 |
|
Source of Peace
|
|
This evening at 6.15 p.m., Mr. Paul Boateng, Deputy Home Secretary and MP for Brent South, arrived for Swamishri's blessings. He was overwhelmed and happy to see Swamishri. During his speech in the evening assembly he expressed his feelings of respect and peace: "Sisters and Brothers. It's good to be with you here this evening and to be in the presence of His Holiness. I, like so many of you on a Friday, feel very much the burden of this world. All of us understand what a Friday afternoon is like after a long week's work. And I must share with you the fact that as I approached the temple, as I came down Brentfield Road this afternoon, for reasons I will not trouble you with, the burdens felt particularly heavy. But you know as I came in to this holy place I felt a great lightness begin to grow in my heart. And I saw as I came in, the first thing that one sees, is Ganesh. And I have to say the thing about Ganesh is that whatever state you are in when you see him somehow you want to smile, and that is the wonderful thing about his image and his presence. And then as I drew near to the chamber where His Holiness is to be found there was a sense of expectation, a sense of anticipation of being in his presence. And that sense of expectation and anticipation as one went into the room and saw him, and knelt before him, you have then a sense of profound goodness and power. You have a sense of somebody who is in some way the focus of a spiritual force that is almost tangible. It is as if you could touch it. And then the lightness in the heart and the smile on the lips becomes multiplied many, many, many times, and you forget it's Friday. And you forget you are a man, and you forget you are a father, and you forget you are a husband and you forget you are a minister and that's a good feeling! And it's just so good to be with you all because through ourselves, through what we are, with all our weaknesses, all our imperfections, we are able despite those weaknesses, despite those imperfections, despite those flaws, we are able to magnify that force that comes from Swamiji. Through our presence together, through our own love and veneration that force goes out into the world and we need that spiritual force at this time. We live in a shattered world, we live in a splintered world, a broken world, and with that spiritual force that is manifested in him, that force of good, that force of love we can again begin to build and to become whole. Thank God for manifesting himself in this way."
|
|
|
|
|
|