Swamiji TV

Other links



Video details

The Nectar of Wisdom and Sacred Practice

The distinction between religion, ceremony, and true spirituality is essential for realization. Religious ceremonies are good, creating positive vibrations and purifying the environment through elements like fire and water. These ancient Vedic practices, such as yajña and abhiṣeka, utilize life-sustaining elements. The nectar, or amṛta, used is about quality and concentrated energy, not quantity. The wisdom that makes one immortal is within. This jñāna amṛta must first be applied to oneself, as inner well-being reflects on the entire family. When wisdom is realized, speech becomes vācana amṛta—words that heal and bless. This requires purity of thought, feeling, and word, cultivated through practices like mantra and mindful silence. Spirituality is this inner purity and wisdom, creating a heart vast as an ocean with space for all.

"Within you is an ocean of immortality, within you is a fountain of joy."

"Speak such a language that everyone becomes happy."

Good, so we begin again. You had some thoughts yesterday evening about mind, duty, and action—about man, dharma, and karma. Nowadays in the world, more people are searching for spirituality. How do we make a distinction between dharma and religion? And spirituality. Religion has the instructions and guidance, every religion, for spirituality. But unfortunately, at present time, there are different elements in the religions which are contrary to spirituality. And our aim of being human, or realization, will be through spirituality. Every religious ceremony is very good, no matter from which religion. That occupies the human, their mind, their emotion, and their intellect. And it puts them into a positive vibration. During these ceremonies or rituals, depending on what you call them—pūjā, prayer, yajña, or havan—at that time, the person who is performing has three important things which can be observed. One is the object: what they are celebrating, what they are preparing, what they are worshipping, what they are decorating, what, how. Something is done with the fire, yajña and havan. Havan is temporary, everyday. Yajña is for a long period. Both are first of all for purification of the environment: physical, mental, astral. The time when more yajñas were done was in the rainy season, when there was beautiful nature and many good things. Yajña and then havan, every house was doing it. In every home, morning, evening, some at noon time also, putting agarbatti or this tree gum, guggul, what we call, on a piece of fire, which is done every day in the temples, in the church, in holy places, in the mosque also they do. What they call in some languages "holy smoke," but it is ceremonial then. So it is purifying the atmosphere, nice air, nice smell, and it frees from certain germs in the room or from the space. It is a source of our life. Fire is a very important element, and if the fire element wouldn’t be here, it will not take a long time. We all will be frozen and become a piece of ice. All the trees will be frozen and become ice. All houses and everything will collapse. Fire. That fire is one of the elements which keeps our life alive. Otherwise, we die. At the same time, there is also ceremony, which, these are Vedic times, all began from Vedic times, and Abhiṣeka, so that’s water. Water is a major part of our life here, and without water, we can’t survive. The certain humidity in the air, oxygen, many things. They said 80% of the content in our body is liquid. So, vegetation, earth, air, rivers, underground, surface, water, water, water. So there again also becomes holy water. From Holy Mother Gaṅgā, Yamunā, Sarasvatī, also water for abhiṣeka, we use for pūjā. We put the water. Some people have small, made out of the metal, some pot, so that they put water like this. So it’s the same, either you put water like that, like this. It’s the same thing, Charaṇāmṛta. There are lots of different kinds of amṛta, nectar. Pañcāmṛta, the five kinds of nectars, which you always use in the morning after the pūjā. And this five Pañcāmṛta, which is made out of different nectars, amṛtas, comes together like honey, like milk, like butter, the holy water, and so on. Now, in this amṛta, it’s quality, not quantity. If you eat one big spoon, it is not, there is not that effect. It’s good, but then it becomes your nourishment. So, this all amṛt, what we take, it’s only some drops. In homeopathy, there is a very, very little essence. So, as little has more power. Because it has a very strong, concentrated energy inside. So pañca amṛta, then called caraṇa amṛta. The charaṇa is holy feet, and this is water which is washed from the holy feet of the masters or the incarnation, God. And that holy water is kept in temples, in front of the temples, or you get a prasāda. They washed the holy feet of the deity on the altar, and they put a tulsī inside, the holy tulsī. Because tulsi has a lot of medicinal effects, that is why the plant tulsi is known as holy. And it is a very gentle plant. It needs great care and purity. If you go to the Tulasī plant every day with different kinds of thoughts, that plant will not last long, or maybe only one season, and then it will die. But there are Tulsīs which you do the pūjā with, and exactly then, it is years and years long. In India, when they have a Tulsi at home, then after some years, it is their duty, their obligation to marry the Tulsi. So, can you imagine, they make a Tulsī marriage ceremony with Kṛṣṇa, you know. So with God, with Kṛṣṇa and the Tulsīs, they have a real celebration. And after that, when the girl is married, then, of course, she can go. How selfish we are, and how clever we are to get rid of our girls and daughters. I make a nice ceremony and money and say, "Now go. You have nothing here at home." The brother takes over. That was the thinking of the old time. Now it’s not. Now the girls are not so innocent, you know. The girls tell their brother, "You go. You go, I stay." So different. Okay, so that is done not for pleasure, it’s not done for fun, but really with a feeling. And that plant has many, many good things, the value, medical values. Similarly, many other plants also have. So when they wash the feet of the God from the altar, then they take this little water and put some tulasī leaves inside. And when you go to the temple, you get it in your hand, you drink it, and tulsī is in your mouth also. It also has a good aroma, and tulsi is like an antiseptic. It is very, very great. But to know when and how, quantity is not important; quality is. Now in the West, what people are doing is they are buying the tulasī chai and putting, every day, one spoon of the tulasī leaves, the powder, in the tea. And so then it’s lost. Every day, only half a leaf should go in your stomach. And it should go directly, don’t chew. With your teeth, don’t bite. Because there is something in the Tulsi that can harm your teeth. Therefore, you should not touch, and do not chew like this. The juice is not good for your teeth. So it has good and bad aspects. She doesn’t like that you bite her. Just respect it and let’s go. So, Charaṇāmṛta, holy water, in every temple, when you go to the church, on the door you have holy water. It’s always coming from Vedic time, the Vedic era, which is a thousands and thousands of years old scientific system that was created. Śaraṇāmṛta, Amṛta means that which makes us immortal. Amṛta, "Mṛtyormā Amṛtaṁ Gamaya." Mṛtyu is death, mṛtyu is the mortal, and amṛta is the immortal. So whatever we use in our life, it is for our long life, for our healthy life, for a healthy family, for a healthy society. For healthy vegetation, healthy earth, healthy thoughts, healthy air and environment, that is the order, or that is a suggestion of the great saints, ṛṣis, of how we should live in this world. Too much is everywhere prohibited. And therefore, we should first know our limitations—what we are using, what we are doing. And it should be done step by step, slowly, gradually, but every day. We are spoiled. We take one tablet and we think that’s all; I don’t have to do anything. Tablet will do its work. And if the headache is still not good, we take a second painkiller. Purījī, Purījī... The nectar of the wisdom that makes us immortal. Knowledge. Jñāna Amṛta. So what kind of knowledge do you have? If it is true knowledge, then you have nectar with you. Utilize it. We think we have problems, we have depressions, we are unhappy, we feel lost, we feel lonely. This means that you do not use your nectar. You have nectar full of the ocean within you, but no, you are drinking the painkiller. What is a painkiller? Negative thought: "I am unhappy, I am ill, I am lonely." You see, all these are the killers that kill your good will, your good energy, and everything. So, Jñāna Amṛta, if your neighbor where you are sitting now is unhappy, any of us, we are so expert, we will say, "Ah, don’t worry, and it will be okay. Why is it like this? We are sorry, but..." You know, this is the world, this is the nature. Yes, you know how much good words we use, our knowledge, to calm down someone. But when that someone is myself, I don’t utilize that. So this is our mistake, that we don’t use our wisdom for ourselves. We are all very clever and tell clever things to others, but we are afraid to use them for ourselves. You think you will be lost, or you think somebody will say you are crazy. Okay, someone will say you are crazy, but you don’t say that you are crazy. So, do you depend on someone who will tell you you are crazy? It’s good. When somebody tells you you are crazy, you say, "Thank you very much." Now I know that I am crazy, because you were thinking crazy. Okay, thank you. So, Jñāna Amṛta, we shall use our own talent, our own wisdom, first for ourselves. When you use it for yourself, it means automatically you are using it for everyone. When you are relaxed and happy, then the whole family is relaxed and happy. When you are aggressive and unhappy, the whole family is unhappy. True? So, our inner imagination and inner feelings reflect on our whole family. And that’s what, when the husband is angry with the wife, then the children don’t understand why. Or the wife is angry with the husband, then the children don’t understand why. When the parents are sometimes nice to each other and sometimes quarreling, and again nice and again quarreling, the children don’t understand why. So first, you are responsible for your children to give a good home and a good feeling at home. It means that you should never quarrel or fight as a couple, as the father and mother of children. You have to keep a good atmosphere. When the children have gone to school, you may box each other. That is not that. Okay? But before children come, you must make everything nice. Protect your children, psychic, so that they are not frightened and they are not unhappy, and so on. It is very important. So use your wisdom, your knowledge, jñāna amṛta. When you have realized and drunk your own nectar of wisdom, jñāna amṛta, then what you speak, that becomes vācana amṛta. Vachanamṛta means, Vachan means your words. Now, to anyone, anything you speak becomes like nectar. It is when somebody is very unhappy or something, and you tell nice words, then they say thank you. Your every word is like a remedy for me. Yes, that’s Vācanāmṛta. So then, even if you are angry, that Vachanamṛt is good for the person; the person is happy because you are not angry in the heart. In reality, you are not angry; you love the person. And therefore, in one bhajan, they say it, How dear to me are these words of wisdom, the words of love, the words of kindness, the words of blessings. So, there is a mantra, vāk śuddhi, that there is anuṣṭhān, to get strength in your words, that your words come true. That whatever you speak, it has a weight on it, and that is, try to keep mauna. This is the first thing. Too much talking, too many words, you are losing the energy. Speak, but little. And that’s why it is said, too much gushing up, too much laughing, is a losing of your energy. But of course, you should not be serious all day only. Good morning. When someone comes into your office and you say, "Good morning," that creates the negative. So where it is needed, you should have the words to say something, but you should have a happy mudrā. It should, the energy, the happiness should radiate from you. Then fear is gone, then you don’t have the feeling of guiltiness. So, keeping silent means overthinking about two things. What I did, what I will say, is that my own experiences are good for me and good for others. And the second, what I speak, what kind of effect will it have on others? Of course, you have to speak very clearly, and that problem which is there. So, mauna, keeping silent, and that’s why in meditation we are always keeping silent, close our eyes, and we are silent. Is there any meditation you are constantly talking, sitting in the restaurant and drinking tea or coffee or mineral water or juice or beer or something else, and constantly talking, and someone says, "What are you doing?" Say, I am in the meditation club. Where are you? You are in the meditation club. You are talking so much that even your neighbor’s table can’t hear. So you talk loudly, then they talk loudly, then you talk loudly, then it becomes a competition. No one can hear anyone clearly, but suddenly you are silent. So nothing can be compared with the silence for our health, for the environment, and for many things. So, Vachanamṛta, your divine words, your golden advice can save someone’s life, can bring someone out of conflict, can bring a person out of depression. So you are the best healer for the person. So it’s also said, the best medicine for a human is a human. Because a human should have that human heart to be a human, so Vachanāmṛta. Then second, that you repeat your mantra. So the mantra becomes, Bekharī Upāṁśu Mānasik Ajapā. So it gives the strength, the quality to your words, what you talk. So mantra is very, very important for us to do. Then, little speaking, more thinking, and concentration on the Anāhata Chakra. That Anāhata Chakra will give you great support to attain that quality in your words. Don’t speak unconsciously. Sometimes you tell someone, and they are all angry, but you don’t know why. There are some people who become good friends to you, but after some time, they are no longer friends. Though you are not aware of this, they will say, "Nay, the person is arrogant, the person is not good, nay, I am unhappy," and this and that. And the person doesn’t know why, so that you should know yourself why. So you have to correct yourself, what you are talking, and when you speak, with which kind of energy you are talking. Aani aisi boli man kā apakhoī, āran ko śītal kare, apahūṁ śītal hoī. Speak such a language that everyone becomes happy. Aaraṇ ko śītal kare, all are happy and relaxed, calm. Aapoon shītal hoi, and you are also happy. So, such energy should you put in your words. But you can only put in your words that energy if you have jñāna-amṛta. Jñāna-amṛta comes from the caraṇa-amṛta, comes from pañca-amṛta. It’s a different kind of amṛta. And therefore, sādhanā, spirituality, is not, in this present situation, a conflict of religions and political conflicts. Spirituality is in that wisdom, the purity, pure words, pure feelings, pure thoughts. And have a heart very big, like an ocean. Day and night, day and night, the rivers enter into the ocean, flow into the ocean, but the ocean never goes over. So day and night, day and night, many streams of happiness, conflict, love, anger, or this come to you. But everything has a place in your heart, like the ocean in his stomach. How many things are lying motionless? Whatever goes in has a space in the ocean. Similarly, anyone comes with anger, negative thoughts, or happiness, or this. You are a great one, that in your heart you have space for all, for all. So, Swami Sivanandaji said, within you is an ocean of joy, and within you is a fountain of immortality. Within you is an ocean of immortality, within you is a fountain of joy. Purījī, Purījī... That who loves friends and enemies equally is the best yogī. That is dear to me, O Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna. And so Gandhi said, "We hate the sin, but we don’t hate the sinner." When our heart is like that, then what comes from you is called Vācana Amṛta, Jñāna Amṛta. So spirituality, through this teaching of Vedic science, Vedic culture, Vedic traditions, and all these ceremonies, some people think it disturbs me. Yeah, you think it disturbs you. You know, if someone has eye problems, then light disturbs them, so they would always like to be in darkness. So, there are some people who have the dark karmas. They are allergic to the ceremonies. But ceremonies are for removing your inner conflict, removing your tensions, relaxing your heart, and having a space for all. After certain pūjā, you feel very happy, very relaxed, and that’s why. There are many, many kinds of pūjās. You know, some people, they just sit and relax and drink coffee or chai. It is not that chai makes them relax. It is not that coffee makes them relax. But it is a mental imagination. Now, I have time for my tea, and tea is there, and you drink. You see, tea is only an object. In reality, you are that one who is relaxing and affecting, doing everything for yourself. So similarly, spirituality means purity, the pure. What you think, check completely which quality your words and your thoughts have. And if the quality is not good, reject it. No compromise in quality. And therefore, it is said, your words come out of your lips like pearls. Mahāprabhujīp Karatā Mahāprabhujīp Karatā 5:15 PM, Hungarian Time, Om Śānti Śānti...

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

Email Notifications

You are welcome to subscribe to the Swamiji.tv Live Webcast announcements.

Contact Us

If you have any comments or technical problems with swamiji.tv website, please send us an email.

Download App

YouTube Channel