Back when I was still a new staff member, running the Sivananda Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, India, for some reason, Swamiji ordered a retired Chartered Accountant to do a thorough auditing of the Ashram books and to prepare a report.
Swamiji asked me to stay with the accountant for the entire process.
The Chartered Accountant was very strict and checked everything with the highest accounting standards, complying with the Government of India’s rules and regulations. Being very young, with a background in physics, mathematics, and chemistry from my university education, I had no clue about the accounting process, ledgers, and balance sheets. The auditing continued for more than four months.
During that process I learned a lot about accounting and was surprised by many things that we often casually ignore, for instance not paying attention to details. Here’s an example: A financial request cannot be made by the same person who checks and approves it, there should be three different people, to make sure there are no lapses.
Swamiji always reminded us to always be responsible for our accounts, as we are dealing with public money. I still, however, had no idea of why Swamiji wanted me to be part of this particular process.
From then on I was tasked with monitoring the accounts in India, reporting any lapses to Swamiji, who would then decide how to correct them. Eventually, while auditing, a number of mistakes were made by a senior Swami in India and discovered by the auditor, who then brought to the notice of Swamiji. That senior Swami had previously packed their bags and had already left the Organization when the audit was first commissioned.
Many years later, when I moved to Canada to care for Swamiji, a very dedicated staff member in Canada had become exhausted with the accounting work they had been doing, and tired of there never being enough money. Despite a lack of funds, Swamiji would never stop his Peace Missions or charitable activities. One day in a meeting, this staff member threw the accounting books in front of Swamiji, said “I can’t do this anymore” and walked away. Without blinking an eye, Swamiji turned his head behind to where I was supporting him to sit up and told the group gathered that from now on Prahlada would take care of the accounts. The next day the staff member apologized and continued with their accounting work. However, within a few years I ended up monitoring and supervising the Sivananda Headquarters’ accounts.
I soon realized Swamiji’s way of seeing the future and his technique of preparing someone with devotion and dedication for a particular task. He would train them without telling them what would come in the future. I then had the grateful opportunity to supervise the accounts and to make the Headquarters debt free and with a surplus of funds available for new Sivananda projects and the Headquarters Ashram upkeep.
– Prahlada