Searching Questions And Fulfilling Answers

‘Young, free and single’.

These three words best describe

the mentality of today’s youth.

They are at a delicate transition

in their lives, expected by society

to be responsible and yet by that

same society trusted with

sponsibilities or allowed to think

for themselves. It is a period

where they have to leave their

childhood dreams and accept the

realities of life. If we can learn to

trust them, to respect their views,

to treat them as the young adults

they are - and at the same time

still love them as we did when

they were children, then may be

they will be able to accept these

realities and take on the task to

improve the world we live in.

If not, they may rebel against

society and in effect, against us.

We can see Swamishri preparing

yesterday’s children to become

tomorrow’s leaders...

Whenever Swamishri visits London, thousands throng to the temple for his darshan and blessings. The Sanstha takes on the responsibility for providing parking space for their cars and to protect them from vandals. A team of dedicated youths have taken it upon themselves to do this seva. Every evening from 5:30pm to 10:30pm, in all types of weather, be it rain, snow or sleet, one can find these youths standing along the surrounding streets of the temple doing their seva. Of course, this means that they never get the chance to go inside the temple to enjoy the darshan of Swami, the discourses by the sadhus, the cultural programmes and most important of all, Swamishri’s blessings. Considering that Swamishri only comes to London every two to three years, their sacrifice is enormous. Though they are outside, Swamishri never forgets them. Often he sends them prasad and sometimes he even gives a message over the walkie-talkie. He even goes to the kitchen at night to make sure that there is hot food ready for them when they come in from the cold. The most touching moment is when Swamishri waits for them every night before he goes to sleep. He meets them in his room and asks them about their seva. And sometimes he may even give them advice on how to progress in Satsang. In those 15 minutes, Swamishri makes up for those missing katha hours. Here is one of those bedtime conversations...

Volunteer : Because of their seva these youths don’t get the opportunity to listen to discourses or have your darshan. What should they do?

Swamishri : We do seva, but we should do it in such a way that if a newcomer comes here, then he leaves impressed with our work. We may be Satsangis but we all have our faults. If we develop understanding by listening to discourses, if someone criticises us about our seva, then we will be able to tolerate it. If we have understanding, will we ever think, ‘Why have they kept me so far away?’ Or if we come in late at night from our seva and the food has run out, still we won’t get upset. Because you all do seva so well, everybody is impressed.

Are you pleased by our seva?

Swamishri : That’s what I’m telling you. Whatever we do, if we do it to please God, then we will never be unhappy. We should do seva with love and enthusiasm. If you work as a security guard you have to stand for eight hours. There are always two guards outside the Queen's palace [referring to Buckingham Palace]. They are not even allowed to move. Here you can move about freely. If you make a mistake, then God will forgive you. If we can accommodate everyone, then it is a big seva!

We are happy just to have your darshan, that’s all.

Swamishri : That’s all there is. By looking at God and His Saint we experiencetranquillity.
‘Balto jalto atma, sant sarovar jay,
Satsang roopi laher ma, tarat tadho thay.’
By looking toward God all our pains are healed. Everyone makes mistakes, only God does not make mistakes. But we should never make mistakes intentionally.

(28 July 1990, London)