Never to Return: A Modern Quest for Eternal Truth, Chapter 42: Cheering up Nine Swamis

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NEVER TO RETURN:

A MODERN QUEST FOR ETERNAL TRUTH

A Multimedia Spiritual Adventure Memoir
by Sharon Janis

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Chapter Forty-Two

CHEERING UP NINE SWAMIS

OTHER THAN THE THURSDAY EVENING chanting satsangs and the Sunday morning Guru Gita chant, I pretty much became a hermit in my Cardiff by the Sea abode. I was still recuperating from the physical and emotional challenges and working on writing my books. People would sometimes invite me to various spiritual events, but I usually preferred to rest at home, since attending one event would sometimes exhaust me for several days.

However, one event came along that I decided to attend. A friend showed me a flyer about nine swamis from south India who would be giving a free program, that just happened to be a the home of a very nice couple who often came to our Thursday evening satsangs, and for no particular reason other than it was an interesting looking flyer with nine swamis, I drove down to attend.

The large living room was already full, but the woman who owned the house saw me arrive, and ushered me in to sit right up front, saying, "Maybe you can sing something." There was a large sectional couch, and on it sat nine swamis, all wearing orange robes, but other than that, completely different in appearance. It was quite a sight to behold. They were big, small, young, old, bald, with long hair, skinny, and fat - nine swamis who I thought almost appeared to represent different qualities of the nine planets. You could hardly have arranged a more varied group of swamis. But they all had one thing in common - they looked very serious and seemed to be totally bored.

Two of the swamis returned my initial smile, but then went back to having very serious faces. A couple of the other swamis nodded to acknowledge my silent greeting. To begin the program, an Indian doctor introduced each one of them in a common Indian fashion of listing a full and detailed resume of their many accomplishments. It didn't take too long until the rest of us started to get a bit bored too. One of the swamis was playing with a video camera, trying to get it to work. Some of the swamis had their eyes closed, while others stared out into space, seemingly uninterested in even their own biographies.

The program continued with a bit of speaking and some singing by my friend Prem, who was also there. The swamis didn't speak English at all, and one started to give a lecture in the Kannada language, which was translated infrequently and nearly incomprehensibly by a translator. Kannada is a very obscure language from South India. I was just sitting there, observing the colorful yet tedious scene, when I remembered that one of the hymns I'd learned and memorized as an offering to my guru fifteen years earlier during the week of his passing was in the Kannada language.

One of the two Kannada hymns in this selection that had been specially crafted by my guru was the Parameshwari Stotram, a hymn to the goddess, with names of different aspects and forms of the divine Mother. I used to sing it in the mornings to inaugurate my days of video editing in the ashram. Now, in the midst of this program with nine Kannada-speaking swamis, I tried to run through some of the song in my mind, wondering if I could possibly remember the whole hymn well enough to sing it by heart. Wouldn't it be great to be able to offer these swamis a song in their own language? I wasn't sure if I could remember the ten-minute text well enough to chant the whole thing, since its words, syncopation, and melody are fairly complex.

Just then, we moved into the final portion of the program, questions and answers with the swamis. The somber mood continued, as one participant asked the swamis if they had formed any opinions during their visit about the difference between the east and the west. One of the swamis responded that America has a great deal of material wealth, but very little spiritual wealth.

Now, it's not that I completely disagreed with the swami's assessment, but at the same time, I did want to stick up for my country, and I had the perfect tool with which to do it - Parameshwari Stotram - the Kannada song to many names of the great universal Goddess. I decided to go for it.

As the program was winding down, I mentioned that I'd like to offer a song in the Kannada language, and began to play a chord on the drone organ. I had to close my eyes to really concentrate, and the words came out clear, accurate, and reverent. As I sang through the verses, I could hear some of the swamis singing quietly along with me, and was happy to realize that this song was familiar to them. At one point, when I stumbled a bit on a phrase, all nine swamis jumped in and finished that phrase with me. At this point, I opened my eyes and saw all their faces completely transformed and totally lit up with huge smiles! As big as their frowns had been that's how big their smiles were now. The swami who had been playing with the video camera was now using it to record my song to take back with him to India. It was amazing to see these nine swamis looking so incredibly vibrant and happy after they had been looking so bored just moments earlier.

CLICK HERE to listen to my rendition of Parameshwari Stotram

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When the program ended, many in attendance came over to me to shared how moved they were while watching the whole play. In fact, for many years following this, people who were there would mention the event when we saw each other. As all the guests were enjoying some prasad, the main swami came over to express his appreciation, and asked the question that great beings know is the best question to ask a disciple who has shown some good quality. "Who is your guru?"

Weeks later, the couple who owned the house shared with me that the swamis had been staying with them for several days before the program, and had been almost moping around and seeming very solemn. Perhaps they were missing their home in India, since this was the first time many of them had even left the country. The hosting couple had taken the swamis to the San Diego zoo, however even there they had maintained their serious faces. However, the couple told me that after I sang the Kannada song, the swamis woke up the next morning happy and laughing, and their mood stayed up until they left. I had apparently cheered up nine swamis!

 This event was exceptionally important for my inner state. It reminded me of the power of what my gurus had given to me, and it also brought a whole new awareness of the power of my chanting to uplift others. After this evening, I finally considered myself to be a devotional singer.

On to Chapter Forty-Three

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