Flanked by hundreds of volunteers on all sides Sri Sri and Bhanu Didi inaugurated the Gyan Mandir in Ludhiana.
On the occasion, the Industry Minister for Punjab said, “Kalyug main Kirtan Pradhan hai. Gyaan toh kitaabon main bahut hai, Guru bin gyaan nahin. Guru hi shishya ko gyaan deta hai.” (Satsang is very essential in Kalyug. There is a lot of knowledge in books but without the Guru it is of no use. Only the Guru gives knowledge to the disciple)
Sri Sri said:
The first Gyan Mandir in Punjab, in fact north India has been established here. Till date there was no such replica of Vishalakshi Mantap, Bangalore. One thing worth noting here is that just like in Bangalore, when we inaugurated the Vishalakshi Mantap on January 17, 2001, the place seemed small for the number of people who had gathered there. The same thing happened here as well.
Many buildings are built everyday but the places where knowledge is shared, Satsang is held, become eternal. In these places lakhs of people experience peace, improve their physical and mental health. When people come here they leave behind their sadness and go home smiling. In these places there is spiritual progress. Such places become Shashwat (renowned).
When people ask me to inaugurate jails and hospitals I tell them I don’t do that! They should be closed instead of opening new ones. Gyan Mandir is a place where people come with their ‘Samasyas’ (problems) and go with a Samadhan (solution). It’s a place where tears of sadness turn to tears of joy. Gyaan ke zariye jo muskaan khilti hai kabhi murjhati nahin. (The smile and joy that blossoms out of knowledge never fades away.)
At times we go to temples only to appear good in the eyes of others and not out of true feelings of devotion. That is of no use.
President Obama on his visit to India praised Indians for their humility and generosity. Thoughts like ‘this is mine,that is yours’ reflect immaturity. Vasudeva Kutumbakam the whole world is one family. We must strengthen this resolve. In Gyan Mandir, in fact everywhere people should come together and do Satsang and meditate. We must come out of the narrow horizons of our minds and raise a new level of enthusiasm towards service of the society.
I met around four thousand kids. Their enthusiasm, their curiosity, their questions overwhelmed educationists. People were stunned with the amount of transformation students underwent through the courses.
People from 25000 families underwent the de-addiction camps. Some of them shared their experiences yesterday. They had tears in their eyes as they spoke. We have to make the youth free from all these addictions and yet make them happy and relaxed. Only then Punjab will be Balle Balle
Punjab is the face of India. When there is any discomfort it is reflected on the person’s face. Just like the face Punjab has every sense organ- the sense of vision, sense of hearing. Gyaan ka jo bhi ang hai, Punjab main maujood hai. (Every aspect of knowledge is present in Punjab.)
People should read the Gurumukhi. The world’s best greeting has come from Punjab- Sat Sri Akaal meaning Satya, Sampatti, Amritva (Truth, Prosperity, Eternity.) Punjab- the land from where such precious knowledge spread to the world must not become a place where drugs and alcoholism is rampant
The Industry Minister is here. When there is addiction and lack of knowledge, industries do not prosper. On Diwali, the alcohol sales were three times more than the average! Yesterday the Health Minister said that sadly in Punjab, alcohol is a part of every occasion- voting, election results, on winning to celebrate and on losing to relax, in sports, everywhere streams of alcohol are flowing everywhere. Gyan Mandir is the only solution. We’ll keep different programs here- Japji Sahib, Sukhmani Sahib once a year. Guru Gobind Singh ji used to perform Chandi Homa. We’ll also have educational seminars here and ofcourse various Advance and Basic Meditation Courses.
Lots of love and blessings to everyone.
