The Gurudev Jayanthi was celebrated on Friday, the 8th of May 2009 in the Ashram at Templestowe in Melbourne, Australia.

It was nearly end of autumn in Melbourne and the night was quite cold. People started to trickle in after their day’s work to a grand and glowing set up of the altar with a huge picture of Gurudev against the Himalayas. Soon the ashram hall was filled up with devotees.

The celebration started off with bhajans on Gurudev, which brought various emotions of memories, gratitude and reverence in the devotees. This was followed by a puja of Gurudev’s paadukas, which we Melbourians are fortunate to have in the ashram. The sight of the paadukas of Gurudev always brings to mind the scene in Ramayan, in which Bharatha worships the paadukas of Shri Rama and is a reminder of the teachings and the vision of our Gurudev.

A video of one of Gurudev’s lectures was played before the conclusion of the puja. The lecture was on the importance of listening, especially to a Guru. The difference between hearing and listening was explained in Gurudev’s usual style, with funny examples but every point worth reflecting upon. The children were amused by the way in which Gurudev depicted the examples. The lecture was aptly chosen because keen listening is one of the basic qualifications for a seeker in order to start his spiritual journey with a Guru. Alert listening can lead to successful understanding of the Guru’s teachings. When the lecture was over, the puja was concluded with more bhajans and arati followed by the mahaprasaad. It was a warm event to last enough in our hearts to take us through the cold days ahead.