Report on Guru Purnima Celebrations Held in Pune

GURU PURNIMA CELEBRATIONS AT THE
SADHU VASWANI MISSION

     On the occasion of Guru Purnima, the crack of dawn saw several devotees gathering at the Sacred Samadhi of Sadhu T. L. Vaswani at the Sadhu Vaswani Mission to pay homage to their revered Guru. Amidst sacred chants of “Om Namah Gurudeva ”, the devotees first washed the Sacred Samadhi with milk and thereafter, with soap & water. The early morning session concluded with an Aarti at the Samadhi.

     At 11.30 a.m a sea of devotees gathered at the Sadhu Vaswani Mission Hall to receive the blessings Rev. Dada J P Vaswani. It was an atmosphere full of reverence. The Sacred Havan was lit. All the devotees participated in the singing of bhajans and the hall resounded with a union of devotional chants paying homage to the Guru :

“ Om Namah Gurudeva”

“ Jai Gurudev jai jai Gurudev”

“Ek tara bole Guru teri vaani”

     The chanting grew louder at the entry of Dada J P Vawani into the hall. The faces of the devotees lit up at the sight of their Guru. Dada first greeted the inmates of the school for the blind – Kothrud and offered each one of them food packets and other essential items.

 130 copies of the Sacred Nuri Granth had been placed in the hall in front of the devotees. Along with Dada all the devotees recited 2 pages of the Nuri Granth.

     Then came Dada's Guru Purnima message. In a very humble way, he started by seeking blessings for all. He said that “Gu” means darkness and “Ru” means light. The Guru takes us from darkness to light. Narrating a few incidents, Dada brought out the message that the sweetest, purest and the most unselfish relationship in this world is that between the Guru and the Disciple.

     In today's world we live in the darkness of selfishness, greed, ego, anger etc. This darkness is the worst of its kind. This darkness leads to a mindset where I, me & myself are the only things that matter to a person. Dada compared this with the darkness in our minds to the blurring of our vision as a result of cataract.

     Only when the cataract operation is performed does the eye see clearly. Similarly only when a man's mind is free of selfishness, greed, ego does true light dwell in him.

     The first lesson in life that man has to learn is that by himself he can do nothing. It is only because of his Guru can a man do something. This message is clearly brought out in the words.

“ Naa Ham, Naa Ham”

  “ Tu Ho, Tu Ho”

Only the Guru can lead us from darkness to light.

     Mary Anderson – the great singer was once asked why there was no mention of her contribution to her success. Her simple reply was that now a days work is done as a team therefore each person's contribution is too little. To credit one person rather than a team would be unfair. TEAM - T ogether E ach A chieves M ore.

     Dada narrated the story of a very wealthy lady living in a palace. Near the palace was the small and simple dwelling of a carpenter. One day the carpenter fell seriously ill. Sensing that he would live no more, the carpenter sent his daughter to this lady to say that he wanted to say something to her. It was below the dignity of the wealthy lady to go and meet a carpenter, so she ignored his request. The carpenter sent his daughter again with the same request, but the lady was too egoistic to come.

     The carpenter gave his daughter the message to be conveyed to the lady. The message was that the lady's father had left behind a treasure in a hole, the location of which, only the carpenter knew. Hearing this message the lady came running to meet the carpenter. By then the carpenter had passed away. The lady was totally distraught. She could not forgive herself for having ignored the call of the carpenter.

     The above is true of our lives too. We prefer to live in the darkness of greed, ego etc. rather than look for the light which is nowhere else but within us.

     Dada urged upon the people to practice Sadhnas for no selfish reason. Only then will the practice of our Sadhnas be meaningful. Let us pray that we gain from the teachings of our Gurus. Only then can we say that we celebrated Guru Purnima in the true meaning of the word.

     Touched by his words, devotees surrounded Dada to seek his spiritual blessings. The programme concluded in the afternoon with fellowship meals.