Sri Swamiji in London

Report by Sri. H.V. Prasad

On 30th August, Sri Swamiji was invited to the Indian High Commission in England, where He graced the occasion - 'Utsav Trayi'(three celebrations). This included Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtami and Ganapati Festival. In his speech, His Excellency Dr.L.M.Singhvi, Indian High Commissioner in England, spoke about his visit to the Hyderabad ashrama and his experiences with Sri Swamiji.

Ganesh Chaturthi Celebrations in Datta Yoga Centre, London.

5th September, 1997

Sri Swamiji performed Sri Chakra Puja and special Ganapati Pooja and witnessed the Siddhi Vinayaka Vrata and the Ashtottara Modaka Homa performed by the Ashrama priests. Sri Swamiji spoke about the Ganapati Tattva. An attractive T Shirt with the images of Lord Ganapati and Sri Swamiji was released on this occasion.

Sri Swamiji's Speech

"Lord Ganapati is present in all the Yugas - Krita, Treta, Dwapara and Kali. In each Yuga, there were different aspects of Ganapati Energy. In one Yuga, Ganapati had only two hands. In another yuga, he was a beautiful child. In another Yuga, he had elephant head and four hands. Ganapati is worshipped in the form of a female deity in some parts of India. Goddess Parvati created Ganapati and transferred energy to her creation.

Ganapati is worshipped not only in India by the Hindus, but in some other countries too, by people belonging to other religions. We can see Ganapati in Buddhist temples in Thailand. Ganapati is worshipped in places like Java, Sumatra, Singapore etc. Ganapati is not merely a religious symbol. He is the symbol of power, sound, love and compassion. He is of the form of Nada. He is a saviour. Ganapati played important roles in Vishnu incarnations and Shiva incarnations. Ganapati has three Beejaksharas - A,U & M in him and has blessed us with those three letters, which is popularly called 'AUM' or 'OM'. These three letters denote the three different levels of frequency. He controls the Ida, Pingala and Sushumna naadis. Ganapati is the deity of the backbone (the Chakras).

Today is an extremely auspicious day for Indians. Usually Swamiji celebrates this festival in Vijayawada, where thousands of devotees take part in the Pujas. Here only a couple of hundreds of devotees have assembled. Numbers do not matter, because it is all 'heart to heart' affair.

You are all indeed lucky to have Swamiji talking to you directly. Do not expect me to come down to your level always just to please you. It is impossible. You can not expect me to hug you and exchange pleasantries with you whenever you come to me. Back home, people are happy even if they get a glimpse of Swamiji. Learn from them.

Later Sri Swamiji announced that a new CD containing bhajans on Lord Ganapati, recorded in California recently would be released the following day.