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Gadi Granth Parayan Purnahuti & Acharya Swamiji Maharaj's Divine Ashirwad - 29th August 2023

The evening sabha on Tuesday 29 August commenced with Sandhya Aarti and Niyams at 6pm followed by Kirtan Bhakti and a reading of the Swaminarayan Gadi Granth.

In today’s Ashirwad, Acharya Swamiji Maharaj teaches us to look within ourselves in order to find and understand what our virtues are so that they can be used to allow us perform devotion unto the Lord.

Lord Swaminarayan says, everyone has an ‘aang’ - a propensity/ liking - which existed within us before we even became associated with this satsang. It existed like a small seed then it germinates and flourishes. Whichever aang one possess, one must stay within and understand that aang in order to then please the Lord.

Swamiji Maharaj gave the example of the fought – it has the effect of protecting a lone person from hundreds of attackers. If we worship accordingly, we shall be able to suppress the wrongful traits with little effort.

Swamiji Maharaj explained that Bapashree’s aang was his fondness for Katha Varta. Him and Kunverjibjai would sit for hours and deliberate about what came in the days Katha. Bapashree showed this aang and characteristic for our benefit.

Similarly, Lord Swaminarayan, in order to encourage others to find their aang would talk about His aang. He said even in His childhood He enjoyed going to Temples, listening to Katha vartha, associating with Sants and going on pilgrimages. When He left home to go on His forest expedition, He did not like to keep any belongings. He enjoyed living in the forest despite encountering numerous endangered animals however He remained fearless. This was the kind of renunciation that remained within Him. Maharaj says he has no interest in familial ties, nor this mortal world because they distance you from understanding and being at one with the Lord. However beautiful something looks, it is Maya – Maya will ultimately cause misery.

At a time of a persons death, everyone severs all selfish passions they have for that dying person. Even the mind of the dead person becomes dejected from worldly life. Lord Swaminarayan says He has the same dispassion for the world. He remains indifferent to all worldly objects, whether they are good or bad. Lord Swaminarayan says even when he praises ones object; complimenting one’s house or car, it makes the disciple feel good; He pays such compliments to please the disciple. The Lord says He has to acknowledge one’s material success in order to attain the disciple’s affection towards the Lord. To keep the disciple happy, He accepts certain material items but in reality the Lord has no interest in such things.

We must look within ourselves and identify the seed of the propensity that exists within us, water it through the association of this faith so that it blossoms and strengthens in order to allow us to progress towards the Lord.

There exists different forms of services or devotion. From the different forms of devotion, Katha vartha is a priority and should come first, it is the number one. Then follows the other ‘aang’s’. Without the one, the other zero’s one attains from performing different forms of devotion are meaningless.

The evening Sabha concluded with a Swaminarayan Gadi Granth Parayan Purnahuti.