The celebration of Sivananda Janmotsav from 1st to 8th September at Satyananda Yoga Centre, Triplicane, had given me and all disciples abundant opportunities to offer our seva and connect with the Guru Parampara.
On 19th October, five of us from the Chennai delegation were informed that we would be offering our seva in the Akhara for the Satyam Yoga Yajna that was to be conducted by pandits from Varanasi as part of the Munger Yoga Symposium.
On 23rd morning as we were cleaning the seating area, Swamiji walked towards our group and greeted to us with “Vanakyam.” Swamiji was delighted to see all of them wearing the t-shirt that had been given as prasad. Swamiji asked me, “Where is your t-shirt? You know, there is one t-shirt, with words: 'To achieve God, Goodness and Greatness plant the seeds of love'.
I could not contain my delight any more and explained to Swamiji about the seed balls that we had given as prasad for Sivananda Janmotsav Celebration in Chennai. I explained how it works. Swamiji expressed his delight through his mesmerizing smile, “This is beautiful, wonderful, such a lovely idea, we have to do something.” I asked Swamiji if the seed balls should be arranged to be given as prasad to all the participants of the symposium. Swamiji approved the idea.
It was 23rd morning around 7 am. I realized that we had only five days to make the seed balls and get them delivered to Ganga Darshan. It was humanly impossible to make the number of seed balls required within five days, leave alone transport them from Cuddalore to Ganga Darshan. We needed 2,400 seed balls.
As soon as we walked out of the Akhara, I rushed to make a call to Dr Elanthirayan, who lives in Cuddalore. He was one of my students who did not make it to the symposium. Now I was really happy that Dr Elanthirayan had not come to Ganga Darshan as a delegate.
To tell you a little bit of a flashback, after Sivananda Janmotsav, in September, I had expressed the desire to arrange 2,000 seed balls for the ashram. I had asked Dr Elanthirayan to arrange for them and have them delivered by the end of September. Due to some situations and other developments, Dr Elanthirayan could not arrange the seeds and on 17th October I told him not to pursue.
Within a week on 23rd October, I urged him to organize the seed balls. Dr Elanthirayan spoke to four different sources and had arranged for supply. But the balls were wet, very heavy, not ready to be sent. Even if they were ready, neither courier services nor the postal department were ready to undertake the transport of 1,500 seed balls, as we were asking delivery of the material at Ganga Darshan, latest on 27th.
When I spoke to Dr Elanthirayan, he expressed that all the conventional transport options were not possible. He was arranging to send his hospital assistant on a train to deliver the seed balls directly. Finally, on 25th October, the assistant, Mr Sekar, started on his first journey to Ganga Darshan with 1,500 Seeds of Love! When I got the message I conveyed the development to Swamiji. I was still keeping my fingers crossed.
Mr Sekar came by train and within two days the Seeds of Love arrived. At every stage grace was guiding and supporting his travel. He had left without a train ticket, yet to everyone’s surprise he got a reserved tatkal ticket to travel from Chennai to Howrah! While he was still on the train, the ticket to travel from Howrah to Jamalpur was yet to be made and again at the last minute he got the confirmation. On 27th morning the Seeds of Love had reached the ashram around 9 am.
The blessings of Guru have the power to make miracles happen naturally. The consignment was heavy, almost 200 kg, yet without much of a hassle, Mr Sekar could bring the consignment all alone.
One can do anything to bring joy to Guru! This time I was fortunate to offer something like a squirrel did to Sri Rama. I picked up a cotton pouch, the accompanying guideline card and kept three seed balls in the pouch. I couldn’t wait to meet Swamiji and show it. Swamiji was conducting the class for the blue group. I had to take Mr Sekar to his accommodation. Once he settled in his room, it was time for me to return to seva in the Akhara.
I showed Swamiji the pouch with the card and Seeds of Love. Swamiji read the guidelines, the words on the pouch, and gently opened the pouch. Those were moments of total silence and stillness. I thanked Swamiji for giving me an opportunity to bring the Seeds of Love all the way from Tamil Nadu, the motherland of Swami Sivananda.
On the last day of the symposium, the Seeds of Love were given as prasad to every participant of the symposium. After doing parikrama every delegate and saha yogi received a pouch containing Seeds of Love.