Hari om.You know that tomorrow is our master, Swami Murugesu's samadhi. Four years ago he took samadhi at four-fifteen in the afternoon. We will be having bhajans and kirtans in memory of Mahagnanavatar Murugesu Maharishi Gayathri Siddhar.
I hope all of you can be here for that. Swami Murugesu was a small man but when you touched his feet, you felt nine thousand volts of electricity go up your spine. To those who didn't know Swami Murugesu, it is very rare to find a being of that simplicity who was also a Maharishi, a really great saint, who taught by inspiration and vibration and hardly a single word. He was a great master and teacher and he has promised me that tomorrow afternoon at four-fifteen, his presence will be very strongly felt here in the shrine. You just need to meditate on the energy of this glorious and beautiful human being, Gayathri Siddhar Swami Murugesu Maharishi. He was a saint who had knowledge of every aspect of life. No question was too difficult for him. Every question asked of him was answered in a very simple and understandable way, so that all devotees whether educated or not, would understand Swami Murugesu.
The beauty about Swami Murugesu was that whenever South African devotees went to Sri Lanka, Swami would give a discourse every evening in English - with all the Sri Lankan devotees sitting there not understanding a word, but they would continuously nod their heads in deep concentration. That really used to make me think: "They are so focused on Swami yet they don't understand..." When the discussion was finished they would ask questions in Tamil related to the discussion. That is the brilliance of this great master. He would talk to you in a language you might think is foreign and yet you ask him a question and he would respond.
Swami's blessing was given with a lot of energy, force and thunder behind it. I remember a Buddhist monk who was visiting South Africa through the South African Sai organisation, and a lady who was there, brought him here because she knew him well. And when I took him to my room he saw the photo of Swami and fell flat on the ground and said, "This is the man who cured me. He is from Sri Lanka. Am I right?" I said, "Yes!" The monk was critically sick and everyone he went to said he was possessed. The normal Indian trend was to throw ashes or something. But when he went to Swami he was asked to buy soap. So he bought the soap and Swami asked him to hold it in his hand for a few minutes. Afterwards Swami took the soap away from him and he never got sick again. This is the power of Swami Murugesu.
Very little is known about him. There are no disciples other than myself in the world. I am his only disciple for he did not want to have disciples. All his life he was looking for a disciple and he found a disciple in South Africa. And he always said that the luckiest people in this whole world are in South Africa. That was his line. There was a bond between us that was something else. At one time he was so frustrated about this bond that he asked me not to come back to Sri Lanka. He sent a very nasty fax telling me that I shouldn't come back to Sri Lanka. But somehow I was notified that Swami was going to India so I went to India and waited at the airport. He was surprised to see me when I met with him there. He realised he could not get rid of this 'fly' so he asked me to come back to Sri Lanka. He was testing me. That is how masters test you.
Hari Om.
