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Part 1: Satsaṅg on Guru Pūrṇimā and the Śakti of Māṭājī We are in great harmony, and there has been singing for three nights now. Since yesterday evening, we have been celebrating Māṭājī, who took sannyāsa as Sādhvī Puṇyānanda Bhāratījī Mahārāj. I am very happy that Māṭājī is now behind me on the altar, and I feel her presence very much, especially today and in this moment. I feel she is standing behind me to tell you something about what a Māṭājī is. Regarding our ceremony today: Māṭājī received sannyāsa dīkṣā, and her samādhi is near the Om Āśram. It is under the earth—a stone cave, covered like a tent on all sides, with a fence around it. Today, our paṇḍits, whom we know from the Kumbh Melā and who are deeply connected to Svāmījī and our āśram, performed a very beautiful fire ceremony. We had several Mahāmaṇḍaleśvaras as guests yesterday. After the chanting of mantras and offerings in the pūjās today, people could go and place some food and flowers on the spot where Māṭājī’s body rests in the earth. Her given name in life was Fuli Bāī. She was, and is, full of love and flowers—"Ful" means flower. Today, the final large procession was performed for her. Everyone offered food and flowers and greeted her with great respect. It was a very beautiful and moving day, and I think many of you could see it on the webcast. In yoga and daily life, the main representatives are often men. But we know that in our world of polarity, there are always two parts: the Śiva aspect and the Śakti aspect. Only through the union of Śiva and Śakti can oneness take place. Therefore, it is very important that both are active and represented. Just as our nāḍīs traverse all the cakras and the awakening of the kuṇḍalinī proceeds through two crossing elements representing these polarities—the Śiva and Śakti aspects—so too in every Śakti there is a masculine deity and a female deity. For me, Māṭājī now greatly represents the Śakti force in yoga and daily life. That is why I am also very happy that she took sannyāsa, and she is and will be a great example for us. Of course, we all know we should be kind, sweet, tolerant, faithful, patient, and loving. But then suddenly, when someone steps on your feet, you just shout at them—that is daily life. It is important for each of us to have a certain program, not only a daily schedule of tasks, but also a program in our sādhanā: what to do and how. This gives us a kind of security. Like when climbing a high mountain, we need a chain to guide us; we need guidance and an aim. Otherwise, we do not know where to go or what goal to reach. Without this, we just circle, go back, or go sideways, crossing other rivers without focusing on our aim. To focus on an aim, to know where I want to go in my life, is very important. We know we should ultimately attain ātmajñāna, but that is high, high above. Our duty is to proceed step by step, to look at the present moment and what is important now—what qualities I have to change to reach the next step. Māṭājī gave us so many examples of a sādhu's attitude, a sandbath. You do not have to be a sannyāsī to follow sādhanā. I admire many people in karma yoga who also live a family life and possess such devotion and kindness. This is very common, especially in India. To develop qualities, it is good to have examples—persons who have already fully realized these qualities. An example is always the best. If a mother or father educates their children, the example is most important, not the words. You can speak many words and write many books, but if you tell your child, "Don’t eat sugar," and then you yourself go to the sweet shop and eat sweets, the child will not obey. We must try to set an example for others and also have examples before us. I have known Māṭājī since I first came to India in 1980—that is 31 years. She lived very simply with her entire family, including Svāmījī, in a very simple house, a hut. Indian women's lives are not comparable to European cooking; they must make the fire themselves, collect wood, and fetch water. It is not an easy life at all, but a very hard one, especially in the climate of Rajasthan with its intense heat. She had six children and took great care of them all. The small village, Rūpāvas—where many of you may have been—is in the desert. I know from Svāmījī that he learned so much from nature and for many years, until he was eight, had no shoes and was always outside. The yogī's main wisdom comes from nature, and I believe a part of Svāmījī’s great power and knowledge comes from this deep connection with nature during his long childhood. Māṭājī was a very loving person. In all these 31 years, I cannot recall her ever being angry. If I ask myself how many times I have been angry in 31 years, I do not know—many, many times, perhaps a book full. I tried my best, but you know what I mean. I never saw her shout at anyone. I have seen many people shout, many sādhus shout, but Māṭājī, I saw only in peace. Another quality, very much that of a woman and a mother, is to give—to give nourishment to her children, to protect them. This quality exists not only in a woman; the same quality is also in a man, for both masculine and feminine qualities reside within each person. As yogīs, we should try, whether man or woman, to balance both forces. This kindness and protection is a very essential part that connects all people. In many of our countries, European and others around the world, we have a little forgotten to give. I do not want you to be angry with me, but a little, we have forgotten. We are used to receiving. We get food, water, carpets—we get everything. But we have a little forgotten the other side: to give. When you receive without giving, there is an imbalance. Therefore, it is very important for every yogī not only to receive but to give. I know, for instance, that many āśrams lack karma yogīs. We are now in a karma yoga āśram, Jadan Āśram, but we are missing karma yogīs. You are all sitting here, so maybe you can spread the message, give some of your time, come here for karma yoga. This is giving, and this kind of giving will definitely help your spiritual development. You can be sure that every karma yogī who stays here for a longer time in India, in any āśram, has to face many things, especially themselves. Is that not so, Devpurījī? Yes. You have to face yourself; you are like roasting in the fire, but it is a quick process. So if you want quick development, it is excellent to come to India and do some karma yoga in the āśram. For all of us, remember we must have a balance between receiving and giving. This giving does not necessarily mean giving money, but giving kindness, love, protection, and awareness of others. Then our yoga family and others everywhere will be joined in love and harmony if we take care of them. It is also good for our ego to give up our comfort and offer it as a present to someone else. What Māṭājī meant for us who have stayed here a long time is difficult to describe. All of us have different duties in the āśram, and I do not think any part is really easy—whether the home āśram, the hospital, the central office, or wherever. One of the main challenges here is that we deal with different nations, European and Indian, which is not easy to assimilate or join together. This is a big task for all of us here; it costs a lot of energy to handle it. It is very easy when we are all the same, eating the same, singing the same, chanting the same. But when you are in the midst of another nation, completely different in behavior, thinking, and actions, it is a very big challenge to learn tolerance and to admire the qualities others have that we do not. For me, it is a very big and good learning process. In all parts of the āśram, our duty is beautiful but also tough. Māṭājī was like the sun here in the āśram. She was in the middle, in the central part. She often sat outside—Gāyatrī took wonderful care of her. As Svāmījī said yesterday, Gāyatrī developed so many wonderful qualities through Māṭājī. It was wonderful to see how Gāyatrī and Māṭājī were united in harmony and kindness. Gāyatrī would often place Māṭājī outside in the yard, where she sat in the middle or on the Śiva Mandir. Unfortunately, I often passed by her very quickly on my way to the hospital. But whenever I passed, she caressed me—she hugged. She was always hugging, also in prayer. When you came to her, she gave kisses here and there and hugged you. Such incredible affection! I have never seen such a wonderful mother anywhere in the āśram or elsewhere—a mother for all of us, regardless of nation, age, or stature. She always gave me kisses and called me "Madhurī," which means "sweet one." Rarely do people call me sweet; perhaps I should become sweeter so people will call me Madhurī too. She would insist, "No, no, you take prasāda," and she always had a box with prasāda to give to everyone who came. Now in the āśram, especially for the karma yogīs here, we must develop these Māṭājī qualities so others can also feel this kindness and love. Perhaps it is a challenge for all the ladies here in the āśram to develop this quality so others can feel it too. In my whole life, I have never seen such a loving, kind, protective incorporation of the Divine Mother. She was only giving, giving, and giving. Let me briefly share one more story about Māṭājī. On one side, she was very kind and loving; on the other, she was a very strong Śakti. Śakti is strong, and in her willpower she was very strong. Due to my medical duties, I had the pleasure of accompanying her to doctors. But she was always the winner, not the doctor. The doctor would say something, but she would say, "No, no..." and then apply her own pressure—that was her system. About a year ago, in the last two or three years, she sometimes had problems. Once, she had a cyst on her nose that was swelling. We went to the doctor, who said it should be operated on. Māṭājī said, "No, no, no." They just opened it a little so the liquid could come out, but that did not help; it filled again. This happened two or three times, and it became a little dangerous because it was near the eye. If infection reached the eye, it could go to the brain, which is quite dangerous. But Mother said, "No, only medicine, no operation." In November, we had a big camp in our hospital with several doctors present. I took Māṭājī and consulted a surgeon, an eye doctor, and a dermatologist to fulfill my duty, hoping she might listen to one of them. First, the surgeon said, "Māṭājī, we have to remove this." She said no. Next, the dermatologist was very diplomatic; he spoke with her at length but then took me aside and said, "There is no other option; otherwise, it is a danger for the eye. She should be operated on." Then we went to the eye doctor, who also said, "This is not good. She could hardly see anything." Towards the end of her life, you could not really tell she could not see because she would recognize who was coming by hearing their voice. She was very sensitive to other senses, not sight, to recognize who was before her. Svāmījī also said that in her last days, she would see who was there by his aura. The eye doctor said, "Māṭājī, there is no other possibility; an operation is necessary." I told Svāmījī, "Svāmījī, I have consulted three specialists, and all said 'operation.'" He said, "Okay, then we do it." So we took Mother to the hospital—the injured poor hospital—where the surgeon, Dr. Sunil Teran from Goel Hospital in Jodhpur, is very kind and skilled. I told him, "Be careful. Māṭājī is a very strong person. You have to convince her. Be careful." I had to go elsewhere then, so I did not stay. Part 2: The Strength of the Heart and the Light of the Guru I had to go somewhere, so the operation was scheduled for around one o'clock. At four o'clock, I phoned Dr. Trehan. He asked, "How is what? What about Mr. ...?" I said, "Mataji," and he told me, "You know what, Mataji? She was already in the operating theatre, but then she struggled so much." You see, it was under local anesthesia, not complete. Yes, they had to give her an injection, but she refused. She was fighting and pushing everyone away. So, actually, she was the winner. They had to carry her out of the operating site without performing the operation. So, what to do now? I also could not leave Matajī with the danger of a brain infection. The surgeon told me the only possibility we had: we would not tell her we were making an operation. We would put on her a mask so she would inhale an anesthetic for a short time, not a complete anesthesia with a needle. This was our only option. I told Swāmījī, "Swāmījī, I know we should always tell the truth. It is written in the books, 'One must be honest.' But I think this time... what should we do? If we do not do it, it can be very, very dangerous for her." He said, "Okay, you know what? Just don't tell her and just do it." So again, Mother G. went from Jadan to the hospital, and we told her, "Mother G., it's only a check-up. You come for a check-up." They put her there, and I was very afraid of what would happen. It was successful. They put on the mask for inhalation, and he could operate. My own fear was that Matajī, who is very, very strong, would shout at him so much after the operation that he would be completely destroyed. I feared she would be so angry with him for doing this without her knowledge. That was my biggest fear. But, you see, after the operation was done, Mother did not say anything. She was not angry with the surgeon. So sometimes we also have to find a way to deal with the patient and to do what is best, even if sometimes we do not have to tell the truth. I wanted to tell you with this that not only is giving one of the main qualities—kindness, love—but also strength, Śakti, is very much inside a woman. And this Matajī definitively had it. I thank you for listening, and I thank Māṭājī that she is now with us and that she is giving us such a big example of how we should be. It shows the qualities a man should also develop, not only intellectual knowledge but also the knowledge of the heart, the yoga of the heart, to develop as Matajī is doing it. And for us as women, to develop more and more our kindness, our caretaking, our love, our compassion, our tolerance. Siddhi Nārāyaṇbhagavān, Sadgurū Śrī Sadānandjī Bhāratījī Mahārāj, thank you. Śrī Gurudev Namaha. Om Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ... Nāhaṁ kartā Prabhudeep kartā, Mahāprabhū deep kartā hi kevalaṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ... I would like to greet you today from India, from our Jādanāśram. I will speak a few words about our celebration of Guru Pūrṇimā here, and something about Guru Pūrṇimā—how I understand it, how I feel this day, and what it means for me and for all of us. In the life of all disciples and spiritual aspirants, there are some special, important days. One of the most important days in our life—meaning in the life of spiritual disciples—is Guru Dīkṣā, Mantra Dīkṣā, when we met our Gurudev for the first time. On this day, during the blessing of Gurudev, Satya Gurudev, our soul stepped for the first time into the light. It was actually really born, like a real birth. This light is with us the whole time now, but maybe we do not actually feel it or are not aware of it. Yet this light is in our heart, and we have many possibilities for how to keep this light in our heart. The day of Guru Pūrṇimā is the most important day for every disciple. This is the day we know when we meet our spiritual master, our Satguru Dev. For me, it is also the day of the light. Who is Satya Gurudev? Satya Gurudev is the embodiment of light. He is the embodiment of knowledge. He is the embodiment of love. He comes here on this earth, on this mortal planet, only out of great, great mercy for us, for all spiritual seekers. This day is so beautiful, so important, so strong a day for everybody among us. In Jadan, in the ashram, we can feel the celebration of Guru Pūrṇimā much more than in Europe. During this day, thousands of bhaktas, Indian devotees, stream through the ashrams. This is like a flood of love. All are coming with open hearts. They come with so much love that we can feel it; we are like bathing in this love. Satguru Dev is actually like an electric station, a power station. He brings this light in concentrated form to us. His body is like a body of light. On Guru Pūrṇimā day, all bhaktas come to Gurudev and adore his feet, because this is the point, this is the part of his body where we can receive this light—the light of knowledge, the light of the divine. Here in India, this is so beautiful. Just see how the Indian bhaktas come to Gurudev. They are completely open. They have no complexes, no doubts. They simply come. On this day, Gurudev is only for them. They have no problems performing this special celebration or duration iteration of adoring Gurudev’s feet. We can see this because we are not so open; we do not feel it like this in the beginning. It is so beautiful when we can see from very near how the whole family comes—the mother, father, children—they come to Gurū Dev and adore him on this day. Regarding Gurū Dev and light, I remember one of my experiences. It was during a meditation. It is not connected with Guru Pūrṇimā, but it is connected with Gurudev and what Gurudev actually means for the life of a disciple. It was at a seminar. Swāmījī was starting to lead a meditation, and he told us, "Prepare yourselves," and so on. After some beginning words, he said, "And now analyze your life." I was in a special mode. I was so happy to be in the presence of Gurudev. I was so happy just sitting, closing my eyes, and repeating the mantra. Actually, inside, I—I did not want to repeat. I did not want to go into my past life or anything like that. What was before? For the first time, inwardly, I somehow... I refused. I refused to follow Swamiji's words. I was sitting happily and repeating the mantra. Suddenly, on my citākāśa, the screen behind my forehead, I saw a very simple but very impressive picture. It was like a big space, like the sky. On this space, I saw one line from left to right. It was a very, very long line. In the middle, there was one point. From this point to the left, all was like heavy clouds, like darkness, something very unpleasant—like darkness and nothing pleasant. What I saw from this point to the left... and to the right from this point, everything was shining. There was only light, bright light like the sun. Everything was so beautiful. Without any words, I knew that this point was the day of my mantra dīkṣā. From this point, everything was in the light, and before, we were in the darkness. It is not darkness like what I saw, but it is the darkness of our ignorance. This is somehow how I feel what we receive from Satguru: light, wisdom, knowledge. Guru Pūrṇimā is the day when we are like overflowing; we are bathing in this light. For the whole day, whole night—maybe more than only one day, 24 hours, but more, maybe two or three days—this light is flowing. These words of wisdom, Guru Vākya, flow not only from Sadgurudev but from all bhajans that are here, and from another sense, from all the saints who are coming to the ashram. This is from my side. What is nice, what is important on Guru Pūrṇimā day? When I remember myself as a disciple of Swāmījī, I was at every Guru Pūrṇimā with Swāmījī. It does not mean I was here in India, but in Europe, when Swamiji was there, I was there. Somehow it was good karma, I do not know. But every time I was with Swamiji for the Guru Pūrṇimā celebration. Here in India, it is a much more impressive, much more powerful celebration of Guru Pūrṇimā. That is why, maybe, I would like to tell you: come to India. Come to India one time, two times, for Guru Pūrṇimā. This is a really special day. Guru Pūrṇimā can never be like this somewhere in another corner of the world. Only here, only in India, because here we can see and we can feel what bhakti is, how bhaktas are simple—simple, but full of love. Beautiful. Thank you. Hari Om. Dear brothers and sisters, dear yoga seekers, I would like to say good evening to you from Jadan Ashram, district Pali, Rajasthan, India. I am very honored to have the opportunity to speak to you, even though I was hoping Sādhvī Śāntījī and Sādhvī Mantra Purījī would speak a little bit longer so Swāmījī would come and my turn would not come. But somehow, you know, God doesn’t listen to every prayer, so it is my turn here. Sādhvī Mantra Purī Jī has beautifully tried to describe to you how Guru Pūrṇimā is. But as God is indescribable, as Gurudev is indescribable, so this beautiful festival is just indescribable. There are so many beautiful things, and you are so many times touched in your heart. We all believe. We all believe in God, we all believe in Swāmījī, we all believe in our paramparā. But then again and again, when we see all these things happen and we see how Swāmījī is full of love and giving blessings all day—a flood of people is coming there, a flood of bhaktas are coming with their prayers, with their sorrows, with their hopes—and he is just welcoming them, ready to give everything for everyone. This is something that we, even though we know, are reassured about again and again. This gives us a very, very beautiful inspiration. Even though we may come here with different problems, we may come here even not knowing why we came and how we came, still—I don’t know, Swāmījī says it is our good karmas—but when I look at myself, I don’t know, I think I am more stupid, that I was doing such good karmas. I think it is only his mercy that could bring us here. I don’t know, I don’t think there is any good karma you can make that you get this. This is just his mercy, his love, and his ability to give this to everyone. Of course, you have to be here to receive this also. As you know the story about when someone is selling gold... you know today also the fluctuations in prices. One day the price is 1,000 euros, and another day or another week the price is 1,500. This all depends on how we give value to the gold. One kilo is one kilo. The same is also with our Guru. All of us that are here, and all of you that are there through webcasting, all of you that are there mentally with your Guru, all of you that pray—you know the value of the gold. And for the others, we hope that they will also get inspiration and that they will also be able to come. This is really, as I said, something we can tell you so many stories about, but you cannot describe mangoes. You know mangoes from photos, but how can we describe to you how mangoes are? It is indescribable. You can say it is between apple and peach and half a kilo of sugar and some yellow powder, but still you will not get the reality. The reality is that you have to see it and you have to recognize it. Maybe some of you know—this is maybe in psychology and in some schools—you learn that communication between people is only maybe maximum 30% verbal communication. Other communication is the recognition of body language. We call it body language, but body language is also the result. Our body is the result of our mind and our emotions. So that is also one of the answers to what many Indians were telling in satsaṅg: how is it possible we are sitting so peaceful there and we do not understand any word? I do not know. Maybe they put one sentence of one thousand sentences in English, and it is not that we catch that sentence and then meditate on that for half an hour. It is the thing that Swamiji is there, and you just look at him. What do you need more? He can just confuse you with words. That is the worst thing. So it is very good when he speaks Hindi, if you do not understand. I understand something, so, you know, I am probably more confused than you all. So it is very nice when you come there and you just look. And this is called darśan. This is something that is indescribable. Then also you remember there was Rāmāyaṇī Bāpū who was there, and he had so much praise for this place. He has some old-fashioned internet connection, you know. He does not have a laptop, and he does not have the internet. But after 55 years of living a saintly life and spiritual life, a vision came to him. In that vision, he saw Swamiji. He did not know who he is, because he lives probably 1,000 kilometers away or more. Luckily, one of the persons whom he knew knew Swamiji, and he was here within one or two days. The first train that he could catch, he caught. So maybe also some of you are watching this through the internet, so you are also lucky. You did not have to go 55 years somewhere to try spiritual life, so you also can use this chance and try to see, to come here next year for Guru Pūrṇimā. This is really something beautiful. Also, what Rāmāyaṇī Bāpū said was one interesting thing: he said that he must come here after some time and live, to spend some time with the karma yogīs here, to spend some time here in the ashram. And I was thinking, "Oh my God, he will be disappointed because it is not that we are shining, it is not that we are peaceful." I think nobody of us even thinks that we are, but it seems that we look like that. So if we look like that, that is only for one reason. When you see some beautiful things, beautiful flowers and a beautiful garden, it is not that this is beautiful, but the sun is shining on it. If it is night, you cannot see anything. What does it mean? Everything is there, but no beauty is there. So the thing is that our sun, our Swāmījī, he is there, and his light is so strong that however we are, we look like shining, whether we want it or not. So, let us try to keep this shining even when... you know, there are now these modern things. You have some things called solar collectors, you know, the Agila collectors—there are solar collectors. Solar collectors, during the day, collect the light of the sun, so they give some light in the darkness, at night. Of course, it is not the light of the sun, but at least something is there. So let us try to have as good batteries as we can, so that we can keep this light as long as we can. And all this is just one thing: just the big, big mercy of Gurudev. That is all. I would like to thank everybody who came to Jadan this year for Guru Pūrṇimā, and also those who follow us through the webcast. I hope that those who could not come this year could get that special feeling, that special spice which we can find only here in Rajasthan, through the bhajans, through the dancing. I hope that it is inspiring, that next year you could come. Just one personal thought: when the group is coming, we Karmayogīs are always very curious—how big is the group? How big a mess do we need to face next time? This time it was three times more than before, and maybe it is a sign that the time comes. It is not the Guru who comes to the disciple; it is the disciple who needs to take effort to go close to the Guru. We Europeans were spoiled for many, many years that Swāmījī came three times, four times to Europe, to around in Central Europe. This year is different, so maybe it is a sign for all of us to rethink our relation with our Guru and to find the aim: why we are with Swāmījī, and what we would like to reach with Swamiji, and how to say... we can let Swamiji reach his aim through us. So I would like to thank everybody who came and who listened to us. Om Bore Siddhi Bhagwan Kī Jai, Holy Mother Kī Jai.