Giriraj Swami and Indradyumna Swami spoke at the first birthday of Vishakha, daughter of Janaki dasi and Gauranga Prema dasa, in Pasadena, California, yesterday.
“God, who is the source of all life, loves all 8,400,000 species. As the Supreme Endower, He gives every creature some little gift. Like Christmas — all the children go to the Christmas tree and get a gift, or like Dipavali — all the children get sweets. Birds can fly – much to the envy of man. If we want to fly we have to work hard and purchase an airline ticket, but birds can fly anytime. If you want to go scuba diving you have to put on a scuba tank, mask, fins, and wetsuit, but a fish does not need any of that. It can swim under the water as much as it wants. Bears can sleep six months of the year – no one wakes them up to go to work or to school. Butterflies are always beautiful — they don’t have to put on their makeup in the morning and take it off in the evening; they are always beautiful. God is so kind.
“What did we get? What is the gift God gave us? He gave us buddhi, intelligence. We have done amazing things — in science, technology, medicine, and space exploration — with that intelligence over the last three hundred years. But ultimately that intelligence is meant for a higher purpose. The ultimate reason that God has given us this intelligence is so that we can go within and discover our deeper spiritual nature.” — Indradyumna Swami
