Inspirations 108 Satsang Stories

Jay Swaminarayan

Every time God visits the Earth, He visits His devotees living across various places to refresh their hope and intensify their desire towards Him. When God is not here, His Saints take over His role and walk across the globe inspiring the devotees. Guruvarya Shri Devkrushnadasji Swami, the head of Gurukul Rajkot is a Saint and Guru of over 240 such Sadhus who currently propagate Bhagwan Swaminarayan's mission around the globe. Sadguru Shri Devprasaddasji Swami among them is one such Saint who often visits devotees with a single intent of strengthening their desire towards God, and thus reducing the distance between devotees and God. In the year 2017, within a span of three months, Swamiji travelled across all corners and centers of United States to personally visit the devotees, and teach them the devotional techniques that he had learnt from His Guru Shastriji Maharaj Shri Dharmajivandasji Swami (and other prominent Saints), from his personal observations while living as per God's and Guru's directions, and from scriptures like Vachanamrut, Swami Ni Vato, Bhagavat Gita, etc., “The art of being detached from worldly attachments”, “Real cause of birth and death cycle”, “Importance of selfless actions and the process of bringing it into your life”, “Importance of a Saint in our lives”, “Understanding Moh (Enchantment)”, are some of the many profound topics explained in a simple manner that would help ease a devotee's life by multiple folds. This book is an attempt to capture the depth of Swamiji's teachings that he delivered in USA in the year 2017. Shri Ramesh B. of non-Gujarati descent listened to the Katha in Gujarati and transcribed it as a collection which took the form of this book. We hope that the book brings forth the teachings of Sadguru Devprasaddasji Swami as it is and brings clarity on the inner techniques of devotion to the reader and thus enabling him to possess God as quickly as possible.

‘Kaam Dravya ne Maan Chhe Jeh, Teh Saru Dharyo Nathi Deh; Eva Gune Mota Je Munish, Eva Sant ne Naamu Hu Shish’. Sadguru Shri Nishkulanand Swami narrates the many characteristics of an ideal Saint in the second Prakaran of the Bhaktachintamani (2-20). Have you ever wondered what the life of a holy soul can be like? How did he live in this modern world? How did he shape the lives of so many individuals? What kind of a person is an epitome of Dharma, Bhakti, Gyan, and Vairagya like? How does his work live on forever? What kind of vision did he have for mankind? The noble and holy care less for themselves and more for the people in the social fabric. They suffer not for themselves but for all and yet remain forgiving forever. So broad and farsighted is their vision that generations after them keep thanking them forever. This book is an attempt to shed some light onto the life of Sadguru Shastriji Maharaj Shri Dharmajivandasji Swami answering the above questions. Each chapter explores a new facet of Pujya Swami's life. This riveting book will help you understand Swami's simple yet influential, bold yet gentle, strict yet accommodating, and courageous yet caring personality. The author has not merely translated the book "Sadhutana Shangar" from Gujarati to English but was inspired to serve in this capacity after reading the Gujarati edition written by Shastri Shri Haripriydasji Swami. May Bhagwan Swaminarayan, Pujya Shastriji Maharaj, and Pujya Guruvarya Shri Devkrushnadasji Swami be pleased upon Kamleshbhai Shah from Canada for picking up the publishing costs, his son and daughter for authoring the book, and all who served in the publishing of this book in any capacity, inspire them to serve the Swaminarayan Sampraday, and bless their hearts for their efforts. Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul also prays to Bhagwan Shree Swaminarayan that the readers of this book will be able to establish a bond with Pujya Shastriji Maharaj by using this book as a medium. So please turn the page and begin now!

Globally known as Amma, meaning "Mother," Mata Amritanandamayi has developed a massive transnational humanitarian organization based in hugs. She is familiar to millions as the "hugging saint," a moniker that derives from her elaborate darshan programs wherein nearly every day ten thousand people are embraced by the guru one at a time, events that routinely last ten to twenty hours without any rest for her. Although she was born in 1953 as a low-caste girl in a South Indian fishing village, today millions revere her as guru and goddess, a living embodiment of the divine on earth. Reflections of Amma focuses on communities of Amma’s devotees in the United States, showing how they endeavor to mirror their guru’s behaviors and transform themselves to emulate the ethos of the movement. This study argues that "inheritors" and "adopters" of Hindu traditions differently interpret Hindu goddesses, Amma, and her relation to feminism and women’s empowerment because of their inherited religious, cultural, and political dispositions. In this insightful ethnographic analysis, Amanda J. Lucia discovers how the politics of American multiculturalism reifies these cultural differences in "de facto congregations," despite the fact that Amma’s embrace attempts to erase communal boundaries in favor of global unity.

This work deals explicitly with the issue of how emerging religions legitimate themselves. It contends that a new religion has at least four different, though overlapping, areas where legitimacy is a concern: making converts, maintaining followers, shaping public opinion and appeasing government authorities. The legitimacy that new religions seek in the public realm is primarily that of social acceptance. recognizing its status as a genuine religion and thus recognizing its right to exist. Through a series of wide-ranging case studies James Lewis explores the diversification of legitimation strategies of new religions as well as the tactics that their critics use to de-legitimate such groups. Cases include the Movement for Spiritual Inner Awareness, Native American prophet religions, spiritualism, the Church of Christ-Scientist, Scientology, Church of Satan, Heaven's Gate, Unitarianism, Hindu reform movements and Soka Gakkai, a new Buddhist sect. to the legitimation strategies deployed by established religions, the book sheds light on classic questions about the origin of all religions.

Shikshapatri and Vachanamrutam are the basic scriptures of the swaminarayan sampradaya. Shikshapatri is written by Shree Sahajanand Swami. It is a sort of code of conduct, a set of rules of moral behavior, for social decorum, religious performance and worship of God. It aims at making man’s life smooth, happy and achieves final liberation after his death. Vachanamrutam is a collection of 262 talks delivered by Shree Sahajanand Swami, during the last ten years of His life. The book contains the sum and substance of the basic philosophy of Swaminarayan Sampradaya. It has a distinct note of authority as the thoughts are based on His personal experience.