An extract from English translation of Param Pujya Bapu's discourse in Marathi about the 13 Point program that he gave on 3rd October 2002
Hari Om
These were 12 projects. Right from the charkha, food for cattle, everything is the work of God. We might say the mantra, Rushabha Gautam, we might say Ramo Rajamani...we might donate food, quilts. Let whatever you do be motivated by the purest of sentiments.
We all have difficulties in life. It is common Indian belief that these are the result of the sins of the previous birth. But if we have to combat these difficulties, we have to accumulate our punya; we have to turn to virtue. And, that, you are not going to achieve through baseless and foolish behaviour.
The path of Truth, Love and Joy is what we have to walk to earn our punya from Bhakti and Seva. Only then can the sins be countered. Do you recall the story of the Sparrow? Those who live around you cannot protect you,‘ however strong they may be. Netaji Subhashchandra Bose had clearly said, that those who lead India,those who work for the welfare of this country need to evolve spiritually.
A warrior like Subhashchandra Bose tells us this! These are not the words of a person with blind faith, but that of a warrior; a fighter on the battlefield has uttered them.
CHARAKHA YOJNA
CHARA YOJNA
RADDI YOJNA
We have to worship God through seva. What is important here is Group Upasana. Bapu, why are these centers formed for group Upasana? Our Christian brothers, our Muslim brothers do this group Upasana. We can learn from them. Group Upasana used to take place in India until the second century. We have to revive them. We do not want to score one up on anyone.
The vibrations born out of this Upasana, the energy and the valour born out of this Upasana are beneficial to the country and hence to us. When ten persons come together and pray, the benefits reaped are ten times as much as when a person sits alone. Let’s look at it like this: if one person sitting by himself derives a benefit of 10 gm from his prayer, 10 persons praying say 1 gm. reap a benefit of 10 gm. each. Group Upasana does not divide the Punya; it leads to an increase in it and that too in a non-geometrical progression.
We do not have to indulge in foolish practices. We can do our daily prayer, say our Ram Raksha, Ghorkashtodharan stotra chant the Jai Jai Ram Krishna Hari mantra or even chant the one that we just spoke about, Rushabha, Gautam, Dattaguru and without proving to be a bother for others. We can even recite the stotra of a deity of our choice or chant the mantra or sing bhajans of that deity. Come together, but not to fight. India has given birth to so many stalwarts.
Japan was bombed and practically destroyed in 1945. India became independent just two years after that. Look where Japan has reached and look at us! Yet, I say that the post independence period did see so many great personalities.
Japan had only a handful of such great personalities. But Japanese society soared, progressed. India gave birth to many great personalities but the society. did not develop. Why does this happen? Mainly because we lack the feeling of belonging together. We have to create this feeling through bhakti. Through bhakti. Bear that in mind.
The instituting of God is very important. These are not tasks meant for a social worker, or for political leaders either. These are tasks of the one who serves sincerely, fully aware of the existence of God. These are tasks of someone who has a lot of love for you, your father, your brother or your friend if you like. We have to strengthen our religious and group feelings.
Your prayer may be sincere, you may be aware of the existence of God, you may be doing your Jap or singing bhajans but what will really please God is seva. So, we have to recall that every Indian dharma stresses that irrespective of jap, the following 3 debts have to be repaid in order to deserve to go to heaven or even be happy and peaceful:
The debt of your mother, hat of your dharma and that of your motherland. We do not repay our own mother’s debt, leave alone that of the motherland. That is why we are in want, we are unhappy.
The sages of olden times have clearly stated that when a child below 16 years commits a crime or it is starved, the resultant sin is borne by the parents. If the parents are no more, the father’s brother and his wife, the father’s sister and the mother’s sister have to bear it. If these relatives too are no more, then the sin is to be borne by the village in which the child stays. These kinds of sins are being loaded on us.
The earthquake in Latur is not our responsibility; the earthquake at Kutch does not concern us. That was why I stopped my volunteers. I stopped them. They said, “Bapu, we have to go immediately, the very next day.” I refused I said, “Wait, hold on for three months. Go only when the crowd of photographers disperses.“ I wish to state proudly that yours is one of the mere 3-4 organizations that are still serving, consistently, even today, even now. But this does not mean that you are working there. You have to take responsibility.
The sins that generate trouble for us are those that are committed by dependants. The age group below 16 years does not sin and the orphans and old people do not sin. The sins of destitute aged also pass on to the society.
VIDYA PRAKASH PROJECT .
This is a firmly established theory in the Indian Religion. “We have not sinned Bapu.” Don’t say that because not doing your duty is also a sin and you are suffering due to that. You are reaping the fruits of corruption. You just have to do the group Upasana. But Bhakti has to motivate these. Seva alone could lead to ego.
Bhakti usually does not give rise to ego and all that one does, is the wish and will of God, it is His grace. Why am I doing this seva? Not for this one bearing a six-foot body, it is for our own selves.
Remember, your fate is your life and we want to break through it. Fate cannot be altered through spells or even offering goats to God. We must be sure of that- 100%. What we need is genuine spirituality.
We may chant his name, pray, sing bhajans, worship idols and offer garlands, anoint idols. It does not matter. We can do it as part of our bhakti, but bhakti mind you, not pretence. The priest recites the mantra; neither he nor we understand the meaning. He tells us to offer flowers and we offer leaves, instead of water we pour the wrong thing, that’s how our pooja is conducted. The lady is more worried about the taste of the food she cooked and the husband who is doing the pooja is more bothered about how the visitors are being taken care of.
Besides if the visitor happens to be the boss, he has to attend to him in a servile manner. These are not pooja. No God accepts this pooja. These are a hoax. They have to be stopped. You can do the pooja the way you like it. I do not object to anything. You can colour any stone with sindoor, I will join my hands in prayer. I know if the sentiment is genuine, God surely exists in it. What I object to is the hypocrisy. What is wrong is turning to the name of God because you are incapable of anything in life.
Do not do that. Your youth is meant for education, your youth is meant for your job or your business, your youth is meant for earning money, your youth is meant for marriage and family life, for making a name and seeing the world. But we reserve our old age for the very God who graces and blesses us with all this – Why? This is shamelessness. Shed it and then call yourself a bhakta. Bhakti has to come from within. What makes God are the ways of the saints.
(“je kaa ranjale ganjale…..”) Remember what Sant Tukaram tells us. What the Vedas and the Upanishads tell us. I have personally experienced the greatness of the Vedas.
(“Brahma satya jagan mithya…”) is not what should drag us down. The various schools of thought that talk of Maya are more elusive than anything else. They are for great personalities, not for ordinary ones like me. These empty words do not get us anywhere. Since the 2nd century all that has happened is the authoring of works. The result is that India has been taken for granted. This has to end. Let our bhakti be firm and sincere and let our seva be genuine and consistent.
This is a firmly established theory in the Indian Religion. “We have not sinned Bapu.” Don’t say that because not doing your duty is also a sin and you are suffering due to that. You are reaping the fruits of corruption. You just have to do the group Upasana. But Bhakti has to motivate these. Seva alone could lead to ego.
Bhakti usually does not give rise to ego and all that one does, is the wish and will of God, it is His grace. Why am I doing this seva? Not for this one bearing a six-foot body, it is for our own selves.
Remember, your fate is your life and we want to break through it. Fate cannot be altered through spells or even offering goats to God. We must be sure of that- 100%. What we need is genuine spirituality.
We may chant his name, pray, sing bhajans, worship idols and offer garlands, anoint idols. It does not matter. We can do it as part of our bhakti, but bhakti mind you, not pretence. The priest recites the mantra; neither he nor we understand the meaning. He tells us to offer flowers and we offer leaves, instead of water we pour the wrong thing, that’s how our pooja is conducted. The lady is more worried about the taste of the food she cooked and the husband who is doing the pooja is more bothered about how the visitors are being taken care of.
Besides if the visitor happens to be the boss, he has to attend to him in a servile manner. These are not pooja. No God accepts this pooja. These are a hoax. They have to be stopped. You can do the pooja the way you like it. I do not object to anything. You can colour any stone with sindoor, I will join my hands in prayer. I know if the sentiment is genuine, God surely exists in it. What I object to is the hypocrisy. What is wrong is turning to the name of God because you are incapable of anything in life.
Do not do that. Your youth is meant for education, your youth is meant for your job or your business, your youth is meant for earning money, your youth is meant for marriage and family life, for making a name and seeing the world. But we reserve our old age for the very God who graces and blesses us with all this – Why? This is shamelessness. Shed it and then call yourself a bhakta. Bhakti has to come from within. What makes God are the ways of the saints.
(“je kaa ranjale ganjale…..”) Remember what Sant Tukaram tells us. What the Vedas and the Upanishads tell us. I have personally experienced the greatness of the Vedas.
(“Brahma satya jagan mithya…”) is not what should drag us down. The various schools of thought that talk of Maya are more elusive than anything else. They are for great personalities, not for ordinary ones like me. These empty words do not get us anywhere. Since the 2nd century all that has happened is the authoring of works. The result is that India has been taken for granted. This has to end. Let our bhakti be firm and sincere and let our seva be genuine and consistent.
