Chicago IL: Dada J.P. Vaswani, or “Dada” as he is lovingly known, belies his age of 97, in his address to the devotees in Chicago last week, spoke of forgiveness. “The only way to forgive completely is to forget. You cannot forgive if you continue to hold the feelings of the past. The past is over, Dada said. Move on with only love in your heart. Your mind will be at peace,” he said.
His message is of love, forgiveness and bringing God back into our daily lives. He talked of respecting all forms of life, be they of animals, insects or of plants. The 21st century, Dada said, should be the century for protecting Animal Rights. Killing animals for food is inhumane. “Let us not make our stomachs graveyards for animals,” he said.
Dada emphasized the need for having humor in our daily lives. “People have forgotten to smile and laugh,” he said, and added, “You are not fully dressed till you wear a smile on your face.” Dada told us to stop complaining and start thanking. Be thankful to God. More good things are happening than bad things in our lives. Focus on the good things.
Dada underscored the need to bringing God back into our daily life. “Everything you do, do it as if you are doing it for God. Remember God as many times a day as possible and in all that you do. Make God your partner in your daily life, be it your business or your personal life. Loneliness can be overcome if you believe that you are not alone, that God is always with you every moment of the day,” he said.
Pujya Dada was brought to the banquet hall by his personal cardiologist, Dr. Ramesh Chhablani from the home of Dada’s host family, Dr. Gopal and Neetu Lalmalani. It was an evening of enlightenment with a spellbound audience and a spiritual Master at the beautiful banquet hall of the Oakbrook Marriott, Chicago, IL. The evening began with devotional music by two renowned singers of Chicago: Pramila Bhatia, a well known disciple of the famous Purshotamdas Jalota, a singer at the Chinmaya Mission Center of Chicago; and Anil Sharma, a talented professional singer whom the Chicago community has had the privilege of hearing for many years. The bhajan singing primed the audience to a religious mood and focus on the arrival of the highlight of the evening, Dada J.P. Vaswani.
Dada is the head of the Sadhu Vaswani Mission based in Pune, India. The Mission has centers all over the world. The goals of the mission are to serve the needy and less fortunate people. It has Cardiac and Eye hospitals where free surgeries are done for the poor. Dada has written over 150 books with very leading titles, some of which are available on Amazon. The details and activities of the Sadhu Vaswani Center of Chicago, under the leadership of Prakash Jotwani, can be seen on its website www.svc-chicago.org.