Sri Swamiji

Avadhoota Datta Peethadhipati Jagadguru Parama Pujya Sri Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji was born at Mekedatu in southern India on May 26, 1942. A Muslim saint had predicted to His parents (Sri Narasimha Sastri and Jayalskhmi Mata) that their child would have supreme wisdom and knowledge and was destined to uplift mankind.   

Pujya Swamiji’s actual birth occurred on a rock in the Kaveri river. His mother Jayalakshmi was in deep meditation and the child was born covered with holy ash. The child was named Satyanarayana. His mother, whom the Swami calls His first Guru, initiated Him into spiritual life before her passing in 1951. Satyanarayana completed His education like other
children, but found school had nothing to offer Him. He was endowed at birth with great knowledge and power. Even as a child, he organized satsangs and taught bhajans to His friends, and performed "siddhis" to entertain them, such as turning tree leaves into sweets.

He had been serving his fellow humans, helping them with their problems since his childhood. Through his miraculous powers, He was able to understand their situations, knowing their past, present, and future and helped them to overcome difficulties. Some of them became his first disciples who were soon to be followed by more. He sang bhajans and kirtans for them and started giving yoga classes in small village huts or on river banks, while he was wandering the countryside as a monk. He acquired a large following, which demanded all of His time an attention.

In 1966 He moved to the present site of the Mysore Ashram, which in the early days was only a straw hut in a field. It was there at Mysore that He became Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji. Since then Sri Swamiji has been helping people in His unique way. People come to Him for help with their worldly affairs, or to become healed of physical afflictions, or for guidance in their spiritual practice. Many come to hear His beautiful and powerful songs, which draw the heart and mind to God or to celebrate the special festivals in the ancient and eternal vedic traditions.

One among the important festivities is Maha Shivaratri, when Sri Swamiji enters the homa kunda unmindful of the surrounding fire. A memorable part of Shivaratri is Sri Swamiji's Agni Puja, the worship of the Fire God, which He has inherited from his ancestors and has been performing for many years. Sri Swamiji does Puja to the Agni standing in the
pit (Homa Kunda) unmindful of the leaping flames which surround Him. The flames are powerless before Sri Swamiji; they cannot even touch a hair on His crown. After worshipping Agni, He materializes Shiva Lingams, Sri Chakras and other items. It is a case of spiritual fire conquering material fire, and it benefits the whole world.

The Concept of Music Therapy   
 
Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji sees healing with music as a yogic practice. Yoga teaches that the astral body has 72000 nerve lets and 14 major nadis or nerves. Each nadi vibrates at its own frequency. Music soothes the nadis and helps them to vibrate at the proper rate. Music becomes a therapy, He says, when the healer, musicians and listeners all deeply concentrate on the sound. Sri Swamiji stresses on concentration or Ekagrata on the part of the healer musician and the listener. Listening is a special technique where sense control or Indriya Nigraha is required. "Physical health and results from a healthy mind," Sri Swamiji says. "Music of the right type helps in achieving relaxation by soothing the nerves and through that, comes peace and stillness of the mind.""

Sri Swamiji claims that "ragas are the unspoiled sounds of eternal nature, the soul of man and Paramatman. In the hands of the perfect technician, they are great forces." Sri Swamiji uses a synthesizer because this instrument can reproduce singly or in combination the sounds of more than 1,100 instruments. This allows Sri Swamiji a greater range for healing through music. Not all ailments can be cured by Sri Swamiji's music however, especially those which have already reached a terminal state.

Music therapy requires more than just intense meditation on sound. This great master understands the varying vibrational qualities of the different ragas and knows which raga can help a particular disease. Certain ragas can only be played at selected times to be healing.