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Everything is in your hands

The initiation of eight sannyāsīs was a highlight. The Master decides readiness; these were not easy individuals, each a long effort to guide. One is profoundly honest, immediately embodying the role. Another prepared for decades through hardship. Three were from Australia, one from Israel, and one Indian who left too quickly. The final one is a devoted and humble soul. Your spiritual progress is ultimately in your own hands. Teachers and masters can only support you; the decisive action is yours. A story illustrates this: disciples, jealous of their Master, trap a bird and ask if it is alive or dead. The Master replies its fate is in their hands. Your liberation, like the bird's life, depends on your decisions. Do not delay in good actions. Regarding dress, disciples should wear white; sannyāsīs wear orange. Becoming a sannyāsī is serious, not a fashion; it helps carry the spiritual light but requires true readiness and independence.

"Master, if you know everything, then tell us what is in my hand."

"My son, whether this bird is alive or dead depends on your hands."

Filming location: Vép, Hungary

DVD 180b

The highlight was that some of your guru brothers and sisters took sannyāsa. With this kind of thinking, to carry on the light of Mahāprabhujī, I think one sometimes needs to be a sannyāsī to carry the light in a uniform. So, about eight sannyāsīs were initiated. These eight were not easy people. It was like a tiger; to catch one tiger and put it in a cage was long, hard work. Can you imagine closing Yogīś in one? His school teacher gave up. His university professor gave up. His mother gave up. His wife gave up. But, through the help of Mahāprabhujī, I succeeded. You know Yogīś; he is one of the very honest persons, truly very honest and faithful, to himself and to others. It was high time for him to change something in his life, so he became a sannyāsī. He immediately looks like a fifty-year-old sannyāsī already; he doesn't have to play at being one. You could see something in his soul. After the sannyāsa initiation, the light came out very strong. The second was our Premānandjī from Salzburg, who looks after the Jaipur ashram. We have been together for 22 or 25 years. He prepared himself very hard to become a sādhaka in those years. He is also very honest and faithful, and he had no easy time the last 15 years, surviving and fighting through all difficulties in Europe and India. Three were from Australia. One you may know, Jasarāj Purī, who looks after Gurujī. One is from Brisbane, and one is Bhaktānanda from Sydney, who looks after Kailāsh Ashram. One was Hariprīyā from Israel. I told him many girls would be unhappy, but what to do? Many girls were angry at me—that’s my karma. He is a very spiritual boy, very devoted, pure, and innocent. One was Indian, and he remained with us for three weeks and then disappeared because he was too quick. He should have stayed a few years and then decided. He was already thinking he is a guru, and after getting sannyāsa, he would be a Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara already. And one of them we have here today. It is called "Seven Tigers and One Lion." This one is also a very faithful, devoted, and humble soul, very honest, dedicated, modest, and humble. You see, the Master has to decide when one is ready for receiving sannyāsa. She never asked me; she never asked me about her spiritual development. She is only serving. In Strelka Ashram, she is only doing sevā. Many are doing sevā, but besides that, they have some expectations, so you are not sure. But somehow, many of you are ready, and I am waiting for some other Kumbh Melās, 12 years from now. It was very nice. Everything is in your hands; your enlightenment is in your hands. Your liberation is in your hands. If you are happy or unhappy in your life, it is in your hands. If you are poor or rich, it is in your hands. If you are ill or healthy, it is in your hands. Only you can do it. The decision is in your hands. The Master, parents, friends, doctors, or God can only help you, support you, but ultimately you have to do it. Teachers, parents, relatives, friends, doctors—they can only give you support, but in fact, you are the only one who can do something. Dr. Śānti said, "We live in Gurudev." It’s not so easy. Sometimes we think we are more clever than him, and no doubt you are cleverer than he. But where does your cleverness lead you? This is the question. Sometimes it is better not to be clever. So, we shall believe in our parents’ advice. Of course, if your parents are fanatic and force you to eat meat and such, do not follow that advice. But ultimately, it is in your hands. If you want to become a sannyāsī, it’s in your hands. If you want to have liberation, it’s in your hands. If you want to marry, it’s in your hands. Don’t think that you can’t find a partner; there are so many partners. Only your decision is not there. Everything is in your hands. How your life will be is in your hands. You will be successful or not; it is in your hands. There is one little story about cleverness and not trusting the Master, and really, it is in your hands. There was a Master, and he had a few disciples. One day, the disciples were jealous of the Master’s knowledge. When a disciple is jealous of the Master, it is a disaster because that reflects back on you. Many here are sitting and are jealous; their heart is pumping very strongly, I know. If you are jealous or not, it is in your hands. They were thinking, "Today we shall show the Master that he is wrong, that he doesn’t know; he has no knowledge. With our trick, with our cleverness, we are more clever than him." So, five or six disciples caught a bird in their hand. They hid the small, beautiful bird behind their back and asked the Master, "Master, if you know everything, then tell us what is in my hand." The Master said, "Yes, in your hand you have a bird." The boys looked at each other, laughing, to make the Master uncertain, but they couldn’t say no because they had a bird in their hand. So, they decided, "We must make the Master guilty. Whatever he says will be wrong. We ask him if this bird is alive or dead. If he says it’s alive, we will just press with our hand and kill it, and we will show him it’s a dead bird, so he’s wrong. Or if he says it’s a dead bird, we will show him it’s alive, so he has no chance to be a winner today. We will prove with this that he doesn’t know." So they asked him, "Yes, Master, we have a bird in our hand. But tell us if this bird is alive or dead." The Master thought for a few seconds and, with great humility, said, "My son, whether this bird is alive or dead depends on your hands. That I cannot say to you. That depends on you." And so it is. This bird is in your hand, so it depends on your decision how you will be. If you will achieve mokṣa or liberation in this life or not, I cannot answer you. It depends on you. Therefore, I can only wish you all the best. You should practice and decide. Don’t run behind temptations. The drums are good to listen to from a far distance; when you are standing near, it’s not so pleasant. So, it is your decision, and don’t wait in life. Act immediately. If it is a good thing, don’t delay. And if it is not good, then delay forever. So, your mantra dīkṣā—you must have this. Every day of life which passes without mantra initiation is lost. And this depends on you again. I had some more instructions. Now we should all have white dress, cream color, white. There, that was Kesarpurī. Is she still here? She’s not. Where is your jacket? She had a very nice colored jacket, and I thought, "This is a good color for our disciples." So now, those orange yoga dresses which you have, use them at home for meditation. You can have an orange meditation shawl; otherwise, use a white dress. If you don’t like the color white, then use those colors which you like, except orange. Those who are sannyāsīs should take orange. Those who would like to become sannyāsīs should know it is not easy to be a sannyāsī in your culture, with religious complexes, cultural complexes, problems with parents and friends. You may have more problems. But if you have managed everything, and everyone accepts, and you can be independent—financially, socially, in every aspect—and if you are truly a right seeker, then you can become a sannyāsī. To be on the path and to get self-realization, to become a sannyāsī is a great help. But if you want to change after 20 years, deciding you don’t want to be a sannyāsī now and will marry, then don’t do it now. Of course, if you want to think 20 years ahead and get married, then please don’t be a sannyāsī now. Marriage is not wrong, but you should not break the sannyāsa life. For your development, for your realization, and for helping others in a better way, to carry the light of Mahāprabhujī and Devapurījī, it would be easier. Sannyāsī means the living light of Mahāprabhujī. I have spoken many times, and some would like to become sannyāsīs. So think it over, and we can talk again in the summer. There was a young man from Vysocki who wanted to become a sannyāsī, and I said yes. I was looking so much for him at the Kumbh Melā, but he was not there. So, you have to think seriously. This is not a game; this is not a fashion. In the sannyāsa ceremony, your karma really burns away. So, this was the highlight of our journey to the Kumbh Melā.

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:

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