray and corrupt; and malicious feelings arise inside, and until these feelings keep arising, we should understand that our ascetic practice, our meditation, our devotional rituals are like poison for us; so we become torpid and dull; akin to those who behave indecorously and improperly; and just so, if we should take up such a rude behaviour, criticizing the others and sowing discord, we should never get involved in this actions, especially because if we are carried away by these ones, we won’t know whether we are here or there and we will be like king Trishanku who, suspended between heaven and earth, didn’t know where he would ended up.

The sage Vishvamitra, thanks to his great powers, tried to physically send to Heaven the king Trishanku; but Indra refused to let him in, so Trishanku remained suspended between heaven and earth, so it is said that he wasn’t here nor there.

Brothers, in this life, in which we practice, perform rituals, contemplation and meditation, what do we keep asking in our prayers? Here, I ask so: “O Mother Bhagvati, see to it that in this life I never may ask you anything; abundantly give us what we need, so that we don’t need anything anymore and, if we don’t need anything else anymore, we won’t have to address prayers to and imploring you anymore, whatever you give me, I will take it with my hands joined and I will draw back.”

If all we have obtained is enough, then we will keep poverty and sufferings away, but if we are plagued by ignorance and poverty, we will end up by “hunting for corpses”, whereas we will never “hunt for living beings”. Corpses hunting will fill us with nauseating stench bothering and distressing us very much, so our mind won’t be anything but calm and free.

Besides the practice I want to do, even if I do it, it will make no difference. That mahatma had given his clogs because he wanted to check that that man had overcome his old way of thinking, but unfortunately that very old way of thinking still survived, that is why the disciple threw the clogs on him. He thought like this: “I am become completely fake and affected because I am not direct and natural and my directness didn’t belong to any caste, nor was a part of any way of behaving, nor my people themselves behaved naturally towards me.” Suppose we don’t know as an example many men’s moral conduct and exemplary tradition and where their model could lead us, ignoring that conduct and its tradition, we won’t be attracted by it but we will avoid it, if he acts wickedly, spreads backbiting and slander. On the contrary if he acts with kind purposes, then it will be good for him, but if he doesn’t act like this but for different reasons, not knowing for what reasons he acts, maybe it won’t be good for him or for anyone else. Brothers, may we be aware of what would be good or not for us.

If we meditate and do puja to the Devi, to Bhagvati or Bhagvani, this will fill us with honour and dignity, we will have to see and be aware that inside there isn’t lack of control and discipline anymore and that because of this lack of control I was completely heading for disaster as well as ruining Gurus’ tradition. I was ruining gentlemen’s current tradition, too. Is that the reason why I was born? Is this my duty? Come on brothers, in our life we are scared by this kind of darkness. At midnight as well as at midday we spend our life in darkness; we don’t obtain anything and we live in fear, while a life with a little bit of light and feelings passes as it was midday and can give us a good and beautiful light – the light of many fragrant oil lamps – even at midnight; so the darkness of night is rent and life become really free, no more subject to anything and worthy of being lived.

As long as we live on this earth, we are subject to the passing of time; as long as we are subject to destiny, we are subject to feel joy and pain, as well. Brothers, if our life is always oppressed by darkness, what kind of life will it be? How will our present, our future pass and be?

Come on brothers, let’s relying on the help of the “all of me”, because where there is the “all of me”, there is the unknown devata who brings and will bring us something and we will have to fully trust him, as well as the Devi, the Devata, Bhagvan or the Mother Bhagvati and when we start to help ourselves, he too will help us, but if we don’t help ourselves, we won’t be able to be protected, on the contrary if we start to protect ourselves, then our protection too will be possible.

Brothers, it is just so! When I keep repeating my mantra, I contemplate and meditate, when I keep repeating the japa and I am deeply absorbed in it, when I am absorbed in myself, through quiet mind, effacing the senses, I am deeply absorbed in myself, and in this situation gain and loss are the same thing, this is a condition beyond gain or loss that allows me to get something, but if I don’t get anything, it means that for many days in this world there hasn’t been much, this hasn’t been vain however; in this place or in another one, somewhere it keeps existing.

Brothers, our people’s worship, meditation, contemplation – it is like the sweet taste of ghee that makes sweet even bitter things – brings us such a taste and joy and turns to sweetness. Therefore whether you are aware or not, if you do a good action, you will harvest the good fruits of it. 

Whether you are aware or not, if you do an evil action, the consequence will be bad, I repeat, this will happen whether you are aware of it or not; there is no forgiveness or mercy, as, in this case, tolerance and forgiveness are considered alike a crime.

Brothers, to Bhagvati, Bhavani, Prakriti I address this daily prayer: may the light make darkness vanish from our life, yes o Mother, enlighten us, so that we may spend in a good way the time of our life and with this hope, today, I say goodbye to you, as my poor health doesn’t allow me to stay with you; tomorrow, if my health is good, I will stay with you and make a speech.

 I salute the Mother Bhagvati in you and, my prayer done, I conclude.