Pournami Pooja Discourse

Why are we doing Pournami this morning and not in the evening? Pournami full moon started last night after half-past-seven and finishes at 5.30pm today. So we are having the prayer at 10am. I think every time Pournami falls on the weekend, we should have it in the morning. Then you don't have to worry about being late for work the next day because this guru is keeping you up talking until 11 o'clock at night.

The month of May is a healing month for the Gayathri Peedam. We travel around the country doing healing mantras. So today we're going to try and heal those who weren't here for the healing pooja on the first of May. We're going to take you through the healing. The children who are playing the instruments here have a name: The Murugesu Swami Bhajan Group and Drummers. You'll feel the energy going up your spine. Just enjoy it.

Our AGM is on Sunday 13^th  of May, at 3pm. An AGM is important for any organisation. It is better for you to come and tell us what you do and don't find good in the ashram, instead of congregating in the corners to discuss it after service. The AGM is for that specific reason. The only thing is, at the Gayathri Peedam AGM you don't get to elect anyone you want. The responsibility is on me to select a committee. We don't want you to come here and put your hand up for anyone. I will choose you the way I think you can do the job. If you don't come we could lose our fundraising number and won't be able to raise funds. If we can't raise funds we can't run the ashram and you'll have to pay me to come into the kripa. Rather come to the AGM and let's do things properly. So on Sunday, Mothers' Day – you can visit your mother or your mother's grave in the morning (they go back to the astral plane in the afternoon). Actually, we are supposed to remember our mothers every day, not just on Mothers' Day. Mothers' Day is prosperous for Edgars, not for you. So you finish your business in the morning. Be here in the afternoon at 3pm. It is important to me as well that you are here and know who's who in the Gayathri Peedam. 

When I was young, mielie-rice (corn rice) was the staple diet, milk was in abundance and bread was cheap. Uncles and aunts lived in the same home and we showed them every respect. Kids called their mothers Amma or Ma. When I was young Blackberry and Apple were just fruits, now they are problems in our lives. Yesterday during service, there was a child in the back texting someone. We are going to ban cellphones in the temple if you use them during prayers. Patanjali says that all focus should be towards Ishwara. By carrying a cellphone, we're always waiting for it to vibrate. The next person I find using a cellphone during service, I will confiscate their phone and put it in the hawan in front of you. I'm warning you beforehand – at least Agni can send me messages. No cellphones on these premises. Whether you're waiting for a call from your husband, wife, soulmate, whoever, I don't care. Go outside the gate and talk. You come here and you must surrender to God. Many of you lack that dedication and then want to know why prayers are not working for you. You want to blame the guru, the ritual and our ways of worship.

I've had failures in my life. They will come, and they will pass. For every decline there's a valley; for every incline there's a peak. Sometimes you'll be in the valley, and sometimes in the peak. You must be able to make the best of both situations. We are very materialistic and, because of this, we forget that there is a greater energy out there. One group of Christians call it Mother Mary, another group call it Jesus, we call it Krishna, Rama - we can call it anything we want, the energy is the same. So just come and focus on that energy and it'll happen for you – whatever you want. There is nothing impossible in the eyes of God. Everything is impossible to us. But we don't put out the right thoughts, at the right time or with the right energy. Always create the right energy and you will  find that at the end of the day you can sleep well.

So, two things we need to understand and remember. We come here for one purpose: to benefit from the Gayathri Peedam, and to have the energy of God within us. The second thing I said today – no more cellphones. I'm instructing all executive members: if anybody has a cellphone bring it to me for the cellphone mantra...

Cellphone cellphone yavidmahee
Maha cellphone dhimahee
Tanno cellphone prachodayat
Swaha.

And that's your cellphone gone.

Hari Om.