Pranams. Welcome.
Welcome to this very sacred day
on a sacred location
— this beautiful shrine
to the great Mahatma Gandhi founded by our gurudeva, Paramahansa Yogananda,
to commemorate the epoch-making life
and spiritual ideals
that Gandhiji put before the whole world,
not by his words but by his actions.
Signifying the light of Spirit
that has flowed from Mother India for countless millennia
and was beautifully exemplified in the life of the great Mahatma Gandhi,
and the incense
signifying our devotion and reverence
for those ancient and eternal truths
and for Gandhiji.
Please join and pray together with me.
Feel the presence of God,
Christ, and the Masters.
Heavenly Father,
Mother,
Friend,
Beloved God;
Jesus Christ,
Bhagavan Krishna,
Mahavatar Babaji,
Lahiri Mahasaya,
Swami Sri Yukteswar,
our gurudeva,
Paramahansa Yogananda,
saints of all religions,
we bow to you all.
We are gathered today
to pay reverent homage
to the great apostle of peace,
the great Mahatma Gandhi,
on the 150th
anniversary of his entry into this world.
May the light that was born that day
grow ever stronger,
nurtured by our observance
of the eternal ideals
of peace,
of love,
of truth,
of loyalty to the eternal laws of creation,
the divine harmony
underlying all life.
Heavenly Father,
we are grateful
that you sent among us
the great Mahatma Gandhi
to serve
as a living example
of the truths that Jesus Christ lived and died for,
and of the truths more anciently expressed
in India's Sanatana Dharma,
in the holy Bhagavad Gita.
Bless us,
that our lives reflect
those ideals
that spring from the Divine Being
— love,
peace,
forgiveness,
compassion and service to all.
We bow with loving pranams
to the great Mahatma Gandhi,
whose memory has been enshrined
in this sacred monument
by our gurudeva,
Paramahansa Yogananda.
Heavenly Father,
may Thy love
shine forever
on the sanctuary of our devotion,
and may we be able
to awaken Thy love
in all hearts.
Aum.
Shanti.
Amen.
Revered Mahatma Gandhi, we offer this garland
of flowers to signify
our gratitude
for the great spiritual teaching that you embodied,
that you held before us throughout your life,
and in honor of your 150th birth anniversary.
Let me just say a few words, share a few words.
First, some beautiful
devotional words from the bhajan that
Gandhiji loved so much,
and this was really used by him
pretty much on a daily basis in his prayer services at his ashram.
It's this ancient hymn
Vaishnava Jana To
written by the medieval saint,
Narsinh Mehta,
in the 15th century.
And Gandhiji had
all of the residents in his ashram
listen to and sing this and chant it
every day so that it would sink deep into their hearts and minds,
mostly because
he knew that it was only by
a grounding in these spiritual truths
that his great experiment
of changing the course of Indian history and of world history
had a chance of succeeding.
First and foremost it flows from the
devotee's purification of the being
and living
in the consciousness of the Divine Presence.
So the free translation of these words of the bhajan:
“Call that person God's own
who feels the woes of others.
Even though he helps others in pain,
he does not let pride enter his mind.
He respects all,
criticizes none.
He keeps his speech, actions, and mind pure.
The mother of such a one is blessed indeed.
He regards all equally,
has renounced desires,
respects all women as he does his mother.
He never utters an untruth
and does not covet others' wealth.
He's not possessed
by attachment or delusion.
His mind is filled with intense dispassion
for worldly things.
He is totally engrossed in remembrance of the Lord.
All places of pilgrimage are within him.
He is without greed or deceit
and has overcome lust and anger.
Narsi says,
‘It is a blessing to have the mere sight
of such a person
whose presence elevates his entire race.'”
And of course, though Gandhiji
held those ideals up for all of the followers in his ashram,
of his satyagraha movement,
how beautifully each line of that was exemplified and embodied
in his own life, in his own character.
Now a few words
from our guru, Paramahansa Yogananda,
who wrote in "Whispers From Eternity"
after the assassination of Gandhi in 1948.
Paramahansaji writes:
“O Gandhi!
the masses well named thee Mahatma, 'great soul.'
By thy presence, many prisons became temples.
When silenced, thy voice yet seemed to grow more powerful
and to ring around the world.
Thy message of victory through satyagraha
('holding to truth')
touched the conscience of mankind.
Through thy reliance on God, not cannons,
thou didst accomplish a feat unparalleled in history:
the freeing of a vast nation
from foreign rule, without hatred or bloodshed.
As thou didst sink, dying, to the ground
— three bullets from a madman's gun in thy frail, fast-worn body —
thy hands rose effortlessly in a sweet gesture of forgiveness.
Innocent artist thou wert all the days of thy life;
and, at the moment of death,
thou became a supreme artist.
All the sacrifices of thy selfless life
made possible that final loving gesture.
O Simple Saint of Truth,
warriors of the future
shall seriously study and finally understand thy teaching:
The essential enemies of man are not his brothers
— who are the children of Spirit, our One Father;
the enemies are his own ego foes,
born of mortal ignorance.
Nations now distracted by political selfishness,
greed, deceptions, and preparations for wars
shall someday listen with open hearts to thy prophetic words:
'Non-violence has come among men
and it will live.
It is the harbinger of the peace of the world.'"
Now in this
great monument to world peace let's take a minute just to go within
and feel that divine peace that flows from the soul,
that flows from the Divine,
and practice our Guru's technique
of broadcasting those vibrations of peace and love and divine harmony
around the world
to all humanity, to all nations, to all peoples.
Aum.
And once more visualizing that great divine light
surrounding the entire globe,
permeating every heart of every person on the planet.
Aum.
Jai Gandhiji! Jai Gandaji!
Jai Gandhiji!
Just take a moment again to feel
that eternal peace,
that eternal love,
that eternal truth.
May it be born forever
in the hearts and minds of all humanity.
Aum.
Shanti.
Amen.