Ekadasi Bhajan and Home Satsang in Houston

On September 18,the devotees assembled at the residence of Sri Jeevan and Smt. Lekshmi Nair, where, in the presence of Sri Swamiji’s Holy Padukas, an Ekadasi sampradaya bhajan satsang was conducted. Led by Sri Narayananji, the devotees sang exclusively Sri Swamiji’s kirtans glorifying the Guru, the Divine Name, Satsang, and various forms of the Lord.

Towards the end of the bhajan satsang, Sri Ramanujamji gave a short talk over the telephone where he spoke of how chanting Nama can bring about Guru’s compassionate grace, as Sri Narayana Thirtha says in his tharangam, “Sadguru krupa samudra sanga hetu sulabhe…”. Ramanujamji also mentioned an incident in Gandhiji’s life where a westerner told Gandhiji that he found the repetition of the same thing jarring. To which Gandhiji replied that there were recurring decimals even in mathematics. Every new recurring decimal adds to the whole and changes the picture, similarly doing Nama japa adds to the whole. Gandhiji said that each repetition has a new meaning and carries us nearer and nearer to God, that this was a “concrete fact” as he himself has experienced it every minute of his life. Ramanujamji added that in recurring fractions, as we build it out, the next fraction is smaller than the previous:
1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + 1/32 etc….. (approaches) 1 [unity/ advaitam]
The only difference in spirituality is that it is the reverse. In Akhanda Nama, the Nama we chant once starts with an infinitesimally small impact and then as we chant more and more, it doubles the effect every time!
Towards the end, Ramanujamji also mentioned an incident related to a picture that he had shared earlier, that underlined his message about how Nama bestows Guru’s grace. The picture, taken recently, was of a man sitting in front of Sri Swamiji. Sri Ramanujamji said that the man was a driver who happened to bring some devotees to the Madhurapuri Ashram. As the Mahamantra was chanted in the Ashram hall, he had silently sat in a corner. Attracted by the mantra, he had tried to write down what was being chanted by listening to it, but was unable to completely write i down. As the man was leaving, Sri Swamiji beckoned to Sri Ramanujamji and asked him to give the man a Mahamantra sticker and CD. The man was both stunned and thrilled to receive the unexpected gifts and went back to prostrate and thank Sri Swamiji for bestowing him with what he had wanted! The driver’s interest in listening to the Nama and writing it down had automatically attracted our Sri Swamiji to him, and in a few moments, he was (literally) at His feet!

After Sri Ramanujamji’s talk, the bhajan session was concluded. Dolotsavam was then performed and the Lord was lulled to bed.

On Sunday, September 19, Nama sankirtan was performed at Namadwaar from 7:30 AM to 10 PM. Following this, the Holy Padukas of Sri Swamiji graced the new residence of Sri Sriram and Smt. Nisha for a “housewarming” satsang. Several bhajans glorifying the Guru and the Lord were sung by devotees for almost two hours. This was followed by Mahamantra sankirtan and a beautiful talk by Sri Narayanan on the Lord’s avataras and on the Govardhana lila. Interestingly, the skies melted and it began to rain heavily exactly when he completed the telling of Govardhana uddharanam.

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