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His Divine Holiness Acharya Swamishree and a mandal of thirteen sants visited the disciples of Shree Swaminarayan Siddhant Sajivan Mandal Midwest – Chicago during a short two and a half-day vicharan in Chicago from Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 through Thursday, July 30th, 2009. After a flight cancelation and a change of airport departure, Acharya Swamishree and sants arrived in Chicago Tuesday evening. Many disciples had gathered to welcome Acharya Swamishree and the sants at O’Hare International Airport. Acharya Swamishree and sants then went to Shree Swaminarayan Temple Chicago where Acharya Swamishree performed aarti and everyone performed the daily Sandhya Aarti niyams.

Wednesday morning, Acharya Swamishree, sants, and disciples went to the new temple site to survey the construction progress. Final plans are being approved, and work is underway. Everyone is hoping for the temple to be completed readily with the blessings of Lord Swaminarayanbapa Swamibapa.

Acharya Swamishree and sants then had thaar at the temple, and everyone then proceeded to the nearby Eisenhower Junior High School for a satsang sabha. Sants performed kirtan-bhakti, disciples gave speeches about the glory of Lord Swaminarayanbapa Swamibapa, and Acharya Swamishree showered His divine ashirwad upon the entire congregation. In His blessings, Acharya Swamishree said the following:

His Divine Holiness Acharya Shree Purshottampriyadasji Swami gave Aashirwad to the disciples of Midwest region of USA.
He said that from the time the soul has come in contact with the Supreme Lord Shree Swaminarayan and His Satpurush who have the key to eternal salvation, the soul has become enlighten. And because of this enlightenment, it acquired the knowledge and status of Purshottamroop.

Lord has come from His Divine Akshardham to give eternal salvation. In order to acquire eternal salvation, the soul must abide by all the orders from Lord and His Satpurush. God had bestow his mercy upon us all, so we must be cautious and live life according to His will. We must also embed in our souls that He is the almighty Lord, and the doer of everything. One who does not understand this or lacks such knowledge, is considered to be atheist. Souls seeking eternal salavation should not even come close to such people. One acquires such knowledge by only His mercy.

Disciples that have this knowledge and love for God, continue to grow in the Satsang. They give all their mind, body, and money to God.

After Acharya Swamishree’s blessings, disciples performed aarti, and everyone was served maha prasad. Acharya Swamishree and sants then went back to the temple to perform daily Sandhya Aarti niyams. After the night’s rest, they departed the temple around 6:00 AM for O’Hare International Airport and took a 9 o’clock flight back to New Jersey. Although Acharya Swamishree’s time in Chicago was quite short, the disciples were truly pleased to have His divine darshan and blessings.